It's Arrived!

Back in the fall we had started looking for a new stroller for Karter. The one we have now is getting to small for him and it is starting to no longer serve its purpose.

Although Karter's wheelchair is AH-Mazing, there are some places that his chair does or will not go. Grocery shopping is hard with the wheelchair, so I generally take a stroller. The pea gravel, sand or rough terrain are also some of the other places the chair will not go.. Since we knew we were planning a vacation to a warmer climate, with inevitable beach time, we decided that a new stroller was something that we needed to look into.

Since the search began in the fall, we knew that Christmas was coming. We decided to have the family put money into his stroller, since he did not really need any more clothes or toys at the moment. In addition, there was still some money left from his birthday that needed to be put towards something.

To my dismay, special needs strollers are extremely expensive and most are really UGLY! I came across some, if you can believe it, that were over $3000! Long story short, I found the one that would suit Karter and our needs the best and also fit into our budget.

• It had to be small,
• It had to be a jogger,
  
• It had to be light enough for me to fold and lift with ease and
• It had to not look blatantly like something for a child with a disability.

Online ordering was my best option. Ordering it from a store here in Canada was going to cost me double what I could purchase and ship it for in the USA. So on the 15th of November, I found the best price online and put in the order.

Excited about the gift that would sit under the tree for Christmas, we waited for it to arrive. After two weeks, I had called to find out that the stroller was on back order for 3-4 months. YIKES! No worries...it just HAD to be her in time for our vacation, after all, that is why we purchased it for.

After a bit of emailing and working directly with the company, I received word that the stroller had been delivered to my friends place in Bellingham, yesterday. YEAH!

So this morning, I met her at the border and paid the taxes and brought it home. After all was said and done, we saved about 50% ordering it this way, PTL!

The stroller is called the Star Axiom 1.5. It is made by Adaptive Star. This new model just started production in December (hence the back order). The company was so outstanding with their customer service and accommodating my need to have it shipped in time for our vacation and my request for special paperwork for the border. You can check them out here.

I saw it in person for the first time I pulled it out of the box. I had seen one special needs stroller at a store in the fall, so I had an idea of the size, but had not seen this model in 'real life'. It is quite tall and is definitely bigger than your standard stroller, but I would suppose it need to be to hold well over a 100 pound child or small adult (wink). Everything on the stroller is heavy duty. It will last for a long time. Not to mention it has fantastic cargo space! Included in the price is a rain cover and double swivel wheel and kit. (they will arrive in a few weeks, they are still on back order - no need for them now anyhow, so it is fine)

Here are a few pictures. I took one beside our old stroller so that you can see the difference in height and size.

For all of you who contributed to the stroller - THANK YOU! Karter is really going to love it. What a fantastic addition to his quality of everyday life.

Kindergarten Update

I had mentioned last week that we were going to a meeting about kindergarten for Karter. Although we thought that we would be making our final decisions based on that meeting, that was not the case.

The meeting was more of a registration meeting, than it was informational. We put in Karter's registration as well as left them with all the documentation and reports from the various services that Karter receives; Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Physio Therapy as well as the reports from our Childcare Consultant.

From this point on, they look at his reports and a psychologist determines what type and level of support Karter will receive.

It is not until this determination is made, that we will find out if Karter can qualify for the district special needs program and if there is a spot for him. Although, we think he will qualify, we were told that in some cases children do not start in the district program until grade 1.

So with what we took from the meeting, we registered him at Paige's school to ensure that he has a spot at that school, should he not get into the district program.

That is where we are right now...in limbo...however, trusting and believing that God will work it all out!

Out Of the Mouths of Babes....

I picked up Karter at preschool the other day and in his cubby was this little picture. I saw it and read the caption and the tears started to flow. It was such a definitive statement. There were no 'if's' in the statement, but rather a concrete idea.

There is no doubt in my mind that Karter will walk; that is the faith on which I stand upon. Some days though, it seems like it takes a lifetime to get there. This faith filled statement, although I am certain completely unintentional, just made my day. It was a nice little forehead kiss from the Father just for me.

I love how sometimes the Lord uses creative ways to remind me and speak to me.

Can You Believe It?

Over the past few weeks I have been filling out all the forms for Karter to attend Kindergarten in September. Hard to believe we are already at this point.

We are currently deciding between two options for Karter; the school Paige attends and another local school that offers a Community Special Needs class. At Paige's school, he would receive one to one support in a classroom with typical children his own age. In the other program, he would be in a class designed for children with special needs from ages 5-10.

We are attending an informational meeting tomorrow evening at the school board office. I am certain that we will get a better understanding of the program. Our hope is that that meeting will help us make a clear decision on Karter's behalf.

WOW - kindergarten...I cannot believe it. How the time flies. In September, both my kids will be in school full time...still have a few months before I have to face that reality.