The Human Pogo Stick

Miss Zoey decided yesterday that her walker was far too cumbersome and wanted to hop everywhere. I kept getting glimpses of her out of the corner of my eye and she was so fast at hopping that it reminded me of a pogo stick!

She wanted me to take her picture. So here she is, hopping across the room.

Boing! Boing! Boing!

Boing!

Sadly, by the end of the day, her good foot was hurting badly enough that she had to go back to using her walker today.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In other news...the 'triplets' have located the Santa hats.

"We wish you

a mewwy Christhmas,

We wish you a Mewwy Christhmas

We wish you

a Mewwy Christhmas

and

a Happy New Yew.

Good Tidings we bwing

to you and your kin

Good tidings for

CHRISTHMAS

and a HAPPY NEW YEW!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Cha-cha-cha-Chia!

Awesome Christmas Gift Idea

I have a fabulous gift idea if you are still looking for a gift for your kids, your child's teacher, a friend, a family member...the list is endless.

A friend of mine has written a beautiful book about a little girl with Downs Syndrome. The story is 'written' by her older sister, who describes what life is like at her house. It is a very sweet book that handles the topic very honestly. Some things about having a sister with Downs are frustrating and some things are wonderful.

My favorite quote from the book is at the end, after big sister describes the joys and irritations of her little sister. She says, "I wish everyone had an Alicia May. But then Alicia May wouldn't be special, would she?"

The illustrations are gorgeous! Seriously. Take a peek.

Every page is more beautiful than the next!

Even if you do not have a child with Downs in your family, it's still a valuable tool to teach our kids about others who have special needs. This book does a great job of teaching that kids with special needs are just like everyone else. They just have some challenges that not everyone has.

And guess what? The book--which is a beautiful hard cover with a jacket--is only

$10, plus shipping!!!

Yes...that's right. I couldn't believe it!

If you would like an autographed copy, you can visit the author's website {below} and make your request. And any of you who know the folks at Reece's Rainbow...feel free to let them know about this book. It is truly a treasure.

To order: Click here

To see the author's website, click here.

Zoey Girl

Our Zoey girl continues to heal. She is doing amazingly well and quickly figured out how to get where she wanted to go.

If she wanted to go upstairs, she scooted up and down on her bottom. When she got to the top though, she didn't have her walker. Hmmm...what to do? Usually she dispensed one of her little toadies {Kate or Jake} to get it. Eventually, Miss Independent-pants, started carrying it up herself--on.her.lap.

When we go out to the car, she scoots down the steps in the garage and then hops out to the car.

One day when she got into her carseat, she grinned up at me and said, "Am I amazing girl?"

Oh yes, my spunky girl...you are amazing.

I am so thankful for her great attitude.

She has had a few moments of frustration and sadness. One night when the kids were running around the house, she was doing her best to keep up with them, using her walker. When she couldn't, she started to cry.

Another day, some minor thing set her off and she couldn't stop crying. I held her for about 20 minutes as she sobbed and sobbed. When I asked her why she was crying, she wailed,

"I don't know."

Maybe it was her way of grieving her loss...maybe she was overwhelmed with everything...or maybe she was doing an impersonation of a teenage girl...I don't know.

However, she was soon back to her smiley self.

She definitely tires more easily and falls asleep every time we ride in the car. And at times when she is tired, she wants to be carried rather than walk. We are only too glad to help her out!

Today was the first day that she mentioned it was starting to itch under her cast. For those of you who have dealt with this, does Ben*dryl help?

Zoey Continues to Improve

Zoey continues to do well, amazing all of us! She refuses any pain meds and pushes herself to get up and get going every day.

Today her new milestone was to scoot on her bottom up and down the stairs. She still needs help because she needs someone to carry her walker up and down the steps, but she was smiling ear to ear at her ability to go up and down alone. She does take rests and puts her leg up but she likes to walk around the house frequently, telling me that she 'needs to practice.'

We found a pair of sweat pants that fit over her cast and it has been wonderful! It's so easy to navigate the bathroom with pants that have an elastic waist band. Zoey soon wanted to try handling that all by herself. She did it! Quite an achievement when your feet don't touch the ground and you have to balance on the seat, not get your cast wet, etc. She was very proud of herself. She needs help getting dressed, though, because she has to wear a belt that has straps that are attached to her cast. It makes getting dressed impossible for her because I have to unbuckle the straps and buckle them back up. She accepts it with grace though and doesn't complain.

She went to church on Sunday but not to her class. We didn't want any of the kids to accidentally fall on her leg or bump it, so she sat with us in church. All of the kids made "Get Well Soon," cards for her. So cute! She was thrilled.

We are also being spoiled by daily meals being brought to us. I'm starting to feel guilty about it! My mom went home yesterday so today was my first day flying solo with Zoey. We were so blessed that my mom was able to come and help out. We all miss her and wish we didn't live so far from family.

Looking at all the 'Get Well' cards from her little friends at church

Grandma and Jordan

Zoey takes pictures of Grandma and her siblings

Jordan and Katie pose with Grandma

Zoey received a fun package in the mail today!

Ohhhh...more candy! Good thing a tooth brush came with this present.

Zoey's First Full Day Home

Look at her go!

I knew the day was going to go well right off the bat. I picked Zoey up to carry her downstairs and asked her if her leg hurt. She said, "A little." I asked her if she wanted some of her pain medicine and she looked up at me with a twinkle in her eye and said,

"No. I'm tough."

OH.MY.WORD....I started cracking up!

Once she realized that it wasn't going to hurt a lot when she used her walker, she has been asking to use it and doing very well.

She awoke during the night to go potty and when I was helping her out of bed, she said in the sweetest little voice, "Will you hold my leg?"

Um...yeah. I would pretty much walk across hot coals for you right now, Zoey.

She is already getting bored out of her mind, though. I went to Target and got her some things to play with, but I don't know if it will keep her occupied for long. She absolutely LOVES driving her wheelchair around. I think if I could take her to a gym or a flat parking lot for a few hours she would be thrilled. It's too cold for her to be outside for long though, and we live on a hill.

My mom and I decided to take her to Wendy's for lunch since she was so bored. It was do-able getting the wheelchair into the car and out again. She didn't want me to push the chair--"I'll do it myself!"

I am so amazed and in awe of her spirit and determination. She has already accepted the loss of her foot, embraced the walker and wheelchair, and never looked back.

Somehow I have the feeling that instead of her being sidelined, we will be the ones on the sidelines cheering for her.

Hanging out on the couch with her toys

Going to Wendy's for lunch!

Oh yeah...we made it!

Sisters are the best (and they wait on Zoey hand and foot!)

Zoey has always had to wear big, ugly, clompy shoes to give some support to her little foot. All the other kids in the family could wear cute canvas ones except her. Today, I got her this pair at Target and she was so excited. She wanted to wear them to bed. :)

Playing Old Maid with Jillian

Time for bed...it's been a good day!

We decided that Zoey needed some bling on her walker. She helped me make the name plate {ie: plastered that baby with stickers}

She hasn't used any pain meds whatsoever and says her leg just hurts a little bit. Not enough to drink the vile Tylen*l with c*deine.

I wasn't able to find any pants to fit over her cast, so I cut off some old jeans and then slit both sides almost to the top of her leg. It works...hope she stays warm enough. We've never had a child in a cast, so if any of you have any tips for me, pass them along!

We are so thankful that she is doing well and know it has everything to do with all the prayers going up for her. Thank you so much to all who have written and said they are/were praying for her. God is good...all the time!

Zoey is H.O.M.E!!!

This is what happens when you wear braids to bed

Drum roll, please....Miss Zoey is home! I know a lot of you were praying for her yesterday and today when she woke up, there was remarkable improvement. She woke up and started singing, "You are my sunshine."

She had a perfect night--the nurses stayed on top of the catheter situation and kept her comfortable. Since she had such a great night, I was able to sleep well, too.

In short order, they removed her catheter this morning. After that, the fiberglass went over her cast {she chose light blue} and I got her dressed. I had brought the largest legged pants I could find and they barely went over her cast. Finding anything to fit over it is going to be challenging.

Her next activity was to get out of bed. That proved to be more difficult. She was scared and didn't want anything to do with her walker. We did finally get her into her wheelchair. Once she got into it, she was pushing it herself within 5 seconds. OH.MY.WORD. I couldn't believe how fast she figured out how to maneuver it. She drove it all over the place--a regular maniac on wheels!

She drove herself to the playroom and had a blast shooting baskets. Then we played air hockey and let me tell ya...the girl is competitive. No letting Mommy score gratuitous goals.

After lunch, the PT showed up again and we took Zoey to the PT room so she had more room to try her legs. It took MUCH persuasion to get her on her feet, but there was a Barbie doll in it for her, so she finally gave it a try.

She was pretty wobbly and only took a few hops, but it was enough to score her release. She actually wasn't too sure she wanted to leave the hospital. Hmmm...let's see..."I get my mom all to myself. I can order whatever food and drinks I want. I can have popsicles day or night. I can watch TV all the time. What's not to love about this place?"

Well, it might be a fun place to visit but there IS one thing she was missing. Her family.

I wish I could have captured the joy on all the faces who came running out to greet her when we pulled into the driveway. They all came bursting out of the house yelling, "Zoey's Home!" It was so precious.

And Miss Zoey....she had a huge smile on her face and forgot about her leg. She tried to get out of the car all by herself until I grabbed her and picked her up. She showed off her wheelchair driving and then we took her inside and got her snuggled in on the couch.

Tonight right before bed, she finally worked up the courage to try her walker again. And then she took off on it! Oh my....the girl is going to be unstoppable! She amazes me. I am truly in awe of this spunky child. God has given her such a strong spirit.

Jeff moved her little bed into our room in case she needs to go potty during the night. That is quite a feat to accomplish, but hopefully we will figure out a good way to get the job done.

Thank you all so much for praying and feel free to continue! :) She will return to the hospital in four weeks to get her cast removed. If all looks good, it will stay off and she will be measured for a prosthetic. It will take a few weeks to make it, I think. I can't WAIT to see her try it out. I know she is going to embrace it with the same gusto that she took off in her wheelchair this morning.

Her new blue cast cover

Working up her courage

"Owie!"

Shooting baskets in the playroom

SCORE!

Versin' mom in some air hockey

"YES! SCORE!"

Second try getting up on her foot

More owies...

She did it!! Go Zoey!

Zoey's new best buddie, Jamie. Oh my goodness....Jamie was the best! She was the one who did the role playing with Zoey the first day and continued to stop by and give her encouragement every day. Jamie offered to come and help get Zoey up and walking today after she was so hesitant--and then rewarded her with the Barbie doll she requested. We heart Jamie!

And then we were home....

Big sisters signing her cast

Lookin' good!

Rough Night but a better day

As I feared, Miss Zoey's pain got away from the nursing staff last night. Sigh... The nurse didn't want to give her any pain meds unless Zoey asked for them and said she might not need them.

Hmmm...she just got her foot removed, I think she will need pain meds.

I am not allowed to push the medication button and she was sound asleep. At midnight she woke up crying and in pain. It took several hours of chasing it to get it under control.

Mama bear was not happy.

The nurse that let it go was not there, and the third shift nurse did a pretty good job of chasing it. Then...just as she was getting the pain resolved, Zoey kept telling us that she wanted to go potty.

She has a catheter and I told her that it was going potty for her. She continued to insist that she wanted to go potty. Finally, she started crying that it hurt and she REALLY needed to go. Any of you who have had ultrasounds and have had to hold a full bladder know that pain. I recognized the look in her eyes. Yeah...not fun. I told the nurse that Zoey was a really tough kid and that if she was crying it was because she was in serious pain. The nurse finally decided to check her bladder pressure and sure enough...she had a very full bladder. The catheter wasn't working and it had all backed up into her bladder. ARGH!!! Poor baby! It took almost an hour of manipulating the tubing to get it to drain properly and get Zoey comfortable again. It was 4AM by then. After that...thankfully...we were both able to sleep until the doctors came in at 7:45 to do rounds.

Needless to say, she is a bit droopy today after the lack of sleep, but she is staying fairly comfortable. The loss of the epidural was most unfortunate because it does a much better job of pain control. She has learned to push the button, though, for the m*rphine, so it gives her a little control.

The catheter situation continues to be an issue but I will not let it get to the point it got last night. It did get fairly uncomfortable this morning with the bladder getting too full again and I explained to the nurse what had happened. It took her awhile to fully believe me but she eventually got it taken care of. The have decided that the tube is too small for her but there is nothing that can be done about it now. The plan is to take it out tomorrow and start to get her out of bed a bit more.

It really seems to hurt her when we move her leg. She cries out and it makes me feel so awful.

All of this makes me so very, very sad for the children in the world who have no Mama by their side when they need medical attention. Who but a Mama will notice little things... or know the child well enough to know when something is amiss? No one should have to go through life without a parent.

I am so glad that sweet Zoey has her Mama here. Whenever she awoke, she looked around desperately for me and as soon as she would see or hear me, she would relax.

Zoey's happy news of the day is that she got to see Grandma, Jake and Katie-bug. My mom flew in Monday night to take care of the kids so she came up to see Zoey today. They all signed Zoey's cast--which I don't have photos of because I was helping them write their names. Zoey showed them the uber-cool playroom and Jake was in heaven. They stayed for lunch and then went home awhile later.

Thank you all so much who are sending messages via email, comments on the blog, etc. I can read them on my phone throughout the day and it brings so much encouragement. I read them to Zoey and she thinks its pretty neat.

I'm sitting out in the hall right now where I can get Internet--it's not available in Zoey's room. I'll try to load some pictures before she wakes up from her nap and I have to go back.

A little droopy today--but content.

Smiling for Mama in the playroom

Jake and Kate eating lunch on the bed next to Zoey's

Grandma and Zoey

Play a cutthroat game of Memory

My mom told Jake he had his shoes on the wrong feet. He then crossed his feet and said, "Now dey not!" Haha

Jake in the playroom, totally enamored with the pool table