Helping out!

Morgan loves to be outside. She would spend all day out there if she could. Yesterday she spotted her daddy outside doing some yard work and wanted to head outside to help. I helped Morgan get her walker outside on the patio and then let her go. She walked by herself right over to the grass to help her dad. She was very excited to help out and shovel some dirt. She is such a big helper.

Further and further each day

We are so very proud of Morgan and how hard she is working to learn to walk. She tries so hard and is always willing to keep working at it. Each day we see her getting stronger and stronger and being able to walk further on her own. We have also convinced her to walk for something other than candy. Her newest favorite incentive is to walk for a ball her grandma bought her that she can sit on and bounce (with our help of course). Today she walked across our house (from sliding glass door to past the kitchen, close to 30 feet!) several times to reach the ball and without help. I was able to capture one of those moments this evening.

Morgan's Chair!!!!

So as many of you know a few months back we applied for Morgan to receive a power wheelchair. Well, while we were in TN we received AMAZING news. Morgan was approved for her chair!!! We were so excited that our insurance company agreed to pay for her chair. Not only is this a power wheelchair, but it is the top of the line. It is a permobile K450. This chair not only drives, but it also has an elevator function that will allow Morgan to lower herself to 3 inches off the ground or raise herself to counter height. I really wanted her to be able to get this chair so that she can truly experience independence. Also, this chair is supposed to last 5 years, so she will be 7 and in school before we can apply for another one. With that in mind I wanted Morgan to have the ability to lower herself to the rug for carpet time, be able to fit at any height table like in class or in the cafeteria. Ultimately our goal is for Morgan to be able to walk (most likely with the help of her walker) in small areas like the house and classroom and to use the chair for long distances.

Anyway, we were set to go today to get Morgan's chair. We were all so excited, David even took the day off to go. When we (Grandma, Grandpa, Morgan, David, and I) arrived this morning at our appointment we were unfortunately told they would have to cancel. Apparently one of the functions of the chair was not operating correctly 100% of the time so they could not release it to us. However, thanks to her persistent Grandma, we were able to test drive the chair. David, Donna, and Charley had never seen that chair before, so they were excited to check it out. Morgan loved it! She discovered fairly quickly how to make the chair go up and down. She really like to make it go up and even drove it at its heighest position. I think she liked being almost as tall as her mommy. We even got to test drive her chair outside. They wanted Morgan to have the chance to feel what the chair did on ramps and bumps, so she drove over a few speed bumps. At one point while going over a speed bump she began to lower herself at the sametime (accidentally). It took me a few seconds to catch on to what was happening because at first I thought she was just going down the bump, but then she just kept going down! We decided that for now we are going to have them place the controls for the up and down function on the back of her chair for David and I to control. That way she can first work on mastering the art of driving.
We are set to go back next Thursday when hopefully they will have fixed the problem. In the meantime we have began the search for an official "mommy mobile." Yes, that's right, I am finally going to get my minivan. We decided the little Honda Civic just wasn't going to be practical for hauling at 311 pound wheelchair. Once we find the right van we will be having an arm lift added to the back so that we can transport her chair. In the meantime if all goes well after our appointment on Thursday they will deliver her chair to the house. We will be sure to take lots of video of Morgan in her new chair learning how to drive. In the meantime we have a couple of photos from today's visit.

Morgan's AMAZING Daddy!

Since the moment she was born David has been an amazing father. I couldn't be doing any of this without him by my side every day helping me along the way. Often I take for granted how much he does to help out, but when we recently spent a whole week away from him (our trip to TN) I realized just how much he really does. He is AMAZING! This week he has been exceptionally amazing as I started back to work. We had a really busy week and for the past few days David and Morgan have had a lot of Daddy-Daughter time. The first evening was on Thursday when I had to attend a preschool open house to help encourage parents to sign up for the PTA. (Yes, that's right the PTA. Although I do not yet have a preschooler I have managed to get myself wrapped into heading up the preschool PTA, I know, I am crazy). That night Morgan and David went to Aqua Kids together. They had a great time in the pool swimming and singing songs together. In fact, when they returned home that evening they informed me that they had officially made plans together for their first Daddy-Daughter Date. They decided that on Saturday they would be running errands together and then go to lunch at Mimi's Cafe. The following evening I had meet the teacher at work, so again David and Morgan were on their own. They had a great night together and by the time I made it home Morgan was fast asleep. According to David she fell asleep without a fuss, all it took was a good book on web design. So Saturday morning we all got up and ready for the busy day. I was going to see Harry Potter with Georgia and do a little back to school shopping while David and Morgan went to run errands and go to lunch. I asked Morgan if she wanted to dress up for her big day and she said "Yeah!" We found one of her really girlie dresses and put her hair piggies. Before I left I captured a few pictures of her and David and made him promise to take some at lunch as well. After a long day of shopping I returned home to hear all about their first Daddy-Daughter Date. Morgan had a great time, so great she fell fast asleep on the way home. Her daddy is the greatest!
In fact, he is doing our nightly bathtime routine right now so that I can have sometime to myself. Below are a few pictures of Morgan all dressed up with her Daddy for their first date. Enjoy!

Such a big girl!

Morgan has been working so hard day in and day out. Everyday we are seeing her getting stronger and learning new things. One of her latest accomplishments is learning how to pull herself from a seated position to standing. She is best able to do this on her own when her left knee is supported and her feet planted. We recently discovered that the powerwheels quad she got for Christmas is perfect for this. We help her drive it up to our coffee table where she can pull herself to standing and then reach up to the table to play with toys. I feel bad for her because we never just let the poor child play. The whole time she is doing this I sit beside her and ask her to sit down, then stand up, then sit down, over and over again. Being the amazing child she is she obeys and does squat after squat until she can take it no longer. I hope one day she will understand why her mommy and daddy always made her work so hard and never just let her play.