Kelly...

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

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

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

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...

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!!!!!!!!!!!!`

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!

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