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.

Hello? Is this thing on...

okay so no one is commenting on my blog...is anyone reading this thing?

So this is June...

June was a busy month. Fletcher got his summer haircut so he's good to go! TCC had a land run/western days event which was a lot of fun. We spent a Saturday on Route 66 and went to Pop's and the Round Barn that was a nice day trip that same evening we went to a drive in movie! Maddie's recital was in June as well. This year she was in two classes therefore she had two routines and two costumes. She did very well and we were very proud of her. Fletcher's teacher came up with a great idea of inviting some of his peers outside of the TCC to come and go to school with him so we invited some kids from church. I'll be honest and say the experience was a new one for our church kids and Fletcher. But it was a great way to expose them to each other and see Fletcher in his element. It was a great success! Maddie has wanted to cut her hair and donate it to Locks of Love. So we waited until after her recital and off we went to Magnolia Salon and our sweet friend Jill cut off about 14 inches! She looks precious and she loves it! We brought Fletcher home for Father's Day. It was a very low key day and we enjoyed it immensely! So low key I only took one picture! Not happy about that but it is what it is. Craig's best friend, John's daughter Jordan got married and we had a great time at the wedding! Lots of dancing and lots of laughing! Great night! Craig had knee surgery and is healing up quite nicely. TCC had a their annual Treble Makers concert with a patriotic theme. Fletcher's little group did 'You're a Grand Old Flag' where they used their 'voices' on the word 'flag' too cute! Maddie did a dance with the little girls from church who came to school with Fletcher. That was awesome! Last weekend my nephew Kyle got married at The Dominion House in Guthrie. It was a beautiful ceremony with an absolutely fun reception. Something about being with my sisters dancing and laughing our heads off that was truly good for my heart! Well there you have that was our June! Hope you enjoyed it!

Fletcher's summer cut...

Western Days store where Maddie took over the cash register and was really good at it!

the land run where Maddie & Fletcher were 'sooners' they copped a nice spot with a shade tree and handicapped parking!

The Round Barn...

Maddie's recital...

we went to see the boy after the recital...

our friends come to school...

before...

before...

after!

Father's Day...

Maddie, Jordan & Kayleigh...

chocolate fountain at the wedding...

me and Craig at the wedding...

best friends...

Burns granddaughters...

my patient...

Treble Makers concert...

sweet friends...

Kylie & Kaleb at Kyle's wedding...

my sister Kim & me...

me & Craig...

my niece Amber and me...

Okay so this is May...

So it's June 17th and I'm posting for May. We'll start with Mother's Day. The Saturday before Mother's Day my sweet sister ,Dawn had a luncheon in her home to honor our mom. It was very nice and we had a lot of fun being together. My niece Amber was there as well. So much fun! On Mother's Day one thing that I wanted was to take Fletcher to church with us and then home to spend the day. It was fabulous as always to have my little family under one roof.

Kim, me, Mom, Paula and Dawn

Kayleigh, me, Fletcher and Maddie

Just my kiddos

On May 16th we had a huge hail storm here in Oklahoma City. We had minimal damage to our home, but Craig's car was totalled in the storm. We decided to keep his car and fix the damage done to it and have another car paid in full. Wahoo! We also got a new roof at no cost to us. Another wahoo! And added about $10,ooo value to Casa Burns!

Casa Burns after the storm

Another event that happened in May was my 45th birthday. WOW! It's really hard to believe I'm approaching the big 5-0, but I am. It was a great day filled with love, flowers, sweet phone calls and dinner at one of my favorite places, Outback.

one of my favorite birthday gifts...

One of the BIGGEST events in May was my Maddie turned 8! She had her first slumber party which went pretty well. Who knew 8 year olds would have drama! We endured some crying and pouting and the occasional 'I'm bored' but all in all it was a great party. Another thing Maddie really wanted for her birthday, since it was on a Sunday was for Fletcher to go to church and come home. We totally accommodated her in that wish! We invited our families over as well and enjoyed ice cream and cake and lots of presents!

Maddie age 8

the slumber party girls

Lastly, we celebrated another fabulous milestone in the Burns family. Kayleigh now has her very own car! We went to a few car lots and looked at some cars for our sweet Kayleigh. She is now the proud owner of a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix! I think this is super neat seeing how my first car was a 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix! She loves it and is having lots of fun in her car owning, driving around independence!

signing the paper work


Kayleigh and her first car

I'll leave you with a few videos of the boy! Enjoy! He's 'talking' so much these days and really doing so well in physical therapy!

whew...

I've decided that maybe I'm capable of blogging once a month...and I've barely made it for April! So here's our month in pictures!

"How To Train Your Dragon"
(highly recommend this movie! We loved it!)

coloring Easter eggs

(our eggs were kinda boring this year the coloring set I bought only had THREE tablets in it!)

family picture on Easter
(tradition for our family)

'some' of the Milgrim grandchildren
(another family tradition but my little grey house isn't big enough to hold 'all' the Milgrim grandkids!)

2nd grade field trip to the Cowboy Hall of Fame
(such a beautiful museum)

EEG for Fletcher

(all is well, they thought he had a few seizures so they wanted to be safe and check things out)

vocal music program

(isn't she gorgeous?)

Kylie's 17th birthday party

(lot's of fun!)

the units open at TCC

(Maddie can visit her bubba in his unit)

sweet visit from some of our Tulsa friends

(me, Garrett, Christine, Janet & Fletcher)

Oh yeah, I don't have a picture but we have a legal driver in our family!! Kayleigh took and passed her driver's test on Wednesday! Whew!!

Woooooo...

So I didn’t blog in February and I’m barely making it for March!!! Things are going well around Casa Burns just busy! Seems as if every aspect of our lives are busy kids, school, church, dance, Girl Scouts, TCC etc.

Kayleigh’s finishing up her sophomore year and it’s been a good year for her. She’ll also take her driver’s test at the end of April and will be driving!!! Kayleigh tried out for Choral in January and made it! She’ll have about 4 performances in the next two months. We’re looking forward to watching her perform. Kayleigh spent spring break in Mississippi with her grandparents and came home to SNOW! Yes, it snowed the first day of spring in Oklahoma City. We have had some crazy weather this winter.

Madeline is keeping me busy as well. She’s finishing up 2nd grade and will be 8 in May! This is has been a great year for her, too. At her last conference her teacher said she’s ready for 3rd grade! ‘We’ sold 474 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in January until the middle of March. And by ‘we’ I mean me! Our main cookie buyers were at TCC and our church! Maddie is getting ready for her dance recital. This year she’s in ballet and jazz so she’ll have two numbers to perform and two costumes! She’s very excited about both costumes!

Fletcher is one busy boy, too! He’s excelling in all his therapies especially physical therapy! Here are a few things his working on, sit to stand, gait training (basically a fancy walker) standing in a stander, power mobility and scooting in a sitting position. He’s truly getting some independence! In February Fletcher had a dysphagiagram and was cleared to start taking food by mouth! So in speech therapy he’s making tiny attempts at eating things like apple sauce, peaches and suckers to name a few. Fletcher’s not really a fan of the whole eating thing so that’s been a little tough. We’re praying that he’ll learn to love food like the rest of the Burns family! Fletcher’s also very vocal these days! He’s really using his voice! He says blue, purple, ma ma, bye, hi and now Fletcher Burns! What a blessing this boy is to me!! The next best thing that’s happening is Fletcher is on room air everyday during the day! Meaning, he’s not requiring any oxygen other than his own! The VERY best thing is he’s grown another ¾ of an inch in the past three months! I need to do some research but I believe that makes 3 inches in a year!!! You might remember that for 3 years Fletcher did not grow at all, not even a tiny bit. The Padmidronate infusions are working!!! Thank you Jesus!