Random

So I havent' updated in a while so I thought I would post some radom pictures and tell some funny stories about Brooklyn that have happened the last few weeks.

Better late than never......but here is the only picture we took when we went to Island Park a few weeks ago and stayed at our friends cabin. I remember a few days before we left I had been bragging about how Brooklyn NEVER gets sick. SO our first night at the cabin we got a total of about two hours of sleep because Brookie got a fever, a nose she couldn't breath out of that woke her up every twenty minutes. Oh, good times.

Daddy and Brooklyn on His new ride. This was her first time on a snowmobile and she actually liked it! Since it was like 20 below she only lasted about three minutes. Twenty minutes of getting her ready in all her snow clothes, three minutes on the snowmobile, and 5 more minutes taking it all off. I wondered why I just didn't say home ;)

Though Brooklyn said goodbye to the Binky a year ago, somehow she stumbled across one and came crawling to find me and said "mommy? I can have this?" She looked so funny, but seriously it took three months for her to stop asking/screaming/sobbing for it after we took it away, so I snatched it and re-hid it so we didn't have a re-lapse.

My little muscian. Her chair is the perfect height. And Boy is she CUTE!

Don't let this face fool ya. This little face has been waking up several times a night conviced that there are cows in her bed. I blame Jonny. For months he likes to scare her by mooing like a cow really loud and scary like, and it has finally caught up to him.

Since this is a random post, I might as well add that I got a job. Sort of. It just kinda happened. I work at the the Kids Klub at Gold's GYm. I get to take Brookyn with me which is why I took the job in the first place. I thought she could benefit from being around alot more kids more often. And it gets me out too. The first two weeks were challenging with her. She thought I was leaving her constantly, but now she loves it and I see her being alot better around other kids. Oh, and I get a free membership. Not that I have used it or anything yet!

Brookie's New Wheels

My baby so proud of her new-found freedom

We spent this past weekend is Salt Lake getting Brooklyn her first set of wheels. Though its not a car, it is about triple the price of the first car I got in High School! When we started this process a YEAR AGO, Brooklyn had just begun to crawl and had a hard time keeping up when playing with kids her age, which tugged at my heart strings, and made me curse her disability, so applying for a chair seemed like the right thing to do. I was secretly hoping she could then run over those overly able-bodied children once it came! One year later, I'm not sure how I feel. Maybe I am too close to the situation to actually see that getting this wheelchair was the right thing to do, but I have met this new stage with a lot of anxiety, and yes a tear or two.
I told Jonny that I feel like there really isn't anything to 'wrong' with Brooklyn, but if the Doctors and Therapists feel like we should get her a wheelchair, I would humor them and get my perfectly FINE daughter a wheelchair. It seems a little excessive for a child who can crawl really fast and climb up on tables and chairs with ease..........

When we met with her Physical Therapist (who is amazing) in Salt Lake, he was so excited all he could do was gush about all the wonderful things she would be able to do, and how quickly she will catch on be able to maneuver her new set of wheels. I finally had to burst his bubble, swallow the lump in my throat and explain that I was worried she may never learn to walk if she relied on her chair. He very nicely explained that often once children realize they CAN be mobile, they explore all their options, like a wheelchair, using a walker or arm crutches to walk etc. But then he went on to say that maybe walking will just be too difficult for her, and therefore she will choose to be in a wheelchair. Sometimes the truth is hard.

For the time being, Brooklyn ,who hates doing anything herself, screams at anyone who tries to help her by pushing her wheels for her. We learned this the hard way. We were a half mile away from our car and she still hadn't learned that if you don't push with BOTH of your hands at the same time, you will go in circles! So an hour later we made it to our car with a very proud girl.

I would be ungrateful if I made this seem like a thing of dread, when really we are very blessed and excited to see where this next step takes us (hopefully not around in circles for much longer!) Though we are still going to keep working on walking at home and in therapy, we are not going to bang our heads against the wall when the progress is slow. We have a happy healthy girl who lights up any room with her smile and countenance. We love you Brookie! Get runnin' over those kids!!!!

P.S. Does this mean I can get a handicap pass for my car? Score!

Things I've Never Had to Say......

So having a child as unique as Brooklyn, there are many things that I don't have to worry about her doing. By the time she crawled she was almost two, so I never had to worry about her falling down the stairs, because Brooklyn was old enough to know to avoid them. I never find toys scattered all around the house because Brooklyn can only take whatever she can carry in her mouth (it is so cute. she looks like a puppy! ) or fit in her baby stroller that she pushes all around the house loaded with her favorite toys. I can count the messes she has made, and to be honest I almost go into shock when I watch other peoples kids. I find toys in my toilet, under my bed, and fingerprints everywhere! MY sweet little Brooklyn does NOT do those things........yet.

Along with all these 'wonderful' experiences I have yet to have with my own toddler, there are many phrases that just don't exist around our house. Examples:

Get out of the street!

Don't go in there!

Don't jump on the bed, couch, etc.

Take your shoes off

What did you step in?!?

Stop running around!!!

But there is one phrase I was happy to say this week..........


Brooklyn! Get off the table!

I found Brooklyn on the table and in a state of shock asked Jonny why on earth he put Brooklyn on our coffee table. Well he didn't put her there, and I didn't put her there, yet it took us about 15 seconds to figure out that she crawled up there! Yay! I wanted to get mad, but I, laughed, congratulated her, and took a picture, then got her off which resulted in a full-fledged tantrum. I watched her crawl up on the table several more times that day and had to suppress a laugh every time.

Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas!!!

Since both of our families live in the same town as us, holidays tend to get a little crazy. The craziness started the 23rd with the Fisher Christmas party. The Fisher's are a small family of about 300, so this was a nice quiet start to a week of partying.......

We then spent Christmas Eve at my parents house where little Brookie got spoiled once again but I walked away with the best gift of all......a Kitchen Aid mixer. I love it!!



Here is Brooklyn at the Christmas Party with some of her favorite people, cousin Tayzlee and Kayson. I don't notice the large size of Brooklyn's head until she sits next to little headed Tayzlee. And isn't black supposed to be slimming? She can get away with anything with that cheesy smile though!

So everyone decided to spend the night at Jonny's parents house so we could wake up all together and open gifts. I'm the first to say that I was not to thrilled with the idea of sleeping on a ten year old couch when my house was only two miles away, but we did it, and I had to swallow my pride and admit that it was a lot of fun to watch all the littles open their Santa gifts together.

Brooklyn walked away a very spoiled girl with a new Kitchen, dress up clothes, a Dora doll, and a new bike. Hmmmmm......still not sure how the bike thing is gonna work, but we'll try. Thanks grandma!

Does anyone else see a resemblance???

Two of a very cute kind!!!

Scootin' in her new had that our neighbor made for her.

And finally, Christmas NIGHT, we found some time to open our own gifts at our house just the three of us. Brooklyn is sporting her new necklaces and her new Dora shoes. Yes SHOES!!!! Her first pair that has fit over her braces in a year!

French toast Surprise........

So last night, being the good husband that he is, Jonny decided to make dinner since it was that or cold cereal. So he whipped up a batch of cinnamon French toast and eggs. So what's the problem you ask? Well this morning when I went to make Brooklyn her morning drink, complete with a teaspoon of her laxative she takes every morning, I realized that the bowl that is usually full of the white powder that is her laxative, was now replaced with a bowl of cinnamon and "sugar". So I called Jonny at work and asked him if he used the "sugar" up in the cupboard to make his cinnamon mixture for dinner. Well of course he had and we are now happily (or not so happily) staying close to home for the next 24 hours. Thanks for dinner Jon!

Such a big miracle, in such a little girl....

Wow, Two posts in one week! I think that's a record, but Brooklyn has given us many reasons to smile the past couple days. And to be honest like any almost 3 year olds, many reasons to not smile, but I won't get into that! So a few days ago my grandpa came over and was asking where Brooklyn's walker was. I told him that she doesn't use it to walk with every day yet, just during therapy or when I'm practicing with her. Well Brooklyn heard heard the word 'walker' and she turned to me and said, "mamma, I wanna walk" Well I was too lazy to go downstairs to get her walker so I said " you want to walk? are you sure?" The reason for my hesitation is because it usually takes a small army for that little girl to take a few steps. When her therapist comes it takes both of us to get her to walk. One of us pushing her legs forward, and supporting her hips, and someone helping Brooklyn push the walker, etc. So I figured if she really wanted it I would get it. So I brought it up and stood her up to it, and next thing I knew Brooklyn took about 7-8 solid steps across the room before I could even do anything about it!

Later that night when Jonny got home I told him the story and figured it was a one time thing, but we got out the video camera and stood her up and she walked the whole length of our family room before flopping down and said, "Dada. this kinda hard!" I am sure there will many more posts like this where I will say, no today she really walked. But this was the first of many firsts I guess! We have always hoped that this day would come, but we never knew what Brooklyn's abilities would be. We are constantly in awe of her strength. And so grateful for answered prayers.

On a smaller note but just as important......Brooklyn has been going poopy on the potty! This is something that we hoped she would be able to do when she was much older, but many adults with spina bifida, simply don't have the control, so it may never happen. I know we have a long road, but now I know it is possible. I just hoped that we could have her going on her own by the time she was in school so she wouldn't have to feel self-conscious about diapers, but hopefully by her progress and understanding (and feeling!) we can be done with diapers much sooner! It is amazing that she can even tell me when she has to go. Yay for small miracles!!!

Giving Thanks

We had such a fun Thanksgiving I'm sad it's over. For only the second time since being married, my whole family got together, so we took a trip to St. George. The car ride was a breeze since we have a DVD player and we let my mom and dad tag along in the car to entertain their favorite grandchild. Only it wasn't that far down the road that I heard my mom and dad argue with Brooklyn over what movie they should watch. Yes, mom. Brooklyn would love to watch Holes instead of Twelve Dancing Princesses!
We actually made it to Vegas for a day and I finally got to see Mamma Mia! It was good, but I honestly liked the movie so much that I think I compared the two a little too much. I totally owe my Aunt Christy for driving Brooklyn from Vegas to St. George while she screamed "I no yike this car!" so we could go to the play.
I also learned that I will never leave Brooklyn and go on another trip again because the repercussions from her just aren't worth it. All week long she thought we were leaving her and was a monster to anyone who wanted to.....forbid......hold her. When I went to the bathroom without notifying her first, she would be sobbing by the time I got out because she thought I left her again.
All in all it was so much fun and so worth the drive to be with my family. I wish we could have been two places at once, because this Thanksgiving especially, I know Jonny really wanted to be with his family too. We are very spoiled and have too many blessings to count.