Mother's Day and Baby shower

Fun weekend...my cousin Ashley's baby shower, Mother's Day and presents!! Jeramy gave me a new camera...so excited and can't wait to play with it.

The cake at Ashley's baby shower.

What can I say...Jenkins girls love black and white!

Our grandfather was named Jack

me and Ash

My aunt Lisa, cousins Ali and Ashley

Walking to his daddy

Grammie, me and Jack

He's a mama's boy!

Make a Smilebox greeting

More pics and more battles!!

Jack with Grammie

...cold, cold water

...getting ready to nap in my lap

and he's out!

me, Ash (28 weeks preg) and Hill

long day and getting ILL

Jack and Hill...along with a friend he found on the beach.

Pool time...Seawinds in Gulf Shores...great kiddie pool

We had a nice, relaxing beach trip and then I come home to find a letter about Jack's therapy. HSM has now denied his requested OT...big surprise! I knew it was coming, so I guess it is now time to fight for his OT. And keep in mind, that I STILL have not heard from HSM regarding the appeal for the PT. They say the hold up is due to case overload, but they sure had the time to process a few denials!!! So now we are up in the air with PT and OT. He will continue to get speech therapy until June (remember the lovely "cut backs") and then we have to start going through HSM approval for that too...they are so going to deny him! I am also starting to get bills for his PT/OT...our private insurance and Medicaid will not pay if HSM does not approve the therapy. I will definitely be making some calls this week ; )

BEACH BUMS

This is where we are this week...white, sandy beaches in Gulf Shores. Jack is having the time of his life exploring the condo and playing in the water. He LOVES the water again this year, but not sure about the sand! And he is doing so well with taking steps...when your not looking, we will catch him letting go and taking a few steps (he is up to about 6 on his own). He is also doing good with standing. I just cannot believe how much he is changing.

His new word this week is BUS! We can thank Grammie and KK for that!

Easter

Jack trying out one of KK's presents

Collecting eggs at KK's party

KK IS 2!!!!

Easter morning, after the 6 a.m. service!

KK and Jack...one of their favorite pastimes!

Easter morning

After Easter church, on way to Moo and Poo's, looking so cute!

Jack's goodies from Moo, Hannah and Hill

Jack and B

KK, Jack and B digging in Jack's basket

Eat him up!

Church Easter egg hunt

Putting eggs in his basket...we've been practicing at home!

Finding an egg

We had a great Easter, very busy, but enjoyable...Easter Egg Hunts and bday parties. And of course, Jack got several Easter baskets!

And yes, Jack is still amazing us and his therapists...learning new words, drinking from a straw (big one...oral muscle tone) and starting to take steps!!!! We have also discovered that he likes to sing...no surprise there, we really do sing to him A LOT. We also found out that he will be losing Early Intervention Services due to state funding and "cutbacks". This will really not affect Jack that much, but it will other kids. He will just lose his speech therapist Brooke and he will still continue PT/OT at Rush. We are really sad to loose Mrs. Brooke. Jack just loves her and so do I! So, it looks like in June we will have to find a speech therapist. And I have not heard a thing from HSM...did they accept my appeal or not??? It is going on weeks now? I'm really anxious to see what the hold up is.

And so sorry for the long break between posts...Facebook has been keeping me busy!

Hey guys...it has been awhile! We are finally settled at my mom's and I have my laptop up and running. We are doing good, but have been busy.

Jack is great. He is now 24 lbs and 31 inches...he is in the 90th percentile for DS boys and his Ped is thrilled with his progress. Jack is saying a couple of words and tries to repeat others, so we are good with that! He is getting really brave with cruising and walking. He is more steady walking holding onto one hand and if you have something he wants, he goes right for it!! He is still in weekly therapy although I do not know how long it will last. He did get approved for Medicaid but HSM is still undecided. I went through the hearing 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything. But considering the tone of the hearing, I am thinking they are leaning towards less therapy. He is just excelling so well and HSM feels that is more due to us not the sessions with PT. Whatever. I love our PT and I need the weekly direction from her!

I am also currently without a camera! I will get on that and post pics of Jack soon.

HSM verdict

I have finally heard from HSM! The physician that looked at his case suggested that we continue weekly therapy for four more months. After reading through MOUNDS of paper work and evals, it is pretty obvious that this verdict is just to appease me for now. The physician also added that after Jack's four months with a new therapist that the coordination of care will be solid and Jack will need much less therapy. Hey, we will take what we can get for now! I have to admit that all of the confidential paperwork that I read was very positive. It was awesome to see things like..."developing well above average rate for DS", "minimal delays even compared with the non-DS population"...that makes you want to smile!!

I am just hoping that Medicaid will be just as generous as HSM so we can have some help with paying for all of the therapy! And Jack's new thing this week...he says "moo" when he sees the cow in one of his favorite books and when you ask him, "What does a cow do?" Pretty impressive!

I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day. We will start packing up the house on Saturday. My most romantic Vday yet!