My Kiddos

I am so blessed to have 2 amazing children!  My oldest, Kaydence Arabella, was born on July 11, 2007, she is 2 1/2 years old.  My youngest, James "Riddick," we call him Riddick, was born on July 2, 2009, he is 9 months old.  

     My daughter Kaydence has special needs, and has been such a blessing to us.  She has a seizure disorder, is developmentally delayed, has vision impairment (wears glasses), has hearing impairment (wears hearing aids), sensory issues, feeding problems (has a peg tube that is about to be turned into a button), and has a genetic disorder, although the specific genetic disorder is unknown to us as of yet.  She does not walk or talk, however, she can army crawl.  She gets a long tube feed at night, because she will not eat enough during the day.  She has bright blue eyes, curly light brown hair, and the most contagious smile you will ever see.  I truly admire my daughter!  She goes through so much, doctors and therapies, and still goes on smiling and playing.  Don't get me wrong...she gets mad and angry, and cranky as well, but no matter what she goes back to being my happy little girl.  
     She has therapy every day, Monday through Friday.  Two days we go to Our Children's House at Dallas for occupational therapy, speech therapy for feeding, and psychology for feeding.  Then, the other three days of the week therapists come to the house to see her through Garland ECI.  For that she gets deaf education, vision therapy, and developmental therapy.  Soon we will be starting physical therapy at LifeSteps of Garland, where her PT from Garland ECI has just recently taken a position. There are also a multitude of doctor's appointments that she is being hefted to on a regular basis.
     In the Fall, Kaydence will be starting the PPCD program, where she will go half days to school.  I am really hoping that this will help her a lot, especially with interacting with other children. 
     My son, Riddick, is quite the boy.  He is the complete opposite from Kaydence in so many ways, except their looks and certain quirks.  He is big and strong for his age.  He is over the 100th percentile for his weight and height.  He is also very happy with an infectious smile, bright blue eyes, and light brown hair that is starting to curl.  He can say "baba," "mama," "papa," "dada," and "yellow."  Which is the cutest thing ever, especially when you have waited 2 1/2 years for your child to call you "mama."  However, he can be quite the little handful.  He gets into everything, his favorite thing is to find and eat paper, which he then throws up.  Yeah, it's great huh?  
     My kiddos are both wonderful and exhausting at the same time, and while I might deny this at a later date, I'm sure I wouldn't have them any other way.  

Bridgett Hoover