Summer Means

Well I have thought for a long time that I should be much better about this blogging since I'm not very good at keeping a journal or writing very much down. So here we go and we'll see how long I can keep this up.

We have had a great school year and we are sad to see it come to an end because Reese won't see most of his friends until school starts again. We are happy summer is coming though because -

Summer means swimming, baseball and much more time outside.

Summer means that Nicholette and Logan will be getting married. We are all so excited and in the middle of crazy planning time.

Summer means that Nicholette will be home living with us instead of in Logan and so that makes us happy. Reese is especially happy when he gets to see her every day since she is his favorite person in the world. Nicholette kind of has that effect on boys. lol

Summer means cooking on the grill for dinner which is a favorite in this house especially Demi, she would eat hamburgers or steaks off the grill EVERY night if we would let her.

Summer means Reese gets to "run" in races with push to the finish and he loves it. Thanks to Mitchie and Jackie for letting us barrow your awesome stroller for the races. Much lighter then our 60 pound wheelchair and I'm sure the person pushing him is thankful for that.

Summer means looking back on the wonderful Make a Wish trip we had last summer and wondering what we can do to help some other kids wishes come true. It is time for our family to figure out how we can give back for all the wonderful blessing we have received since Reese came into our family.

Summer means warm weather and longer daylight hours and that is great.

What a GREAT Weekend

Well this weekend was SO much fun. It all started on Thursday with Demi's school carnival. It was alot of fun and Demi was so happy to show us all her friends. So many people came up to Demi and told her how wonderful she was at the talent show and she was smiling from ear to ear. I was so proud of her at the talent show. Considering that she woke up sick, dizzy and vomiting it was a great feat to get up and sing in front of the whole school and I don't mean sing a little I mean she belted it out like she was a pro.

Then on Friday we went to the zoo in the evening. Mike, Nicholette, Demi, Reese and I went and it was so nice. A group for people with children who have disabilities had invited us to see the zoo and to have dinner. It was really a fun evening and we were all so happy that Mike came.

On Saturday we went to see Pirates of the Carrabeian with HopeKids and that was so much fun. Reese loves going to the movies and I think the family loves going too. What is better than going to the movie for free and getting free popcorn and a drink. Now that doesn't happen very often does it?

Then Sunday we all spent working in the yard. We worked on weeding and planting flowers. We cut the grass and worked on getting the fence done so that the dogs can run free which will be so much nicer than being chained up.

The weather has been so nice and that helps the body feel like getting things done. Now to work on the inside of my house. There is always laundry and house work to do. I really want to get the house looking nice before Tommy and Gladys get here on Sunday. I know they don't care what the house looks like but I do so off to work.

Sunny Day YEAH!

A sunny day today I am so happy. Not like it is 80 degrees or anything but at least it is sunny and that does great things for the attitude you know.

We are going to the zoo tonight with Reese, Demi, Nicholette, Mike and me. We were invited by a group for moms with kids with disabilities. Maybe since everyone there has a child with something there won't be all the rude stares. I mean I try not to let it bother me but sometimes I just want to punch people. Children are one thing but adults are a complete other thing. I always want to say "he is really cute isn't he" that makes some of them really imbarresed but others are clueless that what they are doing is rude. Oh well life goes on right.

We went to Demi's school carnaval last night and it was alot of fun. Demi played the games over and over again because she loved getting the prizes and she wanted Reese to have some too. She is such a sweet big sister to him, I think she has learned from Nicholette and Amber because they are always so good to her.

Tomorrow we will go to the hopekids movie Piarates of the carribean and that should be alot of fun. This will be the first hopekids event Mike has gone to so that will be alot of fun for the kids, they love when he comes along. Hopekids is such a great group, they have given us so many oppurtunities to do so many fun things with Reese and Demi.

Well just so everyone knows I heard from Angela (Reese's birth mom) again today. She informed me that she no longer has her daughter. Says that the state took her and she has been adopted. She says, "I kept trying to call you when we going though the court thing". What the heck am I the drop off point for all the children she has that she can't take care of? I am almost 48 years old and don't think I can do the baby thing again so I hope she doesn't expect me to take the baby she is pregnant with not. You all know if I was asked I wouldn't be able to refuse through right. I am crazy but I've always known that.

Well I better sign off and go get some housework done. Tommy and Gladys will be here in about a week and boy I have many things to get done before they get here. I am so excited that someone from my family is coming to visit that I can hardly tell you. So until next time.

Are You Kidding Me???????

Well those were the only words I could think of after receiving an email this morning "are you kidding me".

Let me explain, I got an email from Reese's birth mom this morning. In the email she informed me that she is 20 weeks pregnant with a boy. Because of the genetic disorder that she carries and because she had been told point blank not to have anymore children I just couldn't even believe what I was reading. I of course contacted Reese's genetic doctor to let him know what was going on because he had been very involved with her last pregnancy which happen to be a girl. I just don't know how she expects to be able to care for a child with the problems that this little guy will have, if he even survives birth. I know that is why more than any of you wanted to hear but you know sometimes you just have to put your thoughts to paper to really get a grip on what is happening.

Life does send us some curve balls sometimes but I guess that's a way of finding out what you're really made of. Sometimes I think I can't take anymore and then I make it through so I know I can do this too I just find myself concerned and thinking about this unborn child.

Well I will keep everyone posted and please all pray for this little guy that the Lord will do as he sees fit and pray that I will be in tune with what I am suppose to do because right now I have no clue

Love to all

Carla

Life is good

Well I can't believe that I haven't written in this blog since February. I think sometimes we just get so busy and we forget that there are people out there that are actually interested in what is going on in Reese's life.

Things here are going so well. No hospital stays since the one in Jan. (I think that is the month we were there) and we has been feeling really well and gaining tons of weight which is a good thing. He is also growing so much taller. I have to remind myself that his birth mom was 5'10" and so he is probably going to be the tallest one in our house. You see we don't grow em that tall around here normally :)

We are all getting excited for Aunt Gladys and Uncle Tommy to come for a visit. This is some of our family from Chicago and we always get so excited to show family our little part of the world. We are also anxious for our Wish Trip to Disney World. We feel so lucky to be granted such a wonderful gift. Every time we talk about it to Reese he gets a huge smile on his face and that makes us all smile. We received our flight plans and we got a non stop flight and we are so happy about that. Everyone is going to be able to go on this trip (Mom, Dad, Nicholette, Amber, LeGrand and even Logan (Nicholette's boyfriend) and of course Reese). We are staying at a place called Give Kids the World and I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it. It just all seems unreal because normally we would have to save for a year or two to take a trip like this but here we are no worries and everything is paid for.

Nicholette is home for the summer so that makes everyone happy, especially Logan:) She is a great help around the house and with Reese so it is really nice for me. She has all her housing arrangements for next year taken care of that is a great relief to her and for me because she is going to be rooming with Sloan and she is a great girl and I think she is going to be a great room mate.

Anyway that is probably more than you all wanted to read but that's an update on our lives and I will try harder to write more often but no promises.

Until next time...............

WHO KNEW?????

Who knew a haircut could be so traumatic? Reese has never really loved haircuts but he does love Carmen who cuts his hair. Most times he hasn't been happy but he tolerated it. Last night was a different story, oh my. Carmen came to cut his hair and he took one look at her and started to cry. Wow does he know how to make a person feel bad or what. He continued to cry the whole time and even through his bath after. I think he was mad at everyone for some time but like always he finally forgave.

Reese's vest theropy is going really well. He has two 30 min treatments a day and he smiles the whole time. We are really hoping this will keep his lungs clear and keep him out of the hospital. Only problem is the vest is on a 30 loan and then we will see if our insurance is willing to pay for it. When I asked how much it cost the guy smiled and said, "about $15000" I was like ok well it will be interesting to see what our insurance says this time. Our insurance has been great but two $15000 purchases in a row might be a little much to ask. I guess we'll just keep our fingers crossed.

On the 6th of March we are headed to St George so Reese can see Dr. Andersen and get another Atlas adjustment. For those of you who don't know this is one of the best things we have ever discovered for Reese. Amber and Nicholette are going with this time and Amber is also going to have an adjustment and hope that she can get some relief from the back pain she has been having for some time now. As for Nick we are going to take her to the airport in Vegas on Tues or Wed so she can fly to Dallas and drive back to Salt Lake with Logan. Logan got a job in Salt Lake and so he is moving back and I don't think anyone is happier than Nick. Now we all have to wait and see where there relationship goes from here.

JUST A FEW MORE THINGS TO DEAL WITH

Well I haven't posted anything in some time so I will try to catch everyone up on the happenings in our life.

Reese has been doing pretty well other than a nasty diaper rash. Mind you he does not get diaper rashes so we have tried everything with no luck. So last Tuesday I called our doctors office to see if she could see him. After being on hold twice for over 25 minutes I had no choice but to go to the ER. I hate going there because he always gets admitted. I thought this time would be different because surely they wouldn't admit us for a diaper rash RIGHT. WRONG because by the time we got to the hospital the rash was under both arms and on one leg. What the heck was going on. They started IV's and drew labs and then decided that it might be a strep rash and he would be admitted. I was so frustrated with the whole thing. The entire hospital seemed busier than I had seen it in a long time so waiting was part of the game. We were in emer. room for several hours before we got a room. When we finally went to our room it was time for meds and that became a joke. After finally getting his 8pm meds at 11pm he was so tired and so was I. We both fell asleep only to be woken by the RT about midnight. When I asked what see was doing she said she was going to do trach cares and change his trach tie. Are you kidding me! I stood up and said "No you're not doing that now." She informed me that if I refused she would have to chart that. I said, "I don't care what you chart just get out!" Needless to say we didn't see her again. I hate to be rude but sometimes the things that happen make no since. Really does anyone use common since? We were released the next morning and told that it was a yeast rash and we could treat it at home. Really if the doctors office would have answered their phone this would have been alot cheaper.

On Friday Reese started vest therapy and he loves it. He does it for 30 min twice a day and he is sounding clearer than he has in a long time. The RT who came to show us how to use the machine was so helpful and nice. We are excited to see how this goes. We are on a 30 trial before we decide to see if our insurance will pay for it. When I asked the RT how much they cost he said about $15,000. Man my insurance is going to be ready to kill me. Reese has two insurances and that has been very nice.

About 2 weeks ago Reese DynaVox arrived and we are so excited to use it. It will allow him to communicate. He can even email and text on it. My family is so excited. The person from DynaVox is suppose to come out this week and program it so we can begin to use it.

Well today is Valentine parties at the school. Even though Reese has not been able to go to school because I am using an agency that doesn't have a contract with our school district they have said he can come for the party today. I hope this whole school thing gets worked out because he missing being with the kids so much and they miss him too.

I will update everyone more often on our progress.