Just a quick fly-by post to show you how fabulously Ellie's doing with her SWASH (hip brace)! Look at her, showing off for the therapist at Children's Hospital!
Also note that Ellie's wearing her new AFO's (leg braces) underneath her jeans. Aren't her sneakers cute? Her feet look all puffy because the shoes have to fit over the braces (they're made especially for this purpose). I think they're sweet! Anyway, Ellie's learning to walk with a lot of new equipment so I think she's progressing really well. I'm encouraged!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
It's a Love-Hate Relationship
Today's been a good day. But, it IS still Monday. So, we'll meet in the middle and do a "Love-Hate Top Ten". Put that in your smoke and pipe it!
Five Things I Hate:
1) Chin hair. Why does it grow back so quickly? Pluck, pluck, grow, grow. What a stupid cycle.
2) Stores and restaurants with non-handicap-accessible doors. Do you know how difficult it is to get a stroller through a inaccessible door? Well, I know a lot of my readers do! It infuriates me to think of a few years from now, when I'm trying to get a wheelchair through those doors. And it makes my blood boil to think of Ellie, trying to be a beautifully independent "older girl" (I refuse to think of her as a woman for at least the next 20 years!), running some errands on her own, only to be met with a door that she's unable to open from her wheelchair. I'm starting to make sure that the employees of said establishments know how frustrating this is (I'm being BOLD, not witchy, right?!).
3) Icicle lights. Especially icicle light in freakin' APRIL. Take 'em down, people, just take 'em down...
4) Meth. (I'm watching Intervention. If you ever want to watch a show that makes you feel better about your life, watch some Intervention! )
5) Beauty Pageants. I actually remember watching the "Miss Canada Pageant" and, of course, "Miss America" when growing up. My mom, sister and I would actually make a little girl-night of it. While it was fun hanging out with them, I realize now that watching that crap only fed into the ridiculous stereotype of what a "true girl" should look and sound like. I heard about the controversy caused by Miss California's statement against gay marriage in the "Miss USA" pageant last night. I watched a clip of the "shocking moment" and all I could think about was the fact that 3 minutes earlier, this chick had been up there strutting her stuff in a string bikini! How on earth are we supposed to dialogue a serious subject like gay marriage with someone who dresses like that? With someone who stands in front of a camera wearing duct tape on her boobs in order to make them look perkier? She is an embarrassment to me, as a woman who enjoys having intelligent conversations while fully -clothed.
Five Things I Love:
1) Ellie's word explosion. The girl talks all the time. Big sentences. Somewhat big words. Copying EVERYTHING. Love, love, love it!
2) My job. I really don't think I've ever loved a job as much as the one I've got now. And I've had some pretty cool jobs. Although this week, my job-love is also causing my heart to cry a bit. The best part of my job is the relationship-building it not only affords, but commands. I am expected to be involved in the lives of the students. There are some college "kids" that have touched my heart in a profound way and I'm selfishly sad to see them graduate at the end of the month! While I can't wait to see how God's gonna use them as they venture out into "real life", I am sad to see them go.
3) Sunny. As in, my sweet friend Sunny. While I love her for a million reasons, I especially love her for introducing me to grilled peanut butter and jelly sammiches. It sounds much nicer to say I love Sunny, not just the sandwich!
4) DVR. Richard will love this one. He could thumb up his nose and sing, "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, I told you so..." It was his idea to get the big TV, and definitely his idea to upgrade to HD cable and, without a doubt, his idea to subscribe to the DVR option. And, oh, have I become spoiled! I can record CBC National News while watching CNN, or vice versa! Mucho happiness!
5) My new highlights. Another reason for number 2. Working allows me to see my amazing and not-super-cheap hairdresser more often!
Five Things I Hate:
1) Chin hair. Why does it grow back so quickly? Pluck, pluck, grow, grow. What a stupid cycle.
2) Stores and restaurants with non-handicap-accessible doors. Do you know how difficult it is to get a stroller through a inaccessible door? Well, I know a lot of my readers do! It infuriates me to think of a few years from now, when I'm trying to get a wheelchair through those doors. And it makes my blood boil to think of Ellie, trying to be a beautifully independent "older girl" (I refuse to think of her as a woman for at least the next 20 years!), running some errands on her own, only to be met with a door that she's unable to open from her wheelchair. I'm starting to make sure that the employees of said establishments know how frustrating this is (I'm being BOLD, not witchy, right?!).
3) Icicle lights. Especially icicle light in freakin' APRIL. Take 'em down, people, just take 'em down...
4) Meth. (I'm watching Intervention. If you ever want to watch a show that makes you feel better about your life, watch some Intervention! )
5) Beauty Pageants. I actually remember watching the "Miss Canada Pageant" and, of course, "Miss America" when growing up. My mom, sister and I would actually make a little girl-night of it. While it was fun hanging out with them, I realize now that watching that crap only fed into the ridiculous stereotype of what a "true girl" should look and sound like. I heard about the controversy caused by Miss California's statement against gay marriage in the "Miss USA" pageant last night. I watched a clip of the "shocking moment" and all I could think about was the fact that 3 minutes earlier, this chick had been up there strutting her stuff in a string bikini! How on earth are we supposed to dialogue a serious subject like gay marriage with someone who dresses like that? With someone who stands in front of a camera wearing duct tape on her boobs in order to make them look perkier? She is an embarrassment to me, as a woman who enjoys having intelligent conversations while fully -clothed.
Five Things I Love:
1) Ellie's word explosion. The girl talks all the time. Big sentences. Somewhat big words. Copying EVERYTHING. Love, love, love it!
2) My job. I really don't think I've ever loved a job as much as the one I've got now. And I've had some pretty cool jobs. Although this week, my job-love is also causing my heart to cry a bit. The best part of my job is the relationship-building it not only affords, but commands. I am expected to be involved in the lives of the students. There are some college "kids" that have touched my heart in a profound way and I'm selfishly sad to see them graduate at the end of the month! While I can't wait to see how God's gonna use them as they venture out into "real life", I am sad to see them go.
3) Sunny. As in, my sweet friend Sunny. While I love her for a million reasons, I especially love her for introducing me to grilled peanut butter and jelly sammiches. It sounds much nicer to say I love Sunny, not just the sandwich!
4) DVR. Richard will love this one. He could thumb up his nose and sing, "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, I told you so..." It was his idea to get the big TV, and definitely his idea to upgrade to HD cable and, without a doubt, his idea to subscribe to the DVR option. And, oh, have I become spoiled! I can record CBC National News while watching CNN, or vice versa! Mucho happiness!
5) My new highlights. Another reason for number 2. Working allows me to see my amazing and not-super-cheap hairdresser more often!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Random
Okay. Time to update!
I went through the past monthish of pics and came up with a few to share. Lucky you!
Ellie's been a true Canadian this winter, attending some hockey games. Here she is at her first non-pro game, watching her "big brother" Shane play in the provincial finals. Good little Canuck she is!
I know I already shared a pic of Ellie showing off all of her Play-Doh butterflies. We have been spending a LOT of time with Play-Doh lately. The girl can't get enough of the stuff. While a bit messy and annoying for me, I secretly love it. Why? Because that's what a 4-year old SHOULD be playing with. And any time that Ellie does something age-typical I smile inside. 'Course, my smiling isn't quite as cute as hers, especially in this pic!
So, we took another trip to Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. This was Minneapolis-with-a-twist, since the drive down consisted of Mommy and Ellie. And a whole lot of Sesame Street. And even more praying.
Richie-Rich was away on business and we decided that at the end of his work-trip, he would fly to Minneapolis and meet us. We needed to go back down to the Twin Cities to pick up Ellie's new hip and leg braces at Shriner's Hospital. This was the only weekend in March that worked. I convinced Richard (and myself) that I would be just fine conquering the what-should-take 8-hour drive by myself.
That was before I knew that the worst blizzard of the year would hit northern Minnesota during our drive down! It was buh-rutal out there. I've driven in Canada many a winter, and these were by far the worst road conditions I've encountered. I was averaging 30 miles per hour. Ellie was unbelievably amazing and sat quietly in the back seat, watching her Sesame Street and, when asked, praying to Jesus for our safety. Precious girl! Needless to say, our eleven-hour drive finally came to an end and we arrived safely (albeit traumatized) in Minneapolis.
In fact, we arrived a day earlier than Richard expected, as it was our plan to surprise him at the airport! He had no clue that we were already in Minneapolis, and we got him good! Ellie and I hopped onto the hotel's airport shuttle and we were waiting in the back seat of the van when he hopped on:
It made the brutal drive ALMOST worth it!
Getting to Minneapolis early meant that we could spend an entire blissful day, just shopping and relaxing and loving on each other (remember, we'd been apart while Richie was away on his business trip.... cuz, I need an excuse to love on the guy!). It was SO GOOD. It felt like it had been a long time since we relished each other's company.
We found a Sesame Street ride outside of a Toys R Us in Minneapolis and Ellie thought she'd died and gone to heaven...
Of course, the main reason for the trip was to head back to Shriner's Hospital. We didn't get a ton of pics from our visit this time 'round, but it was once again amazing. I'm just blown away that we can leave a hospital with $2000 of equipment and a "thank you" as payment. It's an unbelievable place.
In the waiting room...
Thank the Lord we didn't have to endure another blizzard on the way back home (even a hardcore pack of Zoloft couldn't handle any more snow!), but we DID have to detour a bit in order to bypass the big Red River flooding in Fargo and Grand Forks. Being the Nosey Ned that he is, Richard had to snap a pic of the bloated waterway as we crossed over the last passable bridge. Thankfully, we didn't see any floating cows this time (as was the case in THE flood of '97).
We made it home and I was quite giddy to show Gemma, our therapy goddess, Ellie's new hip brace. It's called a SWASH (stands for something, just can't remember what!). It's supposed to keep Ellie's hips aligned and stop her from scissoring (criss-crossing) when she walks. It also works to take away some of her muscle tightness (spasticity) in her legs. You could tell that she was a lot weaker with it on, because it was making her often unused leg muscles work harder(which is what it's supposed to do).
Here she is with her SWASH on, being encouraged by the Amazing Gemma, to push her doll into class.
I'm pretty encouraged by the brace, but I have to admit that once again, I'm reminded that this is all a journey of endurance, requiring much patience. With every new piece of equipment, I get excited for a mini-miracle. Maybe this will be the silver bullet. Maybe this is THE thing that's gonna get Ellie really walking. Of course, the rational part of me realizes that the miracle equipment, the miracle surgery, doesn't exist. But, I always fight a bit of disappointment when I'm faced with that reality.
Right now, Ellie actually walks worse with the brace on, because with it, she has to learn how to walk properly and figure out new ways to move her body. It's frustrating for everyone, but I know it's worth it. So, ask me in six months how I feel about the SWASH and I'm really hoping that I'll be super-enthused.
Lastly, to keep to the "random" theme, I will leave you with Easter pics of Princess Ellie and her precious cousin, Zach. All dressed up, ready to celebrate Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection! Sweeter than a million chocolate bunnies!
I went through the past monthish of pics and came up with a few to share. Lucky you!
Ellie's been a true Canadian this winter, attending some hockey games. Here she is at her first non-pro game, watching her "big brother" Shane play in the provincial finals. Good little Canuck she is!
I know I already shared a pic of Ellie showing off all of her Play-Doh butterflies. We have been spending a LOT of time with Play-Doh lately. The girl can't get enough of the stuff. While a bit messy and annoying for me, I secretly love it. Why? Because that's what a 4-year old SHOULD be playing with. And any time that Ellie does something age-typical I smile inside. 'Course, my smiling isn't quite as cute as hers, especially in this pic!
So, we took another trip to Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. This was Minneapolis-with-a-twist, since the drive down consisted of Mommy and Ellie. And a whole lot of Sesame Street. And even more praying.
Richie-Rich was away on business and we decided that at the end of his work-trip, he would fly to Minneapolis and meet us. We needed to go back down to the Twin Cities to pick up Ellie's new hip and leg braces at Shriner's Hospital. This was the only weekend in March that worked. I convinced Richard (and myself) that I would be just fine conquering the what-should-take 8-hour drive by myself.
That was before I knew that the worst blizzard of the year would hit northern Minnesota during our drive down! It was buh-rutal out there. I've driven in Canada many a winter, and these were by far the worst road conditions I've encountered. I was averaging 30 miles per hour. Ellie was unbelievably amazing and sat quietly in the back seat, watching her Sesame Street and, when asked, praying to Jesus for our safety. Precious girl! Needless to say, our eleven-hour drive finally came to an end and we arrived safely (albeit traumatized) in Minneapolis.
In fact, we arrived a day earlier than Richard expected, as it was our plan to surprise him at the airport! He had no clue that we were already in Minneapolis, and we got him good! Ellie and I hopped onto the hotel's airport shuttle and we were waiting in the back seat of the van when he hopped on:
It made the brutal drive ALMOST worth it!
Getting to Minneapolis early meant that we could spend an entire blissful day, just shopping and relaxing and loving on each other (remember, we'd been apart while Richie was away on his business trip.... cuz, I need an excuse to love on the guy!). It was SO GOOD. It felt like it had been a long time since we relished each other's company.
We found a Sesame Street ride outside of a Toys R Us in Minneapolis and Ellie thought she'd died and gone to heaven...
Of course, the main reason for the trip was to head back to Shriner's Hospital. We didn't get a ton of pics from our visit this time 'round, but it was once again amazing. I'm just blown away that we can leave a hospital with $2000 of equipment and a "thank you" as payment. It's an unbelievable place.
In the waiting room...
Thank the Lord we didn't have to endure another blizzard on the way back home (even a hardcore pack of Zoloft couldn't handle any more snow!), but we DID have to detour a bit in order to bypass the big Red River flooding in Fargo and Grand Forks. Being the Nosey Ned that he is, Richard had to snap a pic of the bloated waterway as we crossed over the last passable bridge. Thankfully, we didn't see any floating cows this time (as was the case in THE flood of '97).
We made it home and I was quite giddy to show Gemma, our therapy goddess, Ellie's new hip brace. It's called a SWASH (stands for something, just can't remember what!). It's supposed to keep Ellie's hips aligned and stop her from scissoring (criss-crossing) when she walks. It also works to take away some of her muscle tightness (spasticity) in her legs. You could tell that she was a lot weaker with it on, because it was making her often unused leg muscles work harder(which is what it's supposed to do).
Here she is with her SWASH on, being encouraged by the Amazing Gemma, to push her doll into class.
I'm pretty encouraged by the brace, but I have to admit that once again, I'm reminded that this is all a journey of endurance, requiring much patience. With every new piece of equipment, I get excited for a mini-miracle. Maybe this will be the silver bullet. Maybe this is THE thing that's gonna get Ellie really walking. Of course, the rational part of me realizes that the miracle equipment, the miracle surgery, doesn't exist. But, I always fight a bit of disappointment when I'm faced with that reality.
Right now, Ellie actually walks worse with the brace on, because with it, she has to learn how to walk properly and figure out new ways to move her body. It's frustrating for everyone, but I know it's worth it. So, ask me in six months how I feel about the SWASH and I'm really hoping that I'll be super-enthused.
Lastly, to keep to the "random" theme, I will leave you with Easter pics of Princess Ellie and her precious cousin, Zach. All dressed up, ready to celebrate Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection! Sweeter than a million chocolate bunnies!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Good Friday
Sometimes, the term Good Friday seems like such an oxymoron. While I realize that it is GOOD beyond measure because of the gift of eternal life that resulted in Jesus' death, it's always been a bit of a somber day for me. Jesus was tortured and murdered on this day. It sends chills up my spine when I think of the pain, both physical and mental, that He endured....for ME.
All because He loved me so much.
It's overwhelming. In times of anxiety, especially pertaining to Ellie, her future and her medical care, I often calm my heart with thoughts of that omnipotent love.
God loves Ellie more than I do.
The same Jesus who bled on the cross for ME, also did so for Ellie. The same Jesus who loved ME that much, also loved Ellie accordingly.
What a comfort. I have often wondered how I'd ever walk this rough path without the warm hand-holding of God. In the midst of the storm, He is the only calm. Knowing that "this too shall pass" and that "in light of eternity, this is fleeting" are, at times, the only tidbits of knowledge that give me the strength to lift my rubber boot out from the miles of mud.
I know that I've been a terrible blogger lately, and I apologize! Things have been busy, and I have many a story to tell and picture to post, but for today, I'd just like to leave it with Good Friday.
Overwhelming Friday. Compassionate Friday. Life-changing Friday. Love Friday.
All because He loved me so much.
It's overwhelming. In times of anxiety, especially pertaining to Ellie, her future and her medical care, I often calm my heart with thoughts of that omnipotent love.
God loves Ellie more than I do.
The same Jesus who bled on the cross for ME, also did so for Ellie. The same Jesus who loved ME that much, also loved Ellie accordingly.
What a comfort. I have often wondered how I'd ever walk this rough path without the warm hand-holding of God. In the midst of the storm, He is the only calm. Knowing that "this too shall pass" and that "in light of eternity, this is fleeting" are, at times, the only tidbits of knowledge that give me the strength to lift my rubber boot out from the miles of mud.
I know that I've been a terrible blogger lately, and I apologize! Things have been busy, and I have many a story to tell and picture to post, but for today, I'd just like to leave it with Good Friday.
Overwhelming Friday. Compassionate Friday. Life-changing Friday. Love Friday.
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