Abby at 2 days old

1 more picture

pictures

Abigail

Abigail was born this morning at 1:30 A.M. weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. Mom and baby are doing fine and recovering. We will try to post some pictures soon.

Change of Plans

I'm now scheduled to be induced tonight at 9:00. We'll accept any prayers you can give for us. Mike will update the blog soon. Maybe even with some pictures (hopefully none that are too embarrassing).

Baby News!

I am scheudled to be induced Wednesday morning at 6:00 am. So we should have a baby by tax day.

Quick Kerwin Story

Kerwin has continued to change, grow, and challenge us since the last time we blogged. But here is a cute story about how much he is learning. Because American Sign Language is not just English put to hand movements, it is a separate language with it's own syntax (sentence structure), it is difficult for deaf children to learn to read becuase they have to learn an entirely new language. So at school, Kerwin is learning ASL for communicating and English for reading/writing. He is learning how to write sentences with all thouse little words like articles and helping verbs. The other day, he got out of the shower and was putting on his clothes and looked at me with his look how smart I am look and signed: "I...is...cold." It was so cute. I praised him for making such a good English sentence and then correted his grammar. He is very proud of himself for learning so much. And so are his mom and dad!

In other news

I had a doctor's appointment with ultrasound today. Everything looks fine. I'm still officially due in two and a half weeks and Abigail weighs about 6 lbs. 13 oz. So everything is looking good. So far I've had a smooth time of things. I now have extremely swollen feet and ankles but besides that am feeling pretty good.

I want to also say a big thank you to everyone who has thrown a baby shower for us, attended a baby shower or just given us wonderful gifts. We have received such a strong show of love and support from our friends and family. Of course, if you've been reading this blog for any time you would expect nothing different. We are so blessed and truly appreciative.

Random Writing

This is a brief essay I wrote for a YMCA fundraising kickoff. The director of Kerwin's baseball league asked if I could come and speak but because it was right in the middle of a work day, there was no way I could make it work. So I wrote this instead. The event was eventually cancelled due to the ice storm so I thought I'd share the essay here:

When we brought our son Kerwin home from Haiti in October of 2007, we already knew he loved sports. On my very first trip to Haiti a year and a half earlier, I played a form of soccer with him as I held him up, dangling his atrophied legs over a ball so he could take a flailing kick at it. When we played with him at the mission where he lived from the ages of two to six, he would always head back to the storage closet to rummage through the box where they had a collection of balls and other sports equipment. He would search for the hand pump and begin to blow up a flat, second-hand basketball. As we waited in Haiti’s capitol Port-au-Prince for his passport to be granted, one of the first movies he learned to love was Air Bud.
Just through observing, Kerwin quickly taught himself to imitate the proper technique for shooting a basketball, swinging a bat, throwing a spiral, and diving to dig out a spike. He is a very athletic child and has great eye hand coordination. He also has spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy which mainly affects his muscle strength and control from the trunk down. He uses a rolling walker to get around most of the time. Kerwin also has severe to profound hearing loss.
When Kerwin was two years old, he weighed nine pounds and suffered from severe malnourishment and neglect. At five years old he was just beginning to pull himself up like a toddler beside tables and railings. Today he is a three-sport superstar in the Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League, the NFL Flag Football League, and the Jump Start Basketball League. Kerwin began playing baseball last spring and to say he loved it would be an understatement. It was the highlight of every week. Every night before bed we would talk about what the next day would bring. Kerwin quickly learned the signs for each day of the week and would say, “Monday, school. Tuesday, school. Wednesday, school. Thursday, school. Friday, school.” And then with great excitement, “Saturday, BASEBALL!”
We have been thrilled with the addition of the fall baseball league, the flag football league and the basketball league. Kerwin has been equally excited about each one. It is wonderful for us as well, his parents, grandparents, family and friends, to get to watch him participate in something he loves so much that we do not have to initiate, assist in, or make sure that appropriate accommodations are made. As a parent of a special needs child, you spend so much of your time and energy advocating for your child. What a blessing it has been for us to participate in these adapted programs that are well-organized, well-thought out, and well-run. From our whole family, we would like to say a huge thank you to the YMCA for its support of athletic opportunities for children with special needs.

Rebecca Haake
January 24, 2009

We're back!

First, let me make my feeble excuse as to why I haven't blogged in, oh let's just say a few weeks. After the ice storm, the wireless internet that was so freely coming to our home stopped coming and we have had to seek out other places to use the internet. This means I check my email and things like that at work and at my parents but don't really have the ability to sit down in the evening and write these high-quality posts that you are so accustomed to. Surely, I jest. Point is, I've been too busy (lazy) and cheap to actually get internet access permanently installed at our house. So anyway, my sister has been bugging me to put up some pictures from Kerwin's birthday which was back in February so here goes.

These are from our family party at my parent's house.






Pictures from his birthday party at the "Fun Center"