good 'ol dayz

5/15/2011 Sunday
Time for dinner but instead we are having fun.
Jewel is in her gait trainer, Kidwalk II, the music is wafting through the room and all the girls are dancing.
Life can not get better than this :)  These moments make up for the hard ones.
The girls laugh at the way I dance but "we all just dance like white girls" says Raven, I think I dance more like  a free spirit. :)
We had a lazy day at the pool with our good friend Kathleen and her son John.
Jewel was fascinated with his spray bottle and wanted a turn spraying him, "I do, I do" was Jewel's request.  Together we are a great shot.  We got lots of good eats and lazy times in the sun under shade.
Jewel had an O/T session in  the water, we worked on relaxation going into the hot tub for a short time and weight baring on the boogie board in the pool.  We are always watching that her face does not go under the water, which is difficult with her lack of head control,  but there were great moments for Jewel in the pool. Instead of the therapist forcing Jewel's body she wants Jewel to make that connection in her body herself.
I do not know if we will ever adjust to the loss of our old therapist, so I am keeping an open mind and open heart with the new therapist.
We need a pediatric physical therapist who is familiar with gait trainers and can work a few sessions with Jewel.

5/14/11 Saturday was the charity walk, and we ended up doing it with out Jewel because she was still sound asleep when we left at 6 am.  We walked for Hawaii Canines for Independence, they place people with service and companion therapy assistance dogs, and Camp Imua for special needs school aged children in Maui county.  I think we actually gained weight doing this walk with all the snacks that were handed out during the walk and not to mention the Hawaiian style local good breakfast grinds, nummie :)
Jewel got invited to a birthday party and we had a blast.  I forgot how much fun hula hoops were!  They had a "professional hula hoop teacher/performer" and it was magical and fun!  Jewel kept saying, "I do", and I bet the more she learns to relax that she and I will be able to figure out some hula hoop moves!  I highly advocate having a simple hula hoop party!  Jewel sat in her wheel chair with her AFOs and sneakers, a bit hot but well worth it!  It is so important to have friends, thank you Gracie for inviting Jewel to celebrate your birthday with you! xxo

5/13/11  Friday was all about Prom for the big girls, borrowing shoes from the neighbor, picking plumeria flowers for hair pieces, make up, curling iron and hairspray, giggles, pictures and some tears from Mom, savoring every micro second, my heart is full.
Jewel and I tagged along as the girls got dolled up at their friend's house, what fun. She kept saying,"Yogurt you sad", "Uggie dog" ...  translated this means, Mom if you are sad take my stuffed animal Uggie dog and you will feel better.  Jewel calls me Yogurt and I call her Banana :)  She is very observant of my feelings, Jewel knows that I am feeling happy and sad that her sisters have one more year in high school before they are off to college.  My heart is full and bursting with joy from my children.

5/12/11 Thursday.... on the phone with the awesome company with A BIG HEART, and this is Prime Engineering.  This is where we got Jewel's stander,  Super Stand and her gait trainer, Kidwalk II.
Jewel went with her Da and sissy Raven to the body worker.  While John was working on her, we were on the phone with Bruce the owner of the company.  He was helping us put in a new part in our stander, since we live on an Island there is not a lot of help here for this kind of trouble shooting, so he led us step by step over the phone.  We were successful because of their commitment to help their clients.  They have an excellent customer relations and will only give you the best!  Please check them out if you are deciding to purchase a piece of equipment!  The world is a nicer place to live in when there is such excellent support and helping hands.  Makena did the adjustments needed and she replaced the part with Bruce's direction, apparently I am a bit challenged in this department of following instructions and comprehending.  I would still be on the phone with them if it was not for Makena's help and willingness to help, Thank you Makena xxo I love you xxo Mom
The blog was down on wednesday and thursday, I could not log on to the blog and I panicked when my pages disappeared and Makena kept reassuring me that they would reappear and she was right :)