5dB

Courtney has a profound hearing loss. When she was diagnosed in June of 2008 she had no responses at 120dB. She maxed out the equipment. Now, however, with those amazing "ears" Sassy Pants can hear speech sounds at 5dB and can hear at 15dB across all frequencies!!! I am so excited I don't know what to do with myself!!! I never thought normal would be so amazing!

3 Reasons I am Thankful for CI's

1. The kids and I were at a fun indoor/outdoor restaurant yesterday for lunch with a friend and her kids. As my friend, Erin, and I were chatting away I heard the loud speaker, "Will the mother of Courtney please come to the front." I wasn't sure if Courtney was hurt or what. I walked in to see Courtney standing in front talking to a worker. As soon as she spotted me she said with both hands out to the side, "Mommy, there you are! I couldn't find you!"

While I am so happy she can say all of that, I am most thankful that my profoundly deaf little girl can say her name. No signing. She can tell someone when she is lost. She can tell them her name! She is independent. Something 2 and a half years ago we didn't know if she would be able to do. I love it!

2. This morning Courtney comes running into my room and says as she points to both of her ears, "I want my ears on." I tell her to go get a battery. Without her ears on she says back, "Get a battery?" I sleepily nod my head yes. A few minutes pass and she bolts back into my room and yells, "I can't find my cochlear implants!" Yep, at 3 1/2 she knows she wears cochlear implants and knows they are different than hearing aids. She knows when they work, when they are on the wrong ear and when they need a new battery. And she can TELL me all of that! She amazes me! I love it!

3. I love the sound of her sweet voice. Something she wouldn't have without CI's. What is funny is when I tell her, "Oh Courtney I love your voice!" She always says, "Mommy, I'm not a boys I am a girl." I guess voice and boys sound similar! It cracks me up every time! Her sweet voice the other day saw mine and Bryan's wedding picture. She told me I was a princess and Bryan was the bad guy! I love it!

Love Bug Logan

Oh I just love this little boy! He is 100% boy. Let me share a story - WARNING - this is a little graphic. Mom came to visit about a month ago. We were doing our normal thing getting the kids bathed and ready for bed. At this age Courtney and Logan still shower or bathe together so we were shuffling them out of the bath and into their rooms to get their jammies on. I was drying off Courtney and Logan was standing in front of Mom facing me. He was, you know, playing with himself. I give him the look and tell him, "Logan, stop touching your penis."

He quickly responded with his head tilted to one side and a glint in his eyes, "I'm not Mom, I'm touching my balls."

Trying not to laugh, I said, "Well then stop touching your balls."

Right as I said this his naked self leaps by me. He whips around and says, "You stop touching your balls Mom!"

I looked at Mom who could hardly keep a straight face and we just all started laughing. I couldn't even discipline him. Who says that?! He is always saying funny things like that. I can't remember if I shared this one before, but it is worth repeating if I have. At our old ward (church) there was an older gentleman who always gave candy out to the kids. The first Sunday of every month is fast Sunday. One fast Sunday we were on our way home from church. The kids were talking about different things they learned, etc. Logan then proceeds to tell Jeremy, "Jeremy, we didn't get any candy today because the "Candy Man" only gives us candy on slow Sundays." It still makes me laugh!

Logan has a sweet spirit about him. He is all boy, but still loves to snuggle up and come in for a fix. I am going to be so sad when he stops wanting to cuddle. Every night we have to do a hug, kiss and a nose fight! He has such a tender heart and is sensitive, but in a much different way than Jeremy. The time apart from Jeremy is killing him. He misses Jeremy so much. I asked what he missed about Jeremy and he told me, " I miss everything about him."

He is playing T-ball and loves the fact that Bryan is coaching. Bryan just bought him a new glove so he has been practicing catching. If he could, he would do nothing but play baseball. He still wants to sleep in his baseball pants every now and again. At his opening ceremonies last weekend I couldn't help but envision us being at those ball fields for many years to come!

This week Logan will be sporting a look he left for a while - glasses. We went ahead and got a second opinion since his right eye still turns in a little after two surgeries. His eyesight is the same in both eyes which is good, but is 20/30. Not too bad. The plan for the next month is to see if maybe his eye will straighten out with the glasses. The doctor isn't too hopeful since he is only a little farsighted. So we should be scheduling a third eye surgery in the next month. I will keep you all posted!

As you can see in his picture he did lose a tooth. Well, he had it pulled because a long time ago he fell and killed his tooth (I am not sure if that is how you explain it?). It was fine for a few years, but then it became infected so out it came. He was pretty excited because he was the first Kohler kid to lose a tooth and have the tooth fairy come!

That just about sums up my little love bug. I sure love my boys! There is definitely something special about them! Keep us laughing Logan, we love you!

My Sweet Jeremy

It seemed like it would take forever until I would be standing at the airport watching an airplane take off with my sweet Jeremy in it. We told him when he was seven he could fly alone to California. A week ago tomorrow I was there in the Austin airport squeezing him goodbye and packing his bags with extra gum, candy, books and movies. Where has the time gone? He seems all grown up!

He is having the time of his life out there. He spent this first week with Bryan's grandma and grandpa (Gigi and Grandpa) and next week with my parents (Momo and Bobpa). I was so nervous no one would be at the gate for him when he got there, but of course Gigi and Gpa were both there with plenty of time to spare. I am not sure who was more excited, them or Jeremy? They scooped him up and got him pizza from one of our favorite pizza places in CA. I asked him tonight what his favorite part so far has been. He told me, "Watching the first three episodes of Star Wars over and over." Gigi has truly spoiled him rotten with games, toys, movies, and milk shakes!

One treasure Jeremy may not realize until later in life is the opportunity he had to go with Gigi and Gpa to the Pearl Harbor Survivors meeting last Sunday. Gpa has been doing several speaking engagements at different schools, parades, political gatherings, etc. recounting his experience at Pearl Harbor. Here is one of his amazing stories. They meet once a month at Fudruckers. Gpa is one of the youngest survivors and we are so thankful for his dedication and service for our country.

Next week Jeremy is going with my parents to Monterey to camp. It is supposed to rain so we shall see what happens. He's excited and definitely looking forward to playing with his cousins. Can't wait to see pictures!

Jeremy is an amazing kid with a heart of gold. He continues to always help us with anything as well as his brother and sister. He is so smart, and truly loves to learn. He just started piano lessons and is loving it. His teacher told him he has a bright future in music! Jeremy loves playing, writing, legos and Star Wars! That kid knows every character, planet, scene from those movies. I can't keep my own kids' names straight let alone movie characters!! He has had a rough few months between pneumonia, strep throat and a double ear infection. I think before all of this he has only had to have antibiotics once or twice at the most. I don't know what happened this year!!

He did finally start losing teeth. About a month and half ago he lost his first tooth. Amen! His second one fell out about two weeks ago. I came in one morning to wake the boys up for school and he was so upset because the tooth fairy didn't come. I asked him where he put the tooth and he said under his pillow. I asked him how come he didn't tell me he lost his tooth. No reply. Then I had to turn on the light to find the tooth. I reassured him that the tooth fairy surely came, she just wasn't able to find the tooth like we weren't able to. Whew! So the next night the tooth fairy came!

He is growing up so fast, in fact, the doctor said he is the average size of an eleven year old! He is definitely a Kohler! I am so thankful for my sweet Jeremy. I miss him tons this week while he is in CA, but I know he is having the best time and creating memories that will last a lifetime. Have fun Jeremy, we love you!

Merge

I'm getting my mojo back!! I realized today how much I love to write and how it helps me process through things. More importantly, it documents what is going on with my amazing kiddos! So, here's the latest of what's been going on for me.

I haven't written a whole lot about work, but the time has come that I do. For the past 5 1/2 years I have owned my own business with a friend of mine. In a nutshell we work with an outside evaluation company and write federally competitive grants for school districts. We then write our services into the grant; professional developments, educational coaching/mentoring, and we wrote a parenting curriculum that teaches parents of pre-K students the hows and whys of literacy. Now we are merging with another company and it is so exciting. A little fact someone shared with me is that only 2% of business owners ever sell their company or are profitable enough to be merged/acquired by another company. The percentage of women owned businesses that accomplish this is even smaller! Never thought about that, but it made me feel good!

We will become the education arm of this company. We are already planning bigger and better things than we eve would have been able to do on our own. We have the manpower to do it, we have the strategic plans to accomplish the lofty goals we have set and the passion behind all of it. However, the process and change that is coming along with it all isn't easy for me. I value stability and structure. This merge/acquisition will provide me that, but in the interim it's tough.

Today I finally accepted that it is completely okay that I am having a difficult time with it and it is hard. I also realized writing it all out will help me through this process and provide the structure I need. I am being challenged to grow professionally, to learn something new and that excites me. I don't ever want to be complacent. So, with all of that said, I am going to get back to writing, processing, telling my story, sharing my kids, my family, my life. And, I want to do it on a regular basis. Tomorrow is Jeremy's day so hold on for the ride!