Quick update and prayers please

The girls are doing great. Emily loves kindergarten and speaks very positively about her teacher. Her teacher reports that she is doing great! Hopefully we are in for a smooth year. The academic part comes easily for her, but the waiting and keeping herself busy while her classmates finish up their work can be a challenge for her at times. Her teacher has seemed to make some modifications for her so that she is challenged and not bored. I am very proud of her. She started dance class at a new school. I was nervous about making a change since she danced at the previous studio for 3 years. They were wonderful and nurturing, however I felt as though they were doing the same exact thing year after year. This new school has already taught her more in 3 weeks than all of the 3 years combined. Emily LOVES LOVES LOVES it and can't wait to go each week. She starts Chinese school next week too and she is very excited about that. Alyssa is doing nicely. Her behavior seems to cycle. She has great weeks and then weeks on end where she has a very tough time and it seems that one tantrum just cycles into the next. I had a meeting with her "team" this week and everyone really seems to be on the same page. She was discharged from speech for now. She is using sentences to communicate. She answers questions, asks questions, comments, and understands everything that a 2.6 year old should. That is amazing since at her second birthday....just last March she did not have ONE WORD!! Isn't that amazing. They decreased her Physical therapy and increased her Occupational therapy. She will continue to go to a sensory gym twice a week, but they added one session at school to help the teacher integrate some sensory strategies in the classroom. She will continue to go to a classroom 5 mornings per week. Overall I am happy about how the meeting went and all of the services that were approved. They will also be doing a Vision Evaluation. I have really lucked out with her Coordinator. He even said that he would send a Behavior Specialist out a few times a week if we wanted and definitely if she goes to daycare to help her there. I haven't had to advocate for her services at all...yet. Lets hope that continues if she continues to need them down the road. Today was quite the day. My Mom has been having extreme pain in her abdomen for a couple of weeks. She went to the GI on Thursday and he said that she needed to go for some testing. In the meantime, he prescribed some medication and sent her on her way. The pain only seemed to get worse and this morning, we decided that she needed to go to the ER. My brother Tom took her while I looked for a sitter. I called my niece to see if she could come over to watch the girls. She said that she was already watching her little sister, but that I could drop them over at her house. I asked her where her Mom was and she replied, "she is at the hospital with Dad." I tracked my sister-in-law down and it seemed that my brother Dave was at the same ER with the same EXACT symptoms as our Mom. Just imagine two patients---at the same hospital--- with the same last name---undergoing the same tests!!! We were all very diligent in making sure the correct tests were read for the right person and the right person was getting the correct pain medications!!!! Never dull in our family. Long story short...my mom was discharged with a couple of prescriptions added to her already long regimen of medicines, Seems she has Diverticulitis and the start of an infection. My brother on the other hand was admitted. Seems he ALSO has diverticulitis, however he has an abssess. They will treat him with IV antibiotics for a minimum of 5 days and then decide if he needs surgery. I pray that he doesn't. I pray that my Mom starts to find some relief soon. So.....the girls are great. My Mom is feeling slightly better tonight. My brother is in good hands at the hospital. I pray that things only continue to get better. So that you don't think that things are always doom and gloom, 3 things that I am thankful for today: 1. That my girls made me laugh today 2. That it was a beautiful sunny day 3. It is a 3 day weekend woohoo