Monday, May 28, 2012

"Cause baby you're a firework!"

Happy Memorial Day!  It's been a while so I thought I'd let you know how things are going. 

First of all, let me say a giant THANK YOU to everyone who donated to the March for Babies.  It was a perfect, beautiful day for a march.  Yvonne and her daughters walked with us.

And together we raised just about $1500!  You guys are just awesome.  Thank you!

Sarai had her last day of hippotherapy for the foreseeable future, and it ended just like it began...

...tears.  With everything with the new program from Active Healing, the diet and the supplements, something had to go, and it was the hippotherapy.  Since she wasn't enjoying it after all these months, it made the most sense.  Maybe we'll try again someday.  For now, one less thing.

Sarai will be starting preschool in July, a full day program, with a 1:1 aide, getting the same services she's getting now basically.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I almost want to cut everything in half.  I'm afraid she'll be in a stander or a chair all day and be talked at.  I don't know how much time they let kids crawl around on the floor, but I think that's what she needs.  Adam has said, "no way" on the half day, so I'll give it a shot and we'll see how it goes.

TheActive Healing program is going well, keeping me very busy, and a little like I want to pull my hair out, but things seem to be happening for Sarai.  Her eyes are crossing much less.  They still wander, but I see a big difference, and so does everyone else.  She's crawling up all the stairs in the house, not just the three steps into the kitchen, and she's even starting to figure out how to go down them!  We now take her to a chiropractor once a week, and have added craniosacral therapy to her list of services through early intervention.  The craniosacral is done at home, and is very, umm.... "mystical."  She will continue to get this at home when she starts school.  I don't even know how to describe it, so I won't waste your time.  But I think it's cool and seems to be getting through to her!

Mom and Bill were here this weekend, and what a beautiful weekend it was!  We took the kids swimming at their hotel...

and Sarai of course was in her glory, she LOVES the water!
At one point I was sitting with her on the steps and she just kept repeating, "Happy.... Happy....Happy...." I SWEAR!  Mom and Bill heard her too!

Bill did a ton of things around the house that we've been putting off/unable to do ourselves.  One of them was to hook up the winch in the dining room so we can do the suspended inverted rotation/SIR/hang-Sarai-from-the-ceiling.  This is where I almost had a heart attack....
and this is the completed project....
(This is how we play "Hangin' With Friends" in our house!)

It's going to take some getting used to.  Trying to figure out how to get her feet strapped is a clumsy process, but I know we'll get the hang of it.  The SIR is a great heel cord stretch, increases blood flow to the brain, and gives her vision a good exercise by making her have to process everything upside down.  Thanks for all your help Bill!!  We could never have done this on our own.

Caleb??  He's good.
One for you...

One for me!

This guy is going to make a great house guest, he never goes anywhere empty handed!

With Katie's help I'm trying to plan the kids' birthday party for July.  We're going to have a carnival!  There'll be a roller coaster...

Caged animals....
And who knows what else??  Just hoping for a fun day, and no rain!

School is winding down, and I'm staring at this coming summer with an MRI in Pittsburgh, an EEG at Westchester, and another trip to MA to check her progress.  Sounds like a real vacation, right?  I may just start "pool crashing" at the Hampton Inn to get some relaxing in.  Can I be arrested for that??

Probably only one thing that'll get me through....

... my ice maker!  Now I'm livin' the good life.  (**Thanks again, Bill!)

Do anything fun for Memorial Day weekend?  Gotta run and get some burgers on the grill!  xoxo

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for the post. I'm glad that you are seeing progress with Sarai. All of your hard work is paying off. Sarai has such a wonderful family. Love, Aunt Kathy

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  2. Love the update! I gotta say, I'm intrigued by the craniosacral therapy. Smootches to the kids!

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    1. I wish I could describe the craniosacral. I tried to find a good link for the blog with info but wasn't happy with any I found. I can tell you it's a method of "healing from within," using very light touch and tuning into Sarai's energy. And it's a hell of a lot less invasive than whatever her doctors would rather see her doing! : )

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  3. Amanda, I don't go on here much, but when I have time, I smile with such joy. You are an amazing mom and do everything you can to help Sarai! I am so impressed by how well you handle things. Sometimes I feel like I am losing it with 2 now, but when I read about all you guys go through and all your hard work, I think ok I can do this. Just want to thank you for being an inspiration to me and I am so happy to hear that both kids are doing well. Hope you enjoyed the break and hope to maybe see you soon-Alison Roper

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