Fletcher is driving!

Last week Fletcher's physical therapist hooked him up with a power chair! And he can really drive it! Yesterday was the first time I was able to see him drive and it was such a hoot! He drove to school and as he was taking his time getting there he saw a lot of his friends so he showed off for all of them! I am amazed at how smart he is, he knows how to maneuver the joy stick to make it go forward, he still needs help to stay away from the walls, but for the most part he's got it down! Fletcher LOVES that chair and he's obviously proud to be independent. If we can figure out how to get video on this blog we'll load the video I took yesterday. I gave Fletcher a haircut today, a summer cut, a burr basically. After I finished cutting his hair I cried, saying what I have done? And that made Fletcher cry! It's so short, but it's so cute! Tomorrow Fletcher is having outpatient surgery at Baptist. He has a central line called a Hickman, which we use to give him IV meds, well the tubing has a hole in it so the line has to be surgically removed and replaced. The surgery is a 10:00 am tomorrow. We'd appreciate your prayers.

Kayleigh has been at camp since last Saturday and is on her way home right now. We can't wait to see her. Craig is sure he's forgotten what she looks like because she's been gone so long! Maddie has been praying every night for her sister to come home safely on Wednesday! And me? I've been praying for her to know Jesus in a more intimate way! And for a safe trip, of course!

Maddie has been busy this week. On Monday she was able to play with two of her friends, Annaliese and Justus and she came home with a new pair of old crocs! Yesterday and today she was able to stay with her cousins and play, play, play! She loves her cousins Devon, Megan and EmiLee! Tomorrow she'll get to stay at home with Kayleigh while we're at the hospital with Bubba! She's also been able to see Fletcher a lot since school is out. I think he really enjoys getting to hang out with Maddie. She loves to play with him and she loves to be in his bed with him!

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

Maddie turned 5 years old yesterday! When she was about 3 she wanted to chew some gum and I wouldn't let her, I told her when she was 5 she could then chew gum. Well, Maddie held me to that promise. Craig, Kayleigh and I woke up early and went into Maddie's room to wake her up and say happy birthday, Maddie's first words were, 'after I eat some cereal, I'm gonna chew some gum!' So, true to her word, the moment she finished her breakfast she chewed the gum Kayleigh got her for her birthday! Maddie had a great day. I took cupcakes to her school, after school she got to have lunch with three of her favorite friends, Carder, Max and Zeke. They went to Chic Fil A and had a lot of fun together. I picked her up and took her to the doctor for her 5 year well-child appointment, Maddie got one shot, probably not the best part of her day! What was I thinking making her well-child appointment on her actual birthday?! We also went to church, it was a very busy day. Saturday Maddie will have her first 'real' birthday party, which means she gets to have friends at her party not just family! We are having it at PUMP IT UP a really cool party place with tons of inflatables! I have invited about 24 children! WOW! What was I thinking? Really, it should be lots of fun. I'll post some pictures after the big day! Need to go for now. Thanks for stopping by!

That Maddie!

Just a few Maddie funnies, before I completely forget them! Tuesday morning when I picked Maddie up from school she was sitting in the back seat telling me about her day, what she wanted for lunch and then out of the blue she says, 'One day this week let's go to Disney World.' I told her I thought that was a fabulous idea! As she thought about it some more she decided she wanted to wait until Bubba wasn't on oxygen and that would be in about 100 days! So thoughtful, thinking of Bubba that way!

Last night Kayleigh was working on a paper for school about the Dust Bowl. Well, Craig was working with her on the computer and a discussion about all the dust came up. Somehow out of that conversation Maddie says to Kayleigh, 'Don't you know people are made out of dust, bones and ribs, Kayleigh!' I said to Maddie, 'How do you know that?" And she said, 'because my Bible tells me so!' I said, 'where does it say that?' She promptly went and got her children's Bible and found the page that the story of Adam and Eve was on and it said God made Adam out of the dust. 'See, Mom I told you so!' You go girl! As funny as it was I was really proud of her incredible memory!

May already?

I can't believe it's May!! I am ready for warm weather and spending time outside with my kids. This week has been busy. Monday Kayleigh came home with pink hair! Her school is having a cancer drive so each day this week they get to do some fun and crazy things! Pink hair being one of the craziest! Kayleigh has also been busy with softball, mostly practices since it has rained on every scheduled game she's had so far! Hopefully tomorrow it won't rain and she'll play her first game. We love going to the ballpark, having a hot dog and enjoying the game!




Maddie is getting ready for her first dance recital on May 12th. They are working on a tap routine to 'I Will Follow Jesus'. Hopefully we've been paying attention and the recital will be a success! Tuesday was picture day at the dance studio, it was chaotic but I'm sure we'll have some great pictures. Here's Maddie in her recital costume. She's very excited to wear it, I hope she'll be as excited when she realizes she'll be dancing in front of an audience of parents, granparents and lots of family and friends!

Fletcher had a great day today! We started the day with speech therapy and after that off to school we went. Fletcher had a blast in school where they sang songs and played games. Today they gave him a baby doll and he loved it! Craig wants us to call it an 'action figure' but this baby doll is far from an action figure! She is all baby doll, soft and cuddly and PINK!!! Fletcher lights up the minute he sees her, he kisses her and smiles the whole time he has her! I had used up all my film BEFORE class so I didn't get a picture of his baby, but I'll get one soon! Maddie wanted to see her Bubba so we went up there after she got out of school. She had a picnic in his bed and played with all his toys! Fletcher also had PT on his schedule today so we stayed for that. Boy am I glad we decided to stay! Today his physical therapist brought a gait trainer to his unit, which is basically a walker. How exciting to see him in a standing position where his feet touched the floor! This was a new sensation for him, first she took his shoes off, then his socks! I don't think his feet have ever touched the floor. I cried like a baby today watching him in that thing. He couldn't move the gait trainer today, but I believe one day he will. Maddie and I pray together every morning and we are specifically praying for strength in his lungs, neck, back and legs. Maddie always prays for him to be able to crawl and walk. What a joy to be able to see what the Lord is doing for him. Fletcher is now able to hold his head up on his own for 5 to 7 minutes at a time. I am posting a picture of me holding him supporting him only by his waist.

A trip to the zoo and an 89er?

Let's see...the week started out pretty good. Monday Maddie had a playdate with her friend Bailey. And on Wednesday morning we had a trip to the zoo planned with her class. On Tuesday night Maddie informed me, "Mom, you're probably going to be mad and I'm sorry, but there are no seat belts or car seats on the bus!" Well she rode that no seat belt, no car seat bus and loved it! It was her first time ever to ride a bus and one of the big highlights of the trip! We teamed up with Maddie's friends Bailey, Kayleen, Ryli and Tressa and had a great time for about an hour and half! All of the sudden Maddie had a fever so she and I ended up leaving the zoo early AND in the minivan not the school bus! By the time we got home she started throwing up. I just knew she had strep throat again, but much to my surprise and the doctor she tested negative for strep. He decided she had a virus and we went home. She continued to throw up until late Friday morning. Friday afternoon I made arrangements for her to go to my best friend's house for a couple of hours so I could go and see Fletcher. When I picked her up at 3:00 she was back to her old self and has been fine ever since. Go figure!

Friday morning The Children's Center had a land run. I was unable to go because I was at home with Maddie. I was really sad to miss the land run, this would be the first time one of us wasn't able to be at one of Fletcher's TCC events! So, I asked if someone would please take some pictures. Well, one of the girls in the marketing department took some great pictures! Since I wasn't able to be there I'm not quite sure what took place in the picture below. But I am sure it's one of my new favorites. Do you suppose he's an 89er? The look on his face just cracks me up and that pie tin! What a hoot! I'm almost positive that there are several girls in front of him and he's flirting with all of them! Well, I need to close for now hope you all have a great week!

Busy, busy, busy...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, things are crazy around here!!!! We had a great Easter. Craig, the girls and I went to church of course, where we had an egg hunt and a wonderful time of worship and a great sermon! Then after church we headed to The Center to have yet another egg hunt with the Burns and Milgrim families. It was very cold but the kids didn't seem to mind at all. Thanks to everyone who spent another holiday with us at TCC! We know it's not the most normal of circumstances but we really appreciate the fact that Fletcher gets to join in the fun with all of his cousins! It means a lot to us to be able to be with all of you.

Kayleigh, Maddie and Fletcher Easter 2007

Kayleigh is getting ready to do CRT testing at school so remember her in your prayers. She has also started playing softball she's the catcher this year. We're looking forward to going to games and hanging out at the ballpark. I sure hope it warms up a lot!

Maddie just finished a reading project at school. It was called 'Reading Around the World' we kept track of each book that we read to her and for every five pages that she turned in she made a trip around the world. Well, she read ten pages so she went around the world TWICE! They had an awards assembly last Friday and Maddie received a gold medal with two ribbons! Way to go, Maddie!

Maddie's Reading Gold Medal

Fletcher had his follow up appointment with the ENT. He has another bad ear infection and it's draining some yucky stuff! TCC did a culture on the yucky stuff and found out that he has three different bacteria one of them ecoli. Dr. Digoy wasn't too worried about it and decided to go the ear drop round instead of an IV antibiotic since he's resisitant to so many. We're hoping this will work and we won't have to have tubes again. Other than that he's had a pretty good week. He went to class every day and his PT is back from maternity leave, boy are we glad! Hopefully she'll start working with him a lot! He also got a big boy bed and a custom made wheelchair! It is a Tiger 2000, it's almost like a stroller and is collapsible so maybe we'll be able to put our whole family in our van when we take Fletcher home next time. That's it for now. I hope you all have a great week!

Fletcher's big boy bed

Fletcher's new wheels

Palm Sunday

Well, we had a successful time at home with Fletcher. He did great and we really enjoyed being able to go to church together. Craig and I were exhausted after we took Bubba back to TCC. WOW! Our respect grows for the nurses and respiratory therapists who care for him! We realize why it takes 3 shifts of nurses and 2 shifts of RT's to care for him, lots of medicine and breathing treatments! It was a lot of hard work, but worth every minute! Maddie and Fletcher waved palms, well Maddie waved palms. I have always loved Palm Sunday there is just something about seeing children walking through the sanctuary praising the Lord! I was so blessed to push my sweet Fletcher in his wheelchair with his sister walking proudly beside him.