Faith's Mom's Blog

When I had asked Faith a while back what she wanted to do for a graduation party, she told me, "a day at the park."  I knew it was a little risky planning an outdoor event in North Dakota (even in May). It wasn't all that long ago we still had snow on the ground. Also, it had snowed a tiny bit and the temperatures hovered around freezing just the weekend before.  I planned for the park anyway and prayed for perfect weather. I figured if it was cold or rainy we could move the event indoors somewhere. I am so glad we didn't have to do that, though, because the park was a great place to have Faith's graduation open house. I wasn't anticipating, however, just how perfect it was going to be.  The weather was absolutely perfect without any humidity or more importantly, without any wind. Even when it did rain for a brief spell, it came straight down and we stayed dry underneath the shelter. The cake was the perfect size and was all eaten up (along with the extra doze

A snowy Century Ave. Last Tuesday at this time, most of North Dakota was getting blasted with a historic blizzard that lasted 3 days. We have experienced blizzards before, but this was probably the worst most people in the state had ever gone through. For me, it brought back memories of the catastrophic blizzard that occurred at the beginning of April in 1997. At that time, I lived in Fargo.  What made that storm so bad is that many parts of the state had already received 100 inches of snow throughout the winter. That wasn't the case this year, as the central and western parts of the state have had severe drought conditions. While most people were thankful for the moisture this blizzard brought, it didn't come without its challenges (especially for the ranchers who were in the midst of calving). The good news is, the storm was not unexpected. As a result, people could make preparations in advance. The most I needed to do to prepare was make sure we had plenty of groceries and

Just recently I was able to go away for the weekend - for fun! For the first time in 18 years, I was able to travel to another city, stay overnight, and not have any doctors appointments or procedures. And what made it even better was going with my sisters!  Faith was well-looked after by respite care. She even had a friend come over to visit and her grandparents, too! Of course getting away did not come without a challenge or two.  The day before leaving, as I was cleaning the entire apartment and getting ready to pack, a staff member at Faith's day program told me her feeding pump was not working. I only had an hour before I had to pick her up so I cruised down to our DME provider and asked if I could get a loaner pump since hers was not working.  Unfortunately, they no longer carry the type of feeding pump she uses, so I needed to get a whole new system. This required me to learn how to use it and then make sure Faith's respite staff and her day program staff was going to kn

I can't believe I am the mother of a graduate! It seems I have waited a long time for this. At the same time, however, it has come very quickly. I still very vividly remember the days of walking her to school from our apartment building to Centennial Elementary. She had some wonderful teachers there but when she was in 4th grade we decided to homeschool her.  There were definitely a lot of positive things about homeschooling. One was that she didn't tire so easily so she could focus more. The other is that she didn't catch everyone's germs so she was sick less often. Another was that I could give her one-on-one attention. Faith's biggest goal was to learn how to read. It took a long time, and although she can only read simple words and very simple sentences, she exceeded expectations  One major drawback of homeschooling is that she missed being around other kids. It didn't help that she is an only child. When I found out about Inspire Collective, I thought it wo

Every year in May, Faith and I run into the same problem. It's hard to focus on school this time of the year! I know most families are probably in the same boat. What makes it extra hard for us is that Faith's homeschooling group, Inspire Collective, ends the last week in April.  In her mind, Faith is already done with school! This beautiful weather does not make doing school any easier. However, it is great for doing some fun activities, like the things we have done this weekend. On Fridays, Faith and I usually take a trip to the library. It was during this past Friday that I realized in the evening the Band Day Parade would pass close by the library.  We have gone in the past and Faith loved the marching bands! This might sound strange considering she gets startled by loud noises, but for some reason, she just loves them! She also really likes parades. It was the perfect evening for one.  Faith and I enjoyed "dog watching" and seeing all the different kinds of dog

Finally, on November 4th, the day the elevator in our building was fixed, I was able to take Faith downstairs so she could check out her new van! It happened to be a beautiful day, close to 80 degrees, which is rare for North Dakota in November. We had respite care that day, so I had her record me getting Faith loaded up for the first time.   Faith is all smiles about her new van! Faith is ready to roll! After loading her up, the three of us went for a fun drive including a trip through McDonald's so Faith could get a chocolate chip cookie. Faith was having so much fun as we drove around. She kept randomly shouting out things like, "Happy Birthday!" and "Merry Christmas!" (I am looking forward to driving around and looking at Christmas lights with her this year!) I guess she really does think her van is the best gift ever!  Faith inside the van. Earlier this week, we used the van to take her to an appointment with the general surgeon. She wanted to check Faith&#