Water Therapy...the BEST EVER!

06/23
This day I can say was definitely the best. Why, you ask? Because of the awesome thing that Grace did on this wonderful day!! She stood up, nice and tall...by herself (while leaning on the bar)...and fell/jumped into the pool!!! WOW! I'm so sad to say that I don't have enough pictures of it all because we were talking to another mother there. But the memories will forever be in my mind, because I was so lucky enough to be able to see her stand there, so tall and proud, and when the therapist open her arms towards Grace, she went for it!!! She had the trust of the world on her heart, and fell into her therapists arms!

The above picture is how she usually walks now :) Holding onto the noodle makes it a real balance test for Grace. She's got to use her core to keep her upright, especially when the noodle moves left or right. She does SO great walking this way!!
And here's Grace walking with just holding hands. Actually, today was awesome for another reason too because she stood by herself for 8 seconds, and took 6 steps by herself in the water! Congratulations Grace!
Here's the part where she pushes off the wall and kicks. She doesn't like the whole kicking part, but we still use this a lot because it's good for her leg muscles, and hopefully her coordination.
And here's the beautiful part of her therapy today. I wish I would have had all my attention on her, but there was a mother that we were talking to. But what I got to see, and what I got to take pictures of, is just beautiful. Here she is turning from facing away from Elaina. You are so awesome Grace. I'm just so proud of you...To have the trust you do to turn yourself on that wet tile, and not get scared, or to cry or even whimper...you are so Brave!!
And here she is facing forward. From here, she leaned back on the bar, waited about 5 seconds, and then Elaina stepped back, opened her arms and said "come on Grace!" and Grace leaned forward and fell right into the arms of her therapist with a big splash to boot! YEAH!!!

This was an awesome therapy session. I was so glad to be able to see her just into the water because it showed her bravery :) I love you Grace.

Amanda

Park Play

06/24
We just absolutely love going to the park! And what better than to have our friends there to play with :) On this particular day, Grace had SO much fun playing with her friend Keri! She absolutely loves her friend, and I love watching the two of them play together.

We are definitely going to miss Keri and her family. We will definitely be keeping touch because they have been such a positive impact in our lives.


Amanda

Update on Grace!!

She got her nails painted!!! WOW!!! This is her first time ever, but it wasn't with me! Today she spent some time with a very close friend while I packed, and that special friend (Keri) got to paint her nails. It was extra special for Keri because she never got the chance to paint her daughter's nails before she passed away, so that was kinda "taken care of" by painting Grace's :) There will be an update with pictures...sometime!

Keri's been so great watching Grace for me while we pack everything. And she just loves Grace, so it's no hassle for her!! It's so cute...right when Grace sees her she lunges!! And when it's time to go, she reaches so far for Keri!!

Amanda

Ok, Change of Plans!!

I know I said I'd be off blogland, but I've changed my plans...what's new!

First of all, I won't put too many details up, but we're moving!! Idaho Falls, here we come. That's why we've been so super busy and I haven't been blogging. But because I'm going to make this into Grace's journal every two years (bind it), I better update!

Changes in the garden of course, and in one day we've packed the living room, family room, dining room, and kitchen..WOW! And can I just say that I LOVE packing!! Weird, I know!!

Grace is cutting a tooth!!!! WOW! It's her third to the back on her right side. I've been worried she didn't have this tooth on either side, as well as not on the bottom on either side, so I got such a blessing tonight by seeing a little white spot!

Hm...what else...I think those are pretty much the huge things for us. WAIT!!! I forgot!!! I pulled one of the potato plants out because it was starting to die, and sadly, there weren't any HUGE potatoes, but there was one about the size of...a gumball? And then there were about 4 more that were the size of peas!

Well, I'm not going to update all this tonight with their own posts because after a day of packing, my feet ache! So I'm going to kick my feet up, eat some beef jerky, and watch Supernanny!!

Amanda

Time Off

Starting Monday, I will be forgoing my normal routine of blogland. I will be taking a much needed break from the computer :) I'm actually kinda excited about it. But don't worry. I'll be sure to take TONS of pictures of all the fun things we're doing while on "computer vacation" so you all can see when I return to the "comfy chair" in front of the computer.

Amanda

Our Garden REALLY up to date

06/21

This garden is crazy. I love how big everything has gotten, and I just love going out there and taking pictures because it seriously changes daily.

The peas are slowly dying, and the green beans are becoming monsters...I swear, someday I'm going to wake up and they'll be climbing the house, and knocking at the back door!
Check it out! The feeler got all the way up and down the sprinkler. That will probably be cut off if it starts to interfere with the sprinkler doing it's half revolution for the garden.

Here's the tomatoes. They are lookin' pretty scraggly, but still growing tomatoes so I'm not gonna complain.

Wow. Lookin' good.

Do you see the little zucchini over in the bottom right of this picture? We've taken off about 4 veggies from all these plants so far.
Do you see the feeler shooting up and over to the left? These things have seriously started grabbing out at everything and anything they can get!

The beets...and the weeds. I know I know, I should get out there and weed, but I just can't seem to find the time, or the drive/desire.

Our pomegranate tree. We've lost quite a few blossoms from the chickens or the sprinklers, so I'm hoping we still get a lot of pomegranates growing.
Here's my potatoes. The grass I was walking on was SUPER soaked so I was too lazy to open the gate, walk through the mud right there and take a picture. This is the best ya get!

Amanda

Brad FLEW!

I am so excited that Brad finally used his birthday present I gave him! It was one pilot lesson, and I was so impatient for him to use it! He used it on the 17th, but I've just now gotten to the post...oh well!! I'm happy to say that he was actually able to fly the plane, which is exactly why I wanted him to have this for his birthday. He's always wanted to fly like a b

She's saying "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" as long as her breath will allow.

There goes that goofy eye...dangit. I just wanted to show her stickin' her tongue out at me!!
Here's Grace being SUPER cheesy waiting for Daddy! Next time, I definitely won't be taking her. The appointment was for 3, he didn't get into the plane till 4, and we didn't leave from there till 5. WAY too long for her to have to wait.
This is what all the controls looked like...the brakes and rutter were so weird (how they work/how you make them work) and I'm just SO glad I didn't go fly with them. I would have definitely freaked out!!

Bleh, dry grass everywhere...I want to see greenery in ALL that brown...

Look at him...kinda scared...kinda happy at the same time!! He said I would have freaked out from the turbulence.

Brad and the pilot. Brad said he was SUPER technical and all business up there, but he was pretty calm and friendly outside of the plane :)

Brad and his pilot checking out the front view through the plane :)

They look like tiny ants...

HA! He went over our house!! That's so awesome...of course, the camera took to long to actually take the picture, so he missed our house, but oh well. He got around the house anyways.
Wow, look at all those millions of houses...kinda crowded, eh? Bleh, I can't wait to get out of this crampy place....
There's the super tiny plane that he flew!! He looked SO cramped in there, but he didn't care because he had FUN!!

All in all, he loved it. He wants to get his pilot license someday, and I'm just glad I was able to get him out there in the clouds like he's always wanted to be. Happy Birthday Honey!

Amanda

Grace's HAT!

06/17/11
Grace absolutely LOVES hats. It's kinda crazy how much she loves hats. Every time she sees one, she lets me know over and over and over. Actually, I think it's pretty cute really. I love that she knows the word, where it goes, and just recently, she's learned how to PUT IT ON!! WOW!!

Here's her face right after putting it on and realizing mom would come over and snap TONS of pictures!!
Daddy was going to help her show off her talent...
TA DA!!! Doesn't she look so proud of herself!! You should have seen me!! Jumping up and down, holding her and jumping up and down, laughing and cheering. I know, it might not be a big deal to most people, but it's a HUGE deal to me!! And she was definitely happy about it too.

Amanda

Our Garden is CRAZY BIG!

06/17/11

This is definitely a much different garden then we're used to having, or at least that I'm used to having!! It just seems to have some MONSTER growth hormones in it! Check out the latest growth :)
Sadly, our peas didn't do as well this year as we'd hoped. They had one batch of peas and were starting to yellow, but that's ok. We're alright with peas since we don't like them that much anyways!
Look at the little pea pods! I just LOVE coming out every day and seeing the difference in the sizes!
Look at that TINY bell pepper! It's so weird that this year, the plants are all smaller (except the green beans) and they produce already, when last year, they got HUGE and then produced. I'm wondering if it's because of the weird weather we've been having.

There's our tomatoes. Again, a small plant with growth already happening! Crazy plants!
Can you see the tiny tomatoes? So stinkin' cute!
Our squash and zucchini section. Tons of yellow blossoms, and we've already picked the first crop of the season!
Look at that crooked neck squash!! YUM! I can just taste it after just coming off the barbeque with a bit of spice on it.
Broad view of the tomatoes. Look really drab but that's ok. It's not the size that matters.

Above are our beets! And again, some sort of squash plant that I don't remember!! Darn those weeds!
Our pomegranate branch/tree! It's blooming like CRAZY!!
Here's the section that I'm most proud of this year! My potatoes!! I don't know why but they started to flower...I hope that's whats supposed to happen.

Here's a close view of the beautiful flowers!

And look what decided to grow in with my potatoes?! A squash or zucchini!! I didn't plant it there, so we'll see what turns up!

A wonderful garden...I just love all the green

Amanda

Grace's Water Therapy again!

06/16/11
This week for water therapy, she wasn't able to go in the water since she'd just gotten her tubes in her ears. Daddy came with us this time, which is good because it wasn't a good day for mommy! Grace was whiny most of the time, and super clingy. I swear, her hands are as sticky as octopus tentacles!

Here's Gracie girl taken a walk on the treadmill!! She was NOT happy about getting suited up for this, but after getting on the treadmill she did pretty well. She's got a foot that REALLY turns out to the side when she walks, but we've been told **fingers crossed** that it will turn forward once she's actually walking all the time.
I love this picture :) It's like those pictures you take at the beach when Daddy/child are walking and you take the behind pictures of them! Except this one is of her water therapist and her!!
This is what we're supposed to be doing at home. Working on her walking with anything besides our hands. This is tough because she doesn't have as much support this way, so it's something that consists of a lot of ups and downs with a bit of whining in-between!
And here's Elaina trying to keep "sticky hands Grace" away from her legs! Grace was SO ready to leave that she was headed for the door, but it wasn't time yet!

All in all, she did great. Even with all the whining and everything, she still did a wonderful job. I'm always proud of her, regardless of how little or how much actual therapy she does!

Amanda

Grace's low Muscle Tone

06/13/11
So with Grace's 7Q36 gene deletion comes low muscle tone, and even though we knew this, it just never occurred to us that it would be that big of a deal. It's kinda like when doctors tell you "oh you could see this as a symptom" but then you NEVER see it, so you just forget they told you. Yeah, that's how we were with the whole "low muscle tone" thing. But then, like with everything else in life, you come to a point where something happens during the day, even if just a minute in your fleeting day, that you notice something you've never noticed before. Like the pictures below! This is her second time in her jumper, and why we didn't notice this the first time, I don't know! Check out her legs...



Do you see how scrawny they look? I mean, yeah, she's got some chub. But the lack of muscle, the lack of... "bulk" is what we're looking at. That's the "low muscle tone." There's nothing that we can do about it. There's nothing bad about it...well, kinda. You see, with low muscle tone, she's not as capable to bear weight, obviously, which is why she's not walking yet! That's just my assumption of course. And of course, if anyone knows me, they know I do EXTENSIVE research online after finding out something! So, after my research, I realized that low muscle tone, also known as "Hypotonia" can cause speech delays, which she has, and they also have delays in self feeding, which she has. Also, she's NEVER liked it when we do stretches that have to do with her quads! We've worked on straightening her legs out straight for a long time, but she always fusses, strains, and will kink her legs back to angles before I blink!

What do I do with this information? Not much. I'm not going to freak out about it (for once). I think, like Brad tells me, "know the information, realize it and accept it, and then let it go." So that's what I'm going to do. I will be more determined to do strength exercises with her, to work on stretching, and to work on feeding skills, but other than that, she'll get the task when she's ready. She'll learn how to walk when her body thinks she's ready, and maybe she can't feed herself now because I keep hand-feeding her!!! (I know I'll definitely have to read this on a bad day!)

I kinda like her frog legs :) I think they are super cute!! And I love them just the way they are!

Amanda