Look How Far We've Come! 9 months in RGO's.

On September 25, 2011, I posted this picture.  This was right after Melody first got her RGO braces.  She still didn't have her walker, yet.

Then on Dec. 11, 2011 I posted this video of Melody walking in her RGO's.  At that time we had a mechanics stool that we used to follow her everywhere and assist her in her walking. 

At that time I wrote these words, "Pray for us on this journey with RGO's.  Pray that Melody will be walking independently with them sometime in the near future."

Nine months later and LOOK what Melody can do.  I just put the stool in the garage as we haven't used it in weeks, if not a couple of months.  Praise God for walking.

Here is Melody walking through our house.  She has gotten so much faster and can turn around.

And here she is going UP and DOWN a ramp.  She loves doing this, especially down because she can go so fast.

Sometimes I have to fight her to get her into her braces, but then I often have to fight her to get her out, too.  Sometimes the road ahead looks so long, but looking back and seeing where we've been certainly helps.

Summer Swim Fun

Life has a way of just moving right along and before you know it, three months have passed since you last blogged.  So much has been going on, but we are mostly just thankful to be finished with another school year and into our summer fun.

Our pool is a great source of fun for us, and all the friends we love to have over.  It is such a blessing to have.  David doesn't care to swim too much, so no photos of him.  However, here are the rest of the kids and I on Mother's Day.

Melody is learning to swim and enjoy the water.  Her enjoyment of it depends entirely on the particular day.  Here she is doing "ballet" in the jacuzzi.  The step is just the right height for her.  Her left leg floats in the water, which I can only guess is due to the lack of muscle tone.  But, it works great for Melody's ballet. 

Enjoy and I hope to upload video of Melody walking soon.  I just watched the video I posted a few months ago, and she's made some amazing progress since then. 

You Get What You Get . . .

and you don't throw a fit!"

We say this to our kids when they want the purple cup, or the biggest cookie, or flavor of juice.  We tell them to be thankful and content.  These really are the very small things in life and we get frustrated when kids make a major deal out of them.

However, I've been pondering lately how we really act like children so much ourselves.  How often do we take the things that God allows in our lives thankfulness and contentment?  Do we really take what we get and not throw a fit?

How often does God, our Father, hear us throwing a fit?  

I listen to adults, I listen to myself.  I find we are often "throwing a fit" ourselves.  Oh, it may not include tears and the flailing of arms and legs, but it is a fit nonetheless.  We complain about so many things we can't control. 

I know I find myself "throwing a fit" sometimes aloud, but more often in my mind and prayers.  Complaining about what I did or didn't get and generally giving in to the poor me attitude. 

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for justice, a place for righting a wrong, a place for standing up for yourself.  I'm talking about the things we can't change.  The things that just happen.  The trials that are just a part of life. 

I think the real lessons of life are often very simple.  They are the ones we teach our children.  They are also the ones that take a lifetime to learn.  I'm working on this one along with my kids.

1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Spina Bifida Clinic

In January I took Melody to Spina Bifida Clinic.  She goes every 6 months, so we hadn't been since July of 2011.  It was very encouraging, in fact it was just what I needed.  You see, sometimes I get caught up in the day to day challenges of managing all of Melody's needs along with the needs of the rest of our family.  It is difficult to see the big picture sometimes.  It is hard to see how far we've come. 

However, the nurses, doctors and all the staff at SB clinic hasn't seen Melody in 6 months.  When you see their response to Melody, you realize how far we've come and how all the hard work has paid off.  Everyone was amazed with her progress.  She strutted her walking stuff up and down the hallway and the clinic was running really late that day, so she had a lot of time to do so. 

The best part was watching the face of the Orthopedic Doctor as Melody walked into the room with her walker.  This was the doctor that said he didn't think the RGO braces and walker would work.  He looked at Melody and looked at her chart, then back and forth several times.  It was priceless.  Though he didn't say much, I could see the surprise in his eyes.  He told me something like, "two-year-olds don't usually figure out all the things necessary to use a walker & braces."  I responded, "well, she is very stubborn."  His response, "I wonder where she gets it?" as he looked at me.  I laughed.  The doctor and I really do get along and I understand where is is coming from, even if we don't always agree. 

Melody's check-ups with the Neurologist, Orthopedic, Pediatrician and Urologist were all positive.  Her kidneys still look great (she has a kidney ultrasound every six months) and since she has been urinary tract infection free since her surgical proceedure in December, we are hopeful it has solved the urology issue for now. 

We got the paperwork signed and hope to be getting handicapped parking permits soon.  Now that Melody is getting out of the car and using her walker from the car to wherever we are going, I am finding that I need them. 

The thing I love about SB clinic is seeing all the doctors in one afternoon.  I think we walked away with 3 other prescriptions and paperwork things we needed.  Those each take quite some time to get when you have to got to several different doctors. 

All in all it was a productive day and a source of great encouragement to me.  I know it really doesn't matter what other people think or my daughter, we love her no matter what she does or does not accomplish.  However, it is a blessings to see her celebrated by the health professionals that are invested in her life.  It does a mother's heart good. 

Thinking About Jesus More than Myself

Two weeks ago during our evening family worship time,  Joel made the decision to follow Jesus.  For as long as Joel has been able to express his thoughts, his spiritual insight has been pretty profound.  Up until now, he has always said he wasn't ready to committ to following Jesus.  We tried not to pressure him, and his reasoning was pretty clear, I'm not ready, yet.  I will when I'm ready. 

We were discussing milestones from previous years and recording what God has done in our family in the last couple of years.  As we re-read these milestones we discussed when the other children made this important decision.  Joel said, well, how about I do that tonight. 

We asked him what that means and he said, "It means thinking more about Jesus than about myself."  I thought that was pretty profound.  Thinking about what Jesus wants instead of what I want.  Following Jesus' way instead of my own.  I think he has a pretty good idea of what it means to follow Jesus. 

A little while later he offered insight into why he hesitated to make that committment before.  He said, "Mom, when I first wake up, I'll probably think about me, but then I'll think about Jesus."  I realized in that moment that Joel had a lot more insight than I thought.  See, he knows how hard it is to focus on Jesus.  How easy it is to think about ourselves and do things our way. 

Joel's next question was, "Can we do that community thing?"  We laughed and then had communion as a family with bread and Capri Sun juice, which was the only juice we had on hand.  We celebrated with ice cream a few days later. 

We know that following Jesus is not a one time event, but a series of decisions over the course of a lifetime, but we are grateful that Joel has made the decision to start.  What an incredible blessing to see our children walk in the ways of the Lord.  It is our prayer that their committments will last a lifetime.