Birthday Full of Love

Faith turned six years old yesterday. And to celebrate how far she's come in those six years, we decided to have a not-so-little celebration. There were lots of guests, lots of gifts, lots of cupcakes and most of all, lots of love. We are amazed at how many lives our daughter touches in a special way. She receives so much love and generates it back to those around her. Her smile brightens people's day, her laugh makes people laugh along with her, her joy is contagious. My husband and I are so thankful for the gift of her life - a life that He entrusted us to care for since the day she was born on October 25, 2003.

We knew there would be challenges. We knew there would be tears. We knew there would be exhaustion. We didn't know, though, how much joy there would be. And yesterday, seeing Faith surrounded by friends - children and adults alike - family and even a few people in our building who don't know her all that well, brought gladness to our hearts.

It was so wonderful to have people take time out of their day to say Happy Birthday to Faith. And at the end of the day when the cupcakes were eaten, the balloons deflated and gifts put away, the thing that Faith remembered most about her day was that so many people love her so much.

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Getting Used to Our New School Schedule

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Today we said goodbye to our Special Tomato adaptive car seat. And special it was. It helped Faith stay safe and secure in our Hyundai driving her back and forth to therapy appointments, shopping excursions and many other activities. It also helped us through our time of not being able to afford an accessible van. Like all adaptive equipment , the special car seat was expensive and although it is the law that a child is secured in a car seat while traveling in a vehicle, neither health insurance nor Medicaid would pay for it. Thankfully, we were able to receive funds from the fundraiser, the Great American Bike Race ( GABR ) which helps families pay for services and equipment that insurance doesn't cover for kids with cerebral palsy and related disabilities. After doing research on the Internet and talking to Faith's physical and occupational therapists, we decided to go for the Special Tomato adaptive car seat. You would think something with that name would be r

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