Faith's Mom's Blog

This year in review is a little belated - I had wanted to do it before the New Year actually began but both Faith and I fell ill with the flu and I had zero energy. It's hard to be creative with no energy! While I became sick shortly after Christmas, Faith got sick on New Year's Eve. On Friday, she finally felt well enough to go to school. Thank goodness for the miracle drug, Tamiflu, which helped decrease our symptoms and the flu did not last as long as it might have without it. I am also thankful that although Rob had mild symptoms for a few days, he is already back to being well. So, while we did not end 2012 very well, the New Year started off great as on January 5th the NDSU Bison won their 2nd straight football championship! Here is how 2012 went for us: JANUARY   Although last winter was pretty mild for us here in North Dakota, January still got pretty cold which kept us indoors a lot. One of Faith's favorite things to do is SKYPE with our friend Kimberly in

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

First of all, I'd like to thank the 2012 Faith's Fantastic 12 GABR Team: Becky Eske, Beth Kaylor, Cassie Brazell, Gwen Barone, Julie Jensen, Katie Huizinga, Kent Kaylor, Krysta Wrath, Rob Bousfield, Sarah Hoffman, Tanya Steckler and Brooke Schaff.   Thanks for riding and for fundraising! Also, a huge Thank You to all of you who donated to Faith's Fantastic 12: Mike and Deone Lawlar (Grandpa and Grandma) Cousin Vicki Hammond Fran Dwelle The Bitz Family Tom & Diane Hahn Michelle Stahl The Sago Family Peg Walth Sandy Bauer My dear college friends Janee Anez, Resa Hartl, Kristi Holzer and family Faith's cousins, Sydnee and Kenzie Lawlar Faith's auntie of sorts, Nicole Samuelson and family Coworker Blaine Kincaid Barrett Pharmacy & Variety of Watford City Centennial Elementary School's staff and students The mystery man from Marathon Oil Also, thanks to my brother Todd of Todd's Consulting, Inc. - Onsite Oil Well Supervision and Directional Drilling, wh

Ever since finding out Faith was going to be needing some sort of wheelchair for mobility, we knew that one day our family would need an accessible van.  Until that time, though, we knew we would have to make-do without one. After Faith outgrew her regular car seat and needed more support, we were able to acquire an adaptive car seat called the Special Tomato using funds from GABR . Faith's first wheelchair was a pediatric wheelchair called a Kid Cart - which came apart and easily fit into the trunk of our car. But after outgrowing that, her chair became much bigger and much heavier as well. Thankfully, we were able to take the seating system off of the base and then put the seating system in the passenger seat of our car with the base in the trunk. All of this required lots of lifting. Here is the seating system in the passenger seat of our small car. The base fit in the trunk. Faith in her adaptive car seat - her legs and feet are kind of squished After her chair was upg

In early March, I received an e-mail from a representative from the company BuildASign.com . They were willing to send me a free banner, created by myself, and in return I would place their link on my blog and I would write up a review of the banner. So, here is that review. I thought it would be great to have a banner for our team at the Great American Bike Race (GABR). I went to BuildASign.com and very easily used their tools to design my banner. From the time I placed my order to when I received the banner was only five days and I was thrilled with the final product! The only problem became how we were going to hang it. Thankfully, our team's bike was near a wall so me and a few other girls hung up using some pink duct tape I had grabbed before leaving home. I did get some nice comments about it - that is was a really nice banner, one that could be used again and again. It is very professional-looking and durable. I am very happy to have it and we will definitely use it at

As the Great American Bike Race is now in the past, I look back on it with many fond memories. Faith being a GABR star was a blast! We had so much fun during the many new experiences this opportunity afforded us - from doing a radio commercial to being on TV - and the people we worked with were all awesome as well. I just hope Faith isn't too disappointed that she won't get to be the GABR star again next year! Besides Faith being one of the stars, there are 12 more fantastic things I will always remember about this year's GABR: Faith having the energy to endure the noise and excitement of the all-day event! Our awesome team - Faith's Fantastic 12 who all showed up to ride and who did a great job of raising money! Our cool t-shirts that turned out great! Having so much fun seeing all of the friends we have made these last 6 1/2 years! Having the team, Badlands Bikers, join in on the event all the way from Watford City! Finding out that Jacey Enget rode not onc

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 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 for