Things that I am Thankful for...

My husband. Good Lord, I love this man! He is my best friend. He is has held my hand during my darkest hours and loves me just the same.

My Kids. What can I say, I love them.

My Sisters, my best friends.

The hugs that Will gives. He puts his little arms around my neck and squeezes, I love it, Love it, Love it! He could give me a hug all day long and I wouldn't mind.

The time in the morning that Caroline and I spend together before Will wakes up. She crawls into bed with me in the morning and we snuggle until Will wakes up. I could snuggle for hours, she is precious.

Our health. My family is healthy. I am praying for a healthy winter, no hospital stays.

The words that Will says/signs. I am thankful that he is able to do this and I pray that he will have more words in the future.

ALL the words that Caroline says. My goodness, I never thought that one child could talk so much. But I am thankful that she can. Oh, my Ya-Ya, I love you.

My RTS family. Without you I am not sure where I would be on this journey. Thank you for all of your support. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

For Josh's job. His job allows for me to stay at home with our children and for that I am very thankful.

My friends. My friends that I have known forever, my friends that I have never met in person, I love you. Thank you for your friendship, support, encouragement and love.

What are you thankful for?

Cincinnati

On Thursday of last week, my sister Leslie and I went on a road trip! We drove 5 1/2 hours to Cincinnati, Ohio to visit my youngest sister Marcea. The drive was long, but the trip was worth it! We had a great time!

We went to IKEA, twice! I LOVE that store! We went on Friday and spent 4 hours. After shopping and looking, we where all overwhelmed and wanted to sleep on it and think about what we wanted to buy, so we went back on Saturday morning! They just have so much stuff that it was hard to take it all in, and I wanted to take it ALL in!

We also went to an Irish pub called O'Bryon's. It is right across the street from Marcea's apartment and from what I understand it is a "must see" in Cincinnati. They are known for the drink called the "Shark Tank" so we went to check it out. The drink was HUGE and not so good but we drank it and had fun.

We ate good food, had good conversation, had fun shopping and seeing the sites. Thanks Marcea for showing us a good time and having us!

Handling it

Jessica, Alex's Mom, wrote a blog post today that I can totally relate to. Jessica explains her feelings and reactions when someone says "God never gives you more than you can handle" or "God chose you because he knew that you would do a good job".

I completely understand Jessica's feeling and often cringe on the inside when people say things like that to me. I never really understand what they are saying. Often I think they say those things because they don't know what to say. Or maybe they say those things because they are so thankful that they don't have a special child because they don't think that they would be able to handle it. Like Jessica said, I can't handle it either!! I can't handle the surgeries, I can't handle the therapies, I can't handle the doctor appointments, I can't handle the tubes, I can't handle the vomit, I can't handle the delays, I can't handle the IFSP meetings, I can't handle it. I just DO it, I just put one foot in front of the other and go. I can't sit around and dwell on things because I would loose my mind. This is my life and I have chosen to live it, not just be in it.

I don't believe that Josh and I are "the chosen ones" or that we have halos shining bright above our heads or that we have a choir of angels singing our praises, we are on this journey because we have to be, not because we chose to be. Don't get me wrong, I would not trade Will for any other child on this earth but as we all know, we never choose to have a special needs child. We are parenting Will as we have parented Caroline, we are teaching them to be independent, confident, respectful contributors to our society. Will's contributions will be different than Caroline's but he will contribute, not because God thought we would do a good job but because that is how we parent.

God has given me many things that I couldn't handle. If you were walking in my shoes, you would be doing the same as me, you would get through it, you would have to. He is my child, my life, my heart, my soul, my everything, he is MINE.

If you want to encourage me on my journey and are not sure what to say, just give me a hug. :-)

I have a few things for today....

Will had an appointment with GI yesterday, just a follow up. He weighed 21 pounds 10 ounces! The boy is packing on the pounds!!

He has another cold. We are doing the breathing treatments again and giving him a decongestant. Colds are no fun. He hasn't been sleeping well and I don't do well without sleep. I hope that he is better soon.

On Saturday I recieved a phone call from Canada!! Christine, Nathan's Mommy called me. We had a great conversation that could have lasted all night! Nathan and Will are so very similiar all the way down to their webbed toes!! They could be twins if Will had blonde hair! It was so great to talk to Christine and share stories, experiences and ideas. I felt as though I had known her for years. Nathan has a sister that is almost 4 years old. Christine and I thought that it would be a great idea to have the girls be pen pals, so that they know that they are not alone in this journey either. Josh and I are going to look into getting a webcam so that the girls can talk to each other and see each other too. I am so happy that Christine called and I hope that one day our families will be able to meet.

Something New!

Do you know what Will is doing?? I give you a clue, he is having fun!!



His OT ordered him this new net swing and he LOVES it!! It hangs in our doorway and it holds up to 175 pounds. I don't swing him very high but it is high enough for him. Caroline loves it too. When Will is really crabby and just crying alot, I can put him in the swing for about 10 minutes and all is good in the world.


He just snuggles right in and gets really relaxed and even says "EEEEEE" (his Weeee!).



He thinks it is great fun!

Waiting

William had his annual service meeting with the Early Intervention program last month, on the 21st to be exact. Since that time he has not received speech therapy. Why, you ask...Because our speech therapist is waiting for the "package" from our service coordinator. The package contains his new authorization, doctor's orders, insurance pre-authorization, etc. So I completely understand why she is wanting to wait until she receives the package before continuing Will's services but she has been the ONLY one to stop services because of this. All of his other therapists have been here, some several times and have not mentioned anything about it.

And, HELLO service coordinator!! This is your JOB!!! Get with the program Lady!!

I guess I am a bit ticked because I had no idea what was going on. I hadn't heard from the ST and just gave her a call and she told me about waiting on the package. I didn't call before because, quite frankly, I thought Will could use a break. I think that the break has done him some good, he is signing WAY more than he was before and he is babbling more and even putting some words together, sometimes. But after three weeks, we need to resume therapy.

So we are waiting....

The service meeting was just as gruelling as the others, Will is delayed no big surprise there. He is about at the 18 month level is most areas, except speech where he is at about the 12 month level. Will was 26 months old when the evaluations where done. He is progressing at his rate and I am good with that.

playdate

Caroline had a playdate after school today. Savanna and Caroline are in the same class and are great friends. The girls had a great time, I didn't hear a peep out of them for 4 hours!!

Ranch Dressing

Will's new found love, ranch dressing!

Lilo and Stitch News...

Stitch News...

Will has been signing "help" unprompted. Before I would see that he needed some help and then I would ask him, "Will, do you need help?" and he would respond. But the other day he was trying to get a toy out of his basket and his little hand went up! I went over and got out his toy, and boy did he think that was cool!! I think that he finally realized "if I do this, she'll give me that". It was wonderful!!

The other day he ate (really truly, swallowed without spitting it out) about 4 Gerber puffs. I was in disbelief and checked the floor, his bib, his chair and there was nothing. He ate them! He continues to eat small amounts of baby food, about 5 bites at each meal. Then he is done. With or without ketchup!

He is getting lots better at self feeding, even though he never eats what is on his spoon. He has gotten really good at loading his spoon and putting it in his mouth. I am very proud of him!!

The sleep study came back normal, no apnea. Great news!! Although, they want to repeat the study every year or so, yuck!

Lilo News...

Caroline has already started working on her Christmas Wish List! We have gotten a few magazines in the mail and she has been going through those. She says she wants some sort of swimming dog toy?? I told her that I didn't think that she would be able to play with it that much because we only go swimming 3 months out of the year and our bathtub isn't that big. She didn't care. We will see. I am not looking forward to all of the toy commericals that are soon to be playing like crazy!!

Caroline dance recital has been scheduled for May 17th.