T-Minus 5 days!!!

Yes!  In 5 days we'll be boarding a plane to go back to the U.S. for our 30-day RAT Travel.  Also, while we are back in the States, we will be attending my brother's wedding!  I'm so excited.  So much going on! 

I am definitely keeping busy until we fly out.  Working 12 hour days, overnight shopping trips, Sunday work days..meetings..Christmas Tree lighting...Parent Teacher Conferences.  Oh my goodness.  It makes me tired thinking about everything! 

One thing I will be looking forward to when we return to Korea in January is that William will FINALLY be starting Speech Therapy at the elementary school!  We started the process in February and it is now finally here.  His IEP was established..we set up goals both with his speech teacher as well as his preschool teacher at the CDC...now I just have to go to transportation and see if they will bus him back and forth from the CDC to the school or if I will have to take care of it myself.  We have already seen drastic improvements in his speech and development over the last 6 months..so I'm excited to see how the next 6 months go!

I don't know if I'll have time to update while we're back in the states...but if not, I hope everyone has a very MERRY Christmas and a Blessed start to the New Year. 

So ready!!

So as our initial 2 years here in Korea have come and gone...we now get to look forward to a trip back to the states!  I am very excited to go home.  My brother is getting married the day after we land...and unfortunately, it's cheaper to fly us to Kentucky (home of record) than it is to fly us to Oklahoma or Missouri (where family is).  So the day before my brothers wedding...while suffering from jet lag..we get to drive 8 or so hours from Kentucky to Missouri.  Blah.  But...just being home on american soil is all I need!  :)  We get to spend 4 weeks back in the states...split up between both our parents houses in Oklahoma.  I have big plans for our trip home..including lots of shopping and eating out!  LOL.  Will also spend a day at Oklahoma State...I have only been back once since graduating in 2001...so a LOT has changed.  I will also get the opportunity to go to an OSU basketball game with my family...I can't wait!  I really need a break from Korea..so this trip is coming at the perfect time! 

William's Screening

Today we had an eligibility meeting to determine what kind of help William was in need of for his speech delay.  They are diagnosing him with a Phonological Disorder, which is a speech disorder also known as Articulation disorder, in which he does not use some or all of the speech sounds for his age group.  His is in the moderate to severe level.  They also tested him for congnitive/developmental delays, but said that they don't want to classify him as having a delay in either of those since his severe speech disorder could be causing some of his cognitive issues.  They will re-evaulate him after a few months of speech and language classes.  We will be meeting again on Nov 16th to develop his IEP and an action plan on what can be incorporated into his class at the CDC.  They said he could actually start the week after, which would be Thaksgiving week...however there is only school 3 days that week and then a week and a half after that, we will be heading stateside on our Home leave.  We decided that it would be best to start him in his new routine after we return back in January.  I will know more on the 16th, as to how many days/week he'll be in class and how many hours/day.  I'm excited to finally get the ball rolling!!

When life throws a curve ball....

swing with all your might and hit a grand slam!

Well..easier said than done. The last few years have been one curve ball after another for us. Overall, I think we've taken everything in stride. August was our 2 year anniversary here in Korea....aka..our original DEROS date to return home. Our new DEROS is Aug 2013..but Batallion keeps hinting they are going to keep us for our 5th year. We'll see. :)

We've been having some pretty major issues with our house back in the states. Unfortunatley it's costing us a lot of monty..but luckily we have a great company that has been helping us out with almost all of the work. We're still dealing with the same issues we've had since day 1 here in our house in Korea...water leaks and broken appliances.

Tuesday we have an eligibility meeting at the school to find out what kind of speech therapy program william qualifies for. We originally had him tested back in March...and they are just now finally getting around to finishing up all of his evaluations. They did speech, comprehension and developmental testing. Seems that his main area of concern is speech. So we are really ready to get him some help!

Dakota started the 5th grade this year. She competed on the swim team over the summer and did amazing! Winter swim team starts next week. She is joining the guitar club at school as well. Something else to keep her occupied!

Anyway..I know that I have totally slacked on keeping everyone updated..and I promise to do a better job! :)