Strawberry Grass-Take 2

When Noah was about 2 years old, I took a picture of him in one of our fields that was full of something he named "Strawberry Grass". I don't know the name of it, but it's actually a weed that grows and I'm sure is the bain of a farmer's existence. But, for a few weeks in April, every year, we love to watch it. Many cars stop and take photos of this beautiful weed. So, my mom requested I take a picture of Laurel in it this year to match the picture she has of Noah on her wall. My kids are totally used to me putting them in all sorts of funny situations to get that "great shot" so they were game. 

In exciting news, Laurel is getting a Cochlear Implant! The last few times we've had her hearing tested, it has shown that her hearing is decreasing slightly in her Right ear which is her better ear of the two. This trend concerns us and the Doctors a bit for her down the road. She is progressing nicely in her language development but has shown that she has some difficulty with articulation of some sounds. Our prayer and the Doctors hope is that with the implant, it will take her Left ear (which is severely- profoundly deaf ) and hopefully make it at least as good or better than her right ear. If it works then she would be able to hear those illusive sounds like "f" and "s" that are making articulation so tough for her right now. 

Our Prayer Requests: Laurel does not have a typical type of hearing loss. She has Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) which basically means they don't know why she hears the way she does but things that she hears can become garbled. Sometimes it seems she is "on" and other times not so much. Think of it as a frayed lamp cord. It works most of the time but if things are moved just so, the lamp cuts off. That's kind of like ANSD. So, our prayer request is that the Cochlear Implant will be successful. Kids with ANSD can do really well with them or they don't work at all. That's kind of scary knowing that we have to take the residual hearing (which isn't much) in her left ear away in order to put the implant in...... and it might not work. However, ALL of the Dr.'s and professionals who see her say she does not present like a typical ANSD kid. She makes remarkable progress and doesn't have the "garbled" sound a typical ANSD kid sometimes have. They ALL think she'll do fantastic. We know there is one who knows all so we ask your prayers for her June 21st. surgery!  Laurel's story have allowed us to share with so many people about the plight of orphans and God's UNCONDITIONAL love. We pray He continues to let her little light shine!