Big News!

Yes oh yes, we are, and we couldn't be more excited about what our future holds.  We only wish we could take our house with us.  And Ms. Blessing.  And a few other things, but you get the picture.

Why?  We've been talking about it for over a year now.  Hubster is going to grad school about an hour away from where we live.  All of Kiddo's therapies are anywhere from 20-45 minutes away from where we live.  The commute has been taking it's toll, and I commented a while ago on how maybe we should move closer to Hubster's university.  But we LOVE our house and church and being near my family and all of the kids' therapists, so we were willing to sit tight.

But then, I started hearing more about how much better the school systems were where Hubster's university is.  So I casually asked Kiddo's school speech therapist what she knows about the school system there and speech services.  She looked at me point blank and said (I will never forget this) "If I were you I would go in a heartbeat.  He'd receive more services and there is a wonderful preschool there just for kids with special needs."  She then told me all about the preschool and gave me their contact info.

The Decision Process: I went home and told Hubster what the therapist had told me.  He told me to call about the preschool she mentioned.  So I did.  I asked a lot of questions, and the more I heard, the more convinced I was this was the perfect place for Kiddo.  He would receive all of his therapies at school, the preschool curriculum is structured around communication and social skills, there is one teacher and two aids (trained in special education) for each small class, and they are inclusion classes, so he would have the ability to interact with neurotypical kids, and they go on lots of field trips, etc.  I asked about coming to tour the school and we set up a time to do so.  And then I asked the question I dreaded.  "How much does it cost?"

"He has an IEP that requires more than just speech services right?  If he does, it's free for him."

Wait, seriously?  My son could go to this wonderful preschool, receive his speech, PT and OT therapies, rather than me driving him to all of them and waiting for them to finish, and he could receive even more therapies than he is now because it's a county with more resources?  Uh, sign us up, please!

The tour of the school further convinced us it's where we want him to go.  In fact, neither kid wanted to leave when the tour was over.

There was one obstacle.  Since he would be five before the school year started, he should be enrolled in Kindergarten.  But, if I could get letters stating he needed more time in preschool before starting Kindergarten, they might be able to make an exception.  So I had two of Kiddo's therapists and his IEP case manager write letters recommending another year of preschool.  And this wonderful preschool accepted him!

Where we are now: So, we've rented out our house and are currently living with my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!) until we move into our new place in less than two weeks!  Kiddo starts school August 6th.  I am so excited about what he could learn and how he'll grow at this place and with the constant ability to grow in social skills and language, wow, I can't imagine what a year of that would do for him.  August 11th I'll go for his IEP meeting, where I'll learn exactly how many services they'll be able to offer (I'm hopeful it's a lot more than the twice a week he currently has on his IEP, and that they can give him more PT than twice a month).  I have been assured he would receive more services from the director of this preschool.  She's amazing.

We will keep doing his private speech and OT with the therapists I love so much here twice a month, and we'd be able to hang out with my parents afterward, so that would be nice.

Have I mentioned I'm excited?!  This seems like such an answer to prayer.  We'll be ten minutes from Hubster's university, ten minutes from Kiddo's school, and I'll have from 8:30-2:00 Monday-Friday to just hang out with Little Brother and take him to his speech appointments and play dates and love on the little lad who hasn't had a lot of individual attention from his mama.  Plus, maybe, just maybe, I'll actually have time to get back into writing.

This tired mama can only hope!  Stay tuned for pics and updates about our move, the first day of school and about his IEP meeting. :)