Faith's Mom's Blog

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

In the past when Faith and I have done her annual Thankful List, I would write down the items as she told them to me. This year, I thought it would be fun for Faith to be sitting right next to me so I could show her how to do a blog post. So here we are again giving Thanks to the Lord for His abundant blessings, which is the whole point of Thanksgiving! One reason I like this tradition so well is because since Faith has a feeding tube, it's hard for her to get excited about turkey and all other other food that accompanies this special day. This year, Faith says she is especially THANKFUL for the following people and things in her life: Good Friends  Faith has made some wonderful friends at a faith-based homeschooling group she attends once a week called Inspire.  This year, she invited the girls from her class to the park for her birthday. (It was near miraculous that we had a 60-degree day with no wind at the end of October!) She had such a wonderful time. As her pa

Today I find myself struggling. I have been on the verge of tears all day. No, it's nothing to do with Faith. I'm going through a little 'blip' with my own health. Strange, even though I know I have a heart condition, I don't really think about it much. I take my daily meds and that's about the extent of it. I'm more concerned about Faith and how she's doing in school, at therapy, with her digestion, with her stretches, with her learning, the list goes on and on. There is little room to think about me. As is the norm, I think, not just for moms of special needs children but all moms. It all started last week when I went in for a routine pacemaker check to see how much life was left on my battery. It was good news - still about 16 months left to go, which means no trip to Rochester anytime soon for a battery replacement. Then early this week, my cardiologist from Mayo calls and asks how I've been feeling lately. Apparently there was an arrhythmia ca

As I'm writing this blog post, it is currently 25 degrees outside. With the windchill, it feels more like 12 degrees. That's cold for October. Even in North Dakota! Winter definitely seems like it's here. Earlier this month we had a historic blizzard that dumped 13 inches of snow on Bismarck and over 2 feet of the white stuff in other parts of the state. As a result, the public schools had their first official snow day. I was ready to give Faith the day off from her lessons at home, but she still wanted to do them! First major snowfall of the year - in October! (Thanks mom for the pic!) It could have been a snow day for Faith but she still wanted to do school! It did warm up soon after and all the snow melted but the October blizzard created quite a mess for farmers and ranchers who still had crops in the field and cows in the pasture. I was very grateful that we didn't have to go anywhere - for school or for work. I am still freelance writing from home. Rec

Tomorrow is the big day - Faith officially becomes a 2nd grader. We have been spending the last couple of weeks buying school supplies, shopping for school clothes and having fun driving the van around. Then yesterday to help her get emotionally ready for school we read the list of kids in her class and had a little pretend school session at home - of course she wanted to be the teacher! She does say that when she grows up she wants to be a teacher. She definitely has the giving instructions part down. This morning I agreed to help volunteer at one of the booths for open house so parents could come in and pay lunch money, pay PTO dues, buy spirit wear - things like that. Faith was very patient with me at the booth and it helped when people came over to visit. After we were done with that, we ventured downstairs to meet her teacher and see her classroom. I was thankful that there was an instant connection between Faith and her new teacher. Faith ended up telling her, "You're

As a mom, I have to make many decisions on a day to day basis. What to make for dinner, how to spend my free time, what to buy at the grocery store, what we need from Wal-Mart, etc. The list goes on and on. But one of the hardest decisions I have to make is whether or not to send Faith to school when she's not feeling 100%. Of course I'm not going to send her if she has a fever or if she's throwing up. But what if she just has a cold? Do I let her stay home and rest or do I send her to school anyway? On Wednesday of this week I opted to keep her home. She hadn't slept well the night before and she was really mucousy and very tired. But I noticed throughout the morning she seemed to feel better and she was her usual happy self. Could she have gone to school I wondered? That night she didn't even act like she had a cold the way she was laughing and carrying on with her dad. I decided if she slept well that night I would send her to school in the morning. Thursday