A Birthday Bash with a Splash!

Morgan's 4th birthday has come and gone. She is now officially a four year old. That is going to take some getting used to. I just can't believe how fast she is growing up. This year we had originally planned on doing just a small family party, but one night during dinner we began discussing her birthday and Morgan very clearly stated to us that she wanted to invite her friend Sophie from school to her party. David then asked her who else she would like to invite and she added her friend Brady to the list. Although we wanted to keep the party small this was the first time Morgan had ever wanted to have a say in who was invited so we thought we should go with it.

We ended up planning a water themed party since the weather has been so beautiful and Morgan loves to be outside and in the water. We set up Morgan's favorite water activity, the slip n slide along with her water table and opened the spa. We (I should say my sister Jen) also made a bunch of water balloons, but we never got to them.

Here is Morgan and Luke (aka Baby Yuke) playing on the slip n slide. The kids all loved it although none of them really knew how to use it. They mostly just played on it like it was a sprinkler.

Of course Morgan knew what to do though and convinced her Daddy to take her down a few times.

After enjoying a good 30 minutes of sun and water play we all headed inside for some lunch. As soon as Morgan finished eating she announced that she was ready for presents. We convinced her to first do the cupcakes and then while everyone ate she could open presents.

That worked for Morgan. Look at her face, she was so excited to blow out her candle. I lite the candle before we began singing fully expecting it to take her the full song and then some to blow out the candle.

Happy birthday to....

candle out!

I was SO surprised and excited. Last year we had spent like two months leading up to her birthday preparing for blowing out the candle. Even then we still had to do a lot of coaching and it took several tries (we are talking melting wax all over the cake) before she blew out the candle. We hadn't practiced a single time this year so I was nervous, but not Morgan. She knew exactly what to do and blew it out with ease. Way to go big girl!!!

About 1/2 second later she was already pulling the candle out so she could devour her cupcake.
(Notice the HOT PINK frosting. That was a Morgan request).

Shortly after eating her cupcake we moved on to opening presents. Morgan was very excited to see what she got. As always she was spoiled by everyone.

Morgan's big cousin Lindsey jumped in to help with the presents.

Here is a special gift from her grandparents. It is a doll that comes with a walker and braces. Morgan has one at school just like it. She named both dolls (at school and home) Morgan because she has a walker just like her.

Morgan's Nanny and Pa created a photo book from Morgan's last birthday party. They wrote all the captions to sound just like a Fancy Nancy book would sound.

One of Morgan's favorite gifts was a doctor's coat she received from her grandparents. She LOVES to play dress up and despite all she has been through with doctors actually enjoys playing doctor and taking care of others.

Did she really just do that?

Yesterday afternoon was an exciting day around our house. For the past few months Morgan has been all over the house (almost). Back in January she finally learned how to control her walker with the front swivel wheels unlocked. This allowed her world to really open up and for the most part she could get to anything she wanted. However, once she got the object of her desire she was pretty much stuck. She had not figured out how to back up.

We recently went into Morgan's preschool for her IEP meeting and one of the things we discussed was that we would like to have Morgan in the next year learn how to control her walker with the brakes unlocked so she could back up. Well.... her amazing paraprofessional who we all adore (she truly is AMAZING!!!) immediately went to work (I didn't even know this, David told me the other day). Each morning for the past two week's she had been unlocking Morgan's brakes for a few minutes to begin working on this goal.

So... yesterday afternoon David told Morgan that since she had been practicing at school it was about time we start making her practice at home. He unlocked the brakes and asked her to start walking. We both were shocked that she was able to take a few steps forward. She usually relies so much on her seat and pushing backwards to get her feet forward that all she would do in the past was roll back and go now where. Well, not yesterday. Yesterday not only did she take steps forward with no brakes, but she went BACKWARDS!!!!!! Yes, my child actually for the first time in her life moved her legs BACKWARDS!!!!! Oh my gosh, I can't even describe how excited we were. We kept encouraging Morgan to do it more and at one point I said "Morgan, moonwalk." She LOVED this and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to "moonwalk" around the house. One of most exciting moments was when she decided she was hungry. She headed to the pantry like she has been able to do for a few months now and made her way into the closet. She found what she wanted and then....usually she would be stuck and would ask me to come turn her around, well not yesterday folks. She did speak up and say she needed help. But then I reminded her that she had figured out how to go backwards. With some encouraging words and guidance as to which foot to move with each step Morgan BACKED herself out of the pantry and walked over to her seat at the table for snack!!!!! I have to say that at that moment my eyes filled with tears. I was so proud of her and so excited for what this meant for her. Her world just continues to open up for her. David did get some of it on video, but of course as usual whenever our child makes amazing life changing progress she is half naked. I will try to get more video of her fully clothed and camera ready today.

Yes....that was me.

Since August of 2009 we have been working on potty training. At that time we were not pushing things very hard, but Morgan was very interested in the potty so we would sit her own it when she asked. Then in October of 2009 Morgan underwent more casting and moved into the long leg braces (KAFOs) for 18 hours a day. With the casts and braces on it was very uncomfortable for her to sit on the potty, so we took a break. In February of 2010 we started pushing it again and I feel like we have been working so hard since then to get Morgan potty trained.

Now more than a year later I would not call her "potty trained" but we are definitely a lot closer. Since returning to school from spring break she has worn big girl panties to school every day (totally by her own request). For the past few weekends we have even ventured shopping trips with the big girl pants on. The reason I say that I wouldn't call her potty trained quite yet is because right now it is all about the timing. We have just learned the times of day when Morgan typically needs to go or we monitor how long it has been since she last went. Often if we wait for her to tell us she is in the process of going.

Because we rely on timing and because the big people potties in stores are just way too big and challenging for her we have resorted to carrying a potty seat in the van with us (something I learned from a friend who had done the same thing when potty training her typical kids). It works wonders...however, that is until Morgan uses the potty and then we have to find a place to put it. So yes.... to the people monitoring the outside surveillance cameras at Target (or any other store we have visited lately) yes.... that was me "watering" your trees in the parking lot.

I know it may not be the most sanitary of things, it is completely embarrassing to have to do it, but what is a mom to do? It is what is currently working for us and my sweet little girl refuses to wear a pull-up during the day any longer. So either give me a better suggestion or turn your head and don't judge.

Easter 2011

Morgan's Easter began a few days early this year with a gift from her grandparents. Since Donna works weekends she put together Morgan's gift and sent it home with her on Thursday. She gave Morgan the choice of opening it then or waiting until Sunday. At first she was going to wait, but by Friday she became too anxious seeing the bag just sitting on the table. Since she had been hit with yet another cold and wasn't feeling well (and I knew what was inside the gift) I decided she could open it.
Morgan loved her new gifts. This is a really cute Tinkerbell book that is kinda like a Find Waldo book.

Then came her favorite gift of all, Tangled! She hadn't seen it yet so it was the perfect thing for a Friday evening with her not feeling well. We have watched it everyday since. Thankfully I enjoy it too, it is very cute. She now tries to sing the "I got a dream" song and told me yesterday, "Mommy, Tangled my favorite movie."

On Easter morning we woke up early and had an egg hunt. Morgan did a fabulous job locating all the eggs pointing around the room shouting "There's one, there's another one!" However, actually picking up the eggs was another story. It probably took her over 30 minutes to finally pick up all her eggs, she was moving so SLOW that morning. We had some pictures of it, but they were all on David's phone which he managed to destroy later that day (thank goodness I purchased the insurance for it).

That evening we headed over to the Johnson's for dinner (Matt and Georgia's parents). They have invited us to Easter dinner each year since we moved back to Tucson almost 7 years ago. This year was especially nice since both Morgan and Luke were old enough to do an Easter egg hunt. As usual Morgan was spoiled over there and received two more Easter baskets, one from MaryAnn and Steve (Matt's parents) and one from Linda and Don (Georgia's parents).

Opening her Dora and Boots bath toys from Linda and Don.

Luke and Morgan opening their baskets from MaryAnn and Steve.

I love how Luke is looking away while trying to steal Morgan's egg from her basket. Almost as if to say if I am not looking they won't be able to see me. Meanwhile Morgan is watching his every move. She absolutely adores her cousin, but still can't manage to drop the baby Luke. I think she will be still calling him that when he is 18.

Pedis, a Hair Salon, and a Gala...oh my!

About a week after TROT had received notice that they would be receiving the Angel Grant Morgan and I were at her usual Wednesday lesson when the director called me into her office. She thanked me again for speaking at the presentations and then told me that they were busy preparing for their annual Hearts and Horses Gala. A big black tie preferred fundraiser. She wanted to know if David and I would be their guests for the evening and if I would be willing to speak at the event. I told her that I would be honored, but that I had one request. I wanted to know if Morgan could join us for part of the evening. I explained that there was NO WAY David and I would be able to make it out of the house dressed up all fancy without Morgan coming too. They said they thought it was a great idea and we all agreed that Morgan would come for the silent auction-cocktail hour and then go home while David and I would stay for dinner, the presentation, and dancing!

So with plans all set Morgan and I spent the next several weeks looking for the perfect dress, shoes, and accessories. Morgan was easy. She pulled into the little girl's section of K.ohl's in her wheelchair and drove right up to the dress she wanted. "How 'bout this one Mommy?" She asked. I had replied that it looked a bit itchy but agreed that she could try it on along with several others I picked out for her. Well, my little girl knows herself already. The one she picked was the only one that fit well and it was totally Morgan; HOT PINK! As for me, it was a little harder to find the right dress and not at an extreme price. In the end I found three and then couldn't decide. It wasn't until the day before the event that I finally made a selection and returned the other two dresses.

Then it was time for all the final details. A young lady can't go to a gala without first having a great pedicure, so since Fridays are my day off and we only had one appointment for the day, so Morgan and I stopped at the nail salon. I was by myself so unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but Morgan loved it. She sat on my lap the whole time and starred at the lady doing my toes. She kept asking "What's that for?" with each new tool or cream she pulled out. Then about halfway through Morgan started saying "My turn now, Mommy you're all done." In the end we walked out with beautiful matching HOT PINK toe nails. Can you guess who chose the polish color?

Saturday was the big event and Morgan was very anxious all day. She knew that we were starting our day with a visit to the hair salon to get our hair done. So around 12:45 we headed out as a family (I dragged David along so he could take pictures, hold Morgan during my turn, and also because one of us needed to watch her on the way home to make sure she didn't mess up her hair in the carseat). When we arrived at the salon Morgan insisted on going first. She was so excited to get her hair done like a princess.

Morgan holding very still while she got her hair curled.

Look at all those adorable curls! Her hair is getting so long!

How do you get a 3 year 11 month old to hold still long enough for this? Easy, play Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I asked Gretchen to spray the (pardon my French) crap out of her hair so it would stay.

Looking so beautiful!

After getting our hair done we grabbed some take out and headed home for a late lunch/early dinner. Since we weren't sure what was being served for dinner and that dinner was not until 8 we figured it was a good idea to go with almost full tummies. From the moment we got home Morgan kept asking nonstop if it was time to get dressed yet. She couldn't wait to put on her dress. As soon as I pulled it up on her she said "I'm a princess Mommy!" And that she was. She looked so beautiful; just like a little princess.

Morgan all ready to go!
Did I mention that it was a whopping 43 degrees yesterday (Yes, it is April and pouring rain and 43, are you kidding me!)

The best we could do for a family picture since there was no one else around to take one.
There was a photographer there last night and he took a family shot...so maybe we can get a copy.

When Morgan spotted her therapist, Jess, she lit up! She was so excited and thought it was hilarious that they were both dressed so fancy!

After about an hour of driving around and saying hello to person after person Morgan was exhausted. We found Jess again so Morgan could say good night and then headed out front to meet Donna. Morgan was very excited to show her how fancy she was, but also was ready to go with Grandma and start her sleep over!

David and I then headed back inside to enjoy the rest of the evening. We walked around for a few more minutes checking out the silent auction as it was about to close. Just before entering the dining hall we stopped to see if anyone had sponsored Monty. They had set out plagues of each of the horses with their name, picture, and horseshoe and were asking for people to sponsor the horses for the year. The money donated as a sponsor would provide enough hay to feed them for the year. Well, as we walked past we noticed that in fact Monty had been sponsored. We were both very excited and then a moment later a very nice man name Mr. Merrill, one of the TROT instructors father, came over to let us know that he had sponsored Monty for Morgan. He said that he was very impressed with Morgan and had actually observed her ride this past Wednesday. He wanted to sponsor Monty for her and will be asking that they put Morgan's name on Monty's stall so that everyone knows he is "her horse." David and I were so incredibly grateful. And later he stopped by our table to give us the plague of Monty. He thought Morgan would enjoy having it. It is just amazing the impact she makes on people after just meeting them for a few minutes. She is such an amazing little girl and we are so thankful that there are wonderful people in this world like Mr. Merrill who are willing to go out of their way to help.

The rest of the evening was nice. We had a delicious dinner of roasted red pepper soup, Filet Mignon, Salmon (which I of course left on my plate), twice baked potatoes, and veggies. The speech went fine (I was nervous so I stumbled on a part or two). David says it was perfect and no one noticed the stumbles, but I did.

All in all it was a great evening and we are grateful to have been a part of it. TROT has made such an impact in Morgan's life in just 8 short months. We are so thankful for such an amazing organization.

Ahh...a little peace and quiet

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog....our lives have just been crazy busy this past month and Morgan who is quickly approaching 4 has pretty much given up naps. That is...until today. All of a sudden I looked over at her during her snack time this afternoon and she had a huge bite of banana in her mouth and her eyes totally closed. I gently woke her to have her finish that bite and then laid her down on my bed. Not sure how long this will last, so I am going to quickly try to recap as much of the last month in one short blog as I can.

So here we go...March is fast forward. To start out the month we had just learned that TROT was receiving the grant that I had been helping them with. On our next visit to thank Morgan and I for helping out they surprised me with flowers and Morgan with a "Fancy Monty." I unfortunately was stuck at work with a meeting, but Donna and Charley took lots of pictures for me and Morgan told me all about it when she got home.

Poor Monty, he must be thinking "um guys... I am a boy you know."

Morgan loved the "hot pink saddle" and has asked for it every week since.

That same week (the last week before Spring Break) we had my good friend Georgia's little boy Lucas hang out with us for a few days. Morgan loved having him around. We played a bunch and Luke got to experience therapy with Morgan.

They had a blast playing in the balls.

And Morgan wanted to show off the doll house to Luke as well.

Then Spring Break finally hit. We were super excited to have some time off and because mid-week the first week of break we would be heading to meet up with Morgan's oldest cousin Caity in Casa Grande. We had arranged for Caity to come down for a few days over her break to play with Morgan and celebrate her 12th birthday a little early. I can't believe she is 12! I still remember driving up to PHX the day she was born. I digress.... So on the first Wednesday of break Morgan and I packed up the van with all her favorite DVDs and headed to Casa Grande.

Morgan's cousin Lindsey (Caity's sister) decided to surprise Morgan by coming down for the drive and having lunch with us. Lindsey was invited to come to our house as well, but she is a total home body. Morgan was very excited to see her though and to get to have lunch with her.

This is the first of many pictures like this that Caity took of her and Morgan together.

After having a quick lunch in Casa Grande with Lindsey and Mark (My sister Jen's husband), Morgan, Caity, and I headed back to Tucson. Morgan had her riding lessons that afternoon and couldn't wait to introduce Caity to her horse Monty. The whole time Morgan was riding she kept yelling "Caity, watch me!" She was so excited to show off for her big cousin. She absolutely adores Caity.

Just before break hit Morgan missed school again (she has missed so many days this year). I sent her to school Tuesday morning with a bit of a cough, something she had had for a while. It wasn't bad, just sounded like she needed to cough something up and she didn't ever have a fever. Well, around 8:15 Tuesday morning just as I was getting my class going for the day I got a phone call from the preschool...Morgan had a fever 100.2. She needed to go home. Since I was a bit worried about the cough and fever together a called the dr and got her in for late that afternoon. Turns out she had slight case of pneumonia. So here she is doing another breathing treatment while her and Caity watched Sid the Science Kid (her new favorite).

All done with her treatment and posing for another shot with Caity.

Told you there were tons of these shots.

On Thursday while Caity was here we spent most of the day just hanging out and being lazy. It was fabulous. On Friday we took off early for a morning of PT and then headed out to the Desert Museum.

Morgan loved showing off everything at PT to Caity. One of her top requests is getting to jump on the trampoline.

She also loves to swing on the "horsey swing" as she calls it. Notice her shirt. It says Spin, Twirl, and Dance. She LOVES this shirt and asks to wear it everyday for two reasons. One just that spinning, twirling, and dancing are like her favorite things ever and two because her big cousin has a very similar shirt that says Jump, Spin, Dance. They were wearing their "matching" shirts together that day.

After therapy we made the long drive out to the Desert Museum. Caity must know how much I love her because I sacrificed missing the U of A game that day to take her and Morgan out there. It was in the high 80's that day, but in the desert sun it sure felt hotter than that. I had meant to put the seat cover we have for Morgan's wheelchair on before leaving the house but forgot, so her seat was blazing hot within seconds. I pulled off her undershirt and used that to try to help. Within an hour I had to strip my undershirt as well to help cool the seat. After only an hour and a half and only about a 1/4 of the museum we all decided we had had enough sun. We called it a day and decided to head home for some swimming in the spa.

Morgan trying desperately to keep the sun out of her face.

While swimming I actually got kicked out of the spa by my own child. She turned to me and said "Mommy, leave please." She just wanted time to swim with Caity. Caity is such a great cousin and big helper. As I watched to two of them swim I could overhear Caity telling Morgan all the same cues that I give her about remembering to stand and use her muscles, etc... it was very cute.
During her visit Caity read Morgan a ton of books and also played lots of Yahtzee Jr. Morgan somehow kept winning.

Sadly Saturday morning arrived before we knew it and it was time to take Caity home. Morgan and I planned on bringing Caity all the way back to PHX so we could spend the night and hang out with Lindsey, Aunt Jen, Uncle Mark, and her Nanny and Pa. Morgan couldn't wait to see the whole family and to play with Caity's new birthday present she got from her parents, a tether ball.

Morgan and Lindsey playing tether ball. Morgan loved it and that was all she could talk about for days was how she played tether ball.

Morgan and Nanny playing swords.

Caity decided that she had outgrown her doll house. She offered it to Morgan to borrow (she wants it back for her own kids one day, too cute!).

Morgan loved getting to spend time with her Nanny and Pa. She demanded that they read her stories that night instead of boring ole Mommy.

Back at home we had a very relaxing second week of break. Morgan spent most days playing doll house and dress-up. This is one of the mornings that she requested Tinker Bell and then refused to take it off.

One of Morgan's new things is she loves to hula hoop. She first discovered this at PT one day and has been asking for one for over a month. We ended up finding a great one (really light weight and cheap) at the 99 c.ent store.

Break is now over and we are back to our usual routine of school. Since starting back at preschool Morgan has officially decided she is a BIG GIRL. She woke up the first morning back and insisted on wearing "Big Girl Panties" to school. I was a little nervous but figured since she only goes for 3 hours that day she would be fine. She did great and didn't have an accident until around 3 that afternoon (but was at home for that). The next day she again insisted on the "big girl panties" so although she was going for the whole day I told her we could try and packed an extra outfit (on top of the usual extra one) just in case. David dropped her off at the usual 7:45 and when I picked her up at 3:45 she was still dry!!! The next day we tried again. She did great all morning, but unfortunately during nap had an accident. But hey one out of three days is not bad. She went again today with no accidents!!! After over 2 years of potty training I am starting to think there may be a light at the end of this tunnel. Here's hoping!

And that my friends is the gist of what has been going on for the past month...and it is still quiet in my house. Let's see if I can now squeeze in a little time for laundry and a headstart on dinner before she wakes. :)

THANK YOU Angels!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was working with Morgan's TROT program on a grant. Basically back in early January the director of the TROT program approached during one of Morgan's lessons and told me that they were applying for a grant through a local charity called "Angel Charities." They were trying to get funding to expand the work that Jess, Morgan's OT, and the horses of TROT have begun. They want to start a TROT for TOTS program that would provide a full clinic setting (OT, PT, and speech) along with hippotherapy to children ages 2-6. Something that is greatly needed in our community. Anyway, they were working on this grant and wanted to know if one, they could use Morgan as an example of a child who has benefited from the program and two, if I would speak at their presentations to present a parent's point of view. I was of course honored to have been asked and said that I would be more than happy to do what I could to help them.
So that was back in January. Since then there have been three rounds of presentations. At the first presentation I spoke (for about 5 minutes) to a group of 30 women about our family's experience and how TROT has helped Morgan. After that presentation we made it to the second round. I did not speak at that presentation so that they could focus solely on the clinical part of it. Since it was the same group of 30 women they already knew our story and didn't need it repeated. After that presentation I received a phone call from Jess letting me know that we made it to the final round!!!

That was this morning. I took the day off of work and headed over with the others from TROT (there were 4 of us in all presenting) to LaPaloma Resort (beautiful!). Today's presentation was a bit more nerve racking. There were over 100 (mostly women) in the room. My part of the presentation today again focused on our story. I shared a bit about what things were like in the first few months of Morgan's life and then spent most of my time focusing on all the amazing things Morgan is now doing thanks to all her PT, OT, Speech and TROT (especially Jess and Monty).

Well, I am very happy to say that just a few moments ago I received a phone call from the director of TROT. They received the grant!!!!!! With the money received they will be able to now proceed with their plans to open a full clinic that offers PT, OT, and speech to children ages 2-6. They will also be able to put in a small adaptive playground (so the kids can learn skills like climbing in a fun way that will then transfer over in everyday skills like climbing a stool to brush their teeth at the sink) and two more horses for the hippotherapy. I am just so excited for them and for the families that will benefit from this clinic. It is just so amazing! So thank you to all those amazing "Angels" who are looking out for kids like Morgan.