August Was Moving Month

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It's been a while since I have put up a blog post. I also haven't been very active on Faith's Mom's Facebook page. That's because the month of August was dedicated to moving!  About 4 years ago, Faith and I moved from the apartment she grew up in, to a different one in northeast Bismarck. The primary reason for the move was to have underground parking so that getting her loaded into the van by myself during our cold, snowy winters would be less of a challenge. We also needed to find a place in which the elevator didn't break down on a regular basis!  One of our last sunsets at our old apartment  That place served us well, but the drive to her day program, which is located across the river in Mandan was time consuming, not to mention, expensive. I drove about 45 miles a day and used up a tank of gas a week!  Searching for a New Place  Before our lease ended, I began praying about finding somewhere else to live. A condo would have been nice, but surprisingly not a...
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Catching Up

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This is my first post of the new year, and it is already March - I guess I have some catching up to do! It has been a very cold winter here in North Dakota with several days below zero since December. I know that much of the country has had a tough winter too, so we are certainly not alone in being anxious for spring and the warmer weather that comes along with it.

 Faith especially seems to be struggling with the colder temps - it most likely affects her already high tone. It hasn't helped that it is more difficult to transport her since we can't use our van's ramp due to our door needing replacement. Rob has had to get her into the other side of our van which entails him sort of lifting her chair up into the van. We are looking forward to finally getting it fixed this week. 

 Now that I've gotten our weather-related issues out of the way, here is an update on what the rest of this New Year has been like for us: 

We kicked off the year getting together with friends at China Star – a place we haven’t been for a while. We used to go there so much that all of the staff knew us by name and loved visiting with Faith. They seemed glad to see us and couldn’t believe how much Faith has grown. Over Christmas break she had a growth spurt, and she is up to 48 inches tall! We haven’t weighed her recently, but her last weight was around 55 pounds. 

Happy New Year!

We snuck in eating at the China Star right before our church fast began. The fast lasted 21 days and as part of my goal this year to eat better and get healthier, I bought a juicer. During our fast, I didn’t eat any processed foods or refined sugars and my supper consisted of a glass of fresh vegetable juice. Part of the reason I wanted to try juicing was to get some of those micronutrients into Faith via her feeding tube.   

We recently got a Vitamix blender, and I have made some delicious green smoothies and even broccoli cheese soup! We are also going to try to get Faith started on a blenderized diet so she can start “eating” healthier too. 

Getting green goodness into Faith's tummy

Besides eating better, I have started going to the chiropractor which has helped immensely with my headaches. Faith is down to one visit a week but she’s currently trying something new with a lady who comes to our home twice a month for music integration. Faith absolutely loves it, and I will be writing more about it in another post. 

Speaking of music, Faith just had her music program at school last week. In the middle of the program, Faith’s music teacher wheeled her to center stage with a group of kids. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on and before I knew it, her teacher was putting a recorder in her hand and then Faith blew some notes! It happened so fast that I didn’t have time to get in place to get a good picture. We were so proud of her! 
Faith working with Jonnica on the xylophone

Last month Rob and I both celebrated our birthdays. I turned the big 4-0 and although I didn’t have the actual day of my birthday off from work (too many people had already requested it off since it was the day after the Super Bowl) I did take the next day off and got to spend it with my mom. 

We went to the East 40 for lunch, went shopping and then relaxed at the spa getting pedicures. We both agreed we needed to do that together more often – we had so much fun! For Rob’s birthday, we went out to eat together and while we were out and about, Michelle and Faith surprised him with a birthday cake.  
Me and mom and my birthday

Happy Birthday to our favorite guy!
That about sums up 2014 for us so far. We are looking forward to what the rest of the year has for us and are believing for great things this year! Thanks for reading and have a blessed rest of the year! THINK SPRING!

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