The Road To A Miracle

New Developments

2011-12-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

Karter has a number of goals at school right now that we are working on at home as well. One of his goals was to hold his cup with assistance from the teacher or from us (hand over hand).

A week or so back, he was sitting on the couch and I set him up with his cup, hand over hand. I had to grab the phone so I let go of him so I could walk away and he continued to hold the cup on his own.

He ended up drinking the entire thing on his own! He did it again the next day. He can do it if his arms are well supported behind him however in his wheelchair, there is not enough support to make that possible. Right now, at home we are working on this and are thrilled at his progress. Here is a picture so you can see for yourself.

The Van Story

2011-11-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

If I were to say I was overwhelmed with gratitude, that would be very much the understatement of the year. Our van is a miracle...seriously, I am not trying to be dramatic, it is a true testimony of God's faithfulness in our lives once again.

About a year ago, we made the decision to "start" the process of getting an adapted van. Looking into it we discovered it was WAY over our heads to cover the cost with our current monthly budget. We looked at used van but then even they were too pricey.

Knowing very little about conversions at the time, we sort of figured we would just convert the van we already had only to find out later that there is no such conversion kit for our van...ok back to square one.

With the help of various people at the Child Development Center, we were given names of organizations that offered grants for such a situation. I started to look into these grants.

In March we were surprised...SERIOUSLY surprised...by a fundraiser that had been thrown in Karter's honor to help raise funds to put towards this project. Just over $5000 came in from that event. That spurred us on to move forward in the process.

I spent about a month compiling all the information that we would need to put an application together for the two grant applications I would be sending. At the end of April I sent both applications out; the amount I asked for would combined equal about $50000. After getting quotes for converted vans, we knew we were looking at over $60000 as our final price...EEK!

In June, we received our first application letter back...we had been denied because our pre-taxable income was $2000 too high. This was so hard to understand because of the circumstances that surrounded that extra $2000 (I will spare you the details to keep things short). Although extremely disappointed, we picked ourselves off and gathered our slightly bruised faith and reminded ourselves that we trust that God had all things taken care of and that this was no surprise to Him.

My Grandmother passed away at the beginning of June and unknown to us, in lieu of flowers people were asked to give donations in her memory to Missions or to a fund for Karter. Over the course of a few months another $2000 came in from friends and family in my Grandma's memory...if you knew my Grandma, this would have expressed the desire of her heart perfectly. We were more than overwhelmed by this.

I started looking further into other sources of funding; different service organizations and other children's charities. I received grant applications from two other charities and completed and sent applications to them at that time.

In August I received word that one of the first grant applications I sent in had been approved for $25000...we were elated. We were more than half way there!

In September we received approval from two of the other charities; $7500 from one and $3500 from the other.

At the end of September, we felt that we needed to take a step of faith and purchase the van. Each of the grant approvals was only good for 6 months and the ordering process takes up to 12 weeks. So we went ahead and made our choice and signed the papers. Because they required a down payment, we went ahead and traded our old van in to use as the down payment.

On the way home after signing the papers, I received an email from one of the people I had contacted in the summer about funding. He was from a local service club. He let me know that he had been away for a few months and that he would be sending me an application for funding. In the end, we received $1000 from them (actually the email came in as we were driving to pick up the van...interesting how that all worked out).

With our trade in and all of our grant money we managed to raise a total of $52,000 towards the van. There are a couple of other things that we are waiting for and hopefully those will take down that amount even more. An additional blessing is that we have had a family member offer us an interest free loan for the balance, an amazing gesture that helped us out more than they will even know.

God is so faithful. He saw our need and provided for it. This van is a testimony that He is interested in every part of our lives, even a wheelchair van! He knew that we were unable to attain the van through our monthly means, so He put people and agencies on our path to assist us.

Karter loves his new van, it has made daily routines so much easier and Karter is thankful to not be transferred out of his wheelchair into his car seat and vise versa every time we make a stop. And me...well I an thankful that I no longer have to hoist both Karter and his chair into the vehicle anymore...I think my chiropractor will see me even less now!

So if you see us driving down the road with enormous smiles on our faces just know that it is because of our extreme gratitude for God's provision! Many of you are a part of that provision, so we extend our thanks to you as well.

IT'S HERE!!!!

2011-11-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

I have only a moment to update right now, there will be more details to follow...soon!

We picked up the van the other day. We are thrilled at its ease on our daily routines with Karter. We are absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude right now. I cannot wait to update you with all the details....

"We Remember"

2011-11-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

I had the privileged of joining Karter's class for a school wide assembly for Remembrance Day. Karter and another girl from his class had been chosen to participate in the Wreath Ceremony.

It moved so fast and because of the nature of the assembly, I held myself from back from jumping in the middle of the ceremony to get a shot... (but you have no idea the restraint it took ;-)). Most of my pictures are a bit blury because of movement, but I had to share them anyhow.

:::FRIENDSHIP:::

2011-11-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there are no words...

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

Karter's first elementary school field trip was to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunaley for them, they missed the nice fall weather by 1 day and ended up going on a dreary cold October day; such is life in BC.

Because the patch is not easily accessible by wheelchair, we sent Karter in his stroller. Here are a couple of shots from the day. We were told after he was not a very happy camper (secretly I didn't blame him, I don't think my mood would have been very cheery in the rain either ;-)).

Worn Out

2011-10-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

Friday there was no school, so we had an at home day. At one point, Karter and I were on the floor and I had him on his tummy; he did not fight me as he normally does, instead he just rested his head on his arm. I was laying beside him and we snuggled until he fell asleep. I think he was worn out from a full week of school.

Sometimes is takes a step of faith

2011-09-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

Our journey to the van in slowly coming to a close. As I have mentioned the majority of our fund raising has come through and we are just waiting on a couple of other things in order to be finished.

Although we are not quite 100% there yet with the funding, we decided that we were going to step out in faith and order the van. One of our grants has a six month expiry date and the van can take up to 3 months to order, so it was important that we not lose that money.

So this past week, Kurt and I went in to finalize the details. We traded in our van so that we can use that as the down payment for ordering and we made the final decisions on the van. We will be a one vehicle family for awhile but we will make it work just fine.

I feel so strongly in my spirit that there are still things that are going to fall into place. I felt like the Lord was saying to me that sometimes we need to step out in faith in order to access all of what God has for us. Sometimes, we can sit back and become disappointed when things don't all work out. I feel like sometimes we need to take action in order to receive what is coming.

So that all said, we signed the papers and our van is on order. It is in stock and so we are looking at 6-8 weeks (the conversion company is slow right now) until the delivery date. In case you are curious, this is what we decided on (there were only really two options):

:::drum roll please:::

2011 Toyota Sienna, in white. The conversion will be rear entry and will allow Karter to roll in behind the 2nd row of seats and be anchored down in his chair.

One more thing...I need to mention this because I feel like it was significant (and I want to remember it in years to come ;-) ). About an hour after we made our decision, I got an email to my phone from one of the local charities that I had sent an inquiry in to a number of months back. I had sort of put them out of my mind as a possibility since I had not heard back from them. Anyhow, they sent me a application for funding and I have since been in dialogue with them. I am not sure what all the details look like, but they have received our application and will present it to their board of directors sometime in October.

Although this has been the longest we have ever taken to purchase anything in our lives, the journey has been truly a gift. It has been so amazing to see God's hand in this, to experience His favor and to be able to watch it all come together. He is good!

1st week of school

2011-09-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

We are almost through the first FULL week of school for Karter. Last week he did gradual entry each day. The first few days were about 90 minutes and then he worked his way up to half days. This week however, he has gone everyday all day!

It was weird the first day he was gone. I was working at my computer and then all of the sudden I would have this panicked feeling and I would stop my work, jump up and look at his mat...oh right he is not here. Or I would stop and listen to hear is he was awake from his nap...oh right he is not here. It was so strange. I wonder how long it will take to break that habit? I am certain this transition is only hard on me :-)

I have to say, I was skeptical about how he would handle the full days. I had figured that Karter would crash around 10:30 and then again in the afternoon. I was wrong! Karter has done amazing, he loves his class and it seems that he has not once slept.

It is pretty amazing for this Mama to see how much he is enjoying each day. When I pick him up, he is all smiles and when we hits the car, he is jibber jabbering away in the back seat, happy as can be. This just warms my heart and has made the transition so easy.

I really did fear sending him all day. Will he like it? Will he be upset the whole time? Will he eat for someone else?... Looking back, I realized I really did have a lot of worries. All of my fears and concerns have been laid to rest. His teachers are fabulous, the program is exceptional and for the first time in his life, he is in a place where he is typical. Honestly, if you have not had a child with special needs or exceptional circumstances, I am not sure you can understand what a gift that is. My son is in a place where he is like everyone else, there are no concessions made for him, there are no modifications that need to be made to the program or explanations that need to be had. For the first time, he has a place to go where he can be who he is and he can excel from that place. I almost cannot contain the joy in my heart because of this.

So, the first week has been a real success. Karter has adjusted so easily and seems so happy.

School Orientation

2011-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

This morning Karter and I headed off to his school for a 1 hour orientation visit. We dropped Miss P off at her school first and then headed up the hill to Karter's school. (how thrilled am I that their schools are only about 4 blocks apart).

Before we went in, I grabbed a couple of shots of my big boy...no longer a preschooler...now a BIG kindergartner!

I love this shot!

We made our way into the classroom to meet the teachers and SEA's that will be working alongside Karter. Before the morning activities began, we had a few minutes to get acquainted and chat a bit about Karter and the program.

Once all the kids had arrived they started the day with a circle time.

They talked about the weather and the day of the week, sang a name song, talked a bit about what each child did in the summer. It was amazing to see how each child was given opportunity to interact, even though they did not have words to use.

After the songs were finished, the teacher read a book. The teacher doing circle took the book around to each child and gave them opportunity to see each page, touch it or respond to it however they would like. Karter touched the page each time it was his turn. He really does love books!

After circle time we took a tour of the school and talked with the Physiotherapist and Occupation Therapists that will be working with Karter. We left just before snack time. It was a great visit.

Karter will not go again tomorrow but will start on his own on Monday (I will be the one in tears in the parking lot). He will go for a few hours each day next week and then we will work out a plan to work his way up to full days. I actually feel really at ease after todays visit. Each of the teachers and SEA's seem wonderful and so loving. I think Karter is going to really love school.

Look at my BIG kindergarten man...so handsome...so smart and so ready for this new season!

And so it begins...

2011-09-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

:::I must start this post with a quick van update:::

We have received another grant for $5000 from Variety Children's Charity, thank you Jesus! There is one more grant that we are waiting on, we should hear about that late September. There have also been some donations that have come in from family members in memory of Grandma; these are so precious!

We have made the deal to trade in our van and we are on our way to finalizing everything and putting in the official order. We are so humbled to see God's hand in all of this, we are continue to trust that He has taken care of the rest of the funds needed.

:::OK now down to other business:::

Tonight is the last night I will have a preschooler, a stay child at home, a non-school aged child...to be completely candid, the thought of it kills me. Oh how the past 5 years flew by and after tonight's sleep, I have a kindergartner.

Tomorrow morning Karter and I go to his school for his first day of kindergarten. It is a 1 hour slot of time where we meet his SEA, classmates and the other teachers. Luckily, I get to stay with him for the hour. However as of Monday, he will be going half days as part of his gradual entry. We are working up to full days over the course of the next while.

I spent a good portion of time today grabbing snuggles, singing songs and praying over him. He even fell asleep on my chest for a time, that was God's precious gift to me today no doubt. I am going to miss him and I am certain that this transition is going to be harder on me than it is on him.

I would be lying if I told you I had not shed a few tears already. Actually, I fear I will be a complete mess on Monday morning. I hope I can keep the "ugly cry" composed until I reach the privacy of my van in the parking lot at very least.

I cried on Paige's first day of school, but I knew she was where she wanted to be. I knew that she was getting opportunity that I could no longer give her at home. She was making relationships that were outside of me and our home. Although I feel the same for Karter, there is an attachment that I have with him that is different. There is so much that he depends on me for and releasing that to someone else it a daunting task.

I spent a lot of the day reminiscing all the nights spent at Children's Hospital, all the milestones we have worked towards, all the hurdles Karter has overcome. And tomorrow, a new day begins, a new season emerges and we forge forward into uncharted waters. I am mixed with emotions.

Here is my prayer for you Karter

"May this year be one of amazing new beginnings, huge milestones and many days filled with smiles and laughter. I pray that your new teachers enjoy you as much as we do and that your smile and giggle become infectious to all those around you. I pray that you will be full of joy, abounding with energy so that you can attend to tasks and that you will receive new learning with a smile on your face. I pray that you will enjoy the new activities, love your new friends and teach others the way only you can. I pray protection over you for love all around you. May this year be one that you look back on as monumental!"

Van Update

2011-08-17T20:19:00.001-07:00

This afternoon we got a call letting us know that we have been approved for a grant of $25,000 towards the purchase of the converted van. Needless to say, there were tears of joy on the phone; so much so I could hardly squeak out a "Thank-you!". Although we were believing for that money to come through, it was a wonderful relief when we could actually hear the words.

I think I failed to mention that last month we were denied on one of the other larger grants we had applied to. The way they cap their household income we were just a couple thousand over; unfortunately last year because of a couple side jobs Kurt did, we lost out on a lot of funding. However discouraging at the time, we decided that we would continue to trust for the funds to come through; we just might have to look a bit harder for it.

Currently, we have applications in to two other children's charities and two local societies. They are for smaller amounts of money, but combined, it will really help us meet our goal. We are hoping that by the end of September all the funding will have come through.

I think we have finalized the choice of van and conversion, we are currently just working out the details for selling our van vs trading it in. The van will take about 4 months once it has been ordered. The conversion happens in Michigan or back East, so it has to be shipped here once it is completed. So it will be December, at the earliest, before we see it.

I will try and keep updating as the funds come in. At this point, between the grant money and the money that has been fund-raised through Karter's movie day and other generous donations, we are over half way there. We are continuing to believe that God will provide the rest of the funding.

:::FIVE YEARS OLD:::

2011-07-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

How can it be...5 years old...? Already???????????

It feels like just yesterday I was drinking gallons of raspberry leaf tea to speed up your arrival...but you held on until the very last moment...you silly monkey!

Karter James:::

There are many words that describe who you are. You are:
Strong
Tough
Easy Going
Joyful
Full of love
Peaceful
Over comer...that is the word given to you by God!

You have touched the hearts of so many and moved them to such love for you. Although you have never spoken a physical word, who you are and what you have and continue to overcome, draws people to you. I know I have said it before, but it really is the truth; you have taught me more than anyone else on this earth. You taught me who I was and who I could be in spite of things not going as I planned them. There is a very special place in my heart for you. You are my son, and no matter what, I will always be here for you in whatever capacity you need me.

This year is shaping up to be one that is full of blessings that are far beyond anything we ever imagined. Full of miracles we could have never dreamed and bursting with new adventures that will take you places we can only witness as they play out. God has put the most caring team in place for you, you have and never will go without the best!

You are an inspiration to many. You rest in the arms of Jesus and He has held you close all the way through the roller coaster of the past 5 years. You are more than I ever dreamed in a son and I am so proud of you. My love for you unconditional and so full, I fear it will one day explode out of my heart!

Happy Birthday my precious boy! You are a treasure straight from heaven to my heart. I love you!

Mamma

Karter's 5th Birthday - Bowling Party

2011-07-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Karter’s “friends” party was a bowling party. It was the first time we had done something other than a home type party. Since Karter had taken a liking to bowling, we thought it would be fun to do and something that he could take part in. The bowling alley supplied the hot dog and drink and I brought a few snacks for the parents to munch on thek ids to enjoy before we ate and while they bowled in the first hour. I made Monkey cupcakes and I was pretty happy with how cute they looked.

Due to the nature of the party and the age of the kids, we asked that parents stayed to help out and thus included the older siblings. There were 17 kids in total, so we took up four lanes of bowling; two for the younger kids 2 for the older siblings. The kids really seemed to enjoy the bowling; especially the older kids. Some of the parents told me it was their child’s first time bowling – how fun! The younger kids enjoyed it, but it was hard for some of them to understand turn taking, so at times it was a bit chaotic and there were a few tears.

For Karter...well, let’s just say this was not his day, poor guy. He bowled one turn and was done. He was not happy in the surroundings, we think in the end he just got overwhelmed and over stimulated. The music was quite loud and there was a lot of chaos. Between Kurt and I, we tried to make him happy but nothing seemed to do the trick; he spent most of the party in our arms of lying on the bench.In the end, the hour and a half went by really quickly and was a bit of a gong show (smile). We fed the kids at different times, we never really ended up praying for the food (I think God will understand) and then in the end we just quickly sang “Happy Birthday” so Kurt could take Karter out to the van (where incidentally he calmed down immediately) while I tried to get the goodie bags handed out and the party wrapped up. It was totally frantic in the end and if you know me...well let’s just say I like things a bit more in control – hahaha! But as we like to say in our house “It is what it is!”

After it was all over, Kurt and I talked about it and really, all the kids had a good time and they celebrated Karter and that was what mattered. It was another reminder that we can plan and plan yet we have to flow with it when it does not go our way. So not a perfect party and not the way I envisioned it for Karter, but in the end, it was a celebration of Karter’s 5th birthday, with the people who are in his life and who care for him, so we have to say it was successful.Happy 5th birthday my boy! We love you so much.

Karter's Family Party - The BIG 5!

2011-07-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

What a great night we had! The weather was gorgeous which made for a wonderful evening in the backyard. The food (although WAY too much of it!) turned out really great. You can check out the pictures below. Lemon meringue pie at Kurt's request, mini cupcakes for Karter and various other confections to enjoy!

Karter had a great night! He was so happy and really enjoyed all of the action going on.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Karter and he started to giggle. So we sang again, actually we sang three times because it was so cute! He then enjoyed his cupcake...

Here is the evidence of that...

And the gifts...a great new pair of kidz banz and some money to go shopping for something that he really needs.

Birthday Party Planning

2011-07-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

June flew past me in a flash. With the calendar flipped to July, I am in high gear trying to plan Karter's birthday party for his friends and the one for the family.

Since Karter enjoyed bowling so much when we went, we decided that this year we would do a bowling party. I normally do a home party or swim party since the weather is usually so nice. However, this year I figured he would really be able to take part in the bowling party.

I love making the cake, I actually think that is my very favorite part of having birthday parties. I like being creative and seeing how far I can push myself. I looked for some bowling cake ideas but was not really thrilled with any of them. I have decided to go with Monkey cupcakes instead. Yes, I know it has nothing to do with bowling, but we always call Karter our little Monkey, so it is fitting.

The bowling alley will be providing the food - hot dogs and slushies. I will bring the cupcakes and that should take care of it. I am not sure I have ever had such an easy party for him. I almost feel like I am cheating ;-)...

The family party...we are combining that with Kurt's birthday since they are only 4 days apart. Kurt has asked for lemon meringue pie; I will make that for him. There is no real theme for that night, just fun!

I plan to make a few fun things. I saw this cute little chocolate dipped marshmallow treats, I thought I would do those

and for the cakes...I thought mini cupcake pops would be cute. In boy colors of course!

I also made this recipe of caramel pop corn for a girls nite once at it was a hit, so I think I will make that and pop it in individual brown bags for eatin'.

For the savory lovers, I plan to make a sun dried tomato, goat cheese and pesto flat bread. I had it at a restaurant once and I copied the recipe. That should do it for food.

So I plan to make my list today, get the goodies over the weekend and start creating on Monday. I love a party and more than that, I love to celebrate the ones I love! Stay tuned for pictures of the result.

Kelly...

2011-06-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

On the last day of preschool I made sure to get a couple of pictures of Karter with Kelly his SEA. We were so thankful to have her this to support Karter at preschool. Thank you Kelly for everything, we will miss you! Good luck in all your future endeavors and blessings to you and your family (looking forward to hearing all about baby number 2)!

On the last day of preschool I made sure to get a couple of pictures of Karter with Kelly his SEA. We were so thankful to have her this to support Karter at preschool. Thank you Kelly for everything, we will miss you! Good luck in all your future endeavors and blessings to you and your family (looking forward to hearing all about baby number 2)!

Preschool Graduation

2011-06-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Karter's graduation was such a great night! The kids sang a number of songs, received their diplomas and a slide show of the years events was played at the end. After the ceremony was over, there was a lovely reception in the gym.

Here are a few pictures of the night.

Hello's and Good-bye's

2011-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Its been a month of hello's and good-bye's. Two weeks ago, we lost Grandma Eckert; Great Grandma to the kids. She was 96 and fabulous. We went to Edmonton to celebrate her life with all the family. She truly left a wonderful legacy of faith and love. (I must say on a side note...Prior to leaving, we finished up both van grant applications and couriered them off (with the mail strike we could not trust the postal service to get it there before September). Each application prayed over before going into the envelope. We are trusting for big results!)

My Grandma's funeral was Friday afternoon. In lieu of flowers, donations were taken to put towards "Missions projects". Saturday afternoon, all of the family got together and had a BBQ in my Grandma's memory, it was wonderful. At one point in the evening, all my Grandma's children and their significant others met inside to take care of various details of Grandma's passing. My mom came out and handed me an envelope; inside were a number of cards and cheques. She told me that there were funds donated in Grandma's memory that were to go towards Karter's fund. I was moved beyond tears! I could not say a word, I was shocked! Not only because of the heart behind the donation but also because it was in honor my my Grandma. She loved her kids, her Grand-kids and her Great-Grand-kids...this would have been something she would have done herself. Although we said good-bye her memory will live on forever in us and in our kids.

Today was the last day of preschool for Karter. I found myself very emotional knowing that this was a season coming to an end. We had to say good-bye to his SEA Kelly; Karter loved Kelly and so did we, she was such a perfect fit for Karter. She was instrumental in pushing Karter to meet challenges this year and move forward in so many areas. We left after saying our good-bye's and giving hugs, there were tears streaming down my face but there is a new season on the horizon.

Along with the transition from preschool to kindergarten comes the transition out of the Langley Child Development Centre, where all Karter's services have come from, into the school system. So we have started to say our good-bye's to our therapists and consultants. These are the people that have been in our life for the past 3-5 years. Our physiotherapist Sandy has been with us since Karter was 5 months old. She has become part of our family, she has shared many hours in our home with us as well as at riding each week. It is hard to have to say good-bye to all these wonderful people. We are so thankful for them and the blessing and support that they have been for Karter and for us.

This afternoon we went to Karter's new school, where he will start kindergarten in the fall. We met with his new district consultant, teachers, occupational therapist, principal as well as his current consultant and physiotherapist. They call it the kindergarten transition meeting and that is exactly what it was, a transition from the current team to the new team. We talked about Karter, his strengths, past history and future goals. They in turn shared with us about their program and how the gradual entry into the program would look like. It was bittersweet, we were closing the door on one season but opening the door to a whole new season. We are so excited for Karter's new adventures in the fall, but we are sad to have to say good-bye to such an amazing team.

Many good-bye's and so many new hello's. I suppose that is what life is though, a series of seasons that come to an end in order for new seasons to start.

Wednesday evening Karter will graduate from Preschool. It is amazing for me to think that my little guy is going to school full time in a few months.

Final Stages

2011-05-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

There are two projects that we have been working on as of late.

The first is Karter's transition into kindergarten. The second is the process of grant application for the wheelchair van.

Today at preschool, we had the two resource teachers from James Hill come to observe Karter at preschool. Along with them came someone from the district school board. They all spent about an hour in the classroom observing him and asking me questions.

Because I remained for the observation, I was also able to ask a number of questions about the program, the transition and the various details that we will need to work through before September.

By the end of the hour, I was informed that the district psychologist had given the final stamp of approval, which means now the only thing we need to do is the kindergarten transition meeting. This should happen is the next few weeks. The meeting will involve Kurt & I, his current Supported Childcare consultant, occupational therapist, physio therapist, speech therapist, SEA from preschool, someone from the school board and his teacher from James Hill. It will give us all a chance to talk about what his current goals are and for each of the therapists to give their input and recommendations for Karter's transition into the school system.

At the end of the summer, Karter will no longer be part of the Langley Child Development Program. It will be sad for me to say good bye to all the wonderful therapists that have worked alongside us since Karter was 5 months old. They have been most wonderful to us. They have supported us through the hard transitions at the beginning and also given us the skills and knowledge we needed to move Karter through the various stages thus far. They are all considered friends of our family and we will be forever grateful for them.

I feel really good about Karter's placement for the fall. Although this Mama will be at the curb in tear in the early weeks of September, I know that this next stage will be so good for him and I am excited at the type of support he will receive during the school day.

The wheelchair van process...well, it is still ongoing.

Kurt and I went out to a conversion place in Chilliwack last Friday afternoon, with Karter. We looked and tried out a van in the showroom and received a quote for the entire project. We need a few quotes in order to meet the grant guidelines, so I have been working on that this week. Although there are options out there, the limits on those options are vast. I am definitely being schooled in the conversion process.

When you go out to purchase a new vehicle, you generally look for something that has all the things you need and then make your decision based on what you can afford. With wheelchair vans, there is 1 option in one type of van or another model with completely different options. When it comes to comparing things, each company does it differently and uses different models. Nothing seems to have everything we would like. So at this point, it is trying to determine what is most important to us. The price is astronomical, but we are believing for God to provide.

So the grant process continues...

I am currently working on the three letters of support from our doctor and two therapists. We also need to give an itemized list of monthly expenses, so we are putting that together as well. I have already written our letter and filled out the applications. The biggest thing left is to gather the quotes and finalize the last of the criteria they ask for. I am hoping to have things completed and sent off at the end of the month.

Although the process is extremely time consuming, I know that it will pay off in the end. We are continuing to walk in the promise of God's provision for our lives and for Karter's needs. So we fear not and continue to cast these financial burdens over to Him to carry and take care of. And we wait in expectancy to see what and how God will work this all out.

Reflections thus far...

2011-05-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

Almost six months into the year and I find myself thinking about the word the Lord gave me for this year. I have claimed that word over all aspects of our life this year, over me personally, over my family and over Karter. “Blue Skies Ahead...Unlocking new beginnings”

I found myself with a few moments to myself this afternoon, an odd commodity for sure. Karter was napping, my work was done and I found myself with time for reflecting. I read a great devotional about God’s timing and how He can accelerate things that for us could take years.

This has been a great year of new things for Karter. The preparation for kindergarten is one of the things that have gotten me the most excited (yet I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around – I am going to miss him all day). I am excited for his adventures in his new school, with new friends and new teachers. I am excited for him to learn new things and be pushed in ways that I cannot push him. But that is September, we are talking about now.

Karter has become so social this year. He is making eye contact with his peers and with adults. He waves when cued to say “hi” or “good-bye”. He has also started to really communicate his needs to us. He rubs his eyes when you ask him if it is time to go “night-night”. He grabs for his food dish on his tray when he wants to be fed. He chooses between two snacks at snack time. He pushes his milk cup away when he is done or when I wipe his face he grabs and pushes my hand away. These are all such great examples of his progress.

Physically, we see new things in Karter; besides the obvious that he is getting bigger ;-). He is still riding once a week and although he does not love it, we have really noticed a difference in his core strength because of it. He has a chair at home that he sits in without falling over now – so great! He is also in his walker each preschool morning. He complains a lot but he will now bare some weight on his legs when I make him stand up – this is good – REALLY good! His one to one support teacher even told me that the other day when he was in his walker in the gym, they put a big purple ball in front of him and each time they did he lifted his leg to kick it – COOL!

He is eating and chewing so well these days, drinking through a straw a so much more; I could probably go on for another three paragraphs, there are new things happening all the time! All these things are just wonderful reminders that God is still in control and is very much at work in Karter’s life. Although this road has been long God has the ability to accelerate it at any point. When? Not for me to ask really. My job is to trust, to be thankful in all things, big and small and to live in the expectation that God is bigger than ALL of this.

Pause...exhale...

When I think about that, it brings such joy to my heart. God has been SO good to us! He has blessed and provided for us far beyond what we ever asked. Actually, that leads me to something else we have been talking about... so I will digress at bit... God promised to provide for our needs right? So why then do we still ask for those things, why don’t we just trust that they are met? I am starting to ask for the bigger things; things more than just our needs...ok, now that is another topic for sure. ..

I can truly say the skies have been bluer these days; maybe not outdoors, but certainly in our lives. Each new thing is a blessings a true gift. Big or small, we are aware of them all. I have said it over and over but it can never be enough, God is good and He is faithful in every part of our lives! AMEN?

I have come to a place in my life where I can finally say with confidence that I love that He has done things differently than I may have expected or wanted. He has taken us on a journey that I am not sure we would have ever travelled were it not for the twists and turns of these past few years. I have learned so much more than if my life would have gone “according to plan”.

I say it often “I love the journey, I would just change the circumstances”. That is really the truth, but that said, even the circumstances have taught us so much. I think we all have things in life, tough times, unplanned things, that shape who we are and we become thankful for them in spite of how hard they are or how they have put a wrench in the original plan. That original plan probably wasn’t God’s best for us anyhow. That does not mean I believe that God wants bad things to happen or that He chooses them for us, I just mean that His bigger plan is something that we cannot see in today. But we have the choice to trust Him in spite of it and to allow Him to reveal His true purposes for us.

Anyhow, those were my reflections of today. We continue to move forward, sometimes faster and other times at a snail’s pace, but no matter what, we are moving forward and for that we are thankful. I love the ability to live in anticipation of what God will do in and through Karter and in all of us as well. So we keep living the journey and loving the steps along the way; thankful for what we see today and living in expectation for what tomorrow will bring.

HE GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!`

2011-04-22T19:31:00.001-07:00

We got word this week that Karter will be going to James Hill this September! He got a space in the community special needs class. We are so happy. We know that this program suits his needs so well and that a program will be tailor made for him.

In the next two months, there will be a preschool visit from his future classroom teachers as well a transition meeting. We are so happy so see things moving in this direction and to have answers as to what the fall looks like for Karter.

Bowling!

2011-04-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we went bowling with some friends and their kids. We had intentions of doing a nice walk or going to the park for a picnic but the weather did not cooperate. So in a last ditch effort to do something active and fun for the kids, we decided on bowling.

The lane rental was only $22/hr including shoes and games (for all 7 of us); I thought that was a GREAT deal. About 5 minutes into it, the manager came to us and asked if Karter would be bowling. I told him that he wasn't really able to, to which he told me that they had an adaptive shoot that would rest right on his wheelchair. He brought it out and we tried it; it was fantastic! With our help, Karter could roll the ball down the shoot and bowl. He loved watching the ball roll and hit the pins. I am not sure if he was more excited about the rolling ball or all of us cheering for him.

It brought such joy to my heart to be able to find another activity that he was able to participate in with all of us. It was such a fun night, something we will be doing again soon!

Here is a short video that Kurt put together

Just Because

2011-04-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

...I had a bit of extra time today. I thought it would be fun to post a few new pictures of my precious boy.

Here we are celebrating Purple Day - Epilepsy Awareness Day

Chillin' On The Beach

Funny Faces

Loving his sister and her joking!

Grant Applications....

2011-04-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

The process of applying for grants for the wheelchair van has now commenced. I spent about three hours the other day writing the application letter for one of the agencies that we are applying to for funds.

At this point, we will be applying for three grants. For the first, a letter of inquiry went in last week. The foundation will review and ensure we meet the criteria. Once they have made their determination they will send us an application package and I will get to work on that.

The other two charities have an application process. I have filled out the paperwork but now we start the process of getting quotes, letters from our doctors and therapists as well as meeting other criteria they set out for us.

Kurtis has been researching furiously different conversions, different vans and we are trying to determine what will suit Karter's needs best.

It looks like our project cost will be somewhere in the realm of about $60,000! Although this is a completely unattainable amount for us, it is not for God. We are trusting fully for the provision to make it happen.

As we embark on this process, we are asking that you cover us in prayer. That we would encounter favor in every area that we apply. It goes against what God has shown me in the past to NOT trust Him to make provisions; so I rest in that. A number is just that, a number, it is really insignificant when it comes down to it. We trust Him to provide where we cannot on our own.

I am so excited to be able to share this with all of you. I am expecting good things! I will keep you updated as I know more.

WOW, we are so blessed!

2011-03-12T23:32:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been completely surprised to the point that you were unable to speak? Have you ever been so blessed that there are no words to express your gratitude? Well last Saturday afternoon, we were both blessed and surprised.

We had planned a routine night out with some friends. Along with two other families, we were taking our kids to Chuck E Cheese for some time out together. First though, we were told to meet at someones house. Once we arrived, they were in the car waiting and we were told to follow them somewhere. We were completely confused and had no clue what was going on.

We drove for about 15 minutes. We parked and walked to a movie theater. At this point, we knew something was going on. (and just for the record, if you did not already know, I hate surprises, so I am anxious now!) We entered the lobby of the theater to see a few of our friends standing there, one with a camera, the other to guide us and another just for moral support. We were told to go through the doors to the main theater.

Upon entering, we saw a room full of people we knew. We were ushered to the front and the explanation began. This was a fundraiser event on Karter's behalf. Something to help with the costs that we would incur in the coming months and years for things that Karter would need; for us in the near present that would be a wheelchair accessible van.

Each person in the theater had paid to come and see a movie and the ticket proceeds were given on Karter's behalf. In addition, people made donations as well. A website had been set up and people had been notified of the event almost two months prior. We had NO idea! Just over $4000 was raised by this event.

Kurt and I stood there stunned, overwhelmed and shocked. Completely overcome with immense emotion, neither of us could pull it together to say anything but 'thank you'.

It has taken almost a full week for us to fully let it all sink in. We wanted to be able to properly thank anyone who had contributed to this blessing. First off, we want to express our gratitude to P&C who put this event together, what a thoughtful gesture - you guys are amazing!

Here is the letter we sent to be posted on the website.

Dear Friends,

It has taken us a few days to absorb and process your generosity. I am pretty sure it will still take some time for it to fully sink in. There have been many moments over the past few days when we will look at each other in disbelief of what happened – we were truly overwhelmed by your gesture of love.

When we arrived, as a family, to see you all sitting there in that theater, it was both a surreal and emotionally charged moment; one that quite literally rendered us speechless. Then to hear that you had all taken the time to share a Saturday afternoon in hon our of our son, we were deeply touched to say the least. In addition, so many of you also gave generous financial donations. For all of this we were extremely humbled.

At the end of the day, Karter was blessed with just under $4000 that will be put towards the purchase of a wheelchair accessible van. There are not enough words to truly express to you what a huge blessing this is. The van is something we have been praying a lot about. Its expense is certainly not something that we ever foresaw having to make. Knowing that it is a huge purchase, we have been standing on the promise that the Lord will provide the resources to make it happen – you are part of that! We are in process of applying for various grants to help cover the conversion costs. With your generosity, the burden of our portion has been lessened considerably.

We wanted to make sure that we thanked you all and let you know what a blessing you have been. Had we not been so overcome with emotion Saturday afternoon, we would have said it then. The expression of love from our ‘village’ of supporters is something we will treasure for a lifetime; something that has propelled us to a place of great strength and encouragement. Without all of you to support us on this journey, we would not have made it very far.

As Karter’s parents, we cannot express to you how it feels to know that Karter has touched your lives the way he has. We know that there is a very special mantle that rests upon him, something that the Lord has placed upon him. The idea that without ever speaking a word, he has touched your hearts in such a way as to move you to this type of generosity blesses us more than you will ever know.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you all; may you be blessed for being a blessing.

With all our love,

Kurtis, Charlene, Paige and Karter Witt

Kindergarten Plans

2011-03-12T23:09:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Kurtis, Karter and myself along with our Child Care Consultant as well someone from the school board office, took a visit to the James Hill Special Needs Class.

We met with the Principal first who took us on a tour of the class room and to meet the resource teacher and hear about the program that is offered at the school.

The program is exceptional and something that would meet Karter's needs so well. There is a nice balance of integration into typical classroom time with a program that would allow Karter to have daily physical therapy and be in the class working on goals that are more suited to his developmental level.

We were asked if this program was something that we would like to see Karter be part of in the fall, when he starts kindergarten. We agreed that it was most definitely where we would want Karter if the choice was ours.

It sounds that it is a very likely placement for Karter. We still have to have the final 'stamp of approval' from the school board. The next step is the transition meetings that precede Karter's transition from preschool to kindergarten.

We are feeling pretty relieved after seeing the program knowing that this option would be a great one for Karter.

It's Arrived!

2011-02-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-16T20:28:00.001-08:00

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....

2011-02-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-02-08T13:18:00.001-08:00

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.

Puppies For Sale

2011-01-26T12:51:00.000-08:00

I found this poem and went to tears reading it. SO I thought I would share it with you.

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the Eyes of a little boy. Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies." "Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money." The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?" "Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle, “Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fe! nce. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.... "I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would." With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

Karter skiing at Sun Peaks

2011-01-07T18:33:00.001-08:00

Here is the video we took today.

Sun Peaks - Skiing

2011-01-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Karter has had the amazing opportunity to 'ski' here at Sun Peaks. Last year when we were here, we had been told that they had skiing for people with disabilities. After looking into it, we registered Karter with Disabled Skiing BC . Once he was registered, we were able to access the adaptive skiing here at Sun Peaks (and other mountains in our area).

Because Karter is unable to walk on his own, they have a great piece of equipment called a 'sit ski'. I allows him to sit in a seat that is set on skis and then a volunteer skis with him down the hill. I was excited that Karter would get a chance to ski, but was not sure if he would enjoy it or not.

I made sure he was bundled up real warm...looking back, I think I did too good a job since he was so cozy and warm that he slept every time they took him up the moving carpet to get him to the top of the hill ;-). He would wake each time it was time go go down the hill. He did not cry or whine at all. I think he really enjoyed it. The volunteer told me that at the bottom of the hill he was making sounds...that usually means he likes something!

Karter skied a total of 90 minutes...which is double the length I thought he would last the first time. He probably could have gone longer but we wanted to end on a high note. He will ski tomorrow and Sunday again. They told me they would take him on the chair lift this time. He is going to LOVE that ride. I got some video that I will post later. For now, here are some pictures.

Karter with the two volunteers Dick & Tim

On the moving carpet on the way up the hill

Totally asleep...I mean COMPLETELY OUT!

Getting ready to dismount the carpet and get skiing

Just before the first run

Paige and Tias came and posed with Karter. Paige was so excited for Karter...maybe proud is a better word!

New school pictures

2010-12-11T11:09:00.001-08:00

Can you believe how fast he is growing? Here is this years preschool picture. Although not the best one he has ever taken, it is still a great memory of 4 year old preschool class.

Sometimes it's just the little things...

2010-11-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

This past week has been one full of reflection and thanksgiving. Last Friday marked the 1 year anniversary post surgery. It really got me thinking; this year has gone by so fast and we have really been able to see some amazing progress in Karter.

This past 12 months has been full of new things for Karter. Moments that are all worth celebrating in a major way. Each thing leaving our hearts full of such hope and faith. Yes, our road may have been long and it continues to stretch before us, but with every milestone come an overwhelming assurance that we will get there. Although it may not be fast, slow and steady is just fine with me.

You know, although each little detail of Karter's progress may not seem like a lot to some, to us, the little things are huge leaps forward. Last week he drank from three different sippy cups; all without any major fuss. We have been using the same silicon sippy/bottle cup for almost three years. Karter would cry uncontrollably if I tired anything else. This past week, Paige was playing with him and she went to the cupboard and pulled out a cup that I had bought over a year ago. She filled it with water and fed it to him. I was out, but when I returned she had told me she gave Karter water because he was thirsty. When she showed me the cup, I said to her "Oh but Karter won't drink out of that cup" to which she told me "yes Mom, he can". I did not really think he did, so I thought I would try. Sure enough, he drank the entire cup of milk with no complaint. WOW! The next day, just for fun, I tried a different cup...no fuss with that one either. WOW! One major step forward.

Karter has a visit from the Occupational Therapist this past week. If I am honest with you, I used to dread those visits. When Karter first started seeing her about 18 months ago, it felt like everything she had to say was so negative and gloomy. He was not able to process food very well, he was at danger of aspirating, he had bad gargly sounds...on and on...it was pretty discouraging. The past two visits has been so much more encouraging.

Karter is chewing on harder foods that dissolve. He is also moving them from the centre of his mouth to his molars (although the process is slow) which is the first stage of chewing and swallowing. She sat there and told me how 'amazed' she was. How Karter continues to impress her and how very well he is doing. No more doom and gloom, only encouragement in his progress. We are currently working towards self feeding. Something in her opinion he will do one day. Yes, the process needs a lot of repetition and teaching from us, but one day, Karter will no longer need us for his feeding! What a great goal to work towards!

Other great things Karter is working on right now is bearing weight on his legs and pushing backwards in his walker. He works very hard at preschool, with Kelly, on this. When he is not in his walker, he will stand up, bearing weight on his legs with our help. We are so proud of him!

By far, the greatest thing that we notice in Karter is his ability to concentrate and participate in life. His smile radiates his face and those around him. His giggle...well infectious is an understatement. Karter's personality has shone through and we are loving getting to know who he is. What a precious gift and an amazing blessing.

Karter has gone from having 5 seizures a day, pre-surgery, to having an odd seizure while he sleeps from time to time. This change is an obvious contributor to his progress. I look forward to seeing what is in store for the coming months. We are so thankful and grateful for all the things we see each day. We continue to trust that God has our best at heart and that He is good in all things. We wait in expectancy to see how He will unfold Karter's future and rest in the assurance that good things are in store.

Preschool Fine Arts

2010-11-24T14:04:00.000-08:00

At the end of each month, Karter's preschool does a small showing of what they have learned each month. They sing some songs and put on a performance for the parents, in the last 15 minutes of class.

Here are a couple of pictures of Karter with his class.

Fall is flying by

2010-10-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

I feel like I start every post by commenting on how fast the time is going. But truly, I am in awe of how quickly the weeks and months go by.

I always love September for its new schedules and new activities. This September was no different. Karter settled into preschool really well. He has a new one to one support named Kelly, who is simply amazing.

We set Karter's goals for preschool in our summer meetings. So as soon as classes finally started in full swing, everything was in place. Karter spends the first part of every class practicing in his walker. After meeting with the physiotherapist half way through September, it was determined that we would work on the skill of pushing backwards rather than moving forwards. This is the natural progression of skill for a typical child when learning to move and walk in a walker. Karter is doing VERY well. He is now independently moving about 8 feet backwards. It takes time and it is tiring, but he is doing amazing; we are so proud of him.

Socially, Karter is fitting in very well with the kids in the class. They are all so loving and inclusive of Karter. There are children that are constantly helping him with his artwork or bringing toys to his tray to play with. One part of the class, Kelly lets Karter lay on his back while she reads him a book. The other children all join in because they think this is so fun. It is actually pretty cute, Karter and Kelly cross their leg over their knee and all the other children have joined in to do it as well. And then Kelly will make Karter cross the other leg over and all the kids will switch too!

In addition to preschool three mornings a week, Karter is riding again this year. In the Spring session, Karter cried for the full 30 minutes every time we went. This session, he has done so well. There have been very few complaints. He is even riding without the pillow support around him. They have started him on a bareback saddle and he seems to do really well. He especially loves it when they ride outside the arena. Sandy, his physiotherapist, has even said there have been smiles and the giggles at times. Here are a couple of pics of him riding.

We are so excited for this year. Karter has shown us that he can continue to overcome adverse situations and move towards great things. One of the things I pray each day before he goes to preschool or riding, is that his infectious joy is what people see and notice in him. His amazing giggle and smile that we see at home all the time; the one that warms you right to the core of your soul. At our meeting last week with all his therapists and support team a comment was made that he is much more happy this year. That they noticed how many more smiles he was having and how much laughter they heard. That touched me so much.

I am always reminded that it is not how fast you get there but rather that you arrive. Time never concerns me. I just live in the promise that we will get there someday!

I am going to leave you with a couple of the great pics we had taken at our family photo shoot a month ago.

I think I might have to get this book...

2010-09-08T16:38:00.001-07:00

Just happened to catch part of this as I was getting the kids ready this morning.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Time For Walking....

2010-08-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today Karter's walker arrived! We had it fitted this morning and Karter spent some time in it then and after lunch. There were far less tears this time as there were when we first tried it out two months ago. We have had a demo model on loan for the past two months and Karter has been using it almost daily since.

Although he is not booting around the house on his own YET, we are really proud of his accomplishments. Right now, we are focusing on standing and weight baring, of which he is doing very well. Generally, I put on his favorite show and lock the walker in position so that he can bare weight on his feet and through his hips. He has worked his way up to about 15 minutes before he gets upset.

When the walker is not locked, he will push himself backwards with his feet. This has improved greatly since his orthotics arrived. They allow him to not drag his feet or turn them under when standing - they have made a world of difference.

Karter will be taking his walker to preschool with him. This will allow him to participate in activities such as the water table, standing in circle time and outdoor play. We are really excited about that for him.

Ever since the first day of preschool, I told his teacher that our goal was for him to walk across the stage at graduation. That is what we are working towards. Assisted, unassisted, backwards or forwards, we are working on that special walk at the end of the year.

I wanted to share something with you. This morning I had a dream. We were somewhere very public. The entire family was there as was his Supported Childcare team (physio therapist, Childcare consultant and various others on his team) At one point Karter was in his walker. We were trying to get him to stand and he was doing well. For some reason, I had left him for a moment with his team. I came back and he was standing on his own. I left again and came back and they were looking for him - he had decided that he was going to walk. He got up and that was it, he had made the decision and was walking. I remember thinking "I knew it was only a matter of time". I woke up smiling and thinking that it was no coincidence that I dreamt that the morning I knew his walker was arriving. I am always thankful for the little reminders that "it is only a matter of time". How much, we are not to question but the assurance is there that it WILL happen.

Karter's 4th Birthday

2010-07-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Karter's birthday 'Mickey-style'. It was a beautiful warm afternoon and we were so blessed to have our closest friends and family join us to celebrate Karter. This year has been one worth celebrating!

The menu for the kids included Mickey shaped chicken nuggets, fries, veggies and for dessert Mickey cupcakes and for the adults chicken and various salads. The kids played in the bouncy castle (care of J & K) ran through the sprinkler, enjoyed water guns and of course the Mickey pinata. It was a hit for all the kids and we were thrilled to spend time together with everyone.

Here are a few pictures of the festivities

To my precious Karter:

As I say to you all the time, you are such an inspiration. Your ability to overcome adverse situations is commendable. You go with the flow and you smile all the way through it. Your infectious laugh brings us to tears and your courage is something not many people have. You are an over comer and this year has been a big one to overcome. You faced neuro-surgery for the second time and astounded us with how well you did. We have deemed this year one of 'celebration and expectation' and little man, you blow our minds daily with what you have accomplished.

The favor that rests on you is something that can only be explained as God given. Although you have never spoke one word, just who you are has spoken louder than a 1000 words. You are so loved by so many and you are in the prayers of people all over the world. As your parents we could not be more proud to call you our son. We love you so much and we look forward to the next year ahead.

Our prayer is that we see you accomplish things far beyond the realm of normal! You have been equipped by the Lord with all you need to succeed and we are excited to sit on the sidelines supporting you and cheering you on as you accomplish great things. I love you Karter James. Thank you for coming into our lives 4 years ago and making us into the people we are today. You are one in a million!

Depending

2010-07-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

I found this article this week and it was such a nice reminder for me.

Prov 16:3 Dependence upon God yields Success.
Prov 16:3 (KJV) Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Prov 16:3 (NIV) Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Prov 16:3 (NCV) Depend on the LORD in whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

"Commit" (16:3) literally means "roll." It calls the reader to roll his burdens onto the Lord's shoulders; they are not too great for him. [New Bible Companion]

Lay the matter before him by prayer. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)

When a man recognizes his own need and turns to the Lord for guidance and help in every act and decision, then the powers of heaven come to his aid and enable him to carry out the decisions reached under the influence of the Holy Spirit. [SDA Commentary]

There are different ways to fail to commit whatever we do to the Lord. Some people commit their work only superficially. They say the project is being done for the Lord, but in reality they are doing it for themselves. Others give God temporary control of their interests, only to take control back the moment things stop going the way they expect.

Still others commit a task fully to the Lord, but put forth no effort themselves, and then they wonder why they do not succeed. We must maintain a delicate balance: trusting God as if everything depended on him, while working as if everything depended on us. Think of a specific effort in which you are involved right now. Have you committed it to the Lord? [Life Application SB]

When we want God's direction, there are no halfway measures. There will be times when we slip back, stumble and sin. These times grow fewer as we seek and gain His direction. Progress comes when we place our full confidence, our will and intellect, in the Lord. Does this mean God wants us to stop thinking, stop being individuals, become a robot? God forbid! He doesn't expect us to short circuit our own mind. He just tells us not to go to that understanding with the wrong assumptions. It is simple. Place your confidence in God, wholly, on a matter. (To do so, you will have to pray and search His word to find out what it has to say on that matter.) This is putting our thoughts before the Lord and His Word. As we do this, He will give us the direction we need. Decide today to pay due respect to God in all that is done. He will direct decisions, judgments, and actions. And we can count on growing in our walk with Him. [In His Time; Walk With Wisdom]

Dependence is something that does not come naturally to me but it is something that I am learning. In the past years, we have had to depend on God for many things. When it comes to Karter, we have been able to look back and see how there has never been lack for anything that he has ever needed. We depend solidly that God will provide. Not just for Karter’s health needs but also for the equipment and other things that he requires. Not only has Karter never gone without what he has needed, but more than, the best has always been provided for him.

We have been praying about how to acquire the extra money to pay for the walker that we had selected for Karter. It is a substantial amount of money, far above what we could “just cover” out of pocket. Believing that Karter would have that walker that we chose for him, we continued to pray and look for ways to find the extra funds.

This week, someone contacted me to tell me that they were sending the money we needed to cover to amount for Karter’s walker. As they shared with me, I went to tears. I had no words to express my gratefulness, I was absolutely floored. As the day went on I was so humbled by the fact that once again provision was made for the things that Karter needed. He does not live in lack but in blessing. God knew when he gave Karter to us that provision would be made for him and He proves that time and again. So we continue to depend and He continues to provide and show success for our plans. I will leave you with the last part of the article:

Dear Child,

I watch you labouring and fretting and anxiously striving to achieve things for me and my kingdom. Hear me. Your work is not my primary concern. Your work is now, has always been, and always will be secondary to your relationship with me. What you do will flow out of your relationship with me as irrigation streams flow out of a deep, clear, powerful river. The river (the relationship) will set your motives and supply your strength. Then your work will flow forth to honor me. Any time you allow your work to come ahead of your relationship with me, you risk working against me and my purposes.

Draw near to me and rest. Seek my will at every small turn. Listen for my voice. Be filled with my Spirit. Then work with joy and abandon!

The Source of your power, God

Beautiful Song, Wonderful Day and lots of Hope

2010-06-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today we tried out walkers for Karter. I had mentioned to you before that I was really looking forward to this day. First are foremost, to see if Karter would be able to even stand in one; but also to see what things looked like in way of what how much money we would need to raise in additional funding for Karter's equipment needs.

As an "A Type" personality, I need to know all the options in order to make a formulated plan of action. I am happy to say, we found a walker that will be suitable for Karter; even better, it will also double as a stander for him! It will provide enough support for him in the hips to build the strength he needs to walk and with 1 price tag!!! I am happy to report that the amount we will need to come up with is very little in comparision to if we would have had to purchase both the stander and the walker. I love how the Lord goes before and makes the decisions so clear and easy!

Although Karter did not just get in and walk away (not like I actually thought that would happen) he did put weight through his legs and move the walker forward at times. This was so amazing to see! He definitely complained at the level of effort it took, but in time, I can see him really loving the independence and different position to see the world in.

The walker is open in the front giving Karter and his peers the ability to participate together without the interference of equipment or the restaint of having to hol don with his hands. This is something that is very important to this Mama (especially with my Preschool Teacher background). Karter's abilities can limit him in the classroom and in social settings, I feel so strongly that I do not want to put more limitation on him with his equipment. That was just as important today as when we looked at wheelchairs last year. He needs to be at the same level as his peers and needs to be able to maneuver in the same spaces that they can. The walker met all those criteria.

I took a picture of Karter in the walker so that you could see what he looked like and what it is that we will be getting for him.

After preschool and a quick appointment to see the chiropractor (which on a side note mentioned how amazing Karter's head control and neck strength was - the best he had seen to date), we came home for lunch and Karter headed off for his afternoon nap. That for me means time to get to work.

As I was going through some new songs for arranging, I came across this song called 'Before The Morning' by Josh Wilson. I had heard it a number of times before on the radio and it did catch my ear a bit, but the article had a link to a video about the story behind the song. This spoke to me and gave me such a precious Forehead Kiss From the Father. Just another reminder that the journey is all part of the miracle. The most beautiful quote in the video says "If we can trust God with our eternity, we've gotta trust Him with our now" WOW - that's good and so true. As a Christian, I have never questioned my eternity. I have a very big assurance that I know where I am going after I die. But why at times,is it so hard for me to trust that the same God that will take care of me in Eternity will also take care of ALL my needs here on earth.

If you have a chance to watch the full video, I don't think you will be disappointed, maybe even grab a tissue just in case ;-)

So it has been a great day. I am once again filled with hope in the anticipation for our future. This is just another step in this years journey of "Celebration & Expectation".

Tomorrow we head to Children's Hospital for our six month "check-in". I am anticipating great news from them as well.

A Couple Of Big Weeks

2010-06-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

We have had a few really big weeks around here. Last week was Wedding Week and this weeks has been full of appointments and a wonderful day at the Boat For Hope

This past week we met with our Occupational Therapist. She came to see us here at home, which she has not done in about 6 months because most of her visits are at preschool. This time however, I has asked her to come here so we could chat a bit about feeding and moving things along to the next level.

Every six months assessments and goal setting is done with each of Karter's therapists. This was the end of one assessment period for Karter. Each time we look back at the goals set and extend them or modify them as needed for the next six months. This time however, I am happy to announce, Karter met his six month goals. Honestly, I think this is probably the first time that we have set goals and actually met them in the time period. This was a time of real rejoicing for me.

Karter will be starting to move towards chewing and processing more solid foods in the next months. He has started to really bite on his spoon and his toys and when I put some foods in his mouth he will bite on them and break off a piece to move around in his mouth. I am excited to move into this next stage with him.

This upcoming week is also a big week for Karter. We have a 6 month check in at Children's Hospital. And on Tuesday, we have an appointment to look at walkers (and try out the stander again that we have chosen if need be) for Karter. We will be looking for something to assist him in the standing position and hopefully in time teach him to move his legs enough to get himself around independently. I am quite excited about this.

As I mentioned previously, we do get some funding towards a walker or a stander for Karter, however the other portion we need to come up with. The two together cost about $10,000. Our funding will give us $3200. My prayer is that we can find something that is suitable for Karter that will work for both standing support and walking support. That would mean we would only need to purchase a walker and find the additional funds for that. Please pray that we would find the suitable solution for Karter to best assist him and his needs. Once we have decided what his equipment needs will be, I will start the application process for grants.

At the same time, we will also be applying for grants towards a wheelchair van. This is obviously a very large purchase and something that we are just starting to research. We are praying our way through this one and are trusting that our needs will be met as they have so many times in the past.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks and all the fun things that have been going on.

This, that and Disneyland

2010-05-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

March 25th was the last time I posted - wow - ok clearly I lost a month somewhere ;-)

Life has been full of new fun things and normal everyday things. Karter resumed riding in March, as was mentioned in the last post. He generally complains when he goes; it is a lot of work for him to hold his body on the top of that horse. We are pushing through it though as we think it is a really beneficial activity for his core muscles and his muscle tone. He does like it when they ride outside and with the weather cooperating these past few weeks, he has been able to be outside for a good portion of the lesson.

It has been a little entertaining to see Karter protest. As soon as we turn onto the street where riding is or get into the parking lot, my happy boy turns into a bit of a complainer. The riding helmet goes on and he gets upset with me. It has been nice to see that he is starting to tell us when he likes or dislikes things.

Karter continues to verbalize; lots of sounds and different tones have started to emerge. He has even started to yell a bit! He usually responds when we ask him to say "Ya", he will repeat that back to us. If I ask him to say "Ma" or "Mama" he just laughs at me - little monkey!

He is still rolling a lot to the left side to grab at objects. He now will remain there and play instead of rolling and immediately retuning to his back. He is getting quite strong and confident on that side. He gets about 80% of the way over to his tummy. However when I try to get him to play on his tummy he still really protests. One day he will love it...

Karter will at times plant his feet, while lying on his back, and lift up his whole body. That encourages me a lot because that is weight baring through the feet, which will really help with learning to stand. I notice it also when I am changing his bottom. He will push and lift up so that I can pull his pants up. Repetition in routine is something that is the key to learning.

I think that he is starting to get a bit frustrated with his lack of mobility. He tends to get bored in one position and so I am finding that I move him a lot more than I ever did before. Now that things have settled a bit more around here (since the move and surgery) I am not starting to get back into being more active in his equipment search. We need to get Karter a stander and in time a walker. There is some funding available for these times, but the reality is, that funding will only cover about 30-40% of the cost of the two items. So I am exploring fundraising options again and will start putting applications together for various Children's Charities.

On that same note, I have confirmation that Karter does have one to one support funding in place for preschool next year. If you recall, we found outside funding for Karter so that he could go to preschool this past year. The government was unable to help us with that this year. I am so thankful we did explore other options because preschool has been such a good things for Karter.

Karter had been struggling a bit with his sleep since January. He will wake in the night and early in the morning. While we were away my SIL told me to try giving him calcium at night. Apparently, that helps with growing aches and pains. I started to so that and the night waking has stopped. The early mornings still continue at times, but they too have gotten a lot better this past week as we have started to purposely pray peace over him; I wonder if he was also having bad dreams.

We had the great gift of a trip to Disneyland this past month. My parents took our family and my bothers family for 6 days. We had a wonderful time! All the kids really enjoyed themselves.

I had really wondered before we left how Karter would enjoy it. I did not know if he would just be "along for the ride" or really participate in our time there. He definitely experienced the latter. There was so much to take in, so much to stimulate him and he just loved it. I think "It's A Small World" was one of his favorites, so we did that one 5 or 6 times - much to Grandma's delight! He loved the parades and the marching bands. He even enjoyed Splash Mountain.

Disneyland does a wonderful job of being inclusive of children with special needs. Most of the rides in Disneyland are not wheelchair accessible, so you have to enter through the exit. This was wonderful because we did not have to wait in most lines.

Karter commanded such favor. We had three people stop and give him their Mickey Mouse balloons. Another person gave him a teddy bear and one of the staff at Disneyland moved us to the front of the VIP line for the Aladdin show; we had seen her the day before at another show and she took a real interest in Karter there, she told us that he touched her deeply. I know that it is something much greater that is within Karter that draws people to him. Someone even commented to us "He does not even need to say a word, his face says it all"

Here are a few pictures of Karter in Disneyland:

(I just love the look on his face - like he is saying "Really, another stupid picture?")

As the months continue to go by I am always amazed at the grace, strength and patience that has been bestowed on us from our Heavenly Father. Karter has been one of the greatest gifts ever given to us. Although life with Karter presents itself with challenges, hard times and different realities; more often, those are over shadowed by the joys, precious moments and wonderful miracles we are privy to on a daily basis. Yes, life is hard and it is not always what we signed up for, but sometimes the things that best shape your life are the ones that you never expected.

We continue to stand on the promise that there will be a day where Karter will be well and life will look much different than today; however we accept with privilege each day that we continue to walk this journey. God is good in ALL things.

Just totally amazed!

2010-03-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

And another month has past without an update; I really do try you know!

Karter is doing really well. He is growing like a weed, one wonders if he will even slow down ;-). This past month he has started to verbalize. It sounds like he says "Ya" and something along the lines of "Hi". We have been asking him questions and we think he is answering "Ya" back at us, purposeful or not, we are thrilled! The other day in the van, I was singing and he started to verbalize along with me, like he was joining in my song.

He continues to roll to the left side, grabbing for whatever it is that he can get. He has become very purposeful in grabbing with his right hand. The other day as I sat at the computer working, he kept grabbing at my keyboard hitting keys. I was Im-ing someone from work and Karter hit the zzzzzzzzzzzz key and before I realized it, I hit enter; the person on the other end thought I was bored with them. He grabs at my magazines and puts them in his mouth and then laughs at me. He has developed quite the little personality as of late. What a joy!

Today Karter started back at riding. We took a break during the Winter session so he has not ridden since late November. I thought it was going to be a total bust because he could not keep his eyes open in the van on the way there. But once he was on the horse, he did really well. No real crying, a bit of whining from time to time, but that is normal for him when he has to work hard. I noticed that he was sitting much straighter this time and that his head was not bobbing up and down as much as it normally does. He was even looking around from side to side instead of looking straight out front.

After riding we proceeded to go to preschool, as we normally do on Thursday mornings. I told the teachers that I would come and get him early since I knew he was tired and did not think he would last for the full class. I returned an hour and 15 minutes later to hear that he was doing amazingly well. I saw him sitting in his floor seat in the front row of the circle time, dancing to the songs and happy as can be. Boy that warmed my heart! Trista, his support teacher did not even need to be in circle with him, he was independently participating with the group - WOW! Earlier in class, I watched as he sat in a group of boys, one of the teachers brought a box of colored blocks over. As soon as he saw the box, he was grabbing for what was inside. I was later told that the boys were all building the tower from the blocks and then M would help Karter knock the tower down. I love how the kids include Karter is their play.

It is truly amazing to wake up each day expecting great things. Karter has done so well these past few month and we are both excited and so proud of his progress. Thanks for keeping both Karter and all of us in your prayers, we feel them each day.

Post Surgery Follow Up Appointment

2010-02-21T12:28:00.000-08:00

Has it already been a month? The time is flying by fast each day. Things are moving along so quickly these days that there is little time for the extra things in life; like blogging ;-).

At the beginning of the month, I took Karter to Children's Hospital for a post surgery follow up MRI and appointment. The day went very well. Karter was in and out of the MRI clinic in about an hour - that was a record for us!. We then had four hours to kill so Karter and I did some running around for a bit. At 1:30 we came back and met with the Neurologist & Surgeon.

The appointment was a great one just as we had expected. Everyone was very pleased with Karter's progress and with the result of no seizures. They will see him again in 6 months time for more follow up. Praise The Lord!

Karter has resumed preschool and all his therapies and everyone seems to be very pleased with his progress. The comments we get the most refer to his ability to concentrate and focus. He really pays attention when you call his name and he looks you right in the eye and his eye gaze remains fixed on you for as long as you are speaking to him. It is really great to see.

Karter continues to roll to his left side and his getting his body off the ground quite high as well. His sitting is still coming along, however he is figured out how much work it is and at time will push back so hard that we cannot get him to sit up straight. He did get his Seat2go and he really likes that. He sits in front of the TV or at circle time, he will sit in front of his toy bar and play, it is a whole new world of opportunities that have opened to him because of it. He is blessed!

With the house almost done, we are going to take in some Olympic fever downtown, at some point this week. I will post more about that later.

I will leave you with this new photo that week took this week. It really allows you to get a great sense of how our little guys is growing and how well he is doing. Baby Liam was born this week and Karter had a chance to hold him while we visited the hospital.

Is It Already 2 Months?

2010-01-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

Ok Super Aunt, here you go...a new post! ;-)

It is hard to believe that two months since Karter's surgery could have possible gone by so fast. I am happy to report that Karter remains seizure free, Praise The Lord! We are so thankful for this and also enjoy watching the new things happen before our eyes each day. What a great new chapter this has been!

Karter continues to roll to his side to get the toys that are on his mat. He has started to also play on his side at times. At this point he is only interested in rolling to his left side, but we are extremely please with his efforts. He is grabbing for toys more purposefully each day and his right hand has become much more controlled. We are noticing that his left hand has also started to come under much better control. Although he does not use it as controlled as the right one, it is coming slowly each day.

Last week, Karter's entire team of therapists and myself met to put together an IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan). The meeting is meant to get everyone who works with Karter together to brainstorm and input goals, progresses and strategies for Karter at home and at school. It was a great meeting; we are so blessed to have such a great team of people that work together with Karter!

One of the things that we talked about at the meeting and something that I felt was really important, was that Karter have time during at least one of his circle times at preschool, to work on his independent sitting. We strategized about a few ways this would work. One of the things we talked about was getting Karter a supportive seat so that he could sit on his own at circle with his peers. Tuesday, Sandy (our wonderful physiotherapist) visited Karter at preschool and brought a couple seats to try out. He had a lot of success with one called a 'Seat2go'. When I picked him up that day all the teachers including his one to one support and his Supported Childcare Consultant, raved about how amazing this chair was and that it would be great to get him one. That started my quest and research for this chair.

Kurt and I had decided that we would use money from Karter's fund and put it towards the chair, after all, it was something that he will truly benefit from at home and in the classroom. On Thursday, I had an email from someone sharing that the Lord had laid it on their heart to purchase the chair for Karter. I continue to be humbled by the way God takes care of Karter's needs and how the army of people that are around us love and support our special little boy and in turn show their love for us in such unbelievable ways. I am moved to tears and humbled by it daily! So, I will be ordering the chair for Karter and he should have it next week (or as soon as I can pick it up from the US - JW, I am having it shipped to you ;-) ).

Since the New Year, things have been really unsettled and our routine has been non-existent. Karter has been in class only a few times this month. Currently, we are in Vernon because our house renovations are not yet complete. This month has been full of moving, packing and renovations. Karter has been bounced around from room to room, sleeping in closets, on the floor and in many different rooms. He has always been a pretty easy going kid, but all these changes were bound to effect him at some point. For Karter, it has been effecting his sleep. He has been napping little or not at all (which could be just his age and I am ok with that) and he has been waking up between 4 and 5 am. I am doing my best to set up a better routine for him while we are away and work at getting him back to his normal sleeping patterns, but I would ask for your prayers that Karter's sleep patterns would return to normal. The lack of sleeps makes both of us just a tad bit irritable ;-)

Karter will be going in for an MRI on the morning of Wednesday Feb 3rd, followed by an afternoon appointment with the Neurologist and Neurosurgeon. These appointments are routine post surgery follow up. I am both excited and nervous at the same time. Last time, the post surgery appointment was a breaking point for me. I went in thinking Karter was doing so exceptionally well only to hear the disappointment in the doctors voices when he had not reached some very basic stages that they had hoped he would have at that point. Seeing the progress we have thus far, I would be surprised to hear the doctors disappointment, but I would be lying if I did not say it was not playing out in the back of my mind. No matter what, we are thankful for what we see. Quality not quantity. And no matter what anyone says, we are living and watching a real life miracle play out before our very eyes and we are so thankful.

Life so far...

2009-12-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

I have spent the morning updating everything else; our family blog, Facebook etc., it is now time to spend a bit of time here.

Karter has had an amazing few weeks. Each day I see something new in his eyes. A whole new world of wonderment (is that even a word?).

Christmas was so fun with him this year. He spent time opening his own gifts. We would put them on his tray, he would grab them and then rip the paper with his teeth until he got the gift open. It was really cute to watch, and his personality really shone through too!

We went to the train last night and he was able to take it all in, enjoying both the lights and the ride. I love it!

In am not sure if I updated about this yet... Karter had physio last week for the first time post surgery. We worked on moving him to the next step of his rolling. He is rolling regularly to his side to reach toys and each day seems to gain more strength in this. He has rolled completely over a few times, but right now because he tucks his legs up that stops him from getting over. I see more motivation in him than ever before, it is so exciting to watch.

During the physio visit, we tried sitting as well. I was absolutely baffled when I realized that Karter was able to sit on his own with very little assistance. The odd touch to his leg or back for support or to keep him in mid line and balanced. It was so great to see that he is capable of sitting. Now I would be dishonest if I said he is sitting. But I can honestly say that he is well on his way to getting there. We just need to build his confidence in his own ability. Right now he appears to be scared to do it so he pushed back to find a resting place behind him. But we are really excited to watch him master this skill over the next while.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas season. We did! What a gift we have been given in Karter. Each day we watch a miracle in the making, what a blessing that is!

One Month Post-Surgery

2009-12-20T21:07:00.001-08:00

It amazes me that time has flown by so fast. I spent a good portion of this morning at church testifying to many people who would ask, how amazing Karter was doing. Although I was able to verbally tell them, there were so many that saw the difference right before their eyes.

Karter has really gained the ability to focus so much better. He responds immediately when his name is called and will pay attention to whoever is calling him, he makes amazing eye contact.

When playing with his toys and grabbing them, he gets it first with his right hand, but the left hand is following quickly after to support his holding the toy. Although he is not very accurate yet, that left hand presurgery, would be flailing up in the air with no real purpose. Now it follows what the right hand is doing.

Karter has started to make a few sounds. If he is unhappy with something, he will make a whining sound that sounds like "Maaaaam". I am saying that he is calling me ;-). He has become very aware when I am out of the room or if he has been left alone. He really does not like that much.

Karter is eating better. He has been drinking out of an open cup because he would not suck from his sippy. Tonight however was the first night post surgery that he managed to drink an entire 8 oz out of his sippy by sucking - Praise The Lord!!!

The biggest news...Karter has learned to roll to his side to get a toy. Yesterday he rolled completely over two times! We have placed his favorite toys over his left side, out of his reach. He will roll over the grab them and will play with them. This is the biggest milestone we have seen from him and we are so excited!!! Here is a video showing him doing just that.

This past Wednesday we took a trip to Children's Hospital so that Karter's surgeon could check his swelling. He right side is very swollen still and I was concerned. The verdict...everything is completely normal. The excess fluid can take up to 3 months (sometimes even longer) to absorb into the body. It is nothing to worry about. Although it looks like it could bother him, it is said to not cause any discomfort.

Other than the swelling, Karter has recovered fully. The scar has healed well and almost off the stitches have dissolved and are gone. We are so excited and feel such an intense anticipation for what the future holds for Karter. He has been seizure free since surgery. This is such a miracle and such a beautiful gift! We continue to look forward to many more miracles before our eyes.

Here are a couple of pictures of Paige and Karter from the other day while they were having a PJ morning.

What does today look like?

2009-12-07T22:25:00.000-08:00

I took a few pictures today while Karter was having supper. I needed to take some shots so that I could send them to Children's to show them how Karter's swelling looked. Normally, I would have had a hard time getting Karter to even look at me while taking a picture. Today, I could not get him to stop looking and smiling at the camera...what a nice change!

The most noticable changes in Karter have really been in his concentration, eye contact and responce to us. He smiles all the time and has resumed his infectious giggle which warms out heart beyond words. There have been many other little things that we have noticed as well. We count each things as part of Karter's healing

Karter has regained the majority of his appetite and is eating well. He does however play favorites and will sometime only take his food from Mommy; what a little monkey!!!! The drinking is slowly improving. He is drinking from a cup and has started to drink from his sippy cup from time to time. We are thankful for each step to recovery, he is doing so well.

The swelling is still there on the right side. We have been told that it will take a minimum of 3 weeks for the swelling to go down. We are praying that the swelling will subside quickly.

Karter's incision site has healed nicely. In case you might want to see a pciture of it, here it is.

1 week post surgery

2009-12-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

Who knew a week could fly by so fast. I have been meaning to get an update up for 6 days. We spent last week just catching up and getting through it. We are so happy to have the support and prayers of all of you. That is what we were drawing strength from.

Karter was struggling with both his eating and drinking last week. To date, he is eating well however the drinking is still a bit of a struggle. We are pretty sure that it hurts his head to suck on his sippy cup and so he avoids it. I was using a syringe to get liquid into him, he was hating every moment of that. The past two days he has been taking liquid from a cup. This is a bit messy, but it works and he seems to really like it.

Karter went back to preschool today. He managed to last an hour and a half. I think he was happy to be back with the kids, but he did tire fairly easy. We will try again on Thursday and see if we can make it a bit longer.

Karter has been sleeping really well and has been pretty happy. We are very thankful for his quick recovery, he is blessed.

I will try and keep current updates coming. Next week is production and the following week we start the renovation on our new place. So we are gearing up for a pretty busy season.

Forehead Kisses From The Father - Surgery week

2009-11-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

I have spoken about forehead kisses before on our family blog.. But over the course of this past week, I have been very aware that there have been many more kisses from the Father.

Now that we are home and life is slowly returning to normal, I wanted to take some time to really share with you a number of things that happened this past week that were so precious to us.

Throughout this past week, there is no denying that the prayers of the people around us have sustained us. But I felt like I wanted to make sure that first and foremost, God gets the glory for EVERYTHING that has transpired over the course of this past week. Because without His intervention, this would have been a very dark, painful and difficult week.

I would be lying to you if I said there were no tough moments; there were a few. But for the most part, there was this peace that followed us everywhere we went *kiss*.

As we waited in the waiting room, I was not looking at the clock wondering how long it had been or how much longer it would be. Rather, I found myself praying for the other families. The family who's infant was having heart issues and would go in for surgery the following day. I prayed for them and their little one. I had the luxury of knowing that there were many prayers sent up on Karter's behalf. *kiss*.

It was about 6:15 when Dr. H, the neurologist came out from surgery to let us know how things were going. Her words chosen so beautifully. Although there were a few surprises in their finding (the fact that his abnormality did span into the sensory/motor cortex) she spoke word of affirmation and encouragement to us. *kiss*. There was no caution in her voice or in her words, more than that there was extreme optimism. *kiss*. She spoke the words that we had prayed; that the surgery would be easy, without complication and would be successful. *kiss*

We were told that because of how invasive the surgery was and how intensive the monitoring was, Karter would not move his left extremities for up to a week. We were also told that his vision in his left eye would be off for a few days and that we would find that he would only look right for a time. Karter came out of surgery kicking all his legs and arms *kiss*. Also, he rested his head and eyes to the left more often than to the right. *kiss*. In the words of the doctor "This little guy is defying all the odds, I love it when I am proven wrong" *kiss*. Those were words that have been spoken over Karter many times. That he would defy the odds and would overcome.

One thing I had remembered from the previous surgery was that they waited a little too long to give him pain medication, post op and he was in a lot of discomfort for about an hour or so. This time, Karter rested comfortably from the time he left the operating room. There was such a peace about him. He even opened his eyes a few times just to be assured that we were there. *kiss*.

When we returned Saturday morning, Karter was in ICU and completely awake, moving around with no swelling. We were astonished at how well he was doing - again there was such peace that rested in that room *kiss*. When the doctor came to see him that morning, she too was extremely surprised. Here words full of encouragement and hope *kiss*.

As the day went on and the swelling started, a beautiful rest fell over Karter. He was not bothered by the fact that he could not open his eyes, he just rest in the arms of Jesus. *kiss*. I have been told that in those circumstances, most children are very irritable. Karter slept for 2 and a half full days until the swelling went away. *kiss*

The question that the doctor asked each time she saw Karter was "Any seizures?" I responded each time with a "no". On Sunday evening, she looked at Karter and then turned to us and said "This little boy is a miracle". *kiss, kiss, kiss* I looked at her and said "I receive that".

The final morning before we left the hospital, the surgeons came in to see Karter and were so pleased with his progress, 2 and a half days (60 hours) post surgery he got the ok to go home. *kiss*. When the doctor came in for the last time to see Karter, she spoken beautifully over him. She told us that she was "so hopeful for him". That we should see increase in him. In his abilities and in his development. Those were specific prayers that we had for him. *kiss*

Although there were a few moments on the Thursday before surgery that were tough, there is no doubt in my mind that the timing for this surgery was perfect and was intended to be as it was - not by mistake - but for a specific purpose.

We love our neurologist, she has done amazing things for Karter and we are blessed to have her on our team. She was away in China this weekend. Dr. H, who spoke such beautiful words over Karter, would not have been the one to walk with us through the surgery days had our regular neurologist been there. I will not discount our regular neurologist in any way, but God intended for those words to be spoken by Dr. H. Such a gift *kiss*.

Karter is an over comer, we have spoken that over him since day one of this journey. As I have watched him these past few days, I am awed by how incredible he is. How patient, tolerant and accepting he has been against all his adversities. I watch him trying to roll with all the strength he has and I am amazed at God's goodness. There are so many more things I could say about this. I just wanted to be able to share with you the little things that made this week such a God given gift for us.

We have turned the page. We are starting a new road. We are excited for the new things that are ahead of us and are thankful in all things that have transpired over the past few years. God had been faithful. He is the one who has brought us to this place and without Him, we would be puddles of emotion on the floor.

I wanted to leave you with these pieces of interesting information. After surgery, and all the testing they did on Karter's brain, we were told that there was so much Epileptic activity happening in that right lobe area that Karter was in constant seizure. Although we did not see it physically, that was what was happening. The result of that was lack of ability to move forward and develop. The doctor said to us "he did not have a chance to develop with what was going on inside his brain". When I asked he later how much of the tested brain, that showed that activity, was removed. She responded with "80%". She went on to say that it is possible that the pathways to the other 20% of abnormally developed brain have been cut off - thus the reason for her optimism *kiss*

God is so good to Karter and to us

Here is a picture of Karter from today. This hat was a gift from a friend, check her website out here Thanks JM!

Our First Day Home

2009-11-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

We were able to come home last night. We arrived home just shortly before 5 pm. Paige was at an activity and came home to the wonderful surprise of Mommy and Karter at home (It was such a sweet moment). She had a really tough time without Mommy around this past few days. She remains quite emotional and cuddly today. Although she was older this time, I think it was harder for her becuase she understood what was going on and found it quite emotional.

Karter slept really well last night. He went down around 7:45 and woke around 8 this morning. He appeared quite happy when he woke but would not take his morning milk cup.

As the morning progressed he became quite cranky. He would not eat or drink anything. By 9:30 he fell back asleep beside me on the couch. When he woke, I tried again to feed him but I only managed to get in a couple of bites, milk and juice were also a no go.

For the rest of the morning he played on the floor under his play gym. The greatest news though...he was using every bit of energy he had to roll over from his back. He was even starting to get frustrated when he couldn't do it. All the momentum was spinning him around on the mat.

I tried once again around 11:30 to get him to eat and drink, again without success. He appeared very tired, so I put him down for a nap at noon. He slept the entire afternoon and got up at 4:30 smiling and happy.

At dinner, I managed to get him to eat a small amount. He played again in his wheelchair and then on the floor and was quite happy. Just a few moments ago he drank a few ounces!!! Success...FINALLY!!! He is in very good spirits this evening.

We are so thankful to be at home and to resume life again. It has been a harder transition that I thought it would be, to come home. Because there was no time to prepare for this post surgery week before Karter's surgery; the fridge and pantry are bare, the underwear drawers empty and the inboxes are brimming. It has taken the entire day to feel settled at home. It was a little weird to go from "hospital/surgery mode" to packing the snack bag and doing home reading to doing laundry and getting back to work.

At any rate, we are thankful and so reflective about the amazing things God orchestrated this past 5 days. I hope to take some time later this week to sit down and share with you all of the "God Moments".

Post Surgery - Day 3

2009-11-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

Karter's swelling peeked around 3:00 yesterday. By evening, it appeared that things were already starting to subside. Karter had a great sleep. He slept through until about 6 am when he started to complain. I got up to see both his eyes were open! Also, he had soaked completely through all his clothes and bed linens. After changing him, he went back to sleep until 8:30.

Around 9am, Dr. Steinbok and his neurosurgery team came in to see Karter. They are thrilled that there have been no seizures - we are too! He told me that he was happy to let us go home this afternoon as long as Karter is taking some liquid. So we are preparing to go home. The IV has been taken out and the codeine will be weaned this afternoon. He will go home on Tylenol.

He is lying on the bed right now kicking around and playing with his feet! I love it! He is already starting to return to himself. he has been awake and alert since 8:30. Sit ups smiles and the whole bit!

Last night, when the neurologist came in, she was thrilled with Karter's continued recovery. In a room full of visitors she said "He is a little miracle boy". My soul just leaped - "I receive that" I said! So neat!

I will try and update throughout this week as we return home and continue assisting Karter in his recovery.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Post Surgery - Day 2

2009-11-22T11:35:00.001-08:00

Late evening yesterday, Karter’s swelling increased dramatically. Both eyes began to be swollen shut. Amazingly, he was still resting comfortably and seemed unbothered by it.

Karter had a good night. Around 8 last night he drank a full 8 oz and then again at 11:00 before we went to bed, he drank another 2 oz. His vitals with checked at 11:20 and meds were given and we went to bed for the night.

I believe they check in on Karter every hour, but vitals and meds were given every 4 hours throughout the night. We both slept comfortably and as well as could be expected without being in our own beds.

This morning, Karter has not been interested in eating or drinking anything. He is still sleeping a lot. I am not sure he has been awake more than 5 minutes at a time. He is still very swollen and cannot open his eyes. The swelling is said to subside this evening and into the morning tomorrow. He has been very peaceful and only upset when we bother him to wake, move, feed or give him meds.

We saw two of the neuro-surgeons on call this morning. They are going to decrease the codeine this afternoon stretching it to every 6 hours opposed to the current 4 hours. They still seem quite excited about Karter’s progress. I will see the neurologist later this afternoon. They are very pleased to hear that he has had no seizures post operatively. We have been told that any seizures resulting up to 3 months post surgery are considered to be the effects of surgery.

We had a few visitors last night and are expecting a few more family members this afternoon. It has been fairly uneventful in the room, which has been a nice rest for me. I am sitting and watching DVD’s and relaxing (something I am certainly not used to doing); it has been a nice weekend all things considered.

Here are a few pictures of Karter from last night and today. You can see he is very swollen and does not look like himself. He is however doing very well; he is such a trooper!

These photos are from last night:

These are from this morning, you can see how the swelling has peeked here:

Post Surgery pics

2009-11-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from last night, just about an hour post surgery:

Here are the pics from this morning when we came in. In the last hour Karter has started to swell a bit in the left eye. He is sleeping a lot and seems quite comfortable. We are now on the ward resting comfortably in a private room.

Post Surgery - Day 1

2009-11-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

We arrvied back at the hospital about 10:15 this morning. Karter was still in ICU. He was awake and very alert when we arrived. He even gave us a few half hearted smiles.

The nurse told us that he had a really good night. He slept through really well and woke at his normal time, 7:45. After he woke this morning, they took blood work and all his levels were really good. They then took him off the morphine (last surgery he was on it for about 48 hours) and put him on Tylenol and Codeine for the pain.

I gave him the codeine when he got his seizure meds this morning. There was an obvious lapse in time between coming off the morphine and receiving the Codeine, he did appear to be in some discomfort, but once the codeine kicked in, he rested and is still resting peacefully. It was nice for me because I was able to hold him and have him fall asleep in my arms.

The neurologist came in this morning on rounds and was thrilled to see that Karter was recovering so well. She had told us yesterday that we could expect the swelling to be far worse that the first operation, because of how much time they spent doing testing on the brain as well as how far forward they went with the resection. I am happy to say that there is almost no swelling. He looks far better than he did after the first operation. Also, she mentioned that he would experience some weakness on the left side today and for up and until a week. While she examined him, he was kicking both legs equally and moving the fingers nicely on his left hand (which is splinted because of the IV). Also, she mentioned that Karter would not look right because he would have some deficit in the right eye for a few days. Happily, I can say that although he is tracking left and right, he is gazing more to the right than he is to the left. Dr. Haa was pleasantly surprised and told us "I am happy to be proven wrong". She was very pleased with how well Karter is doing today, as are we. Praise The Lord for these miracles!!!!

Karter will go up to the ward today. They are just discharging patients and cleaning the rooms in preparation for Karter to move up to the ward.

I had hoped to upload a few pictures but the wireless is not working, so I am on the communal computer. If things change later in the day, I will upload then.

Please pray that Karter and I will sleep well tonight. I will remain here in the hospital with Karter until he goes home, which is most likely Monday.

We serve an amazing God! He deserves all the glory for Karter!

Surgery Update - 3

2009-11-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

Karter is out of surgery. He is apparently doing really well, moving around and not very swollen at all. He was extabated quickly and without complication and he came to fast as well. PTL!

We will see him in about 30 minutes. The doctor has also said that he is not in any pain. Over the next few days he will be on morphine and Tylenol with codine. Amazingly the only thing that hurts is the incision, there are no nerve endings in the bone or brain that would cause him pain.

They have told us that we can expect that he will have slow function on the left side up until the next week. This is normal and will correct itself quickly.

Thanks for the prayers. We are anxious to see our little guy now.

Surgery Update - 2

2009-11-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

We have just seen both the neurologist and the neurosurgeon. The operation has gone beautifully. There have been no complications and everything went very smoothly.

The EEG electrodes were placed right on the brain to monitor Epileptic activity. As we knew from previous testing and previous surgery, there was seizure activity that was prevalent in the frontal area of the right brain. A surprise to the doctors, was that there was also a fair bit of activity that extended further back and above the first resection. This area does extend into the motor and sensory cortex.

With that in mind, they took the electrodes and did motor monitoring, which basically allows them to stimulate the brain and see what parts of the brain are responsible for the motor activities, such as hand movement etc. Because we had previously decided that if there was seizure activity in the motor cortex it would not be removed, Dr. Steinbok resected the area as far back as he could without inhibiting any motor function for Karter on his left side.

After the resection was finished, they did more EEG monitoring and there was still some activity extending behind the resection. The hope is that they have cut off the pathway and that his seizures will be contained and improved.

Karter has another 45 minutes until his surgery is complete at which time they will extabate him in the OR and send him to ICU. We should be able to see him about 7-7:30. He will remain in ICU overnight and go up to the ward tomorrow. They anticipate the swelling to be a bit worse this time since they had to come move forward than they did last time. Please pray that this will not bother Karter and that the swelling will not be as bad and will subside quickly.

I will post a bit more tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks for your support today!

Surgery Update - 1

2009-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

I just thought that I would let you all know that Karter went into surgery a bit later than we thought. I believe they took him in around 1:30.

We met many doctors and other people that will be with Karter in the OR. He is in very good hands. The nurse put emela cream on Karter's hands and feet so that the IV start is less Painful and then before surgery the surgeon comes in and initials the side of Karter's head where the incision will be made.

Karter had a rough hour prior to surgery since he was so hungry. He had not eaten since dinner time last night. Needless to say, he was really grumpy! Kurt and I fasted with him so we understood how easy it was to complain!

The hardest moment was when we handed Karter to the nurse to take him into the OR. He cried and that just got us. It was hard to see him walk away in someone else's arms. But we were able to gather ourselves fairly quickly as we headed for our waiting post, the ICU waiting room. God is good!

We feel such peace as we sit in the waiting room. I have been checking Facebook, Kurt is out getting us something to eat and we feel like this is like any other day. This is the true grace of our Father. His peace transcends all understanding. We are so blessed to have Him to turn to.

I will do my best to update you as we get work throughout this afternoon. Thanks for your support.

I wanted to leave you with a beautiful email I go this morning just before leaving for the hospital. It is from a dear friend.

"We have been praying for Karter since we awoke at 6:30am and as I've been praying for him here at work the Lord gave me a beautiful word/picture I knew I had to share with you. This has taken me a while to write due to tears not stopping and that is a bit of a problem here at work. :)

Anyways, the Holy Spirit whispered to me that as Karter falls asleep for this surgery, not only will He guide the surgeons hands, have angels on guard, and bring complete healing to little Karter; but He will use this time to give Karter dreams of His amazing love for him. In his dreams, Jesus will play with Karter, read to Karter, laugh with Karter and share with Karter His great plans for his life. The picture I saw was Karter on Jesus' knee embraced by Him, protected, and Karter oblivious to anything going on around him as he was in His father's lap. The peace, joy and laughter from that place was so beautiful.

So know that as your son is on the operating table, the Lord is speaking to Karter and has Him on His lap completely embraced in everything Christ is."

Surgery - FRIDAY!

2009-11-19T11:40:00.001-08:00

Just over an hour ago I got a call from Children's Hospital. It appears that Karter will be having surgery tomorrow (Friday November 20th). This came as quite a shock as we were preparing for surgery on Tuesday. It appears that Karter's surgery needed to be bumped back because the surgery that was suppose to happen tomorrow needed to be postponed until Tuesday.

The only thing that would be different tomorrow over Tuesday is that our neurologist will be away and Dr. Haa will have to step in to read the EEG testing. But we are ok with that.

I trust that the Lord had this date in mind well before Karter ever took a breath. This is God's perfect timing and I rest in that.

So off to Children's Kurt will go this afternoon with Karter to the pre-op clinic appointment. I will stay here and do Paige's kids birthday party (a princess dress up/make up party).

Karter's surgery will be scheduled for 12:45 pm tomorrow. Here is the schedule of surgery. I will keep do my best to keep the blog updated as the day and weekend progresses.

Thanks in advance for your support and prayers, they are so important to us, we could not do this without them.

1 - Prep and Sedation- 12:45-1:15 -
Karter will receive an IV (which at times, a vein has been hard to find and get on the first go). Once the IV is started, they will put him under anesthetic. Please pray for the anesthesiologist. Once he is completely under, they will move on to the next step.

2 - Re-opening the incision - 1:15-1:45 -
They will be going back through the same incision they made last time. The hope is that they can keep the same scar as they had last time. Once the incision is made, they will move on to remove the window of bone that gives them access to the brain.

3 - Removing the window of skull to make room for the resection 1:45-2:15-
The only issue that could cause problems here is that sometimes the scar tissue can stick to the bone, this can make for a harder time when trying to remove the window of bone. Also, there is a higher chance of bleeding at this point. Please pray that there is no scar tissue that has adhered itself and that the bone comes out easily.

4 - EEG/ECOG 2:15-3:15 -
The neurologist, Dr Conolly, and EEG techs will lay grids right onto the brain to detect seizure activity. From their testing, they will determine how far back the seizures go. At this point there is no indication that the seizure activity goes back into the motor cortex, we continue to pray that way and ask that you do the same. Should they have to go into the motor cortex, Karter would lose left peripheral vision as well as experience muscle weakness on the left side. Please pray that the EEG/ECOG comes back clear and the reading happen quickly.

5 - Resection 3:15-4:45 -
This is where the surgeon, Dr Steinbok, will remove the portion of Karter's right frontal lobe. There is a 1% chance that at this point Karter could have a stroke. It is not likely, but it is a risk factor. Please pray against that. Also, there can be risk of bleeding at this point. Pray for steady hands, for accuracy, peace and clarity of mind for our surgeon. He is an amazing man, we are so very thankful he is on our team!

6 - EEG 4:45-5:45 -
They will go back and place the grids on Karter's brain again to make sure that there is no more electrical activity. Our prayer is that from this point forward, Karter would no longer suffer from Epilepsy!

7 - Replacing the skull bone 5:45-6:15-
Once all the testing is done, they will replace the window of bone. Pray that there is accuracy in this as well.

8 - Closing up the incision 6:15-6:45 -
Once the bone has been replaced, the incision will be sewn up. Karter had a great scar last time, very neat and in such a way that his hair covered it. Our prayer is that the same care is taken this time.

9 -Recovery 6:45 on
Once Karter is finished in the OR, they will take him to ICU where he will come out from under the anesthesia. They will extabate him as soon as they can and as soon as he is able to breath on his own. The sooner the better. Please pray that this can happen immediately post surgery and that there will be no difficulty with breath or with Karter's pre-existing reflux or asthma.

10 - Post surgery
Karter will remain in ICU for the first night, Kurt and I will not be able to stay with him that night but will return Wednesday morning. At some point on Wednesday, we will be transferred to the ward. We have a few friends there that are nurses. Please pray that we get a private room, that is best scenario for both Karter and myself.

Halloween Fun

2009-11-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

Karter came out with us for trick or treating last night. The was the first year that he was really able to participate in a way he could enjoy. Last year he lasted about 5 minutes and we took him home. It was so cute to watch him get excited as we approached each house. He just fed off all of the other kids energy and excitement. I think he has a really good time.

Here are a couple of pictures of Karter - he was Thomas The Tank Engine - we thought it was a good costume to go with his wheelchair.

What's been going on?

2009-10-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

I am very aware that is has been a long while since I have updated you on Karter's going's-on.

Preschool is going really well, the other day when I dropped him off, he had the biggest smile on his face when we rolled in. He seems very fond of Trista (his one to one teacher) and I think she is doing an exceptional job!!!

Karter enjoyed water play for the first time the other day and Trista mentioned that he really loved it. She brought a shallow bin of water and put it on his tray so that Karter and his friends could enjoy it; from what I hear, they all really did.

Karter also has brought home various art projects from finger painting to coloring and collaging. Each art project is such a treasure to me.

I have included a number of pictures of preschool below.

An update on surgery:::

We got a call from Children's Hospital the other day to confirm that the 24th will be his surgery date. It was tentative up until this week and has now been confirmed. We are doing our best to keep Karter healthy until then. Please pray for the days leading up to the surgery. We trust that this is God's perfect timing for Karter.

Surgery date

2009-10-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Karter has been given a surgery date of November 24th. We will find out on November 19th if it is a for sure date. There is a tentative surgery for another patient booked on that date, however it appears that they may not need the OR that day for that patient. (it is a really long explanation that I will not bore you with).

Please pray as we make the journey up to that day. We trust that God has the perfect day, the perfect time and the perfect treatment for Karter. We rest in that.

I will also take some time and post more preschool photos and updates, I have just been swamped with things in the past few weeks.

Fall in full swing

2009-09-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Fall has definitely shifted into full gear. Karter had two full days of preschool this week and also had his first riding session of the fall.

Tuesday was his full (2 1/2 hour) session of preschool. Kurtis took him (since the preschool is at the church and Kurt works there) and then also brought him home afterwards. Karter did really well. He played outside on the swing and on the teeter-totter. He loves the swing but was not so fond of the teeter-totter.

Inside, he played foam blocks. Trista would build towers and he would knock them down. He also had his hands painted and hand prints made. He didn't mind the hands being painted, but he did not really like it when they were washed.

In circle time, the teachers invited the children to play on Karter's tray and introduced it to them. The children we also told that when Trista said it was ok, they were allowed to push Karter's chair.

Karter fell asleep while sitting with Trista, during the final 10 minutes of class. When Kurt picked him up, he told Karter to say good-bye and Karter looked at Mrs. Brenda, smiles and lifted his left hand to wave. Kurt said it was pretty neat!

I was at home working. I have to admit that it was tough for me to keep my mind on things. I called two times to make sure he was ok. Lucky for me, they were too busy to pick up the phone from this worried momma. I never felt this way with Paige. I guess the fact is, I know that Karter relys on me for much more than Paige did at the age of three. Karter has been like my second skin for three years. It is hard to not worry about him when someone else is caring for him. I have all the trust in Trista, she has done such an amazing job with Karter and it is evident that she cares for him. I just struggle with the emotions of not being there with him. I am the one who is having separation anxiety!

Thursday mornings start off with riding at 9am. This week was his first session since June. They mounted him to the horse without the pillow support. He rode sitting so straight for 15 minutes. The walkers told me he was holding himself for most of the ride. After 15 minutes he got tired and they put the support on. He rode for 10 more minutes. We quite 5 minutes early so that it was a positive experience for him.

After riding, it was straight to preschool. That morning, he finger painted again. This time however, instead of painting his hand they just stuck it straight into the paint. In addition to painting, he also colored a picture. Trista helped him for most of it (hand over hand) however she did say he held the crayon on his own at some point. The pictures (so well chosen for him) is posted below.

By the end of the morning he was quite tired, but he managed to not fall asleep this time. There were a few friends that played tea with Karter, bringing him tea cups and trying to include him in their play. Jacob was also very concerned that Karter always have a toy on his tray and brought him one whenever his tray was empty. What an incredible thing preschool has been already. I am so glad that we did choose to put Karter in this year.

Each day at the end of the preschool day, Karter comes home with a sheet that tells me what he did that morning and how he did. We have started to put each of these in a binder. They are great tools to communicate and it is really neat for me to be able to look back over the school year and see his progress.

Trista has also said that if we keep a camera in Karter's school bag she will take pictures for us. So you can look forward to some pictures next week!

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Karter had his first day of preschool that same morning as Paige's first day of Kindergarted. His class however did not start until 10:30. I have to say that I was far more nervous to take him to school than I was with Paige. I went a few minutes early so that I could give Trista (his one to one support) the run down about his new chair and a few other things. In the end, all the parents ended up staying for about 30 minutes, then we were all asked to go to the orientation meeting.

Before we left for the meeting, Karter and Trista were playing a bit and I was playing photographer. At one point a precious little boy came over to Karter and put all his little people and cars on Karter's tray and started to play with Karter. I was so touched. He did not notice Karter's inability to play with him but rather just saw a great tray to play on. They were having a beautiful social interaction. It was in that moment that I realized that we made the right decision to put Karter in preschool. I also realized that that tray was going to be so integral in Karter's socialization. It might sound weird to you, but I really felt in that moment that I needed to pray over that little tray. (ok writing it sounds a bit weird...). That tray will be Karter's opportunity to have other children take part in play with him. It is part of his personal space that he can share with others.

Although it was very evident that Karter's preschool experience will look very different than most of the other children in the class, I think that this opportunity for him will be a launching pad for so much creative learning for him. More than anything it is time for him to be taught by someone other than me. As hard as that is for me, I know that it is so good for him. I walked away feeling so blessed that we have the ability to give Karter the preschool experience. Although, I have to admit...the 30 minutes that I was sitting in the meeting I just wanted to know how he was doing. There is going to be some separation anxiety on my part more so than on Karter's part. But it will be good for both of us.

It's Here!!!

2009-09-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

The long anticipated wait for Karter's chair is now over. After a little better than a 2 hour fitting appointment, the chair is now Karter's.

Because this chair is so new to the market, Karter was the first child that they have put one. There was a fair bit of custom work done to it to make it work perfectly for Karter. A special tray was made for him so that he has the option to play and eat in his chair whenever he needs to. The seating system was made custom for him and mounted appropriately based on Karter's needs. There were a few other modifications made as well.

Karter's appointment was right at nap time. I thought it would be a total gong show, but honestly, he was so great! I feel like this is testament to how much of a difference the chair will make to his life. He just loved to look around, to be at Paige's level and up off the ground in supportive seating other than his highchair.

The chair has a few options that are really great for Karter. The chair tilts to a lying positio, so if he is tired or if he needs to recover from a seizure, we can lie it back for his comfort. Another option is the removable head rest for extra support when doing activities where his head might bob backwards or when he needs to rest. Also, in addition to his lap belt, there is a special vest that holds him in as well for those times when he needs extra support.

This has truly been an amazing day. Never in my life would I ever have thought that I would be excited to put my child in a wheelchair. But for Karter, this means a whole new world of socialization and mobility; for us as parents there is amazing joy in knowing that we are able to give him that new world.

It is also so amazing to have experienced such support from those around us. From the various phone calls today, drop by guests, special notes, gifts etc, we feel so loved and encouraged. I cannot even express how all your words and gestures have meant to us.

This will be such an exciting year for Karter. It's here...bring it on!!!

:::Making Adjustments:::

:::Karter trying it all out:::

:::Congratulation Balloons from the Yackel's:::

:::Paige's first responce was "Oh, it is SO adorable!":::

:::Having fun together!:::

More News....

2009-08-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a big week for Karter! I have been trying all day to get time to post this.

I got a call a few hours ago from Variety Children's Charities. Her words were "I have news for you. Some of it is good and some might not be what you expected". She proceeded to tell me that VCC does not provide money towards Child Care expenses(Karter's one-to-one support worker would be considered an expense). However, they do provide bursaries for school.

Because of the importance that preschool provides for Karter's development, they have agreed to give Sunbeam Preschool a bursary on Karter's behalf that can be put towards those fees for support. We had asked for $3636 and they have provided $2500 for him.

She said that all the work I did to contact the MLA and community resources and in process, kept her in the loop on all of those emails and phone calls, she realized how important it was for Karter to go. In addition to their feelings about the importance, the fact that we did take the initiative to seek out that funding anyway we could, weighed heavily in out favor.

So Praise The Lord, Karter is going to preschool! Although we will still need to find some additional funding for the remainder of the year, Karter will start in September and we will not need to concern ourselves with it again until well into the New Year.

Thanks for your prayers, God has not yet let us down. He is SO good!!!

It is Official...

2009-08-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Karter will be going in for a second surgery. I just got the call a few minutes ago. It looks like it will be sometime in November or December (we will know the exact date in a few weeks).

A few things to mention:

-Karter's SPECT scan was co-registered to his MRI and when the surgeon looked at it he said that it was clear that the seizures are coming from the right front lobe, where the first resection and all the EEG's in the past have pointed to. It appears that it does not go back into his motor cortex.

-This surgery will be the exact same as the first one, they will further resect the right front lobe. Because it is not in the motor cortex, Karter will not lose any motor/physical function on the left side, nor will he lose any peripheral vision in the left eye PTL!!!

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. My first emotion is that of relief and happiness. We have waited so long, almost a full year, for an answer. Now that we have it, it just feel a little surreal. When Kelly (the nurse clinician) told me, tears welled up. I am not sure if they were tears of joy and relief or if they were tears of "OK here we go again". At any rate, we have prayed that the Lord would pave the way for Karter. And it has been our feeling all along that we wanted to proceed with a second surgery. So here we go - "I will thank you Lord for guiding our path, You are faithful!"

I will keep you posted when we hear the date and details. Please keep Karter in your prayers. Our biggest challenge will be keeping him healthy over the next months so that his lungs remain clear and that his body remains well. (an obvious struggle with Paige going to school and Karter going to preschool).

A Special Project

2009-08-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

I had a great discussion with a special friend this week. She mentioned how she was praying for Karter that morning. That lead us into a conversation about healing, faith and various other things. One of the topics we talked about was spoken words. Long story short, our conversation sparked an idea in me for a special project.

I went and bought a number of canvas' from the dollar store. Paige and I made it a project one night to paint them all. I then wrote healing scriptures on them. On the larger canvas, I wrote the word that was spoken over Karter. The plan is to hang the art collage over his bed and claim those words over him when he wakes from sleep and when he goes to bed.

I thought that you might want to check it out.

Trip To The Dentist

2009-08-20T20:02:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Karter's visit to the dentist the other week. He did really well. He laid in the chair all on his own, had a full cleaning and polish. His check up was good; no decay. A good report!!!!

Karter's Fund

2009-08-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

We have been asked by a number of people to set up a fund in Karter's name for donations specifically for his treatment, equipment and other needs as he grows and develops. Our goal is that in spite of Karter's additional needs, he will have the appropriate care and proper equipment to make life as easy as possible and to give him the same opportunities that Paige and other children have at his age. After a bit of research into the options, we have taken the necessary steps to completing this.

I would like to preface this by letting you know that we are in no way soliciting your donations. We just wanted to make available to those who have asked, the option that would best suit them. Karter has been blessed in abundance this past few years and his needs, by the grace of God, are taken care because of the generosity of many.

The account is set up at CIBC Bank. It is in Karter's name. If you hold an account with CIBC, you can make an online transfer from your account to his. If you do not hold an account with CIBC, you can go into any of the 1000's of branches across Canada and give them his account information and make the deposit there. We have been told that listing the deposit information here is secure and we have taken all the proper security measures to ensure that the account will not be compromised.

You will need this account number when you go in, they will not let you deposit with just his name. It is 00720/66-52999.

Some of you have asked specifically what Karter's needs are right now. I have listed below the need and the amount. Again, please know our heart in this and know that we are not vying for your money. God has placed on the hearts of many to help bless Karter and take care of his specific needs. Those needs will be provided for, that is a promise that we stand on and have experienced over the past years. Bless you all!

Needs for now: Updated for 2011

Wheelchair accessible van ($60,000)

An Impromptu Appointment And An Interesting Letter

2009-08-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the appointment news first...

Yesterday, I called the neurology clinic to follow up on the results of Karter's SPECT scan as well as fill them in on the latest seizure activity.

Because Karter's seizures have increased again (most likely due to an imbalance of medication because of his rapid growth) it was agreed that we would come in for an appointment today. Although short notice, it worked well in our weeks schedule. The purpose of the appointment was a regular check up, a discussion around surgery in addition to a medication change.

We arrived at 2:30 for our appointment, we were prepared for the usual 1 hour wait. (Kurt and Paige both came in this time) To our surprise we sat in the wait room for a total of 5 minutes (because we were early) and then met Dr. Connoly and Nurse Kelly in the room at 2:30 on the dot (AMAZING!!!!!!!). At the beginning of every appointment, Karter is weighed and measured. He is now a whopping 32 pounds and 3 feet 2 inches tall (38 inches). That is a weight increase of 10 pounds since mid-January. He is now in the 50th percentile for weight and height - quite a feat for our little guy since he was off the bottom of the charts for weight and height six months ago. In addition to that, his head has grown 2 inches since our last visit. It is still below the normal level however it has picked up significantly in growth. He went just over two years without any head growth, which was of grave concern. All those things in combination, gathered much praise from Dr. Connoly and was so encouraging to us. Thank You God for little miracle all along the way!!!!!!

We will be introducing a new medication over the next 8 weeks. In addition to that, over the course of the next 6 months, will be slowly weaning him off the Nitrazapam that he is currently on - a med we really did not want him on because it contributes to low tone and poor muscle control, not to mention A LOT of drooling! So good news all around!

The medication adjustment is a good thing, however just a band aid fix at this time. That led us to the discussion about a second surgery. Dr. Connoly has viewed Karter's SPECT scans, however they still need to be co-registered against his latest MRI scan. They do this so that they can get a better idea of what is going on in all levels of the brain. In Karter's case, nothing showed up on the SPECT scan that could be seen to the naked eye, however, co-registering it to the MRI could allow them to see something that would help determine a result.

Dr.Connoly feels strongly that surgery is a very good option for Karter. They would further resect the same area in the right frontal lobe. Prior to the last surgery, we were told that if they needed to go back for surgery a second time the area of the resection would go into the motor cortex and there would be some paralysis to the left side (hand and foot) as well as a field loss to the left peripheral vision. However, after viewing the latest MRI, it appears that the resection that was done the first time was very small. There is still a fair bit of abnormality in front of the motor cortex that could be resected and that is the area they would address this time in surgery. So the next step is to present Karter's case to 'Conference' (a bi-weekly meeting of all the neurologists and neurosurgeons). At that time, our surgeon will make the final decision as to whether he will go forward with surgery. The feeling we got today was that it will go ahead some time this fall in October or November. Karter's growth, weight gain and overall health weigh very well in his favor this time.

All in all a great visit today! There was lots of good things said about Karter's development and growth of this past 6 months, which for obvious reasons, was very encouraging for Kurt & I. We will keep you posted with the final decision about surgery.

OK now on to the letter...

Yesterday, there was a letter in the mail addressed to "The Parents of Karter Witt". I opened it and to my surprise it was Karter's preschool package that includes the gradual entry schedule, letter from the teachers and all the paperwork to fill out for class. I sat there for a moment to take it all in.... I remember getting Paige's package two years ago, but the emotions were really different, not the numbing shock I felt at that moment.

I am so excited for Karter to go to preschool and although all the funding details for one-to-one support are still up in the air, (which really determines whether he will go or not) there is a part of me that is secretly a little worried about sending him. I know it is the best thing for him for his social, physical and emotional development, but still there was a tug of war going on inside. Questions whirled around in my head all evening and for a small window of time in the middle of night, after being awaken to rescue Paige's stuffed bunny from being lost beneath the covers at 1:45am :-). Things like "How will the other children treat and react to him?", "What will he do there?", "Is this is right time to send him", "Is he really ready", "How will the parents respond?", the questions go on and on. My reluctance though, soon gave away to prayer for Karter and what is best for him.

My ability to "cut the chord" so to speak is so much more difficult with Karter. I am the one in which he depends on for life - literally! I feed him, I move him around, I change him, I put the things in front of him to entertain him, I cuddle him - he cannot come to me when he is sad. Not that there are not others that can step in and assist in that, I am learning to accept that help slowly. But more than that, I feel like he is my little tag along buddy. There is a sense of feeling like I can protect him from the 'world around him' when I am there, it is an extremely vulnerable place to let him go where I am not.

So there you have it - preschool on the horizon! I am gearing up to bring a box of kleenex on the first day and I risk being the blubbering mother that I often silently grinned about when I too was a preschool teacher! (I suppose you get what you dish out hey!?! :-) )

In other news...I got a discouraging letter from the MLA last week, it was in response to my letter about the lack of preschool funding for Karter's one-to-one support, from a few months back . It basically stated all the facts that I already knew, but no action had been taken to change anything. So I wrote another letter in response asking action to be taken and telling her that I was unsatisfied with her restating facts that I was already living - as if I was unaware of them! So we will see if anything comes of it.

I still have not heard from Variety about whether they will grant funds for a worker for Karter so that he can attend preschool. My confidence rests in the fact that the Lord has taken care of things up until now and I certainly do not believe He will let me down now. He knows what is best for Karter, He will work it out. I have enough other things to put my thoughts into, I do not need to worry about the details of that. So I rest in Him!

Karter's wheelchair will arrive within two weeks. The seating is in and the chair left the manufacturer back East early this week. So we will have it in due time before school starts.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers, God is constantly moving through our little guy. He is an over comer!

Approved

2009-07-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

We received news via email, that our extended benefits company approved an authorization for the $1800 top up for Karter's wheelchair (I think I mentioned that the Government At Home Program was only covering 80%).

Praise The Lord!!!! He just continues to provide for all our needs and all of Karter's needs on a daily basis. We continue to be astounded at His goodness.

3 Year old party

2009-07-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics from Karter's party. There is a full post on our family blog.

THREE Years Old

2009-07-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

How is it even possible that my beautiful little boy is three today! I have been thinking about this post for the past week; reminiscing about the past year and the few previous to this one. What an amazing journey!

I saw a blog a while back where the mother had so beautifully written a list of all the amazing milestones her child had met at the age of 1 year. It was a beautiful documentation of how far this child had come. A time to rejoice and a time to celebrate. I too rejoiced with this mother and smiled along with her.

So I thought I would do something much the same for Karter. Karter has his own scale of milestones and for us that is just fine! Karter is who he is and no one else. He will go at his pace and we rejoice in that. I thought I would preface it with these great quotes that I saw somewhere. "Do not try to define me,let me define myself. This is who I am. It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness"

This year I:

-went to Maui and was able to sit on the plane in my own seat
-learned to grab at objects with my right hand and hit objects with my left hand
-learned to giggle
-learned to play peek-a-boo and laugh uncontrollably until I bring tears to my moms eyes
-started to follow and track people through the room
-fell in love with Little Einstein. I squeal with delight every time it comes on.
-learned to ride a horse
-learned to roll consistently from my tummy to my back
-learned how to grab my toes
-can put my hands in my mouth
-can put toys in my mouth
-can eat ice cream (I hated cold food before)
-moved into a big boy bed
-gained enough strength to attain head control
-learned to sit with very minimal assistance
-gained more weight than anytime in my entire life (grin)
-overcame all my food allergies
-learned to do sit ups that would make any of you jealous.
-became very interactive with my family; especially my mom!
-started to make sounds and sometimes even mimic the sounds my mom makes.
-started to make funny faces

There are so many other great things that have happened this year. One of my favorites is the relationship that has started between Karter and Paige. Each morning, Paige goes into Karter's room, says good morning and plays with him. I can hear her playing peek a boo with him and him laughing uncontrollably. She will then tell him stories, sing to him or put music on for him. It is such a beautiful thing!

Karter has a way of teaching us things that no one else can. He teaches us strength and endurance; he embodies strength is who he is. He teaches us patience to believe. He has taught us that there is a capacity to love that is far beyond anything that we could have ever imagined. Karter is consistent and so loving; he has a way of making you feel loved without ever speaking the words. He is easygoing and good natured; he takes the good and the bad all with a smile on his face. He has taught us how to live in expectation of greatness and in the constant faith of knowing that ultimately although out of our human control, it is very much in God's control.

My son, you are an inspiration to us and to many. There is a mantle that rests upon you in anticipation of great things. You are an over comer, we have spoken that over you daily. Everyday is a new day, one full of expectation and great new things. I love you far more today than I did yesterday and my love for you will continue to explode everyday after. Thank you for lighting up my world with your beautiful smile and your infectious laughter. Every day is better with you in it. I love you my beautiful boy!!! Happy Birthday Karter, let's celebrate year number three!

I Finally Did It

2009-06-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

I ordered Karter's wheelchair today. It was a weird sort of excitement. I mean you never want to have to order a wheelchair for your child, but there was still a feeling of happiness when I placed the order; mainly because I know that it gives Karter the ability to be mobile and in time, in dependant. It means he can go to preschool and be part of the activities; it allows him to be able to take part in the world that goes on around him, without sitting in a stroller.

The 'At Home' program has paid for 80% of the chair, however there is an additional amount that we need to cover and it is still a fairly substantial amount. I am still currently waiting on a reply from our extended benefits to see if they will cover a portion of that. We should have an answer by the end of the week.

That leads me to this, a testimony of God's faithfulness to us. I have been very forthright when I share with people about the fact that not only has God covered our needs for food, clothing and shelter, but also in EVERY area of Karter's needs for extra support, equipment and different therapy's. Whether it be something that we need to pay for or that we need to qualify for, Karter has never gone without. This wheelchair is no exception! This past Sunday, we had a young married couple approach us and give us a cheque for a large amount of money towards Karter's chair. They felt led to bless him with that money. They told me that they had been blessed so much and in turn needed to bless out of that overflow. I cried uncontrollably while I sat there and tried to find something to say, other than Thank You! I am still overwhelmed by the gesture and so extremely thankful. So we fear for nothing, our needs are provided for! God has taken care of it.

Ordering the chair for me was a step of faith and an act of obedience. I am passionate and firmly believe the promises that God gives us in His word, and although I find the believing part not as difficult, it is the faith part (which involves an action) that is hard.

The wheelchair should be ready in about 4-6 weeks. I will keep you posted about how it all works out.

Follow Up Visit

2009-06-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

With the unreliable internet connection here at the hospital, I find myself unable to log in so that I can work, so I thought I might as well post now.

We got here to Children's at 10:30 this morning. An IV was started, again without tears (what an amazing trooper my little guy is). We waited 5 minutes and then they did the dye injection. We were then sent on our way at 11:00 to wait until the scan at 1pm.

We stopped by the neuro clinic as we waited in between appointment. The decision was made to up his meds until we can get the scan results back and come in for an appointment, most likely in July.

At 12:45, the anesthesiologist came in and let us know that they were on time. Amazing! By 1:00 he was in the room and now I sit waiting for him to finish up.

Today has been a really easy day here. Not much stress and very little emotion. Thanks for your prayers. Without them, we would have had a very difficult time making it through this week.

I want to leave you with something that one of my spiritual mentors sent me this week. It was their daily devotional on Tuesday.

HANG ON

Isaiah 55:8-13

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Did you know that the battleground for the problem you are facing right now is in your mind and on your lips? If you will hit the devil with the Word and cast the care of the situation over on God, you’ll win.

Let me warn you though, hanging onto the Word isn’t always easy. The devil knows if he doesn’t steal it from you, you’ll use it to enforce his defeat.

So, don’t be surprised if he sends an evil spirit to exalt itself against the Word of God. If you’re sick, he may begin to tell you, “You’re not healed. It might work for someone else, but not for you.”

If he starts to tell you something like this, DON’T BELIEVE IT! Don’t buy it! Don’t start worrying about it and thinking, “Oh my, I’m afraid I’m not going to get healed. I sure don’t feel healed. Why I’m probably going to just get worse and worse…”

Remember this: It’s the Word that does the work, not the one holding onto it. It’ll work for anybody who’ll put it to work. It’ll work for you just like it worked for Jesus when He walked the earth.

He told Satan, “It is written!” No matter what the devil tries to tell you, refuse to let go of the Word. Tell him what is written concerning your situation. Let the Word fight its own fight. It’ll whip the devil every time.

Children's Visit #1

2009-06-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

I am currently sitting in the waiting room at Children's, in the nuclear medicine department. We arrived here earlier this morning so that Karter could receive an injection at the onset of a seizure. Then injection is radioactive material that once Karter is scanned, will show up in the area that the blood flows to during a seizure. That area is the place where the seizure originates from.

The IV went in without issue, Karter did not even cry (I would have!). Then we sat and waited until he had a seizure. Crazy really! We watched DVD after DVD (good thing I brought my laptop). The dye needs 90 minutes to fully do its thing before the scan. So they told me that if he did not have a seizure by 11:45, that they would inject him anyhow and make today the baseline scan that they need. At 11:42, he seized and the dye was injected. Ok, so patience - not my better quality....at any rate, I was relieved that we got a seizure after waiting all morning.

The scan is now delayed about 30 minutes. Karter does need to be sedated for the scan, and it seems that the anesthesiologist was delayed with another patient. So we wait. Karter has not eaten since supper last night. He has milk at 6:30 this morning and was allowed a small amount of juice at 9:30. HE is doing remarkably well all things considered. We did have to hold back his morning med's, so he will get those after the scan.

We will return here Thursday morning, however, we now do not need to come as early. I think they said we could come at 11:30 instead of 8:30. So hopefully I can arrange for him to get his final riding lesson in (grin).

These days are exhausting for us. And just being here really does bring back memories and feelings I would rather not relive. We are however, very aware that we are covered by the prayers of those who love and care for us.

I will update after Thursday's appointment.

Wheelchair & Preschool Update

2009-06-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

I have spent a better part of this week working out some major details for funding for Karter. First off, his wheelchair does not appear to be covered 100% by the At Home Program. There is $1800 over and above the authorization, that we will need to cover. This is the best chair for Karter and so we are going to order it and sort out funding in the meantime.

I am first looking into our extended benefits to see if they will cover the top up amount for the chair. If that does not pan out, I will be applying to President's Choice Children's Charity for the funds. Obviously, if they cannot cover the amount, we will have to fund it ourselves. We are trusting the Lord for the funds to fall into place and will be, in faith, ordering the chair next week when Karter's rep returns from his time off. The company that we are ordering the chair from, will not require full payment from us, until the delivery date which is about 4-6 weeks. That should give me time to solidify the funds.

Secondly, I am working through the funding process for Karter for a one to one support for preschool. As of July 11th, Karter's birthday, he is eligible for one to one support through Supported Child Development, however because of lack of funds, Karter will be unable to access that option. This is mainly due to the fact that the government has not increased childcare funding for our area, to match the increased population. This is so frustrating for us because Karter cannot go to preschool without one to one support.

So my course of action, as Karter's advocate, is two fold. First off, I am in the process of applying to Variety Children's Charity for the funding to cover a one to one support worker for him. I have chatted, in length with a senior member on the application review committee. She has given me a lot of great answers and ideas on how to complete my application; what letters to include and things to write in my application to make it as complete and concise as possible. Secondly, I have contacted our MLA, Mary Polak with our concerns about funding and wait lists for Karter's one to one support.

This is all new territory for me. Please join us in praying for provision and open doors. We are trusting that all things will fall into place for September for Karter to attend preschool at Sunbeam, as well as with his wheelchair.

It's June already!!!!

2009-06-03T10:53:00.001-07:00

I am trying to catch up on posting today. After many on the family site, I have now come here to give you a quick update.

Karter will be going in for his Spect scan on June 16 & 18th. His seizures have picked up again, undoubtedly because of his continued weight gain. The medication will not be increased until after the scan at which time we will be weaning him off the nitrazapam and most likely introducing something else.

After the scan, we will meet with Dr. Conoly to discuss further surgery. Our hope is that they get all the information they need from the scan to make a concise decision about surgery.

Karter's wheelchair is just going through the final stages of funding. Right now it looks as if we will have to pay about $1200 towards the chair. We are praying hard about this. Our hope is that At Home, will cover the full amount, if not, we are trusting God for provision for this money.

I am currently working through some applications for funding for Karter to have one to one support for preschool. It has been confirmed that he will not receive support until September of 2010. In the meantime, we need to find funding from outside sources so that he can have support in place for September. Please pray for a clear way to be made for this and pray for me as I go through this application process.

I will update you again soon.

Remembering Sharon

2009-05-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

I attended Sharon's memorial this afternoon. There are so many things I could say and at the same time, I am at a loss for words, heavy hearted and so deeply touched.

Sharon left behind a loving husband, and two beautiful small children. As they walk down that isle at the start of the service, my heart broke for them. For the many times throughout their life when they will journey without a mommy to hold their hand and share in the triumphs of life. And a husband that now needs to figure out how to be a daddy and a mommy. I cannot fathom the deep sorrow, the anger, the emotion.

Today has been a day full of reflection. I am full of thanks and fully aware of the amazing blessings that adorn every day of my life; my two beautiful children - my most precious gits from heaven. My amazing and loving husband, whom I would never want to do life without. Our health, our friends, our family, I could go on and on.

Still I sit here numb. Not that I have not been touched by death before, but somehow this feels so different. Is is the fact that it was so sudden? Or maybe that she is not much further on in life as I am? Is it that she has kids that are so young? I am not sure. But the reality of how fragile life is seems to be at the forefront of my mind. We need to live today to the fullest, becuase tomorrow may look so different. Not that we need to live life in fear of that daily. But rather live today in a way that makes tomorrow seem like a distant reality. Live today to the fullest and enjoy every moment of it.

Sharon's husband shared so profoundly. He talked about how we can take for granted the time we have. So take time today to say I love you, to give a hug, to spend time with your kids, be passionate, to talk with your spouse, to tell someone how you feel etc. Don't waste the day thinking you will do it later. For some, later never comes.

Sharon was a vivacious woman. Fun loving, passionate about a lot of things. Caring and kind. She was an encourager. She was smart. She loved her family - her children were her pride and joy. She gave of herself to so many. Sharon, I wish you could have known how many lives you touched.

Sharon had been part of our lives since Karter was 5 months old, as our Infant Development consultant. Paige remembers Sharon as 'the lady with the bag of toys'. Every visit she would bring a bag of toys for Karter to play with. There were always strategically placed toys in that bag just for Paige. She also loved that Sharon 'came to play'. Karter will remember the songs, the cuddles, the games and the huge smiles. Sharon, I will remember you as a friend. As much as you were here to support Karter, you were here for me too. You always took the time to focus in on the great things Karter had accomplished. Though they were small and almost unnoticable to many, you always saw them (sometimes before I even did). And you never failed to tell me I was doing a good job - those words were such life to me, they got me through many tough days. We shared lots of laughs, some frustrations and at times even tears. I just hope you knew that you too did such a great job. We will miss you dearly.

May Update

2009-05-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, how time flies! I realized it was time to give you an update. And since I spent a bit of time updating our family blog with all of Paige's activities, it was time to do the same for Karter.

Praise The Lord! We are almost 2 1/2 weeks seizure free! This is the longest Karter has gone without a seizure since September. After increasing his medication at the end of March, the seizures decreased in frequency and within a few week disappeared completely.

We have not heard anything from Children's in way of the Spect Scan. I plan to call this week and see what the plan is. Without the presence of frequent seizures, I am not sure how they go about inducing them for the scan. I will be honest when I say, I am not overly excited about taking him off his medication prior to the test. He has been so tricky to control with medication. I feel that it might be difficult to just put him back on the meds without seeing the seizures resurface. However, we trust that God has it all under control. We will continue to submit to the doctors care. We trust that they have been put in Karter's life by divine appointment. There is nothing to fear but fear itself, isn't that correct?

Horseback riding started up again mid April. Karter has been really enjoying the Spring session. Now that the weather has changed a bit, it is not so cold; I think that has helped. He will ride until June 18th and then take a break for the summer, resuming riding in September.

Karter is still gaining weight. We think he is about 29 or 30 pounds. Such a far cry from the 22 1/2 pounds he was in January. He has really started to fill out. We are really thankful for this. With the additional weight, it has become increasingly hard to carry him around. Our hope is that approval for the wheelchair comes through quickly. We would appreciate your continued prayers about that.

On a sad note, this week we heard the shocking news that Karters IDP (Infant Development) consultant suddenly passed away. Sharon, has been our consultant since Karter was 5 1/2 months old. She visited us on a bi-monthly and monthly basis over the past two years. She was the one took care of Karter's "case". She made sure that we recevied the proper support from physio, occupational therapy, speech therapy and other outside sources. She was our support and our advocate. We shared many tears, lots of great milestones and many fun times sharing about our kids and various other things. We are greatly saddened by her sudden passing. Sharon leaves behind a husband and two children; a little girl Paige's age and a son who is 6. My heart breaks to think that those precious little ones will now grow up without a Mother. Please pray for the family, they really need the covering right now.

Although I was very candid with Sharon about our stand of faith with Karter, I never had an actual opportunity to share the gospel with her. I had invited Sharon to the production and we had talked about church a bit. This has been a real eye opener for me. There are so many people that walk through the door of our home on a weekly basis, in support of Karter. I don't want to take for granted that I just need their support. I too can share with them about where I find my source of strength.

I am constantly reminded, of late, about my circle of influence. I find it so astounding the way God gently guides the rapids of our life and marks the course for things that we may never have imagined or given thought to. He is so amazing!

Swingbo Wheelchair

2009-04-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

I had mentioned awhile back that we had a wheelchair on order. Since that time a new chair has come on the market, one that was brought to out attention by a friend who is in the business saw at a trade show. We put our order on hold until we could see this chair.

Today we went and met with the equipment team and had a chance to see the chair. In addition we were able to compare it side by side with the one that we already have approval for. Kurt and I both agreed that the new chair is the one we want for Karter. It make the other chair look Mickey Mouse in comparison.

Karter loved it too. Kurt drove him around in it and every time he stopped, Karter would complain. He is able to see everything around him so well. We loved a lot about this chair. For me first and foremost is that you see Karter first and then the chair. The chair is quite unassuming, it is sleek and small. It maneuvers well.

We took all the measurements for the chair and will now submit a quote and a letter to the At Home Program. Because this chair is new on the market and although a number of quites have been put through to the At Home Program, one is yet to be approved. We need your prayers that they will approve this chair and more than that will fund it fully.

We took a few pictures on Kurt's phone so you could see what the chair looks like. We will keep you updated on what the answer is.

A Great Day!

2009-04-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Karter's first day of the Spring session of riding. We had a month long break since the Winter session ended.

I was so proud of Karter today; he rode for the first time without the support pillow around him. Instead, he sat on the horse and with the help of the volunteers, held on to the harness and had to keep his body stable without anything to support him. He rode for over 20 minutes without complaint. By the end of the winter session, Karter would whine throughout the full ride. He obviously figured out how much work therapy was.

Here is a short video for you to see. You can compare it with the video of his first day of riding back in January.

After riding, Karter had his first haircut at an actual Barber. Up until now, I have always cut his hair. Paige has a play date this morning, so I took Karter to Daddy's Barber. Karter was so good, sat still and silent the whole time. Here is a cute shot of him.

And the wait continues...

2009-04-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Just before Kurt and I left for our time away last week, we increased Karter's medication. His seizures had increased to 5-8 a day; the most we had seen on a daily basis since before his surgery almost two years ago. In talking with the neurology team and since Karter has had a significant weight gain since January (about 7 pounds), it was agreed that we could increase his medication one more time before maxing out on it. The hope was that it would bring his seizures under better control and would give us some time to figure out the next step for Karter's treatment. Since the medication increase, Karter's seizure have decreased to 1-3 a day. Although this is an improvement, we still want to get them under control completely as in the past. (Post surgery we went three months at a time between seizures).

Today we received a call and Karter's case was presented to the Neurosurgery panel last week. They discussed the possibility of further surgery. The consensus was that there is still not enough concise evidence to make a clear decision to proceed with further surgery. The panel remains on the fence about their decision. So to help make a better educated decision, they will be sending Karter for a SPECT Scan. The procedure is explained quite well here. This will happen in about two weeks. It will be an out patient procedure. Once completed, we will repeat it a few days later to ensure that the results are consistent. At that time, the neurosurgery panel will look at the results and confirm whether or not further surgery will be something that Karter will benefit from.

As you can imagine, trying to fit in two trips into Children's Hospital in one week will be tough on Karter. It also makes our normal schedule harder to manage; between time off work and arranging care for Paige, it is always a stretch for us. We have already started to pray that things would work themselves out to be the least complicated for all of us; and for Karter, that his seizures would show quickly and the procedure would be the least taxing on him as possible. As he gets older, his tolerance for these type of procedures has become a lot less; although he always proves to be such an amazing trooper. So please remember us in your prayers as the days lead up to these appointments.

Karter will return to riding this Thursday, after a four week break. The Spring Session will go until the end of June. We have noticed such an improvement in his muscle control and are excited for this next session to begin.

Next week, we have an appointment to view another wheelchair. We will be able to compare, side by side, the two that we are interested in. That will allow us to make our final decision. The final paper work will then be sent to the At Home program for approval.

Enough for now, I will try and update a bit more later this week.

Covered in the time of storm

2009-03-21T14:49:00.001-07:00

This week has been one full of feeling. The situation referred to in Monday's post set me up for a real week of soul searching and working through emotions. Not really because of that actual news, but I suppose it exposed a lot of feelings that had been inside over the last while.

It is so interesting to me that as time has moved on in this journey, I actually start to revel a bit in these times of sorrow or disappointment. That may sound really strange to you. But for me, I start to look at it as a time when my heart is the most vulnerable to God - a time when He is doing something really big; whether it be in my heart, in Karter's life, in the life of my family, whatever. When all is stripped away and I lay completely helpless in front of my Heavenly Father and cry out to Him, exposed and ready to listen, He is there and He shows me such amazing things.

I wanted to share with you a few things that really brought me through this week. Although, I do not feel ok to share every deepest feeling in this forum, I do want to share with you a few things that may be relevant to you where you are today.

Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to share in a beautiful time of worship. It is always in those really low places that our Father meets us (although He meets us anywhere, anytime) - truly He met me where I was. I felt His presence like I have not felt it in a long time. That reassuring idea that "I am still here for you" washed over me with such overwhelming force. There was a point where we sang over and over "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord". And as I repeatedly sang that phrase, I could feel from the depths of my soul my spirit rise up. It was like it was going to leap out of my chest. Then, the worship leader spoke a word about how the Lord hides us under His wing; a place of protection. That He is the shelter of the most high God. That the storms will pass over us and around us, but we are covered by Him. The truth in those words rang so true.

I was thinking about that again today as I was driving, and my anthem song came on the radio. It hit me, there has been this consistent theme that has been running through my life. My Jesus has covered me under His wing. As we have journeyed this past two years, He has not allowed us to be harmed by this storm. Instead where there should have been the crumbling of our emotions, the has been joy. Where there should have been such anger and bitterness there has been such deep love. Where there should have been defeat, there has been an overwhelming strength. Where there should have been the shattering of relationships, there have been stronger bonds formed.

Our Father has taken the brunt of this storm by covering us and hiding us inside of His wing. He has been our strong shelter. That does not mean that we go along merrily in life pretending that this is not hard or that it doesn't affect us in any way. I would not be honest if that was what I portrayed. It is tough and sometimes yes, we want to throw our hands in the air and give up and say 'Why me God?' But it is in those times that we are so quickly reminded of His love for us; He just gently tucks us in under His arm and gives us the cuddles that we need.

There was a point this week where I had entertained thoughts of giving up hope and giving up my faith in this situation. And although it pained me to admit that because it exposed such weakness, the Lord knew it and helped me to share it with someone who I consider a mentor. This amazing woman is also on a faith journey. She shared with me about a point where everyone around her was telling her to give up faith. She was almost at the point to say "fine, if it makes you happy I will". It was in that moment that she realized God was working it all out for good. In the weeks following she had breakthrough - awesome! So we continue to stand, sometimes maybe not as firm as we hope we can, but we stand planted in His word, planted in what we know is truth and we hold on for dear life, expecting that we will see breakthough!

That is really what is comes down to doesn't it? We trust our Heavenly Father to cover us and sustain us in the times of storm; not to keep us from storms. His purpose is not that we would live a life free from hardship and turmoil. Jesus wasn't free of it, why do we think we should be? His life was so much harder than ours and his Daddy was God! And although we need to choose to stand and choose to have faith, we NEVER stand alone! If our feet get tired or our arms get weary He supports us - through encouragement, through friends/family, through word etc. And then we wait, in the expectancy that He will do a good thing. We learn to except our challenges and find someway to consider them a gift.

As I was in the word I found various verses in James 1 that really stood out for me so I thought I would share them with you.
From The Message Bible:

2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

5-8 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

16- 18 So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action

So friends in the face a hardship and challenges we need to try and find a place within ourselves to consider it a blessing. This is a time of refining; and although painful in so many ways, it is exposing in all of us the beauty that rest beneath the surface of out hearts. And as it says in James, we will 'become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way'. But know this, we can always take refuge within our Father's shelter. He will never leave us, we can only leave Him.

Trying not to be discouraged

2009-03-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I had the official "Intake" meeting with Supported Child Development. Right now, Karter is followed by the Infant Development Program. This covers him from birth to 3 years old. Within the same agency is Supported Child Development, they pick up at age 3 and follow the kids through preschool and up to age 6.

Although we are "in the program" per say, it seems that Supported Child Development only follows a child if they go to preschool. As you know, we have registered Karter for preschool and his needs allow him to qualify for additional support. The issue that I became aware of this morning is that he now goes on a wait list for that funding and it turns out that it does not look like there will be enough for him for this upcoming year. Apparently, funding is given out to 4 year old preschool children first, then daycare children, then three year old preschool children.

To top that, if he is not in preschool, he no longer receives support while we are on the wait list. He will remain seeing his physiotherapist and speech therapist, which are SO important (they are actually out of a different agency), but a consultant that oversees Karters case and puts us in touch with all the other services available (such as occupational therapy and others) will not be provided until he gets funding dollars for preschool, which from what she is telling me, could be September of 2010!

You can understand how discouraging this is. Although Karter may developmentally not be 3, he is 3 in actual age in July, which allows him to be eligible to go to preschool in September. Without a support worker, he will not be able to go. For us, we feel like the social exposure for him would be of great benefit for him. Motivation from other children can be such a key thing in development. We all know this by watching both our typical and not typical children, they learn from each other. And Karter is naturally social, so we want to hone in on that skill and provide for him the same experiences that Paige had to build relationships and skills through preschool.

I asked the coordinator of the program if there were other options or programs to receive funding for a one to one worker (obviously we cannot afford to pay a worker our self and pay the tuition for preschool on top of it). Basically, our option is to pay out of our pocket or wait on the list until funding is released.

So I ask for your prayers, we need a miracle here. Somehow, we need more funding dollars to be released so that Karter would be able to receive support for September. Once again, we find ourselves in a real state of limbo - a place I really hate! It can be August or even September before they fully know how much funding they have and who it will be released to; so once again, we wait!

to be continued...

2009-03-12T16:55:00.001-07:00

Children's Hospital called. They informed me that both our surgeon and neurologist were in surgery yesterday morning thus not making it to the conference. They will discuss Karter at a later date this month.

The neurology nurse did tell me that they are really on the fence with Karter. So please pray for a clear guidance of their minds. Should surgery take place, it will be closer to the summer. That will ensure that his chest will clear up and he will have a better time of remaining healthy.

The wait is close to being over

2009-03-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

I got a call on Friday afternoon from Children's Hospital from the neuro nurse. She called to get an update on how Karter was doing as this coming Wednesday, his case will be presented once again before the epilepsy surgery team.

This meeting will decide whether or not we will be moving forward with further surgery for Karter. The surgery itself, would be the same as last time. It is a resection on the right frontal lobe. They would remove more of the portion that had developed abnormally. They were cautious last time with how much they removed; the philosophy was, taking took much could never be corrected, but taking too little can always be rectified later if need be. I suppose later is where we are now.

Please pray that not only would a decision come quickly so that we no longer need not live in limbo, but also, that the team would be well informed with Karter's condition and tests to date and make educated decisions based on those facts.

We should hear from the neurologist no later than Thursday. I will update at that time.

Colds, growing up and a little update.

2009-03-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

Karter has had a cold for just over a month now. I know, its cold and flu season and it is to be expected. However, it just seems to have gotten progressively worse. The past 2 weeks Karter's asthma has been pretty bad. After having him on his nebulizer 3 or 4 times a day with no improvement, I called the doctor today. He agreed that Karter should be seen. So we took yet another trip to the doctor.

Our family physician figures that a combination of Karter's reflux, asthma and cold most likely have turned into Bronchitis. So another course of antibiotics for a week should tell if that is the case. If things do not get better, we will rethink it again and look into things further.

On a positive note - we had Karter weighed so that the doctor could accurately dose his meds. He is now 26 pounds! A far cry from the 22.5 pounds he was in January. So we are very thankful!

One more week of riding for this session. We then have a 4 week break and resume the spring session in April through June. Today was a tough go at riding, especially with Karter not feeling well. But for the most part, we think he really enjoys it. And there have been some really nice improvements in his tone and head control since January.

Other than that, nothing else much is new.

Handsome....

2009-03-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

...Ok I might be biased! Took this the other night and realized how fast he is growing up.

Freedom Tripod LT Pediatric Wheelchair

2009-02-19T16:20:00.000-08:00

I may have mentioned last fall, that we were in the process of getting Karter a wheelchair. Although he still fits in his stroller with much room to grow, we felt that with preschool coming in the fall, it was time to get him into something that would aid him well in the classroom setting. In addition, they fit him for a removable seat for the chair, that can come out and will support him much better than the couch or his bumbo.

We met with the equipment team at Surrey Child Development Centre a couple of times. They brought in a few different samples of things that they felt would aid Karter well. The first meeting however, they brought chairs that were much to involved for Karter. He did not need most of the supports and they were large and cumbersome.

Being a preschool teacher by trade, my first question was "How will he move around in the classroom in that?" To which they answered, "He won't". That was not good enough to me. The idea of putting him in the chair was to give him the possibility of independent mobility, not to segregate him even more. I asked that they bring in a chair that was child's height, fitting under a child size table but with the option to grow when he does. I also needed something that was light for me to lift in and out of the van and that was easily collapsible.

The second visit they brought in the perfect chair. It is called the Freedom Tripod. It is really easy to maneuver (for when he is able) and it is small - dare I even say, cute.

We chose "Octane Orange" with a black seat - sort of hot wheels car inspired (I think we will get him some flame stickers for it too :-)).

As I mentioned before, Karter did qualify for a government program that will cover the costs of his equipment. We are so thankful for this however, it has come with a few challenges.

After the quote was sent in, the finding program felt that the chair was a bit more expensive than a comparable one, so they had to get a second quote comparing the 2 chairs. The other chair however, was a bit bigger and was no longer suggested by the equipment team because it was fairly hard to maneuver.

They were literally bickering over about $150. This wheelchair needs to support him for 5 years, until we get another one (however we hope to not need another one by then). I talked with the physiotherapist to see if it is an option for us to pay the difference. She said that it was. So we have been approved for the funds of the cheaper chair, however are going to pay the extra so that Karter can have the one that will suit his needs the best. In the scheme of things, is is $30 a year.

So it will be ordered in a couple of week and we should have it near the end of April. I looked online to see if there were a couple of pictures I could show you. I found a couple, although the don't really show well and some have add on's that Karter's chair will not have. But it will give you an idea anyway.

FINALLY!!!!!!

2009-02-13T22:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, I mentioned awhile back that I would get a riding video of Karter's first day up. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it until I was talking with someone tonight about Karter's riding.

With the kids in bed and my hubby at hockey, what better time than today!?! So here it is. The quality is not great because I took it on my digital camera (I forgot the video camera that day).

Some more info on hippotherapy

2009-02-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

What Is Hippotherapy?:

Speech & Hippotherapy:

Check this out!

2009-02-11T10:40:00.001-08:00

I had a woman comment the other day about Karter's riding and the bolster that they use to stabilize him on the horse. She is a Occupation Therapist, I believe from Australia, who also assists children in Hippotherapy.

She had asked to post some of Karter's pictures on her blog. We agreed. You can check out the post on her blog here. She has a lot of really great ideas on her blog for assisting children like Karter with different challenges. Check it out if you have a chance. Also, she has a website too, here.

The benefits of hippotherapy

2009-02-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

A number of people have asked me what we expect Karter's riding therapy to do for him. What is its intended purpose? I found a great article on the web that explains really well what it is and what the benefits are. I thought that you might be interested in the info.

The Benefits of Hippotherapy

"Hippotherapy offers the potential for improvement in the following areas: arousal and attention, balance strategies, belief in one's functional capabilities, bilateral integration, body awareness, circulation, dynamic postural stability, endurance, expressive or receptive speech and language, midline orientation, mobility of pelvis, spine and hip joints,modification of muscle tonus,motivation, muscle strength, musculoskeletal alignment, neurogenic bladder, neuromotor function, oral-motor function, posture, problem-solving movement strategies in different environments, respiratory function, self confidence, sensorimotor integration, symmetry and alignment, and timing and coordination of motor strategies." (American Hippotherapy Association, 2000) The therapist is able to utilize the movement of the horse to assist during therapy just as a home therapist may utilize the use of a specific toy or therapy ball. This movement is unique and cannot be imitated by any other available therapy equipment.

Why does it work for so many?

Hippotherapy is a multi dimensional therapy in that it allows therapists to address numerous skills at one time. While the patient is riding the horse, they receive constant sensory input from the horse including vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile, auditory, olfactory and visual. The vestibular system, the system that controls balance and equilibrium, is stimulated because the patient is on a dynamic surface. The therapist also enhances this input by having the patient change positions on the horse. These positions cause movement in the inner ear, the part of the body that controls balance. By stimulating this area, the ability to process vestibular input improves. Proprioception is the body's ability to know where it is in space. The body receives proprioceptive input when the nerve endings In the muscles and skin are stimulated, which happens when a part of the body is touched or moved, even by gravity or air. Normal functioning systems allow a person to close their eyes and still know where their arm ends, for example. When a person rides a horse the lower extremities receive proprioceptive input from touch the horse. When you add in movement, which causes bouncing the entire body receives this input. The therapist can also enhance this input by having the patient change positions on the horse, having more or less of the body touching the horse. Both of these systems and also the tactile system, work closely together and are all stimulated when a patient is simply trying to maintain balance on the horse in order to not fall off. The touch, sights, sounds and smells of the horse and the barn contribute to stimulating the other sensory systems. During therapy, most of these systems are stimulated on a subcortical level because the patient is focusing on the activity, such as throwing the ball, and not consciously processing the sensory input. Because of this, carryover frequently occurs and integration is morecommon.

The update thus far....

2009-02-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

The neuro nurse called today with another update. Although the neurologist has not been able to spend a lot of time viewing Karter's EEG findings, she has decided that it would be worthwhile to talk to the nuerosurgeon again about the possibility of more surgery. The meeting will happen in March, when she returns to regular practice. In the meantime, we will be increasing once again Karter's medication. This should help control the seizures a bit better.

In other news, we are still working to get Karter a stander and a wheelchair. We had chosen a stander back in the fall, however I needed to get additional funding for it from an additional organization. Today, I chatted with the physiotherapist and she let me know that the Red Cross has one right now that is similar one that we would not need additional dollars for. We are trying to find out if we can try the stander from the Red Cross first before we commit to it.

The Red Cross has an equipment 'bank'. Basically, any equipment we receive with At Home dollars(that is the government program Karter is on)is returned back to the Red Cross when we are finished or have grown out of it. Once returned, additional dollars are released for us to purchase something that fits him at that stage. Then those in need have a bank to draw from. People who are not on assistance or cannot afford to purchase brand new equipment, can get equipment from there.

The wheelchair is another story. We picked one out that met the strict criteria that I had. Basically, it needed to be small enough that it could move freely within a classroom setting, low enough that it was at child's level and it had to be light enough for me to lift in and out of the van with ease. The At Home program has since some back to our physiotherapist and asked her to get another quote on a different, cheaper chair. I am not sure that it fits our criteria, so I am a bit frustrated, as is the physiotherapist. She says they are quibbling over a few hundred dollars. If it comes down to it, I think we will find the money to pay the difference so that Karter can have the one that best suits him.

So at this point, we are praying for favor and that the equipment Karter receives is what best suits his needs. Although we are so thankful that we do not need to pay for it out of our own pocket and we will be thankful for whatever we get, we do want it to be able to give Karter the greatest opportunity at independance as possible.

I will post a couple of pictures of the equipment later when we confirm what he will be receiving.

Over the last few weeks....

2009-02-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

Here are a few randoms from the last few weeks.

Paige asks often to 'snuggle Karter'. Here they are in the playroom watching a show together.

Here is a shot of Karter just before his first riding lesson. This is the outfit he got for Christmas from my parents. The chaps, hat and boots.

Here is week 2 riding...

On another note....

I had a call yesterday from the nuerology nurse. She let me know that indeed what they captured on EEG was seizures. The neurologist will look at the EEG a bit closer this week and let us know the specifics of it at that time.