Tricia's Story Video

I've put together a video of Tricia's Story from this past Sunday, including a news clip that was shown. I'd still encourage you to check out the entire podcast to get the context of why she was asked to share her story.



Nate

No Fear

Gwyneth has no fear...we're also thinking that she has no nerve endings...it takes a lot of hurt to make this little girl cry. I guess that can be good and bad, but it sure does make the playground a lot of fun! She loves climbing to the highest slide by herself and going down head first, and you can never push her fast enough or high enough on the swings.













Nate

Gwyneth's Puppy & Kitty Cat Birthday Party!

We kept Gwyneth's birthday party very simple last year, so this year, we thought we'd have a lot more fun with it. Gwyneth is in love with puppies and kitty cats [her one and only word that she consistently will say is "kitty cat" (although, it sounds more like a very sloppy, wet-tongued "kiddy ca"), and she loves to "woof" whenever she sees a puppy]. Tricia gave me permission to plan the party...tons of fun!

I found some great graphics up a pug and a cat online, edited them to make them look more like Gwyneth's favorite puppy and kitty cat, designed and printed the invitations, made some envelopes out of construction paper, Tricia addressed each envelope with crayon, and hand delivered the invites (we actually got sidetracked by all of the medical appointments and ended up having to email a few invites instead).




Gwyneth's uncle Ramon and cousin Evaine, and several other guests, showed up dressed for the theme.

We served puppy chow (recipe here) and kitty food (goldfish).


The older kids had lots of fun coloring, including cousin Josh.



Everyone went home with a "doggy bag".


My mom and I decorated cupcakes...



...which Gwyneth greatly enjoyed.










Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us! I'm already making plans for next year!

Nate

Tricia's Story Podcast

Tricia was asked to share part of her story on Sunday morning at Nags Head Church, in part to acknowledge Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, and also to help illustrate the message of the day. Considering Tricia has a fear of speaking (or doing anything) in public, I was incredibly proud of how well she was able to communicate.

You can listen to/download the podcast from this past Sunday by clicking Here (listen to "Father Knows Best" from January 24, 2010). Tricia begins at around 8:30, but I'd recommend you listen to the entire podcast to understand why her story was so important to share on this particular Sunday. You'll also be able to find it on iTunes in the next 24 hours Here.

I'm sure Tricia would be encouraged to hear your feedback. Thanks!

Nate

Beauty

My BEAUTIFUL wife is sharing part of her story during our two worship gatherings at church this morning. Public speaking is one of her biggest fears, which means I'm extra proud of her. I'll be sure to post the podcast of tomorrow's gathering ASAP so you can listen in. In the meantime, check out these photos of Tricia and her new hair cut.





Nate

Nate

More Info About Gwyneth's Hearing Loss

Our trip to Duke on Friday confirmed that Gwyneth does indeed have severe hearing loss in her right ear and mild to moderate hearing loss in her left ear. To be honest, the news that our daughter has hearing loss isn't phasing us much...what has been stressful and very tiring is the phone calls and doctors appointments, etc. trying to figure out what our next step should be Last week was very exhausting, but with a weekend of rest behind us, we're feeling much more prepared.

To answer a question that many people have been asking, Cochlear implants are not an option because her hearing loss is not severe enough. We're hoping to get her fitted for hearing aids as soon as possible.

Fortunately, we have been using sign language with Gwyneth for quite a while, so that will not be a challenge. She is already communicating well with using just a handful of signs. We're hoping, with hearing aids and continued speech therapy, that we'll begin to see/hear a dramatic improvement in her speech skills.

We have been spending a lot of time the past week working with her to figure out exactly what she can and can't hear. It appears that she can hear well enough to become familiar with certain words...she obviously understands much of what we are saying to her. But, it's likely that she is unable to hear certain consonants well, which explains why she has been having issues with speech.

We appreciate the encouragement we've received over the past week from so many in the deaf and hard of hearing community. And, we appreciate your continued prayer and support as we figure out how to best help Gwyneth.

Thanks!

Nate

Vintage

Everyone on Facebook has been posting "vintage" photos of themselves the past few weeks. My dad got a hold of one of my grandmother's photo albums and posted several photos of our family from way back when. Here's a few of them...hard to figure out where Gwyneth get's her good looks from, eh?



I'll be sure to post some of Tricia's baby photos as well!

Nate

Pink & Brown Day Photos

Thanks to everyone who celebrated Gwyneth's 2nd birthday by dressing in Pink & Brown!





































Although we're throwing Gwyneth a birthday party in a few weeks, we did have some of our family over on January 8 to enjoy some cake and ice cream with us.



Nate