We had such a fun afternoon today!

The girls came over and we played games, and hung out in the hot tub, and honestly I could do that every day, the way those girls are so good to each other, playing, being kids, having so much fun, and being so accepting and loving toward each other.  If only everyone could play the way these beautiful girls played with each other today, our world would be an amazing place!  I know I had as much fun as the girls, and we have already made plans for our next play date, and making cookies and blue, purple, and yellow play dough are going to be part of our next adventure.  Oh how blessed we are!  Have a Safe 4th of July weekend and week!  

Blessings, 

Susan

Look at these long legs!

Wow, it's hot here! After a day of playing with Grandma and Grandpa, this is what I came home to, a long legged sleeping girl, and I hauled her all over and then to therapy and she did not wake up until half way through therapy. To top it off, the air conditioning in our car is not working quite right, and so it's hot, but we are trading it in next week, at least that is the plan, we have had the van picked out for a few weeks, but getting all the paperwork and loans and all to go through when we are taking advantage of the Easter Seals loans, just takes some time, but we will have air again in a week or so, I hope! I'm not planning on going anywhere unless we have to before that, because I might melt! Phew! Good thing the air in our house is working well!

At times I forget, I forget that I would always have a bag packed in the car, just in case we needed to go to the hospital. I forget how fragile her health was and still is, in the doctors eyes. I forget how it feels to make no real plans to go anywhere, because I was not sure we would not be in the hospital. I do remember how hard it was to plan for the future, that is still hard in some ways, but I'm getting stronger and although I can not plan on any type of set future, I do try to plan for a few things here and there. I try my best to not take a single day with Quinn for granted, and try to push that onto everyone else as well, because none of us is guaranteed a tomorrow, it's a gift, and rather then being afraid of what will be, I try to savor the moment. Tonight, putting Quinn to bed, and kissing all over her cheeks, and taking in her lovely lotion smell, and listening to her giggle as I snuggled into her neck and acted like I was going to eat her up, was the best sound I'd heard all day. Those moments I try my best not to take for granted. Goodness, I have been reminded that is not always the case, as I've talked to friends and read friends blogs, I am reminded of those hospital visits, the urgent feelings, the fear of the unknown. I can feel that catch in my throat that I can't decide if I want to throw up or start bawling. I can remember that feeling, that moment so strongly. My heart hurts for the child, and my heart hurts for the parents. I'm praying hard tonight as some of our friends are dealing with those moments. They are the moments that make us stronger. They show us what we are made of. They break our hearts while at the same time, give us opportunities to grow, however hard that is. In some ways I'm thankful for those moments because they have made me a more rounded person, but I would not wish them on anyone. God bless my friends, and my friends friends, and blessings to us all.

Quinn got new braces and new tennis shoes, and I think they are great, except that she has a big sore on her heal because she is not wanting to hold her foot in the the right way, and is rubbing her heal, so once we get them broke in, and she figures out what to do, we will be good. For now, we are not wearing them to much, as I don't want her sore to get worse. Here she is before another day of summer school, and as soon as she saw me get out the camera, she closed her lovely eyes, and would not open them up again, so this is what we got. :) Here is our unfinished basement, but we are going to be using this space a lot. Yes, I have hung artwork up on the unfinished walls, and I'm good with that. My favorite part of this space is Quinn's swing. We splurged and got the super safe swing set up, and thanks to Chrissy for helping me learn how to work it, and Greg for bolting it up into the ceiling, we have already spent hours down there. I love that we can lower it almost to the ground and Quinn can push herself, it's wonderful! Happy Summer, as it has officially started, and I feel like we can finally play a bit, as I've finally got most of the boxes put away and things in their place, oh there is still lots to do, but I've decided Quinn and I get a couple play days before I start working on the house again, and I'm very excited about it. Quinn has had a few boring weeks, watching me unbox things, but I do have to say that Blue and her are becoming good friends. In fact I've started to see Blues paw prints on the top of her shirt. I do see him laying by her a lot, but now he is getting right up on top of her, and that makes me a bit nervous, but at least something in the house was spending a lot of time with her.

Quinn with her Great Grandma Charlotte. How lucky we are to have her in our lives. I just love this picture.

4 Generations, Quinn, Grandpa Ron, Great Grandma Charlotte, Great Grandpa Harold, Great Aunt Pam, and me. Oh Tabi did a great job with the pictures, thanks to her, I have a couple I can share with you now, and later I'll share more. http://creativeeyesstudio.com/index2.php#/home/

First of all Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers and grandfathers out there. Last night Quinn and dad sang and sang, and it's the most wonderful noise I could hear. Today Grandpa and Grandma came over for lunch and Grandpa started laughing, and he does have the greatest laugh, and that made Quinn start laughing, not her usual laugh, but she started saying ha ha ha and smiling, it was to cute! What a nice lunch! Quinn is getting really good at shutting her eyes the moment she sees a camera, so here are what most of my pictures are looking like lately, until I get a picture of her, when she is not paying attention! I think I mentioned how we did 4 generation pictures with Tabi when my Memphis family was here, and Tabi had to work very hard to get Quinn to open her eyes! Silly girl! Here are Quinn and Staci with her dynovox that I was telling you about a few posts back, on this day the only thing Quinn wanted to do was look at herself on the screen, anything else and she would not look at the screen, but when we went back to this screen, she would just giggle and stare at herself! Goodness! I will say that as soon as we got home from therapy she went to sleep and slept for almost 15 hours straight! We had a couple rough nights before that! This week also was full of bible camp that went so well, summer school started, and we started looking at handicap vans, not because I really wanted to, but because the state will help pay for part of the modification, and if we did not find something this week, the state was going to stop our funding, they don't cover a ton of it, but every little bit helps, so soon we will have news of another new change. OH, even bigger then that, we have our last couple pieces of paperwork done, and we had the house inspection done, so we are going to be foster parents soon! So now we just wait and keep their room ready for them, when ever God finds the right match for us!Here is their room, waiting, ready for him or her, it's our red lemon room. So when the time is right, it's going to get interesting around here. The bummer part is that we can't post pictures of our foster kids online, so I'm going to have to get creative, but I like a challenge, so we will see what happens. So to say that we have been busy is an understatement, and we have been trying to get in a nap here and there, but I'm pooped! I'm hoping we will have a couple days here soon that we can simply rest and play, but I've got a list of things to get done here in the next few days, but right now I'm going to go take a nap! Last night was a rough night and we were up a bunch and so we are going to rest! Love to you all and happy fathers day again!

Well, last week, when our family from Memphis was here, we all piled into our car and took a trip over to Iowa to see Great Aunts, and all kinds of family. We also stopped by the cemetery's and said some prayers for my two uncles and my aunt. As a mom, I can start to understand what my grandmother has been through loosing 3 children. I can't understand it all the way, but wow, she is a strong woman. It was a good day to see family and reflect on the past. Dad, Pam, Grandma, and I also took a couple days to hang towel bars, pictures, and what not's. Greg came over to add a few more doors, and work on a list of stuff. Oh, I'll have to show you our deck. He put up the neatest stairway contraption that will block Quinn from falling down the stairs, and it's slick looking. Grandma and Pam broke in our appliances and cooked up a storm. Grandpa kept an eye on things and spoiled Blue rotten. Quinn got to get fitted for her new wheelchair one final time, and I hear the chair and wheelchair base are both ordered and should be here this summer for sure! Oh boy! So it's a good thing it's summer time, because I don't know how I would be able to work and get all this done. The house is looking more and more lived in, but I'm trying to get things put into their place, but then I'm moving it to a new place, thinking it would be better there, and then I can't remember where I put it. Oh talking about things being lost, when dad and everyone was here, I lost Quinn's foot braces, and she wears them all the time. Well, dad, aunt Pam, and I looked all over the house, tearing everything up and searching for hours, and finally I felt defeated and gave up. Grandma found out she was not going to be able to see Quinn walk with out them, so she looked around for a matter of minutes and she found them, after all of us could not, so thanks to Grandma for her power to find them!So after working so hard and playing hard also, I'm feeling the same way as Quinn, tuckered out! Oh, a nap would be great this afternoon, but we have therapy, bible school, and a few other fun things planned, and Quinn started summer school this morning as well, so no naps for now, but here is hoping we have time for one in the next few days! Love to you all. Susan

ok, here is the story! Quinn, Grandpa Ron, and I went to therapy, speech therapy in which I was hoping Quinn would show off for her grandpa. Well we get there and Stacie, gets out the Dynovox and Quinn does not look at it, but rather looks over at grandpa and then acts like she can't do anything. Oh poop, I'm thinking once again, she is not going to show off, and I'm going to look like that mom that makes up stories about her daughter that are not true. Then I start thinking, do I make things up? I don't think I do, and I believe in Quinn, but... I do believe in Quinn and she needs to know that I will always believe in her, but it's nice when she proves me right! So thanks Quinn! But I'm fast forwarding! So grandpa stood behind Quinn so he could see her computer and she could not see him, and she finally started to use her eyes to click around on her screen, and she went into her family page on the computer and found her family page, and she clicked on "me" and "grandpa ron", now this page has lots of people on it, and when she only picked out those two people, that says something! I've got a smart girl who is finally going to show off! Now this would have been enough to make me happy, but she did not stop there. She continued to go into different folders, and then clicked out of them, as if she was looking for something, and finally she found her transportation page and clicked on boats. Well, Grandpa Ron works on boats for his job! OH MY GOODNESS! I was surprised that she remembered he works on boats, and that she found the page on her dynovox to say so! AMAZING! Then she started coughing, and found the suction me button, and so we did! Oh, we have such a smart girl, and she is amazing! I've got more stories, but it's late and I'm exhausted! I'll get back to you soon! Blessings!

I'm exhausted! Quinn is not napping during the day and wanting to stay up way to late, because we have our family from Memphis here! Quinn is finally showing off, and I can't wait to tell you about it but tonight, I'm exhausted! We have been busy visiting family in Iowa and over the last few days have been working on the house, putting in grab bars, hanging a few more pictures here and there, and spending time with friends! It's been wonderful, but exhausting. Quinn got a case of the jerks, which freak me out, because that is a trigger for seizures and can easily lead to them. Where she is simply sitting there and then all of a sudden just jumps. Sometimes it's an arm or her head, or here whole body! So I know she is tired! Luckily there was one day this week where she did get a nap, but that was the only time that they had a moment to rest, otherwise it's been busy in this house! I can't wait to share the story of her showing off, because my Memphis family can no longer say they think I'm a nut who wants here daughter to do things so bad, she makes things up! I would tell you now, but I've got to get to bed, as tomorrow is another busy day! I'll get back on here soon! Love to all! Quinn with her grandpa Ron.

Hello! Sorry it's been so long! We were moving and I did not have my computer or internet access for a few days, not to mention a lack of time, but we are getting things done, and so many things are getting done! We are officially in our house! Rooms have gone from this -

to this - as in a huge mess, to a smaller mess, but we don't have any room ready yet, but we are getting there! Thanks to all the folks that have helped us move here or there! I know how busy everyone is, and it's been nice to have the company.

The elevator is also going in! It's been interesting to see it progress, as there is a lot of work going into it. That is very good though, as I want to be safe with Quinn in it!

At one point, the movers were here, the elevator guys, the home access folks (who were putting in our fancy new shower rods that move back and forth, so the track system can get all the way into the bathroom. The electrician, and a bunch of family and friends helping us unpack! Wow, it was exciting!

As to how we are doing? We are wonderful, as we are getting into the house, we have space to move around again. It's starting to look so pretty too! I've been working on paintings and a bit of a theme here and there and it's so fun to see it come to life! Tracy had the greatest idea on how to hang up groups of pictures. Look she did newspaper first, then hung the artwork in the same spots to make sure it fit just right. How smart is that!

I will share more rooms, when I get them done, and it's going to be a long process, and that's ok! Oh, I can share our fun little nook, that Greg came up with, and it really is lovely!

I have a desk to work at again. Quinn has her therapy swing up in the basement and it's amazing! There are things we have not gotten to yet, and things that are still being finished up, as we had to be out of our apartment yesterday, so thankfully everyone is ok working around us! We are loving the space and so thankful to be here. It does not really seem real in some ways, but other ways it seems like home, and everything is working so well! As for the three of us? I'm tired! This is hard work, but thankfully I've had help, and school is out so I've had time to start getting things done. Sometimes I feel like I'm just moving things from one pile to another pile, but things are getting done and that is good! John is tired! He has been working hard at home and at work, and has taken a couple of nights where he has slept 15 hours! I wish he would not push himself so hard sometimes, but that is who he is, I just wish he would listen to me, when I ask him to lighten up and rest a bit more. Quinn on the other hand is doing so good! She is loving her new room. She is loving her swing. She is loving watching all the people around her. She did have a moment the other day where she just started crying, and she hardly ever cries. After I picked her up and gave her some cuddle time, she was fine! She has not had much of that lately, but we will make up for it soon. This morning she started singing at the top of her lungs and was as happy as can be, and that is what makes all of this hard work oh so worth it!

Blessings! Susan