I do know that I would like to make more of an effort to update our blog this year.
I seem to become so consumed with all my research and data taking of his sleeping, vitamin supplements, diet, etc I often forget to take a break and reflect on the progress that we are making and share it with our loved ones.
The last 4 months of 2011 are a bit of a blur...faced with many challenges, stress, long sleepless nights I am glad to move into a new year with new hopes
Keagan turned 3 in November which changed the type of therapy he is eligible to receive. Everything now must go thru the school district and if you cant get them to provide or pay for it, you either have to pay out of pocket or go thru the necessary channels to fight and prove why you should have it. Needless to say that is a long process and something new we are still learning about
His IEP was scheduled for end of October. IEP an annual meeting with the school board to review his needs, goals and progress. I was a nervous wreck worrying about this upcoming meeting & spent endless hours researching, reading, attending conferences/parent support groups,etc to get as much knowledge as possible as to what we should expect & ask for in the next phase of therapy
As you can imagine, many many opinions out there depending on who you speak to.
I think that alone increased my anxiety because I had to weigh thru all the information of people I trusted & respected but needed to decide what did or didnt apply for us
The meeting came & went and I did not feel satisfied with what was offered to us but decided to trust and give it a try for agreed amount time. I was convinced we would be demanding a change and in for a battle, something I was not looking forward to. So my search for an attorney and/or parent advocate began. Mark & I decided to take a break, try to enjoy the holidays and then begin our quest for finding the "perfect" school again in January.
Well, on December 1st, we received a phone call at 3am that would changes our lives. Mark's father Peter had a sudden heart attack and passed away unexpectedly.
Our focus quickly changed and we needed to get to England as soon as possible to be with the family.
Mark went ahead and then Kelsie, Keagan &I made the trip across the pond a few days later.
Thankfully, as many people prayed for us, this little boy was an ANGEL on the plane. He played with his cars, looked at his books, watched movies, slept when he needed to, not one meltdown to speak of.We arrived in England on December 7th greeted by friends and family but most importantly Nanny.
I am so thankful that we were all (almost all of us) able to be together for a few weeks during this difficult time and able to spend Christmas together. Of course we wish it had been under different circumstances, but I think it was very therapeutic for everyone to have us all together
Ready to say goodbye to Grandad
It was a very cold, but clear day, the rain held out which was an answer to prayer.
It was a tough day to say goodbye, but was wonderful to see how many people turned up to show their
love & respect for Grandad
Doing some Christmas shopping in Hatfield. England still closes all their shops at 5pm on Sundays, that includes Grocery stores, even during the Christmas season. Something that would be unimaginable in the US, but would be a nice change of pace for all of us to actually have "family time" 
The town of Chatteris at Christmas is beautiful lights down every main street
On Christmas Eve we took a nice drive down to the coast or shall I say it the English way "The Seaside" not far from where the Royal family was celebrating at Sandringham
We treated ourselves to Fish & Chips but a little too cold for the famous ice cream, so we settled for some sweets at the Candy Shoppe
Lucky for me a new Tesco had opened near by since last time we were there so I was able to take a quick peak inside...I could write a whole post on Tesco...love that place!!
Christmas morning we were lucky to spend with Julian, Kelly & the girls. I will have to post some videos of them opening their gifts, Jamie was a crack up, never heard her talk so much...can we say EXCITED!!! Father Christmas was good to them :)
We came back with Nanny in the late afternoon and enjoyed our Christmas Feast, followed by games, drinks and more food, isn't that what the holidays are all about!
Mark surprised Julian and his 2 older children Josh & Ella with tickets to the Man United game on Boxing day. It was nice to see the 4 of them do something special together, even though it was the "REDS"
On Christmas Eve we took a nice drive down to the coast or shall I say it the English way "The Seaside" not far from where the Royal family was celebrating at Sandringham
We treated ourselves to Fish & Chips but a little too cold for the famous ice cream, so we settled for some sweets at the Candy Shoppe
Christmas morning we were lucky to spend with Julian, Kelly & the girls. I will have to post some videos of them opening their gifts, Jamie was a crack up, never heard her talk so much...can we say EXCITED!!! Father Christmas was good to them :)
We came back with Nanny in the late afternoon and enjoyed our Christmas Feast, followed by games, drinks and more food, isn't that what the holidays are all about!
Mark surprised Julian and his 2 older children Josh & Ella with tickets to the Man United game on Boxing day. It was nice to see the 4 of them do something special together, even though it was the "REDS"
The Girls...Mollie Mae & Jaime
So back to reality in the USA, we will miss all our Friends and family in the UK until our next visit.
Will it be State side? Only time will tell
Hello 2012
Looking forward to making many memories with friends & family
Continued prayers for progress with our son
Health & happiness to all!
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