Rewin Time to August

Here's a peek at the month of August...

Miami County Fair:
The kids look forward to going to the county fair all year and have a blast riding all the rides.  This year their cousins joined them and even rode on some of the rides with them.

Jenna was hilarious - she kept raising her hands throughout the rides!  I think she was hamming it up for the camera, but I also think that's how she was feeling - loving every minute of it!

More excitement from Jenna!  Grant is finally tall enough to ride the swings - one of Jenna's favorites from last year.

The slide is also lots of fun.

This is a miniature roller coaster.  Jenna and Grant could have ridden it all night long.  It was definitely a favorite!

I got to ride a few rides with the kids.  One of the reasons I love having kids is because it allows me to be a kid too.  So fun!

Even Drew rode a few rides with them.

Summer Nature Class:
 Both Jenna and Grant love the outdoors, so we signed them up for a nature class.  With Grant having turned 4, and Jenna still 5, they were in the same class.  The class met every day for 2 1/2 hours a day for one week.  They LOVED it!

This day they got to play in the mud.  Grant didn't want to get muddy, but Jenna loved it!

On the last day, they had a celebration with lots of fun activities.  Parents were invited to attend, so I got to watch them in action.  Here they're doing a relay race.

A humungous slip-n-slide!

And they got to go canoeing in the lake.  I had Hannah with me, so I wasn't able to ride with them, but one of the leaders took them out. 

Spiderman Attacks!!
 Uncle Brian and Aunt Natalie got Grant some fun Spiderman toys for his birthday.  One of them is a glove with a canister of silly string that attaches to it, so you can spray the webs just like Spiderman.  So Jenna and Grant donned their Spiderman/girl gear and waited for Daddy to come home from work so they could attack!

You gotta love their superhero pose!

Attack!!!!!

Drew played it up well.  ;)

SO.MUCH.FUN!!!

South Carolina Trip:
 We took a trip to South Carolina to visit my aunt and uncle, along with my sister's family and my parents.  We always love going down there - it's always a load of fun filled with lots of laughs!

Swimming in their neighborhood pool

The kids handed out hats to everyone, so we had to get a hat picture!

Cousins...minus a few.

A highlight of the trip is riding the boat and swimming in the lake.  Jenna and Grant always look forward to the lake!  They both got adventurous jumping off the dock into Drew's arms.

Hannah loved it too!

Out on the lake

Aunt Mary needed a co-pilot apparently.

Riding the golf cart to the pool.

Jenna and her aunt

After some long days outdoors, they were like zombies in the evenings and became glued to the TV.  It did allow the adults to have some conversation though.

The whole gang!

The boys even got in some golfing

And of course some jet skiing - that's Drew out on the water.

August Randoms:
 Lastly, here are some random pictures from August...

This is what Grant looks like after Drew's church softball games!!

Jenna has become quite the helper to me this year.  After one of our grocery trips, without me even asking her, she unloaded the cart and then put the cart away.  Such a sweetheart!

She's ROLLING!!  This little stinker started rolling from back to tummy to back to tummy.  It's slow, but we're excited to see her consecutively rolling!

Poor thing was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep in her highchair!

Love this shot of her with a ponytail - so cute!

My pretty little lady!

Me with some college friends at her baby shower.  I always love catching up with them when we're all in town together (although one lives in Georgia and one in Wisconsin, so it doesn't happen often).

Gram-Gram has the touch!  She's always able to get Hannah to fall asleep.  :)

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Jenna and Hannah and Hannah's sweet grin.  They sure love each other!

Grant's first dentist appointment - no cavities!

Grant also has a special bond with Hannah.  He loves her so much and it's obvious Hannah loves him too.  She LIGHTS UP whenever Grant's around.  I love to see their special bond!

What do you do on a rainy day???  Go play in it!!

And jump in the puddles!

Stomp, stomp, stomp

I came in his room and found this!  Poor guy had apparently fallen out of his bed during the night, but was too tired to get back in bed and so decided to just get comfortable on the floor instead.  Hilarious!

Another one of Gram-Gram and her little girl!  Love this one!

Rewind Time to July

I feel like July was just a few weeks ago....yet it's already mid-September!!  I've actually already posted about 3 of the main events from July - our family trip to Indiana, Drew and my 10-year anniversary to the Dominican Republic, and Grant's 4th birthday.  So you'll get a little break from all the LONG posts lately with just a few more pictures from the month of July.

Hannah's PT (Faye) invited us to an Ambucs event.  According to their website, Ambucs is a non-profit service organization consisting of a diverse group of men and women who are dedicated to creating mobility and independence for people with disabilities.  Basically they bring in a bunch of Amtryke bikes for the children to try and to also adapt and adjust to each child's specific needs.  You then get placed on a national wishlist.  I don't quite understand all the details, but I believe we can get one of these bikes for free once our name reaches the top of the wishlist; however, Faye is trying to organize a local Ambucs chapter where big local businesses donate time and money to getting these bikes for children in our country, which would mean Hannah would get a bike a lot sooner.  I believe we also can just purchase a bike if we didn't want to wait as long, but for now we're going to wait.  So here are some pictures from Hannah's bike "fitting."

Hannah getting fitted (Hannah's PT is in the red shirt)

Trying it out

She has a hard time holding on with her right hand because her right side is more affected than her left.

All smiles!

She loved it!  I'm hoping we'll be able to get one by the Spring, so she can "ride" her bike outside with the other kids.

We love going to La Comedia Dinner Theater each year with the kids.  Last year we saw Peter Pan, and this year it was Mary Poppins. As usual, we had a great time and the kids LOVED it, especially when Mary Poppins "flew" over their heads!

Of course we had to get a little milkshake during intermission.

A picture with Mary Poppins and Bert

Random July:

Grant got to ride the penny horse while on a quick grocery shopping date with Mom

Our first cucumber of the summer!

I had to include this because I thought it was sooo funny!!  Poor thing was trying to get comfortable enough to nap in the car. 

Hannah's first dentist appointment - all was good!  (Aunt Mary and Brian (Rudy) - I just noticed both your football teams are being represented in the background!)

Who doesn't love Froot Loops?!

Maw-Maws first selfie with Hannah.

Reading before bedtime

Jenna and I working on the paper mache pinatas for Grant's birthday party.

Sleeping beauty

The cousins love rolling down Grandpa and Grandma Shafers "hill" in their side yard!

Hannah's New Equipment

As I've mentioned in previous posts, right now our difficulties concerning Hannah pertain to grocery shopping and eating out.  She's not sitting on her own and we don't have anything to help her positionally.  However, a product was brought to my attention that was made for those very reasons - apparently we're not the only parents out there struggling with appropriate seating options for their special needs children.

It's called the GoTo Seat.  It's light weight, but sturdy.  It has a five-point harness and a high back to provide the right support.  When I found it online, Drew and I hemmed and hawed over whether we should get it for her - would it really help, how long will she need that kind of support (before she's hopefully sitting on her own), and is it worth the cost since insurance would not help?  But as we discussed it we realized we can only live in the present - we don't know what the future holds, so to hold off getting something for her that would benefit both her and us because of the uncertainty of how long she could use it, just doesn't make sense.  We decided, if it's something she can use, then we need to try to get it for her.  Boy am I so glad we did!!  It has been even better than I thought!  It works wonderfully for her and has solved those main problems.

She can now join us at the table when we go out to eat.  No more sitting in our laps while we're trying to feed her and ourselves or sitting off to the side in the humungous stroller.  I love it!

No slumping or slouching anymore!!

Grocery shopping is a breeze!  No more propping or squishing things around her.  :)

We also found another way to use the GoTo Seat - in the bike trailer when we go on bike rides.  Before she was slumped to the side, but now she can sit up comfortably and see what's going on around her.

Another piece of equipment we recently got for Hannah is a manual wheelchair.  Hannah's therapist brought it from Riverside for us to borrow for the time being.  It has been perfect!  It has a long handle behind her that we use to push her around.  The chair didn't have any straps in it when we got it, so we stuck the GoTo Seat in it and it fit perfectly as well!  Now she has straps and the right back support.  The kids love taking her for walks around the loop in our neighborhood cul-de-sac and I love seeing her being able to be outside, interacting with her siblings and experiencing things an 18-month old should be experiencing.  

The last piece of equipment we received was a gift from Drew's family - his mom, James, his brother Brian, Brian's wife Natalie, and his sister Cathy. It's called the Upsee and it just came out this past April.  A mother in Ireland created it to provide mobility for her immobile child.  The idea is that you can give your child the independence to experience standing, walking, and kicking a ball.  We had been wanting to get one for Hannah, but it's yet another piece of equipment that insurance won't cover, so we just weren't sure we could get it at the moment.  Then one day, Brian emailed us to say that the family discussed it and wanted to get it for Hannah.  I don't think I was able to wipe the smile off my face for quite a few days afterward.  The Upsee brings Hannah so much joy!  She absolutely loves being upright and walking.  Whenever I ask if she wants to walk, her whole face lights up and she giggles and laughs in excitement.  Hannah's PT also thinks it's great for therapy for her.  It requires her to move her legs and provides her the experience of walking.  I try to use it at least every other day (if not more).  She loves it and is becoming more interested in things around her.  We always have to stop and look/touch the front door as well as plants along our walk.  If we're near outdoor toys, she likes being upright and having her hands free to be able to play with them - like the push mower.

The Upsee is actually very simple to use.  It comes with a harness for the child to wear that then clips into a waist belt for the parent.  Then there are shoe plates that connect the adult and child's feet, so when the adult lifts her foot, the child's foot also lifts.

Our first time trying out the Upsee!  It's actually very comfortable for me to wear and seems to be quite comfortable for Hannah too.

It was bright out, hence the shut eyes.  :)

Doesn't she look great in it?!  :)  We never get to see her upright, so it was amazing to see how tall she actually is.

All-in-all we're very excited about Hannah's new equipment that has really benefited both her as well as us.  We're now working on getting her a powered wheelchair.  Hannah's PT is a wonderful teacher, but also still a "student" because she never stops learning.  She's constantly attending conferences, teaching workshops, staying up on the latest research and learning how best to help children. 

So she has said that research has proven that it's very beneficial if you provide independent mobility to an immobile child (who should be mobile).  If they're able to move themselves around and explore the world around them (like any normal toddler would do), then it creates the drive to WANT to be mobile.  Plus it also provides them the sensory experiences that they're missing out on.  So we're working on getting the wheelchair for her, but it's proving to be quite the battle with insurance and others.  We're now learning what it means to be advocates for Hannah!