Something Wonderful!

We had a wonderful evening Saturday night where we went to another concert in the park. This was a special event with Aunt Nicki. She had a reserved table for us, and the theme was "A little bit country, little bit rock n roll". We listened to great music by a band called "The Answer", had great food, Brett and Jack played catch, and Jenelle danced ... again!








As we were walking to the car at the end of our night, I asked Jack if he had fun. He said yes he did. Then he looked up at me, took my hand and said, "Mommy, isn't our family wonderful?" With a lump in my throat, I took his hand and squeezed it. "Yes sweetie, and you are the most wonderful thing in our family!"

Small delays...

Well, due to various circumstances, there is not much new to report. Jenelle was scheduled to see Dr. Shields at UCLA this coming Monday, but his office had to reschedule due to a family emergency. We're keeping him in our good thoughts that all is well for his family. In the 4 years we've been seeing him, this is the first time he has ever re-scheduled an appointment. We are now scheduled to se him September 10.

Last Monday, I took Jenelle to her appointment to pick up her new AFOs (with the new hinge) that she was casted for on June 29. Unfortunately, it appears our girl has had another growth spurt and she has already outgrown the new AFOs! At the top by 2 inches! We didn't get to take them home, and we're going to have to wait a week or so for new AFOs to be built. It’s a shame as the new ones were purple this time to match her new wheelchair. Jenelle seemed very excited about them.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I'll have new AFO photos to share! Thanks for the continued prayers and positive thoughts!

End of the Year Award!

Friday was the last day of school for Jenelle - her school gets the month of August off. On Friday, the school held their annual "Awards and Promotion" ceremony. Everyone gets an award, and some of them are quite moving to witness. One child got an award for "most improved vision tracking", another for most improved "holding objects without throwing them" (and she didn't throw the award when they handed it to her), and some were for things most typical parents wouldn't understand like "using the board to make a choice from a field of 8."

While we suspected Jenelle might get an award for the "Biggest Drama Queen", her award was for "Improving her Ability to Interact with Her Environment by Reaching out and Touching Things!" (aka she is starting to use her hands!) Here is Miss Jenelle getting her award with her teacher Miss Darlene. Jenelle will continue at this school for one more year, then onto Kindergarten!

5 Blogs That Make Me Think!

My friend Toni recently tagged this blog for the Thinking Blogger's Award because she says, this is a blog that makes her think! Ironically, I was tagged with this award some months ago by Vicki, but I didn't see it until a month later, so I decided that was too late to post about it.

So now, two people have awarded us the "Thinking Blogger's Award", so I decided it was time to accept the accolades. I've always been moved by how Jenelle's story touches so many people all over the world, and to be awarded like this is an extra special bonus. Thank you for the recognition! And now, in the spirit of this award, I get to tell you about my 5 (favorite) blogs that make me think!

The Thinking Blogger Award!

6 Year Med: What can I say about Danielle that I haven't already said in this blog? I think next to her own Mother, I am Danielle's biggest cheer leader and fan! This girl will be an exceptional doctor because she already gets the hard part that some doctors never understand - you need to understand your patients and their families! I've learned more about medical school, the profession and the quirks of doctors than I ever imagined from Danielle's blog. And if she doesn't get a great "Match" in May, I may just have to hunt down these hospitals and give them a piece of my mind! On top of enjoying her writing, I feel like Danielle is a good friend too. The difference in our age is barely noticeable when we correspond, and she has a lovely personality to boot!

It's A Wonderful Life: I found Kelly's blog via Danielle's. Of course, how many Kelly's in the world could there be with daughter's with Lennox Gastaut Syndrome? Well, apparently there are two and us and we both call our daughters "Boo!" Kelly reminds me of God's role in all this. She is very uplifting and often gives me reasons to be thankful for this different life we lead.

Just Regular Folks: I love this blog because the whole family gets involved. Most special needs blogs are written by the Mother (with the exception this one and Bennie of course!) Their little girl has Rhett Syndrome and is similar to Jenelle in many ways. There is a lot of love from around the world at this blog. What I like most is that at times it doesn't always talk about the special needs child. Sometimes, we all need a break, and this blog is a shining example of a family doing just that!

Special & Needy: "Co-pays and Canoli" - Yep, that pretty much sums it all up! Mete is a wonderful person and has been a reader of this blog for a long time now. She is a new Mommy too which could explain her absence of late at her blog. I have always loved her blog as it is ever changing - the last theme had a photo of her son's AFOs that I could have taken myself! Mete has kind thoughts and words for all of us and understands everything so well. And of course, she has my sense of humor and that is our best survival instinct I truly believe.

Neonatal Doc: This blog is a recent find for me. The stories are moving and so very emotional. This blog made me realize that sometimes, many parents enter into this world of Special Needs knowing ahead of time or from the start. We had a lovely "honeymoon" as I call it with Jenelle where the first 4 months or so we were convinced everything was normal. I think it was meant to be that way, because had I known ahead of time what we might be facing, I'm not sure I would have gone down this road. Either way you start it isn't easy, but in all there are miracles to be found, and many such stories are told here.

I wanted to note that there were a couple of blogs that I wanted to mention, but they have already been dubbed with this award, so I didn't want to burden them any further. Vicki at "Speak Softly" and Bennie at "A Work of Art". I get a lot of inspiration from these bloggers, and they make me think on more than one occasion. I didn't want to leave them out without mention.

I truly appreciate your comments, e-mails and awards. It is a privilege to share our daughter with you and your recognition gives me so much in return. Thank you!