Dreamnight at the Zoo...

Friday, Fletcher went to the zoo for the first time ever! The best part was that Craig, Kayleigh, Maddie and I went with him! Our whole family was at the zoo together. I never thought that would happen. The Oklahoma City Zoo held a private event called 'Dreamnight at the Zoo'. It was a complimentary evening for families with children with disabilities. Chickfila fed everyone, the zoo gave each child a stuffed monkey, there was an opportunity to have a free family photo made (the line was really long so we didn't participate in that), the rides were free as well. Fletcher LOVED walking around the zoo and he HATED stopping to look at the animals! :) He's such a toot sometimes. The fresh air did us all good. Being together doing something 'normal' was a blessing for us as a family. Thank you OKC Zoo for the gift you gave our family!We also saw a few unexpected people as well. The first person we saw was Fletcher's home health nurse Kristi. She was such a blessing to our family when we cared for Fletcher in our home that first year of his life. Then we saw one of our buddies that used to be at TCC Carson and his family. How fun was that? Lots!! Then there were at least three people that stopped us and said, 'is that Fletcher from TCC?' Ha! My Fletcher...such a popular little guy! Kind of hard to forget, right?! :)

Fletcher loves to ride in the car...
He's unhappy because his wheelchair is NOT moving...

Looking for the red panda...

Fletcher and his big sis Kayleigh...

Me, Fletcher and Maddie. He just pinched her so she's whining about it...

a little video...

So fun and so smart...

This kid of mine is such a blessing to me. Fletcher is really making some nice progress in a lot of areas. Today his speech therapist, Heather told me that Fletcher's going to be wearing his speaking valve every time he's up in his wheelchair. He's using his voice so much now. Heather is working with Fletcher on saying 'hi' but it's coming out more like 'hi hi' and I love it!! Fletcher loves people and anytime someone walks into his unit he waves and blows kisses like crazy. How fun would it be if he was able to say 'hi' to everyone who walks in? Absolutely fabulous!! Maddie and I went to class with Fletcher today which was good and bad. Bad only because when he's with me while in his wheelchair he EXPECTS me to take him for a walk. So Maddie and I took him to class and he was really upset with me for not taking him for a walk. Maddie and I had to sit where he couldn't see us so he would cooperate with his teacher. The main reason we wanted to go with Fletcher to class today was because he was going to be writing a letter on the computer. I just had to see it with my own eyes. Well, it was so exciting. Technology today is really making it possible for people of all kinds to communicate. The computer was set up with two switches that would activate choices. One would give him choices and when he selected what he wanted he would push the other switch to make the choice. Fletcher choose to write a letter to his Aunt Dawny today. It's hard to explain so hopefully I caught enough of it on tape that you can see him in action. But, like I mentioned earlier he wasn't really happy with me to begin with.

Fun with sister...

Since school is out Maddie has made a few trips to TCC with me. Fletcher has really enjoyed playing with his sissy! It does my heart good to see them love on each other!! Enjoy!

Wrapping things up...

Okay so it's been awhile since I last updated! So this will be a post through pictures or it's just not going to get done otherwise. So, since Mother's Day Maddie has had an awards assembly where she received two awards one for telling time and another for knowing 200 sight words. Next on the picture agenda Maddie's ballet recital. It was really a precious recital and Maddie received an award for passing her Opal test meaning she will move up to the next level which is Sapphire. Maddie's dance studio is owned by a Christian family so each level is named after a precious gem stone. One of the main reasons we attend this studio is basically because of the atmosphere, it's positive, uplifting and centered around Jesus. Every costume the girls wear is very modest which is hard to find in the dance world. I refuse to have my daughter dressed inappropriately or suggestively, for pete sake! Moving along my Uncle Randy, Aunt Sandy and my cousin, Eric came to Oklahoma City to visit family. They always make a stop at TCC to see Fletcher and me. It's always such a joy to get to visit with them. Fletcher loves them and loves to play with them. They cater to his every whim just wanting to make him smile. What a blessing they are to me! Next stop the last day of school. Kayleigh was exempt from all of her finals so she went to school with Maddie and me! It was Super Kids Day and we also had a pizza party at lunch. Maddie loved having Kayleigh at school with her! So did I she was a huge help to me during the pizza party. During the Super Kids Day activities we came across a pitiful little girl who didn't have a partner so Kayleigh asked me if she could be this little girls partner. Kayleigh also made that girls day as well! I was really proud of Kayleigh for stepping up to the plate, seeing a need and meeting it! We've also been able to spend some time at the ballpark watching Craig and my nephew Kaleb play softball. That's always fun!! Next came my birthday. It's hard to believe I'm 44 years old! My family treated me like a queen like always! It was also my best friend Laura's birthday and Craig and I joined Laura and her family for a delicious dinner prepared by her daughters! How sweet is that? Now it's time to hear about Maddie's 7th birthday. She wanted a surprise party and I was able to pull it off. She was completely surprised as her friends jumped out from behind furniture and yelled, "SURPRISE!" Kayleigh was a tremendous help to me as well as her cousin Megan. We did an old school type of party. Meaning it was in our home and we played games outside like red light, green light, hot potato, egg races and a sack race. It was lots of fun. But the best part to the kids was singing along on the wii to Disney songs like Hannah Montana and AJ and Ali. Those kids were jamming! The day after Maddie's party we brought Fletcher home to help us celebrate May birthdays. My side of the family came over in the afternoon and Craig's side of the family hung out with us in the evening for pizza and birthday cake. We celebrated Memorial Day at Craig's parents along with their family friends the Eischens. They played basketball and we ate some really good food and talked and laughed til we cried! Last night I went to the wedding of a young lady who I taught when she was a child. WOW! That really makes me feel old! It's really neat to see those kids that I was privileged to teach and love on be the wonderful grown ups I knew and prayed they would be. Well, that's all I've got for now friends. I'll try to be better!

Maddie receiving her award from the principal, Ms. Miller

200 sight words award

Picture before she goes on stage

Maddie and mommy

Cousin Eric, Uncle Randy and Aunt Sandy with Fletcher

Super Kids day Maddie and Emma

Maddie and her wonderful teacher Mrs. Johnson on the last day of school

Kinnady, Kayleigh and Maddie

Kylie, Kaleb and Maddie at the ballpark

Me and my bff Laura celebrating our birthdays

Hannah and the rest of the girls lined up and ready for their turn at wii Sing it Disney

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Kayleigh and Megan, the best birthday party helpers, EVER!!

Fletcher!

The pinata!

Family birthday party part 1

May birthday girls me, Maddie and Aunt Kristi

Kayleigh doing what she does best

Laura, me, Amy, baby Maddox and Ashley at Christen's wedding

Mother's Day...

In the wee hours of the morning Saturday, Fletcher started running a fever. His lungs were getting a little junkie so they did some lab work on him. His white blood count was fifteen and a about a week before that it was seven. So, needless to say he had an infection brewing. We were unable to bring him home for Mother's Day. They started an IV of Vancomycin and normal saline to assure the port would work. They were pretty sure Fletcher's port was infected, which of course would be a big problem. It would mean it would have to be removed...surgically. They kept Fletcher on the Vanco until they had all of his lab work back. It came back late this afternoon, all of the labs were negative. Praise the Lord! They stopped the Vanco this evening and will watch him closely for any fever.

Yesterday was a hard day not having Fletcher home with us. Though, I am grateful that I was able to see him and be at home with Craig and the girls. They treated me like a queen and gave me two of my favorite gifts...a Target gift card, a gift certificate for a mani/pedi and a dozen long stem red roses! Does my family know me or what?! Craig's parents and his sister's family came and had dinner with us. That always makes for a fun time. Craig made the BEST steaks for dinner. We ended our meal with my friend, Steph's banana pudding! YUM-O! All in all it was a great day with the exception of my Fletcher not being at home. I hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother's Day as well!

Always something new...

Tonight TCC had a Parents Night, which was basically a nice dinner and a time of getting to know other parents who share the same struggle of having a child who is ill and can't live at home. It's nice to get to know people who are kind of in the same place as you. I was able to sit with my good friend Catherine, who like me, has two daughters and a son, Andrew, who is a patient at TCC. Catherine is a wonderful mom and friend. She's one of the few people I know that really is able to understand what life is like to not have your child at home. She gets me and I'm grateful for her friendship. And she'll be so embarrassed when she reads this! Sorry Catherine! :)

I was able to be with Fletcher a lot today and boy did he have a busy day! We started our day with a trip to the dentist, it took four grown ups to hold Fletcher down so they could clean his teeth! It was worth the struggle because his little chompers look great! His teeth had gotten really yucky and were a yellow orange color. I'm guessing that's from all the medication he takes. also this morning, some of our friends from church, Kayla and her cute daughter Emily came to visit Fletcher. Emily is two and a half and has a bit of a crush on Fletcher. Emily loves to watch Fletcher videos and talks about him a lot. It's pretty cute. Today Emily was playing hard to get and a little bit shy around Fletcher. We'll try again next week, hopefully she's feel more comfortable and we can get some pictures of the two of them. While Kayla and Emily were visiting Fletcher, he was working on power mobility in the gym. In other words, he was DRIVING a power chair! He still has quite a lot of work to do to be able to drive it but we're working on it. After that two of my friends from high school, Jean and Michelle came to meet Fletcher. He had a blast having two new people to do whatever his little heart desired! He played and laughed and flirted with these girls. I think everyone fell in love today! It means the world to me when people take the time to come to TCC and meet Fletcher and to see for themselves what a treasure he is.

These videos are from today, Fletcher learned how to blow his nose today!!! The second video is short but it's a tiny bit of Fletcher driving...

Yesterday when I blogged I didn't mention Kayleigh! I was so frustrated with posting pictures and video that when I finally got them on here I was done! Kayleigh Burns is doing well! She's getting ready to take her EOI (end of instruction) tests. They have to pass these test in order to get a drivers license and to graduate. So, if you think about it be praying for Kayleigh on Monday and Tuesday. She's had a tough time in Algebra and she's nervous about that test. Speaking of driver's license we've started the discussion of Kayleigh taking driving lessons this summer! Oh no! How can it be that she's about ready to drive?!!! Kayleigh's growing up on us! She's definitely a sweet, lovely young lady and we're very proud of her! Kayleigh can not wait for school to be over so she can sleep in, lay out and text her brains out! :) She is also looking forward to visiting her grandparents in Mississippi this summer as well.

We will be bringing Fletcher home for Mother's Day on Sunday so you're probably not going to be hearing from me again til next week. For all of you that are mothers have a blessed weekend!

Spring dancing....

This morning TCC had a spring dance for all the little ones. Fletcher had fun dancing to the Hokey Pokey, Wheels on the Bus, Row, Row, Row Your Boat and Itsy Bitsy Spider! He takes his dancing pretty seriously as you'll see in the videos. It was quite a production that the staff put on for the kids. This afternoon they had a prom for the older kids along with a prom king and queen! I bet it was a lot of fun!

My cute date to the dance

We had to stop for the paparazzi...

The weather has been crazy around here. Like someone traded May for October it's been chilly and rainy! The other day the sun made a brief appearance so Fletcher and I went for a nice long walk. Now as soon as I walk into his unit he holds his hand out to his wheelchair and he wants to go for a walk post haste! He's such a demanding little toot! But he usually gets what he wants that way!

Just a walking...

In other news Maddie is working pretty hard on her spring recital. The recital is next Saturday night. She's really excited and is doing very well. Maddie recently passed the Opal test at her dance studio which means she'll move up to the next level! Tonight she finished up Girl Scouts until September. In October Maddie will bridge over into Brownies. She's got most of the badges she needs to move on. We hold our meeting at church and tonight we had a little garden party and the girls cleaned out a huge flower bed and planted flowers for the congregation.

Blogger is doing something weird and not letting me move pictures around so here's a couple of videos from Fletcher's dance.