Benjamin's been acting a little off the last few days and it's been exactly two months since his last seizure which seems to have fallen into a little bit of an unfortunate pattern. I was just telling my mom this morning how much I hate it when Benjamin is super quiet in the morning and I can't hear him (I'm hard of hearing which doesn't help). I lay in bed for a few minutes and then muster up all the courage I can to go into his room and "make sure" everything is all right. Scares me to death that I won't hear him seizing and what a relief when I walk in and he's still soundly asleep!! All that to say... it renews my energy every day to get this ding dang service dog/guardian angel!!! So....
Multi-family yard sale: this Friday and Saturday, from 10am to 5 pm at this address: 12050 SE Rhone st. Portland, OR 97266
Here's our craigslist ad: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/gms/3896821578.html
And a big, big thanks to the many family and friends who donated their awesome stuff to our garage sale! And a big, big thanks to my church, GracePointe for letting me use some of their tables, because I have soooo many items I didn't know what I was going to do!!:)
p.s. this is a multi-family yard sale that my friend (thanks, Nikki!!) does every year at her house and she invites all the UCP mom's to join her! You want to meet some of the best mom's ever and support some incredible kiddos? This is the place!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Say Cheeeeeese!!! Fundraiser for Benjamin's Service Dog!
I've wanted to get our family pictures professionally taken since Benjamin was born. But I could never get around to scheduling it because there was just no way Benjamin would sit still for any amount of time and look at the camera and smile... Not happening!
So when my childhood friend, Amanda Marl, with "Life & Style Photography" contacted me about a fundraiser idea she had and it started with... "I'll take your family pics..." I nearly had a panic attack! The conversation had phrases coming from me like, "I don't know if this will work".... "Are you sure about this?"... "It's going to be really really hard"... "and I'm apologizing right now for the tantrums you're about to see". Amanda assured me it would be fine and that we should give it a try.
Boy am I glad I listened to her! Photography has changed so much from what I grew up knowing. There's no more sitting in super awkward positions forever... no more holding a smile for so long that you know it's going to look completely fake. Basically, Ben and I just took Benjamin to the park for an adventure and Amanda captured it beautifully! Not to say she didn't have her work cut out for her! Benjamin was not in the best of moods and I was worried she might not be getting too many "happy face" opportunities and then she started sending me the pics afterwards. Oh my goodness! Talk about having a gift for capturing the moments!
And then, I'm not kidding... as if a sign from God... this guy and his dog showed up at the park and this would be my little Benjamin watching "Bella" the dog:
Even though you can't see his face here you can tell by his hands and the way he's sitting that Benjamin's absolutely ecstatic!! If either of us had any uncertainties or doubts about this whole service dog adventure, they were definitely dissipated here! We had such a great time! Amanda and Ken were so easy-going and patient. I just can't wait to have these pictures hanging on my walls!
Here's the info about the fundraiser:
**Now through August 4th Amanda is booking Summer Mini Sessions. Here's the details:
40 Minutes
6 enhanced images
$75 (+ $10 disc fee)
The session is tax deductible because you will make the check out directly to 4 Paws for Ability (the non-profit organization we have volunteered to raise $13,000.00 for and who we are getting Benjamin's service dog from) and put "Benjamin Silverman" on the check. The only non-deductible fee to you is an additional $10 disc fee. So in essence, the photo session is free and if you'd like a disc, it'll cost you $10.00
If you have a facebook account, you can like her "Life & Style Photography" facebook page and contact her through there. You can also contact Amanda by phone (503) 351-8039, or by email: amanda.c.marl@gmail.com (definitely check out her website on facebook! Her work is amazing! Newborn pics, senior pics, family photos!! All so different and beautiful!)
We want to thank Amanda for her complete awesome-ness and willingness to help us fund-raise for this service dog and for all our families and friends for supporting us!!!
And lastly... one of my favorites:
Hang on "Bella"!! We are so coming!
So when my childhood friend, Amanda Marl, with "Life & Style Photography" contacted me about a fundraiser idea she had and it started with... "I'll take your family pics..." I nearly had a panic attack! The conversation had phrases coming from me like, "I don't know if this will work".... "Are you sure about this?"... "It's going to be really really hard"... "and I'm apologizing right now for the tantrums you're about to see". Amanda assured me it would be fine and that we should give it a try.
Boy am I glad I listened to her! Photography has changed so much from what I grew up knowing. There's no more sitting in super awkward positions forever... no more holding a smile for so long that you know it's going to look completely fake. Basically, Ben and I just took Benjamin to the park for an adventure and Amanda captured it beautifully! Not to say she didn't have her work cut out for her! Benjamin was not in the best of moods and I was worried she might not be getting too many "happy face" opportunities and then she started sending me the pics afterwards. Oh my goodness! Talk about having a gift for capturing the moments!
 |
| Be still my heart! What a precious moment between my two boys!! |
 | |
 |
| We wanted to incorporate Benjamin's walker in some of the pictures since essentially that's apart of who he is |
And then, I'm not kidding... as if a sign from God... this guy and his dog showed up at the park and this would be my little Benjamin watching "Bella" the dog:
Here's the info about the fundraiser:
**Now through August 4th Amanda is booking Summer Mini Sessions. Here's the details:
40 Minutes
6 enhanced images
$75 (+ $10 disc fee)
The session is tax deductible because you will make the check out directly to 4 Paws for Ability (the non-profit organization we have volunteered to raise $13,000.00 for and who we are getting Benjamin's service dog from) and put "Benjamin Silverman" on the check. The only non-deductible fee to you is an additional $10 disc fee. So in essence, the photo session is free and if you'd like a disc, it'll cost you $10.00
If you have a facebook account, you can like her "Life & Style Photography" facebook page and contact her through there. You can also contact Amanda by phone (503) 351-8039, or by email: amanda.c.marl@gmail.com (definitely check out her website on facebook! Her work is amazing! Newborn pics, senior pics, family photos!! All so different and beautiful!)
We want to thank Amanda for her complete awesome-ness and willingness to help us fund-raise for this service dog and for all our families and friends for supporting us!!!
And lastly... one of my favorites:
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Benjamin's Birthday Surprise!!!
Benjamin turned five in May!! But when your child takes three-plus years to get to the developmental age of a two year old... you have to start getting creative with birthdays and presents! Benjamin is just starting to functionally play with toys for two year olds and up. Although his skill set is really all over the place (he definitely has the attitude of a 4/5!!!) we really are in the very early stages of toddler play. That being said, we have so many toys for Benjamin to play with and many toys "waiting" to get their turn as he gets older developmentally. So this year we wanted to change things up a bit. Plus, we felt that with Benjamin's amazing progress and steady health, this five year landmark was a big, big miracle in our books and we wanted to do something extra special! Our little guy has just come so far! Here's my little boy only days old when we were literally just praying our hearts out that God would let us keep him here:
And finally a few months being home after almost 11 weeks in the NICU: (video below)
To this cutie little boy!!:
For his birthday, we wanted to get Benjamin something that he would absolutely love and would continue to stretch him developmentally as well. Benjamin has a really hard time doing anything he doesn't want to (disability?? sounds like his mom actually!! ;) So what Benjamin's teachers and therapists have encouraged us to do is to let him engage in his most favorite activities and then integrate the therapy/communication/whatever we're trying to do into his favorite activity. Of course, his most favorite activity is watching movies and he is so zoned out when he's watching, that our whole plan doesn't really work. For Christmas, Benjamin's Grandma and Grandpa Tuter and Great Marcia-gram got us a family pass to the Portland Aquarium. That's where we found out that Benjamin absolutely LOVES fish!! LOVES THEM!! And wants to watch them for hours! We thought, "what a great way to spend time engaging and talking about something we all love and teaching Benjamin to care for them and communicate about them and NOT watching t.v.!" So Ben decided to start investigating what would work best for our family and took this entire adventure on.
Ben found a steal of a deal, 30 gallon tank on Craigslist. He cleaned it all up and then started researching fish. Boy was this a fun endeavor! These two boys of mine spent many delighted hours at different fish stores. I had no idea that fish were so high-maintenance. I'm use to the beta or goldfish in the bowl that you never clean scenario and we have to PH test our water and they have a heater and can be picky eaters and currently we're treating a sick fish!! (Ben does all of it, I don't have to... thank God... I can't do PH testing... I barely passed Chemistry!! :) About two weeks before Benjamin's birthday, Ben set the fresh-water tank up. He slowly started adding and building the aquarium so it would be ready for the big day!
We kept it covered until Benjamin's birthday party. We had a few accidental sneak peeks... once where I was out watering the plants and Benjamin was set up with a movie and all the sudden I heard this over-joyed yelling. I ran in to see what was happening... sure enough, the towel was down and Benjamin was standing at the tank shrieking with delight! Thank goodness, there were only a few small fish in there. We kept a better eye on him after that! And here's the big moment: (video below)
And here's a close up of his angel fish:
Benjamin's whole birthday party was themed after Nemo and fish (he is way into the NEMO movie right now and we can't wait til the Dori movie comes out). In fact, here is the incredible cake Grandma Anji made for him:
That whole Nemo on top is all mold-able chocolate and I just about ate the whole ding-dang thing! YUM!
Last but not least, I have to show you two little gifts Benjamin received...
My son is now officially cool with these socks:
And Benjamin received his first dog present from his best buddies:
Benjamin had such an incredible birthday party! Lots of laughs and "happy yelling" and "happy hands" and following his buddies around... We felt so blessed to be surrounded by family and good friends and see my little boy's face so excited. Of course, always in the back of my mind, thanking God from the bottom of my heart for one more year with our miracle boy - Benjamin Button!
And finally a few months being home after almost 11 weeks in the NICU: (video below)
To this cutie little boy!!:
For his birthday, we wanted to get Benjamin something that he would absolutely love and would continue to stretch him developmentally as well. Benjamin has a really hard time doing anything he doesn't want to (disability?? sounds like his mom actually!! ;) So what Benjamin's teachers and therapists have encouraged us to do is to let him engage in his most favorite activities and then integrate the therapy/communication/whatever we're trying to do into his favorite activity. Of course, his most favorite activity is watching movies and he is so zoned out when he's watching, that our whole plan doesn't really work. For Christmas, Benjamin's Grandma and Grandpa Tuter and Great Marcia-gram got us a family pass to the Portland Aquarium. That's where we found out that Benjamin absolutely LOVES fish!! LOVES THEM!! And wants to watch them for hours! We thought, "what a great way to spend time engaging and talking about something we all love and teaching Benjamin to care for them and communicate about them and NOT watching t.v.!" So Ben decided to start investigating what would work best for our family and took this entire adventure on.
Ben found a steal of a deal, 30 gallon tank on Craigslist. He cleaned it all up and then started researching fish. Boy was this a fun endeavor! These two boys of mine spent many delighted hours at different fish stores. I had no idea that fish were so high-maintenance. I'm use to the beta or goldfish in the bowl that you never clean scenario and we have to PH test our water and they have a heater and can be picky eaters and currently we're treating a sick fish!! (Ben does all of it, I don't have to... thank God... I can't do PH testing... I barely passed Chemistry!! :) About two weeks before Benjamin's birthday, Ben set the fresh-water tank up. He slowly started adding and building the aquarium so it would be ready for the big day!
We kept it covered until Benjamin's birthday party. We had a few accidental sneak peeks... once where I was out watering the plants and Benjamin was set up with a movie and all the sudden I heard this over-joyed yelling. I ran in to see what was happening... sure enough, the towel was down and Benjamin was standing at the tank shrieking with delight! Thank goodness, there were only a few small fish in there. We kept a better eye on him after that! And here's the big moment: (video below)
And here's a close up of his angel fish:
Benjamin's whole birthday party was themed after Nemo and fish (he is way into the NEMO movie right now and we can't wait til the Dori movie comes out). In fact, here is the incredible cake Grandma Anji made for him:
That whole Nemo on top is all mold-able chocolate and I just about ate the whole ding-dang thing! YUM!
Last but not least, I have to show you two little gifts Benjamin received...
My son is now officially cool with these socks:
And Benjamin received his first dog present from his best buddies:
Benjamin had such an incredible birthday party! Lots of laughs and "happy yelling" and "happy hands" and following his buddies around... We felt so blessed to be surrounded by family and good friends and see my little boy's face so excited. Of course, always in the back of my mind, thanking God from the bottom of my heart for one more year with our miracle boy - Benjamin Button!
Friday, June 7, 2013
Tough Reality...
One thing I've really noticed about social media is that people can give off the persona of a "certain life" that is so far from the reality they are living that when you get a real glimpse into their actual life, it's completely different. I've often thought, "wow, what a wonderful life they have, they're always on vacation or doing lovely things" yet in reality I'm only seeing a certain side of their life because of what they choose to post (not a bad thing... I post way more when I'm on an exciting vacation then when I'm doing laundry!) In fact, I know many people who have had to take facebook breaks because it's so easy to get involved in other people's lives and how great it must be to be so-and-so that we can get consumed with it! Just the other day, one of my facebook friends posted about how she had literally cleaned all-day-long!! Thank you! Other people have to spend time cleaning too, because I was really starting to think I'm the only one who has to do that and everybody's house is just sparkling clean all the time and all they do is lovely things! :) (Again, I'm only seeing one side of their life and assuming that's their entire life. Yet, on the flip side, we have our other friends who post every time they're going to the bathroom! TMI people!!!) We are taught from a very young age to put our best foot forward. And while I think that's perfectly fine, and it's great to have a positive outlook on life, I think it's definitely ok to show some vulnerability too. We're all human, we're all going to go through good times and some bad times, and we're all learning how to live this life the best we can. (Believe me, I use to make it a priority to be that "I-have-it-all-together-girl" but now that I pretty much can't go anywhere without Benjamin showing everyone in the whole store that I don't have this parenting thing figured out... I got over that pretty quick-HA!!)
All that to say, I don't plan on posting too many "horrible days" because nobody wants to read about bad days all the time and I definitely don't want to spend my time or energy remembering them. (Ben always says, "Nicole!!! No negative Nellie!! Can I just tell you how thankful I am for him!!) But I also don't want to give this false sense of how amazing our life is without the reality of most days. Because let's face it, most days are pretty hard and I'm not feeling like the greatest mom. And the only idea of parenting and experiences I have are the ones I had when I was little or the ones I think are "normal" and believe me, we are still learning our new normal over here everyday!!
By the way, I want to take just a minute here to say that I know we are not the only ones going through or living hard things. Each of us has our own journey, and my purpose for this blog is for a couple reasons.
Wow, this is already much longer then I planned, so we'll get to the actual story now!
A couple Fridays ago I had a really bad day. Definitely towards the top of the list. We had a pretty big meeting with some specialists and they gave Benjamin an Educational Autism diagnosis.This is different then a medical diagnosis and it's actually really a good thing. (Does that mean that Benjamin would get a medical autism diagnosis? We don't know... this is all new to us and we have lots to find out) Benjamin's about to start kindergarten and the services and learning styles he will be offered because of this will help him flourish!! The whole diagnosis was actually a really lengthy in-depth process. And the specialists who evaluated Benjamin and the staff were wonderful!! Still... it's really no fun to add another thing to "the list". Although again, I do think this will help us in parenting, routines, and all areas of his life. The specialists said the hardest thing about diagnosing Benjamin with anything... is that it's hard to know where the cerebral palsy ends and the autism behavior starts. So for example, is Benjamin non-verbal because of c.p. and that part of his brain doesn't work and so he has outbursts and frustration because he can't communicate or is it more autism and the non-verbal piece is common in autism. Super hard to know.
After this two hour meeting (it went great, but emotionally and physically depletes me) we had two school tours lined up of different classroom for Benjamin in the fall. One is a LEEP style classroom - Life Enrichment Education Program (btw, if a word is lighter or a different color that means it's a link and if you click on it it will take you to another website where you can read more about it if you're interested, I just don't want to write a whole book on here about it!) and the other is called a SLC/A classroom - Structured Learning Classroom for Academics. Both are basically different style special ed. classes.
We went to the LEEP class first (smaller student/teacher ratio) and to tell you the truth I was NOT prepared. The kids there are K-5th and there were about 6 of them there at that specific time and they were all older... the younger ones had gone home for the day. And I don't want to sound rude, or horrible or degrading, I'm just being dead honest about this. It was terrible... My little Benjamin is such a stinker, and so darn cute right now... and I had this harsh reality hit me that some of his behaviors might not be so cute and darling when he's 12. :( Did I think he would just automatically start functioning at a normal age when he got older? Did I think he would just stay small and amazingly cute forever? Who knows!! I didn't think... it's so day by day. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I won't think he's cute and darling, because I'm his mom and I adore him... but I got a glimpse of other kids at an older age... and it's definitely different being 12 and having special needs and being 5) It's going to be a lot harder. And if I think it's rough explaining Benjamin now... it's going to be tougher when he's older. Talk about a little bit crushing... what I wouldn't have given at that moment to be a normal mom visiting a normal kindergarten room... (just being honest). And then fear crept in... ugh!! If I'm feeling this way and I have a special needs son... how are other people going to feel about him when he's older? (This is all happening while kids are coming up giving hugs, some with rags in their mouth, some making non-verbal noises trying to communicate.) My heart sank... really, we all just want the best for our kids and it just hurts so bad when you can't make their lives easier... special needs or not. Now, thank God for Ben. His take on this entire day would be totally different if he was writing this blog. I am so ding-dang emotional about everything and he keeps me grounded and level-headed and helps me refocus on what's important - that is making everyday of Benjamin's life count the best we can. We're not going to be worried about if they have the best academic classes and sports program in the state. We're going to be focused on getting Benjamin into a classroom that he loves!! Where he'll learn life skills that will keep pushing him forward and enhancing his life and who knows... many of those kiddos in there were working on math and reading! That would be awesome! Anyways, both of those class visits were disheartening for me and we both felt they weren't quite the right fit for Benjamin.
Fast forward to yesterday... I had emailed the Director of the LEEP classroom (advice from Benjamin's current teacher after I had another breakdown in her room) to let her know my concerns and she called me immediately and asked me if I'd like to visit another LEEP classroom. We went to the LEEP classroom at Lewelling Elementary and I just loved it!! Loved the teacher, loved the classroom and that it's only two minutes from my house. I feel so relieved! We have Benjamin's transition meeting today where we put together his first IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and there's going to be like 25 people there because we're transitioning from the Clackamas ESD program to the North Clackamas School Districts. I'm sure it'll be a little stressful but I'm actually pretty excited about it now!
Isn't this journey we call life just crazy?? It's all about adjusting, refocusing, changing our perspective of our reality and a lot about loving. I promise my next blog won't be such a downer... This was just a really big step for me and I feel like I already have grown leaps and bounds experiencing it. Bottom line is I'm super blessed, and very thankful that God has a big plan in all this even though sometimes I forget that... ok, sometimes I forget like everyday. :) I do want to give a huge shout out to Clackamas ESD and North Clackamas School District. They have super hard jobs not only teaching special needs children but also dealing with their crazy, sometimes erratic parents! Both programs have been fantastic and I feel blessed we have such awesome programs for our kiddos!
Yesterday was Benjamin's last day at school. Since there's only one other boy in his class, Teacher Amy invited us to come in half way through and we had a party! Balloons and ice cream and bubbles! It was a blast! Here they are swinging below:
(of course, Benjamin's hands are blurry because he was so excited and doing his "happy hands"!!
All that to say, I don't plan on posting too many "horrible days" because nobody wants to read about bad days all the time and I definitely don't want to spend my time or energy remembering them. (Ben always says, "Nicole!!! No negative Nellie!! Can I just tell you how thankful I am for him!!) But I also don't want to give this false sense of how amazing our life is without the reality of most days. Because let's face it, most days are pretty hard and I'm not feeling like the greatest mom. And the only idea of parenting and experiences I have are the ones I had when I was little or the ones I think are "normal" and believe me, we are still learning our new normal over here everyday!!
By the way, I want to take just a minute here to say that I know we are not the only ones going through or living hard things. Each of us has our own journey, and my purpose for this blog is for a couple reasons.
- First, I want to remember things! Mostly the good and some of the bad so I can look back and see how much we've grown and how blessed we are! Not to mention, this is a major stress reliever for me... I love writing... always have!
- Second, I think through our life stories we can learn from each other. My cousin Hayley is fighting a hard battle with cancer right now (http://lifesprom.blogspot.com/) and I can't tell you how encouraged and inspired I am by this beautiful lady! My worst days are CAKE right now compared to what she's going through and she has blessed me greatly by her faithfulness and courage and amazing testimony... not mention I know how to pray for her specifically!
- Thirdly, I want to continue to share and educate those around me about special needs. It's different... each situation and person is different... and we still have major misconstrued ideas about people with disabilities (and I'm preaching to the choir here as I'm about to share my own experience). This is another entire blog which we'll save for another time!
- Lastly, this is the most effective way to keep my family and friends up to date! Yes, I'm that friend that would love to call you, absolutely love to get together with you, but honestly... most days I don't have the energy to even try and fit one more thing on my plate. My hope and desire is that someday soon I'll be more organized and together. But mostly I'm just living day to day and burning my energy from all ends. (But don't give up on me! Keep inviting and calling... please!)
Wow, this is already much longer then I planned, so we'll get to the actual story now!
A couple Fridays ago I had a really bad day. Definitely towards the top of the list. We had a pretty big meeting with some specialists and they gave Benjamin an Educational Autism diagnosis.This is different then a medical diagnosis and it's actually really a good thing. (Does that mean that Benjamin would get a medical autism diagnosis? We don't know... this is all new to us and we have lots to find out) Benjamin's about to start kindergarten and the services and learning styles he will be offered because of this will help him flourish!! The whole diagnosis was actually a really lengthy in-depth process. And the specialists who evaluated Benjamin and the staff were wonderful!! Still... it's really no fun to add another thing to "the list". Although again, I do think this will help us in parenting, routines, and all areas of his life. The specialists said the hardest thing about diagnosing Benjamin with anything... is that it's hard to know where the cerebral palsy ends and the autism behavior starts. So for example, is Benjamin non-verbal because of c.p. and that part of his brain doesn't work and so he has outbursts and frustration because he can't communicate or is it more autism and the non-verbal piece is common in autism. Super hard to know.
After this two hour meeting (it went great, but emotionally and physically depletes me) we had two school tours lined up of different classroom for Benjamin in the fall. One is a LEEP style classroom - Life Enrichment Education Program (btw, if a word is lighter or a different color that means it's a link and if you click on it it will take you to another website where you can read more about it if you're interested, I just don't want to write a whole book on here about it!) and the other is called a SLC/A classroom - Structured Learning Classroom for Academics. Both are basically different style special ed. classes.
We went to the LEEP class first (smaller student/teacher ratio) and to tell you the truth I was NOT prepared. The kids there are K-5th and there were about 6 of them there at that specific time and they were all older... the younger ones had gone home for the day. And I don't want to sound rude, or horrible or degrading, I'm just being dead honest about this. It was terrible... My little Benjamin is such a stinker, and so darn cute right now... and I had this harsh reality hit me that some of his behaviors might not be so cute and darling when he's 12. :( Did I think he would just automatically start functioning at a normal age when he got older? Did I think he would just stay small and amazingly cute forever? Who knows!! I didn't think... it's so day by day. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I won't think he's cute and darling, because I'm his mom and I adore him... but I got a glimpse of other kids at an older age... and it's definitely different being 12 and having special needs and being 5) It's going to be a lot harder. And if I think it's rough explaining Benjamin now... it's going to be tougher when he's older. Talk about a little bit crushing... what I wouldn't have given at that moment to be a normal mom visiting a normal kindergarten room... (just being honest). And then fear crept in... ugh!! If I'm feeling this way and I have a special needs son... how are other people going to feel about him when he's older? (This is all happening while kids are coming up giving hugs, some with rags in their mouth, some making non-verbal noises trying to communicate.) My heart sank... really, we all just want the best for our kids and it just hurts so bad when you can't make their lives easier... special needs or not. Now, thank God for Ben. His take on this entire day would be totally different if he was writing this blog. I am so ding-dang emotional about everything and he keeps me grounded and level-headed and helps me refocus on what's important - that is making everyday of Benjamin's life count the best we can. We're not going to be worried about if they have the best academic classes and sports program in the state. We're going to be focused on getting Benjamin into a classroom that he loves!! Where he'll learn life skills that will keep pushing him forward and enhancing his life and who knows... many of those kiddos in there were working on math and reading! That would be awesome! Anyways, both of those class visits were disheartening for me and we both felt they weren't quite the right fit for Benjamin.
Fast forward to yesterday... I had emailed the Director of the LEEP classroom (advice from Benjamin's current teacher after I had another breakdown in her room) to let her know my concerns and she called me immediately and asked me if I'd like to visit another LEEP classroom. We went to the LEEP classroom at Lewelling Elementary and I just loved it!! Loved the teacher, loved the classroom and that it's only two minutes from my house. I feel so relieved! We have Benjamin's transition meeting today where we put together his first IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and there's going to be like 25 people there because we're transitioning from the Clackamas ESD program to the North Clackamas School Districts. I'm sure it'll be a little stressful but I'm actually pretty excited about it now!
Isn't this journey we call life just crazy?? It's all about adjusting, refocusing, changing our perspective of our reality and a lot about loving. I promise my next blog won't be such a downer... This was just a really big step for me and I feel like I already have grown leaps and bounds experiencing it. Bottom line is I'm super blessed, and very thankful that God has a big plan in all this even though sometimes I forget that... ok, sometimes I forget like everyday. :) I do want to give a huge shout out to Clackamas ESD and North Clackamas School District. They have super hard jobs not only teaching special needs children but also dealing with their crazy, sometimes erratic parents! Both programs have been fantastic and I feel blessed we have such awesome programs for our kiddos!
Yesterday was Benjamin's last day at school. Since there's only one other boy in his class, Teacher Amy invited us to come in half way through and we had a party! Balloons and ice cream and bubbles! It was a blast! Here they are swinging below:
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Blown Away...
Blown away hardly describes how Ben and I have felt over this last month. I didn't expect this "dog journey" to be so emotional... and really, we've only just started. Seriously, some days I don't know if my heart can even take one more ounce of kindness!! We are so touched by the generosity from all our family and friends, friend's of friends and complete strangers. I keep getting notifications of donations and going... "who's that?" and after a few texts and phone calls I find out it's somebody that somebody knows that read about Benjamin's journey and wanted to contribute... and I cry. And then, I get a face book message that a friend and her friends are gathering items for our garage sale... and I cry some more. Then a phone call from a friend wanting to help us with a fundraiser... more tears. And then another donation from family members we rarely get to see and only wish we knew better, and then I cry all over again! An old co-worker I haven't seen in years... new co-workers I'm only getting to know... And we know there are lots of stories like Benjamin's out there, great causes and organizations to fund-raise for, and yet, people are giving to my little Benjamin. We're just completely humbled and in awe of this major village we have surrounding us. We are so thankful... and so very blessed...
As of the beginning of June, we are at $5,140.00!!!!! Only $7,860.00 to go!!! Definitely not a bad start! We are able to get updates on our donations from 4Paws for Ability on the 1st and 15th of every month.
I know many of my friends are very curious about this whole process... and how we're going to fund-raise so here's what we have planned for upcoming fundraising events so far:
- Craigslist... I'm living and breathing it. If it isn't totally necessary in our house right now... it's being sold. And let me tell you... it is another full time job! So if you're buying anything off Craigslist in the Milwaukie area, you might just want to contact me directly because I'm pretty sure we're the one's selling it! :) It's hard work, people are totally flaky, but it's still worth it. I've found it's the fastest way to make some money. (We've had some very generous family and friends give us items to sell too. And some great items! The rule in our house right now, "You can't keep anything that anybody donates to us" and there are some items I'm drooling over...but I just keep telling myself it's all for my Benjamin!)
- Consignment shops: I'm not super experienced with these so I'm still learning the tricks of the trade. It's quite a bit of work and I'm actually contacting them this morning to see how my stuff is selling. I'll have to see if the work is worth it though or if I need to find a different avenue. I'll keep you posted.
- Benjamin's birthday party is this Saturday. (Isn't his birthday in May??) Yes... but we couldn't get one free weekend where both Ben and I would be home and at least the grandparents could come until this Saturday. So June 8th it is. Benjamin does not need one more toy or any clothing, and is only getting one present this year (you'll have to wait til after Saturday to hear about that!) so we asked if people still wanted to do something for his birthday they could contribute to his service dog... that will be his best gift ever!
- We also had a generous photography promotion offer from one of our friends where she would shoot mini sessions and all profits would go to 4 Paws for Ability. Details to come on this! But here's a peek at her work because she took our pictures and did an AMAZING job! I'll share more when we start off the promotion. Pretty cool story behind our "photo shoot" experience with her too!
This is our June plan which is really about as much as I can handle right now. At the end of June we will regroup and put together another plan of attack. Thank you so much for your love and generosity and prayers and your interest in our little family. It keeps us going strong!!
As of the beginning of June, we are at $5,140.00!!!!! Only $7,860.00 to go!!! Definitely not a bad start! We are able to get updates on our donations from 4Paws for Ability on the 1st and 15th of every month.
I know many of my friends are very curious about this whole process... and how we're going to fund-raise so here's what we have planned for upcoming fundraising events so far:
- Craigslist... I'm living and breathing it. If it isn't totally necessary in our house right now... it's being sold. And let me tell you... it is another full time job! So if you're buying anything off Craigslist in the Milwaukie area, you might just want to contact me directly because I'm pretty sure we're the one's selling it! :) It's hard work, people are totally flaky, but it's still worth it. I've found it's the fastest way to make some money. (We've had some very generous family and friends give us items to sell too. And some great items! The rule in our house right now, "You can't keep anything that anybody donates to us" and there are some items I'm drooling over...but I just keep telling myself it's all for my Benjamin!)
- Consignment shops: I'm not super experienced with these so I'm still learning the tricks of the trade. It's quite a bit of work and I'm actually contacting them this morning to see how my stuff is selling. I'll have to see if the work is worth it though or if I need to find a different avenue. I'll keep you posted.
- Benjamin's birthday party is this Saturday. (Isn't his birthday in May??) Yes... but we couldn't get one free weekend where both Ben and I would be home and at least the grandparents could come until this Saturday. So June 8th it is. Benjamin does not need one more toy or any clothing, and is only getting one present this year (you'll have to wait til after Saturday to hear about that!) so we asked if people still wanted to do something for his birthday they could contribute to his service dog... that will be his best gift ever!
- We also had a generous photography promotion offer from one of our friends where she would shoot mini sessions and all profits would go to 4 Paws for Ability. Details to come on this! But here's a peek at her work because she took our pictures and did an AMAZING job! I'll share more when we start off the promotion. Pretty cool story behind our "photo shoot" experience with her too!
This is our June plan which is really about as much as I can handle right now. At the end of June we will regroup and put together another plan of attack. Thank you so much for your love and generosity and prayers and your interest in our little family. It keeps us going strong!!
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