I love how my kids look out for each other.

 We are working on Quinn controlling her computer with her joystick via blue tooth, she will also be able to use her head down the road if that is easier.

 Right now it is hard, and she is not loving it, but it is getting better.

 We put pressure on her hand to make it easier for her to use.  Chrissy said if she tries to help, Quinn gets frustrated and does not do as good as if we just give her pressure to help her control it herself.

 I love how my kids want to be right there helping Quinn and willing her to do well!

Her assignment was to type Chrissy into google to see what would come up.  So this is not all that bad at all.  Very good in fact.  She has to move the mouse over the letter and then let it hover there for a few moments, then the letter will come up, and right now the way it is set, up is down and down is up, so she is having to work hard to get things to go.  She can do it!  She is such a smart kid!

We are also excited and thankful.  The community we belong to is willing to share and exchange things all the time.  We are thankful someone gave up their walker, and now we get it.  These items are so expensive and so we are so grateful to be able to be donated this one.  Quinn was so excited to start walking again.  We think she took about 14 steps in 10 minutes, so we are excited to keep practicing.  

So we are thankful for the small moments, because small moments turn into big moments pretty easily!

A quick story from speech therapy last night.  Quinn was eating lemon pie, and her therapist told her she would be graduating soon and would be discharged.  Right away she got on her dynovox and said that hurts me.  Uggg, way to pull at my heart strings.  Quinn loves therapies more then anything!  Stacie told her that she would get to do one a month for awhile yet, and that got Quinn to bust into the best belly laugh!  She was happy for that, and ended with yes, more please.  Oh how I love her and her love for therapies.

 Happy 11th birthday Isaiah!  We love you so so much!

We now have a carseat in John's car, so Quinn has options!

So nice!  Her wheelchair does not fit, but in times of need,

we can use both vehicles to get kids around town!

 Working on standing at therapy.

 After lots of hard work, it's time to relax.  Cuddle.  Sing.  Play electronics.

 I love how Buttercup loves on Quinn.

 It's good to be silly too!

Isaiah's birthday is coming up next.  Blessings!  

Happy Birthday to a calm, thinker.  An electronic magnet, a great big brother.  My amazing 11 year old son! I love you Isaiah!

Let's have a wonderful year, full of fun and learning!

Quinn, who some see as nonverbal, sure did a good job getting her point across today.

I picked Quinn up at school at noon to go see her ENT, (ear, nose, throat) doctor.  He is the kindest person and she knows she does not get shots there.

To go back a day, I told the kids the plan how grandma would meet the bus, and I would pick Quinn up at noon.  Right away she says, I have a question.  I tell her it's the doctor in Omaha, who she likes.

She says again, I have a question, I tell her her reward is to come back to therapy, since she gets rewards for doctor visits.  She says again, I have a question, I tell her no shots or blood draws.  She tells me ok.  ( I will tell you all again, she is not a nonverbal kid at all)  She is a smart kid who will take advantage of a situation though.

So I picked Quinn up from school to find that she was flushed and upset.  We talked again, and put a book on tape on in the car to calm down.   She wanted nothing to do with it.

 Why? Why? Why? I don't want to!

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, I don't want to.

Then she asked about her neck, yes, I told her, he would look at her neck.

Then she went on about how she wanted to go outside.

The nurse came and got us, and she kept telling her that she wanted  to leave.

Then Dr Sewell came in and Quinn hyperventilated.   

Dr Sewell was so good, he moved far away and just talked to her for a bit.

The appointment went great, past Quinn's attitude, and as soon as we got to the car, Quinn wanted to know if we were going to therapy.  She was then happy and started working on math facts, and 

we got to therapy and Jan said she was tight, as I would expect after a hard few hours, but after a good stretch and getting to move around, we got some good belly laughs.

So yes, now Quinn is finding her stress connections, she gets stressed at school and gets all flushed in her face, and she will get stressed at all kinds of different things.

I'm glad she is growing, but this stress thing is not great for any of us.

This kid is amazing, and so smart!  Oh how I love her!

Our night nurse Selina has officially moved out of state.

We are grateful to have taken her out for her last meal here

before she headed out.

She was amazing and was so good with Quinn.

She loved her and held her accountable.

She was a great role model for all my kids and 

we could not have had a better experience with her.

So we wish you the best Selina, and miss you already.

We do have a new nurse, and she is lovely, we are grateful,

but transitions are always hard.

We have already started celebrating Isaiah's birthday. 

Grandma Vicki was here and so we had our first celebration.

 We ate at Isaiah's favorite restaurant.

 Quinn was sitting next to me, so you can not see her in the picture, but we were all there.

Now the true celebration is coming up in a couple days.

I have a crazy story about Quinn coming up too.

We have been trying to stay warm, and playing in our mermaid and mermen creations.

 We have also been styling ourselves as well.

Yikes getting back into the swing of things is hard.  We are back at school and work, and this time of year is so cold and filled with lots of work.

Quinn and Buttercup are chilling out and trying to get rid of a cold.

Therapy keeps things fun.

past that, Isaiah's birthday is coming up, so we will be having some fun with an 11 year old soon.

To start off our Christmas Break, we headed up to my mom's.

 We got pictures with all the grandkids.

 The drive was great, the weather was great, Quinn did not love how dry it was, but past that we had lots of fun with the cousins.

Denali helped make the pies!

 She had to add a little style to this one!