RUN FOR AMBER

My most recent blog posts are becoming few and far between. There are many reasons for this (life is busy). However, the truth is that when I sit down to write I feel as if our day to day happenings are somewhat insignificant. These feelings stem from watching a friend as she battles Inflammatory Breast Cancer. My heart hurts for Amber and I'm sure I am one of many who feels a sense of helplessness. Amber and Dan have been great examples to Carl and I as we've gotten to know them since moving here. Amber, mother of 5, has fought valiantly for the past 18 months. I'm excited to participate in a charity run this Saturday to show support to Amber and her family.

Carl is running the 5K with me this time and S hopes to (he's nursing a sprained ankle). One detail that I haven't ironed out yet... what to do with Crew.

I hope the turn out is significant. Whether you know Amber or not, come run to support the fight against breast cancer. If you're not in the area, you can leave a message to Amber on her blog. Hope to see you there!

One step back

Something is wrong with Crew's leg. I noticed he was favoring his right leg starting on Sunday. It seems like its getting worse not better. I didn't let him walk or crawl today. We had PT and the therapist confirmed that there is something going on. It looks like he has pain in his hip. He sent me home with some stretching assignments. We are to keep an eye on it over the next couple of days and if it hasn't resolved itself we will have to get a Dr.'s opinion.

Just lost another notch up the ladder... Two steps forward, One step back.

STOCKING UP!

Saturday was the 1st Annual A+ family wheat cleaning extravaganza! My dad is the hardest working man I know and generous to boot! This project reminded me of the story of the Little Red Hen except the rest of us did jump in and help with the wheat cleaning. First, grandpa planted and watered the wheat all summer long and harvested it. Gotta love the orange dump truck (Crew was in heaven)!

Also, grandpa spent many hours working on an old wheat cleaner in preparation for the day.

The wheat is dumped from the truck into the cleaner where the chaff is separated. Beautiful clean wheat pours into 5-gallon storage buckets.

Grandpa also provides BIG toys to keep little boys entertained!

From dump truck to storage containers--

Oh, after you fill all storage buckets one might line 55 gallon drums with garbage bags and fill those too!

Isn't this cool!
This is just a small portion of the 6000+ pounds of wheat that we put up. Thanks Grandpa!

Most importantly...

We had a busy fun weekend but I don't have the energy to post about it right now.

Today, I gave my RS lesson on "The Plan of Salvation". I studied it all month long. It's such a deep and broad subject and the sisters in our ward range from young 18-year old singles to the more seasoned grandmothers and such. I worry about how to teach knowing most sisters have more experiences and knowledge than I. I feel that my lack of confidence is actually a blessing because I know how important it is for me to prayerfully prepare and seek the spirit. I felt like the lesson went well and I received many compliments afterward. This calling is great for me because it forces me to study and ponder the gospel teachings in depth.

Here are some quotes from the lesson that I love and have caused me to ponder:

“ALL THE MINDS AND SPIRITS THAT GOD EVER SENT INTO THE WORLD ARE SUSCEPTIBLE OF ENLARGEMENT”.

“Satan cannot seduce us by his enticements unless we in our hearts consent and yield. Our organization is such that we can resist the devil; if we were not organized so, we would not be free agents.”

“I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits. …

I am so thankful for the Plan of Salvation. I honestly don't think I could face each day without the knowledge that I can be with my family for eternity and that our bodies will be restored to their perfect state. Truly, its the main thing that keeps me going!

Guest Photographer

I vaguely remember the older boys messing around with my camera while I was preparing dinner the other day. S with his hand against the back of Crew's head and H (camera in hand) on the other side of the glass. I found this little treasure waiting for me when I loaded pics onto my computer. I guess this is what happens when you have older siblings! LOL.

Where is Fall?

Am I the only one that's not excited about this?

On a Happier Note...

Crew has a new obsession! Building with his Mega Blocks is what he wants first thing in the morning and as soon as he gets home from school. He prefers NOT to play alone so I enlist the help of his brothers, respite worker and/or ME.

In the past few weeks I've noticed an increased ability to not only stack the blocks well BUT he is also using both hands to separate two blocks. He mainly uses his right hand to hold the blocks while he pulls them apart with his left. 90% of the time he uses his LEFTY to stack but on occasion he will use his RIGHT hand. This is good, very very good.

Oh, and in case you haven't guessed it... the BEST part is knocking them down:)

Communication

Today when I think of the word "communication" it reminds me of the word "frustration". Did you know the two are related? Apparently they are!

This week has been a hard one. Crew is really struggling to communicate his wants and needs. We've tried everything I can think of. It has been 4 years now and we are NOT making progress. I know its not true (and those of you in my same situation would probably like to hit me over the head with a hammer) but sometimes it feels like we are the ONLY ones in this boat. Today it hit me really hard and I cried like a big baby (which doesn't help anything by the way). Crying just makes you tired, and pity parties don't help either which is why they are far and few between in my world. Learn from my mistakes and just buck it up and SMILE.

I've decided I need to change the focus of my prayers. I've tried everything I can think of and I don't think I'm going to get anywhere in this endeavor without my Heavenly Fathers help.

Immunization Records

The preschool threatened that Crew would "be excluded from attending" if I did not provide adequate immunization records. The form letter states that he is missing his 4th dose of Pneumoccocal (PCV7). What??? I have always taken my children in for their scheduled shots.

Last night I took Crew to the pediatrician for said shot. After looking over his records it appeared that we missed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of a FOUR shot series. I did not think this was right and figured his records must have been incomplete since we moved when he was nearly 6 months old. Unfortunately, I have been missing his little Immunization Record book for so long I started thinking we never had one. The Dr. did not think it was a good idea to get the shot and so we went home.

Today I had a plan to sort through three different drawers in an effort to locate the book. Before looking, I felt prompted to rearrange/clean my computer work area. What do you know...TADAH

I found the book!

I am so happy about this, happy that Crew doesn't need anymore shots and happy to provide "adequate records". Thank you very much!

Random Thoughts

It seems the longer I go without posting, the harder it is to recap the day/weekend.

• Conference weekend was great! I didn't do a good job of taking notes but I did try to listen to all 8 hours. I really enjoyed the spirit of the meetings and I'm excited to see the Conference podcasts already sitting in my inbox. yeah!


• My Mizunos have over 350 miles on them and I started getting pains so I broke down and bought a new pair of running shoes. SAUCONY this time! Unfortunately, after only 6 miles I've already got blisters. I don't remember getting blisters with the Mizuno's... not even when they were new. I've decided to take advantage of their 15 day return policy and swap them out for a different shoe.


• My friend Erica is faced with the decision of whether or not her adorable son should get a Baclofen Pump and if so when? This is something that we have considered for Crew. I'm amazed at the daily "Google" hits that bring people to my blog when they are searching for information about the pump. There are many pro's and con's to consider. Crew is taking Baclofen orally and this helps him but also causes him to drool and makes him weak in other areas. We don't know if the oral Baclofen or his spasticity contributes to his inability to speak. Placing the pump is a little frightening but what scares me the most is the 10% chance of having a kinked catheter. This could cause withdrawal symptoms and during the stage when they experiment with dosages there is a possibility of overdose. The biggie though is that the pump is the size of a hockey puck. I've seen the pump and I'll tell you right now that Crew's little tummy doesn't have anything to it. He is skin and bones. Ah, decisions!


• My new job. I'm in training for a new position at the Dr.'s office where I've worked for the past year. I'm looking forward to something different but for the next little while my head will be spinning.

Well that was pretty random, wasn't it!