July - it's been hot and it's been busy...

We brought Fletcher home for the 4th. It dawned on me that the 4th of July is the only holiday that he's been home every time. It's a tradition I'll do anything to keep going. Craig's dad, David was in the hospital so we decided that since we had Fletcher out that we would swing by the hospital and surprise him and hopefully brighten his day. The look on his face when we wheeled Fletcher into his hospital room was precious. He loved getting to see Fletcher! Later in the afternoon Craig cooked hamburgers and hot dogs and we enjoyed having his family here as well of some dear friends who have made being at our house on the 4th their tradition! I love being apart of someone else's traditions. We ended the evening by going downtown to watch fireworks. It did make for a long day but it was a blessing to be together.

our traditional picture in our old navy flag shirts...

sweet friends...

the Hess family...

the Jarvis family...

getting ready to watch fireworks...

The Children's Center had their annual Olympics and Fletcher participating in them like usual. He was kind of cranky that day and really only wanted to be in constant motion, meaning he wanted me to keep that wheelchair moving. We had fun anyway. The girls and I would walk him around between each event that he participated in. I loved being with all three of my kids at the same time.

Fletcher didn't want these medals around his neck so Mommy 'got' to wear them...

Marathon event...

killing time and comparing shoe size...

Pipe Wars event...

Demolition event...

Another wonderful thing that happened in July was a visit from one of my oldest and dearest friends, Christian. We went to elementary school, Jr High and High School together. But it was in high school that we became best friends. We walked together at our graduation. He's always been a great friend to me and I treasure our relationship. Christian now lives in New York City so when he comes to town he let's me know and we always try to get together. This particular visit he wanted to meet Fletcher so it was my pleasure to introduce them!

Christian, Fletcher and me...

We had Fletcher's Patient Care Conference (PCC) in July. We meet every 90 days and Fletcher's doctor, nurse practitioner, teachers and therapists get together for a round table discussion where everyone reports on Fletcher's progress over the past 90 days. What an amazing meeting we had! Fletcher has gained two years in his comprehension and is almost age appropriate. They consider him to be around 4 1/2 years of age cognatively! He's doing so well in school and in all his therapies. We're so excited for him. By the end of the meeting Fletcher's nurse practitioner asked what the possiblities were for Fletcher to attend public school. It seems that the possiblities were endless! They believe Fletcher will thrive educationally being mainstreamed into a regular Pre-K class. So, this fall Fletcher will be enrolled in Pre-K at Bethany Public Schools. He's going to attend class three days a week. At this point the plan is for me to go to school with him since I'm medically trained to take care of him. But TCC is looking at every option such as a nurse or RT to go with him. So we'll see how it all works out. I'll be honest with you...this scares me to death! But I know it will be so good for Fletcher and the kids at Bethany. I think everyone there will fall in love with him just like they have at TCC. It's scary to me because he's safe at TCC from kids being mean to him and teasing him. We went to the Bethany Library one day last week for a toddler time sing a long and the kids turned around and just stared at him. Fletcher didn't even notice, but I did and it was hard for me. But I know once they get to know him it will be okay. One of my friends said she would pray that I would have peace in the release...I need to let him go so he can reach his potiental and with as great as TCC and his teachers are he doesn't really have peers at TCC. He's very smart and social and he needs that interaction with 'regular' kids. So pray for us as we step into this next phase. It's going to be great, but at the same time it's going be hard on this mommy.