...and that child is mine.

i put this image in the hand-me-down dress gallery but i thought i'd blog about it too. i love to talk about kiele because she's one of my biggest inspirations. the things she has accomplished and continues to accomplish is simply amazing. not only that, she has a heart of gold. i always describe kiele as someone whose glass isn't half full or half empty, it's always overflowing. i've learned a lot from this child yet i feel i still have so much more to learn and gain from her.

kiele was born hearing impaired but it was it wasn't officially diagnosed until age three, at which time she also got diagnosed with a profound speech and language delay. she immediately got hearing aids, enrolled in the arizona school for the deaf and my world was rocked. well, it ended up that over the months and years, her hearing loss rapidly progressed. when she was in first grade, her teacher suggested that maybe the mainstream school wasn't right for kiele and that i should put her in the deaf school. after lots of research and self-education on the special education laws, i got the washington state deaf/hard of hearing representative involved (we lived in washington at that time) and well...kiele stayed right where she was and got all the accommodations that the crazy mom (me) was fighting for. ha...so they thought i was crazy. well, in 2003, kiele's hearing loss was bad enough that she qualified as a very borderline candidate for a cochlear implant (i had to fight a little for that too). she has had to always work harder than the typical child. she has had to play lots of catch up but...today...kiele is a typical nine year old, who just happens to have a bionic ear. she's at the top of her class. she has lots of friends. she loves to listen to music. and she's truly just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

I entered a photography contest at a coffee shop a few weeks back and...
THIS PHOTO WON!

You can already see the photo here. The coffee shop is Java Mama, located in this really cool area of La Mesa, and it's due to open mid-January. It's this super cool concept...a coffee shop that welcomes children. They're going to offer classes (yoga, pilates, baby sign, and more), have some child care, a play area for kids and much more. How seriously great is that. Alicia, the Java Mama owner, told me that my photograph (16x20 print) will be prominently displayed right as you enter Java Mama. There will also be a sign that provides my business name and contact information. I'm so, so excited not only because I won but because I won and I think Java Mama is going to be huge!

Keep checking back...more exciting news coming soon!