happy love kids

I was in Drew's room for a while and couldn't hear the monitor so I didn't know if Brendan called me or not. It was 8:30 am and I figured he needed to go to the bathroom so I hurried up with Drew and went downstairs. Immediately Brendan called me whining: "Mom I had an accident". Immediately I became aggravated because I just dealt with a nasty accident the previous morning. I was all huffy ripping off his blankets, telling him he needs to call before the accident...blah blah blah. I roll him over and nothing is wet. I notice a tiny little spot on the sheet and immediately my attitude does a 180! Brendan, I say, did you stop it? He said YES! For the first time he stopped himself from having a full on accident, drenching himself, his sheets, his mattress protectors. I was beaming. He was still upset by this small amount and gave me excuses like "I drank a lot last night". I told him how awesome this was and what a big deal this is. This is a huge breakthr...

Wow 2013! Where has the time gone? I have no idea what this year will bring. I am trying to make it to two years surgery free....we are almost there! Botox had to be rescheduled because Brendan got very sick for two weeks. The WHOLE house EXCEPT me (for once) came down with it. Fever with a cold. Brendan and Makayla had it the worst. Fevers for five days and Makayla ended up in the ER with croup. Andrew faired well and only had a fever for 2 days as well as Chloe. I have no idea how I escaped it because I took care of everyone while they were sick and Brendan coughed, sneezed, and you name it right in my face multiple times. Botox is scheduled for January 15th and then I really need to make the dreaded ortho appointment to check on that left hip. I am not sure what I will do if the Dr. says he needs surgery. I honestly think I may lose it at, least for a few moments, and then somehow I will get through it. Actually I most likely will get a second opinion and put it off for a while. T...

1. He has to wait for someone to help you go to the bathroom and being a mom of 4 sometimes he has to wait a while! 2. He can not do everything he wants to do because sometimes we are too exhausted to lift him. For instance we can't take him to CoCo Keys water park (which he would absolutely LOVE) anymore because we can't carry him up four huge flights of stairs. 3. Getting in and out of rooms and buildings can be very difficult and sometimes impossible on his own. 4. When he drops something on the floor he can not pick it up. 5. He doesn't really have friends outside of school and never goes to peoples houses because no one would know how to care for him. 1. He gets to ride on a lift everyday getting on and off the bus and he has a big ole smile on his face every time. 2. He gets special treatment at times like free trial cell phones at the mall and skipping the super long lines at Disney World. 3. He can do tricks like spin in circles and wheelies AND he alw...

Brendan is not the typical ten year old who wants video games or toys for his birthday so we got him an overnight stay at a hotel. His lucky siblings got to benefit too. He loves to swim and sleep in a hotel room, it is probably in the top 5 of his favorite things to do. He was asking to ride the elevator, buy a snack, go back to the room all by himself and guess what?! We let him! We were on the second floor and decided he could try going back to the room on his own after we had gone to it a few times. He has a great memory and we all trailed behind him secretively. My husband took the stairs and waited by the elevator. I stayed way behind just to watch my child who is in a wheelchair make it down a very long hallway, into an elevator and onto the 2nd floor to find our room. He did AWESOME! He talked to people in the hallway and wheeled himself all the way to that elevator. He pushed the button and wheeled in. He made it to the 2nd floor. I jumped in the elevator and headed up afte...

Wow how can it be that 10 years have gone by?! It feels like time has flown by but then when I really think about everything we have been through over the past 10 years it feels as though it should be much longer. I have started to lose count of surgeries and become much less stressed about upcoming botox injections. I can say I have become used to our life and I can't imagine it any other way. I would love to take away all the pain and struggles you have but I know that isn't possible so I just try and make your life the best it can be! What have we been through over the past 10 years..let me revisit all the 'lovely' memories * Born on Thanksgiving Day at 33 weeks and weighed a whopping 5 lbs 5 oz! * You were born blue and had to be rescusitated, however I was never told this..I read this in your records. * Only spent 11 days in the PICU! We had no idea cerebral palsy would be our future. * Crankiest baby alive for the next few years...we found out why little by litt...

I met Brendan's teachers tonight. I have always been impressed with this school especially since it is public. They really seem to know what they are doing for these special needs kiddos. This year started out a bit rocky. His special needs teacher quit and they took a while getting someone in his classroom...she just started today. However, after today's meeting I feel okay about it. He is able to be with his typical peers for morning work, social studies and science. Today I found out his favorite subject is Science and that he LISTENS and ANSWERS questions in class appropriately. The teacher wants him in the typical classroom more often because some of the other kids in his special needs class are not verbal and she feels Brendan needs more interaction with his peers. I already LOVE HER! She is looking out for my son and sees that he is smart even though he doesn't always come across that way. She knows he can't write or read but he can comprehend and be still be an ...

I have these dreams occasionally. They are bittersweet. I never really see Brendan upright without equipment so it is unusual to see him in this stature. I am not even sure he really looks like him in my dreams. It is almost impossible to picture what he would look like standing and walking. His PASS worker has been practicing with him lately to stand up without holding onto anything. She kneels and he stands facing her with his hands on her shoulders. When he is ready he lets go. He does not last very long but it is a start. Something he could never do before. Confidence is a huge issue for some reason. He doesn't think he can do it so we tell him to say "I can do it" to help him feel more confident. I think it is helping because I saw him stand and it was for at least a good solid second. Yes just one second...doesn't that sound strange? It was really exciting to see and I feel like just maybe one day he will stand for 5 seconds and then 10 and then who knows how lo...