A Birthday Request From The Birthday Girl

For Ivey's birthday she would really love it if everyone started to learn a little sign language so that she can get to know you. She loves the interaction and is picking up new sign rather quickly. We practice what is called hand-under-hand with her. That means we place our hands under Ivey's to sign to her or to guide her hands. Her hands are ALWAYS on top. Remember when approaching her gently touch her on her on the top of her forearm first. Her hands are her eyes, so we much treat them with respect. The more we offer her our hands, the more she will learn - we will enrich her life and introduce her to the world that she does not see and the sounds that she can not hear very well. To help facilitate this goal I will begin a list of words that Ivey's knows and is in the process of learning up on the sidebar.

TODAY AT PRESCHOOL...A BIRTHDAY PARTY, ARTS AND CRAFTS, AND THE PET STORE

Petting the rodents outside.

Giving Mrs. Ashley a run for her money with that eye.

Playing peek-a-boo with the kitty.

Aunt Beth and Ivey. This is a Walker look. You can read every thought in her mind on that face. Obviously the non-so-pleasant urine smell of the animals was not her thing.

Cupcakes at preschool.

Can you see that grin?

She can make a pretty picture, but what makes me smile is her two best-est friends right there by her side.

And this is the middle child climbing the tree right in the middle of town.

And Sometimes Feeding Your Kiddo Looks Like This...

A simple sentence. No one said it to me in the beginning, but boy did that tube cause a lot of chaos. The NG tube graduated to the G-tube which morphed to a GJ- tube…. A brief history of Ivey's feeding tubes: *The NG tube was in place the first time I ever saw my daughter in the NICU. My only memory of her without a feeding tube is them placing her in my arms immediately following her birth. *The G-tube, well, that is a story within itself. That decision did not come lightly. Another hole in her. Another decision on our plate, but not really on our plate, it was apparent it was a medical necessity for her survival. Literally to give her a chance to live. A permanent decision. A 5am panic attack in the Scottish Rite elevator that happened to coincide with Dr. Meyers arriving at the hospital at the same time as me.... Our intersection in the elevator set the stage for the years to follow. From that point on, he knew I was a little nuts and a lot...

Sibling Secret Sauce

Siblings of kiddos with disabilities are amazing humans walking amongst us. They live a life, most often, in the shadows of their sibling who simply needs "more". More time. More direct attention. More of more. We have now come to a fork in our road. Our boys are young men, and, our daughter is a young lady. I'll be honest, I was uncertain what life would look like once the boys left this home, once they had their own time, in their own personal sunshine. We found out quickly once Knox left for college his freshman year what that would look like. And then, when Walker left, we knew what life would feel like in their absence. There was too much space. Ivey felt it. We get many compliments about the relationship the boys and Ivey have with one another. Hints here and there that, maybe, Matt and I had some secret recipe to parenting a household with a child that is very medically complex and a very complex communicator. This is what I can tell you - there is no re...

For the Love of Ivey

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