A good night in the big girl bed

We are happy to report that Lauren slept all night in her big girl bed. This morning she awoke happy and sat in the bed until Daddy came to get her. Is it possible that she doesn't know she can climb out?? : ) Wonder how long that will last. We are proud of her for doing such a good job her first night.

More soon...I'm getting better at this.

More Chicago Pictures

The girls with their dolls after visiting the American Girl hair salon.




A couple from the waterpark at Six Flags. This was everyone's favorite part of the day.

Lauren's big girl bed

Well we took the plunge...we moved our girl into a big girl bed. We used all Dora accessories and she loved it!! As soon as we had it in her room she climbed in, turned around and smiled at me. We've been worrying about how hard it was going to be to put her in a bed. We figured she wouldn't stay in it. Well, now I'm wondering if she was thinking, "It's about time you people got me out of that crib!" So funny! I will have to update again tomorrow to let you know how the rest of the night goes. Enjoy the pictures of our big girl...as well as a few from Chicago.

CHICAGO

We made it back from the Windy City. Our trip was fabulous!! So very worth the trip up there. Susan Norwell is amazing! She had Lauren doing activities from books, on the computer, and using a communication device. Lauren worked really hard for her and we saw a glimpse of her potential. We have a lot to work on but it will be fun to watch it unfold. Emily and Sarah's favorite parts of the trip were Six Flags and the American Girl Place. Note to all parents of girls...take lots of money to the American Girl Place! It is an easy place to spend it! But what a neat place it is...I mean, where else can you go and see 8 grown women in a semi-circle styling doll's hair? This is serious business at the American Girl Place. And Six Flags, so fun! The girls both liked the Whizzer which is a roller coaster. That and the water park were probably their favorites. Lauren's favorite was most definitely the water park. She played in the wave pool and in between sets of waves she improved her swimming ability yet again. I am going to have to learn how to put video on here so you all can see her swim. We think she is doing great.

We returned home on Friday night, actually Saturday morning. The girls have had 2 swim meets this week. On Monday night they swam freestyle and breast stroke and both girls swam their fastest ever in both strokes. Daddy worked with them in Chicago and it paid off. They swam great and were thrilled with their "personal bests." Our last meet is tomorrow morning and we will wrap up the swim season with a banquet tomorrow evening. It has been a fun summer but we are ready for a break.

On Tuesday we took Lauren to Children's Hospital in Richmond for an assistive technology evaluation. This is a step we must go through to have our insurance company pay for Lauren a device. We saw several different augmentative communication devices and all decided that the Tango really is the best one for her. This is great because Fairfax County has already loaned us one so we can see how Lauren does. She is really catching on to its purpose. So far her favorite button is "I'm starving!" She goes for that one everytime! We also learned that we may be able to get some support for the computer through our VA medicaid waiver. What an answer to prayer that is! Susan used lots of computer activities with Lauren and she really responded to them. But for us to do the same things, we will need a good bit of new stuff. We will go back to Richmond in September and hopefully get that ball rolling. God has certainly provided for our needs since Lauren was diagnosed. So many people have been brought into our lives at just the right moment, with just the right assistance. We are very blessed indeed.

Our Strollathon plans are coming along nicely. We have our luncheon next Friday, Aug 1st. Pray for it to be a success, for people to come out to learn more about this yucky disorder called Rett Syndrome. The Strollathon will be September 27th this year. We are hoping to raise even more than last year.($85,000) That seems like an awful lot but when you consider that just one research project can easily surpass $150,000, it makes it even more important. Lauren needs this research. I want her to be able to tell me what is going on inside her mind. But you know, other girls need it even more...girls who are having 25+ seizures every day, girls who had rods put in their backs to stop scoliosis and now are struggling to breathe as they recover from surgery, girls who eat everything through a tube because they are unable to swallow without choking, and girls who have never run across the yard into their Daddy's arms. These girls deserve a chance at a more normal life and the money we raise could fund the research that makes the breakthrough. Thank you for your prayers for our fundraiser.

On the adoption front...no news. We are still waiting. God knows the right time to add Anna to our family and we are resting in that(sometimes patiently, sometimes not so much). We are hopeful it will be sometime in 2009. In the meantime, pray for the people of China. They will have people from all over the world in their country next month for the Olympics. Pray for Christians who travel there to have opportunities to share their faith. Pray for the Chinese to have receptive hearts.
Thank you for checking in on us and for your prayers. I will add pictures later.

More pictures

Make sure you scroll down far enough to read the entry below all the pictures!



Row, row, row your boat..... She did it!!!




Lauren loved dancing with her Mimi and sister at the Power of Play.



This is Emily in the veterinarian station. I can so see this child taking care of animals one day.

Vacation and the 4th of July

Well we really did make it back from NC last week but we've been so busy I haven't had a chance to update the blog. Our vacation was fabulous! We spent much time at the beach or on my dad's boat and it was wonderful. I miss the ocean!! We also participated in VBS at my brother-in-law's church and played with the cousins a lot. I think one of the girls' favorite activities was going to a play center that had different stations for them to play in. Everyone found somewhere to play. Emily chose the veterinarian office (big surprise) while Sarah and Lauren preferred the dance studio. Lauren loved the tap shoes! What a blessing it is that she can play in tap shoes...that is not something we take for granted. Sarah got a BIG haircut while we were gone. She cut 9 1/2 inches off to donate. Her haircut is SO cute! I'm still telling her everyday how much I like it. We returned home last Monday at 4pm and the big girls had to be at a swim meet at 4:50! Our week went out of control from that point on. I have often described this swim league as fast and furious, it has certainly been that. Shawn had Thursday and Friday off for Independence Day. On Friday we started our day at the pool for a family swim meet. It was a first for our family and we had so much fun. There were even a couple of relays that Lauren could do with us. She laughed and seemed to enjoy herself although her favorite part of the morning was sharing a doughnut with Emily. The most exciting thing that happened over the weekend has nothing to do with the holiday and everything to do with Lauren learning to communicate. We have been working with a simple communication device trying to teach Lauren to insert words in "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." I sing and stop for a couple of words and she has to push the correct button to fill them in. On Friday she got it! She would look carefully at the 2 pictures before choosing the right one. We sang the song over and over to make sure it really stuck. We are so excited that she was able to pick this skill up so quickly. We are hopeful this is just the first step in her learning ways to communicate with us more. Again, this is not something we take for granted and we are so thankful for the progress she continues to make. The big girls are doing FABULOUS on swim team this year. Sarah placed 3rd in freestyle on Saturday and Emily dropped 3 seconds on her backstroke. We are so proud of them both. I hope you enjoy the pictures from the last few weeks. I am going to try to do better about updating so I don't have so many pictures each time. Our family is heading on the road once again next week. This time we are off to Chicago to take Lauren to see an education specialist. The whole family is going, along with Mimi. The big girls are looking forward to the American Girl Place and Six Flags. Mom and Dad are looking forward to learning from the specialist ways to help Lauren communicate. Thanks for checking in on us and for all your prayers. We know we have so many people out there praying for our little girl and we appreciate it so much!