Faith's Mom's Blog

Today at school there was a very special reception held for Faith. All of the first graders came along with their teachers and even the kindergarten teachers were there to join the festivities. There were also other staff at the school who came to eat ice cream and Oreo cookies - a few of Faith's favorites. It was a celebration of sorts held to honor Faith the GABR Star. We all got to watch the newscasts in which Faith was interviewed. The highlight of the afternoon was when they announced how much money the school had raised that day for GABR. To raise funds, Centennial Elementary had "Hat Day." If you donated money, you got to wear a hat to school. Some kids dug out their "tooth money" while others grabbed some coins from their piggy banks. And in the end, the students, staff and parents raised a grand total of $1,300 - the most ever raised by Centennial Elementary for GABR. The money was evenly distributed to the four students at Centennial who have teams

I will never forget one of Faith's first programs ever. It was during her preschool days and she was tense and nervous the whole time, startling every time someone clapped. She really didn't look like she was having much fun. Then she began to gag and I knew if I didn't do something, she would throw up all over the place. I bolted towards her, grabbed her out of the chair and hurried into the bathroom with her. I didn't have her venting tube with me but her aide brought me her feeding tube so I could at least try to get air out of her tummy so that she wouldn't throw up. Thankfully, it worked. In kindergarten though Faith didn't have any near throw-ups during a program, she still continued to be stiff and nervous and startled when everyone clapped. It was a little hard to watch and both Rob and I wondered if sticking her in front of a large audience just to be in a school program was the right thing to do. There were times we both wanted to run up and rescue h

I was taken by surprise when I pushed Faith into the dentist office the other afternoon. The waiting room was packed with nowhere to sit. As I looked around the room, I saw that those waiting to be seen had some sort of disability and were all accompanied by a caretaker. I noticed the familiar face of an older girl with cerebral palsy whom I had seen at Medcenter once or twice. An attractive lady in business attire sat next to a man who waited in silence holding a little tiny beach ball in his hands. There was another older man with Down Syndrome. The only way he could talk was by pressing buttons on a little machine that hung around his neck. A chair happened to open up so I took it and pulled Faith as close to me as I could. I took off her coat and readjusted the straps on her harness. She told me she wanted to go home. I explained to her first we had to see the dentist. A loud, abrupt noise from one of the people in the waiting room startled her. It seemed we would be waiting fo

Yesterday was a big day for Faith - there were a little bit of lights, a few cameras and lots of ACTION! At the beginning of the day about four people met with Faith so that she could FINALLY get the right part installed on her chair that would enable her to use the same buttons she uses to drive her chair to work with her computer. Technology is wonderful but it can require lots of patience! Faith working on her computer with help from Ms. Hall That afternoon, the KFYR TV crew came in to record Faith doing some of her daily activities at school. They recorded her doing some work on her computer with her buttons and also driving her power chair. I haven't seen her drive her chair for a long time and I was very impressed by how well she's driving! She is even able to drive herself into the elevator and turn around because she doesn't like her back to the door. The cameraman got in there with her and I think he was a little nervous she was going to run him over! Th

We are involved in a really good program through the University of Mary called, "Families as Trainers." Through this program, students who are pursuing majors in careers like social work and physical therapy can engage with the types of families they might be working with in their futures. Each semester, we get assigned such students. We have been involved in this program for two semesters and both times I have been impressed with the students we have met. I believe they learn a lot by physically being around a child with special needs as opposed to just learning about these kids in the classroom. This semester, we have had a group of three girls meet our family. Faith loves meeting new people and she especially likes hanging out with "the girls" as she calls them. Faith doing Easter crafts with "the girls!" Faith working closely with one of the nursing students Yesterday we had "the girls" come to our apartment where we did some East

7 Kid-Friendly Alternatives to Television By Jessica P., who has written about online nursing classes and how to obtain a degree in social work . Our kids are spending far too much time in front of glowing tubes, especially the television. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that the average American child spends about three to four hours per day watching TV! All this time in front of the electronic babysitter equates to increased rates of childhood obesity and an increased likelihood to receive misinformation from their favorite programs. Luckily, there are a million fun things you can do with your kids to replace a few hours of their TV habit. Here are seven to get you started. 1. Write a Book Reading books with your children is always a good idea - but have you thought about making one together? You and your kids can let your imaginations run wild, creating the story and writing it down by hand. After you've got it on paper, add illustratio

Today was the big day - Faith's first visit to a television station, meeting Marci Narum and doing a TV interview - all to represent the Great American Bike Race (GABR). When we got to KXMB, we were greeted by a few staff members and chatted for a bit. This is when I found out they were expecting me to be on TV with Faith. I really, really didn't want to be on TV. So we asked Faith what she wanted and she said, "Just me! Just me!" Apparently she wanted all the limelight to herself. Then, someone offered to get us some water but when she brought Faith's water in a Styrofoam cup with a straw, she refused to drink it because it was not HER cup. I think she has this star thing down! A little while later, Beth Thune (co-manager of GABR) came in and while we waited for Marci we were talking with Donell Preskey, another reporter, about Faith's therapy. I mentioned that we purposely moved here from Watford City so she could get her therapy services without having

I think today is Faith's first official snow day. There have been days we have kept her out of school because of the weather but never because the schools were closed. I remember a couple of storms while she was in preschool and I was like, "I'm not taking my daughter out in this." This year there were a couple of days before she started riding the bus that it was just way too cold to walk her to school. Even though this storm was pretty bad, I was still a little surprised Bismarck had actually called off school! Faith was very excited! Rob - not so much as he still had to try to get to work. Our parking lot this morning. I watched him from a window in our hallway as he got our Hyundai out of the parking lot and thought he was actually going to make it. About half an hour later he came inside and said he got stuck after disappearing from my sight as he turned onto Ithica. Thankfully, a good'ol North Dakota boy with a four-wheel drive pickup bailed him out.

Springtime scene on Century Ave. this morning

The Benefits of Early Intervention Programs Written by Eli S., who is working towards becoming a phlebotomist through online classes . Imagine finding out that your beautiful new baby had a developmental problem or a congenital disease. Would you know where to turn for help? Would you wonder how you would find the money to pay for specialized care for your child? It’s a scary thought, but for some parents it’s an everyday fact of life. Luckily, there is at least some cost-free help for infants with disabilities, in the form of Early Intervention programs. Early Intervention (EI) programs are federal and state funded programs available to all infants and toddlers with disabilities. The programs came about under the 1986 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provided federal funding to states who established EI programs under a certain set of guidelines. The programs are meant to help progress the disabled child’s development, aid their independence, minimize the need for