What's happenin'

Hey Peeps!

I have been thinking for a couple of minutes and have no idea how to start this post, so your stuck with this silly sentence I just wrote.  :)

We are STILL waiting for Victoria to start school.  I guess here in Arizona, before they will place a child into Special Ed, they need to have a meeting with the parents, a General Education teacher, a Special Education teacher and the school psycologist to go over her IEP and Evaluation.  (her IEP is her individual education plan that states her goals for learning and any and all accomodations she needs while at school.  And the evaluation is done every three years for students in Special Ed to show that they are still in need of services.)  While I was on the phone with the school psychologist last Friday, a week and a day after we dropped off her paper work, she told me about the meeting, and that the earliest time we can meet is THIS Friday.  So two weeks after we drop off the paperwork.  On one hand I am glad that we are having the meeting, except the Special Ed teacher that will be there is not going to be V's teacher, because she needs to be in a self-contained classroom which at a different school.  However, the psychologist said that she could go to school on Tuesday, but she would just be in General Education classroom with all of the typical children.  "Yeah, that will be great for her anxiety and self esteem, considering she is on a 2nd and 3rd grade level on her subjects, she should do just fine with 7th grade material and going from class to class even though she has NEVER done that." Once she realized that I was not okay with that plan, she told me the principal would call me later in the day to discuss options.  I'm still waiting.....  So this momma is waiting until AFTER the meeting, so no one is biased, I will be contacting the school district about this crazy wait.  :)

So, with much deliberation and consideration of Victoria's needs:  the plan for now is for Victoria to spend her school years with us and her summers with her mom.  She is a little young to be a snow bird, but we know that this is the right decision.  I am a little sad that she won't have much of a summer in Bethel, AK, but I was taught at a young age to share and I would rather have her 9 months of the year than 3.

It was a weird yet euphoric feeling today when it was settled that V would be with us most of the time. I feel like we should celebrate somehow like an adoption.  Technically, I have been the mother of two for 8 months, but it is official now.  I AM the mother of 2 and one of them has special needs.  I feel like I should have started that sentence with, Hi my name is Katie and....  I am super excited for the next year, and it seems like December was another lifetime ago.

Long story short, my life will be a little chaotic again starting next Monday when V goes back to school, but I am super ready for the 4 of us to start growing roots here in our new city.

PS please pray for Matt and Victoria, as he starts a new job tomorrow and V starts school next week.  She's a little anxious, and me too!