Sitting Up!!

That's right. Melody is just over one year old and she is sitting up by herself. I must say it is WONDERFUL. It is nice to be able to set her down somewhere and she is having a lot of fun playing. She is making lots of strides in reaching and catching herself and pushing herself up as well.

Here she is, showing off for the camera.

Giggle Box

One of our favorite forms of entertainment is trying to make Melody giggle. David is hands down the best at it, however. Joel does get into the act on these videos, too. Enjoy the laughter.

Our God is Able

Lately I have beeen meditating frequently on several verses in Daniel. I was reading a blog of another Mom who recently discovered she is pregnant with a baby with spina bifida. I was challenged by her thoughts from Daniel.

I've heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego my whole life. You know, the guys who were thrown into the fiery furnace and survived. But, recently their words right before they were thrown in the furnace have stuck with me.

In Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar is furious that they won't bow to his statue. He says to them, you realize if you do not worship the idol I have set up that you will be thrown into the fiery furnace. He follows that statement with a question that I'm sure was meant to be rhetorical. "Then what God will be able to save you from my hand?"

However, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are bold enough to answer that question. They know THE God that can save them from the angry, arrogant King. Their response is what challenges me. Daniel 3:17-18 records their response, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O King. But, even if he does not, we want you to know, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

It is the "but..." that follows that I contemplate. Yes, my God it able. My God is able to heal Melody from spina bifida and the physical challenges she faces. But, even if He has not, even if He does not. I will still serve Him. Before Melody's birth we prayed for healing. We hoped the doctors were wrong, despite excellent medical care. I know there was a certain knot in my stomach feeling when I saw her spinal lesion for the first time and realized it was really real and God wasn't choosing to heal it. Yes, my God is able to heal, but so far he hasn't chosen to heal her completely.

It is easy to serve God when things turn out the way they I want. Yet, will I serve Him when I don't understand why? Will I serve him "even if He does not?" I believe the three men in Daniel were willing to serve God either way. That is called faith. Will I trust that God has a plan for Melody's life and my life that includes spina bifida? Will I choose to believe that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made" even if she doesn't meet the world's standard of physical perfection?

The God I serve is able. But, even if He does not, yet will I serve him.

1 Year Old

Melody Then ..........

and Melody now! What a difference a year makes. Happy First Birthday, Melody. We love you!

One year ago today our precious Melody was born. I was in an operating room with a wonderful anethesiologist, a very eccentric OB and a bunch of other people. Melody was taken via c-section and I was only given a fraction of a second to see her before she was wisked away. She was through the "window" to the waiting neo-natal intensive care team before she even began to cry. My ears were straining to hear that sound and the feeling of relief was great when I heard her little cry for the first time.

We were finally able to hold her late the same afternoon she was born and she was stable enough for her spine closure surgery the morning after she was born. I'll never forget looking at her spinal lesion and asking the doctor what exactly we were looking at. When he said "that is her spinal cord" and I realized there was very little covering it, I was filled with greatfulness that her SB was discovered before birth and more damage was not done.

Melody came through her first surgery with flying colors and then fluid started backing up on her brain, which was a high possibility for SB. So, 6 days after she was born she had surgery to have a ventricular shunt placed. A second surgery which she handled very well. Then, 9 days after she was born we were able to take our little bundle of joy home. That was a wonderful day.

It is hard to believe Melody is a year old. We haven't been back to the emergency even once. Our only trips to the hospital have been for Melody's routine kidney ultrasounds and her hip ultrasounds. She has been to Spina Bifida clinic 3 times and lots of other checkups, but nothing urgent. I have talked with parents whose children have had up to 12 shunt revisions in the first year of life, so we are very thankful. It was possible this year would have been filled with hospital stays, we are thankful it wasn't.

Melody is such a joy to our entire family and we might just be accused of spoiling her. She is generally happy and content. She does have a piercing cry which she uses to be heard above the hubbub that is constant in our home. I want to sleep or eat are generally her complaints. We give her the "Sharpie Solution" when she is fussy in the car as a permanent marker pacifies her. We may just be gluing the lid onto one, soon. The whole family sings the "Melody" song to calm her. It is one we made up, "Mel-o-dee, Mel - o-dee, Mel-o, Mel-o, dee, dee. . ." sung to the tune of "Adelweiss" from the Sound of Music.

Bumbo Bliss

Melody still cannot sit on her own, which creates a few challenges. I did not purchase a Bumbo seat as she couldn't use it with her brace. However, I had heard that they were wonderful. Then, I thought Melody will be sitting on her own, soon, so I should save the money. However, I realized one would make us both very happy for the next few weeks until she is sitting on her own.

So... I asked my awesome MOMS Club friends if i could borrow one, and had three offers within an hour or so. Melody loves it! I'm glad I was able to borrow one. I'm hoping it will also help her legs as it holds them in a straighter position. They still like to stick straight out to the side like they did in the brace and we need to work on that.

Here she is in all her Bumbo Bliss.

Back to School

The 2010-2011 school year is now well underway. We just completed our second week of school and it is going well. I was dreading it starting as my life generally gets busier when school begins, but it has actually been going very well.

Our children continue to be enrolled in River Springs Charter School. This year, however, Hannah is the only one I am homeschooling and responsible for her learning. Hannah is in 3rd grade and is an incredible student. She attends RSCS Riverside Student Center on Tuesdays where she gets to take four workshops: American Girl, Art Meet the Masters, Photography and Adventures in Music. The other days I have to scramble to keep up with her as she willingly asks for more school work. We are enjoying a unit on Little House in the Big Woods and just bought ingredients to make our own cheese.

Hannah - 3rd GradeElizabeth - 4th Grade
Elizabeth and David are enrolled in RSCS's Mosaic program. They attend classes on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. They do home study days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This allows our entire family to be home on Thursdays which is also Kevin's day off.

Mosaic was not their first choice, they wanted me to homeschool them as well. However, for a variety of reasons we felt this was best for this year. Elizabeth comes home from her days at Mosaic just beaming, so despite the fact that she won't admit that I was right and she does like it, I know that she does. She is doing well with her schoolwork despite having informed me that "having the right outfit" ready for the next day is more important than having her schoolwork finished.

David - 7th Grade

David has become so responsible and independent with his schoolwork it is a joy to watch. He has been finished with his work most mornings with very little prompting or help. He has begun Algebra this year, which he is apparently ready for, but I am not sure I am. Helping him with questions is getting much harder.

Of course I try to spend lots of time with Joel and Melody as well. Joel really wants to be in school, too. He has some preschool books that he loves to do and Hannah is always happy to teach him. He has a good grasp of his letters and sounds. He will be starting T-ball soon and he can hardly wait.

Melody has had her evaluation for Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT). We were very happy that she does not currently need OT, which is what we expected. However, as soon as their finished writing her plan up, we expect to start PT in earnest. That will take a big chunk of our time in the next few months. While playing with her I spend time working with her legs as best I know how and look forward to more direction from the PT.