The great Dr. that we saw today prescribed a lot of LOVE and TLC. I think it is working!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Nathan Sees the Dr.
Nathan is feeling a little better today. He missed school AGAIN, but we are keeping our fingers crossed he will be back in school on Monday. There are only two weeks left of school and he has missed so much this year.
The great Dr. that we saw today prescribed a lot of LOVE and TLC. I think it is working!!
The great Dr. that we saw today prescribed a lot of LOVE and TLC. I think it is working!!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Addison & Preschool
On Tuesday Addison and I went to visit the preschool where she will be attending next year. It is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am-2pm.....it isn't a whole lot of time, but it will give me a chance to catch my breath. Plus Addison really needs to be around other kids - for both the development of her social skills and speech development.
Nathan is feeling a little under the weather (or there would be some pics of him in the videos). Hopefully he will be back to his old self this weekend.
Nathan is feeling a little under the weather (or there would be some pics of him in the videos). Hopefully he will be back to his old self this weekend.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Addison's Successful attempt!
Addison used the big girl potty today - YEAH!!! We are a long way from having her potty trained - but it is step in the right direction! Too bad we didn't buy any split pants when we were over in China.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
VA Beach Weekend
Last weekend we decided to take a little "refresher" trip to VA Beach. We had a wonderful time....it was a little cold, but it was nice just to be away from everything for a couple of days. We stayed at the Cape Henry Inn at Fort Story. We really recommend all of our military and DOD to take advantage of the Cape Henry Inn. We were really pleased with with our room and the staff was great. Fort Story is where the first English settlers landed in America. On the way home we stopped at the Yorktown Battlefield where we defeated the British during the American Revolution. It was really neat to see all the history.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Our Stay In Holland
Eight years ago (May 6th 2000), Bob and I were anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child. We had such high hopes and dreams for our new little man. We dreamed of the days we would first see him walk, then run while playing soccer or football, watching him graduate from high school, turning into a man, going on to college, marriage, kids.....but God had other plans for our son and for us.
Nathan was born with a rare chromosome disorder - one so rare there is no "syndrome" associated with it. Nathan has profound physical and cognitive disabilities. He is also considered medically fragile because of all of his medical conditions. Nathan was also born with an amazing outlook on life and an insurmountable amount of strength and determination. He is always laughing and smiling. He brings so much joy to our lives and to everyone he meets.
There is a paper titled "Welcome to Holland." It was written by a woman named Emily Perl Kingsley who tries to explain the joys and sorrows of raising a child with special needs. For most families of children with special needs it really strikes a chord.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland".
"Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy"
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.
But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.
We have learned so much in our eight year stay in Holland. We have meet so many wonderful people - families like us, healthcare providers who do all they can to give Nathan the best quality of life, school personnel (teachers, aides, bus drivers) who have made it their lives mission to educate Nathan and who believe he has the right to learn, and volunteers who give their time to help enrich Nathan's life and ours. We are constantly amazed, humbled and thankful for all these people...it is because of them and their support and time that we have learned to love Holland.
Our stay in Holland has taught us to appreciate the little things. We celebrate all of Nathan's goals and accomplishments because we understand what it takes for him to reach them. Life goes at a lot slower pace here in Holland, but because of it we appreciate every experience we have.
If we hadn't traveled to Holland with Nathan, we would have never truly learned that beauty comes from within and that EVERY person has some purpose in our world. It is because of Nathan that we were able to open our hearts to Addison. If we hadn't gone through the things with Nathan, we would have never entertained the idea of having another child with "special needs."
Being in Holland has also given us the chance to experience true unconditional love. Nathan gives his love freely to everyone he meets. His smile is contagious and his laugh is music to your ears. Nathan doesn't ask for anything in return - he just wants to love and be loved.
We don't know how long our stay in Holland will be. When we first brought Nathan home from the hospital, we didn't think it would be much more than 6 months. Eight years later we are still here and so very thankful for everyday we spend here. We also know in our hearts that there will be a day when we will leave Holland but we pray that we won't have to leave for a long time. In the meantime we will continue to celebrate and enjoy all that Holland has to offer.
Nathan is our hero, our joy and the light of our lives. His strength and determination continues to amazes us everyday. We are so incredibly thankful to have him in our lives. Our hopes and dreams have changed for Nathan, now we just wish for him to happy and healthy. We hope he knows how much we love him and that he brings us such incredible joy.
Happy Birthday Nathan!!! Here's hoping for many more!!!
Nathan was born with a rare chromosome disorder - one so rare there is no "syndrome" associated with it. Nathan has profound physical and cognitive disabilities. He is also considered medically fragile because of all of his medical conditions. Nathan was also born with an amazing outlook on life and an insurmountable amount of strength and determination. He is always laughing and smiling. He brings so much joy to our lives and to everyone he meets.
There is a paper titled "Welcome to Holland." It was written by a woman named Emily Perl Kingsley who tries to explain the joys and sorrows of raising a child with special needs. For most families of children with special needs it really strikes a chord.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland".
"Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy"
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.
But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.
We have learned so much in our eight year stay in Holland. We have meet so many wonderful people - families like us, healthcare providers who do all they can to give Nathan the best quality of life, school personnel (teachers, aides, bus drivers) who have made it their lives mission to educate Nathan and who believe he has the right to learn, and volunteers who give their time to help enrich Nathan's life and ours. We are constantly amazed, humbled and thankful for all these people...it is because of them and their support and time that we have learned to love Holland.
Our stay in Holland has taught us to appreciate the little things. We celebrate all of Nathan's goals and accomplishments because we understand what it takes for him to reach them. Life goes at a lot slower pace here in Holland, but because of it we appreciate every experience we have.
If we hadn't traveled to Holland with Nathan, we would have never truly learned that beauty comes from within and that EVERY person has some purpose in our world. It is because of Nathan that we were able to open our hearts to Addison. If we hadn't gone through the things with Nathan, we would have never entertained the idea of having another child with "special needs."
Being in Holland has also given us the chance to experience true unconditional love. Nathan gives his love freely to everyone he meets. His smile is contagious and his laugh is music to your ears. Nathan doesn't ask for anything in return - he just wants to love and be loved.
We don't know how long our stay in Holland will be. When we first brought Nathan home from the hospital, we didn't think it would be much more than 6 months. Eight years later we are still here and so very thankful for everyday we spend here. We also know in our hearts that there will be a day when we will leave Holland but we pray that we won't have to leave for a long time. In the meantime we will continue to celebrate and enjoy all that Holland has to offer.
Nathan is our hero, our joy and the light of our lives. His strength and determination continues to amazes us everyday. We are so incredibly thankful to have him in our lives. Our hopes and dreams have changed for Nathan, now we just wish for him to happy and healthy. We hope he knows how much we love him and that he brings us such incredible joy.
Happy Birthday Nathan!!! Here's hoping for many more!!!
This week in our quest to see all the sights here in DC, we went to the National Arboretum. For those who have never heard of an Arboretum (me being one of them) it is a living museum where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes. Back in 1946-47 there were over 15,000 azalea bushes planted along a hill in the Arboretum. During the spring the whole side of the hill is ablaze with color. I think we saw the tail end of their blooming cycle and it had rained the night before - but it was still beautiful. They also had a bonsai garden where trees had been in "training" since 1795. Here are some pics:
The really exciting news is that last night Addison slept in her own room for the first time since her surgery in Jan!!! She only cried once and was able to go back to sleep on her own - YEAH!!! We are hoping that she will do the same again tonight.
The really exciting news is that last night Addison slept in her own room for the first time since her surgery in Jan!!! She only cried once and was able to go back to sleep on her own - YEAH!!! We are hoping that she will do the same again tonight.
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Wheels on the Bus
Nathan FINALLY went back to school on Thursday. He had missed three weeks of school because he had been sick. Thankfully he is back to his oldself!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)