Church!

Well, Grace was just the belle of the ball at church today :) She FINALLY fit into one of her big girl dresses that I've been not so anxiously waiting for her to grow into!! It's hung in the back of her closet for SO long! So now that's she's a big girl and could wear it, what better day then today?! And of course I took lots of pictures! And I'm VERY excited to say that her shoes....A SIZE 5!!! WOW! They came from a very special "grandma Angie" in California! Thank you SO much! She was obviously excited to wear it too. She kept looking at the beads on it, and pulling it up and down at church. I just loved that part because I got to see her super cute pantaloons underneath! Ok not really, but they were big enough on her (it was a diaper cover) that it DEFINITELY could have been played off as pantaloons :) Of course no picture, I forgot...and she's already in day clothes. Next time!

She's holding our rendition of "Elf on the Shelf." It's a snowman instead, and I thought he was SO super cute we just had to get him instead!! I painted a box and decorated it so we'd have a special place to store him each year. Pictures of that to come.

Princess Grace getting her hair done!
And helping Mommy by brushing her own teeth! Not for real, I brush them, but she's really getting the hang of it!
Her face screams "What?" I asked her to smile! Yeah, she doesn't know what that means...yet!

Grace just LOVES laughing!! I caught her in the act when I asked her to give me "a BIG laugh!"
She was done! No way was I going to be able to take any more pictures of her.
Look at my big girl in her beautiful dress! And right after this picture she stood there looking like a doll for 30 seconds or so, but my darn camera decided not to work!
Close up shot! A little exzema showing itself but other than that, she's perfect!
Of course the picture that I ask her to give the Snowman a hug it comes out all blurry. Oh well, you get the idea ;)

All in all, a beautiful day with a beautiful daughter. Now lunch time is over, she's calling me from the high chair with homemade macaroni and cheese in her hair saying, "nie nie?"

Amanda

A Lesson Learned...

Well, Grace has taught Mommy a VERY valuable lesson! If we are going to potty train, (which we are EXTREMELY SLOWLY) and we are teaching Grace to throw the toilet paper in the toilet, then we need to be sure to keep the lid closed at ALL times. Why, you might ask? Because she might try to be helpful and throw a shirt in there, thinking that's where it belongs!! Yep, she sure did! One of her shirts out of her clean laundry basket. That little stinker. But you know, she might have thought she was doing laundry, since of course she helps with that too. Maybe the toilet looked the the washer a bit? I dunno!

Silly girl!

Amanda

Saturday

So, ok...a little truth must come out. I can't wait for January. Why is that? Because then we will actually have things that are building up our days. Not only will we have the therapies, which I literally cheer for, but I'll have Grace going to toddler lab 2 days a week for almost 2 hours, and Mommy gets to have some alone, just Mommy, being an adult and not worrying about anyone, time at school! Not that I don't LOVE being with Grace all the time 24/7, because I do. But everyone needs a break every once in a while, and I'm really getting to that point. It's hard moving to a new place, because you don't know anyone. So the days tend to mesh together, and you tend to start forgetting what day it is, because they all seem the same. And then you tend to get bored, and kind of a HUGE dose of Cabin Fever, because it's the same thing every day. You just can't have the same thing happening every day or ya just go crazy, you know what I mean?! So I'm SO thankful for January. I just jump for joy whenever I think..."soon, she'll have big girl time (Grace) and I'LL have 4 1/2 hours 2 days a week of ME TIME!!!" Am I conceded? Selfish? I hope that doesn't sound like me! Maybe if I had a little flare in life right now, I wouldn't have cabin fever!!


Blah, there's the truth. That's not always shared since it could make me look bad, but there it is. Take it for what it's worth. I love my family, and I love being with my daughter. I just can't wait to watch her sprout her little wings (JUST A TINY BIT) and go to toddler classes!! I know I'll be plastered to the window watching, that's for sure.

Cabin Fever is just HORRIBLE!!


Amanda

School, Christmas, and a Missionary!

Well, I am happy to say that our Missionary (who comes home next week) was accepted to BYUI finally! We've been working like mad dogs to get all the paperwork done, classes picked out before they all close, and so forth. Granted, we can't sign him up for classes until he has the track he's going to be on, but still, I can be prepared right? And since I'm talking about the missionary right now, I'll just keep it up with him coming home! We are all so excited! In less than a week he will be home, going down the escalator while we hold up giant signs and yell "Welcome Home!!!" Times and dates are under wraps, but it's for sure happening! Grace has already learned how to say his name too, so I'm hoping she'll give him a giant hug and say, "WHY-AN." For one of our art projects I'm going to have her draw a picture called "Brother and Grace." Whatever she comes up with is going to be named that and framed for his room!

I can't believe that in 1 1/2 weeks, we'll be in CA!! I can't wait to spend Christmas with my grandparents, and spend time with all my friends as well! We haven't gotten much snow here, what comes here and there just melts within an hour or so, so it's not the real deal norm. I'm REALLY hoping it will hold off doing the real deal until we are already gone! It's waited this long, why not a bit longer?! If it snows too much we might not make it over the summits, granted, I don't think I'd let ANYTHING stand in my way of Christmas with my grandparents. It's been quite a few years not spending a holiday with them, and this year, it's MY year.

Lots of good things, but now it's after 9 and we are still in pajamas. Therapy time is quickly approaching, so I must go!


Amanda

Is it really Friday?

Wow, I can't believe the entire week is already gone. I don't really know where the days go!! Today Grace has Speech at 10, then OT at 10:45, and I will be SURE to tell that OT that she's expecting too much from Grace at this point! It's crazy to think that she's going to hop and stand on one foot after JUST learning to really walk 3 weeks ago. And I'm definitely not going to let Grace get pushed too hard. I won't be super anal, but I will be sure she's working on what she's capable of doing. Anyways, after two therapies, I'll bet she'll be begging for nap time! Which will be good because I get to sew our quilt then!

So, one thing I have been noticing with Grace that I REALLY wish I wasn't noticing. Other than the fact that she NEVER listens to "no" (which is normal with her developmental age), is that she's falling A LOT. I can't quite tell what's going on, but random times she'll just fall when she's up walking. It's like 8 times in one day. So I'm TRYING not to think that there's something physically wrong with her that's causing her to lose her balance, or become dizzy and fall, or whatever. Brad told me that all kids fall a lot when they are learning to walk, and yes, that's true...but this much? And over nothing at times? I'm going to have to keep watching. And hoping it's just her being clumsy.

Another thing I've noticed about Grace? This one is a plus! She'll go play by herself! Oh yeah! I know that might sound harsh, but for a bit we were worried she was becoming one of those kids that have to be entertained from sun up to sun down, and I'm so glad to report that she's not. Like right now, she's off in her room playing with her singing dog! I love that I am able to not feel like a bad mom if I tell her, "Not right now Grace" and send her on her way :) And I am just SO happy she knows how to play alone for a little while! It was especially cute yesterday because she would throw her blocks, balls...anything...down the stairs, then she'd climb down the first little flight (our stairs turn) and she played down on the landing for a while by herself, laughing at herself and so forth, and after about 30 minutes she came up for some Mommy time! Good girl. She also LOVES playing with the dog! She'll lay on the floor when he's laying down, she'll walk around and he'll follow her, if he's playing with his ball she'll try to steal it, and then throw it for him, and she LOVES giving him great big hugs! She'll try to carry him off the couch, which usually ends up with a freaked out dog and a child laughing hysterically! I just love how much she's grown up and matured. But I'm still oh so glad she's my little 26 month old...oh my gosh! She's almost 2 1/2! I must try to find some way to slow down the time!!

Until I learn how to slow down time (like how it drags for three hours in the even between 5-8) I will continue to post everything so I remember!

And what did I tell you? She just walked out here with her block, tossed it down the stairs, and is now proceeding down the stairs to retrieve it! Silly girl!


Amanda

Thursday Evening!

Grace had a friend over!!! It was her first time having a friend over. Granted, he was 5, but still. He brought a toy to share with her, which ultimately ended up on the piano, but he was so good at trying to share it. It was a nice evening, and Grace was definitely tired out by it! She went right to sleep when I put her to bed at 8:30 pm! And she didn't even wake up at night. That was a blessing. Now if only every evening could be like that. I think she's realizing that when she goes to bed, she misses things! Little stinker.

All in all, a good night.


Friends are fun :)

Amanda

Thursday Morning...

Well, we were up bright eyed and bushy-tailed to get to therapy by 8, and after waiting outside in the 15 degree weather (granted, we were in the truck with the heater running) for 15 minutes, Grace and I came to the conclusion that her therapist wasn't going to show. The last time we met with her she was 10 minutes late. These 8 am sessions are obviously hard for her. So we headed to BYUI to figure out if I need a parking pass, or if I can just use Grace's disabled person placard (she will be going to school with me) and I'm lucky that I don't have to pay for a pass! Then off to the library to get tons of Christmas books! Finally, we get there before everyone else does. We also got a new library activity kit. Did I tell you what those were?

They are kits that the library has put together, and they have about 5 books in them, 3-4 file folder games, and then a 2 inch binder FULL of printouts that can be copied. Coloring pages, finger play, poems, and activities all on a certain theme. I picked out "Art" this time :) I can't wait to get started.

Now we're finally home. We couldn't take the 15 degree weather anymore! No, it didn't go up at all while we were out! The high today is...29!!!

As I'm writing this, Grace is throwing her new legos down the stairs. She's realized that it's absolute FUN to throw things down the stairs and watch them crash. Hey, whatever keeps her busy right?

Today will be "Art" kit day, with grinding more rice (which Grace has already helped me do), the kitchen has already been cleaned, laundry is going, and Christmas presents will be sewed after she goes down for nap! I'm also going to grind some more wheat for my bread I make weekly, as well as rolled oats for cookies! I also have to make plans with friends while I'm in CA so I know where we'll be for meals and everything! But I will be, for sure, making my crock pot lasagna for my grandparents one night!!

Alright, well I better go switch the laundry as it's beeping at me!


Amanda

Grace's New Toy, and More

We just got Grace some blocks her Spina Bifida OT told us to get for hand eye coordination as well as block building :) She likes to throw them down the stairs!! So now we have a new toy to learn with! I can't wait to get started tomorrow...


It's so cute so I have to share...it's 8 pm and 1/2 an hour till she goes to bed. We usually watch "Madeline" when time is going by to slow, which she calls "Nie nie?" When I sit at the computer/Tv she usually asks over and over "nie nie? nie nie?" She gets all excited walking around in circles and tries to go to the couch and climb up, which is where she and I sit to watch her absolute FAVORITE show!! She does big "O" faces when the girls cry on it, or when there's mystery, cheers when they cheer, says "HI" when they do...etc. It's so stinkin' cute!!
See what Daddy does when Grace is done playing? How cute!


And just showing off my newest addition to my kitchen :) A shoe holder for all my spice packets! I'm going to make my own packets and put them in this as well, it's cheaper to make my own once I find the recipes! Now I've got an extra drawer that's empty for something else!

Grace had her OT today. Her OT wants us to work on her standing on one foot and hopping. Are you SERIOUS? No, you're just INSANE! She JUST learned to walk...Hello??? I guess mommy gets to go to the next appt with the OT and be a bit abrupt with what I think and KNOW Grace needs.


And a super messy faced and messy haired girl :)


Amanda

Time

Time definitely seems to stop for no one! And another thing that doesn't stop for someone...sickness!!! Blah, I'm sick, but luckily Grace has gotten over it quickly. I'm just hoping everyone will get over it by the 16th, which is when we welcome our missionary home!! Grace gets to have a late night that night, as he doesn't arrive until 9:06 pm. We are so excited. Again, there's when time doesn't stop...I can't believe it's already been two years!! We are trying to tie up loose ends with BYU-I so he can start there Winter semester, but it seems to be taking them FOREVER to accept him so I can sign him up for classes! But hopefully, it will all get taken care of very soon.

Therapy...therapy is going well so far. Grace has speech three times a week...Tue at 10, Thur at 8, Fri at 10. It has to be that weird schedule so I can take her there and then back home before I have to go to school, so it works for us. That 8 am though is sometimes so hard to get up for when you've stayed up late the night before!! But she's totally worth it. She goes back with the therapist for 45 minutes (eeek, I don't get to go...) and every time she comes out, she's got a snack bag of goldfish in her hand and a huge smile on her face.

Sometimes, when I watch her walking around, I get all emotional and teary-eyed thinking that 2 years ago, she was my little newborn wrapped up in my arms. And now she's this petite 2 year old with LOTS of character! I LOVE IT!!! But of course, for a mommy it's sad to see her little one grow up. You always want them to be your baby, but you want them to grow up too! I'm just glad I have 16 years left...maybe more!!

Time stands still for no one, so you have to make the best of it all. I do by dancing with her EVERY night before I put her to bed, and after I lay her down, she tries to keep her feet up in the air oh so long, but sooner or later, I catch them with the blanket, rush her bangs from her face, tell her I love her, and blow her a kiss as I quietly shut the door. Those little moments are so worth the time flying by.


I love you Grace!

Mommy

Emergency Kits

Well, I've recently updated our 72 hour kits...as of 10 minutes ago to be exact! I added portable stoves to each one, about the size of two tuna cans stacked, burn lotion, and biodegradable soap! I will be refilling water jugs (gallons) tomorrow and putting them back in freshly dated, and will be checking the clothing sizes as well to be sure everything still fits. And now that we live in a snow state, I'll probably put thicker blankets as well as thicker jackets :)

Fun stuff you know!!


Amanda

Grace's First PT in the new house!

12/5

We finally had our first PT in our new home!!! I have a lot of video of it, but seeing how our internet is oober slow, as well as drops Firefox about every 10 minutes, I doubt I'd be able to upload it before it freaked out and closed down. So for now, pictures. Until we can get someone out here to fix the cable. Side note: when they wired the house for internet (before we were here) the went from one side of the house, wrapped it ALL the way around the house and back to where they started, and then went in. WOW.)

I am so amazed that she figured out how to step over the swiffer!! This was her first time trying, and after about 10 times of practicing and or cheating, she figured it out!!! Wonderful job Grace!
And she just HAD to bring me her PT's clipboard. There was just something so important on there I had to see it!


Wonderful job Grace!!

Amanda

My Projects

12/4


I've tried to keep up with my housekeeping, cooking, baking, etc etc now that we've finally moved in, and let me say it's tough to get started again! Only because some things get misplaced, like some of my bread recipe books. But even with that, I've tried to keep up with all that, and throwing in a teaspoon of craftiness as well.

This is our menu for the week. I don't really like the homemade flower on the side, but whatever. It works for us!
Baked apples with cinnamon, sugar and raisins in the middle. The crock pot and I have become best friends...attached at the hip for sure! Other than right this minute, my crock has been on non stop for a week now! Whether it's dinner, or desserts, or breakfasts, it's always going! I have been working out of my "Fix it and Forget it" Crock pot recipe book. I must say I've fallen in love!
A bread recipe I recently made. I guess I didn't give it a bowl big enough!!! I was AMAZED how big this rose! I also love that my oven goes down to 175 degrees, so I can turn that on for 5 minutes while I'm kneading, turn it off and stick the bread in to rise, and it does wonderfully!


And my two loaves of bread! I think the only bad thing is it's a "roll up" bread recipe, and I didn't roll it tight enough. I had two holes in the middle of one of the loaves. But it was SO YUMMY!!!


Amanda

Shaving Cream Fun!

11/29

This is definitely one of our favorite past times!!! SHAVING CREAM!!! I've gotten smarter over the days, and now it's safest to put her in the tub, with a diaper, and let her go full bore into that cream!

She's trying to crawl...unsuccessfully, over to the edge of the tub! See her face of determination?
How stinkin' cute is she?!!! I love how she's chewing on her tongue!
Smearing her foot with shaving cream :)
Awwww, what a sweetie she is!!


Amanda

Grace being a cutie!

11/23

Grace loves flirting with herself in the mirror, and does it CONSTANTLY!!! I think she knows the girl in the mirror is super cute!! I also love her hair in two pigtails, and I also ADORE the purple jumper she's wearing!!

Up top she's TOTALLY smiling at herself and all her cuteness!
Sending a big MMMMUUUUAAAAHHH to all our followers,friends and family!
Showing off her teeth!
Do you see her looking at us from the reflection? Smart girl!
And her beautiful locks, and her best man!!!


Amanda

Grace's PT at home

11/17

This blog post is while we were still living in the apartment. PT was coming to the home, and we tried on a different suit than the one at Hippo to see how it did. This suit, though, didn't help much. She was still all over, super excited Gracey, so this one was definitely a "not use again" one. But that's ok, she gave us some super cute pictures with it! It looks like she's ready to go to a dance class or something!

How stinkin' cute does she look with the suit on and her SUPER blonde hair!!!

She's working on putting the pieces back in the bag. She likes to make a mess, but not really clean up, yet anyways!


Amanda

Camp Hippo

11/16

We loved Camp Hippo so much! It was an equine riding program as well as normal PT, OT and speech, but Grace didn't get to ride the horses. Darn! Anyways, she went a total of 9 Wednesdays, and they were three hour sessions. She absolutely LOVED going, and was always so excited! She did very well throughout the entire three hours, and would crash right when she got in her car seat for the 1/2 hour ride home! It was so sweet to watch her work with her therapists. I really wish they were closer to Rexburg so we could continue receiving services, but sadly, they were in the opposite direction.

I was so happy to see that the Hippo, their mascot, was showing for Grace to take a picture on! It had been covered the entire time we went there because of construction, but it just so happened that he was uncovered on our last day.
Oh the swing!!! She LOVES LOVES LOVES this swing!! Right when she realized where we were going each Wednesday, that's all I heard, "swing?" "Wee?" Silly girl!

Here is Grace with her PT working on the trike. There was only one time that she actually pushed her foot down on the pedal to make herself go. The rest of the time, it was Flynn pushing her legs. But she did GREAT keeping her feet ON the pedals after he put a wedge behind her back to get her closer to the pedals.
Shaving cream fun with the speech therapist. This is to work on writing letters, but she's way too young for that, so for Grace, it was more about the fun!!! SHE LOVES SHAVING CREAM!!


This is Grace's speech therapist, whom she adored!! She is wearing a vest to help her with deep pressure, so she can be more relaxed during therapy. She was REALLY everywhere all the time, and the vest really helped. Here they are working on imitating. The therapist would say the noise the dog makes (from the book) and Grace would imitate. This is wonderful because it gets her used to making more noises than she normally does. She also learned to "feel" the letters that are coming out of her mouth, like with "p" you get a puff of air, or "s" gets a feel as well. Wonderful therapist!!

And Grace just had to show off in the tub after a long day of therapy!! What a cheekie girly!



What a sweetie!

Amanda

Lovin' on Daddy!!

11/23

Grace just LOVES her Daddy!!! And she's just so good at giving hugs too!! Here's a super cute picture of her given lovin's to Daddy!!

That's Daddy's girl!!

Amanda

Wow, Time goes by Fast

I can't believe that it's already December 3rd. I just can't seem to find time to fit in blog updating, but for some weird reason, it's 9 am and Grace is still sleeping so I thought that would be the perfect time! Ok, so some wonderful news to start with....

Grace went #2 in the big girl potty!!! WOW!!! She did it last night. I'd gone into the bathroom and when she realized where I was going, she started walking down the hall towards me saying "potty?" over and over and lifting up her shirt as she got closer to me. Good girl Grace!

So that's one #1, and one #1 in one week! I am not really doing the whole, "every 1/2 hour put her on the potty" or the "no diapers AT ALL, just underwear" because I definitely don't think she's ready, so I'm thinking that the reason she was able to do the #1 and #2 is because I just happened to catch her at the right moment :) Good job Mom!

Anyways, time for more news. Presents are all wrapped, and have been for the past two weeks. I wanted to get them done early because OUR MISSIONARY COMES HOME!!! I can't believe it!!! He's coming home December 16th, which is also our anniversary! So as long as he gets here safely, on time, and the welcome home goes off without a hitch, then I'm happy! We are also having a special Christmas this year because the week after he gets home, we'll be heading home to CA to stay with my grandparents!! We'll spend a week and two days there, visiting family, friends, babies, "special spots," and church!! I'm pretty excited, and wish the time would go by faster. But, I will try to wait patiently here :) We haven't decorated too much, seeing as we aren't going to be here, but the stockings are up, and Mr. Snowman is out watching! He's like the Elf that comes around to other houses to tell Santa if the children are being good, but we are lucky and have a snowman come to our house instead! So I made him a box to live in while it's not December, and it's not quite finished. Grace and I are going to decorate it with jewels and stickers to make it super Christmasy. I know, that's not a word!

Hm...lets see what else. The house is pretty much box free...well...just don't go down to the basement and then it's box free. The living room is half a obstacle course for Grace to chase up through as we wait for Brad to build shelves in the food storage room. He's pretty much got the design down. Against the two long walls the shelves will be 18 inches deep, and then in the middle there will be an aisle that is 3 feet deep, so technically, I'll have 1 1/2 foot on each side to put my food storage. The 55 gallon water drums have a wall to themselves, and above them there will be shelves tall enough for my 5 gallon buckets. I'm pretty stoked! I can't wait for him to build this!!

So laundry detergent. I know in previous posts I've made the powdered detergent for the washing machine, but for our washing machine, it's not working out. So I've found a new recipe, and it actually comes from the Duggar (20 kids and counting) website!!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

ShareThis

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

I'm so going to make this today! And I haven't been canning yet, so once my food storage room is set up, you all will get to see that coming back into play (I hope).

Well, there's the little one, so I better get going. Until next time!

Amanda

Another Quick Update!

Grace is no longer crawling to get places, and.....SHE WENT POTTY IN THE BIG GIRL POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! WOW!! Good job Grace!

We canceled all her appointments accept her MRI since she's been doing so well. Definitely growing cognitively! She's starting to run too!

Amanda

Just a Quick Update

So, we're moving now! Actually, we started yesterday. Signed the papers, handed over the money, and at 2:30 pm we got the call..."You are now proud owners of a beautiful house!" Oh yeah! So we got a small trailer, 24 foot, and loaded that baby up twice! I unpacked as Brad and Kailyn were loading it a second time, so except for the food storage that was brought over, all the boxes from the first load have already been unpacked, put away, and the boxes broken down! Oh yeah! We had some family over to help, and Kailyn had some friends, so that made it even faster. Brad already took another load this morning from storage, so now, we're getting there! All that's left in the apartment and garage are the big things: our mattress, crib, chest of drawers, bookshelf, tv/desk/computer, and then in the garage there's the washer/dryer, 2 freezers, fridge and piano. That was FAST!

Tonight, around 2, we'll get the 26 foot truck, and Kailyn's 2 friends as well as 2 missionaries are coming over to help load up at the storage, which will hopefully all fit in one truck. Then off to Rex by 5:30, where there should be a bunch of people waiting to help unload from church as well as two or more family members. It's amazingly fast when you have a lot of people there to help you.

We've only had one mishap so far. Brad knocked over a 5 gallon tub of sugar...oops. So we'll have to replace that, but that's it so far!

Ok, time to take Grace to a friend that's going to watch her so I can bring the rest of the furniture out to the living room and deep clean!

BYE!

Amanda

Grace's PT Today!

WOW, I can't believe how well Grace has done in such a short amount of time! Today during PT she was definitely showing off for us, and I absolutely LOVED it! SHe finally did the "stink bug stand" like she's supposed to! This is shown in the videos below! I was so proud of her, and I think the best of the best was when she bent down, grabbed her toy while in squat position, and got back up to standing without much effort at all! Great job Grace!! In one of the videos, the first one I think, we are talking about a compression vest, which might help her feel more secure, thus helping her slow down as she's walking about. She just goes so FAST, and she's wobbly, unbalanced, and not really paying attention to her surroundings, so maybe the compression vest will help.
She was being a stinker in the above photo. I thought she was going to bend down without holding on, but alas, she held on.
Here she's on a roll walking and talking on her cell phone. Already a chatty Cathy!














This bottom video is the cutest!!! She's trying SO hard to run!! She gets going pretty fast, huh?


Amanda

Spina Bifida Clinic and Ronald McDonald

We stayed at the Ronald McDonald house, and it was such an awesome experience. While we were there, I asked about a "Bored Bag" for Grace, which is what they give out for the little ones. Well, the picture below shows the goodies. It was AMAZING how much stuff they put in there!! I couldn't believe it! They also had a full kitchen there, and cupboards PACKED full of anything you could think of. Then, there's volunteers that come daily to cook dinner, so that was nice too.

They also give out a gift on your first stay when you are checking out. It's a pillow and quilt made by a mommy of a little boy named Benjamin. He found out in '97 that he had cancer, had stayed in this exact house, and by Thanksgiving of '98, he had passed away. But while he was receiving treatments, he'd asked his mom to make little pillows and quilts for his friends, so they'll be happy. And to carry on his legacy, his mom still makes the pillows and quilts, but it's gotten bigger because she asks others to help out as well. That way, everyone will feel special because of the cute pillow and quilt!



I felt so blessed to be able to stay at the house and benefit from it's love within. And I'm so glad there's somewhere like that for people to go when their little ones are sick and can't be home.

Amanda

Spina Bifida Clinic

Well, we are home from the clinic. We stayed at the Ronald McDonald house, and that was such a humbling experience. Seeing all the pictures of the children that stayed in the home, and then seeing the sick children walking around the Primary Children's Hospital...it was hard to keep my emotions in check. Especially since I've got a friend who's young daughter passed away from Leukemia almost a year ago. Lots of choking back I had to do. Anyways...

Here's what gonna happen:

Grace is getting an MRI in December to update on her scoliosis and syrinx in her spine. At the clinic she got a renal ultrasound on her kidneys and they looked perfect.

Grace will also be getting a pressure test on her bladder with dye input to make sure she doesn't have neurogenic bladder as well. This will also show if the kidneys are being damaged, which we didn't see so probably not.

Grace will be getting SMO's... Here's a picture below... Since she can't stand without support, and she walks with her feet pointing out, and has a slight roll to her feet (this is all normal with spina bifida AS WELL AS her gene deletion), the SMO's will help stabilize her ankles, give support, and teach her how to balance better so hopefully she can stand without support.

Today we talked with Neurosurgery, Neurology, Urology, PT, OT, Genetics, and...I think that's it. PT said she's doing great, and that children like Grace would put PT out of business!! He was just so ecstatic with how well she's doing. OT has given us a list of supplies to buy since she's so far behind developmentally...darn...no colors, animals, or writing other than vertical lines and scribbling. Here's whats on our wish list for her:

The chenille stems. These we will use to work on stringing beads. The beads are below.. These are what we start with because they are more firm than just a piece of string.
Since Grace is SO sensory tactile, the OT said to do AS MUCH sensory AS POSSIBLE. Shaving cream, whipped cream, finger paint, pudding, jello, etc. Allow her that as much as she wants to do in hopes that it will decrease her need to smear her meals all over her.
Chunky puzzles. Aren't as difficult to maneuver as the puzzles we have for her with the tiny handles, and they are simple shapes. We are to only use circle, square and triangle, and then move on when she's mastered that.
These are the Melissa and Doug beads we have to start her stringing with the chenille stems. This will help with hand eye coordination, fine motor, and it's a common milestone she should have already reached.
Stacking is HUGE all throughout this age and children are tested up to the age of 5 on stacking. And since she just HATES having things stacked in front of her, these were given as an activity to buy since they connect as they are stacked, so that they won't fall off as easily if she were to push them over. Also, we are to teach her that if she wants to knock them down, then she has to push a truck into them. Gives her following direction ability, hand eye again, and hopefully will make her less likely to knock them down.

Another chunky puzzle without knobs. This one is a bit more advanced, but it's another one we could get to help her with holding larger objects in her hands.


All in all, a trip completed. I'm exhausted, so we've put Grace to bed and am watching hulu till we get too tired to keep our eyes open! The house offer we counter offered after they counter offered us went through, so we go to Rexburg tomorrow to do the walk-through with the inspector, then hopefully by the middle of next week it will close, and we'll move in by next Weekend!!

Amanda

Dr. Appointments for Grace and our hectic schedule!

Wow. Today's been a day. Finding out about the house, finally doing the offer thing, and then having to come home and schedule a ton of appointments for Grace was too much for me! I cried! It is just exhausting making all these appointments, wishing she didn't need them, and then getting turned down for multiple appoints per day. Anyways, here's the schedule. It's kinda crazy.

Be sure to remember this is ALL in Utah!

November Friday 11th: Spina Bifida Clinic 8 am

• neurology
  
• urology

December 1st: Shriners Hospital for orthopedics at 8 am. Then 1:15 bladder pressure testing and 3 pm appt with Urology

December 5-8th:
5th: Nuerosurgery at 9:30
6th: MRI 12 pm
7th: Genetics 9:30
8th: Orthopedics 4:20 pm

I told you it was crazy. Luckily, we can stay at the Ronald McDonald house for the 11th one so we aren't getting up at 4 am to drive down there. Same with the 1st, and then the 5th-8th. That's a blessing for sure! The MRI is finally for her spine, and all hopes that everything is fine.

So, add that to everything else going on! We are never stopping! Our Elder Hildreth comes home December 16th, which, conveniently, is our anniversary, but the house is my gift so that's ok. Plus, I'd rather see him home safely than go somewhere else. Party with family some time after he comes home, Kailyn finishes school the 22nd, then we high tail it to CA for family time there!! Then I start school Jan 4th!!! Woo Whoo!! And Grace starts going to preschool then too! As well as all her other stuff...PT 2x week, OT 1x week, Speech 3x week, equine 1x week, and possibly swimming therapy 1x week. I'll be going to school MWF, from 10:15-3:45, so I still get to see Grace every morning, and I won't be home too late. I'm taking 7 classes, 4 online, 3 in class. Shew! Then I will be going to Mommy group for special needs children, and possibly starting a special needs music group too!

Remember, fingers crossed that the bank accepts without issue. And that would have been nice if it was by tonight, but tomorrow is fine too!

FINGERS CROSSED!!!


Amanda