This past week marked a huge milestone in Faith's life - she has been at her day program for 4 years! I well remember how excited I felt when I found out that in order to qualify for the program, all she needed was to be 18 and have a high school diploma. I know that is not the case in some states. And in many cases, parents choose to have their special needs child in school until they are 21 and then after that they can attend a day program. For Faith though, since I homeschooled her, we were both ready for her to move on to her adult life when she turned 18! Faith at the Science Center with one of her day program staff After a few meetings with her case manager and day program staff, she was ready for her first day. But was I? She was excited when I dropped her off, but as I drove away from the building, I began to cry. Would she really be okay here? Would staff know what to do if she looked uncomfortable or seemed like she was in pain? Faith is verbal, but she canno...
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Faith's Epic 22nd Birthday Weekend
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A while back I had asked Faith what she wanted to do for her birthday. A concert? NDSU Bison game? A mini trip somewhere? Nope, nope, and nope. All she wanted for her birthday was to have a party at the church. She then started naming names of people she wanted to invite. And then she just kept inviting people. (And even recruiting people to help decorate). It was going to be a big party!
Birthday cookies!
Her birthday celebration actually began on Friday. Instead of sharing cupcakes this year with her day program peers and staff, she wanted her Auntie Dawn to make monster cookies for everyone. Faith was so excited to stop by Dawn's office on Friday morning to pick up the cookies.
That evening, I took her to adaptive dance at Northern Plains Dance and was surprised to learn she had a different helper for the evening - her good friend, Maddie! They had fun, but I think Faith just wanted to visit with her instead of dance! After getting home, Faith relaxed to watch Wheel of Fortune.
The next morning, she woke up so excited for her birthday party. Dawn came over to look after her while I went to the church to help decorate and set up. Our friend Jody had made the cake, cupcakes, and had all the decorations. Her daughter and another friend from church were also there and we had fun visiting, laughing, and decorating. When we realized it was 1:30, we made a mad dash to get the food all ready.
Everything's ready just in time!
Faith checking out her cake and cupcakes
Faith got there just in time and when Dawn rolled her in, we yelled, "Surprise!" (She had wanted a surprise party, even though she already knew about it!) Also, Faith requested Mr. Roger's Neighborhood for the theme, so I had asked that people wear their favorite sweater or the color red.
There was even a Mr. Rogers trivia game I had come up with. (The winner was our friend and respite care provider, Chris, who got 11 out of 16 questions right!)
The cupcakes had sayings by Mr. Rogers!
Faith with her beautiful cake!
Faith had so much fun conversing with all of the guests and getting lots of hugs. We tried to get pictures of Faith with each guest, but we didn't end up getting them all. It was really nice to see some people we haven't seen in a long time, which included friends from her homeschooling group and a friend of mine from college.
She also opened gifts and had not one but two rounds of birthday cake candle lightings and the "Happy Birthday" song. (During the 2nd round, Faith blew out her own candles, which is a skill she learned in occupational therapy!)
Faith's cake lighting (first round)
Faith and Rachel
She also opened gifts and was so happy to have her good friend Rachel helping her. (I was also happy that she had a helper, which meant I could just watch and visit!) The open house party lasted 3 hours and by the end of it, Faith was pretty tired and ready to go home and get out of her chair.
In retrospect, I should have only had the party for 2 hours instead of 3 as she got pretty tired. Plus, she had been so excited before the party, that she had already burned up a lot of her energy by the time she got there. Still, it was a very fun afternoon. Faith received so many nice cards, gifts, and some cash.
Family
Grandpa making friends with our neighbors
Some of our church family
Faith and her great aunt, Lisa
Faith with Nate and Shanna
Faith and her friend Maddie
So fun to see my friend Kristi!
Me and Jody with Faith
Faith with Pastor Jon
Opening more gifts!
Even though Faith was exhausted, she unfortunately did not sleep well that night. This kind of goes along with the territory of being out of her usual routine. I think part of it was that there was so much to process, and also in her excitement, her tone was pretty high, which meant it was harder for her to relax. We still made it to church the next day, where she continued to get a lot of birthday greetings.
At home, she also had a few fun video chats with her dad, and her auntie and grandparents in Canada. She wanted to show them all some of her gifts and we even opened a few gifts and cards that I had left at home. While on video, she opened the fun gift she got from Auntie Joh.
Thankfully, Faith slept a bit better last night, but she was still pretty tired today from her birthday weekend. That, along with the fact it was cold and raining outside, I just let her stay home to rest. Hopefully tomorrow, she will get back to her normal routine.
It was a pretty epic birthday weekend for my 22-year-old, and I am already thinking I might have to talk her into a smaller party next year. This one was fun but took a lot of time and energy. I am not much of a party planner, so I was very thankful for everyone who used their gifts to help Faith have a great party! It truly was "a beautiful day in the neighborhood!"
"I hope you're proud of yourself for the times you've said 'yes,' when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else." Mr. Rogers
This past week marked a huge milestone in Faith's life - she has been at her day program for 4 years! I well remember how excited I felt when I found out that in order to qualify for the program, all she needed was to be 18 and have a high school diploma. I know that is not the case in some states. And in many cases, parents choose to have their special needs child in school until they are 21 and then after that they can attend a day program. For Faith though, since I homeschooled her, we were both ready for her to move on to her adult life when she turned 18! Faith at the Science Center with one of her day program staff After a few meetings with her case manager and day program staff, she was ready for her first day. But was I? She was excited when I dropped her off, but as I drove away from the building, I began to cry. Would she really be okay here? Would staff know what to do if she looked uncomfortable or seemed like she was in pain? Faith is verbal, but she canno...
I have recently connected with another blogger who is the mom of a sweet boy with special needs named Silas. You can check out her blog at A Boy Named Silas . She is truly an amazing mom, and I just ordered her book which is an account of the time they spent in the NICU with Silas. She just nominated me for The Liebster Award - Special Needs Edition . Thanks, Alana Terry ! I was very surprised, humbled and honored all at the same time. The Liebster award comes with certain rules, one of which is sharing 11 facts about myself: 1. I took piano lessons for eight years 2. I would love to have two Doberman Pinschers someday 3. I work for a health insurance company 4. I have only colored my hair once in my life 5. I’ve never had a massage (by a professional) 6. My all-time favorite movie is still Footloose 7. I’ve had a pacemaker since the age of 25 8. Along with my journalism degree, I also have minors in speech communications and animal and range sciences 9. I...
Late last week, Faith and I had a little accident in the Hyundai. We were going north on Washington, which is a very busy street especially around 5:00 p.m. I was trying to get to Avenue C and then make a left in order to get home but we only made it as far as Avenue B. We had just gotten done with Faith's physical therapy appointment and getting her hair cut. It was after five and I knew Michelle (respite care) was due to be at our home at 5:30. I was in a bit of a hurry and then I got distracted by a pedestrian who was trying to decide where to cross the street. I watched him for a bit then when I looked back in front of me all I saw were bright red brake lights. I hit the brakes, but it was too late. CRASH! Right away I looked back at Faith, and she had a look of surprise on her face. I asked her if she was OK, and she said she was. I was so thankful that instead of being buckled in a regular carseat, she was buckled into her adaptable carseat that offered her extra support....
Faith and I barely made it through Christmas before she got hit hard with the flu bug. (Which is why this blog post is a bit delayed!) Leading up to the night of the 25th, we were enjoying lots of music, goodies, and family time. One event that has become a tradition for us is going to the Nutcracker ballet. This year's performance marked the 8th one in a row that we have attended! We love everything about the Nutcracker - the music, the costumes, the different scenes, the talented dancers, seeing some of our friends onstage, and the seasonal excitement in the atmosphere! Ready to go to the Nutcracker! Of course, the week after the Nutcracker always proves to be a busy one, as it is one week before Christmas! Faith had her usual therapies and while she was at her day program, I would do all of my running around. During one of the gift shopping excursions, I ran into my brother Todd! We had lots of fun catching up, right there at Fleet Farm! My little bro and I hanging out at...
Beautiful and lovely pictures that tell a real story.
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