izzy

Izzy had her iep at school yesterday.
I wrote about it on her blog.
It went well.

wordless wednesday

izzy

Isabelle had a good day at school yesterday... Camilla (with Melanie's help) held her up and helped her "walk" across the pt room three times. Izzy enjoyed it and held her head up very well. She is doing great!

izzy ...

This morning izzy was in her little bed and we heard her knocking around her cross (it is ceramicish and has beads on top and says "God bless this baby girl.") anyway, she reached up and knocked it off the wall. This is a good thing for those of you who know how hard we encourage her to use her hands! So we were saying, "good job Izzy." When normally you would say, "Don't knock that down (:" Anyway, I told you good things were coming!

izzy's blog

I redid izzy's blog template this morning. What do you think?
I'm not really proficient at doing blog design stuff but I think it's pretty cute.

izzy and a mouse???

Check out this picture of Izzy.
She is in pre-K.
I wonder what she is thinking about this mouse?

izzy update

Thanks for all your prayers. Izzy's fever has finally started going down.
I am praying that she wakes up tomorrow feeling MUCH better!
Thanks again! God is so good.

izzy

Hey guys...
Little Izzy ran a really high fever last night.
If you get a chance please say a prayer for her.
Thank you in advance.

izzy at pre-k

Here's a picture of Izzy in Pre-K. She is being read to by her teacher. She really looks interested in the book!

Izzy at school...

Remember I mentioned how much Izzy loves school and letters?
Here is a picture her teacher emailed me, they were reading a book together.
Did you notice my new festive layout? What do you think?

izzy

I had to take a picture of Izzy today when she finished her bath. Then I had to share it with you.  

I hope you have a safe and happy halloween evening. We are planning to go to the church trunks of fun.  Our trunk will be a disney theme and Izzy is going to be Snow White.  Amanda will be Tinkerbell, and Emelia will be Minnie Mouse.  It should be a fun evening.

Happy Halloween.

izzy's blog

I put a few vacation pics up over at izzy's blog...

I got the cutest Halloween card today from Nancy! Love the stickers and Oklahoma tag :o)!!! Now I'm a double slug :o(. Nancy is one of the funniest and sweetest bloggers I know!

I'm getting ready to go on a 'date' for the afternoon with Matt! He has planned it so I'm not sure where we are going, but I'll let you know later ;o). I am trying so hard to keep my suggestions to myself as I am known to be a bit of a control freak (be quiet Julie!).

Okay, I'm outie!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Izzy ~ April 04

3 years ago today...

izzy

I put a little update on Izzy's blog!

This & That

I am posting a couple more pics I took of the kids Sunday, it was an interesting photo session... We all went to church Sunday, on the way home mom called to suggest I invited dad for lunch because she was out of town sitting with her elderly father. I did. I asked Matt during church what he wanted for lunch while kicking myself for not putting something in the crockpot before leaving home. I was hoping he would say, "subway," but he said "steak." I ran by our local grocery store and just didn't see any steak that looked good... so I bought cubed steak with plans of chicken fried steak which is Matt's absolute favorite meal and I never cook it because I don't like it at all! So I brought it in, prepared it, had it cooking... had potatoes mashing... had biscuits baking, broccoli steaming etc. The kids informed me during my cooking rush that they were taking off their church clothes to which I said, "WAIT! I've got to take pictures!" Dad walked up right about the time we walked outside to snap some pics (ready for lunch! :0) ) ... So, it is amazing that any of these pictures are even decent considering I was really rushing, everyone was hungry etc. The biscuits got a little browner than I prefer, but all in all it was a crowd pleaser.

Today was Izzy's IEP at school. I have said before that these are never fun, but I am so blessed with this group of people. They all love Izzy so much it is amazing. I think I also already said they are going to take Iz to the regular Pre-K class for a little while each day. Today the pre-k teacher came down to meet me and then we took Izzy to her class to check it out. I told her this was where the big girls go to school. I am excited for her. They did set good goals for Iz for the next school year although my goals are much (much much ) higher. I am just really thankful to be where we are and know for sure God is lighting the path that we follow.

Random ?'s from Carrie ~ Pre-K ~ Bear

Today has been another great day! It is again shortly after two and it feels like a full day.
This morning Izzy's SE teacher Barbara (whom I LOVE!) called to check on the casts... to which I told her what happened yesterday and then she wanted to schedule her IEP. Now, IEP's are always something I don't love to do, but the team that works with Izzy are so amazing it really is painless. Anyway, Barbara said that Margaret (speech therapist)

pause... rewind...

Almost two years ago on enrollment night for Izzy's first day in her special class, I went to meet the teachers and take her supplies. I met Margaret the speech therapist and said, "Oh, you'll be working with Izzy?" to which she replied without a smile, "Yes, it will be a challenge." Now this didn't go over very well with me. I didn't want her near my Iz with that attitude!

pause... fast forward...

said that Izzy really does take in a lot of information and that she needs more input... So... they are enrolling her in the normal Pre-K class for Fall! She will be scheduled to go back to her other class some if it is too hectic... but, isn't it wonderful? Margaret has completely changed her attitude about Izzy and has become a champion for working to help her.
I am just mouth dropped open amazed at how God works things out when you give it all to Him. My prayer is that Izzy can walk into her pre-K class next Fall!

The session with Bear went very well and I am glad again that we didn't have casts. He showed us a technique using Chinese acupressure that by pressing on a spot of her calf, her foot flattened naturally. I was amazed by this! We learned too much stuff and I hope that I can retain half of it to work on this week.

On another note, Carrie has sent out these random questions (how fun, right?) and I saw that Jenna and Melody answered them and I am just getting around to doing it.

1~ Look around!! Describe to me the very first handmade *gift* your eyes run by that was made for YOU from one of your children. Then, tell me why you have it displayed where you do.
Well, I have pictures on the fridge of Emelia and Izzy that they made at school. I can't see anything else sitting around. I suppose I'm a bad mommy in that sense :o(.

2~ Looking back on our childhood, we all can remember something we *always* wanted as a kid, but just never got. What is the one thing you can still remember to this day that you never had the *joy* of receiving?
A swimming pool. I always wanted a pool in our backyard. My dad finally relented and we had help putting in an above ground pool that was built inground so it was deeper on one end. We left for vacation and I couldn't wait to get home and finish filling up that pool. There was a freak tornado that came through the last night we were gone, the only damage done was that pool was destroyed. My dad took it as a sign and would not put in another one. (he got me a water bed instead)... Anyway, odd that my own backyard pool is what caused izzy's near drowning. Maybe I should have listened the first time? The pool is still here. I take care of it, chlorine etc. It is hard sometimes because of what it represents to me. I have a hard time getting in it at all. We felt like it was an important lesson for our other children when the accident happened... they asked, "Are you going to destroy the pool?" And Matt replied, "No, we're going to build a fence around it and keep it locked. The pool is not responsible, it was just an accident." The kids still love swimming and are the first to ask if we can get it ready for the Summer.

3~ What is one phobia that you have that others may find silly? I'm not talking fear of snakes. I mean *silly*, as in, others just don't get why on earth you're scared of *that*?
This was easy... GERMS. I am a total germphobe. I carry antibacterial gel in my purse, car, every room in my house. I wash my hands a lot... My kids hold their hands out every time we get in the car for their squirt of gel. I rub it on the basket handle at stores... I am over the top freaky about it.

4~ Name one saying that you made up out of the blue. Nobody in the general public would know what you meant by it but your family is all too aware of exactly what you mean when the words spout out.
"My cousin came to town." This is what I tell matt to let him know it is 'that time' of the month.

5~ You have the power to grant one miracle to someone outside of your own family. This miracle can not be frivolous. Who would you grant this miracle to. What would the miracle be? How would you go about granting it?
Since Izzy is in my own family and Jenna and Melody already used her :o)... I think my mind is on Heather right now. I would take that tumor right out of her brain instantly.

That was fun! The way this is supposed to go is for anyone who wants to be randomized by me to let me know in my comments. I will come up with 5 questions for you and you can answer them on your own blog. Join in, it's fun! And let me know when you have your answers posted so I can come see! And thank you, Carrie, for the questions! I enjoyed it.

OH! One more thing... I checked the update a little bit ago and the love offering for Heather was at $5150 at 1:30 p.m. CST!!! Isn't that awesome?

Answered prayers~free food~& a devo!

Whew, it's only a little after two and it has already been a full day. Let me start first by thanking you all for your prayers on Izzy's and my behalf this morning (and always). I wasn't feeling great about casting Izzy's feet for a couple of reasons... how would we do therapy, bathing, the new therapist? etc. Anyway, Matt and I had prayed fervently about this and felt like we should move forward with the appointment. When it was time to leave this morning I was delayed for a few minutes because after putting Iz in the car realized she needed a "change" "again" before we could hit the road. So I carried her back in as quickly as possible, and headed back on the road. We were 12 minutes late. The first thing I was told after almost an hour drive was, "We have a 10 minute policy, we can't see her today." Well, first fire came into me and I was praying instantly for calmness, but I really didn't understand why it had to be so cut and dry. I mean we didn't intentionally show up 12 minutes late and the last appointment there we sat for 70 minutes for our turn for the botox. Anyway, she said there was a chance we could come back in two hours (another door opened?) so I said, "sure, check." She did and said that we could not be seen today. I left feeling like either screaming about the unfairness of it all, or crying about it... then I called Matt and he said, "You know, I just didn't feel right about the casts to begin with. I feel like this is our answer. We will just use her foot splints like the casts, put them on all the time except eating and therapy (and bathing)... and it is our prayer answered. The feeling of peace took over and I knew he was right.

Okay, so I went to pick him up from his office to grab some carryout at chick-filet, since we were already out. I pulled up to pay at chick-filet and the cashier said, "The people in front of you have paid your ticket, they said for you to be blessed." I am tearing up as I type this out right now as I did when she said it. It was a God moment for me and It felt so good. It so wasn't about the money. I then couldn't help but pay the person behind my car's bill and tell them to be blessed as well. It was more fun giving than receiving! Gives me goosebumps!

Last night I read in 2 Kings 4:26 about a woman with great faith, "Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with they child? And she answered, It is well."
This was a woman of great faith. Her only son had just died and when Elisha asked how it was with her, her husband, and her son, she said, "It is well." How awesome is that?
This woman had shut the door on her problem and was believing God for a miracle. She hadn't let the grief of the situation swallow her, because she hadn't accepted it as being final. Because of her faith, all was well. Some people may look at confessions of faith like this as lies. They see it as denying reality. That's not it at all. People of faith don't deny what exists; they just aren't limited only to physical truth. They realize the potential available through God and speak their faith. They supersede natural truth with greater spiritual truths.
If you ask how I am, I am well. If you ask about Izzy, she is well too!

Prayers please...

Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. we are scheduled to go have the first of four serial castings for Izzy. You may remember she had botox injections in her ankles a couple of weeks ago and it takes about two weeks for the maximum benefit of the botox. They will put the casts on her feet to stretch those muscles and each week tighten them up a little to get her feet into a better position for standing and using the walkable. Her left foot right now tends to be a little tight and it causes some difficulty. Shortly after Izzy's accident they did casting, she was still having neurostorms and flipped completely out. We had to have the casts cut off while her heart rate was pinging 250 bpm. I know that she is in a different position, but I just hope she tolerates it well.
So, some specific things I would like you to pray for:

• For Izzy not to be in pain in the casts.
• For Izzy to not be upset by the casts.
• For the casts to do what is necessary to straighten her feet properly.
• For my strength as she will be gaining several pounds from these casts.
  

Thank you in advance, as a complete believer in prayer I feel so much more peaceful knowing we will be covered in prayer.

"I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you." Matthew 18:19

CranioSacral Therapy, Myofascial therapy, Rolfing... OH MY!

Well, I thought I would write a quick post about Izzy's appointment today. We met Michael the therapist (aka Bear?)... he was very nice, gentle, kind ... He had an interesting approach. I was sitting in his waiting area on the sofa and he came out and sat beside me. He asked if Izzy would mind if he held her? I told him I didn't think she would mind. He began rubbing her neck and head (I guess this was the craniosacral part of the therapy.) He talked to us (Matt met us there too) while he worked on her at least an hour. He worked on her hips, her spine, her feet... all the time telling us where and how to do these same things. He showed me with his hands pressure points and how to apply firm but gentle pressure. I liked him. About half way through the session I could tell he had caught the Izzy bug. It doesn't take long for anyone who spends any time with her to fall for her - completely :) and he did. He said he would work with her weekly. Before we left I asked him about the fees for his services to which he replied, "I will not accept payment for working with Izzy. This is the reason I love what I do and I love working with her." He teared up, Matt teared up, of course I teared up ... Anyway, he said I could bake him a pie or something but he could not accept payment for his sessions with Izzy. What a blessing! Everything we do is thousands of dollars so I was more surprised than anything at first. I left feeling very peaceful about our experience and know that "bear" will be great for Izzy! Tonight Matt did some of the techniques for relaxation on Izzy after her supper, she fell asleep in his lap (very unusual). It worked... She doesn't seem to be sick, just a little sniffly. Thanks for your prayers today, I know they blessed our socks off.