So Much Has Happened!

It has been months since my last post. The Vlog hasn’t happened. I’ve stopped using Twitter. Let me update you on some of our newest activities.

Landon is finally potty trained!!! He is picking up sign language beautifully, but he now has appointments at the Mayo Clinic in October! We know it’s Auditory Neuropathy, but we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help him. We already have his We-Go, a speech generative device so that he can talk with people who don’t know sign, but can we try hearing aids? Would Cochlear Implants help? Is there ANYTHING else we can do to make his communication a little easier?

Zander is talking a lot. He has words for everything. Whether they are actually ‘Adult English Language’ words or not is questionable, but they are words nonetheless.

I got hearing aids two weeks ago! I have always had hearing loss, ever since I was a child, but I just recently had a terrible double ear infection that made my new primary doc want to get my hearing checked. Finally! I can’t believe how much I couldn’t hear. Footsteps! The clicking of the car door when it opens and closes. The crinkle of a plastic bag. Trees and their leaves blowing in the wind. The beeping on my oven, my washer and dryer. Peoples VOICES – the consonants – c, v, s, t, b, d, z, etc.! I don’t need subtitles anymore, although I admit I still like them. Habit? Hearing has opened up a whole new world for me!

Work will be starting up soon since Hockey season is upon us, and Landon is starting Pre-K. He will be taking the bus again this year and he is so excited to go back to school.

We have a cruise coming up in September, on the Disney Dream. The boys are very excited. They make sure to watch something about cruises every day on their tablet. Tim and I are a little worried about Landon being discriminated against by the cruise cast members since he can’t talk, but we’ll deal with it as it comes. If he needs something, he’ll figure out a way to let them know.

We Have Direction!!!

I know I haven’t wrote in a while and I promised I would even start a Vlog but things have just been so hectic.

We had Landon’s procedure done! This was the one that would tell us more about why he’s not talking and if it has something to do with his ears and hearing. Turns out: Landon can hear sound just fine, but the sounds he hears gets jumbled. This is why he can understand us but when he says things, it’s what he hears. The doctor described it as ‘dyslexic hearing’. I believe the actual term for this is ‘Auditory Neuropathy’. So, it’s not his ears, it’s his brain. They said he may outgrow this eventually, or he may not. We’re going to buy the We-Go Tablet so that he can communicate with us better, and we’re also going to start sign-language.

Let me tell you why this is a blessing. This means that our stress about being first time parents and Landon’s speech delay possibly being something that we had done(or not done) is completely null and void. This is not our fault. It’s not his fault. It’s not anyone’s fault except maybe my body because my uterus screwed up my husband’s blueprints(haha). This means that we know he doesn’t need hearing aids, and that we can move forward with something without it being a waste of time or money. We can start new means of communication and won’t have to worry that he’s just going to start talking one day. As much as it sucks, THIS IS A BLESSING.

Next update: I’m getting spayed. We’ve decided no more children. Being that I’m Type 1 Diabetic, that puts me at high risk and we have two very healthy little boys already. We don’t want to push our luck. We all have things we need to work on and adding another little one into the mix wouldn’t be the best idea.

I’ll try to post more. Things seem to be slowing down now, so hopefully I’ll have more time.

#3 – Our Love for Disney

Now that we’ve passed all the boring stuff, we can go onto some more interesting things. Our favorite Family Vacations, for example. Every time we go someplace it seems to focus around Disney.

Tim and I took our first trip to Disney World in Orlando, FL together in 2012. We only went to Epcot, but I think that trip had a huge impact on our relationship. We had been dating for about 6 months and hadn’t truly established how much we both love everything Disney themed.

Our second Disney trip was in 2015. We got married (yay us!) on April 25th, 2015 and left for our honeymoon on April 27th. We left our one year old(Landon) behind with my mother so that we could really enjoy each other as a newly married couple. It is called a honeymoon for a reason, after all. We spent the first week at Disney World in Orlando, FL and spent the second week on a Disney Cruise through the Eastern Caribbean. That was the most magical consecutive two weeks of our lives. Disney is the best place to be even when you’re not on a ‘wedding high’, so they made it pure ecstasy for us.

Our third trip wasn’t to Disney per say, but it was to Hawaii’s Disney themed resort, Aulani. We did this in April of 2016, two months after Zander was born. Landon came with and they were both little angels on the 11 hour plane ride there, and 11 hours back. We received so many compliments.

The last trip to Disney we went on was a week at Disney World again. this was in April – yes, we like April – of 2017. Zander was a year old and Landon was 3. We spent a week there and finally got to try out a Disney Resort, as we had always stayed at my father’s timeshare condo and just rented a car for transport. Disney Resort vs. Condo, you may ask? I would definitely prefer the Resort with free transportation, as long as our trip is completely Disney based. If we’re planning on going anywhere else, like SeaWorld or a beach for a few days, I’d probably choose a hotel/condo with rental car.

Now, when we go to Disney, I do the work to make our days at the parks as profitable as possible. I plan out what rides the kids are tall enough to go on, what time we should go on which rides in order to minimize wait times, which parks to visit on which days, restaurant availability, check out the weather, and the rest of it. I make sure we can hit every ride in the least amount of time possible, and so far (twice) it hasn’t failed.

I’ll go more into detail about each one of our vacations later. Right now it’s just a brief history lesson on our trips!

 

If you want smaller, more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter: @LZ_Johnston

#2 – Introduction to Our Pets

Hello all.

I thought our second blog should be before we do our first Vlog, which will hopefully be on the boys’ birthdays. We need to introduce you to our pets!

We have two 6 year old cats, one male and one female. They are siblings, both half Siamese for sure. Bella is completely black with some white tuft on her chest and belly, and LOVES attention. She always comes when called, but is an indoor cat. She hates the outdoors. Ashes is a larger Gray Tabby, and we’re positive he’s part Maine Coone. He loves water and loves the summer outdoors, despite being declawed. He comes back every night and stays in when it’s cold or rainy. The cats have always loved our children, and I have pictures of Landon playing footsie with Ashes when he was a baby. Ashes always slept with them, not on them, in their bassinet at their feet. Bella always sat right next to them when they were feeding.

Luna is our almost 2 year old Great Pyrenees. She is completely white, weighs more than me, and loves the boys with all her heart. She is still a little hyper and likes to jump, but she’s learning how to be a good dog fast. She never jumps on the kids, but loves to hug. She eats about 6 cups of dog food a day and spends most of her time outside barking at leaves blowing in the yard. She comes inside at night if the weather is below 0F, and during the day if it’s below -10F. The cats took a while to warm up to Luna, but now Ashes rubs up on her and lets her clean him whenever they get the chance.

We have a 55 gallon fish tank with a beautiful koi and large goldfish. We brought them to our Koi Pond outside last summer, but we’re not decided on keeping that this summer or not. It’s a lot of work and we know we need to replace some parts in it before it will be suitable this summer, so that may have to wait.

Our last animal is a 3.5 foot Ball Python. Her name is Grace, and I got her from a friend who couldn’t have her in the house they were renting. I believe I found a better home for her where she will be better socialized, but I have to wait until I have a weekend off work in order to bring her there. She’s a good girl, but I just need to focus on my kids, myself, my husband and my home before I can focus on any more animals.

Landon has always been wonderful with any animal. We once took him to the local Science Center, where they have a tortoise they let roam. He was about 1.5 year old and he had never seen a tortoise before, but he was so gentle with it. He learned how to pat him and scratch his shell gently and even got to feed him a bit. Every once in a while we’ll let him hold Grace, and he’s always very careful.

Zander, on the other hand, thinks that all animals are stuffed animals. We are constantly reminding him to be gentle and ‘Pet nice!’ He grabs the cats around the waist and drags them like he would one of his stuffed kitties. Fortunately they put up with him, and he will learn as he gets older. He does better with Luna, perhaps because she is so much bigger than him and he can’t just pick her up. She will nudge his butt to help him climb up onto the couch or onto the bed. They work together to get food as well. She is very gentle and has never nipped or stepped on either of the boys, even when they offer her food.

Please, if you have any questions about our little family, don’t hesitate to ask! I’ll be happy to write about certain topics and will try to respond to questions. Also, follow us on Twitter and on YouTube(once I start vlogging) – LZ_Johnston.

#1 – Upcoming Birthdays

My kids’ birthdays are coming up soon. Less than a month. I have no idea how much we’ll have to spend on them or what they’d even like. Cake, obviously. That’s a given. But toys? Buying for a 2 and a 4 year old is tough. They have their favorite TV shows and toys and such, but I think the best gift would be seeing their cousins and grandparents. Of course, that costs no money. Tim also thinks we should celebrate their birthdays separately, which means two cakes in less than two weeks time. That’s a lot of cake. There aren’t too many options for a family that is struggling to get by. More on that later, probably.

Landon will be 4. He’s due for an Electromyography in March. At his last Audiology appointment they found that the little hairs inside his ears aren’t working well, so we’re going to find out exactly how damaged his ears are. Since he’s not verbal, perhaps this will point to some answers or guidance. I personally think he might have genetic nerve damage. I have it too. But I guess we’ll find out, huh? He likes Chuggington, Paw Patrol and Pokemon.

Zander is turning 2. No hearing issues yet, and he talks more than Landon does. He loves Super Why, Word Party, and of course Pokemon because Landon does, too.

The boys have an unbelievable bond that I hope I can reiterate here. Landon was born to be a big brother, and Zander was born to be the baby. We can’t have a third one. It would throw our whole family off.

Tim is a wonderful Dad and an even better husband. He loves me and the kids unconditionally. He supports us on his salary and has never given up no matter how rough things have been. He is a phenomenal artist and a hardworking, patient man. He is a graphic designer who designs Gobos. If you don’t know what that is, look it up!

I am a stay at home mom most of the year. My name is Brooke. I currently am the manager of a hockey apparel shop at our local hockey arena, but I only work on the weekends during hockey games. So 20 hours a week if I’m lucky.

So that is our little family. We struggle on a low income, but we make it work. We do things that most would consider us crazy for. We have pets, problems, drama. We’re not perfect in anyway, but we’re family.

Follow us on Twitter if you want smaller, more frequent updates. @LZ_Johnston