Fall Break

Fall break was here and gone so fast. During the break though we did find time to relax and also to have some fun. After returning from Philly we spent most of the second week of break relaxing, leaving the house only for a few doctor's appointments and therapies. The third week was also pretty relaxing, but we found time to have some fun and head to the zoo with our best buddies: Aunt Georgia, Grandma Linda (Georgia's mom), and Lucas.

Morgan and Lucas had a blast at the zoo and we all had the chance to finally see the adorable lion cubs.

Morgan wanted to drive the tractor.

Then she invited her buddy to join her.

One of Morgan's favorite parts of the zoo is the frog fountain by the duck pond. Today she thought she would teach Luke how to work it.

Our final weekend of break was spent up in Phoenix visiting David's brother Brad. He just bought his first house in downtown Phoenix so we decided to go up for the night and check out his new place. Morgan was so excited to check out her uncle's new house. She also was excited to get to ride the "train." Brad's house is just off the light rail. We were able to ride it further into downtown to grab some dinner.

The next morning we decided to head to Encanto Park to play. When we pulled up we noticed the sign for "Enchanted Island." I had heard of it, but never been. Brad and David had been years ago when they were small with their grandparents, but didn't remember much about it. We decided to give it a try. Morgan had a blast! It was well worth the money (well for the kids bracelet). We bought two adult bracelets too not realizing that adults can really only go on like 2 rides. The rest have height limits of like 52 inches. Next time we will just buy a bracelet for Morgan and individual tickets for us. But, it was a really fun time. Morgan loved getting to be a big girl and go on rides all by herself. She felt like such big stuff. If you have little ones I would definitely recommend it.

Morgan's first stop was of course to "ride" the horses.

Driving her own car. I loved that most of the rides went slow, were small, and low to the ground.

Flying her own plane. We were nervous about this one, but the seat was pretty secure and low set in the plane so we knew she wasn't going anywhere.

Uncle Brad braved the "tea cups" with Morgan. Just watching them made me want to hurl.

Morgan went back for a second trip on the cars.

We didn't get pictures on my camera (I think they are on David's phone), but they even had bumper boats. Morgan got to drive her own boat. Again, we were nervous, but the water was more like a "pond." The guy working it was in with shorts and the water was only to his knees. You could also walk around all sides, so it would have been very easy to jump in if she needed us.

A Mini-Family Vacay

So over a month ago (I know, I am SO far behind with things) we went on a mini-family vacation to Philly. Morgan was due for another check-up and it is getting harder and harder each trip to travel solo. Along with Morgan getting bigger all her stuff is getting bigger too. It worked out perfectly though because Morgan and David had both earned free flights and I found a great deal on my tickets. So, during the first week of our fall break from school we took off as a family to spend a few days in Philly.

Morgan was a champ on the airplane and didn't have a single accident all day while we were traveling. As her reward she wanted to go to Target and pick out a new baby. So after landing late Tuesday night, having a late dinner, we headed to bed. In the morning we woke up late Philly time, found a place for breakfast, and then headed to Target to pick out her new baby. After that we decided to spend the day across the river in New Jersey at the Adventure Aquarium. It was really nice because by the time we arrived it was about 2:30 on a Wednesday. There was no one there so we had practically the whole place to ourselves. We could take it at our own pace and for once Morgan didn't have to fight to try to find a spot to see.




The aquarium was very nice with lots of fun things to see, including hippos. It was amazing how up close you were with them. David has some great shots on his phone as my camera died after just a few minutes of being there, but I haven't been able to get the pictures off the phone yet.

After the aquarium we decided we were all hungry for some dinner so we headed to David's all time favorite sandwich place Dinic's at the Reading Terminal Market. It truly is one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. Unfortunately that evening they were out of the "greens" that you add to the top of the sandwich and though it was still good, it just wasn't quite the same without the "greens." After eating we wandered the market for a bit, picked up some yummy chocolates for dessert, and then headed back to our hotel for an early bedtime. We were all exhausted still with making the time switch and Morgan had an 8:00am appointment scheduled the next morning at the hospital.

Thursday morning we were up bright and early and headed to the hospital. That morning Morgan had an appointment scheduled with their neurological surgeon. We scheduled the appointment after both the urologist here in Tucson and the scoliosis specialists we saw recommended that we see a neuro-surgeon to rule out tethered cord. This is something that we have been looking at/watching since very early on, but had never had her MRI reviewed by a surgeon only by a neurologist. Anyway, we met with him and he was very nice. He said what everyone else has said, that her spine does not appear tethered, but that it does end low and she has a narrow canal. He watched Morgan try to kick her legs while lying down and saw what little active movement she has. He also watched her walk in her walker. Then he recommended that we try to see a doctor at Barrow's in Phoenix for another opinion. He said that if Morgan was his daughter we would definitely keep looking at it and would consider doing "exploratory" surgery to see if it is tethered and just not showing up. The idea of doing "exploratory" surgery on the spine made us very nervous, however, he claims that there is very little risk. We are still working on trying to get scheduled with the dr. in Phoenix.

After leaving the hospital that morning we were all starving. We had not had breakfast and it was already almost 11. We decided to head back to the Reading Terminal Market so that we could get Dinics again, hopefully this time with the "greens." Thankfully they had the "greens" and we enjoyed a yummy lunch. We then headed to a park in downtown Philly that had a fully accessible playground. It was AMAZING!!!! I wish I had the pictures from David's phone to show you. It was huge, shaded, and had so much to do. Morgan loved the Tots Lot that had lots of those springy ride on toys. She also loved the swings and the giant wooden slide. It was one of those slides that you go down on a burlap sack. We hung out at the park for a good 2 hours and then headed back to the hotel to rest and clean-up for dinner.

Friday morning we were up early again. This time we planned ahead. David called the Denny's next door to our hotel and ordered breakfast take-out so we could eat breakfast while we got ready. It was a good thing he did because yet again we were at the hospital all morning with little break. When we first arrived we went for x-rays of Morgan's back in her brace. We then saw Dr. VB (the orthopedic surgeon) who checked Morgan out. He was excited to finally be able to see her walk in person (since we both went we were able to bring her walker), before he had only seen videos that we made. Anyway, as he watched Morgan walk he noticed what we have noticed, that she swings her left foot through and doesn't really seem to straighten the right all the way. I mentioned my concern that part of the problem with getting the left leg through was that I thought the right leg may be a bit shorter. He agreed and wanted to try a lift in her right shoe. With just that added bit we were able to see her take better steps with her left leg. We then discussed bracing. He said that her back is doing well....maintaining. The curve of her kyphosis has not gotten any worse, however, it hasn't really improved much. He did like how her spine looked in the brace and stated that it had definitely improved since the last x-ray. Overall I think her back is improving and I think she is getting a lot stronger. He still would like Morgan wearing the back brace 18 hours a day. He said that in regards to the KAFOs we can wear them at night still and if she wakes after 4-5hours (like to go potty) we can take them off and give her the rest of the night brace free on the legs. After meeting with Dr. VB we then headed over to orthotics to get her braces adjusted. Around 11:30 we were finally on our way out to enjoy the rest of our day in Philly.

Leaving the hospital we weren't sure what we were going to do with the rest of the day. We knew we needed some lunch, but then we didn't know what to do. We began tossing around ideas and Morgan instantly began shouting that she wanted to go back to the park from yesterday. We decided that that was a great plan. We spent another great afternoon enjoying the park and the beautiful fall weather. Then we headed back to the hotel for an early dinner and bedtime.

Saturday morning we were up at 3 am Philly time, that was midnight our time to get ready to leave for the airport. We had another great flight home with Morgan making it almost all the way. On the approach into Tucson when we were less than 10,000ft off the ground she needed to go potty. I asked her to try to hold it as there was no way we could get up. She tried so hard, but just couldn't make it. All-in-all though she did amazing on the trip and we were just so proud of her. We made it home to our house by 11 and I was ready for bed. We took a nice family nap that afternoon and just enjoyed being home again.

The best news of all during our trip was that we don't need to go back to Philly for at least 6 months. In fact, Dr. VB even said if we want to do x-rays here and mail them we could probably wait 1 year before going back! 1 year!!!!! That is amazing news.

I hit the jackpot!

No...unfortunately I didn't win the lottery, at least in terms of money. I mean I hit the jackpot when it comes to in-laws. I know many women out there that complain about their in-laws or stress about them, etc... but not me. I have the best in-laws a girl could ever hope for. They truly are two of the most amazing people I have ever met and from day one have treated me not like a daughter-in-law, but a daughter.

My in-laws constantly go out of their way to help out and make our lives easier. The biggest being that they completely changed their lives for us the moment Morgan was born. At the time of her birth in May of 2007 my in-laws lived in a beautiful new home in Phoenix close to their work, family, and friends. My father-in-law was "retired" and going back to work part-time for 6 extra months before official retirement and my mother-in-law was working as a nurse at a hospital that she had been at for as long as I had known her. All of that didn't matter. The moment Morgan was born and they saw how much help we were going to need they turned their lives upside down. Within no time they were working on selling their house and moving to Tucson to help take care of Morgan so I could continue working. In the beginning Donna lived at our house during the week helping me out while on maternity leave. She went to every doctors appointment, cooked for us nightly, cleaned our house, did our laundry, and would even sneak into our bedroom at midnight to take Morgan for a feeding so we could sleep. It was amazing.

Then when it was time for me to return to work Donna and Charley decided that they would rent an apartment in Tucson and live here during the week and drive back to Phoenix on the weekends so Donna could work and Charley would help prepare the house to be sold. They did this for over 6 months until they were finally able to sell their house and find a "dream home" (really it was all about the backyard) in Vail. Even then though Donna kept her job in Phoenix and for almost 5 more months continued driving to Phoenix every weekend to work sleeping at friends houses or getting a hotel. AMAZING right? All to help us out and make our lives a little easier.

Like I said before I hit the jackpot! Fast forward 4 years and they are still just as amazing today continuing to always go out of their way to make our lives easier. They are constantly on-call helping with getting Morgan picked up from preschool in time for doctors appointments and therapies. There to cover for us when she is sick and can't go to school and always offering us date-nights out.

Last weekend when we returned home from our mini- family vacay in Philly we came home to a sparkling clean house and a fridge filled with food. Yes, that's right, be jealous. While we were away my amazing mother-in-law came into our home and completely scrubbed it top to bottom. Things that probably have not been dusted in the 7 years that we have lived here were clean. Dinner was cooked and in the fridge for the night, laundry was done. I am spoiled! I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciated it.

Then after talking with Donna yesterday she offered to take Morgan for a sleepover tonight (something they have been doing a lot for us lately now that she is officially retired!!!). She knew how badly we needed a night off tonight. Morgan has really been struggling with sleeping lately, most likely due to her new braces. On Wednesday night she was up every 45 minutes for most of the night and last night we were up every hour. It has been worse sleep than with a newborn. Knowing that David and I were desperate for a full night's sleep she and Charley offered up their own good night's sleep to have a sleepover tonight. Like I said, they are AMAZING!!!!

On top of all that they do for us they are the best grandparents a little girl could ever ask for. They do so many wonderful things with Morgan when she is at their house and they spoil her rotten. She adores spending time with them and never once has said she doesn't want a sleepover. Instead the moment I mention the idea to her she heads to her room to start packing. She always has a list of things she wants to pack and a whole plan for what she wants to do while she is with her grandparents. Often when we ask her who her favorite people in this whole wide world are she skips right over mom and dad and shouts "Grandma and Grandpa."

As you can see I may not have won the lottery but I definitely hit the jackpot in terms of in-laws. Thank you Donna and Charley for all you do for us everyday. You guys truly are the best. We love you!

Friday Night Lights

Well, it's that time of year again....football season is upon us. Since there isn't much to do in Vail on a Friday night with a four year old, we love to go to the Cienega football game and hang out with some friends.

This season started out a bit unique. The first home football game of the year was rain delayed, but not until after we were almost at the game. Morgan and I headed out with our friends Georgia and Lucas (David was flying home from DC and Matt was coaching). As we walked into the game (with Morgan's big wheelchair and all) a huge monsoon hit. We were closer to the stadium than the van so we decided to find shelter under an awning and wait it out. At first we were doing okay, it was raining hard, but there was little wind. Within a few minutes the wind picked up and the rain was coming in sideways completely soaking us, the kids, and Morgan's chair. Soon her chair was sitting in mud and both the kids were crying. One of the basketball coaches we know drove past us in a golf cart. As soon as he spotted us he put on the brakes and reversed to see if he could help. I told Georgia to go ahead and take Luke out of the rain and I would stay with Morgan's wheelchair. My plan was to just send Morgan along when he came back and I would stay with the chair. Well, by the time he made it back to help the rain had let up to a light drizzle. Morgan and I were soaked head to toe and my hair had gone completely curly. There was no way we were staying for the game. So I helped him load Georgia's stroller on the golf cart and Morgan and I ran to the van. That night we never made it to the game.

The following week the game was rained out completely due to another big monsoon. Since the game was canceled for the night they rescheduled it for Saturday morning at 9. It was fun going to a day game, however, Morgan was not a big fan. She can't stand having the sun in her face, but she still managed to have fun when she saw some of her friends and of course the Bobcat.

Morgan checking out the Lady Bobcat. She LOVES all three bobcats and is always on the look out for them so she can say hello.

The following week we finally made it to a night time game and for once it was totally rain free. As soon as we walked up to the gate by the field Morgan asked for her pom poms so she could cheer. At that same time one of the younger paras at Morgan's preschool who is a graduate from Cienega ran up to say hello. When she spotted Morgan's pom poms she decided that they just wouldn't do. She knows the cheer coach and went to ask her for a pair of pom poms for Morgan. (It happened to be Mini-Bobcat night when they have little girls that go out for a quarter and cheer with the big girls so they had pom poms). Anyway, she was able to get Morgan an official pair of Bobcat Pom Poms. Morgan was so excited!

Checking out her new pom poms.

Giving love to her best buddy Lucas.

And of course saying hi to the Lady Bobcat.

I think she's got it!

I have been hesitant to post this thinking that as soon as I do Morgan will for some reason regress, but I think she has officially got this whole potty training thing down! We are just so excited for her and she is so proud of herself. This has been a long time (almost two years) coming. Morgan was doing great in the spring, but really backtracked this summer. Then we finally made the decision to see a specialist. We needed to know if it was going to even be possible.

In mid-July we went in to see the urologist. At that time he wasn't sure if it was possible or not based on everything we had shared with him. He decided he wanted to run some tests and suggested that in the meantime we buy a "potty-alarm" to try. Typically these alarms are used for older children who wet the bed, but he thought that perhaps this alarm would help signal Morgan and help her learn 1. when she was going and 2. how to know before hand that she needed to go.

We left the appointment thinking we would for sure buy the alarm, but that we would wait until after all the tests to really start pushing it again. The tests were run at the beginning of August and we weren't scheduled to get the results until the 24th. In the meantime I was getting anxious and was talking to some girlfriends who were getting ready to potty train their own kids. They were telling me about this three day method they were thinking about using. It sounded close to what we had done in the past with lots of positive encouragement, rewards, etc.. The main difference was in the phrasing and in the theory that you have to throw all diapers away.

At first we weren't too sure about it, especially since we didn't have the test results yet. So on the weekend of August 20th we decided to try using the alarm. That first day the alarm went off so many times. I swear by the end of the day we had to have gone through 20 pairs of underwear, but by the end of the day she was already stopping herself once the alarm went off. On Sunday, the alarm only went off about three times and each time it did she stopped herself and was able to finish on the potty. We were so proud of Morgan. We decided that the alarm was helping and we would continue with it. Throughout that week Morgan did wonderful and filled two charts! By that Friday I decided it might be time to invest a bit more and do the whole throwing the diapers out. Since then Morgan has done AMAZING!

We are now three weeks and one day in big girls. We have only had to change bed sheets once! She wakes herself up at night and calls for us to come put her on the potty. During the day she has been doing well too with only one accident a day or so (some school days are a bit rougher than others. She is easily distracted at school).

This past weekend Morgan didn't have one accident, no alarms, NOTHING! She did it all on her own!!!!! We went out running errands and to a football game! Then on Monday we had three doctor's appointments back-to-back and were on the go for over 6 hours with no accidents. Morgan made it from Friday evening to Tuesday evening without a single accident. In all during the past week she has only had two very small accidents. I think it is official, my little girl is potty trained!!! Let's hope she can keep it up. We are a bit nervous with traveling to Philly in a week.

A Bunch of Randomness

School started a month ago and we have been so busy ever since. I am not sure exactly what we have been doing to keep us so busy, but we have been busy none the less. I thought I would share some random things that Morgan has been up to this past month along with some pictures.

1. Social Butterfly: This year one of Morgan's goals was to talk more during snack time and hold more conversations. Even though she was not a part of making this goal and we never specifically told her she needed to work on this she seems to just know. This year her teachers have all told me that she is a little social butterfly during snack time. She is talking all the time and trying to be a part of all the conversations. In fact, about a week ago we took Morgan to a birthday for one of David's co-workers children and she marched right into the room full of complete strangers, went straight up to some other little girls there and said "Hi, what's your name? I'm Morgan." We were so proud of her!

2. Reading: Morgan has always loved books and loves to be read to. One thing she has not done before than many kids do is "read" to herself. I would try to encourage her to look through a book and talk about the pictures, but she never would. She used to always insist that I read everything to her. That is until now. You can tell that she is immersed in reading all day at school. She is now mimicking what she sees at school with her peers and "reading" to herself. In fact a few weekends ago she asked to set up a tent and read to her animals. Too cute!

3. I.pad: Yes, we now have an i.pad at home. We were all issued one at school and told not to leave it at school when we are not there (for security reasons). Since we can bring it home we are allowed to use it for personal use as well. Well, Morgan LOVES the i.pad and if I had realized earlier the value it would have for her we would have bought one a long time ago. Because of some of the challenges Morgan has physically with both gross and fine motor skills things that most 4 years can do like walk to the TV, put in a DVD, start the DVD, etc... she couldn't ever do. Not because she didn't understand how but because the physical actions of all that got in the way. Now, if she has my i.pad she can on her own open Net.flix, scroll through to find a movie she wants, and start the movie. She also knows how to close that and choose a new activity like the magnetic alphabet. Another thing that most children can do simply at the fridge with the old fashioned real magnets, but for Morgan always posed a challenge. It was difficult to have her be able to stand at the fridge and actually reach it, her walker wheels get in the way, the wheelchair can't get her close enough, etc... But now she can do the same thing just on the i.pad. She loves to open up that ap and ask me, "Mommy, how do you spell...." and then we sound out the word together and she spells it. One of her favorite aps is the B.ob books. She plays these all the time and is doing amazing with them.

4. Doing chores: Lately Morgan has been very interested in helping out at home. Again, this always poses a challenge of trying to figure out how she can help. The other night when we got home from school I needed to empty the dishwasher. Morgan was still in her wheelchair so she drove over and asked if she could help. Her favorite thing to do is to help out with the silverware. Usually I hand her one piece at a time and show her where to put it. That night though I decided she is now big enough to try it on her own. I pulled out the silverware bucket and put it on the counter by our silverware drawer. Morgan then sorted them all out. She did a great job and got all the forks, knifes, and spoons separated correctly. The only challenge was the big spoons (serving ones) vs. the little spoons. Now, if we can just work on the rest of the dishes maybe mom can get a night off.




5. Writing her name: Morgan has recognized her own name since she was about 18 months old. Since the time she was about 2 she has known that her name starts with an M and for a while now has also known the other letters of her name and the order they go in. For Morgan it again has been more of a motor challenge than cognitive challenge when it comes to writing her name. Her para and her have been working very hard on this for the past year and now she is starting to get it. When I opened her homework folder that other evening I found this inside:

She is really getting it!

6. Horses, Horses, Horses: What can I say, this girl really loves her horses. Not a day goes by when she isn't talking about horses, playing with horses, and/or reading about horses. They are her world. This past Tuesday Morgan was "Star Student" for the day. That meant she got to bring in something special from home for the "guessing bag" and to lead calendar for the day. Morgan of course brought a toy horse. She chose the one she calls Monty. When it was time to describe what was in the "guessing bag" to her friends in class Morgan was so excited she just shouted out "It's a horse!" Yesterday, I went out to my school with Morgan to observe an after school robotics club that a parent of one of my students puts on. She allowed Morgan and her youngest son (who is also 4) an extra set of L.egos to build their own "robot". Well, Morgan wanted nothing to do with that. She kept telling him "We need to build a stable. Let's make a horsey too." It was too funny, he kept looking at her like she was crazy, he wanted to make the robot. This morning Morgan decided that she wanted to pull out her rocking horse "Giddy-up" and go for a trail ride. She didn't want to ride alone so she insisted that Big Monty and Big Morgan (a doll she named after herself) needed to ride too. And of course Morgan is all about safety first. She insisted that before they climbed on their horses that said hello with a gentle petting and that they put on their riding helmets.

Going for a trail ride.

And that folks is all the randomness that has kept us all so busy for the last month. Hopefully now that we are back into the full swing of school and our routine is starting to get back on track I can get back to blogging more often. No promises though.

Pre-K

Wow, where did the last year go? It seems like just yesterday we were preparing Morgan for her first day of preschool. She LOVED her first year of school and it was such a wonderful experience for all of us. Morgan's speech took off last year and she truly enjoyed every minute of school.

Last week Morgan started her second year of preschool. This year she is in Pre-K, meaning next year she will already be a kindergartner. Morgan was very excited for her first day of school and couldn't wait to see her new teacher, Ms. BJ. BJ is a good friend of mine, we used to teach together at Sycamore before she moved over to the preschool last year. Morgan has known BJ since she was born and feels very comfortable around her. David and I were so excited when Morgan was put into BJ's class. She can at times be very shy and last year it took her almost a full quarter of school before she started to open up and show her true colors. Since she is so familiar with BJ as well as her para, Ms. JoLynn, and most of the kids in class she wasn't nervous at all.

Morgan getting ready for her first day of Pre-K. She requested braids. I had to put this up to compare. This was Morgan in 2009 at age 23 months. She is standing on the same stool, but the stool is up on a small table. She is so grown-up now.

Posing for a first day pic to show off her new outfit. I found a shirt that was just so Morgan, I couldn't resist. It has purses all over it and says "which one do I choose." Too perfect since she insists on bringing a purse just about everywhere and always wants to switch it out. The girl has more purses than I do.

Posing in front of her preschool.

Entering her Pre-K classroom.

All tuckered out after her first week back to school.