Morgan's Big Day Out!

We have now had Morgan's wheelchair for two weeks. During the past two weeks she has been practicing driving through nightly walks and inside the house. Morgan enjoys getting to walk down to her Aunt Georgia and Uncle Matt's house to visit their dog Husker (She has learned how to say Husker, it is the cutest thing). She also likes driving into the kitchen and opening all the drawers in our island.
After two weeks of practice we were anxious to see how Morgan would do out in public with her chair. We decided to plan a family day for today and take Morgan out with her chair. David loaded the chair into the van using a portable ramp we are borrowing from her therapist until the lift is installed (this Thursday it will be put in). After watching him unfold the ramp, try to position it correctly, wheel the chair in, tie it down in the back, fold the ramp up, and lift the ramp into the van, all in 100 degree temperature I was thankful we decided to order the lift. There is just no way I would be able to do all of that on my own on a daily basis. But, it did the job for today.
So, after the chair was loaded we headed as a family for Morgan's first adventure at Target (her favorite store) in her new chair. Once we arrived at Target I watched David yet again work to unload the chair and then we were ready. Once Morgan was in her chair she was not sure what to make of it all. I don't think she realized where we were until we rounded the corner to the front of the store and she spotted the huge red balls in front. Then she started calling out "ball, ball" like she does every time we go to Target. She was very excited to drive into the store and open the doors (the automatic ones) on her own. Once inside we headed straight for the toy department. We had decided that as part of Morgan's big day we would let her choose one new toy because for the first time she would 100% be able to decide which aisle and which toy she wanted. Morgan immediately found the baby aisle. She picked out a baby that she has been eyeing for months. It is has a motion detector in it that causes the baby to coo and say mama when you walk past it. After she spent several minutes in the baby aisle playing with that baby and a few others she decided she wanted the first baby she had chose. We then wondered countless aisles of toys, sports equipment (the balls), and bikes. Through all the aisles Morgan found several more toys and balls that she wanted and played with, but in the end it was still the baby that won out as the toy of choice to bring home. So after wondering the aisles of Target for almost an hour she decided it was time to go home (another new word she says). So, we headed to the checkout where Morgan helped put her baby on the counter.
By the time we were leaving Target an hour later Morgan was tired. She did really well driving most of the time we were there and only ran into one shelf. We helped her get out to the van and I watched David yet again battle with the ramp to get the chair in. Then with everyone loaded up we headed home for lunch and nap time.


Morgan at home with her new baby. She is such a good little mommy!

Big Weekend

Well we have had an extremely busy and exciting past 72 hours. Late Friday afternoon we received two very important phone calls. The first was from the wheelchair people letting us know they were on their way to our house to deliver Morgan's wheelchair. The other was from my sister Chrissy's brother-in-law Paul. He works for a Honda dealership in Phoenix and had been searching for a mini van for us. The timing could not have been more perfect. Morgan's chair was arriving and we were now in need of the van.
Around 4:15 Friday afternoon Morgan's chair finally made it to the house. She was very excited to see her chair and drive it around out front. Her favorite thing to do is check the mail. She was also excited because they reset the speeds on the chair. The first two settings are the slowest speeds (for driving in the house). They left the third and fourth speed off so we have three beep warnings before Morgan reaches speed five which they set for a normal walking pace. I think they set it for David's normal walking pace because for me it seems a little fast for me. Morgan really liked this speed! We let her play outside for awhile that evening.
The next morning though we woke up early and hit the road to head to Phoenix to check out the mini van. My sister Jen and her girls, Caity and Lindsey, met us at the dealership. They were going to pick up Morgan and spend the day with her while we shopped for a van. Morgan was very excited to see the girls and was looking forward to spending the day hanging out with them. They took her to their house where Caity painted Morgan's finger nails hot pink, Lindsey played Barbies with her, and all three of them curled up in bed together to watch Elmo. During all of this David and I were at the dealership. The van Paul had found was perfect for us and we got an amazing deal on it and my car. We are so grateful for his help. After the long process of buying a vehicle we headed to meet up with Morgan and Jen's family. They were all up at the girl's dance studio for a mini-recital the girls were having. We made it just in time to see both girls do their "Hey Batter Batter" dance and then see Lindsey perform her "Cinderella" solo. They both did an amazing job. Morgan loved seeing them dance. She was clapping her hands and dancing along to the music the whole time. After that we all went out to dinner together. We then hit the road for a long drive home.
We finally arrived home around 10:30 PM. David carefully manuvered the van into the garage, it fit! That is lengthwise, David went to get out and couldn't open his door. He needed to climb into the back and go out the sliding door. I guess my civic was not only shorter but skinnier too. That meant a whole new set of things to accomplish, so Sunday was then spent cleaning the garage. David was able to rearrange a lot of stuff and clear out some junk to make room for the van. He also spent time with his dad's help laying some cement on our front path to the door to allow Morgan easier access to the front door. The current sidewalk had a pretty sharp corner, so they put a small triangle addition on. Thankfully our house along with Charley and Donna's and our good friends Matt and Georgia's all have front doors that are already ramped. She will be able to drive right in to all our houses without any trouble.
This morning I was able to arrange with a company in town to order an arm lift for the van. It will be installed on the right rear interior of the van. It will then swing out and strap to Morgan's chair to lift her chair into the rear of the van. When we have her chair we will have no third row in the van. When her chair is not with us we will be able to still use one of the three back row seats. We are hoping the lift will arrive in about a week and then it should only take 1 day for the installation.
As you can see these past 72 hours have been very busy, but very exciting. It was a life changing weekend for our family. We feel so blessed to have received Morgan's chair and are so thankful to Paul for his help with finding a mini van. We are so excited to see how Morgan's world changes with her new found independence. Below is a short video of Morgan driving her chair (not her best work, she had the sun in her eyes most of the time so she didn't want to look up) and a few pictures of our amazing new van which I LOVE!!!!!!!

My (new) 2005 Honda Odyssey.

It is dark gray (and no, that is not a dent near the front , it is just a glare from the sun).
The interior is very clean with gray leather; all the upgrades except DVD or navigation.
Here is where Morgan is currently riding. It has the optional third seat in between the captains chairs which is great since when we have her wheelchair there will be no third row.
Morgan and both her new rides! Oh, and notice the fabulous backpack for holding all her toys on her new ride. It is of course an Elmo backpack. Thanks for finding that, Grandma!

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.