We're moving up!!

Hi friends! It has been so long since I've let anyone know how we are doing. I am hopeful that after the first of the year I will be better able to keep up better than I have. I suppose hope springs eternal so we will see how I do. This quick post is to share some photos that I took yesterday...of the house that we are planning to purchase in mid December. (Yeah!!!)

For the last 15 years we have been blessed to live in a little craftsman type cottage. When we first moved in the 1100 square feet seemed just perfect. It held our kitty cat and our dog and our stuff with no problem. After Aaron was born it still seemed just right for us. And after I left my teaching job to stay at home it was a blessing to have a house payment that we could easily handle on one income. Add in Addison and then four years later Aiden and all of the equipment that goes along with a child with a disability (oh and somewhere in there we got a 2nd dog), and you have a rather crowded 1100 square feet. (Actually, this is a significant understatement :) )

Three years ago we began looking earnestly for a new home. It has been an up and down search taking us through several contracts (that were not fulfilled), long nights staring at the Remax website, and many visits to houses that were not for us. I am so glad that this process may finally be over. We have waited on the Lord to direct us and feel that this is the house. Yesterday our hopes were confirmed by our home inspection. Our friend and contractor, John, went through the house with us and said that he would not be afraid to move in to this house!! So we are preparing to move!

I took pictures yesterday and would love to share them with you. I have included pictures of the house from the road, the livingroom, the kitchen, the upstairs hall ), and the view from the porch. We will look forward to having visitors after the first of the year!

Blessings to you all,

Christa

It's been a long, long time....

Dear Friends,

I don't even really suppose that there are any of you still checking; it's been so long since I blogged, but I find that maybe I have some new interesting news! So here goes with our latest.

Over the last six or seven months I have really felt called to create a group for moms with children with disabilities. As some of you may know I have attended a moms' group in Richmond, and found some great support, information, and friendship. I spent time praying about the possibilities; I sought wise counsel from people who know me and who I trust, and I waited. Right before we left for our family vacation the beginning of September Bethann (our PT) and I decided that the time was right. That having been said, Valley Moms was born!!!

As a result of 12 fliers placed around Staunton and Augusta county and a couple of friends spreading the word, six moms and one dad made their way to Ciro's in Verona for the inaugural meeting of Valley Moms!!! (I was thrilled that anyone showed up at all.) We ate Italian and sat around and chatted. It was great to be able to share information and make new friends. We will meet the 3rd Thursday of each month (with exceptions for holidays). Our meetings will be informal for this part of the year. It is our hope that in the spring we will be able to provide some more informational type meetings. If you know any moms who are caring for special kids and may need an hour or two of pizza and soda send her our way!!!

A quick update from our home...Dave is maintaining things at the golf course. He is looking forward (as he always does this time of the year) to the possibility of snow (and lots of it he would say). Addison, Aaron and I have finally started at the ACE co-op. They are each taking some classes and I am co-teaching an art history and techniques class to 2nd/3rd graders. I am looking forward to the kids making many new friends and I am enjoying being a teacher again. Speaking of teaching, I completed both of my graduated classes and am awaiting my renewed teaching license. Finally, Aiden is doing well. What is well, you may ask? He is continuing to walk well unassisted. Things that I thought that he would never do (squat to stand, tricycling, walking at the park in the mulch, etc) he is doing. Stairs are still a challenge. Going up is improving much faster than going down, but at least we have the chance to practice. We are still looking for some really good reliable regular attendant care so if you know anyone let me know:). I am truly blessed.

Please pray that we will find really good people to work with Aiden. It is difficult to find someone to trust with your child. Also, pray that we will see changes in Aiden's ability to speak. We are trusting the Lord with this daily. Finally, Shann0n and her family have had some very serious challenges recently. Please pray that they would have wisdom and peace in the midst of difficulty.

Blessings to you all.
Christa

A week-end to remember

Like I've said before, I have trouble with the picture part of this blogging thing. So these pictures chronicle a small part of our week-end adventure.

Mom, the kids, 2 cousins and I headed out Saturday afternoon to the Louis Ginter Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day; perfect for being outside in a garden. Besides, they have a live butterfly exhibit that is really cool. (Thus the picture of the butterfly above.)

We walked, saw butterflies and in the children's garden we got wet! Aiden has never been in a water park or in a sprinkler for that matter. It has really only been just a year that he has tolerated being in a bath tub, so this

was an experiment for us. To my joy and surprise, Aiden really liked the water. He stood with me and got his hands wet. He let Aaron help him while the sprinklers got him. He even laughed and when I put him back in the stroller, he chose to get up and get wet again! It was a fun and peaceful day.

Unfortunately, it ended with Aiden sick. It would be lovely to say that the picture of him sleeping was the result of being tired at the end of a special day. Actually, it is a picture of Aiden Sunday asleep on the floor in the living room with a fever of 101-102. This is also after the vomiting and being awake off and on all night.

We missed Monday's therapy, but that worked out well because Addison started with the virus on


Sunday night. Both of them ran fevers on Monday
(Addison's up to 103.5). I took Addison to the emergency care center Tuesday to have a culture done. It turns out Aiden was exposed to rotavirus; hand,foot and mouth disease; and strep throat!!! I decided that if Addison had strep then I would have Aiden done; otherwise I would save him the trauma (and myself honestly) of a throat culture. The quick strep was negative. We're waiting on the culture. At this point I think that the virus is totally unrelated to our exposures!

We missed a total of 2 days; yesterday was our first day back in therapy. Aiden was a little weaker than usual, but he worked hard. Today was even better. He is showing signs of really improving in his upper body strength. I am excited to see the results even this early.

Please pray that Aiden remains healthy and hardy for the remainder of our stay. Also pray that I am healthy. As self-important as it sounds, we really can't afford for me to be sick. Finally, thank the Lord for His faithfulness in this adventure!!!

Blessings to all,
Christa
PS. As I was writing my mom took my dad's temp.....101!!! :( Pray for him!

I have pics!

Greetings from Richmond. I hope that this finds all of you well and enjoying the beautiful weather. We are doing our best to get our week started. But more about that later.

I have finally gotten a card reader so that I can share some of the pictures of Aiden's first week back in intensive. Aiden started off with a bang. He showed off for Shannon; standing up and walking independently. His evaluation went well and Shannon has set some rather exciting goals for this session:

1. Aiden will pedal his tricycle independently with assistance
steering.
2. Aiden will pay attention to his surroundings so that he can safely navigate up and down obstacles of up to 2 inches.(I think that this is how it should read!!)
3. Aiden will walk up 4 stairs independently with close guarding.
4. Aiden will walk independently over uneven surfaces (grass, playground,etc) for 3 minutes.

For many of you these may seem rather simple goals. For us, they will be miracles of the most precious kind. As well, for Aiden to reach them he will have to work hard and long. It will require much focus and specific intent to motor map his brain, and this will come from practicing over and over. I thank Shannon in advance for the energy and discipline that will go into my son.

Now to the pictures. Some of the faces may be familiar. Shannon and Lindsey are in the pictures at the bottom. Aiden is suited up and ready to go. As you can see, Maisy is not

too far away. Aiden continues to love to be read to. I brought several new Maisy books so that we can rotate them and not get too bored. In the bottom picture Aiden in wearing the complete suit and is squatting down. The knee section of the suit makes bending very difficult--it is taking quite an effort to squat!

This session Aiden met Miss Cindy. She and Aiden took a walk outside for our first full day. He was a little unhappy when we walked past our van (his DVD player is inside), but he still worked hard. He was pretty wiped out that first day, but he didn't fall asleep this time. It just shows that
he is considerably stronger now than he was 7 months ago.

The pictures that are left (I still have not really gotten the hang of this blog thing and so the pictures that should be at the bottom are at the top.) are those of Aiden with a less than happy face. Let's face it, usually he is a happy-go-lucky guy who is content to have a sippy cup and a good movie on the DVD player. Well, Friday that was not the case. Shannon wanted him to pay attention as he stepped over hurdles. Aiden---not so much. There was screaming and fussing and (guarded by Shannon) some falling. Surprisingly, no tears. He was just mad, and didn't want to do what he needed to practice.

I know that it may seem silly or cliche for me to find a paralell between my son's unwillingness to work on what he needs to do and my own spiritual walk, but I can't help it. As a parent I want my child to work to be the best he can be. How much more does my heavenly parent want that for me? (or for any of you!!?) I kick and scream (and may actually have tears), but that doesn't change the fact that in order to grow I am going to have to work; practice being more like Jesus, work to love my family, exercise my faith to see it grow, discipline my heart to maintain an attitude of prayer. My tantrum will not change the fact that true growth is hard work.

Please pray for Aiden's hard work. Pray that the adults in his life will know how to motivate him. Thank God for the miracles that He is doing.

Blessings to all,

Christa

Getting back into the swing of therapy

Sometimes when you're not looking forward to an event the time leading up to it is really rather unpleasant. I have experienced some of that over the last several days. I have feared the unknown; what should I expect; would this time be successful; are we chasing after outcomes that are unrealistic? I have been facing down this particular spirit of doubt for the last several weeks. The thing is that I know that this is a particular attack aimed at bringing me down and directing the focus away from the miraculous.

I realized as we entered the center yesterday for our evaluation and the beginning of this new session that I have no control over any of this. It is not my situation. I can try to control the therapy, the child, the outcome (the traffic, the way my dad makes coffee.....) to no avail. It is a "Christa's hands off" program. I am not in control.

I have a hard time letting go. In much of my life things feel very out of control so I hold on to what little I can to find a sense of purpose; to have a focus. (I find it really funny that I have been trying to control the outcomes of Aiden's therapy when Aiden himself is what makes much of my life seem out of control.) I can no more control the sun rise or the rain fall than my life. If I accept that then I would be able to truly rest in the Lord. Oh to learn to rest in the Lord.

These personal issues aside, Aiden tolerated the eval yesterday and his first session today very well. We are six hours down on the 45 that we will ultimately complete by the 12th of June. I am encouraged by the eval. Aiden has definitely come so far in such a short time. Shannon says that she thinks that he's done amazingly well in the time since his 1st intensive. I am excited by his attention to tasks today. He seems more able to pay attention to what he's doing. As well, he was not combative or fussy during therapy. I was concerned that this would be a problem.

Please pray that I am able to rest in the Lord as He works in Aiden through therapy. Currently, I am taking a graduate class on line; pray that I am able to keep up. Finally, pray that Aiden responds well to therapy; that he is willing to work even when the work is hard.

You are all such a blessing to me; knowing that there are people faithfully remembering us as we embark on this leg of our journey is such an encouragement.

Blessings to all,
Christa
PS. I have left my card reader at home so pics will come soon.

We start back to intensive on Tuesday May 26!

Hi Friends,
This is just a quick message to let you know that we will be heading back to Hope therapy for our 2nd intensive. We will complete another 45 hours of PT in 15 days in hope that Aiden will respond to the work positively.

I am a little nervous about the process. I believe that there was less stress with our first intensive because there was not any expectation for success. This time I have ideas of what could be, and am afraid that perhaps this will not be as significant for Aiden. Also, as a family, we pretty much put our lives on hold. I don't want to feel like we have "wasted" the time. There is always something riding on an experience like this; I just don't want to feel like everything is!!

Please pray that all of us make the transition from our regular schedule to the "camp Grandma" schedule. Pray that Aiden is strong and willing to be directed in his PT activities. Finally, pray that I find encouragement and hope in this process.

Thank you all and blessings,
Christa

Please forgive me!!!

Dear Friends,
I am so sorry that I have been so unfaithful to keep up this blog. I have let life and busyness keep me from taking the time to put my thoughts and feelings, as well as Aiden's on-going progress, down in print. Keeping this journal has been so very helpful in allowing me to plot Aiden's progress and my own personal growth.

To catch everyone up to speed I'll let you know where we are today! (By the way, it is Mother's Day :) Currently, Aiden is walking with great ease and with relative fluidity. He is not using his arms to turn/rotate his trunk as much as we were seeing several months ago. As well, Aiden is successfully able to push himself up from the floor to a standing position. When we left RHTC in November he was only able to get himself up if he had the assistance of a 3-4 inch platform. So being able to "Dog,Frog and Up" is quite an accomplishment!

Communicatively speaking (is that an oxymoron or is it redundant?), Aiden is still not speaking at all. It has become very obvious to both Dave and me that Aiden is very frustrated with his inability to successfully and easily communicate with us. This having been said, Aiden had an assistive technology evaluation done at Children's Hospital in Richmond last month. I thought that this would provide access to some of the voice recordable switches (like the easy buttons but different) like we tried in November. In reality, it was assessing the plausibility for Aiden to learn to use a computer. Guess what.....he can!!!!!

The assessment gave me the opportunity to see Aiden's little brain at work. I have wondered (and perhaps all of you have) whether or not Aiden had cognitive issues along with his physical limitations. When given the opportunity to identify pictures of objects with a touch screen computer, Aiden was able to successfully choose 8 of 10. In the world of education (especially special ed), 80% is great!!
To say that I was surprised is an understatement. We will be looking forward to getting a touch screen monitor and software to support Aiden's cognitive growth.

We are continuing to encourage Aiden to use hand over hand signing, PECs (picture exchange communication), allowing him to take us to what he wants, and we will try not to anticipate his needs so that he is forced to communicate.

For me personally, I have felt a lot like a desert recently. I have had to continue with graduate classes on line. I successfully completed on in April and began another one the same day. My new class will also focus on the processes the brain goes through while learning. (I am hopeful that maybe I will learn one or two things that will help me understand Aiden's learning process, or will help us to make more neural connections.) The classes, although not terribly taxing, still require time and thought, both things that I feel lacking at this time.

I was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder recently. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is the leading cause of hypothyroidism and is linked to a gluten sensitivity. The thought of taking on living gluten free is overwhelming, so I am attempting to work through this with supplements, and if that is unsuccessful, I will take some form of thyroxin. I mention this because it does help to explain my overwhelming exhaustion, foggy brain feelings and weight gain. (I would love to blame all of my weight issues on Hashimoto's, but I am sure that the 1/2 lb of chocolate yesterday didn't help!!) :)

I thank you all for your continued prayers. I believe that there are probably days when you think of us and pray without knowing why. Bless you for those. We will be embarking on a second intensive therapy session beginning the 25th of May. This will continue through the 12th of June followed by a dental procedure (requiring general anesthesia) on the 16th of June at MCV hospital. I will do my best to keep you all informed and up to speed.

As in other posts I have asked for your prayers for others. Our friend Shannon (Aiden's therapist in Richmond) is having some serious health concerns. She was diagnosed with Celiacs disease about 4 weeks ago. Shannon is feeling terrible with joint pain, brain fog, insomnia and nausea; she needs significant prayer support. Please pray that she will begin to find relief from this illness.

Blessings and peace to you all,
~Christa
PS. For all of the people who bless children (moms or ladies who are like moms--have a great day!!)