Happy Ten-Month Birthday Addie!

I can't believe Addie is ten-months old today! Today was a beautiful, happy day. I thank GOD for this day with my children and for allowing me each second of these last ten months with Addie!

Busy little bee...

The pictures turned out blurry, but I had to share.

These were taken today at The Bell Center.
This is Addie with her friends Tucker and Trenton and all of her therapists:








Trish - Speech Therapist
Amy - Special Educator
Heather - Physical Therapist
Tosha - Occupational Therapist

After showing off their costumes, they changed clothes and got to work! Addie worked on the mat today with Trish and we had a really good day...I even got to leave Addie and go to the restroom without her having a meltdown (that was a huge step for Addie)! It was nice to have two minutes all to myself!

Pumpkin carving

Thanks to Julien and Chris, we have the best pumpkins in the neighborhood! Addie and I just supervised the whole project! When Chris first started cutting into the pumpkin, Addie was watching intently and then just started crying this pitiful little cry. I couldn't figure it out...I guess she didn't want Daddy hurting the pumpkin.

Bzzz...

Ok, so I caved too...Three more days was just too long to wait!

Awesome job Julien!

Julien made "A" honor roll and the awards ceremony was this morning. I am so proud of him! I couldn't get a really good picture and I didn't want to embarrass him by moving up to the front of the stage, but I managed to get a picture nevertheless.


Of all days for awards, it was hat day... :)

Ouch

We decided to have dinner out tonight...I wish we would have stayed in. Right in the middle of our meal, a Mom and her two little girls passed by. One of the little girls looked at her Mom and said, "Mommy, that baby looks funny". I know she is just an innocent little girl, but I went from smiles to tears in a split second. It's not fair to Addie. How can I make sure that I'm always there to protect her?

Working hard!

I have been meaning to give an update on how well Addie is doing. There was a concern for a long time about the tightness in her arms and her range of motion. That is no longer a concern, her little arms are loose and jiggly and she loves reaching and grabbing things from all angles! There are many different therapies that we are working on and lots of different goals that we are working towards. The newest goal is getting Addie to pull up to a standing position. It is an effort for her to stand up, but once she gets there, she does so well! I keep hoping that she is going to pass right over crawling and just start pulling up and walking. She'll get there, she works so hard!
Although, Addie is saying "Mama" like a pro, no other words or sounds have emerged. We're working really hard on her speech therapy and hoping for new sounds and/or words - "Dada", "cat", "Julien, "Hippocrates"...anything! Trust me, I'm not complaining about her one and only word. The fact that she has spoken is truly a miracle and I thank GOD for allowing her to speak. We are working diligently on sign language (just in case) and she is understanding more and more signs.
We're also working on the basics - putting objects in a container, the pincer grasp, drinking from a straw cup, waving bye-bye, etc...everything she should be working on at nine-months.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. We still have a long road ahead of us and your incessant prayers are vital.
Can you believe she will be ten-months old on Halloween?

My assistant

Julien insisted on getting Addie undressed for her bath tonight....all but her diaper that is (smart boy)!

Not a boy...

A rare moment with slicked down hair. Here's my little mismatched, pink pajama, red-nosed precious baby girl. It's a good thing her hair naturally sticks up; otherwise she really would look like a boy!

Afternoon at the park

Tough couple of days...

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:5-7

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

Stalker

It was beautiful outside yesterday, so we decided to take the kids to Tannehill. Although, it was perfect outside, I was struggling. No sooner did we get out and start walking, I ran into a Mom and her son who appeared to have moderate-severe mental handicaps. I wanted to talk to her, but couldn't decide what to say. I followed her for quite a while and even opened my mouth to say something at one point, but stopped. She seemed unapproachable and I didn't want to upset her. After "stalking" her for a while, I lost sight of her. I started praying and asked God to please let me see her again because now I knew what I would say to her...if I was meant to talk to her. I never did see her again, which got me even more upset. I didn't know if God was trying to give me a glimpse into the future for Addie or if he was presenting me an opportunity to speak with another Mother (that I passed up) or if I was reading way too much into it all and she just happened to be enjoying the sunshine like we were. Whatever the reason, I was so upset by seeing him. I don't know what the future holds for Addie, but I know that the doctors saying she will have moderate handicaps kills me. I feel in my heart she is going to surpass all odds and will do all things that any other "typical" adult can do ..is God trying to tell me otherwise????

Great job Julien...again!

Julien made all A's on his report card! Chris and Julien are at the Fall Festival celebrating this evening! I am so proud of him!

Moo

Addie is showing off her cow outfit. A friend from work who loves Gymboree as much as I do passed along this outfit to Addie. It's Halloween time, so we can get away with anything! :)

Meow

I love cats... baby clothes with cats on them are hard to find. Thanks to Gymboree, Addie is now the proud owner of her first cat-cat outfit!

Pumpkin Patch

We took Addie and Julien to the Pumpkin Patch today. The weather was mostly overcast and not too hot. Addie is recovering from a very nasty cold, but managed to enjoy the day. She had the best time just watching everybody! Her favorite parts were watching Julien come down the slide and sitting on the hay. She kept playing with the hay; I think she enjoyed the texture and how different it felt. Julien had a blast and loved being able to show his little sister all the fun she's been missing out on! As soon as we made it to the pumpkin patch, Julien searched for Addie's pumpkin first. He found it and made sure it passed my inspection before showing it to her. It was so nice being able to enjoy the day with the kids and put away our worries for a little while. Addie managed to stay awake for all the excitement until I put her in her car seat. I wasn't even buckled in before she was asleep! Julien cozied up with his Nintendo DS and we enjoyed the quiet drive back home...we needed it!

Mercedes Marathon Relay Team

Our team is official!

The participants are:

Becky - friend of the family.
Rhonda - my sister.
Howard - my brother.
Chris
and
Me!

Thank you to all who inquired about participating with us! I appreciate all the support. We will continue to accept donations and hope to meet our goal of $2600! If you have any questions, please let me know!

http://www.firstgiving.com/AddieHenderson

Another favorite

My Ballerina

These pictures bring about a lot of emotion.

Three days after Addie was born, I was sitting in Dr. Dudgeon's office talking with him about Addie.

At the time, I didn't know the full extent of her condition and we thought that it was just Addie's cerebellum that was "damaged".

I was telling Dr. Dudgeon that it was "okay" if Addie never became a ballerina (or soccer player), that we would find other things for her to do.

I remember that moment so well...even down to the look on his face when I said it.
Kim purchased this tutu right before Addie's portrait session because she had an idea of the pictures she wanted to take of her.

Looking at these pictures, I am so thankful for Kim for giving Addie her moment as a ballerina...I just pray this is only the beginning - GOD is truly watching over us and putting amazing people in our path.

Princess in pink

Addie loved being in the basket and even fussed a little bit when I took her out! Kim told me this was a recent purchase from Michael's...I've added the basket to my shopping list!

Addie and Mommy

She is my sweet, precious angel.

I love this picture of us!

Addie is "talking" to me in this picture!

Julien and Addie

My babies!

Julien

My baby boy...

Addie and Daddy

Just the four of us!

Viewer discretion is advised for those of you with "feet issues" - (Kelly)!

I got it in my head that I wanted a picture of our feet...I think it's just one more way for me to measure how my children grow and baby feet are just precious! I thought it turned out quite cute!

One of my favorites...

My precious angel. We will always be by her side...















This is one of my favorites. I'm too tired to update more tonight...I'll get more pictures posted tomorrow night - hopefully.

Sneak peek

This picture melts my heart!


We had Addie's nine-month pictures taken last week and Kim (the photographer) sent me a few pictures as a sneak peek. I get the rest of the pictures back tomorrow and hope to have time to update the blog tomorrow night.

Unique Expressions by Kim

Below is the blog address for Kim Sharit. She took Addie's nine-month pictures and did an amazing job! We will definitely be using her for our next photos!

http://sharitphotos.blogspot.com/

Addie's first barrette

I have searched everywhere for a bow or barrette small enough for Addie. I found one today...at Publix of all places!

Grammatical boo-boo

It's obvious from my ramblings on this blog, how grammar was not my favorite subject in school...well apparently Julien is following in my footsteps (bless his heart).

I was going through his folder today and found a lesson he had to do regarding a book he recently read. Which, by the way he loves books! He's just like me and will read everything! Anyway, he did a great job except for one part that asked:

Challenging words/words I didn't understand:
(Julien's reply:) I under standed everything.
:)

He also missed one on his spelling test this week. This is the first time he hasn't made a 100. He was not happy... He's so wonderful, he'll make up for it this week!

Check out those teeth!

Addie and Chunky Monkey were hanging out in my bed, they were supposed to be relaxing and winding down for bedtime - not playing! Addie is sporting her new BOO pajamas and her new fangs! Check them out, holy cow they are sharp little things!



















Not sure what's going on here...maybe trying to heal monkey?