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A free picture slideshow by Smilebox |
December 20, 2010
Graham Crackers and Glue Guns
December 12, 2010
Just a Spoonful of Sugar
October 29, 2010
Snips & Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
This one is made of a few more things. And there are very clear and acute moments in life that I get a glimpse of exactly what he is made of.
A boy in his class has diabetes. His father came in to the class to talk to them about the disease and Johnny's insulin pump. The father was explaining about how everybody is different when Lance raised his hand to help further explain, "We all have things to make us go. I have these glasses to help me, my brother has his wheelchair to help him go, and Johnny has his pump. That's just the way it is."
The dad also explained about genetics and how things are passed from our parents to us. Lance asked me about genetics when he got home.
"Mom, is CDG genetic?"
I was sad to answer, but I explained to him that it was. To which he replied,
Fist-pumping, "YES!!!! I SOO want a CDG son or daughter!"
I laughed and cried. He wants this?! Despite all the challenges of this journey that affect him - all of the things we can't do, all of the things that are cut short because of Bridger's screaming or health, etc., he loves this journey. Not many over-indulged, self-absorbed, overly entitled little 8 year olds out there would say that. He absolutely has the heart of an angel.
Bridger recently had a scary accident. Sparing the details, it involved Bridger strapped in his wheelchair falling down three porch stairs and landing face first on a large slate rock. I was out of town at the time so Alan had to calmly and quickly collect all the kids and drive them down the mountain the 40 minute ride to the hospital from the cabin. Because of the severity of the concussion and skull fractures, Bridger was drifting off to sleep immediately. Because of the mouth injury, Bridger had a pretty steady flow of blood coming from his mouth. As Alan drove, Lance's job was to keep Bridger awake and to wipe the blood from his mouth. In his little 8 year old mind, he thought Bridger was dying, and it was job to keep him alive. He kept wiping the blood from his mouth and saying, "Come on Bridger, you can make it" all the way to the hospital. He truly is a big hero in a little boy's body.
When I got back in town, we, appropriately, threw a "Hero Party" for Lance and the others that were heroes in their own way. The greatest place you can eat a hero dinner, so says the kids, is in the Fairfax hospital cafeteria. Luckily, we have standing reservations there.
I'd like to claim it was my mothering that created this brave, selfless, loving, tender soul. But I know better, and have come to realize that he came to our family just that way.
9 years ago I became a mom. I went into labor at Krispy Kreme doughnut and am convinced that is why this slightly overdue baby decided to come into the world - to partake of the wonderful delight of doughnuts for himself. He is my doughnut-aholic, fishing frenzy, rib eating, collecting scrap metal to melt down to make his own helicopter, book worm, super scout and I couldn't be more in love with him!

September 30, 2010
And Then There Was One. . .



But for a few minutes, there was just one and what a delightful few minutes those were.
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With five daily trips to the bus stop I have now worn a path in the sidewalk. I think I am going to like this. Don't get me wrong - I love the summer, I love my kids at home, I really am a step away from homeschooling. Well, maybe several steps. But I have earned my stripes by having, at one point, 4 kids at home without anyone in school yet. So this is a whole new experience for me and I have found a whole new world of normalcy.
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I now have 45 minutes. 45 glorious minutes with just a baby at my feet to clean the kitchen up from breakfast, put the lunch fixings away, get dinner in the crock pot, rotate some laundry through, exercise, shower, make my bed, return some phone calls, snuggle the baby down for a nap and then dash back out to the bus stop. Give me 45 minutes and I will amaze you with what I can accomplish.
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I am finding my inner-zen and at the current moment, the household is running like a well-oiled machine. I'm sure that in a month or two, some kinks will be thrown in and the gears will be grinding again. But I am enjoying today.
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So much more to blog about. So much to catch up on. Not today. My inner-zen does not feel like it today.
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July 28, 2010
Go Play Somewhere Else

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He replied something about it being a health code violation because the rubber wheels of his wheelchair touch the street and then touch the water area.
I pointed to the dozen+ children wearing shoes.
He said that they were rubber shoes.
I said that they were rubber wheels.
He got a little gruff and told me, again, that Bridger would have to leave.
He replied, "yes."
Dear security officer: Don't mess with the mama bear, you will get bit.
July 15, 2010
To the Girl

To the 8 month old girl that blessedly became the flexible go-with-the-flow child that lived through mounds of boxes and three homes until we finally got settled and never gave indication that her nap or feeding schedule was disrupted. . .
To the 9 month old that caused me three new gray hairs as her favorite game became "climb on the chair when mom isn't looking and stand up on it with no hands and when mom turns around just giggle". She still loves that game. I'm not quite a fan. . .
(you can see how a bear that is suckled every night like this eventually gets his name)
To the girl that at 11 months, could climb into her brother's wheelchair, rotate herself around into sitting and wheel herself around, including turning, all. . . by . . . herself. . .To the girl who at 12 months discovered the fun of having an entire chocolate birthday cake to herself -- to do with what she pleases. . .
To this girl. . .

June 04, 2010
The End of the Tunnel
Bikers for Barbecue
All exercise must be rewarded with a motivating prize at the end. What better motivation is there than biking for some yummy pulled pork sandwiches from the best little barbecue pit on this side of the Mississippi? The kids could smell it coming from a mile down the trail.
Happy National Doughnut Day!
I looked in Hallmark for cards to send out but apparently the card companies don't see a market for Doughnut Day cards and all the slots were taken by grad and dad cards. But that won't stop the celebration from happening. Doughnuts are very important to us. . . I went into labor with Lance eating a doughnut, we own stock in the Krispy Kreme corporation (even in this economy it has doubled since we purchased). We hope that everyone took a moment that day to honor a doughnut.
Under the Big Top Part II
To counter any jealousies the kids had from Bridger having his special circus experience, we took the others to the circus as well. The cage for the tiger portion suffered some mechanical difficulties (before the tigers were released, thankfully) so they had to skip the tiger performance but offered us tickets for another performance the following week. So after three circus trips and all the cotton candy, popcorn and overpriced-spinning-blinking-made-in-china-glow-toys that grandma couldn't resist, we have had our fill of the circus.
Here Fishy-Fishy
We found a "handicap fishing pond" on the map and decided to give it a try. Handicap on this map legend apparently means that there is a long, bumpy trail sprinkled with gravel that lead to a large pond hidden in the middle of nowhere with piers lined with pavers so you have to really push your chair hard to fall into the water. Bridger's chair is more of a Porsche (both in design and in cost) than it is an SUV - but it managed to survive the off-roading it had to do to make it to the pond and the pavers did keet him from going for an unexpected swim. Because the pond was so remote, the fish were abundant and all that the kids had to do was cast and they would get a fish. That is the perfect kid fishing pond. Bridger had a blast and even caught his own fish that he wanted to squeeze. The rest of the time he held a pole (sans line and hook) in the water and copied his siblings. Eliza just enjoyed some fresh air and snuggles.
Lance was beaming to come show us his fresh catch - done all by himself. Hook, line and sinker.
Good old fashioned hot dog dinner over the fire. Served up mostly blackened with a cool inner. Unlimited s'mores to wash it all down.
The Swimmin' Hole
Toe-Tapping Fun
I took Evie on a date to see Riverdance. She was mesmerized and has found her new passion. Her classes begin in fall - stay tuned for some darling pictures.
Phew. I'll end the update there.
Bridger has bounced back in a truly miraculous way. We have been surrounded, buoyed and sustained by love shown in many different ways and have been very overwhelmed by all of those expressions. I'm grateful for the wonderful "highs" that we experience to more than counter all of the "lows". Resilience is a wonderful quality and I am grateful for children and a husband that exemplify that.
May 08, 2010
Welcome to the Neighborhood
We love our new home, and adore our new neighborhood. But how do you really make a splash in your new neighborhood -- one that makes others say, "Oh, they are going to be THAT kind of neighbor"? Well, you call in a ambulance, a ladder truck, a fire-rescue suburban and two police cars with sirens blaring to your home at 11:00 at night. Really, we only called in the ambulance, everything else that followed was just bonus.
Bridger had a fever hit hard hard and fast Wednesday night. I put him to bed and allowed him a couple hours for his tube feed to settle before I went to give him some Motrin. When I entered his room I found him gurgling, blueish, unresponsive and covered in vomit. I called up Alan and quickly dialed 911. We lifted his limp body gently out of bed and laid him on the floor where he proceeded to turn even more blue, breathing grow more labored and he went into full seizure convulsions. The ambulance finally arrived and we hurried off to the hospital. The seizure lasted for several hours despite a cocktail of medications to try to get it to stop. Finally some paralysis drugs were given to halt the seizure. Bridger was not able to breath on his own so they had to intubate him. Because he aspirated so much of the vomit he had an acute pneumonia. They then life flighted him to another hospital where he was placed in the PICU. The seizure finally stopped and several hours later he began breathing on his own.
And there I sat today watching this little guy while the cd player in his room sang the lullaby, "Baby Mine". I can put my tough mom face on and push through quite a lot. But play that song and my vulnerability will get to me.
Baby mine, don't you cry.Baby mine, Dry your eyes.Rest your head close to my heart,Never to part, baby of mine..Little one, when you playDon't you mind what they say.Let those eyes sparkle and shineNever a tear, baby of mine..If they knew sweet little youThey'd end up loving you too.All those same people who scold youWhat they'd give just for the right to hold you.From your head down to your toesYou're not much, goodness knows.But you're so precious to meSweet as can be, baby of mine.
March 23, 2010
The Parable of the Pantry

March 13, 2010
Under the Big Top
While I live in a three-ring circus under my own roof, there is another circus -- a quaint little circus that comes to town each year. In addition to their regular performances, they perform a free "sensory" circus just for special needs children. Bridger's preschool class went on a field trip there this week and lucky me got to chaperon. Knowing what such outings are like with him, I never in a million years would have spent a cent on a circus ticket for him, so a free ticket was the perfect price tag for such an event.
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The clowns, while still clowny, suppressed some silliness as to not overwhelm the children that have sensory issues. They brought out their extra wigs to let the kids touch them and had calm interactions using bubbles and quiet rubber chickens. Bridger was fascinated with the clown he got to pop bubbles with before the show began.
The big top was filled with over 400 special needs children and the people that love them as their caregivers, teachers and parents. So what did I do as all the excitement and lights and sounds of the circus began? I started crying. What crazy person CRIES at the circus?! I couldn't help it -- I was overcome with a feeling that I hadn't anticipated. Being surrounded by all of those children was intense. There was such a feeling of love under that tent and I was overwhelmed with the power that surrounded me being in the presence of so many perfect spirits. The tears quickly dried shortly after the show started, though, as I began my WWF match with Bridger and wrestled him throughout the entire show. I don't blame him -- with his vision impairment he couldn't really see the show at all. I would have been wiggly too.
Then came the extra cool part. At the conclusion of the circus Bear's vision therapist (who LOOOVES him) told us to stay put as the 400+ kids exited the circus tent. She came back to give Bridger a golden ticket that allowed him to be one of a dozen kids that got to go down to the circus ring and have a hands-on circus. Bridger got to touch all the animals, feel the feathery costumes that he couldn't see from afar, and even swing on the spinning-metal-daredevilish-acrobat contraption.
He had a great time and it was so fun for me to watch him enjoy something that we otherwise wouldn't have. My list of "can't do's" and "wouldn't do's" is growing as I'm making my way through this journey and I'm so grateful to companies like the Big Apple Circus that step out of the box and make accommodations to make my list have a few more "can do's" and "will do's".
February 16, 2010
When Life Gives you Snow. . .
I have at least a dozen 12-ounce water bottles (however frozen they may be right now) and can get more at any time. I'm grateful for the simple lessons of faith, patience and happiness demonstrated by the humble people of Haiti.