Making Myself Promises

I keep making myself promises to do better on this blog. I want to update it more so I can remember all the things we've done and just how far Kendal has come. Sometimes I feel like nobody even cares to read it because it's boring everyday stuff, but I know it is good for me to stop and write these posts. It helps get out all my frustrations and reminds me just how good life is when we have one of our good days.

One of our good days is illustrated in the pictures below. I am terrified of horses! Don't know why, just know that they are much bigger than me and that they can hurt me. We visited my aunt and uncle who have horses and something told me I really should not pass down my fears to Kendal, who actually might enjoy them. Alot of children with Angelman Syndrome do hippotherapy. Kendal has never really needed this additional therapy so I never pursued it, but she did so good! Look at my little brave baby! My sister Katie and my aunt Kristy held Kendal in place, while my uncle Joe steered Bo(the horse). I think the pictures tell the rest of the story.

I look at her and am so amazed. I know all parents must feel that way about their child - but maybe because of her disability, I don't take it for granted as much as most parents. I truly can't fathom why God blessed me this much. I am just humbled to have this life, thank you God for your grace!

Tomorrow I take Kendal to the Neurologist and then to the Developmental Specialist. Both of them are follow up appointments so I am not anticipated anything new. I am however really looking forward to her appointment on Friday to see another Sleep Specialist. Her sleep has been really bad again, and with James working nights, I am on my own with her. This particular doctor is supposed to be more familiar with her disorder and why sleep is so affected by it. If I have another doctor tell me she needs a routine, I'll think I'll kill someone! The girl has more routine than anyone - Her nighttime schedule is exactly the same everyday (+/- 5 minutes). I can't possible fit anymore routine into our schedule. It's not the routine that throws her off - it's her brain! I will definitely do a post on this appointment.

Got to run for now, but will really try to do another post by the end of the week!

Finally Some Great Weather!

I think we are finally going to see warmer and warmer temperatures from here on out. Thank Goodness!!! The winter months have been brutal especially with Kendal trapped in the house. Now we use any excuse to get out of the house. Since I haven't been that great lately at updates, I'll give a quick synopsis of the latest in the Crocker household.

Kendal had a great time at our family's annual Easter Egg Hunt. I did put her in a cute dress which for those that know me know that I am not too much into dresses myself. Kendal plays so hard, I rarely have her in a dress. But anyway, we had a great Easter Lunch and then followed it up the Easter Egg Hunt. We did a practice run at home so she understood the goal of picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. As soon as she realized candy was in the eggs, she really wasn't interested in continuing to gather them, she was ready to divulge in the goodies. She really had a blast and so did we.

Kendal had her IEP Meeting last Wednesday and it went great. We are truly blessed to have such amazing women working with Kendal. I think she has stolen everyone's heart and they are 100% dedicated to improving Kendal's skill sets. Behavior wise she has been doing remarkably better at school. I think she is finally learning that communicating through words or signs gets her what she wants much more easily. Summer school has been made available for her (so she does not regress) but considering the driving around to get her and take her for only hour (I think) a day just doesn't make sense so we will probably decline that service. We are staying on track with her goals as we all see that she is making progress. Praise God!

We decided to take Kendal off the Focalin last week. Even though she seemed to be doing much better in therapy (speciafically speech), she seemed to get more aggressive during her free time. I don't know what we will do at this point. Kendal has two or three appointments next month (neurologist, deveolpment specialist, and I can't remember what else!) and I will just wait and see if the doctors have any more advise. In the mean time, I am trying to get her into "play" therapy to work on bad behaviors that we are seeing at home. All the paperwork and evaluations will probably take a few weeks but I will update you when I know more.

We finally signed a contract with a Special Needs Advocate last month. This advocate will work with us for one year and help us make sure we have everything set for for Kendal's future. From estate planning - to more life insurance policies - to scrapbooks on Kendal's medical history - to all the legal stuff through an attorney - and everything in between, our advocate will help us to stay focused to get this important stuff handled. This is such an important step to take and that is why we are investing some much money and time in preparing for her future.

This weekend me and Kendal spent Saturday with my grandmother. She really is a help in going shopping with me - she pushes Kendal around and entertains her and I actually get my shopping done. We went to Target, Applebees, Publix, the park, and then the cemetary. Kendal and grandma were still going strong by the end of the day and I was completely exhausted. It was a beautiful day though and I'm truly blessed to still have a grandmother that is so active. She will be 89 next month and she is such an inspiration. She's so wise and yet despite her age, she doesn't think twice about being silly with Kendal. I swear it cracks me up just watching them together - they spend so much time just laughing with one another.

Today, after church we came home and after a quick lunch put Kendal down for a nap. Surprisingly she zonked out for 2.5 hours and gave me the chance to veg out, watch some stuff I had on the DVR, and fold some clothes. After she got up I took her to the new park down the street. It was surprisingly deserted and me and Kendal had the run of the place. We both swang, went down the slides, climbed a rock wall, and tried doing pull-ups (neither of us was very successful). We were orginally supposed to visit with Shirley in Spring Hill but unfortuantly it fell through at the last minute. We will definitely try it again in another week or two!

I'm so looking forward to this week being beautiful - I hope evryone has a GREAT one!

Fundraising - So Important to our Cause!

Special Education Week

Yes, this is a little behind. Last week was Special Education Week and I just wanted to personally thank all the people involved with special education. Teachers, aides, and therapists that make the decision to work with children with special needs - do have any idea of the impact you make in our lives?

Where would we be without you??? You have become our closest friends, our warriors, and our support system. You have shown us how to be patient and thankful. You have hugged me when I broke down in front of you and loved my daughter as your own!

I thank you from every fiber of my being. You encourage and amaze me!

These few pictures does not at all illustrate the magnitude of people that have and continue to work with Kendal on a weekly basis, but here are a few. Again, we thank you and will always remember all that you have done for us.

March Madness

March is truly a crazy month for us every year. Between Kendal, mine, and my brother-in-law's birthday at the beginning of the month (9th, 10th, 11th), birthday parties, annual vacation time, and the usual grind of everyday life, March is at best a blur. Over the next few days I hope to make several entries on things that we have done this month - it has been exciting needless to say.

We started this month by taking an annual vacation during mine and Kendal's birthday week. This year we visited some friends, Matt & Bethany, in Camden Arkansas. We had a really good time and it was great to visit them. They do not have children and I am not sure that they ever will after spending several consecutive days with Kendal! She was buck wild as usual and I was a total nervous wreck that she was going to break something in their home. They were so extra accommodating and rolled out the red carpet for us - I was really getting used to it! We also spent a day in Hot Springs, AR visiting the bath houses that were set up in the early 1900's. That was totally eye opening and fascinating - I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Once we got back into town - everything was in full swing in preparation for Kendal's big 4th birthday party this year. We had it at The Discovery Center at Murfree Spring (www.discoverycenteronline.org) and is was awesome. Over 50 kids were invited and I think over 30 showed up (again, it was a total blur!) More people showed up than I anticipated but it was so fun and everyone seemed to have a good time. Kendal was overwhelmed especially when everyone sang "Happy Birthday". All eyes were on her and she was eating up all the attention! Again, I was overwhelmed by everyone that showed up. I am continually amazed that we are surrounded by so much love and support. A big THANK YOU to Grandpa and Nana Dayton for the beautiful birthday cake they purchased for the party. It matched the invitations and was so cute not to mention one of the best tasting cakes ever. Thank you for handling all that for me and giving me one less thing to worry about! I appreciate you!

Kendal also had her first dentist appointment that week - something I had been putting off for obvious reasons. Kendal is not real keen about brushing her teeth with her oral sensitivity issues but I knew it was time to bite the bullet to see what was going on in her mouth. To my surprise, she did great! She fought a little which was to be expected but overall she was given rave reviews on her teeth. Another thing marked off the list!

I know this is nail biting journalism at its best, but calm down - I need to draw this out, so just stay tuned for more adventures in the Crocker household. The next entry will be about Kendal's follow up appointment on her medication options.

Thanks for reading!