Happy Halloween!

Look at this, it's the cutest little ring I've ever seen! What a lovely Halloween we have had!

Wow, Quinn has been busy! She finally got to spend time with Amelia. She is as wonderful as ever. Alexis also got into the fun, and read the girls a story.


Quinn's Aunt Sarah got to come to Lincoln for the weekend, and it was nice to see her!
Chrissy, Alexis, Quinn, and I decided to have fun and make some clay penguins! Quinn really got into squishing the clay!

After all this excitement, she needed a nap! Grandma got some good cuddling time in!

Happy Halloween

Oh boy, it's getting close to Halloween. I have to say that we have had Quinn's character idea ready for almost a year. Last year at this time we were in the hospital getting Quinn's trach, (which has been a blessing) which I was very worried about getting. Well, as Chrissy, Annette and I were learning how to do trach changes, we pulled Quinn hair up to get it out of the way, we noticed that her hair reminded us of Cindy Lou Who, and how cute that would have been to have as her costume. Although I would not trade her being a home builder for anything, as Quinn wanted that over a princess, and I still love that she chose that. She loves Greg, and it shows as she wanted to be like him.

Well, here you go, our very own little Cindy Lou Who! I love what she stands for, I love the cute hair dos, I love the whole idea. So we did a few practice runs a few days ago, I could not pick a favorite picture, so here are a few. I love how she fell asleep loving and hugging the Grinch and puppy after we played and read the book. (if you click on the pictures, they will show up bigger on your screen)



Oh, our fun story for the week. Matt is the guy who works for the wheelchair company, and has brought our trial chair out to us to use at Handprints and Footsteps. Last week he left thinking, I don't know if Quinn is a good kid who will be able to use our chair. Well today she proved him wrong. She is a kid who needs wait time and practice. Well, she has been practicing, thanks to Chrissy who has gotten Quinn over there a few times. Quinn needs practice and a correct set up. I got to see the end of her therapy session Tuesday, and I saw her drive down the sidewalk, and turn at the curb cut and drive out into the parking lot. (she knows it's ok to drive out in the parking lot, as that is a nice big space to practice in.) It is great to see her being successful! Well Matt was set straight, and was so impressed with how well she was doing after just a few days of practice. We still have a few things to work out before we get started in ordering the chair, but it's getting exciting! I tell you what, she inspires me every day! What an amazing little girl we have, as well as support! Thanks to the girls at Handprints who are so invested in Quinn's success!

Well, we went out to check out the house this morning! Quinn loves to go to the house. After we walked around and checked things out, it started to sprinkle and Quinn could not stop smiling and singing, so the video is a super short piece of her happy morning. What a lovely little girl we have! How can she not make you smile!

Well, after a very bland weekend, of laying around and resting and trying to feel better, we had Monday off of school, where we kept resting and started singing. Tuesday we started off the morning rough with lots of coughing, but then it took a dramatic turn for the better and we had a great restful rest of the day, and Wednesday was our big wheelchair trial. The one we are looking at now is pretty cool, the chair goes from the seated position to going all the way to the floor. Well Quinn got in the chair at 2:30 and finally was ok getting out at 5:30. Yup, she was still driving and loving moving around in it after 3 hours. As with everything, there are the good and the bad with anything. I love how it tilts, I love how we can change around the hand controls to make the best one work for Quinn. I love how it can be different heights, and can fit into any table or even give her floor time! I'm not sure I really like how long it is, but if that is the biggest issue, that really is not all bad. I just want to make sure she can fit everywhere. Oh boy, it looks like I better get on the ball and keep working on paperwork for loans for vans, as well as really figuring out what kind of van we should be getting! Alexis giving Quinn a bit of love after working so hard!


Quinn giving us a 360 view of her possible chair.

10-16-11

Ugggg, being sick is not fun! But I'm starting to see a few smiles and she is starting to chat, and so we are getting better! This one hit hard and fast, but we are hoping it goes away just as fast! I can honestly say that I gave her this one! Whoops!

10-14-11

Well it's official! Quinn made her teacher cry! Nice, don't cha think! Well, ok, it was a good cry! Quinn finally really went potty on the potty at school, and she impressed her teacher a lot, so much in fact that she started crying and once her teacher started crying and hugging her nurse, her nurse started crying! Quinn, I would imagine, sat there thinking, what in the world, I go potty on the potty all the time! You Crazy girls! Personally, I know that Quinn does things for a few of us first before she shares it with everyone, and I'm so glad she is sharing more and more of herself with all of us! Well she got an extra sparkly sticker for this potty trip! I'm also so grateful to have her teachers taking her success so personally! It means a lot to have her teachers truly care about her! That also makes a difference!

I ran across this saying on facebook, (thanks Lisa) and it really hit me. We have had this happen to us several times already! Thanks to all of our amazing caregivers who have watched Quinn, we are so grateful! Then the whole house thing, again, we are humbled! I only hope we can pass on the love to others! Sounds cheese, but it is a goal of mine!

What a fun day!

It's Quinn's fun Wednesday, where she does not go to school but learns life lessons with Chrissy and rests up! She got both today big time. A group of them went to the Lincoln Capital Building, which is an amazing architectural building, and they had fun. I love the picture where the kids are laying on the floor looking at the art above them. I also love how Alexis has her hand under Quinn's head. Chrissy added in: Fun note...Alexis told me she put her arm behind Quinn's head because the tour guide had told all of the kids to put their hands behind their heads, and in Alexis-logic "I put my arm behind Quinn's head because she can't put her arms back like that."....I love how the two of them love on and take care of each other! I love the picture of Quinn and Chrissy on the 14th floor of the capital looking out. Chrissy said that Quinn loved it and was pushing as hard as she could to see out and they talked about how little the cars were. Isn't it good for all of us to remember to step back and look at life from a new angle every now and then.

After all the fun at the capital, Quinn got back to Chrissy's and went potty after staying dry all morning, and promptly fell asleep for most of the afternoon. What a wonderful day!

She does have to make up some sleep as she was sick and missed her first day of school last Friday. She felt better over the weekend, but she is waking up a few times during the night to cough, and that is hard on both of us. If we compared our health issues to last year, we are doing great. We missed so many days last year due to the breathing, or lack of proper breathing, because by this time last year, we had been in the hospital a few times, and it ended in getting a trach, and we were in the hospital on Halloween last year, so our year anniversary of having a trach is coming up and that does not seem possible. After Quinn's taking Friday off of school, John took Monday off feeling sick, and now I have to say I have a sore throat, so it's hitting all of us, but I'll take what we have now over last year anytime. I am not sure if it's Quinn's cold that I have, or is it from one of my kids at school. I don't understand how they all feel they need to get right up close to my face and breath on me as they are sharing that they don't feel well. Kids! I guess I need to take a break from teaching art and teach how to stay away from the art teacher if you are sick lessons, as well as not breathing on anyone else when you feel yucky! Well, onto the pictures! I hope you enjoy them even a tiny bit as much as I did!




We checked out the house, and the upstairs is blocked out and you can see the garage, the front door, Quinn's room and so on! Super exciting to see! Any time I ask Quinn if she wants to go see her house, she is always smiles and ready! Love it!

10-6-11

Here she is working with Diane. Diane was supporting her elbow and she was opening the pockets in the book totally on her own! Yet another goose bump moment.




Quinn was eating pineapple at school. It sounds like she was not a big fan. Weird enough right now she is still on a cheese kick, cheesecake and cheese soup. Hmmm. You never know what she is going to like.
I have not really talked about things Quinn is doing right now, so here goes.

She is doing a great job talking when she wants to, but is working even harder at signing, she will sign potty, and is still doing well on that front. She is doing a great job answering yes and no questions by raising her hands. She will raise her left hand for yes, and her right hand for no. In fact, when it comes to her talking, if you are not listening, she will answer your question before you even finish asking it, so as soon as you start talking to her, be listening, because she is fast, and if she has answered you, she is ready for the next task. She amazes me. Sometimes she is very simple with quick yes no answers, but other times she will start singing and wow, she can get loud! She is smart and she blows me away. Granted sometimes it’s like all the connectors in her brain are not connecting and she is not so talkative and involved, but other times she is connecting and I’ve truly had a few good chats with her, and that is wonderful!

She is doing great with working on puzzles. She is doing a great job getting her pointer finger out to open flaps on books, and turn pages with just a little elbow support. She continues to work hard to open and close her hands to pick and pull things like lacing up things, and holding paint brushes to paint with.

Quinn is also working hard with walking and standing. Granted she does not love walking in her walker, but she is walking with help. If you did not see the video a few posts back, you should check it out. She likes to stand in her walker, as long as she can look around, but that is where it ends. I’m hoping this is just a phase and she will figure out how nice it is to move around on her own.

Quinn is sleeping great when she gets to sleep, her favorite place to fall asleep, is in dad’s arms. Her allergies are acting up, so we have to do a bunch of suctioning before bed, and again when she wakes up, but she is sleeping though the night, for the most part, and I love that. It seems like half of the time she is still asleep in the morning after meds, getting dressed and about the time we get to the car, she wakes up. Then after a few minutes spent to suction her, she starts to wake up. I feel for her in the mornings, having to cough so hard just a few minutes after waking up has got to be miserable.

As for the drooling, I don’t get her. If she is working hard, she is drooling, and I get that. If we are home and she is chilling, she tends to drool, but as soon as we venture out, on a walk, to the store, basically anywhere doing something, she does not drool, or cough, or anything. She does great. Then whether it’s 20 minutes or 3 hours of being out with no coughing or drooling, the moment we get back into the car or the house, or Chrissy’s, she turns on like her little teapot self, and the drool pours out.

Quinn is fickle about kisses, sometimes she loves to get kisses, and sometimes she does a good job giving them as well, although sometimes it feels more like a lick, but I’ll take it. Other times, she will give me the dirtiest looks and pull away as much as possible to “be cool” or something. Surely that cannot be happening already! Can it?

She is also acting shy more and more often. When grandma and grandpa were here last weekend, for the first 30 minutes, she looks the exact opposite direction of where ever grandma was. Finally grandma got some books out to get Quinn to pay attention to her, and she was still looking in the opposite direction but I was watching her eyes, and she could not help but check out the book every time grandma would change the page of the book, and as she was doing her best to look at the book, and not to look at grandma. Not more then 10 minutes into the book, she was more interested in the book, then being shy and finally turned her head to the front to see the book better, still being cautious of grandma but the book won out and she had to see what was going to happen.

What a girl! I’m so lucky to have her in my life!

10-4-11

Wow, it was a goose bump day today at the house. Chrissy took Alexis and Quinn out to meet a bunch of the builders, as Prairie Gold http://www.prairiegoldhomes.org/ and the Youth Build were both out there working hard. The girls had fun meeting the guys until they found a caterpillar, then the house was toast! So thanks for the pictures Chrissy, and thanks to the entire team out there building Quinn's house! I totally see the love and am so very thankful!

10-3-11

We celebrated Dad's birthday and had a nice weekend, with Grandma and Grandpa Rudell, then Sunday Grandma and Grandpa Nelson joined us. Quinn had fun looking down the row at church to see lots of grandparents.
The house is coming along! We can see where the rooms are going to be.

It's a beautiful day to be outside today! Lots of fun with the girls!