From: Amanda (Jason and Erica, too)

Hi All!

Nothing significant going on with Jason and I--normal keeping our heads above water with work and daily life.  I have completed my educ. administration internship and now have 2 classes to finish by Dec. then I'll have my education administration Master's degree.  Jason is, of course, selling trucks as if the economy has never changed.  I know he works a TON harder to just sell at the same pace, but he still manages to make it work somehow!

Erica has a cardiologist appt. on Thursday, Oct. 16th so we'll probably send another update sometime next week. 

She has completely changed and grown up since starting pre-school in August.  She now can say the Pledge of Allegiance all by herself, sing her ABCs, write and recognize the letter E for Erica, plays school, "reads" the pictures in books to Jason and I, sings songs and best of all:  she's completely aware of various letters and what they stand for!  For example, when reading her alphabet books she notices the S and says this is for Nana's name (Susan), J is for Daddy's name, A is for Aunt Amy & mommy's name, F is for GooGoo and Papa's name (Faye & Fred), and even notices that the F is right by her name (E).  How awesome is that?  (although I'm her mom and a reading teacher, so I'm a little partial to those accomplishments, of course)  One thing Erica has struggled with a bit all along is her speech.  She does talk our ears off, but the articulation of certain sounds has stumped her so she should begin speech testing and then get an IEP which will allow her to get speech services through the school district.  Since being around other kids her age, we've already noticed improvements in her speech though. 

One exciting thing this summer was when I nominated Erica for a Do The Right Thing Award.  It's an award given by a local news channel and the city police department.  It recognizes kids who do the right thing.  Erica didn't get the award, but she did get a certificate and tee shirt.  This is the story in a nutshell:

Jason was changing the oil in his car and cut/punctured both of his index fingers.  When he said "ouch" and Erica saw the blood, she ran inside through the house to get 2 Band-Aid for him.  She brought them back outside to the garage and put them both on his fingers.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you know Erica, you know that she's petrified of Band-Aid because of the adhesive and how hard it pulls to take them off.  This, I'm sure, is because of all the surgeries, tape, and Band-Aid she's been exposed to.  I think it was awesome that she put aside her fears to help her daddy. 

Once again, I'm her mom and a little biased, but isn't that part of parenting?

Sorry for the proclomation length, but that's our news.

Love,

Amanda (Jason and Erica, too)

...Amanda is the great-granddaughter of John & Kizzie Littrell, granddaughter of Red and Louise Littrell and daughter of Fred & Faye Littrell.