Faith's Mom's Blog

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas and it can easily become a stressful time of the year instead of a joyful one. In our family, we know that Faith does best when her normal routines are kept and the fewer surprises the better. We really tried our best this year to keep everything as low-key as possible and do less for Christmas than we have in the past. This included less shopping, less baking, and less activities in general. Instead of baking Happy Birthday Jesus cupcakes this year for Faith's teachers and caretakers, I found these cute cupcake Christmas tree ornaments and I wrote on the bottom of each one "Happy Birthday Jesus 2013" In the end, all I really wanted for Christmas was for the three of us to go our Christmas Eve service at church and while Faith wasn't willing at first, eventually she relented. The next day since opening Christmas gifts is outside of her normal routine, we had to actually coax her to open the gift

As a child who has a feeding tube, Faith doesn't really have reason to look forward to a big Thanksgiving dinner. Throw in the fact that she has not been feeling well this past week and woke up yesterday morning crying and gagging on mucous, she didn't have much of a Thanksgiving. So for her Thanksgiving celebration,  I told her that we could make a list of things she is thankful for and she was happy doing just that. She also had me help her write little letters to her friends and family saying things like, "Thank you for coming to church" or "Thank you for letting me come visit you." It was really sweet and she came up with about 20 people she wanted to write letters for. I think this says a lot - that she is simply thankful for the people in her life. Thankfully, she feels much better today. Here is her list for things she is thankful for:  Faith doesn't miss Wheel even when we'ere on vacation! Mommy and Daddy Wheel of Fortune

Faith's birthday didn't start out so well as the day before she came down with a cold and did not sleep very good two nights in row. She missed Thursday and Friday at school. Friday was her birthday and she had been looking so forward to going. Not only was she going to be doing a special birthday activity at school but it was also her school's fall festival party. I had serious hesitations about going forward with her birthday party on Saturday but thankfully, she had a good night sleep and felt much better. Faith celebrates with her mommy, grandma, cousin and aunties Faith with our dear friend, Joann We had her party at our apartment building lobby which worked perfectly for the number of guests that showed up. It was so funny because she said when she came downstairs to the lobby, she wanted everyone to say, "Surprise!" Rob left shortly after bringing her down when he discovered it had turned into an all-girl party. (I really didn't plan it tha

Not too long ago, someone at church commented to me, "Your daughter is so full of life." I have heard lots of positive comments about Faith throughout the years, but this one brought tears to my eyes. To think that my daughter - a nine-year-old girl bound to a wheelchair was full of life - meant the world to me. Faith's disability causes her to be different from her peers and others around her. She understands this and although she can get frustrated, she doesn't let it get her down. She has a very positive attitude about life. I give a lot of the credit to those who pray without ceasing for her and to Jesus who helps her on her journey each and every day. I truly praise God that someone who sees my daughter sees that she has a joyful life despite her special needs. Full of joy I know too well this isn't always the case. Usually, when someone pictures in their mind a nine-year-old who needs to use a wheelchair for mobility, gets her nutrition from a feedin

Our church service (along with many other services throughout the area) was canceled today because of our spring blizzard. So while I didn't get to go to church, I was still thinking about it! The photos from this post were actually taken from last week's church service.  Finding “the perfect” church is not an easy thing to do. Especially when you are trying to find one that works well for each member of the family, one of which has special needs. For me the perfect service consists of charismatic praise and worship, an inspiring, truthful message followed by fellowship with other church attendees. For Rob it is different though. He could give or take the praise and worship and get right down to the sermon – the more intellectual the better. Rob likes to take a message he hears and chew on it for days thinking, pondering and mulling it over. And then there is Faith. She does not like loud and she does not like microphones, sudden clapping or spontaneous "Amens