Hard worker!

Luke standing in his Lite Gait machine

Luke has had an awesome week this week and worked really hard! His big pay-off...he gets to go hunting with dad this weekend. I started this week doing his therapies in his room, and he loves that. He will walk (with max-assistance of course) down the long hallway to get to his room from the family room. Then, we sit at his table and chairs and do school work. This is mainly me reading him stories then asking questions, have him read me words or identify sounds and some math. He has done really good with using his words this week. We also have PE time where he will ride on the stationary bike (he had stopped wanting to do this awhile ago, but so far this week has done great), play basketball, throw bean bags, play t-ball, or have him stand on his lite gait. He really doesn't like this machine too much, but I try to keep him busy to take his mind off of it. You can see in the video he gets a little crazy and decides to go swinging on his own. I figure this has to help him somehow so I let him do it (never mind my arm shot, I thought he was going to hit his head, he did not:) . The past few times we have tried to get him swinging, he tells us to stop, so I was just glad he was initiating it on his own. So praise God that he starting to show more motivation to work...who knows maybe he just needed a change of scenery from doing everything in the family room. Whatever it is, let's keep this momentum going because the best is yet to come! I just talked to Mike also, and he said Luke had his best day ever at horse therapy today (his first time back in a long time.) Go Luke!!! You rock!! Thanks for checkin' in....have a great weekend...GO CARDINALS!!!! I saw a great quote in the paper the other day about the Cardinals, and how no one expected them to make it this far in the playoffs, some people even went so far as to say they should have been kicked out, but as one of their players said, "Hard work and perseverance will eventually pay off." I have said this all along for Luke, we will never give up until he is doing everything we know he can be doing. Believe and GO CARDS!

Ok...I can not get the video to upload after many tries. I will try again sometime this weekend hopefully!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow! This has been a crazy week full of appointments for Luke. The good news is, as of now, no more dr visits until March. On Tuesday he had a follow-up with the eye dr and an appt with his neuro-rehab dr. The visit with the eye dr went great. He is very happy with how Luke is using his right eye and mentioned in the far future he may want to try lifting his left eye again....not so sure we will let that happen. The best part is we do not have to go back for two months...we have been going to Downtown Phoenix every two weeks for follow-ups so I am thrilled not to get to see downtown for awhile! The neuro-rehab visit was a disappointment. The first question she asked was if Luke was walking yet...um NO! Glad she believes that he will, but frustrated she has no answers as to how to help him more. The problem is he turns his left foot in so much that he ends up tripping over it. Well...no one seems to know what to do. I think the most frustrating thing is they spend all of 10 minutes looking at him, then pass the buck on down the line. Then they wanted to see us again in two months, um hello for what?? Yesterday, we had an appointment with an orthotic place and with the NACD. Again, no real answers at the orthotic place as to what may help Luke and his left foot...someone has to have an idea. Then we went to our visit with the NACD. The crazy thing is, our insurance will not pay for our visits with them, and they spend the most time of anyone really looking and assessing as to what Luke can do. We were there with the evaluator for an hour and a half. Luke was doing pretty good at showing off for her. She spent some time looking at his left foot, and said she has some ideas of things that could help, but wanted to discuss it with one other person at her office. So at least there is a glimmer of help! Then she said, you know this kid is really smart....yes I know, sometimes I think too smart for his own good, as he knows how to get out of doing things that will help with his healing. He was always better at sharpening his pencil than doing the school work. I have always said it is that stubborn side that kept him here. So, you can imagine the look on my face when she told us we really need to put his right arm in a sling and force him to use his left arm. The thing is, he can use it, but only if he is forced because he has learned how not to use it. So, she wants us to sling his right arm and force him to eat with his left. I am hoping he doesn't just decide to go on a food strike. She is also going to beef up the academic portion of his program for the next session. She really feels he could be talking and using his words more, but again it is one of those things where he has gotten so used to telling us yes or no with his hand signals, that it is easier to do that. Well..we all know practice makes perfect...so he needs to practice talking. She asked me how many words he will say, and I was amazed as I started telling her the words, that it is over twenty and probably even more than that on a good talking day. Overall, she was very pleased with the progress he has made since his last visit, especially when you consider all the issues we had with his eye the last four months. We will continue to press forward using their program as our guideline, because truth be told, that is what has had the most impact on Luke's healing and recovery, and they believe in him!

Now, I have gotten many emails the last few weeks asking for a baby update so here goes: As of now I am almost 30 weeks, the due date is March 22nd. I had an ultrasound this week, and she is weighing in at 2 lbs 11 ozs. She is laying sideways now, so we really need her to move, otherwise they will schedule a c-section at 39 weeks. I am really hoping that does not happen!

Thanks so much for continue to faithfully check-in on Luke. I truly believe the best is yet to come! Believe!

Who's Gonna Shine in 2009?

Look at how much he can open his eye when he wants to. Presents are always a good motivator!

Playing Rockband with Sis...he loves to pound on the drums.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Trip #2 to the snow...24 degrees out with snow coming down hard, but this boy still loves to sit and just eat snow!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I know we did. I am still amazed how much more Luke participated in everything, compared to how he was last year, can't wait to see how he does next year. I have to brag on Luke for a minute. The kids had their annual dental check up today. This was the first time Luke has been for a cleaning since he was hurt (I know bad mom, but for some reason I was paranoid of it.) Luke did awesome! He opened and closed his mouth and did everything the hygenist/dentist asked him to do during the cleaning and getting x-rays. I was so proud of him, and thought he deserved much more than the ruler he picked out of the treasure box:) Good news...everything looks good, no cavities! You rock Luke!

Can you believe that 2008 is almost over? I know there are many people who are glad to see the year come to an end, because with a new year, comes the hope of better times, less trials, less stress. Hopefully we all learned something from the trials we were each faced with in 2008, that will make us that much stronger for anything that comes our way in 2009. If there is one thing I have learned, is that trial will always come when you least expect it. So, my wish for all of us in 2009 is may we all have more faith and less fear, more gratitude and less greed, more love and less hate, more joy and less sadness, more giving and less wanting, more peace and less stress, more enjoying and less complaining. Many thanks to all of you for your love, support, help, EVERYTHING you did for us in 2008! May God Bless each of you in 2009! Now, watch out world because there's this Gladiator we call Luke, and he is gonna SHINE in 2009! Believe!

Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. Jeremiah 33:3 NLT

Snow Much Fun!

Lynsey sits on Santa Luke's lap.

Luke coming down the hill...see his big smile.

All of us in the snow...gotta love the masked man!

Yesterday we made a spur of the moment trip up to Payson hoping to find some snow. Well...no snow in Payson, but about 20 minutes up the road we found the perfect snow tubing hill! Mike took Luke down the hill a few times on the tube...he enjoyed it, even though it was freezing out! I think his favorite part though was when Mike set him in the snow and he started eating it...huge handfuls of it! We had a great time playing in the snow and we are hoping to get back up there after Christmas. We hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas...thanks so much for your prayers and support this last year. Believe!

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. (10) And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:9-12