Faith's Mom's Blog

Faith had so much fun at her friend's birthday party this past weekend! The party was held at Claire's where Faith and seven other little girls had their nails done (all different colors). They also got to wear eye make-up and lip gloss. She loved picking out which colors to wear. One of the most fun parts of the party was when the girls were getting ready for their "fashion show." They went all around the store to find cool accessories like a long necklace, bracelets, a purse, a hat and glasses. The girls were then able to sport their new look by walking down the "runway" and stopping to pose for pictures. It was too cute! Afterwards, the girls ate cupcakes and watched the birthday girl open her gifts. Before the girls left, they were able to pick out something for a value of up to $6.00. Faith picked the pretty, multi-colored long necklace that she wore during the fashion show. While most moms were not there to watch t...

Faith has a little dilemma. She has two birthday parties tomorrow, both of them around the same time for two little girls in her class. One is going to be like a princess party where the girls go to a local jewelry store, get their nails done, and buy pieces of jewelry. The other party is at the bowling alley. Faith would have fun at either of them. It's really too bad she can't make it to both parties. Faith with some friends earlier in the year at a Halloween party We decided to go with the friend who sent her invitation first, who also happens to be one of Faith's best friends and came to Faith's birthday party. The other little girl loves Faith too, though, and is so sweet to her. I know Faith loves her back. How do I feel about this little dilemma? I feel blessed and overjoyed that both little girls think of Faith as their friend and that they want to include her in the celebrations of their lives.  At the beginning of the school year, me and a friend praye...

I knew I was coming down with a migraine yesterday morning when I was getting Faith ready for school. My vision started becoming blurry and I could only see out of one eye. As I walked back upstairs after getting Faith on the bus, I knew the pain would come soon as my vision began to clear up. I had been down this road many times before. I remember having migraines as young as three years old. At that time, the main reason I got them was because I overexerted myself and my heart wasn't able to keep up. It was my body's way of telling me I needed to rest.  When I was a child, my migraines not only caused enormous pain in my head but my stomach as well. I often ended up leaning over the toilet before getting to bed. I would cry because it hurt so bad but there was really nothing that could be done for me. Rest was the only thing that helped. There were many days in elementary school that I needed my mom to come and get me because I ended up with a migraine. This went on quite...

Adaptive Equipment for Children with Cerebral Palsy Faith in her stander, a common piece of adaptive equipment for kids with cp

Since we are in the deep freeze here for a couple of days, I thought I would repost this article I wrote in January of 2010 for HubPages.  It's January in North Dakota. Today on January 9, our thermometer showed -33 degrees F. Right now, the wind isn't blowing, but if it does pick up, it could feel closer to -50 degrees. I know, it's North Dakota and we should be used to our winters by now. Snow and cold weather are fine, and we do like to say it keeps out the riffraff. But when the temperature dips down to being dangerous, it's just not fun anymore.  I am thankful because I get to stay indoors all day, along with my daughter. I opted not to bring her to school or take her to physical therapy. The extreme cold is hard on her little body and dealing with her wheelchair in this frigid weather is not fun by any means.  I do, however, feel for those who have to work outdoors most of the day. Like Rob who has to deliver home medical supplies. My dad has to try to keep a dies...

Yesterday, I had to get out of the apartment. While some people are real homebodies and could stay inside for days at a time, I am just not one of those people. Faith seemed like she also needed to get out and told me she wanted to go shopping.  I thought it was a great idea, but as soon as I mentioned getting her dressed, she decided she no longer wanted to go since it involved getting out of her comfy pajamas. So, I ended up going solo which was probably better anyway since the weather was not all that great. While shopping at Target, I found some really cool "Little People" Alphabet blocks. Faith loves playing with blocks and these were big and looked like they would be easy for her to take apart. An added bonus was that they had the letters of the alphabet on them, and they came in a variety of bright colors! Today, Faith didn't have school, so we got out the blocks. One of our favorite things to do with blocks is to see how high of a tower we can build. We got al...

Burrr, it's cold out there! Twenty below with the wind chill - so glad I didn't have to walk Faith down the hill this morning and she was able to enjoy some warmth on the bus! Which, by the way is working out great for us. I guess when she's on there, she just giggles and laughs the whole time. The other day the bus driver told me he wished he had her for another 4 or 5 more blocks just to hear her giggle! Besides the bus being a big hit, we have some more exciting news. Faith is going to be one of the stars this year for the Great American Bike Race (GABR)! This means she and her friend, Tanner, will be helping to promote the big event which takes place on April 9, 2011.  Faith will be on TV, the radio and will be featured in Medcenter One's magazine to promote GABR. So once again I will be looking for riders for Faith's team. I may try to get two teams together so that's 20 riders. Let me know if you want to ride! We will also be doing lots of fundraising a...

Faith is growing. It's been two years this month that she has had her current wheelchair and now it's time for some major adjustments. Since first getting her chair, she has probably grown five inches in her trunk alone. She's ready for a new seat and a new backrest and also a new harness. Another thing she is growing out of is the orthotics she wears on her feet. Soon, she'll be fitted for a new pair. In the meantime, she had some extensions put on so that her toes wouldn't be sticking out of them! She's also ready for the next size up in diapers, but oops! They don't make anything bigger than a size six, so we've been trying out some extra small children's briefs that seem to fit her well.  I must say, I would love to see the day she no longer has to wear any type of diaper or brief and this summer might be a good time to see if she can be potty trained. I know of other kids with cp who were trained around 8 years old. Hopefully her muscles wil...

For kids at school in Bismarck, today marked the official end of Christmas vacation. But for Faith, it wasn't just any ordinary back-to-school day. She started the New Year off by taking the bus to school! It was her first bus ride EVER! I could tell she was a little nervous this morning about her big adventure. We waited downstairs in our lobby for about five minutes then it was there - the big orange school bus. I rolled her outside and turned her backwards so they could get her situated onto the lift. When the lift began going up, Faith began to relax and even smiled. Faith getting loaded onto the bus Once she was in the bus, they locked her chair in place, and I hurried down to the school to meet her. As I hoofed it down over the snow-covered sidewalks, I was thankful that today was the day Faith started taking the bus - it would have been difficult to get Faith over the sidewalks with all that unshoveled snow. I barely made it to the school before they began to unl...