Fall Overview

Today is the first day of Fall.  It's my very favorite season.  I just love the chill in the air, the cozy feeling of a sweater in the morning, the availability of pumpkin spiced coffee, the changing leaves.  I don't enjoy the shorter days or the hectic schedule that comes with the back to school scene. 

This year both girls are in full-time school.  Julia started third grade and she is getting so very mature.  She is turning into a bookworm and devouring books at an astonishing rate.  It makes my heart sing to catch her cuddled up on the couch with a book in her hand or have her beg to stay up a few more minutes so she can read just a little bit more.  She still has a silly side and is allowing that to come out in public more often.  It's nice that she is letting the world see a bit more of her captivating personality instead of saving it for home.  This year she continues her Irish dancing and is adding in violin lessons at school.  Seeing her leave two mornings a week with her backpack and her violin makes me smile - it's a seriously cute site!

Emma is in first grade at our local elementary school.  She has a great team helping her succeed in a mainstream setting.  Some days are going great, some days she isn't interested in participating.  That is our Emma.  With the exception of her speech therapist her entire team is new.  Emma takes a LONG time to adjust to new people.  I'm praying that she starts to settle in soon and show them what she knows.

I continue to focus on getting myself in the best shape of my life and that means I've been running and taking classes at my gym more often than not.  With the girls back in school it leaves me some free time each day to get in a workout.  I'm even strongly considering doing a triathalon with Emma in May.  That gives me more than enough time to prepare.  Emma loves joining me in my workout sessions.  She is a great little motivator when it would be easier to cut a workout short.  I also have a neighbor who joins me for the evening and weekend workouts.  I love having a partner to workout with as it pushes us both to go a bit further or faster or workout on a day we would rather skip.  

We purchased a new bike trailer for Emma and she loves it!  I'll do a review on it soon, but for those who are wondering it is the Chariot Cougar I and a link for it is here:  http://www.rei.com/product/867690/thule-chariot-cougar-1-stroller-with-strolling-kit. The verdict is still out on how long it will be before she outgrows it, but it is working for now.  I'm planning on doing a 20 mile bike ride to fund raise for Cystic Fibrosis in a few weeks and was hoping to trail her behind me but the lawyers associated with the even aren't keen on that idea.  Luckily, the triathalon I'm training for is all ability friendly.  For more information on it, check the details out here:  http://gotthenerve.org/race-information/

With the girls back in school and *mostly* settled in, I've decided to look for a part-time job with flexible hours so I can still be available to drive Emma to appointments and therapy sessions and consult at school as necessary.  I found a few positions that really interested me but I might not have interested them enough.  I am confident that when the time is right a job will come along.  We are also still navigating the real estate market.  We put our house up for sale a few months ago when our tenants moved out but so far we haven't had any offers.  We will likely put it up for rent again if we don't get any offers soon. 

And I'll leave you with a photo I snapped last week after Emma's horse lesson.  This was at the end of the half hour session.  She did the best riding I have ever seen last week and after a full day of first grade at that!  My girl never ceases to amaze me.

A girl and her horse

A local foundation gave Emma a one-time grant that we are using to help offset the cost of her therapeutic horse riding.  I can't even begin to explain how thrilled we were to receive it!  Emma has been riding for several years and really loves it.  It's a great extracurricular activity for her and it is really good for helping to improve her body strength.

When we moved it took us a few months to find a new place for her to ride.  It's a beautiful farm and has one of the oldest therapeutic riding programs in the country.  The people are so friendly and welcoming and Emma's instructor is just great with her!  The place is a great fit for us but it is significantly more expensive than the place she used to ride.  This isn't very surprising since the area we moved to is generally more expensive.  The cost is a stretch to our budget but we believe Emma gets a lot of social as well as therapeutic benefit from her riding experience - not to mention how joyful and giggly she is when we are driving up the driveway - so we are committed to keeping her riding.  When we found out that she received a grant from Johnny's Rainbow Foundation (JRF) we were so excited!

I am working on creating a thank you note to send to JRF and want to include photos of Emma riding her horse Pork Chop.  I want them to know how much their generosity is appreciated and want them to see the big smile on Emma's face when she is riding.

Our journey through life with Emma has introduced us to some of the most amazing, generous people.  We are truly blessed!

Today we met a Hinny

This morning we went to a farm near Emma's school to learn about their therapeutic riding program.  Emma has ridden horses since she was about 20 months old and when we moved she kept at it for a few months before the long commute had us make the hard decision to stop riding at that program - we really, truly loved the atmosphere and people and it was hard to say goodbye.

Now that we are more settled in our new area we are looking at more local therapeutic riding programs.  Our main reason in enrolling in a program is to help Emma gain better trunk control and also give her a fun extracurricular activity.  The girls love horses and being around them so they were really happy this morning as we ventured out for a tour of a local therapeutic riding program.  The farm we visited today is close to Emma's school (about 35 minutes away from our house) so if we did enroll there we would try and have her lesson coincide with her school schedule to cut down on extra driving/commute time, which would be nice.

The program is pretty new and still growing.  They were a horse breeding farm but trained to provide therapeutic riding and now do that exclusively.  Their program started about 3 years ago, is certified by PATH, and they have about 9 riders and 19 horses/ponies.  Recently, they were awarded some grant money to expand their equipment so they could start to offer more riding opportunities and really hope to open up more options for veterans to ride.  The people we met there were very nice and the horses seem very well loved!

Julia was happy to meet a couple of the animals.  They had a Hinny which is a donkey/pony mix that was very friendly and they brought her out to meet the girls.  Her name is Jill and there is a miniature donkey in another field and his name is Jack.  Jill was definitely more friendly than Jack who was a bit more shy.  We also were able to meet a few of the horses and Julia was happy to learn the names of many of them because she really likes to put names to horses.  It's kind of her thing.

Emma had no hesitation in reaching out to pet Jill.  She was really cute and shaggy with her furry winter coat and her size was just right for Emma to reach her without the need to get out of her chair and have someone hold her up.

Chris and I liked this program, but we are probably going to check out one or two more programs before we decide.  The other two programs are much larger and have been in business for a very long time.  It seems that we often favor smaller programs over larger ones in the various decisions we've made for Emma so far, but really most of our decisions are made from our gut.  We've found that somehow you just know which program fits best after you visit a place and speak with the people so we need to visit a couple more farms before we make a final decision.

The other reason we are being cautious in choosing a program rather than just jumping right in is that we get really attached and often have a hard time jumping ship so I want to make sure we make the right choice the first go around.  Changing therapists/programs/aides is hard on Emma and it takes a bit of time to gain her trust that the person will understand her subtle communications, won't let her fall, will give her the support she needs, etc.  I'm looking forward to checking out the other programs for comparison and hopefully starting with one again soon.

Back in the Saddle Again

Emma took a couple of months off from horseback riding this winter.  It was just too cold and snowy and she and Julia would give me a hard time about heading out to the farm.  Plus, I was more than exhausted from just keeping up with our hectic pace of life and needed a bit of time without running to and from all the extra-curricular activities.  So we decided to just take a breather and wait for better weather.

Now that the weather is warmer we've returned to the farm.  Emma didn't seem to lose a beat - sitting straight up for long periods with less time hunched over.  The girls were happy to see the "critters" again and noticed that a miniature horse was added to the mix of goats, sheep, turkey, and chickens.  The mini horse was very friendly with me but didn't want any of the other critters to get any attention so he ran them off when they came over to greet us.  He also didn't seem as happy to see Emma as she was to see him and we later found out he doesn't like little kids as much as grown ups.  I don't think his permanent home will be with the critters and when we showed up last week with carrots he wasn't in the field with them, making it easy for our beloved goats to munch on the goodies.  I know I've mentioned before that Emma has a fondness for the goats and it seems that absence has made her heart grow fonder with her legs kicking and squeals of delight she gave off when we stopped to see her goat buddies.

Here is a video showing how good she did - Miss Kris was able to hold her hands lower on Emma's stomach and Emma was able to use her arms better to "right" herself.  

Julia was happy to break in her new rain boots at the farm.  We bought them at our trip to the outlets on Mother's Day so she can bring them on our summer vacation.  Although the weather was picture perfect the last two weeks, it seems we are in for a soaking this week so we'll be able to tell in short time if they hold up to the muddy fields she'll likely be running around in this summer.  

We sure are happy for the nicer weather and that we are once again back at the farm!

Good News: Hips!

One of the specialists Emma sees on a regular basis is an orthopedic surgeon.  Since Emma isn't standing or walking like a typical 3 year old and she has high tone in her legs there has been some concern about her right hip not sitting in the hip socket correctly.  Typically once it starts to get 20% out of the socket the doctors start to get concerned.  Emma's has been out as much as 38% out.  At her visit 6 months ago she was out 33% and the doctor gave us some initial discussion/indications about possible surgery in her future.  He also gave us certain stretches to do that could help her hip go back into place or - at the very least - help prevent it from pulling out further.  Chris and I were less than thrilled about that discussion and left with a renewed interest in adding stretches to Emma's daily routine.

Yesterday Emma had her 6 month follow-up and the x-ray showed that she is down to 27% out.  Yeah!  We are headed in the right direction and not discussing surgery at this time.  The doctor even mentioned that at her 6 month folow-up he will not need an x-ray unless his exam on her gives him concern and, if that happens, she'll go down the hall and have one done.  It is soooo nice to leave a doctor's appointment with good news for a change!

I have a feeling Emma's love of commando crawling and walking in her gait trainer are helping her make great gains with her hips.  Chris is also focused on stretching Emma each night as part of their routine and we will continue to make this a priority so we can keep surgery at bay.  We took the last two month off from horse riding because of the cold and snowy weather and hope to start Emma riding again in May.  Riding the horse helps give her legs an extended stretch and movement while she is enjoying a ride around the farm.  I've noticed that Emma's trunk has gotten weaker lately and mentioned this to the doctor.  He said the horse riding should help with her trunk muscles so I'm wondering if the break in riding is the reason for her "floppy" trunk lately.  I'm not sure if its the sudden change to warm weather or not, but I'm looking forward to seeing if starting up riding again will help her control her trunk muscles better.

Fun at the Farm

Scenes from our afternoon at the farm.  Sigh.....have I mentioned that we just love spending time there?

Therapeutic Riding Update

Emma has made so much progress with her horse riding. When we started, she cried incessantly and mostly had her head touching her knees! When she was introduced to the goats, she fell in love and started smiling at the horse farm for her sessions. Her trunk control started getting better and eventually she was sitting on the pony with less help from her instructor (Miss Kris!). Her head control started to improve dramatically last year and we were able to turn her facing forward without worrying (too much) about Emma hitting her head on the handle.

Now, Emma is able to sit facing forwards for a good portion of each session and carries her head up high and her hands on the handle a bit more. Here is a photo of her during last week's session. How far she has come since she started riding 11 months ago. Congratulations on all your progress, Emma. You worked so very hard for it and we look forward to seeing you riding on your own one day.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was a picture perfect day for an Easter Egg Hunt, and we were lucky enough to get to go on one at the horse farm where Emma rides. Have I mentioned before how much we love that place? We had a fantastic time at the hunt and want to say a huge thank you to the staff and volunteers at C Line stables and The Center for Therapeutic Riding for hosting this event!

Enjoy these photos from our wonderful day.

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Our Crazy Schedule

I was thinking today that our life is a bit hectic and characterized by a lot of running around. I keep thinking that it will calm down a lot once Emma starts pre-school, but I'm not sure it will. And, to be honest, I'm not really looking forward to Emma starting school - but that's still a year away and so I don't think about it too much.

Now, are you at the edge of your seat just wondering just how we usually spend our days? Well, you're in luck because I've put our typical weekly Fall schedule below. It does not include the multiple specialist, alternative therapies and doctor appointments because that would just make the week crazy (LOL!). This schedule is the best we've had so far, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't change anytime soon.

Monday - Julia pre-school from 8:45am - 3pm, Emma 10am AV therapy, 11am PT, 4pm OT

Tuesday - Emma 8:30am speech, 10am Early childhood educator, Julia 6:30pm dance class

Wednesday - Julia pre-school from 8:45am - 3pm, Emma 9am AV, 10am PT, 4pm OT

Thursday - Emma 11:30am speech, 4pm OT

Friday - Emma 5pm therapeutic riding; day time is usually spend doing something FUN!

Saturday - Julia 8am or 9am soccer (will be replaced by swim lessons in the Winter)

1x/month - Teacher of the Deaf and Craniosacral therapy

Weekends - nothing but fun, fun, fun

The good thing is that nearly all of Emma's therapies are play-based which means she gets to have lots of fun while getting stronger. Julia gets to have fun at school for the days that Emma's therapies are outside the home and for the other days Emma's therapists are fantastic at including Julia in the sessions (or not, if Julia and I want to use that block of time for some Mommy/Julia quality time).

So now you have a basic idea of what we're up to - we're a busy crew, but are adding in more play dates and library story times to balance out all the adult interaction. No wonder I have a few photos of Emma just relaxing during the day to choose from for this post - complete with her ever-present smile! I wasn't as lucky for Julia who is always on the move so I picked my favorite soccer photo to post.

Emma is featured in the newspaper!

The Delaware News Journal printed an article today about The Center for Therapeutic Riding that featured Emma. We think the program at the Center is amazing and are so thrilled that we found them! I'm glad to see their program getting the recognition it deserves in the article and think that Kathleen Keane did a FANTASTIC job in capturing the magic that happens at the farm.

To read the article, Angels with Saddles, click here.

There isn't a photo of Emma on the internet article (but she is featured on the Front Page in the newspaper!), so I've included some photos of the girls from our visit last week. Notice that Emma is able to control her trunk a bit more and turn her body while keeping it upright to look around. Also, she is able to open her legs up so much more than when we started riding. Her legs are getting to the point where they are almost open enough to straddle Mercedes without Emma fussing.

We were especially lucky on Friday. There were a lot of cancellations/rescheduled riders so Julia was able to take a short spin around the farm with Mercedes. We also remembered to bring some carrots with us this week and Julia and Emma fed them to Mercedes for being such a wonderful pony.

Therapeutic Riding Update

Emma had a rough few months start with therapeutic riding. She pretty much cried for the entire 30 minute session each week and we were starting to wonder if we should keep taking her to the farm. Emma has a unique cry that she reserves for therapeutic riding. In the beginning Emma would cry when she saw Miss Kris, Emma's helper on the horse. Then she progressed to crying when we started up the dirt road to the farm. Eventually, she recognized the ride and started crying when we came off the main highway onto the road the farm is located. AMAZING! No one can tell me that my child is not smart, because if they do they clearly do not know my child very well!

Here is a photo of Emma throwing her fit while riding her pony, Mercedes. It upset Miss Kris a lot that Emma always cried when she saw her. Apparently, Emma hadn't yet figured out that most children smile when they arrive at the farm to ride a pony!

After 3 months of constant crying, Emma was becoming a bit of a legend around the farm. We were even thinking of taking a few months off of riding when the animals for the 4H program ( a first of it's kind for special needs children!) that is getting started at the farm started showing up. The first animal to arrive was Adam, a goat. Emma met Adam shortly after his arrival at the farm and that is when the people at the farm first saw Emma smile! When Pam brought Adam to Emma, she immediately reached out to touch him, grabbed his paw and didn't want to leave. It was love at first sight.

Here is a photo of Emma meeting Adam. Unfortunately, Adam got sick shortly after he arrived at the farm. Although he only was with us a few days his legend in making Emma smile and transforming her attitude on the farm will live on forever in our hearts.

Thankfully, Emma has found a friend in Ella another goat on the farm. Emma still cries a bit when Miss Kris first puts Emma on Mercedes, but we now tell her that she is going to go see Ella if she stops crying and she immediately stops crying! We then go over and meet up with Ella and Emma gets to spend a bit of time *talking* to Ella and petting her before we head out on the pony ride without any tears. Emma is even sitting up tall on Mercedes now and talking a bit on the ride around. Who knew that it would take a goat to turn Emma on to pony riding???

Here is a photo of Emma, Ella, and a smiling Miss Kris! I'm not sure who is the happiest about Emma's new found love of goats and ponies - Mommy, Emma or Miss Kris!

Horse Therapy

We've been looking at therapeutic riding and hippotherapy programs (i.e., horse therapy) for Emma for the past couple of months as a fun way for Emma to work on getting better neck and trunk control.  We discussed starting this therapy with Emma's doctors and they all agreed that Emma could benefit tremendously from a program and so we set out to find a program that fits our family style.  We were lucky to have several programs in our area to choose from and found one that fits us perfectly! 

The initial goals we set with our therapeutic riding team are:

1.)  Improve Emma's neck control - have Emma hold her head up mid-line for extended periods of time

2.)  Improve Emma's trunk control - have Emma ride the horse in various positions

3.)  Improve Emma's vocalization - have Emma *talk* to the horse to get him to move

We expect that these goals will take a while to achieve and that Emma will be riding horses long into the future with the first therapy session starting today.  I was so excited for Emma to start a "fun" therapy and thought Emma would be equally as excited to ride a horse.  After all, Emma loves Finnegan, our 90+ lb. labrador retriever that she often straddles like a horse so I thought she would be thrilled to take a spin on Dunkin the pony.  Boy was I wrong!  

Although Emma was all smiles while in the stroller looking up at Dunkin, once we put Emma on him she started to scream and throw her back into an arch to try and get out of the activity.  I wasn't sure if she was screaming because she was scared of the horse or that her 4 person entourage were strangers to her with Mommy looking from the sidelines, but I quickly gathered that it was pure temper.  There wasn't a tear in her eyes for the entire session even though she screamed for 99.9% of it!  The director of the program told me that many children cry in the beginning and that after several weeks they start to look forward to the riding lessons.  I'm pretty sure Emma will come around to finding it fun and I hope it's soon since she will be riding every Friday evening for the foreseeable future.  I just won't tell her that Julia offered to ride Dunkin for Emma since she never cries when on a pony.......I have a feeling she'll be asking for riding lessons alongside Emma really soon.

Here is a short video of Emma riding inside the stables (before her screaming really started in full swing) before we went outside for some fresh air.  Even being outside didn't slow Emma's screaming down, which just amazed me since she is usually all smiles when outdoors.  It did result in a very quiet ride home since she promptly fell asleep from all the exertion screaming.  Let's hope that helps her sleep through until the morning!