Round Two

Our 2nd Indian adventure begins in less than 24 hours. 

First, we're off to Goa to celebrate 4 years on August 4th! 

(Do you have Golden Anniversaries, or is it just birthday's)?

From there, we're going to Hyderabad to watch our friends, Bethany & Sage tie the knot. 

Yes, I'll be wearing a sari...maybe more than one.  

You must promise not to laugh at me when the pictures are posted. 

xx,

Lauren

Tuesday Night Photos

The sky was beautiful tonight and I couldn't help but snap a few shots. 

 Hanging outside of a 27th story window to take pictures is normal, right?!?

 I sometimes forget just how dense Hong Kong is. Seeing it in pictures always surprises me. Would you ever give up your backyard for this?!? 

 ...I can't tell you how much I miss my backyard. 

 You can faintly see the bamboo scaffolding on the building covered with a green tarp. Crazy, huh?

In other news....

Somebody got a haircut tonight.

 He wanted his picture taken, so he posed for me. 

 then he got fed up..

...and was over it.  

Not that I can blame him. 

I got some good tips on Apraxia on facebook, so thank you! Feel free to continue commenting on this topic, as I'll keep checking back. Thank you so much for responding!

xx,

Lauren

A little digression

Any other Speech Pathologists out there?!?

I've now spent 2 Saturdays within the past month or so in Apraxia workshops... This post may be one you want to skip, but I'm hoping some of you out there will have some input for me.

Apraxia is a motor programming and planning disorder that is haunting parents, children, speech therapists, and professionals alike. It's a complex disorder. There is no one feature that is adequate for diagnosis.  The symptoms can be neurological, linguistic, and motor AND can change over time. Inconsistency is expected in these kids, making them difficult to treat and difficult to determine a therapy plan. Often times, Apraxia is not a stand-alone disorder and we see it in combination with other disorders...Feeding disorders, Down Syndrome, Sensory Integration Disorders, and Autism. Bottom line, many of these kids don't speak. At all. It's not because they don't know what to say, it's that they don't have the ability to coordinate and sequence sounds. 

The disorder itself is complex, but professionals within the "speech world" also have very different views on treatment. 

I was in a presentation yesterday that focused on Apraxia being an Oral Placement Disorder. The program uses tools to help facilitate the production of sounds. I must admit, it was pretty convincing. As I sat there though, I kept thinking back to Dr. Velleman's presentation and how many times she stated (and I've heard) that to "improve speech, you must practice SPEECH". The strength required for speech is much less than the strength required for other oral motor activities (blowing, chewing, etc). In a nutshell, the basis of Talk Tools is starting with these activities and then moving towards sounds, words, phrases, etc.  

So....SLP's, what's your opinion? Any of you using the Talk Tools method and incorporating the tools, or are you adamantly against it and sticking with a more traditional version of therapy? Thus far, I've been sticking with a more traditional version of therapy, but am starting to have my doubts. Some of my kids are progressing, some are not. Can you convince me to give Talk Tools a try? What are your thoughts?

Thanks so much...hoping we'll be able to help each other out!

xx,

Lauren

Photoshoots

So, I have been keeping a few secrets from you about life in Hong Kong. I've been meaning to let you in on this little phenomena for quite some time, but keep forgetting to post about it.

 Pre-wedding photos.

Not "engagement" photos, or "first-glance" photos. These photos are taken before the wedding, with the bride and groom adorned in their best wedding attire. They are then displayed at the wedding. 

Typically in Chinese weddings, the bride wears 3 dresses...a traditional quipao/cheongsam, a Western wedding gown, and at least one more ball gown. 

The groom isn't left-out either though. He will usually wear 2 tuxedos. 

When we were in Beijing, we saw some pretty amazing photoshoots.

 I honestly don't even know where to begin with this one. 

 This poor couple didn't look so excited about taking these pics. 

I love his white/cream/black tuxedo.

Actually, white and cream were popular on this day.

I couldn't resist capturing the detail of her dress.

Here is a traditional quipao/cheongsam (but I've never seen the school-girl plaid before)....

 Brides can choose to wear completely different dresses in their pre-wedding shoots than what they'll actually wear at the wedding. 

 (...and her poof is amazing). 

 Those stockings and shoes...

Most brides will rent their dresses, so having a few outfit changes won't break the bank.

Are these shoots crazy, or are you secretly wishing you had done one yourself?!?

xx,

Lauren

Bit the Bullet

After talking about it for awhile, we officially signed up for our first half-marathon. 

That's right, MP is joining me in this little running endeavor!

 We'll be heading back to Siem Reap to run through Angkor Wat....what an amazing place to experience our first 1/2!

Race date is December 4, and I'm pretty sure we'll be following Hal Higdon's 12 week training program. I've been so hesitant to increase my mileage due to my IT bands, and half-torn ACL, but hoping yoga and strength training will carry me through :)

Any advice for us? Would love to hear it!

xx,

Lauren

Red, White and Blue

KC hosted quite the celebration on Friday night.

We celebrated Fareesa's birthday and the 4th too!

As always, the roof was beautiful and KC did a great job pulling it all together. 

HK in the summer is brutal, and we were all doing our best just to try and stay cool. 

Hope you're squeezing every last minute out of the weekend!

xx,

Lauren

A Song for You

Our friend, Miya is quite the singer.

We stopped by the Culture Club on Thursday night to hear some of her tunes. You wouldn't believe the pipes that come out of this girl!

Check Miya out here
xx,
Lauren

Do you Tweet?

After TIME magazine announced there are now 200 million tweets being sent per day, MP and I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Not really sure what we'll be "tweeting" about, or if you're even interested in what we'll have to say, but feel free to follow us...and send us your names so we can follow you too!

I have to admit, so far, I really like it...it's an easy way to keep up with what's happening around the world, (and in celebrity drama land!)  

Any advice for the new tweeters? What do you think of Twitter?

xx,

Lauren

Twitter names:

LaurenVPhipps

PhippsMichael

Boating

We spent Saturday on the water. 

 My camera of choice today was the IPhone, so the photos are less than stellar... but a DSLR and being surrounded by water makes me nervous.

We made a pit-stop on Lamma for a delicious seafood lunch and then made our way to Turtle Bay for late afternoon swimming and tubing. It was a perfect day. 

Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend (....I guess yours is still going!)

xx,

Lauren