happy love kids

This month marks 3 years since Brendan had SDR. Everyone always said time flies as you age and it surely does. Life has been different ever since he had surgery. He has come so far in every way. He is such a great kid but can still drive me insane daily. Looking back I still believe it was the best decision we could have made for him. 3 years later and I still work him out religously. He is still off all medications. His sentence structure has improved imensly. He can speak complete sentences and carry on conversations which I absolutely love. He had an Iphone for 5 years and switched over to the Samsung android and has learned how to use it all on his own and handles it great. I am impressed. He still uses his walker to all doctors appointments and short outings. He attends physical therapy once a week and has the best therapist that pushes him and doesn't put up with his shinanigans. We even laugh, a lot. Brendan is his typical self and the whole facility has fallen in love wit...

Finding shoes to fit over these new braces has proven difficult. I took him to our usual shoe store immediately after picking up his braces but for some reason they didn't do the job they normally do. 3 pair later we finally have some that fit. Yorker shoes usually is quick and painless and the shoes last the next year. An older gentleman helped us out this time and unfortunately I should have paid more attention. Normally they choose the perfect pair, they fit and we leave. This time I noticed the gentleman was having trouble getting the left one to slide on but I thought he just wasn't strong enough. I didn't look at the shoes because he did manage to get them on and off we went. They are New Balance but he heals are not rigid which makes it nearly impossible to slip the sneaker over the heal of the AFO. It seriously took me over 5 minutes to get his left shoe on one day while trying to leave his doctor's appointment and I was determined to find shoes that fit after t...

We got to pick up his new AFO's. Of course his old shoes didn't fit so we immediately had to go shoe shopping as always. We go to Yorker shoes. They are great and always have shoes that fit over his braces. We love New Balance. They hold up really well and come in wide and extra wide. Since his foot is longer now we normally only need a wide. He needed a 6 1/2 to fit over his braces which I think is 1 1/2 sizes larger than his actual shoe size. He asked for red and I was picturing this horrible bright red brace but shame on me for even doubting his orthotist to not come through with an awesome looking brace. I actually love them. He chose some very bright blue sneakers to fit over them. I was shocked he didn't want to go with the black pair but he said "nope, I don't want those". Maybe because his last pair were black. He likes to switch it up. The worst part about new braces is adjusting. He tries them on and they get adjusted while we are there but we are ne...

I am not sure why Winter is when most of his appointments have to occur but here we are yet again. We are picking up his new AFO's on Friday. February 2nd he has his yearly physical at the pediatrican and then February 26th he has the dreaded cardiology for his echocardigram. He also will need a dentist appointment soon and a wheelchair adjustment/parts order. Brendan is becoming more decisive lately. I usually go over color options before we head into his casting appointment but for some reason I forgot. Katie, his orthotist, asked what color he wanted and he immediately exclaimed, red! I was impressed with his instant decision. Maybe he was already thinking about it before we arrived. I am slightly bummed we are back in AFO's after SDR but this type is necessary due to his crouched walking. We bought an ankle sport brace to use on his right leg while he works out. This allows him to gain muscle instead of the braces doing all of the work. I asked his orthotist if we could pay...

Brendan is growing and is OUTGROWING our side entry Toyota Sienna. I didn't even realize this was a possibility but apparently it has happened to other people as well. He got a larger wheelchair frame 2 years ago and we have been struggling to get him into the van since. It has really begun to bother me. I can hardly reach around his chair to get the tie downs around his chair. It is also very difficult to wheel him in and turn him into position. His tip wheels get stuck on the tie down system and then his feet get stuck on the seat in front of him. We have had this van for nearly 7 years and I was hoping to keep it for at least 10 but we will sell it and put the money towards the new vehicle. There are so many options. Since we have a large family we can only go with the mini van or full size van. I decided against the full size even though we probably should have that size to fit our family comfortably. I didn't want to drive that huge van around everywhere and worry about ro...

It is hard to belive it is already 2018! This year flew by. Our children had a wonderful Christmas. This year was a bit different because both my Mom and my In Laws went off for the Winter. My mom is in AZ and my inlaws are in FL. They chose a great year to escape New England as we are stuck in single digits a bit too much for my liking. Our youngest already turned 3 just a few days ago, Now that is it crazy. It was a pretty easy year. Our business is going well and the kids are all healthy and happy. Actually the 3 year old is down and out with a fever right now. Hoping she feels good tomorrow, it will be day 3. Four kids are now in school which makes life a bit easier. Lily is getting older and easier to take care of especially while at work. I hope 2018 is just as good to us. Brendan didn't need any surgeries and has had good behavior especially for being 15. We continue to work out multiple times every single week. This is very important after SDR. February marks 3 years since ...

I don't always hate CP. I have come to terms with it. I have learned to accept it. I have learned to live with it. Nearly 15 years has passed since CP became part of my life. But today, today I hate CP! I hate that CP destroys the body. I hate that CP causes so many tears. I hate that CP will make me worry until I die. I hate the decisions that CP causes me to make. I hate that CP creates a difficult life for my son. Brendan has been through 11 surgeries in his (almost) 15 years of life. #12 seems to be on the horizon. Brendan had a right hip osteotomy at age 5. To this date it was the most difficult surgery. It was worse than SDR. The surgery itself and recovery was brutal. He has never walked the same. He was running the halls at age 5 prior to getting checked in for surgery that day and did not act like his hip was 100% out of place. His left hip has been taunting us since he was 8. It was taking a beating according to Dr. Nuzzo. I found out that it was 40% out of place during h...