update post...

So my "little" man made it the week alive and with no broken bones.... thank goodness....He had a good time, without his nagging mom to tell him what to do all week! ;)

He got his swimming badge and his fishing badge (surprise, hah?) :) and he completed a ton of requirements toward his next ranks as a Boy Scout. It's nice to have my bubbalah home! :)

I am posting a pic of the big female deer we had in the yard this evening. Brian said he saw a mom and a tiny baby this afternoon, but of course I missed it!! (Hey, a baby is a baby...I'm not discriminating! :) Not sure if this deer is the same mom, but this one was alone tonight. (Maybe the baby was napping and she was having some "me" time!) LOL :) She's posed right in front of our piles of house materials...I think she likes the moose! :)

I am also posting some pics of Sammy's new glasses. He looks SO grown up with them on!! It's crazy! He doesn't mind them and has been wearing them all day so far the last 2 days.... The eye doc said that he isn't getting worse with his prescription, it's actually improving a little. YEAH! He says most kids with this with CP outgrow it! Thank God!! :)

my baby is gone for the week....

My baby (ok, my "oldest" baby..aka Luke) is off to Scout camp for the week. It was so weird dropping him off in the woods with a bunch of basically strangers (to me) for the week. I freak out about everything...it is going to be a long week...it's not like I can call him and see how he's doing... I know, I know....he's probably happy about that! He was excited about going to this, but I still miss him already! My little bubbalah!! :(

horsie pics

We went with Mary today to the barn and poor Amber gave rides in the intense heat and all... she's a good girl! :)

Of course, the boys had a ball....

Shriners rules AGAIN....

So we already knew it, but Shriners continues to rock!!
Sammy had an appt. for a check-up today, and we saw pretty much EVERY dept. while we were there. (That's a good thing!) :)
We first had x-rays done of his hips and spine and they said they look good. :) (I am always paranoid that he will get scoliosis or subluxated hips...)
Then we saw a PA, who checked him over and was blown away at how active Sam was when he took off his braces. (We finally are getting him to wear them all day, but he WON'T move his legs in them AT ALL) As soon as one of the braces came off his leg, he started bicycling that leg and then both like a mad man when he was "free". So when the doc came in (Dr. Mack---I LOVE him with all of my being! He is the MAN! Sammy loves him, too! He also has a son with CP) he saw how crazy he was moving his legs like a madman without the braces on, and said since he isn't super tight in his heels, he actually has really good range of motion in them, he could just wear them at night for stretching and not during the day. He told us that we were rational parents and that we are doing what works for Sam and us, and to keep going with it. We asked about giving him oral Baclofen, which is a muscle relaxant for high tone, since the PT suggested it and I was thinking about it too from parents on my CP board. He said that basically it's not a miracle drug and that people don't see dramatic improvements from it. He said that Sam's tone isn't bad enough to warrant the loss of trunk and neck strength that he does have now by putting him on the meds. (obviously it relaxes ALL of the muscles) So the long and short of it is, that it wouldn't really have the benefits outweigh the negatives. (He would also lose some awareness with it--UGH!)
Anywho, so then the PA brought up using knee immobilizers at night to get a hamstring stretch. The PT there gave us ones that are a little too small for now, until they order the right size (all of this just handed to us--keep in mind!) I tried to put them on him before he went down, and he started screaming after they were on for like 1 minute. Ok, so off they came...can't fall asleep like that! :(
So I went to go put them on him after he fell asleep and it occurred to me that he is so relaxed and TOTALLY motionless when he sleeps, that I just straightened his legs out before i left the room. So they will stay outstretched until he wakes up. It's bascially the same amount of straight that he would do in the immobilizers, since you can only get him to straighten his leg to a certain point anyway. So we'll see what happens there...
Then we saw the OT who gave us new soft thumb splints (again, for free!) and she asked about the bath seat they had gotten for us last time we saw them, and we told her it didn't work because of the pommel and the height was too high for the water level in the tub. (We felt badly because they paid for it, and we couldn't use it) She got out a catalog and picked one out and showed us a new one in person and tried Sam sitting in it, and it REALLY seems like it will work with this one! I am psyched! I can't wait to have my little man be able to take a REAL bath like any other kid! He loves the tubby! :) They will pay for this one, too, if our ins. won't cover it, which Blue Cross doesn't cover ANY bath or toileting equipment!! What BS, hah?? Like, oh, my kid doesn't need to bathe or crap like any other kid! DUH! :(
He also got fitted for new braces today. He chose the truck motif for them. So much for calling them his poo-poo kitties! :(

It is just SO amazing at how much stuff we got from there today free of charge!! (I know, that's the idea of Shriners--but it still blows me away!) Everyone there is SO awesome--they are ALL so caring and truly concerned about YOUR child, like they are the only one they see! :)
Ok, so enough rambling...we just feel blessed to be so close to such an amazing place! :)

Oh yeah, he also is waiting for his new glasses to come in..I'm calling tomorrow...it's been 2 weeks so far...The eye doctor said that most CP kids outgrow this eye turning thing, and that it's good because his prescription isn't getting stronger, it's actually a little less than before. Yippee, it's nice to have good news now and again! :)

hee, hee.... :)

hee, hee... I couldn't resist.... I was dressing Sammy yesterday (hence the powder all over the tummy) and found his old baby hat and HAD to see it on him now! :) OMG-- could he BE any funnier?! He didn't think so! :)

Luke's new bow

I promised pics of Luke's new bow.... here they are! He is SO proud that it's a "real" bow... He thinks he's going to get the groundhog with it! LOL

(Jess, how's that for tan??) :)

new car, Sammy's chores, and house updates...

Hello, all!

We bought a 2006 Honda CR-V yesterday and I got to bring it home today! Yippee! We had to have something taller because I am tired of winding myself into a pretzel to get Sam in and out of the car! Brian and I are killing our backs! I also wanted something with an open back area for his adaptive stroller, so I don't have to keep taking it apart everytime I go somewhere! Talk about a PITA! :(

ANywho, I also included some pics of Sammy mowing the lawn...he LOVES the mower and the ATV, too! My little adrenaline junkie! :)

The house is now getting "plates" put on the foundation, which is wood to basically attach the actual house to, if I'm understanding it correctly. Brian says it's slow going, but I think he's almost done with this part. Thank goodness for his dad, Chuck, being here everyday no matter how hot it is, to help! They had a be-a-u-tiful day today...breezy, cool and sunny! :)

Luke is out there everyday , too, bright and early working off the ridiculously expensive bow that Brian just got him....I'll have to have him pose with it sometime so I can post some pics! He is LOVING the thing! (Apparently it's a grown-up bow with adjustable tension so he can pull it and it will grow with him.)

Patty's new pool

Thought I would post some pics of Luke-a-licious in Patty's new pool...it was freezing the day he decided to try it out! It's still being finished... he couldn't wait, needless to say! :) (I'll have to get Patty to send me some of Sammy that she took on Sunday of him swimming like a fish! :) ) He loves the water! :)

YAH :)

YAAHHH!! We got our building permit today FINALLY!! We have gone through SO many hoops but we finally have it!! Brian is psyched to know now he can actually start building whenever the foundation is all set. They poured our basement floor this morning, so it is starting to come along now....

Had to include a cutie pic of Sammy wearing his oven mitt while helping me make whoopie pies this afternoon. (apparently he decided he was going to help me INSTEAD of taking his nap! ) :)-

That worked out ok because he actually in bed at a decent time tonight and he actually slept through last night for the first time in weeks. Not sure what's been going on with him, but it's NOT fun getting up... thank goodness at least I don't have to get up early and go to work, too... when he gets up in the middle of the night , he tends to sleep until like 8:30 in the morning which is REALLY nice!! :)

Oh yeah, and the first deer I have seen in MONTHS! She's beautiful in person! :)

rest of the pics...

We are "home" owners now... :)

Ok, so the actual log house parts came this morning!! Yippee!! It is weird to see it as a "puzzle" as Sammy and I call it, I can't wait to get going on it! We got approval from the plumbing inspector on the underground plumbing stuff today, so we (ok, Mike :) can backfill the foundation tomorrow, and if all goes well, we will get the basement floor poured on Thursday. It is weird to see the foundation getting backfilled...it is getting real finally! They also did the curb cut for us on Monday so we now have a blacktopped driveway entrance. (little things keep me going!) :) (The only pics I have of the curb cut so far are the ones Luke took for me that don't really show very much detail.) I put the Mike pic on here for Jessica so she can see her man workin' hard! :) LOL

The last pic is of Sam and I making a shameless plug for the cedar log home company in our complimentary hats! :) Sammy LOVED his!! (We also got key chains and t shirts! I think we spent enough...that was the least they could do!) :) We got this giant sign for the company too, that Brian can't wait to put out by the road to advertise our construction to the world! :)