Monday 29 June 2015

Finally,an update on my little monkeys! and a couple of new releases...

Warning! 
Potentially LONG post... if you don't have a spare half an hour, I'd come back later....

SO... where to start???
Those that used to be regular readers, will know that Dylan was born in 2012, with a craniofacial condition called hemifacial microsomia, sounds complicated, but really just means half of his face has certain less developed areas, mainly his ear and jaw... as part of the condition he is profoundly deaf in his left ear, and also has some nerve issues around the left side of his face which means he has limited lip movement on that side...
Anyway... I don't need to go into all the in's and outs of it all... you've either read it already in older posts, or you can have a scroll back down if you need filling in... 
I wanted to give you an update on how he's doing now...
So... he had seemed like he was doing amazingly well... hitting milestones ok... some at the later and of the scale, but pretty much on target... until around 18 months where it seemed like he just hit a standstill with speech... no new words, stopping using words he'd previously used etc... wasn't really listening to or understanding much of what we said, and was in his own little world most of the time!

I was finding it almost impossible to get any kind of communication from him, I just felt like I was talking AT him constantly and not getting anything back... 
We'd been seeing various specialists for various things here, there and everywhere... and we eventually got referrals for speech and language therapy... and then the chance to see if he was a candidate for a BAHA hearing aid, which is essentially a device that converts sound to vibrations and sits on the skull behind the ear, and in Dylans case 'sends' the sound to the other (working) side!
 ( its far more technical than that, but I hope that makes sense!)

Speech Therapy started in August, and he got a BAHA on a head band in September (eventually, if we decide to go ahead the device will be fixed to a little pin that will need to be surgically implanted behind his ear...not thinking about that!)

So... we finally got him to keep the band on (NIGHTMARE!!!) and we'd been following advice from the therapist, but Christmas came and went, and nothing much had changed... except for the fact that it was getting a bit easier to get his attention, and he would respond to his name after 2/3 attempts instead of about 50! 

One of the things that had been suggested, was trying some simple signs, which I'd been trying, but had almost given up on, because he wouldn't look at me doing them! so how could he take them in! 

THEN...breakthrough!! mid February he signed 'more' to me!! to ask for more juice!! 
all the time I'd been thinking he wasn't even noticing me do it... but somehow it had gone in!! 
And then he was watching Peppa Pig, and did a made up action/sign for rainbow!! which I had been inadvertently been doing ages before!!! 
Our Teacher of the deaf showed us a few more to try  and he got them quite quickly ( Well...with me drilling them into him at very opportunity...lol)... milk, biscuit, car, orange, same, bath...
He just seemed to picking them up so much easier than speech!! 
But the best thing? pretty soon after, his speech started coming on too!!... 
he started using 'b' sounds for the first time and said ball, and bye bye!!
and he's just been adding more and more since!
in the last week, he's used the 'p' sound for the first time and 'l' and 'ai' and 'ee'

Understanding has improved too... before March he couldn't point to eyes/ears/nose etc when asked... now he knows most body parts!
He couldn't point out objects when asked, and now he can.... when he wants to!
He knows and can say/sign some colours
Knows some letters and identifies them by using an associated word... so if he sees an A he'll say apple. U he says lella (umbrella!) 
Just yesterday he said four and eight!

There's still a long way to go, but it really feels like he's finally making progress now, and its the MOST amazing feeling!!

We are mid way through a basic sign language course too... which we hope will help so much!!

He truly is a little STAR and he's just not the same boy he was a few months ago!
he makes me proud every day!
especially when he calls me mumma!! ( which he also calls everybody else at the mo... but i'll overlook that:))

so... that's the long awaited update I promised ... and I thought you'd like to see a recent piccy...

here he is with our little princess Evie, who you last saw 18 months ago!!!
and who is the focus of the next chapter.....


So.... the reason I disappeared for so long after Evie was born, was because life got pretty tough for a while...
When Evie was 2 days old, she failed her newborn hearing screening... we were told not to worry, but they'd refer her for more tests...

at 4 weeks old we had her audiology appointment, where after LONG tests we were told she had a moderate loss affecting both ears!!!
we had a follow up appointment made to have aids fitted...
seriously...my world STOPPED!! and I just went into auto pilot... I carried on...because I had to... but honestly, I've never been such a mess!

so...we were geared up for going through EVERYTHING again that we'd been through with Dylan...

We went back for the next appointment, and I wasn't good, I was convinced we were going to be told that her hearing was worse than they thought...
they redid some of the original tests, which took forever ( I think that days appointment was 3 hours!)
 and then we were left alone for a while while they looked over the results...

I will NEVER EVER get over what happened next...

The audiologist started by saying that she'd got some different results this time.
(crazy fast heart rate moment)
her hearing wasn't anywhere near as bad as they had previously thought!!!
I won't go into all the technical stuff about sensorineural versus conductive and decibel levels etc...
but we left that day with only ONE hearing aid, and the knowledge that even that one may only be a temporary measure!!
they now believed she had a borderline mild loss (close to normal) and a little bit of congestion making it a bit worse temporarily...

back we went a couple of months later....
they repeated the newborn hearing screening test that they'd done at birth....AND...she passed!!! 
so she no longer had to wear the aid!!
the borderline loss may still be there but all the congestion had cleared

as we stand now...we still have no definite answer, but at her last test they tested her overall hearing, and they got down to minimum levels, so we know at least one ear has normal hearing!!! which is just SO difficult to get your had round after the first appointment!!

They have been trying to get true results for individual ears, but she's a little monkey and won't tolerate the little ear plugs!!

so its just a waiting game... which is difficult, but worse case scenario is a borderline loss in one ear, which really will not affect her at all!! 

she's already speaking well, and can say about 30 words without prompting... (not including a swear word that she might have overheard mummy say.....shhhhhhhh!)
she's a proper girlie girl and loves dancing and shoes...lol!
if only she'd hurry up and grow some hair!!... can't wait to do plaits and pigtails!
On the pic you can't see any... but she does have a little tiny bit on top, and at the back she has a few curls...

so that's the lil tiddlers covered...


Callum is now 16!! can you believe it? he's just finished his GCSE'S, and is going on to do A-levels in September...
The little brainbox, has just received a letter saying he's receiving an Academic Excellence award for the 4th time!! We don't know where he gets it from...

He's also working part time now! he really is all growed up!!
he just needs to lose his teenage stroppyness now

If I added a photo, he'd kill me!

So to sum it all up... I have 3 amazing, beautiful, bright, cheeky, stroppy kids who make me swell with pride, and I wouldn't change my life for the world!
the end...lol!
...............................................................................................
Can you bear any more info?
warned you it would be a long one...

Did you see i'd re-opened the shop...

well, I've decided to stick with the name pollycraft after all...

and I've added a few new things recently....

 gregory

 Evie Twinkles - Happy Rain

 Evie Twinkles - Wish

 Jessie

pop over and have a looksie....

Blimey!! I've just looked at the time!!
I'd better call it a day I think...
I'm sure you've had enough by now anyway...

I'll make the next post shorter I promise!!

thanks so much for stopping by...
Paula
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Monday 11 May 2015

I'm back!!! Has it really been 17 months???

Just sneaking in...wondering if anyone will notice me... tee hee

Well, I'll be honest, I genuinely believed I would never be posting another blog post, yet here I am after 17 months!! 
YES, its true...my last post was when our little princess Evie was born, gosh that's gone by in a flash...

I have so much to share with you, but I won't bore you with it all at once... 
plus I'd rather know if anyone is still reading before I type out a mahooosive post... especially since I have a sticky 'e' and 'g' key and I have to keep retyping everything...grrrr!

so... probably the bit you might be interested in is that I've decided to start selling digis again!! 

For the foreseeable future, I'll be selling though my new Etsy store ink22 designs 
I didn't really want to open up Pollycraft again, as it was. Plus, I'm hoping to 'branch out' a little bit... so I needed a bit of a fresh start!!

There's a couple of new digis on there...
Phoebe-'Snapshot le Paris'
Fox in Finery
 And a few others from my back catalogue...

so....there you go...  the long and short of it is...I'm back!!!

It feels weird to be blogging again, I'm completely out of practice, and I have no idea what's going on in the craft/blog world, and who is still 'out there' 
Please say Hi if you read this, so I can catch up with you!!!

I'll be back soon to share some pics of my little monkeys, and to give you an update on everything that's been going on since I was last around!!

looking forward to you saying hello!....anyone?.....someone?...

xxxxxxx

Thursday 19 December 2013

Say hello to baby Evie Elizabeth

Hiya to anyone who's still reading...
I'm just popping in to announce the arrival of our beautiful little lady Evie Elizabeth..


She arrived 4 weeks early on the 9th December weighing just 5lb... we've had some initial worries with breathing, blood sugars and feeding, and we've spent 10 days in hospital... but we are home now and looking forward to a wonderful christmas as a family of 5!!!!

wishing you all love and happiness this Christmas....

Paula
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Friday 1 November 2013

Due to high demand the mega bundles have been re-added for the weekend ONLY... last chance!!!

okay...I know, this is ridiculous... 
but it seems the 2 weeks notice I gave for closure just wasn't enough!!
I've had so many emails about the mega bundles, that I feel bad people have missed out!!

SOOOO...

For this weekend ONLY... I have re-added just the 2 bundles to the shop...
this REALLY is your LAST CHANCE now though....

I  really do have to call it a day!!!

I should take this opportunity to say a MASSIVE thank you to you all for your custom and support over the years... 

Its been an absolute delight to see my designs all over the web... and i've made some wonderful friends through this adventure!! although it did become stressful towards the end... for the most part its been incredibly fun and rewarding... and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

From the bottom of my heart...
THANK YOU

to every customer, blog reader, challenge entrant...

and an extra special thank you goes out to my DT members...recent, and past... pollycraft was as much about you, as it was me... and it wouldn't have been possible without you...
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

its been amazing!!!

well.... theres fireworks going off here, and the dogs going crazy...
Dylan finds it hilarious...bless him!!

I'd better round this up and see if I can calm things down...

btw... only 8 weeks now till our little lady makes an appearance!!! its gone SO quick!!! 
getting a bit nervous now... and the little madam is breech at the moment... eeeek!

right... I'll probably disappear again for a while now...

i'll be back though....if anyones still interested in hearing my news that is....

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Wednesday 16 October 2013

Thank you SO much!! 1 week left till shop closure, and a 'Farewell' FREEBIE

Hiya!
Just popping in to say a MASSIVE thank you!! for all the lovely comments and emails after my last post...
honestly...I was so nervous about posting it... I really felt daft!!

its lovely to have so much support, and to know I've done the right thing!!
if you have no idea what I'm talking about...please see the post below...

okay....SO... theres now only 1 WEEK remaining until the shop closes... so you need to hurry along, if you want to bag a bargain....

also...as an extra little bonus to say thanks... there's a little pressie over there for you all...


I know how popular these guys are... and I never got chance to release many Christmas images...so I scribbled one quickly last night for you...

and he's COMPLETELY FREE!! (terms of use still apply)
(please...if you want to let your friends know about him... use the watermarked image above with a link...  they need to get him themselves through the shop)

You'll need an account to get him, but seriously it takes seconds to set one up... and just pop him in your basket...
simples...

I'd REALLY love to see anything you make with him...so please do come back and share...

right...it has to be a quickie today, cos my little fella is having a snooze at the mo..and I suspect it will be a short one...

have a FABULOUS day all...
enjoy rudolph!!

Paula
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Tuesday 8 October 2013

VERY LONG POST... SAD news, and GLAD news....

Hello all!
I really don't know what to say...or how to word this post... 
so I'll just go with it, and see what happens...

It won't have escaped your attention, that I've been rather distant for a while... posts are few and far between, and when they appear they really don't say very much!

well, there are one or two fairly good reasons for that...

So....
I have news...

I'll get the bad news out of the way first...

It is with a VERY VERY heavy heart that I have decided to close Pollycraft.

YES, I know... I only re-opened a few months ago! but I think I have finally realised this isn't where I want to be any more...

I'll willingly admit...deciding to re-open was a mistake... 
The whole reason I closed in the first place was because I'd fallen out of love with it... I'd begun to hate drawing, and crafting.... I'd begun to get SO stressed out with it that it was affecting my family... and that was awful!

Our beautiful little Dylan coming along was the tipping point really... and I knew that life needed to be different... closing was for the best!

but then we had a bit of a difficult time in Dylans first few months... and think I saw a return to Pollycraft as something that would help me get through it...

honestly.... it helped at first, re-building the website, and getting creative again gave me something else to focus on, and helped ease my constant panic and worry about everything we were dealing with....

As soon as I opened though it became just as stressful as it had before... and I knew I'd made a stupid decision!

 I decided I'd have to persevere for a while...

Then just a week after I re-opened we got a MASSIVE shock...

I discovered I was pregnant again!!

in those early days I honestly just couldn't think straight... my head was just bursting with a million and one worries about EVERYTHING...
I'd only had a c-section 9 months earlier... and we'd had such a lot of worries with Dylan...

it took a LONG time for the news to sink in....

gradually as we got through the first few doctor/midwife/consultant appointments things started to feel less scary, and suddenly felt 'real'

naturally we've got concerns, but scans have been re-assuring... and we are now JUST OVER THE MOON DELIGHTED....

so that's the ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL news!!!

It's looking likely that I'll be booked in for a c-section between Christmas and New Year...

(pretty rubbish timing huh?)

and....the most exciting part?!.....

We are having a little bundle of pink!!

I can genuinely say, I really didn't mind either way...
but....

in a house full of boys, I have to admit to looking forward to dresses, and dolls and pigtails...

Some news eh???

so, in a nutshell...

I'm not enjoying Pollycraft as much as I should (and how can I expect customers to if I don't?!)
My hearts SO not in it... so I just don't have the passion to re build it to what it was before...
And Kev is SUPER busy at work, so time is a big issue too...

Plus... that stupid little brain of mine has had to learn the hard way that life is far too short, and that there are so many more important things going on...

Kev's been getting one day off a fortnight lately...so it would be LOVELY to spend that one day together as a family, and not have him just letting me catch up with Pollycraft stuff...
We will soon be expecting our fifth family member... (less than 12 weeks!!!!)
Our gorgeous little Chappy is now a walking, talking bundle of trouble... into EVERYTHING, and bloomin' hard work at times... but SO SO worth the aching back, and tired eyes!!!
And our not so little 14 year old STAR! has been quietly just accepting everything that's been going on, and not complained one little bit that his life has had to change so dramatically... he's just started his GSCE's and has a lot on his plate at the moment, and he SO deserves a Mum who is there for him, and has the time to have fun again!

Say no more really...

YES, I'm an idiot...
I shouldn't have re-opened for the reasons I did... I knew deep down it wasn't for the best...

But, you know what...
I can hold my hands up and admit my mistake... and so what if I look stupid for a while...
I'm a whole lot happier for it!!

The store will close on the 23rd October...
So you've got 2 weeks to grab anything you want before they are gone forever...

The MEGA bundles will remain on sale until close... and there are also 3 new images in the shop...


You can get all 3 for the price of 1..
just £1.49

There will be NO new challenges set over on the Challenge blog...
HUGE thanks go to the WONDERFUL Design Team!
You are all STARS... and I thank you so much for your talent, your support, and your understanding...

I honestly can't thank you enough!!

Okay... I think I've said plenty now...
I think I feel better....
I'm sorry if I've disappointed anyone...
it just needs to be done...

phew...

I'm not going anywhere in a hurry...
I'll still be sharing news on here for a while....

This blog will eventually become more of a general/personal/family blog...

I haven't yet done the big Dylan update I promised, and I'll be letting you know when our new addition arrives!!

Plus... I might get back to crafting for fun once life settles down, so I'll be able to enjoy sharing again...

I'll be back with a 'proper' goodbye post soon...

Take care all...

Me
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Wednesday 2 October 2013

BIG prizes STILL unclaimed...and Massive Mega Deals continue....

Good Morning!!!
How are we all today???
it feels frrrrrrrreezing here! not sure if its just me, or if winter really is on its way....
not that I really mind... I love winter!!

Any-hoo.... the reason I'm here is to remind you all to check your accounts!!
2 people STILL haven't claimed their £10.00!!!
and..... 5 people STILL haven't claimed their £5.00!!!!

that's ALL the bigger prizes unclaimed!!!!

there's only a week left to use any credit... 

got yourself one of the MASSIVE MEGA deals yet??



they really are super value!!!

they won't be available for ever...so grab 'em while you can!!!!
right...that's me for today...
reminders done!!

see you soon!!
xxxxxx