A Topsy-Turvy Month of March

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Topsy-turvy...that's the only word I can think of to describe the month of March. It's been disorderly, chaotic, and a bit out of joint. There have been ups and downs. Highs and lows.  It all started out well enough. My dad celebrated his 75th birthday. This was an especially big deal as he gave us all a scare last month when he came down with a staph infection, which entered his bloodstream. He was very sick and his doctor said if he would have waited 1 more day before going to the ER, the outcome might have been different.  Celebrating my dad's 75th birthday!  On his birthday, we just had a small party as he was not yet feeling 100 percent. A couple of weeks later, when Dawn was here with Faith and I stayed with my parents, I noticed he seemed like he had more energy and was feeling better. I am very thankful for that!  Another person in my family (my sister Tesa) also had a milestone birthday this month. She turned 50! We were all hoping it would work out to have ...
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Tuesday Tidbits - Rummage, Respite and Reorganizing

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For the past month or so, Rob and I have been trying to go through every closet, every drawer, every box, basically everything in our apartment. This Friday all of our un-needed treasure will be up for grabs at a rummage sale we're going in on with a friend of ours. 

This morning, Rob realized he had forgotten to go through his clothes, so he hurried into the closet and grabbed all of the hangers with dust on them. A lot of his clothes he has shrunk out of since losing weight. Wish I had that same problem!

Another reason for our reorganizing frenzy is because we had to make room for Faith's new bed. While shopping for a better mattress for her, we were at TW Warehouse when we discovered the Dr. Breus Bed. Dr. Breus developed six different mattresses for different kinds of sleepers. The mattress we found for Faith is made especially for people with fibromyalgia or arthritis.

Though she doesn't have either of these conditions, we figured it was worth a shot to see if it would help her sleep when her muscles were feeling tight. We've had the bed for a couple of weeks now and she still wakes up at least a couple of times a night, but we noticed she doesn't seem so grumpy in the morning. We think this might mean that she feels less achy and stiff in the mornings and is getting more sound sleep.

The other night I had put some of Faith's stuffed animals on her bed. When she noticed they were there, she said, "What's this mess on my bed!" Apparently, she doesn't want stuffed animals on her new bed.

Today we met with Easter Seals because we had to do a new personal care plan for Faith, which means we have been with them for one year now. We really like Easter Seals and appreciate the community activities that they hold for their families. 

We have some great respite care workers or direct support personnel (dsp) through them. Recently, one of Faith's aides at school began doing respite care for us. It works out great because she already knows how to take care of Faith! Their favorite thing to do together is bake. Last night they made some very yummy chocolate chip muffins!

Faith enjoying some time with her respite care provider

We also had Michelle over the weekend (who has been with us since Faith was a baby and who made the transition from our former support service to Easter Seals so she could continue to care for Faith.) Michelle took her for a walk down to Cold Stone Creamery and while there, Faith told Michelle, "Maybe if we're NOT polite, we'll get some free ice cream!" I really have no idea where she got that from!

Tomorrow I'm going to my friends where we hauled all of our rummage stuff to and am pricing everything. Then in the afternoon Faith has hydrotherapy and physical therapy. I'll try to remember my camera AND my SD card to get some pictures!

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A Topsy-Turvy Month of March

-
Image
Topsy-turvy...that's the only word I can think of to describe the month of March. It's been disorderly, chaotic, and a bit out of joint. There have been ups and downs. Highs and lows.  It all started out well enough. My dad celebrated his 75th birthday. This was an especially big deal as he gave us all a scare last month when he came down with a staph infection, which entered his bloodstream. He was very sick and his doctor said if he would have waited 1 more day before going to the ER, the outcome might have been different.  Celebrating my dad's 75th birthday!  On his birthday, we just had a small party as he was not yet feeling 100 percent. A couple of weeks later, when Dawn was here with Faith and I stayed with my parents, I noticed he seemed like he had more energy and was feeling better. I am very thankful for that!  Another person in my family (my sister Tesa) also had a milestone birthday this month. She turned 50! We were all hoping it would work out to have ...
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Christmas Festivities Galore

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This season is known as the most wonderful time of the year and probably the busiest time of the year as well. Along with starting Christmas shopping, putting up our tree and thinking about getting our Christmas cards ready, we have taken part in some great Christmas events. Faith checking out some of the ornaments on our Christmas tree! Last Monday we kicked off the week with Faith's program at school called "Old Man Winter's Icicle Follies." Faith's music teacher had given us a CD with all of the music on it so Faith could learn the words better.  I must say, when Rob and I both heard the fast-moving music with all of the tongue-twisting words, we both thought the songs were a little ambitious for third graders. We really impressed when they pulled it off! All of the third graders did great!  The best part was seeing Faith in the front of the gymnasium alongside the kids in her grade looking relaxed and singing right along with the rest of them. Although,...
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5 Fall Things Faith Loves

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I swear we just flipped the calendar to August and now September is right around the corner. How can that be? School has started for some of Faith's cousins and the air is a bit brisk during the morning hours.  Fall is definitely my favorite season, but for Faith, I think she likes Spring better. She loves it when winter is finally over and there are no more threats of snowstorms to ruin her plans! That being said, she is looking forward to some things next month and during the upcoming fall season.  1. Fall Leaves/Fun Flavors One of my favorite parts of transporting Faith back and forth to her therapies and day program is that we get to cross the Missouri River twice a day. We love looking at all the trees by the river, the boats in the water, and even some wildlife like antelope, wild turkeys, and lots of birds.  Along with the pretty leaves, there is a cool crisp feel to the air, and the mosquitoes are long gone. Lots of fun flavors make their comeback in coffee shops ...
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A Plethora of Appointments

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Upon reflecting about the month of July, I have come to the conclusion that Faith has never had more appointments in one month than she did last month. She had over a dozen chiropractic appointments, eight ABM lessons, two visits from the Easter Seals coordinator, one occupational therapy consult, one optometrist appointment (and a partridge in a pear tree!). The Easter Seals visits were merely a formality as Faith has a new case worker and we needed to update some paperwork. Her disability case manager came along on one of the visits. Her optometrist appointment was her annual routine eye exam, and we are glad to report that Faith's eyes continue to remain the same and she still isn't needing glasses. We are thrilled about this as Faith had glasses at one time and we also had to do patching on her eyes, but her vision and her eye muscles continue to function normally! (Praise the Lord!) Faith getting a chance to relax! In June, Rob took Faith to see a chiropractor for ...
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