Frustrated with the System...Already

So Maddox had his speech evaluation yesterday. He now is labeled with developmental speech delay. That is, until he's in speech therapy for a while and they find out more. It "could" be Apraxia. Again, even if it is, we won't know for a while. So we need to start speech therapy. So not only am I frustrated because I wanted to start this process months ago, but now it's been brought to my attention that speech therapy (if not for a medical reason such as autism) isn't covered by our insurance. The insurance we pay over $250 a month for. It's the insurance provided by Shawn's employer, so it's not like we had a choice. Every year we pay more for insurance and they cover less. Speech therapy starts at $70 an hour (usually more), and he won't only need to go once a week. So I've been put in contact with the Infant Toddler Network for Children with Special Health Care Needs. This is an Early Intervention Resource that is supposed to pay for his speech therapy until he turns 3. Who really knows what happens after he turns 3, probably get shuffled to another agency, or maybe the public school system. Right now we wait. How long I don't know. A Family Resource Coordinator should be in touch with me to set up an Individual Family Service Plan. First they have to see if we qualify. The lady couldn't tell me when we'd hear from our Family Resource Coordinator because apparently most insurance doesn't cover speech therapy (unless for a medical reason) so there are a lot of "kiddos" waiting. Great news for me to hear. On the plus side, it's probably better that my insurance doesn't cover it because even if they did cover it, they only cover 20 visits per year. If he needs to go twice a week that wouldn't even cover three months. So while we wait we practice our "games" with Maddox, the games that the speech therapist taught us yesterday, and hope that they will be enough to help for how ever long we need to wait. Hopefully we don't wait longer than a couple of weeks. The games seem to be helping so far, we're working on sounds right now because you have to have the sounds down before you can make words. He has the most difficulty with the sounds that come from the back of the mouth. However, progress has been made, in the last 24 hours Maddox has produced three of the sounds we've been working on - boo, aaahhhh, and vroom. So I'm off to buy more supplies and candy for our games. Candy as bribery? Yes! The therapist said she's only met a couple of kids who would "work for free" and Maddox definitely isn't one of them.

New!

So check out my new signature!





Pretty cool, huh? I'm getting more tech savvy everyday, I amaze myself. I didn't even need my Friend Chris, who is the person who usually keeps my computer from exploding! (I really just took a code from here)

Talk about making me feel like crap...

So last Friday Maddox went to his ear doctor. He goes every four months for a hearing test and to make sure his tubes are still in. It's speech evaluation time...finally. I asked about it at our last appointment. Then he had an informal speech eval from a good friend of Shawn's mom (a speech therapist), who wasn't concerned at that time. (6 months ago) Then at his two year checkup and shots his regualar doctor told me that some kids just talk later, blah, blah, blah. Now the ear doctor is all concerned, and told me that he should have at least 20 words and be putting 2 to 3 together, which I knew. I knew that, but everyone has been telling me that he'll talk when he's ready, and Shawn thinks the informal speech eval he got was good enough, etc. So the ear doctor made me feel like crap. It's not like you can just go and get a speech eval without a referral. I got Maddox an eval next Tuesday, which I am a little proud of because getting in that quickly is unheard of. I'm not, however, looking forward to the bills this will rack up. (He needs it, I'm getting it, and I'm paying for it, but I don't have to be happy about how much I'm paying for it) The speech eval alone is over $200, which goes straight to our insurance deductible. Then if he needs speech therapy (which I"m pretty sure he will because he only has 3 words) our insurance will only cover 20 visits per year. Something tells me that 20 visits, while it sounds like a lot, isn't that much. So I guess to make a long story short this whole thing is like a bad re-run of him getting tubes. They put you off and put you off until things get really bad. The more I think about the more it irritates me. If we would have gotten a formal speech eval when I wanted to Maddox would probably be talking by now. It also makes me feel like crap because I should have pushed the issue.

Into It...

Here's some pictures of the newest pillowcases I've made.

I'm not sure how I really like having two bands of color instead of one.
I've really gotten into making pillowcases. I've made 5 in the last two days. You should really go check out my Etsy shop, Mommies In Mind, I've been adding things and making a few changes.

My Latest Creation...

Ta Da!!

The pillowcase. That's what I just made today. If you can see it behind the kid. He saw it and wouldn't even let me finish ironing it. He just took it. As you can see, he's a big Lightning McQueen fan. Who knows, you may start seeing some pillowcases in my Etsy shop.

Well...OK...

As a general rule I don't really like talking politics. I get easily irritated. Pretty soon everyone is going to start asking me who I'm voting for and wanting to debate it, etc. This is all I'm going to say:

Too Cute...If I say so myself...

Well?

So do you notice anything different?

(I'll give you a hint...my new blog look...)

Welding wood...

This is one of the presents Maddox got for his 2nd birthday, a welding set. As you can see he REALLY likes it. You probably can't tell, but when you push the handle it makes welder-like sounds and lights up. His favorite thing to weld is his wooden train table. Notice that he's holding a monster truck in his other hand, another one of his favorite things. We're taking him to see Monster Jam next weekend, I think he'll have a blast! (Yes, he will be wearing ear protection, we're not stupid)

I WON!!!

So all the people out there who thought nap time could have been better spent cleaning my house or doing laundry this past week were so wrong. I Won! What did I win, you ask? What didn't I win, would be a better question. To start it off I won a $25 Mastercard from Mimi's Jewel Box of Tips and Treasures! My mind is already swimming with all the possibilities of things I could purchase. Maybe I'll save it for a rainy day. Probably not.

And then...I also won a Bloggy Makeover from Flibby Pie Graphic Design and Where the Kudzu Grows! A Bloggy Makeover that entails a header, side buttons, and coordinating background to my specifications! I have been wanting this for so long, that now I'm not even sure what I want. So you'd better keep checking back because one day soon my little blog will be all spiffed up!

Thanks to everyone who hosted a giveaway, can't wait until next time!

The Winner...

*Drumroll* And the winner of my $5 Starbucks card Bloggy Giveaway is...tes283! Congratulations tes283, thanks for entering my giveaway!

Be sure and come back in three months for the next giveaway hosted by Shannon at Bloggy Giveaways. I'll be giving something else away, or maybe the same thing, who knows that's three months away!