I thought I would have to teach my daughter about the world; turns out I have to teach the world about her. They see a girl who doesn't speak,
I see a miracle who doesn't need words.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Summer Break!

I can't believe it's been weeks since I've blogged...it's been busy!  End of school, birthday parties, swim practice, baseball game, movies...lots of fun stuff.

We are so fortunate to have Ronica staying with Zach this summer and Tabitha with Alex.  They are both two exceptional ladies who love our kids and we feel so lucky to have them at home with the kids this summer!

Yesterday was probably the worst day - for me and Zach...mmm, ever.  I was home alone with the kids and Zach went out in the garage to play on his pogo stick while I was about to start dinner.  About 3 minutes after he went outside I heard him screaming and ran into the garage to find him bleeding on the floor with a huge purple knot on his head.  He had fallen off the pogo stick and landed head first on the cement garage floor.  We have had a lot of drama with Alex, but I have never, ever, been so scared for him.  I couldn't get him to stop crying and about 10 minutes after he got really sleepy and was getting lethargic so it was obvious he needed to go to the hospital.  A HUGE, HUGE thank you to my neighbors Scott and Leslie who came right over and helped me.  Scott stayed with Alex until Aaron could get home from work and Leslie came to the hospital with me. 

St. Mary's was AWESOME.  We walked right in, they were so kind and the Dr. and nurses were great.  For the first three hours he slept alot, didn't want to talk and when he did, he just cried.  My heart broke for him he was so scared.  The only thing that made me laugh was when they came in to talk to him to check his neurological status they were asking him questions and he wouldn't talk....so they asked him what happened and he pointed to me!  Umm, Zach, unless you want Mommy to spend a whole lot of time with an Investigator, that was NOT the appropriate time to point to me!  What he really was pointing to me for was that he wanted me to speak for him.  Ok, maybe not that funny, but it did make me laugh...sometimes you just take what you can get!!

Sleeping in the ER


Finally awake...the flash on my camera kind of takes away a lot of the purple in the bruising.


So after 5 hours in the Er, a scraped up face, fat lip, a concussion and a broken finger, we got to home.  He was so tired he passed right out as soon as we got home.


He was pretty excited that he broke his finger and thought it was cool he was getting a "cast"...only he was quite disappointed that it was just on his finger...he wanted it all the way up his arm!


This morning when he got up he was still really nauseous and had a bad headache.  He didn't want anything to eat or drink and even a food commercial on TV would make him dry heave.  I gave him the Zofran the hospital gave us for the nausea and he stayed in bed until around 4:00 when he started feeling better and really wanted to go to the pool and take his swim team picture with everyone.  The Dr. said he can't swim for the next two weeks so he was pretty bummed he was missing his swim meet tonight.


I can't tell you how THANKFUL I am that he is ok.  It was a pretty emotional two days for all of us and I'm just so happy to see my little guy acting more like himself.  He probably could have asked me for a pony today and would have gotten it!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mr. and Mrs. Brad Viar!

Saturday was the BIG day!!!  Brad and Jennifer are now Mr. and Mrs.!!!  It was a BEAUTIFUL day!  (HOT, but beautiful!)

Of course I have a million pictures, and I'll be creating a video, but here are a bunch of pictures from the day.  Jennifer was a BEAUTIFUL bride.  Every time I looked at her she had the biggest smile on her face and it was so obvious how happy Brad makes her. 



The beautiful bride!

Jennifer and her dad...look at that smile!

The vows


Mr. and Mrs.!


Again....her smile!


Alex did a great job (minus one huge melt-down about 10 minutes before the ceremony!) 

In the bridal suite waiting to get dressed

All dressed and ready to go!


What do you think Daddy?!?

Hanging with Papa right before the ceremony

And a kiss for good luck!


Time to walk down the aisle with Daddy




She really did a great job during the ceremony watching and taking it all in...a few little squeals here and there just to make sure Jennifer knew she was really excited for her!




Heading back down the aisle


My in-laws drove all the way from Rochester, NY to see Alex in the wedding



  




Pictures with all of the bridesmaids

Jennifer and my Dad

...and with Mom

...and us!

We changed Alex a little after the ceremony was over so that she would be a little cooler so there a lot of pictures of her not in her dress...


Waiting for the bouquet toss

She was quite the dancing queen...she danced with me, her Papa, the groom...

...and her brother

 


One of my favorite parts of the night was Alex dancing with her Daddy.  She smiled almost the entire time they danced, kissed him and just totally enjoyed herself.



Congratulations again Jennifer and Brad.  It was a great day with memories that will last a lifetime.  We can't thank you enough for letting our family be such a part of your special day!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

More On The Straw!

So here's what Alex looks like with the Kinesio tape on!




Here's a quick video of her actually sucking on the straw...


And this video was from the end of the session.  She's completely full and has no desire to drink anymore, but she decides she'll take a suck and then raspberry it back out! 
All week she's done really great with her meals and practicing her sucking with the straw.  She's coming so far with her oral abilities - it's awesome! :)