Getting a dog Part II

Hello everyone!

How was y'alls Christmas? Ours was pretty relaxed! Cooking, baking, gift wrapping and a little sewing - a dog bed! We went to the shelter Friday, as we did every day, to walk Max and spend some time with him. After our walk one of the staff members asked me "So are you ready to take him home today?" I was puzzled because she told me the day before they were going to let us know Friday which decision they've made. I guess she thought it was so obvious who was chosen that I already knew....I had secretly bought a few things for Max in the hopes of him coming home with us but not the big items, no bed, bowls, leash and collar, food. I discussed the good news briefly with Joseph and we decided to bring him home after Christmas to make the transition easier for Max and for us. I'm not sure he would've handled the Christmas craziness of unwrapping and cheerful screaming too well as his first experience with us.

So I checked all the available dog beds, bowls, etc. The beds I liked were either not in store and with Christmas and a weekend in between none of them would've made it to us on time. Or the ones that were available in store were expensive. I purposely avoided checking Pet Parade, a local pet store because I knew even though their selection would more than likely have something I like, it would also have a price I wouldn't like. Don't get me wrong, we like Pet Parade, the staff is friendly, the have a decent selection (especially for Minot, lol) and best of all, I can take Max inside the store. I had previously pinned a tutorial for a 2 piece dog bed that I liked. It wasn't exactly love at first sight but it was cute. I had at some point purchased a piece of super soft flannel with a dog print that I intended to use for baby shoes but the print was too big and would not have shown the way I wanted. It's been sitting in my fabric cabinet ever since. Now was the perfect chance to use it! Only, it wasn't big enough to make up the entire pillow bed and I didn't have any coordinating fabric yet. So off I went to Hobby Lobby. And here is the finished product:

Max is in love! Well, the first day he only humped the living daylights out of it but the second day he actually took a nap in it. I just need to make him a blanket and let the kids snuggle with it for a while because he loves Nia's blanket and she's not always in the mood to share it....The beds are available in my shop now too ;-) you can go here or to my Facebook page to order. There you can also view two more dog beds I have made as well as how it looks without the tube.
Max has been wonderful, especially considering that it's only been a few days and that he has been a stray before coming to the shelter. The first night was decent, he's been very attached so he didn't quite like the fact that he wasn't allowed in the bed. He kept trying to jump in our bed so we had to kennel him next to our bed. Before I put him in his kennel he whined a lot, poor thing had to go pee. I wasn't sure if the whining was just a cry for attention so he went in the bathroom and peed on the floor. I wasn't mad. For one, I failed to interpret his whining right (though in my defense the only times he had whined were for attention, lol). Plus, he didn't go on the carpet but specifically went in the bathroom and peed on the vinyl tiles. Smart dog! So I knew better the next day. The second day he slept downstairs in his bed, snoring. Haha! Joseph thought it was me and the kids! Max is a scaredy-cat, or shall I say scaredy-dog? When I took him for our evening walk he was so scared of our neighbor's snow blower he didn't want to walk past it. Not even after he turned it off! So I had to carry my big baby....he's also scared of loud trucks, but in his defense our neighbor's truck does sound like a plane taking off. I kid you not, my dad seriously asked me if there was a plane taking off every morning! At first he was also scared off the washer, dryer, dishwasher, my sewing machine, ironing board and the stairs! We have cured all of those fears, thank goodness. Last night he barked at my reflection in the window and wouldn't stop til I closed the blinds....smh. He will also stop walking whenever he hears a noise. He won't move til he either knows what the noise is and that it's safe or til the noise has stopped. Fun, fun, fun....not. I'm guessing it's from his time as a stray. Every noise bared a certain danger. I don't think he was a stray for a long time. He's doing so very well with us. I'm assuming he was kicked out either because the owners moved, traveled or because of his nipping. I have seen it here a lot. Yes, you see it everywhere but believe me, it's bad here! Especially with the military here. I constantly see posts about people giving their dogs away or selling them for the dumbest reasons. Well, in my opinion they're dumb reasons. "We're moving" And? Take the dog with you. Or "We're moving overseas", same response, take the dog with you. Unless of course he isn't stable enough to survive the journey. They will even through in that they can't take them overseas which is nonsense. You just need to make sure they're up to date on their shots. "I can't give him/her the attention and time they need" is another classic. Maybe you should've thought of that BEFORE getting the dog! "We're expecting a baby", ok, so do you get rid of any older siblings too??? Yeah, I know, a little drastic but seriously, these people act like the pet is a family member and then out of a sudden it isn't any longer. The best one was someone who said she would like her alone time back! Lord have mercy! Good thing I didn't see that post! I have a lot of friends who have dogs (or other pets) and we all agree that these people are ridiculous!
The shelter asks you what would be reasons to bring the pet back. We wrote down "biting". However, only if the problem persists after working with him and it's getting harmful to us or the kids. I'm not talking about nipping, you know, that playful biting, the love bites. In that case we wouldn't have brought him home. There are obedience classes out there for a reason! If you can't do it on your own, sign the dog up for a class! We did. Joseph isn't exactly familiar with training a dog and teaching him commands and good behavior and how to deal with bad behavior. Even I only know the very basics! I've never had a dog that showed behavior which needed to be stopped. The most I ever had to do was teach a lab how to walk heel. I'm sure Max will get the hang of it. He stops pretty quickly when I tell him no but Isaiah playing rough with him confuses Max so he just needs to learn that even if Isaiah plays rough nipping is a no-no.

You can tell he's getting more and more comfortable with us. Now the only other thing is finding the right food for him....I got him a brand that doesn't use any fillers or by-products because he wouldn't eat the beneful. Well, he won't eat this fancy brand either! I wish I could get different sample packs of every brand!!! I have a feeling I will be making dog food cause almost every brand is full of fillers (insert me rolling my eyes!). Can you tell, I'm a little on the green side, lol. Anyway. So much for our first couple of days with Max. I hope I'm not boring you...As always, thanks for following.

Love,

Getting a dog Part I

Hey y'all!

Remember I told y'all about how Joseph and I were discussing getting a dog? Well, are going through with it. Saturday we went to the animal shelter here in Minot, it's a nice shelter with awesome staff. I had checked the shelter's website several times and we went in with the plan to see 2 dogs in particular. Looking at all the different dogs we saw Maxwell, a 2 year old stray, Schnauzer Terrier Mix. There went our plan. Maxwell is nothing what my husband had in mind but he seems to be everything we need. The kids got along with him well, he didn't care about Isaiah pulling on him, in fact he was fairly excited about those new playmates! Joseph loved him and he loved Joseph right back. He didn't even move from our side when the door opened and stayed open. No, he stayed right there by our side. He needs obedience training and we need to nip the nipping in the bud, yeah, I just came up with that. Like it? Anyway....but other than that sounds like a perfect story, right? Unfortunately we're the second application. So that puts a damper on it. The shelter does look at each application, they call the reference (you have to give at least 2) and take other things into consideration, for instance owning the home and having a fenced in yard are good. We don't own, since we live on base, but we do have a fenced in yard. And we've been coming to spend time with him every day they're open. Mainly so that if we get to bring him home, the transition will be easier. I'm not exactly sure when they will make the decision, from my understanding they were in the process of calling references. I will however, keep you updated.

Til then, love,

Hello new name!

Hey y'all!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I have started my love, Mimi Facebook page which you can find HERE. I've actually had this page before I started this blog but never published it until some months ago....anyway. Because of said facebook page and because this blog is about more than just me I've decided to rename this blog....

I need your help with the name though...right now I've changed it to "Living with monkeys" because that's how I feel sometimes. I'm not sure if it's the right name...but honestly, I couldn't think of anything. So here's the deal, y'all have been following this blog so y'all know us best. Tell me what you think of the new name and shoot me your idea if you think you have THE name for our blog! I might have a surprise for you ;-)

Oh, and stay tuned for my other blog where I'll share my handmade pretties with you. I will also post tutorials so you can get crafty! Thank you all for following!

Love,

Getting crafty

Hey y'all,

sooooo as some of you know I like to get crafty here and there and I have made things for myself, my kids and friends before but always in a small scale. A lot of my friends and family members have been telling me to turn it into more of a profession and sell my creations. However, I've never felt professional enough to make it a profession, lol. After getting more and more positive feedback and a few orders I've decided to just plunge in at the deep end. I've created a Facebook page. You can find it HERE. It's still at the beginning stage so please be patient with me. If this goes well I will probably change this blog's name and create one for my crafts called Love, Mimi. This one is not so much about me anyway....
So, as for my page, once we hit 100 likes I will give away an infinity scarf to one of the people who have referred others to my page. On top of one of the "fans" new and old has the chance to win a rice heating pad as well. So hop over to my page and like it if you haven't done so already and refer as many people you know. Tell them to let me know you sent them. We're only 14 likes away!!!

Now to Isaiah, we had his PT evaluation and as we already knew he's doing very well. But Joseph and I noticed that his balance is a bit off with him falling at least 3 times a day and always to the right side. Well, the evaluation showed he tends to put more weight on his left leg when standing so the right leg is in fact affected although just like the hand only mildly. We'll be working on him putting weight on both legs somewhat equally now. We may also start doing CIMT (Constraint Induced Movement Therapy) again. I've contacted another mom from our CHASA group who makes a Hug Me sleeve. We don't want to cast Isaiah but constrain him for a certain time a day so he will have to use that right hand. She's currently working on some improvements but once she's approved the prototype we will get a Hug Me sleeve from her and I will share with you how it works etc. I've also talked to the Health Tracks Program. Isaiah will see a doctor to evaluate him for anxiety. We suspect he may have some mild issues but they also could be age related. If that's the case then we'll gladly take that but we'd rather be safe than sorry so we'll have him checked. I'll keep you updated on that as well.

Oh, on another note, my friend Ally entered her fabulous dining area in a Christmas Photo contest. Would you do me a favor and go vote for her? The link is HERE. It's that beautiful dining table with the burlap table runner. It should have her name on it: Ally Schmidheiser. Thanks!

As always, thank you for following!
Love,

Falalalala lala lala

So how was everyone's Thanksgiving? We were going to enjoy a lovely dinner with some friends but our plans were quickly changed by an evil stomach virus that haunted our poor daughter for 3 days. Thankfully my husband had planned a small family dinner for us anyway so we stayed home. It still was a nice Thanksgiving, after all I had some of the people around me I am thankful for the most! We have been so very blessed in so many ways.

 Despite the huge amount of snow this time of the year is one of my favorite. Honestly, the holidays are the only thing that excites me about the winters here!! Speaking of holidays, one of my favorite holidays is coming up soon! Christmas!!! Not x-mas, Christmas! I love to decorate the house although I seriously need to step up my game if only someone would let me buy all the decoration I want! and the smell of my scented candles and warmers, which I get here. And let's not forget about the Christmas songs on the radio! I usually just listen to khrt so it is all Christian music but those are the Christmas songs I love the most. There are only very few commercial ones I like that don't annoy me, lol. Baking cookies is very high on my hitlist too! Well, and eating them of course. With me being from Germany we celebrate St. Nikolaus Day on the 6th of December. The kids find a small gift in their boots in the morning, I read them the story about St. Nikolaus and we donate something. This year we'll be picking a gift for a child from the angel tree. Every year the BX has Christmas trees set up that have the information of children (age, gender, gift wishes) on a piece of paper. You can pick a child, shop for them and drop off the gift at a drop off station. They then will be wrapped and delivered to the children. Another thing we want to do is Operation Christmas Child, you can find the information HERE.
For us it is important that our kids understand we don't glorify St. Nikolaus but rather recognize how God has used him and how he was an example of living a Godly life. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but there's no Santa on Christmas at our house. We keep Christ in Christmas. Which is also why our kids don't get huge gifts or a multitude of gifts. We celebrate Jesus' birthday. They get 2 small gifts, one for Christmas Eve, which is when we do a Christmas dinner (Germans celebrate on the 24th but also have the 25th and 26th off! Woohoo for off days!). The other one is for Christmas Day. No reason to feel bad for our kids though, the grandparents, aunts and uncle take care of some other gifts. Mostly clothes but Nia is such a girl so she LOVES clothes!

This year the kids might be in for a surprise though. Nia has been obsessed with dogs since before she could even talk. So Joseph and I have been talking about possibly getting them a dog for a year now. We wanted to wait until we knew whether or not we'd get orders. You don't wanna put a new dog through that much stress, especially if you're moving overseas. But you all know we didn't get orders! We've been doing research on dog breeds but I'm all for adopting a dog from a shelter so despite my love for English bulldogs (I know they drool, fart and snore but so does my husband) this will be our first stop if we actually go through with it this year. Last year Nia was about to turn 2 and I had just had Isaiah so it wasn't the right time. I was dealing with a newborn and potty training a stubborn toddler. This year I've been looking into applying for a service dog for Isaiah but due to his age he doesn't qualify as most organizations have an age requirement of 8 years. It's sad because children with special needs can benefit from the companionship of a dog at a much younger age. Obviously, he wouldn't need it for physical assistance but Isaiah needs lots of assurance and affection, has a hard time with crowds and unexpected things. A service dog could help with that. There are also SD that can sense an oncoming seizure, seizures are not harmless, they do damage to the brain. Just think about how a toddler who suffers from seizures could benefit from a SD that has this ability! Anyway. I can't change the requirements although I have written to some of the organizations. Since Isaiah won't qualify, hopefully we will be able to find a dog with a gentle spirit. That is if Joseph decides to go through with it this year. He always wants to make sure he's making the right decision, especially when it involves the life of another creature. I mean getting a dog is not like buying a dress, if you don't like it you simply return it. We've seen many people do that with their pets and it is sad. We wouldn't want to do that to a dog and to our kids! So keep checking back to see where this journey is going!

Hopefully today I will get most of my decorations up! It's been a weird kinda day today, so we'll see where this is going today... I have a couple of projects I need to get to as well, Christmas gifts that need to be made, decorations that need to be made, Christmas pictures of the kids to take since someone who will remain nameless, Joseph, yet again couldn't make up their mind this year on whether or not to have professional family pictures....then those pictures need to be turned into Christmas cards, which then will need to be send to all the different friends and family members we have! I'm getting stressed as I'm typing, lol. I didn't realize Saturday would already be the first of December! Usually I get the Christmas cards ordered way before!!! Plus, I wanted to make an advent calendar for the kids but I'm not sure I'll be able to get it all done. If anyone has a helping hand, or two, or three, they want to lend me, holla at me!!

Alright, it's time to get ready and pick up Nia! I will talk to you all later! As always, thanks for following!
Love,

He's walking!!!

Hey y'all!!!


I'm so excited to announce Isaiah is walking!!!! It's been almost 2 weeks now but I wanted to wait til he is mainly walking rather than mainly crawling and walking every now and again...
Sooo, of course I recorded this historic event....

Isaiah walking

I just love how he kept getting back up, no matter how often he fell down. This one is cute too. He walked to me and his sissy, with Nia encouraging him the entire time. Needless to say, I was crying and laughing at the same time. Both at his effort and Nia's support.

Isaiah walking to me and sissy!

We will start him back on PT though. Now that he can use two fingers of his left (good) hand to pick up things we will work with him on doing those things with his affected hand. I'm picky like that, well, truly, I believe that he can do it if we work with him and I would hate for him to miss out on it just because we're satisfied with his development. Don't get me wrong, we're excited about how far he's come but my hope is for him to have full control of his affected side. Whether or not that will be the case we will see but we will continue to work on it. It is already barely noticeable - unless you're me of course, lol - but there are still things he struggles with. I can see that it frustrates him sometimes and that's not fun to watch as a mom. Especially when your child is so little and you can't explain it to them. So PT it will be!

On another note, you all are my witnesses that he likes to sweep! I'm planning on using this video against him if he ever decides not to do his chores when he's older...awesome plan, don't you think? Anyway. That's our news for this time....well, and the fact that we didn't get orders - again. It's ok. Everything happens for a reason and I believe God's work with me here is not done yet. Plus, I have met and bonded with some great ladies these past weeks and months and it would make me sad to leave them. I will be welcoming one of my CLA (Children's Learning Academy) girls soon too, obviously that's another reason why I can't leave. So we'll be here a bit longer. Alright, I'm coming up with a cold so to beat it I'm going to bed early tonight! Thanks for following!!

Love,

I'm back and rejuvenated!

I know, I know! It's been forever. Where the heck have you been, you may wonder. Well, as I mentioned in my last post (forever ago) we went to Germany and Spain  for a month to visit my family. But that's not really why I haven't posted. Truth is, I have been in a funk (yet again). But not like last time, this time it was way more serious. It started before we even left and I thought spending time with family was going to restore my energy and motivation but truly it just made things worse. When we came back our house did not feel like our home but rather like someone else's house. I was more tired than before we left, emotional, frustrated. Last time I was in a funk because of external circumstances, those could be fixed easily. This time, the problem was within me. And that is much harder to fix, especially when you're not aware that it's an internal problem.
See, being a mom, and especially a mom of a child with special needs can be so exhausting. But usually we don't notice that we are emotionally and physically drained. Why? Because we don't get a break from it. We run from therapy sessions to doctor appointments to more appointments. And my days were not even half as packed as the days of some of the moms of fellow stroke survivors! When we stopped therapy shortly before we left for our trip and I didn't have all this running around anymore, it all started to come to the surface! And I didn't know what to do. So we thought visiting family will give us a nice break and we'll come back refreshed. Well, like I said we didn't. Or at least I didn't. It wasn't until I came back from the Women of Faith conference that this burden has finally started to be lifted off my shoulders. And here's why: these past months I've been looking in all the wrong places to find what I needed. My family, my friends, a spa visit, shopping...but where did I not look? I didn't seek God! And He is all I needed. The thing I've been struggling with the most is feeling unappreciated. While my husband and kids do appreciate me I just haven't been feeling it. It's not their fault, it's me. So this past weekend I did what I should've been doing all this time. I gave it all to God, I thought I had done so already but truly, I was still holding on to it. I had not fully released all my frustration, exhaustion and feelings. It would've been easy to say the devil stole my joy but that's far from the truth. See, the devil can't steal anything from you. You give it to him and he takes it. I'm not saying you just go "hey devil, want my joy? Here ya go!", no, it's not like that at all. He tempts us to give it to him. He will put doubt and fear in our minds and if we don't guard our mind we totally fall for it. It's just easier for us to say he stole it. He took it, that's true but we allow him to take it because we don't tell him, he's a liar. And that he is! This past weekend I got my joy back. There was a lot of cleansing aka tears involved in the process. However, I know the devil is not done trying to take it. He doesn't want you to have joy because the joy of the LORD is your strength (Neh. 8:10). But I know that if I keep my eyes on the Lord I will have the victory.

So this is my testimony about my own victory. I have another testimony though, about Isaiah's victory! While in Germany, we celebrated his first birthday! A birthday we were not sure he would see when he stopped breathing a day after he was born. That alone is worth rejoicing! But God didn't stop there. No, he not only saved our son's life, He also restored and healed his hemiplegia so much, that it is barely noticeable! We just had his annual evaluation with the Early Intervention Program and Isaiah scored so high that if it had been his initial evaluation he would not have even qualified! He was ahead of his age in his cognitive skills and right where he needs to be physically with everything but walking. In the meantime, Isaiah has started to walk and climb down the stairs (he was able to climb up but not down for the longest) so that is not a concern anymore either. God has been so good to us, He has been there for us in our darkest moment almost 14 months ago and in every other moment. He has truly blessed us! Now we're just waiting for Him to bless us with orders back to Germany, haha. Well, we're hopeful but whatever God has in store for us we will take it. Our plans may not be His plans for us but He sees the big picture while we just see a fraction so we will trust Him and not lean on our own understanding. I pray that this is speaking to somebody today, know that God is with you every step of the way, all you need to do is cry out to Him.

God bless you. Love,

A birthday celebration indeed!

Hello my lovely followers!

Or should I say Isaiah's followers? Since most of my posts are about Isaiah and his journey....it yet again has been a minute since I last posted. I promise I will get better! It's just that sometimes there's either not enough time in the day or nothing new going on so I don't wanna bore y'all with the same ole same ole...ya know.

Anyway. Here's some news! We threw Isaiah's birthday party today. Remember I said we were going to do one here and one in Germany on his actual birthday. Well, today was the day for his Minot birthday celebration. Unfortunately nobody form the NICU came, neither did my OB or Isaiah's pediatrician but I'm not going to dwell on that so let's move on to the fun part. Crazy as I am (and because I was expecting 50+ people) I made the cake and cupcakes myself as well as the cookies for the favor bags.

The cake also had a nice candle but the picture was taken right before we cut into it! It was white cake with marshmallow buttercream frosting! Sooo good!

Isaiah thought so too! We did the party at the pavilion right next to the golf course. Never again I have to admit! While the pavilion itself is quite nice the staff apparently don't maintain it so the bathroom was, well, let's not mention any details here.... Anywho! The great thing is it has a playground attached to it! The kids had a blast and thankfully the weather played along today!

Oh, and by the way, instead of gifts we asked for donations for CHASA. So far we've raised $240 from the birthday party but there are still people that said they would like to donate! We have the most amazing friends ever! We are truly grateful for all the support they've shown us through it all. And we are also thankful for all of you who follow Isaiah and us along this journey! And we are happy to say that it gets better every day!

Now let me go off to bed, there's lots of packing and cleaning waiting for me tomorrow....3 more days and Germany, here we come!

Love,

Let the festivities begin!

Actually, they've already begun! Farewell party yesterday, birthday party today. Baby shower and birthday party next weekend, kids Olympics the weekend after, then Luau and FINALLY Isaiah's birthday party here in Minot! And that's just this month! I'm soooooooo excited! And stressed! Thankfully the baby shower (that I will be hosting with 2 other ladies) and Isaiah's party are 2 weeks apart so I have some time in between.
Now some of you may say "wait a minute, isn't Isaiah's birthday in September?". And you're right, it is. However, we're going to Germany for a month on the 28th and so won't be here to celebrate it. We wanted to celebrate with everyone who played an important role in Isaiah's journey so far, including his doctor, the NICU staff, my OB, IDP, Isaiah's PT, and our friends and so we decided to do one big party here and another one in Germany. Instead of gifts we're asking for donations for CHASA, Isaiah has everything he needs so we thought this would make a great opportunity to raise some money and awareness. So if you want to be part of the party but can't come click on the link on the left to Isaiah's firstgiving page and make your donation. We will most definitely appreciate it! Now let me get back to planning!

Love,

We're back from Texas y'all!

I don't know where times has gone, I meant to blog before the retreat but things were so busy here I totally spaced it. ANYWAY! We're back and we had an amazing time! I couldn't sleep the night before we left, I still had to pack some things and my mind was racing about me forgetting something and whether traveling with my two monkeys would go well. Everything went well, I have to say, my kids are awesome! They behaved, listened (well, for the most part) and people were very helpful, everywhere but in Dallas. The first day we met some of the families that came early and Nia immediately made friends. She especially loved Ms. Janie's dogs!!! We'll definitely have to get a dog soon....

Isaiah likes Ms. Janie's dogs too!

Evie, a 4 year old stroke survivor, went swimming in the pool that evening and Nia decided to join her, fully clothed! That denim skirt didn't dry until the last day! The next few days went by way too fast! They always do when you have a good time! Nia is now constantly asking about her new friends. While getting a break from Minot was nice, I especially liked meeting other families and talking to the other parents who have been on this journey much longer than us. With Isaiah doing so well physically, I'm asking myself if we're going to see more of the sensory issues and this retreat gave me a great opportunity to learn how to deal with those issues. I also tend to feel guilty almost all the time, guilty about Isaiah doing so well when others are not, guilty about how easy it was for us to get services when other kids who have way more issues don't qualify, guilty for getting a scholarship to the retreat....and the list goes on.... I know none of these things were ever in my hands but I sometimes just can't help it. I expressed those feelings to some of the families and am glad they reminded me that I don't need to feel guilty for said reason. With time I'm sure I'll get better at this. I also really enjoyed listening to the teen and young adult panel. The things they have accomplished and the goals they have set for their lives are truly inspiring and encouraging! I am honored to have met them!

Teen and Young Adult Panel

We also got a chance to take part in two studies, one about adult learning, how our children's diagnosis have affected our own learning. And one for CHASA and what role this organization has played in our lives. A huge one, that is for sure! When we first found out about Isaiah's stroke we had no idea what that meant. With there being limited resources here in Minot, I started doing research online and again found almost nothing on Pediatric Stroke. When I came across CHASA I found THE source. CHASA has been my source of information, comfort, encouragement and support. I am truly thankful for them! Nancy has been on this journey with us since Isaiah was a few months and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to answer questions and for being there.

Besides the sessions in which I've learned a lot there was also lots of fun times!

Kandu and his family was there too!

Pictures of some of the kids

Ellie and a slightly cranky Nia

We're ready to have the retreat picture taken

Nia playing in the balloon igloo with Kandu guarding the entrance.

Nia holding Isaiah during the teen and young adult panel

Nia and Jill dancing to "YMCA"

Country!!!

Nia doing the chicken dance with Ms. Janie

Photo booth fun!

We cannot wait for next year to see everyone again!
Love,

It's here! It's here! The proclamation is here!

Hey y'all!

What an awesome Saturday it has been!!! I went to the mail box this afternoon hoping my pretties from A Pretty Shoppe would be in it and they sure were! Yay! I think I'll share with Nia since the hair clips will look great in her hair. Well, she can borrow cause they'll look great in my hair too! Aren't they pretty! You need to check out her shoppe! But beware! You will want to buy something!

But not only did I find these goodies in there, I also received the proclamation from Governor Jack Dalrymple to make May 2012 Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month in ND! I tell ya, when God blesses He does it right!

It came just in time for the retreat next week. I'm so excited and nervous about going to TX. Traveling by myself with 2 little ones is going to be an adventure! But it will be a much needed break from Minot, not that there's anything wrong with Minot. Texas just has a whole lot more to offer, especially for Isaiah and his milk protein allergy. Plus, I can't wait to meet other families who have been down the same road and have experienced things that lie still ahead of us. We'll be talking to doctors, survivors and parents, learn about therapies, activities and equipment. Right now, I think Isaiah may not need any of it but you never know. And even if we never need any of that information for Isaiah, it may still help someone else. We will also participate in a study. Kenda Grover from the University of Arkansas will be interviewing parents about their experience with their children's stroke diagnosis. She will specifically be concentrating on how we directed our own learning to make decisions about cause, treatment and recovery. We're not sure what this study will bring forth but I think it is a great opportunity in any way. Well, let me get to finishing my list. There's lots to do before the retreat and little time. SWAPS need to be made (like 170 of them!) to be given out at the registration, the kids each need a white T-shirt so everyone can sign their names, clothes need to be washed and packed, camera charger needs to be found and camera charged, house needs to be cleaned, food prepared for the husband so he won't feast on junk food, insect repellent needs to be bought (there are 2 confirmed cases of the West Nile Virus in the Arlington area!!! Yikes!), and in between it all I need to get Isaiah to PT and keep my sanity....wish me luck!

Love y'all and thanks for following! Love,

iPad for mom too???

So with Isaiah receiving his very own iPad soon I thought mom aka me should have one too. However, those things as all of you know aren't cheap. Well, it just so happens that Air Van Moving Company is go giving one away! So over to their page I went and did everything I could to get as many entries as possible. Wish me luck!!! Go check it out! But don't enter so I can win.

Love,

Where did the past 9 months go?!

Hey y'all!

Today Isaiah had his 9 months check up. Time goes by so fast! I can't believe he will be 1 in less than 2 months! He has come such a long way! We actually saw Isaiah's original PCM (Primary Care Manager) Dr. Jimenez today because Dr. Carver is gone til August #insert sad face. Dr. Jimenez knows about Isaiah's history but she's never met him so she didn't expect him to ace his check up but he sure did! Again, above average in so many areas and right on track with his physical development. She sure was proud of him and so were we but as she said "nothing we didn't know already". His affected hand was only noticeable when he tried to fight her, haha.

God has been so good to us! Time and time again He has proven that He is able! We know of many fellow stroke survivors who have to use AFOs, get tons of therapy, have delays, etc. so we certainly don't take this blessing for granted. But God has a plan for each of them! Their trials will be somebody's testimony. They've partly been ours. The things they've accomplished have been what kept us going. Their stories have helped us identify issues Isaiah had and that we would not have been able to spot so easily otherwise. Their stories have helped others get a proper diagnosis and therefore, get the right help and therapies. They have helped raise awareness in many, many states and countries. You can read about some of them here.

We are so excited to meet many of them in a mere 3 weeks at the CHASA Family Retreat! 3 weeks!?! Ahhh! That means I only have 3 weeks to get the SWAPS done, like 117 of them! I also only have 3 weeks to gain weight so I can fit in my shorts and I only have 3 weeks to work on my post baby belly so I won't look gross in a bathing suit, lol. If you only see me in a one-piece at the retreat it means I didn't quite reach that goal, ha! The retreat is also where Isaiah will receive his iPad, whoot whoot! Oh, and please remind me to take lots of sunscreen! ND has made my skin weak!

When we come back I will start planning Isaiah's first birthday party! A little early you might think; well, yes, but we are going to incorporate a fundraiser. Isaiah doesn't need gifts, he has everything he needs, from clothes to toys. So we thought it would be nice to invite everyone from NICU nurses to doctors, family and friends to come out and have fun while raising money for a good cause. That is, if we are here for his birthday. If we are in Germany we will have to find a different date....but I still like the idea of cake walks, pie throwing contests and such! Yeah, I'm a kid at heart, I hope I will always be!

Alright y'all, let me get off the computer now and enjoy some sunshine with my monkeys. God bless you and thank you for following us!

Love,

Oh what a Monday!

Good morning y'all!

Usually I don't necessarily like Mondays but today is entirely different!!! About an hour ago CHASA announced the winner of the iPad contest on their Facebook Page....and guess who it is! Yep, Isaiah!!! Well, technically they pulled my name out of the hat but Isaiah is the true winner. We are soooooooooo excited! I had told Kelly from IDP about the contest and since IDP has gotten iPads to work with their kiddos, she will give me an entire list of apps that can help Isaiah with his motor skills! Obviously, this would not have been possible without all of you who donated so THANK YOU!!! Thank you also because that means I will finally get my kindle back! Haha.

As I mentioned last week, we were supposed to find out if our insurance would cover Isaiah's splint. Well, they won't. Thankfully, Isaiah won't need it after all because he now keeps his thumb in the right position most of the time. He is doing so well, we have reduced PT to once a month instead of every two weeks. Needless to say I'm quite proud of him! I didn't mention this after our neuro appointment in Fargo but because of him doing so well, she thought he may not have had a stroke but maybe the seizures caused the MRI to look like he had one. Well, we know Isaiah had a stroke, not only because of the MRI but because of all the symptoms that came with it. Dr. Carver, Isaiah's pediatrician as well as a neonatologist, also knows far too well what seizures are, as his son had them for years. He most certainly knows the difference. See, she didn't follow his journey, his development; she didn't see how hard he had to work every day to open his hand, to get the strength back in it, how hard he had to work so he could use it almost as well as his strong hand. She met him months after. She did notice that his right hand is weaker and that he has a left hand preference but she doesn't know how much it took to get there. There's only so much she can observe in an hour. We told her his story but some people need to see it to believe it. We know he had a stroke, and we know that it was God who healed him. Yes, we helped by working with him but we could not have done it without God. I don't blame her for thinking it may not have been a stroke, except for Isaiah, I only know one other kid whose story went this way. You don't see this often. But it happens, and we're thankful for it.

We have one hurdle to overcome this week though. Isaiah will have a hearing screening on Wednesday. His 6 months screening didn't work and there are times where it seems like he doesn't hear well on his right side. Although I suspect he simply ignores me! So we'll see what the results will say. Please keep him in your prayers. Thank you guys! And again, thanks to everyone who donated, spread awareness, and to everyone of you who follow his journey!

Love,

Isaiah's bear crawling, well his left leg is!

Sooo, I finally got a chance to take a video of Isaiah crawling! But now he has developed this funny new thing - he does a "normal" crawl with his right leg and a bear crawl with his left leg! It is hilarious! It doesn't seem to be anything we need to be concerned about as apparently there are plenty of kids doing this. I will still show it to Nancy tomorrow. So here it is!!!

 

I thought I recorded him yesterday when he crawled normally but unfortunately I didn't have the SD card in my camera. Ahhhhh! This one's more fun anyway! Hopefully, tomorrow we'll know whether or not our health insurance is going to cover Isaiah's splint. I'll keep you posted!

Love,

He looks like a million bucks!

Hey y'all!

We are back from Fargo. The appointment went entirely different than what we expected! Dr. Lindley did a Capute Scales developmental screening assessment, in which Isaiah followed simple instructions and played with some toys. It revealed that he is above average in his development, with a language age equivalency of 9.3 months, and a nonverbal age equivalency of 11 months! Because of this, she decided that the MRI can be held off til Isaiah is 1 year old because according to her he "looks like a million bucks"! Needless to say, we were thrilled!

On our way back, I picked up the last two penny jars, which lead us to a total of $76! Hopefully next year, every business will keep their penny jar for the entire month of May so that even more money can come together.

Isaiah's crawling attempts are getting better and better by the way! With that  being said, I will need to get 3 more safety gates!!!!! Anyway. Let me get to unpacking, washing diapers and cooking dinner. After this trip I am pooped and hopefully I'll get to go to bed early tonight.

Love,

Clap your hands, clap your hands!!!

Hey y'all! I haven't posted in a while and I truly apologize! A couple of things have happened in the meantime. Isaiah has started to clap his hands, he is making attempts to crawl forward (I think he might be tired of getting stuck underneath all those chairs, haha) and he can switch from the crawling position to sitting and vice versa. He has also started to "talk", dada seems to be the word of choice.......it's ok, he's still a mama's boy!

Joseph got me a kindle fire for Mother's Day and Isaiah loves the piano app!

They have more apps that are perfect to help encourage him to use his right hand, the kids drawing app for example is so colorful and he loves seeing the colors appear when he moves his fingers across the screen. Other apps will be more appropriate later on, like the preschool app for instance. Nia is a sucker for that one! Moving puzzle pieces across the screen, identifying letters.....all things where she has to use her hands, so those apps will be great for Isaiah later on.

With May coming to an end so will the Pennies for Pediatric Stroke. We've received the first couple of dollars from Infant Development Program and tomorrow I will pick up money from KFC, as well as from the base's post office Tuesday morning. I'm anxious to see how much has come together. Next year I will hopefully have more businesses participating. This also means, you only have til Thursday to make a donation that will help Isaiah win an iPad. For every $25 donated, he will receive one entry in the drawing, that doesn't mean you need to donate $25, you can donate less or more. Just like the kindle it will help him with motor skills in his weaker arm. Of course, you will still be able to make donations after May 31st, however, the drawing for the iPad will only consider donations that were made by May 31st. You can find the link to Isaiah's firstgiving page in the left upper corner. Every single dollar will be much appreciated! There are lots of children who's stroke had a much more severe effect on them than Isaiah's stroke did and unfortunately their health insurance do not cover the majority of therapies the children receive. Isaiah may benefit from your donations personally as well! He just got measured for his splint - I had mentioned the splint in an earlier post - and we're not sure our insurance will cover it either. 

By the way, Isaiah's MRI is coming up this Wednesday! We're getting ready to head to Fargo Tuesday morning and will be back Thursday evening. The last MRI was done when he was only a few days old and with him being on medication at the time he slept through it. This time will be different, depending on how he does he may or may not need a sedative.

Standard MRI machine 

This MRI will hopefully come back completely normal without any signs of damage from the stroke. Please keep Isaiah in your prayers!

I sincerely thank you all for following Isaiah and us on this journey and for all the love and support you show! Love,

Update on the penny jars, KFC anyone?

Happy belated Mother's Day everyone! I hope all you mommies, fur mommies, angel mommies, and mommies to be had a fantastic day yesterday! I sure did!

It's been a pretty busy weekend. I picked up the penny jar from Tutti Frutti here in Minot and am happy to say it had $43 in it! KFC close to Walmart is next in line to have it! So go ahead and put some change (or bills) in it while you get yourself some fried chicken! We have another one up in the break room at the Infant Development Office, thank you Kelly for that! I will also be hitting town this week to see who else is willing to participate!

Again, if you would like to put a penny jar up in your business, whether you're near or far, let me know!
And guys, don't forget to make a donation to Isaiah's firstgiving page (button on the left), no matter how big or small! It all makes a huge difference! Plus, for every $25 donated, Isaiah will get an entry in a drawing for an iPad! You can also make an offline donation, contact me for details! Again, it doesn't matter how big or small your donation will be! Every cent, every dollar makes a difference! We appreciate y'alls support so very much!

Thank you! Love,

Our streak

We have almost finished decorating the front of the house and front yard for Pediatric Stroke Awareness month! It's kinda hard to tell form the picture and I haven't taken close-ups but there's a purple pinwheel in each planter. Uhm, and please ignore my pathetic version of a boxtree. I have no idea why one died and the other didn't....

Our front yard: ribbon on the tree, small pinwheels in planters, wreath on door and window art.

Our purple wreath for Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month

Window art (there are also 2 purple ribbons left and right)

The window art took all afternoon! Thanks to the lovely Ms. Rica it only took the afternoon, if it had been me only I'd still be painting! We've already gotten a few responses, people driving by real slow (and trying not to stop, lol). Tomorrow I just need to get the labels for the jars printed, T-shirts for walking, purple nail polish and the ribbons finished. Oh, and maybe purple clip on hair extensions. I am slightly behind since I'm just now getting over whatever bacterial infection I had. So walking will have to wait til Saturday afternoon so I can make sure I am not going to get a heart attack. Whoever wants to join me walking, let me know and I'll make sure I'll have a ribbon for you!
By the way, I walked into the post office yesterday to mail out our waivers for the stroke retreat and I asked if they were ok with having a "Pennies for Pediatric Stroke" penny jar for a week. They said I can have it up as long as I want!!!! Woot woot!

Alright y'all, Nia is super cranky tonight so I'll have to go. But remember, Saturday is Pediatric Stroke Day, so wear something purple and tell someone about pediatric stroke!

Love,