THANK YOU!!!!!

So I received an email this morning informing me that Morgan has already received enough money to get her tryke. They are now moving forward and will be contacting her therapist in the next few days to verify measurements! We should definitely have her tryke in time for her 3rd birthday! We can't thank you all enough for your donations; it means so much to all of us. We will be sure to post videos of Morgan riding her tryke when it arrives. Thank you again; we are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family members.

We love you all,
David, Lori, and Morgan

An Early Birthday Wish!

For months now I have been bugging our therapist about this bike for Morgan. It is a really neat adaptive tryke that has hand and foot pedals. Morgan does not have the strength to push with her legs, but can do it with her hands. By having both though her legs can still get some good passive range of motion work while riding. Anyway, I have bugged her therapist about it every few months and each time we have tried Morgan on the bike she has been too small. That is until this month. On Monday, March 1st, she FIT!!! She rode the bike ALL by herself!!! And I didn't have to bug her therapist about it!

When we pulled in to the parking lot to PT that Monday Morgan said "Mommy, ride bicycle!" I told her, "You will have to ask Kristen." So what does she do, the second Kristen comes into the waiting room to get Morgan she says "Ride bicycle!" Kristen agreed that that was a great idea, but told Morgan she would have to work first. So after spending some time playing and walking it was time to try out the bike. Like I said before this time Morgan fit!!! She was so excited. Once she was in the hallway she started shouting "Mommy, ride bicycle, self." She was so PROUD to be riding it all by herself.

I was so happy to see the look on Morgan's face and the fact that she fit. I have been wanting to get this tryke for her for a long time so she can do what she loves (riding bikes) independently. I started talking with Kristen about getting her measured and what we needed to do to buy the bike. Kristen asked me if we would be interested in getting on a wish list for the bike. Immediately I was intrigued; let's just say the price of this bike is disgustingly expensive.

Basically Kristen told me that we could have Morgan put on a wish list for the bike through a company called Ambucs; the makers of the bike. They would put her profile online and then friends and family could make tax deductible donations towards the purchase of the bike. So, we are asking that in lieu of other birthday presents you consider making a donation towards this tryke for Morgan.

Morgan is now finally on the wishlist. Her profile is not up on the website yet but if you click on the "View the current Amtryke wishlist (by date)" link she is on page 9, fifth from the bottom. If you are interested in making a donation towards the purchase of her bike please follow the link below. You will then click on the RED "Donate Now" button. This will take you to another page where you can decide how much you would like to donate. Any amount you can donate will help and is very much appreciated. Once you put in the amount it takes you to a new page where it asks you to fill out information; please be sure to include Morgan's name and Vail, AZ so the donation is directed towards her bike. After completing the donation you will receive an email that gives you a receipt and tax code information so you can deduct your donation. Thank you again for your help. We can't tell you how much we appreciate it!
Love you all, David and Lori
Here is the link to donate:
http://www.ambucs.com/amtryke-wish-list-grant-a-wish/?phpMyAdmin=5ccfcc52777b7aca5bb43e5100c847cd

Free at last! Free at last!

On Thursday afternoon Morgan and I began yet another journey to Philadelphia for a visit to the doctor. As usual Morgan was an amazing kid on the plane reading lots of books and watching the Princess and the Frog. We landed in Philly at midnight so for this visit we tried something new; we stayed at the hotel right at the airport. Although it was a lot more expensive the convenience was worth it. We were able to walk right to the hotel which is connected through one of the terminals. Within 30 minutes of landing we had climbed into bed.

We then got up bright and early (3 am AZ time) to get ready for our appointment. Since we were right at the airport we were able to get a quick ride from the hotel shuttle to the car rental place and pick up our car.

Once at the hospital we headed first to orthotics to get Morgan's knee braces adjusted. She has grown a full inch since December when we first got her braces. While in orthotics Dr. VB came in for a quick visit just to let the orthotist know what adjustments should be made. After getting the braces fitting properly again we headed over to the clinic area to meet with Dr. VB. During our visit together we discussed Morgan's progress. It was decided during our discussion that Morgan could go down to wearing the knee braces for only 10-14 hours a day!!!! We were so excited! Before she could only be out for 6 hours which really limited things for us. Now she will just have to wear them at night and sometimes during naps as well. He also said that she can work up to being out of her back brace for 4-6 hours a day. He was pleased with all the progress Morgan is making. In addition, we decided that it was time for Morgan to get some regular AFOs made for helping her during walking. She is struggling with getting her toes lifted up when trying to take a step and ends up dragging them or getting them stuck. The AFOs will also help with her heal cords which are getting tight again. The AFOs will be made here in Tucson so we don't have to continue flying back and forth as often. We were also sent back to orthotics to have another adjustment to her knee braces made. They added some screws and a metal bar to the back of the braces so that when she is in them after the 10-14 hours of being bent we can straighten her legs and work on learning to stand. The metal bar will hold the braces in a straight locked position. We are now due back in Philly in 3 months so they can check all her braces, including the new AFOs, and do an x-ray of her back to see how her kyphosis is improving.

We left the hospital around 11:30 and headed straight to the airport. By 2 were we on our long journey home again; this time without knee braces on!!!! What a difference that made. It was so much easier getting Morgan on and off the plane with all our stuff and going to the restroom was less of a challenge.

We are now home and relaxing. Morgan is enjoying her first official day of being brace free!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We spent this weekend celebrating David's 30th birthday! It started out with a Friday afternoon baseball game at the U of A. One of the former Cienega basketball players is now the starting 3rd baseman on the U of A baseball team. David had been wanting to plan a day to go see a game so I checked the schedule and saw there was a home game on Friday at 4. That worked out perfect because David could still work a full day and Morgan and me could swing by and pick him up at the end of the day. We decided that since the weather was so nice we would also venture taking Morgan's chair to an event like this for the first time. She did a very nice job driving. As we were walking/driving in to find seats we were walking along the first base line heading towards homeplate. David asked me to keep an eye out for the ball as he walked next to Morgan to assist with driving as needed. Right after I asked him "why?" a foul ball came straight at us. It landed safely in the grass just a few feet from us and rolled right towards Morgan. She got her first baseball! She was very excited about that. The game was great and we enjoyed getting to visit with two families we know from Cienega. Morgan had fun playing with their son Luke who is four.

David and Morgan watching the game with her new baseball in hand.

On Saturday (David's official birthday) we spent the morning at home relaxing as a family. We then headed down to his parent's house to visit. Donna had the weekend off of work for once and Brad was visiting from Phoenix. We then left Morgan there around 3 for a sleepover and headed off for a date night. A Cheesecake Factory just recently opened in Tucson and David had been wanting to go. We planned on going early as we figured the wait would be long at dinner time. We arrived at 4 and had only a 10 minute wait. Thank goodness we ate then, by the time we left around 5:30 there was well over an hour wait. After dinner we enjoyed sometime walking the mall and then headed home to watch a movie and get a full night's rest. As usual we missed Morgan terribly but really enjoyed getting a night of uninterrupted sleep.

Sunday morning we headed back to David's parent's house for breakfast and then spent the whole day out there. When we arrived Morgan was in the backyard working to transplant her sunflower and tomato plants to bigger containers as they are growing so fast. Below is a picture of David helping her get the larger containers ready with fresh soil.
After planting we ate and then headed to the nearby park to play. Morgan brought her wheelchair and had a blast driving around in the grass. She also played on the swings and the slide. We then went back for a quick nap and dinner. Morgan was very excited for the cake part as she helped make the cake and had practiced blowing out candles so she could try to help David.

We had a great weekend. I think David's favorite part of the whole weekend was hearing Morgan say "Happy Birthday, Daddy!" and "I love Daddy!" without any prompting. She is getting so big!

How do you top that?

This morning we headed out as a family to a birthday party at our friends Dayna and Zack's house. They have two children and their oldest was turning 3. For the birthday party they arranged to have Pony rides! Morgan was so excited. The whole drive over to their house all she kept talking about was riding the pony. She was even more excited when the ponies arrived because she knew them. It turns out the ponies that came to the party were the same two ponies that Morgan has gotten to ride outside of her therapy clinic. Their names are Mosie and Dylan and they are part of a great organization here in Tucson called "Step Up into TLC." The organization does birthday parties and other events to raise money to feed the animals and then spends their off time traveling around town to different clinics and the children's wards at both TMC and UMC giving free rides to the kids receiving care at these facilities. Anyway, Morgan had a great time at the party. Now we just have to hope that she doesn't expect ponies at all birthday parties, especially her own.

Pajama Party!

We spent the second part of our Rodeo break up in Phoenix visiting family. Morgan was so excited to be going to Phoenix to see her family. She was a little bummed when she found out that we would be staying at Nanny and Pa's house but they would not be there. Once we pulled off the freeway in Phoenix Morgan started shouting "Lindsey's house! Lindsey's house! She knew that we were going straight to the Wood's (my sister and her family) to play with Caity and Lindsey. We had a blast hanging out that evening with the girls. Morgan spent most of her time in Caity's room. Caity has a new canopy over her bed and Morgan enjoyed opening and closing it. She thought she was a princess in that bed.

The next day we headed back to the Wood's house to play. The morning started out cloudy so we spent most of the morning inside. After having a little lunch we headed down to the park by Jen's house. Since it was still a bit cloudy we decided not to chance taking Morgan's wheelchair. She instead hopped in the girls old wagon and we were on our way. Morgan had a lot of fun at the park going on the swing and the slide. She even got to ride the slide with Caity! Shortly after that we split up, the girls went to church and we took off with a quick dinner with Brad.
It was then back to the girl's house to pick them up for our sleep over. Morgan was very excited to have a sleep over party. The girls are such great big cousins. They helped me give Morgan and bath and took turns getting to carry Morgan for the first time. We then made some chocolate chip cookies and played Apples to Apples Jr. It was a lot of fun. After that we settled down to watch a movie.

In the morning we made some breakfast and then had some fun playing the Wii. David challenged the girls in a game of Super Mario Bros. Morgan even tried to get in on the action. Her hands aren't big enough yet to hold the controller and do the buttons though so she was out within seconds. She was able (with a little help) to play some bowling. She thought that was a lot of fun. We then ended our morning with the girls playing a game of hide and seek. By that time it was time for the girls to head home and for us to head back to Tucson. We dropped the girls off at home and headed back. It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again!
Morgan getting a bath with her cousins, Caity and Lindsey.
Morgan and Lindsey mixed up the cookie dough while Caity set-up the game.
Lately when Morgan is really working hard she sticks out her tongue.
Morgan loves her cousins! They are so great with her!

Rodeo Break!

This past weekend was our Rodeo break from school. Yes, here in good ole Tucson, AZ we get two days off of school to celebrate the Rodeo. I have never been myself, but I am sure happy when the Rodeo comes each year. Morgan had a pretty busy break, starting with a fun day at the park. Since all my girlfriends we off of school too we decided to meet at a local park and let the kids have a picnic and play. It was beautiful weather outside and Morgan was able to bring her wheelchair to cruise around. It was a lot of fun.


Hayden and Morgan hanging out on the swings.




Morgan and Seth digging in the sand. I forgot to bring Morgan's
wedge pillow, so my feet had to fill in.
Morgan showing off her shades. She loves having her sunglasses on.
After playing in the sand we headed for some fun in the grass.
Morgan was able to cruise all over and even lower herself to the ground
to play with all the babies.

We tried to get a shot of all the little ones with their heads together.
Morgan and Cara having a chat. Cara was very interested in her chair.