tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13705362970418688962024-03-05T07:07:57.180-06:00A Ray of Sunshine and a LadybugThe joys and wonders of being a mom and a wife...Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.comBlogger365125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-8069449920487539822018-04-28T05:14:00.000-05:002018-04-28T05:14:21.086-05:009 years old already?!?Today my baby girl turns 9. Honestly, I can't even tell you where the time went. The first 3 years of her life were spent in the car going from this Children's Memorial appointment to that Children's Memorial appointment to the Rehab Institute of Chicago and in between all of that we managed to squeeze in all her Early Intervention therapies: speech/feeding twice a week, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. At the time it felt like it would never end and we would always be living from one appointment to the next. Then, Juli started preschool and then Kindergarten and things started to get easier...and then harder again as they always tend to do...and then easier again. Currently we are sitting in the middle of easy and hard. Juli is almost ready to graduate from OT- what will we do with our Saturday's? We have been doing OT since Juli was 1 year old, and to think that she is about to graduate from it is so exciting to me! But this isn't a reflecting blog entry today, this is a birthday blog entry so let's get on with it!<br />
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I came up with a top 10 list for Juli...<br />
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10) This year you were determined to grow so that you would make the height requirement for the high dive at the pool, and at your doctor's appointment on Wednesday, you found out you just passed 4 feet, which is the required height- bring on summer!<br />
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9) You couldn't wait to be in 3rd grade this year, because then you were old enough for Girls On The Run. You have loved running after school (she must get that from her dad) and are looking forward to running the 5K on Mother's Day weekend with me.<br />
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8) The first time we had warm weather, you got on your princess bike and noticed immediately that it was too small for you. "Mom, this bike is built for a toddler! Can I get a new bike for my birthday?" We went to the store last weekend and you picked out a nice and "purpley" bike that had pegs like Noah's so you can ride with us at the bike park.<br />
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7) You have your Aunt Jaime and Uncle Bill wrapped around your finger. When you spent the night at their house, you convinced them to get you 2 candies to eat during the movie... And let's talk about the movie... you convinced them to buy Jumanji. When it was time to go, you were able to convince Uncle Bill to carry all of your stuff to the car because you were eating a sucker!<br />
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6) Just like your brother, you are also obsessed with the soundtrack from "The Greatest Showman". For months it was all that you would listen to, and now that we own the movie, we have watched it multiple times.<br />
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5) You know what you want and when you want it. Back in February you decided that you were done having long hair and that it was time to cut it off. No one could persuade you otherwise. You didn't even blink when the lady at Great Clips cut off 5 inches of your hair. If I would let you go shorter, you would go shorter.<br />
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4) You love to help in the kitchen, it doesn't matter who you are cooking with. When we were in Arizona in December, you were always close to Grammie helping her with whatever she was making in the kitchen.<br />
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3) This year after your IEP meeting, I told you you didn't qualify for ESY (I should have never opened my mouth), and you were so excited. However, in February after I received the email from school that you had regressed and they were now recommending you for summer school, you took the news in stride. You may have shed a couple tears initially, but then you were okay with it. You even were okay with me driving you instead of riding the bus, since you had to be up so early for the bus last summer.<br />
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2) You still love to wear your costumes. Maybe not every weekend and maybe not to church every Sunday like you used to, but there are some weekends when you will dress up in one of your princess costumes for the day. I will be sad when you stop doing that altogether.<br />
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1) You love your brother so much. When Noah got released from the hospital on Halloween and we both showed up at school to pick you up, he was the first person you hugged and you didn't let go for the longest time. That is one of my favorite memories.<br />
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Juli Rose, you are growing into a beautiful, brave, warrior princess. We love you so very much! Happy Birthday, punkin horsie!<br />
Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-56728173779924363282018-03-03T03:00:00.000-06:002018-03-03T03:00:14.893-06:0011 Years Old Today...<div style="text-align: center;">
Today you turn 11. This past year has been a tough one for you. From the choking on the chicken incident this past summer, to being bullied at the start of the school year, to the concussion and stitches accident at recess, to the 6 day hospital stay post-concussion. You have come through this storm battered and bruised, but stronger and braver than any mom could imagine or hope for. You amaze me every day.</div>
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Some birthday facts about Noah this year...</div>
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1) He LOVES the Blackhawks, so much in fact that his entire room has a Blackhawks theme!</div>
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2) He's a HUGE fan of Coyote Peterson! In fact when we were in Arizona we had to visit the Tucson Gem & Mineral Store because Coyote Peterson had been there. (Don't know who Coyote Peterson is- you can find him <a href="https://bravewilderness.com/" target="_blank">here</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BreakingTrail" target="_blank">here</a>)<br />
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3) Even though he choked on a piece of chicken this summer, he still enjoys eating it. 2 of his favorite places to eat include Chick-Fil-A and Buffalo Wild Wings.<br />
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4) He loves Jesus with his whole heart. One of his favorite people is the pastor of our church. Last week a clip of Billy Graham played on the radio and his words inspired Noah.<br />
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5) He LOVES to build- k'Nex, Legos, Snapcircuits, rocks, you name it and he will build with it for hours at an end, usually while listening to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WopyrETP-CU&list=PLFzqISHPMte8JQG2hWCILQG3FgrYFtByT" target="_blank">Andy Mineo</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyVYXRD1Ans&list=PLi0vNpDrBJPdGH3LoC85PgixsOq5vDUV3" target="_blank">The Greatest Showman soundtrack</a>. Future engineer?<br />
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Happy Birthday, Noah James, we love you so very much!</div>
Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-6980530196579007472017-12-19T02:30:00.000-06:002017-12-19T02:36:48.706-06:00Happy Birthday, Ryan!<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy birthday to this man! </div>
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The man who is teaching Noah how to be a Godly man and that hard work pays off. The man who is showing Juli how a girl should be treated by someone who really loves her. A man who knows what the definition of family is and what it means to stand by them when they need it. Happy Birthday, Ryan, we love you!</div>
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-54662622833766294532017-09-06T19:51:00.002-05:002017-09-06T19:51:46.179-05:00The Heart of Why We Are Climbing..."Mom, I'm going to try one more time and then if I still can't do it, we can just get me velcro shoes again." Juli and I had been sitting on the floor of Kohl's trying on shoes with laces for over half an hour. She had learned to tie her shoes at the end of last year at OT and at day care (thanks, Ms. Nora!), but we hadn't really practiced much over the summer (my fault). Juli desperately wanted to have shoes with laces this school year, and I really wanted her to have them too, because the look of desperation in her eyes at that moment was crushing me. So I showed her again how to tie her shoes. She took a deep breath and concentrated hard, while watching me tie the shoe the other shoe she needed to try on...and she got it! She was so excited, she ran to find Ryan and announced that she remembered how to tie her shoes. She tried it 3 more times, each time with success, and so we left Kohl's with a pair of shoes with laces.<br />
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Earlier that day, we had been weeding out her clothes- figuring out what still fit and what was too small. We came across 3 pairs of jeans. "Mom, can't we just pass those on? I can't button them and they leave marks on me" (the buttons for the adjustable waist dig into her hips since she's so skinny). In OT they have been working on buttoning and snapping pants, because Juli doesn't have the finger strength. "Can you just try them on and see if they even fit you first?", I asked. So she tried them on and struggled to button or snap (depending on the jeans) them shut. I watched her trying so hard to do it. "Mom, how about we save these and bring them to OT so Ms. Stephanie can work on it with me?" "That sounds like a great idea, Juli." "But I still don't like how they leave marks on me." "That's fine, you don't have to wear them to school, but we can just practice on the buttoning." Fortunately, Juli mainly wears skirts or dresses and leggings when needed, so I don't often have to worry about pants for her. She does prefer the softer waist bands of sweat pants or athletic pants for the winter months, and I am happy to make sure she has those types of clothing. My hope is to get her to the point where she can button or snap a pair of jeans, even if she doesn't want to wear them, just so that she knows she can.<br />
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Juli is why Noah and I chose to do the Willis Tower stair climb. Noah loves his sister, and hurts when she struggles. He has shown such patience with her when she reads or does math. He showed her that it is okay to listen to books (audiobooks) this summer, and the two of them compare the ones they download from the library and sometimes listen to them together. Sometimes, Noah will check the book out too, and will sit next to her while they listen to the audiobook and show her how to follow along. He gets mad when she tells us that she is stupid (I get mad as well) and works hard to point out all the things she does well. He is her protector, even if they fight.<br />
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Juli is why we are climbing. Please consider donating to our journey up the 103 flights of stairs.<br />
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To donate for Noah click <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?px=1318746&pg=personal&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
To donate for me click <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?px=1246948&pg=personal&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
Can't decide, donate to <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?team_id=8265&pg=team&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">Team Juli: the Mighty Minions</a>.<br />
<br />Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-47423874577044300612017-08-04T08:06:00.000-05:002017-08-04T08:06:22.647-05:00Update #1 on the Journey to 103...First of all, to everyone who has donated towards our climb to the top of the Sears Tower (I don't think I will ever be able to call it the Willis Tower), Noah and I want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are very grateful to and thankful to you for donating for us. <br />
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We want you all to know that we have already started training for the climb. We logged over 40 miles in July- running and walking. We have been biking, roller blading, and swimming laps as well. We will begin running hills and stairs on the weekends soon.<br />
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To those of you who are interested in donating, there is still time! We don't climb until November, but Team Juli: the Mighty Minions needs to raise $3000 before then, so please consider doing so. The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is an amazing facility that helps out so many people in many different areas of their lives.<br />
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Here is just one story of the way they have helped someone:<br />
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If you are interested in donating for Noah's climb, click <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?px=1318746&pg=personal&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
If you are interested in donating for my climb, click <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?px=1246948&pg=personal&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
Can't decide and just want to donate for the team, click <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?team_id=8265&pg=team&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">here</a>.Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-31379164630438588602017-06-27T17:56:00.001-05:002017-06-27T17:58:14.213-05:00The Journey to 103 Begins Again...Two years ago, I did the <a href="http://arayofsunshineandaladybug.blogspot.com/2015/11/skyrise-chicago-2015.html" target="_blank">Skyrise climb</a>. It was fun and rewarding, but I will be honest, I didn't plan to do it again.<br />
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Fast forward to June 14, 2017. Juli started the extended school year, and I had to get her up at 6:45 because the bus comes at 7:15 (Juli is normally a "walker" during the school year, so getting to ride the bus is a big deal to her, even if she has to get up earlier than most kids- and it was the one thing that helped her to stop crying when I told her that she was going to be doing the extended school year). Noah got up early too, because he wanted to say good-bye to Juli and make sure she got on the bus safely. After Juli got on the bus, Noah and I had a conversation, and it went something like this:<br />
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Noah: "Mom, I feel bad that Juli has to do summer school. She's going to miss out on lots of fun stuff this summer."<br />
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Me: "I know, but she can't fall further behind in school. School is already hard for your sister, this should help her so she doesn't fall further behind in the fall."<br />
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Noah: "I need to do something for her and for other kids like her. Do they still do the stair climb that you did for the RIC?"<br />
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Me: "Yes, but registration hasn't started yet."<br />
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Noah: "I want to climb for Juli and raise money for her doctors."<br />
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Me: "Okay, let's do it."<br />
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For those of you who are not familiar with Juli's medical history, you can read about it <a href="http://arayofsunshineandaladybug.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-climb-for-juli.html" target="_blank">here</a>. A shortened version is that Juli has been diagnosed with <a href="http://dcd.canchild.ca/en/EducationalMaterials/resources/dcd_developmental_coordination_disorder_home_school_community_booklet.pdf" target="_blank">Developmental Coordination Disorder</a> along with <a href="http://www.webmd.com/children/sensory-processing-disorder#1" target="_blank">Sensory Processing Disorder</a>. This affects how she learns and processes information in and out of the classroom. To help Juli out during the school day, she receives speech and occupational therapy at school, she meets with a reading specialist and is pulled into small group for math, writing, and reading again. After school is over, Juli goes to Occupational Therapy every other week for an hour, she goes to math tutoring 3-4 times a week for an hour, and she does swim lessons once a week to help with muscle tone. This summer, she is doing the extended school year and gets on the bus at 7:15 and gets off the bus at noon. 3 days a week she goes for math tutoring in the afternoon for an hour, and she continues to swim as often as we can get to the pool.<br />
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Juli also has hypermobile joints, which means she dislocates very easily. Last summer she gave us a scare when just by crossing her legs, she dislocated her knee. Juli has a very high pain tolerance, and hearing her scream like that was awful. Her knee did pop back into place, but she spent 10 days in an immobilizer and 5 months in physical therapy 2 days a week. During the school year her knee dislocated twice, and it tends to "pop" partially out of the joint and then goes right back into place. We keep an ace bandage in her backpack now, so the nurse can just wrap her knee for the rest of the day and keep it stable until the swelling goes down.<br />
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Despite all of this, Juli is a little scrapper and she knows how to enjoy life. She still loves to jump, even though the risk of dislocating increases. If she can pick any place to go, she will always pick SkyZone. Every weekend is a costume weekend, and she will pick a different princess to dress up as. She never gives up. When she learned to ride a two wheeled bike last summer, she didn't stop until she mastered it (thank Auntie Jaime). She may be small but she is MIGHTY!</div>
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So why am I writing all of this? Well, yesterday, registration opened for SkyRise Chicago 2017, and we signed up. We formed Team Juli: the Mighty Minions (she loves minions). Throughout the summer, I will be introducing you to the members on our team. Our team needs to raise $3000 in order to climb, which is daunting to us but I know it can be done. If you have read this far and are interested in donating, please click <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?team_id=8265&pg=team&fr_id=1140" target="_blank">here</a>. Thank you!</div>
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Who do we climb for? WE CLIMB FOR JULI!</div>
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-306719042022013212017-04-28T04:00:00.000-05:002017-04-28T04:00:13.964-05:00Happy 8th Birthday, Juli...<div style="text-align: center;">
My punkin horsie turns 8 years old today! My how you have grown. Does anyone remember when you when you looked like this? </div>
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And now you look like this!</div>
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So much has happened to you this year, where do we start?</div>
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Towards the end of the summer, you dislocated your knee. You have one of the highest pain tolerances that I know of, so when you start to scream, I know that something bad has happened. Seeing your kneecap on the outside of your leg was one of the weirdest and more frightening things that we have experienced with you. Fortunately, it popped right back into place, but it still involved a trip to urgent care, several visits to see Dr. Bueche (a fantastic pediatric orthopedist, by the way), some time in an immobilizer, several months of PT and kinisiotape, and a trip to visit Dr. Gaebler at the RIC who we were due to visit anyway. Unfortunately, due to your low muscle tone, you are destined to easily dislocate from now on, and you experienced a dislocation at school last week.</div>
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You started 2nd grade this year and it has been a bit of a struggle for you. In January they started getting you even more help for reading and now you are almost to grade level, we are so proud of you! In February you started getting some outside help with math, and we have seen your math skills improving as well. This summer you have to do the extended school year, and while you were upset at first to find out you had to go, when given the option to ride the bus or be driven by me, you chose the bus because, "Mom, I never get to the ride bus!" You still want to be a nurse, and your teachers have said that you always volunteer to take the sick kid down to the nurses office at school.</div>
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You love your brother so much and while at times he gets annoyed with you always wanting to be around him, he loves you so very much. Last week when the nurse called me to tell me you had dislocated your knee, you didn't want me to come and get you, instead you just wanted your brother to give you a hug. So, the nurse brought you up to his class in the wheelchair and Noah came out and happily gave you a hug. </div>
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You love your daddy so much and he makes sure that every year when Chick-Fil-A does "Daddy-Daughter" Night that the 2 of you go to it. He also makes sure that the two of you always go to the school dance every year, because you look forward to it so much. </div>
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This year, for your birthday, you asked if you could get your ears pierced. Your dad and I had been talking about it for a while and we knew we couldn't take you anywhere that used a piercing gun because of your sensory issues. So, we took you to the piercer who had done my daith piercings (yes, we took her to a tattoo and piercing parlor). That was the best decision. Barron took good care of you, letting you take your time picking out your new earrings. Then he explained what he was going to do and showed you how he made sure everything was clean. While you cried for a minute, your ears didn't swell or turn red afterward. You said your ears didn't even hurt once he was done with the needle. We were so proud of you!</div>
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Happy Birthday, Juliana Rose! We love you so very much!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Fashionista</td></tr>
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-28345176722627779892017-03-04T04:00:00.000-06:002017-03-04T04:00:06.495-06:00The First Time I Got Lost...After my brain injury I went to see a doctor, alone. I was dumb, I should have taken someone with me, but I was sure I could handle a regular appointment. I was wrong. The doctor made me feel so stupid. I was having difficulty finding words, counting, and performing simple tasks that I was asked to do. When he gave me a map and told me to get myself to a certain medical facility for an MRI, I was confident that I could drive myself there. I was always able to read maps well and didn't think I would have any issues with getting myself there. That was my second mistake.<br />
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I became horribly lost on my way there. Remember, this is in 2002, not everyone had cell phones or gps. In fact, Ryan and I shared 1 cell phone between the 2 of us, and fortunately I happened to have it that day. I called him crying, telling him I had no idea where I was. Ryan looked up the roads on mapquest and tried to guide me back to where I was supposed to go. Little did he know that I couldn't even follow his directions. I called my dad- who was in Florida with my mom for my cousin's wedding. He couldn't help me either, but he had my mom calm me down. Fortunately I was in the car by myself, so no one except for me heard all the swear words that I was saying. I ended up stopping at a police station and a police officer got me to the right hospital- where Ryan was waiting for me (he left work to try to find me). I think that was around the time we realized that I wasn't going to be the same again. Now, I have to look at my hands to see which one makes the "L" when someone tells me to go left or right (and yes, I'm embarrassed to admit that).<br />
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The second time I got lost happened this past fall. I honestly didn't think it could happen to me again. We live in the age of technology. We were leaving the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago after Juli's appointment with her amazing doctor that we have seen since she was 1. I have made the drive to and from the RIC countless times, and it's an easy one. You take I-55 to Lake Shore Drive, take a left on E Chicago Ave, a left on N Fairbanks St, and a left on Superior St and it is right there. I honestly don't know what happened when I pulled out of the parking lot to head home. All of a sudden, I realized that nothing about the direction we were driving looked familiar to me, and I knew I had screwed up. In my head I started saying all sorts of swear words (I couldn't say them out loud because I had both kids in the car), and I had to have Noah dig my cell phone out of my back pack, unlock it, open up Google maps- wait for it to find a signal because of all the skyscrapers, and hit the home button that I have programmed into it. Then we went for a "tour of Chicago" as we drove home, which is not something I wanted to do just before rush hour started. Eventually we found our way back to I-55 and made it home. It was a reminder that I still can't rely on my brain memory to get me to and from locations. It also confirmed to me, why I want to live in a wide open area when I retire- I can not stand the city!Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-49021933089166233812017-03-03T03:00:00.000-06:002017-03-03T05:32:31.669-06:00Happy Birthday, Noah!<div style="text-align: center;">
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My Baby Boy is 10 years old today! What?!? When did that happen?!? It seems like yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. This year you started 4th grade and you were so excited because you got to have your kindergarten teacher again. Every day you walk your sister to her class before you go to your class, already a gentleman at 10 years old!</div>
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10. This year you put together a team of friends and entered into the "Battle of the Books". You made sure you knew your book backwards and forwards before the competition began. Even though your team didn't win, you had a good time participating and are looking forward to competing again next year.</div>
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9. You have one of the most creative minds around. Your room always looks like a bomb made of Lego's went off, because you are constantly creating or building something new. The other week you made a zip line for your lego guys from the top of your bunkbed to the floor, and while I almost strangled myself on it, I was still impressed by your building ability.</div>
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8. We let you watch the movie, "Sully" with us, and it has become your new "Titanic". Now you are interested in everything that happened in the Miracle of the Hudson. You made sure we watched all of the behind the scenes features after we were done with the movie and you are still talking about the movie.</div>
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7. You love dogs and have joined me in the push to add a 2nd dog to our family. Last weekend you realized that Buster wouldn't live forever and it sent you into tears. You told me you would go with me to watch, "A Dog's Purpose" so we could do the "ugly cry" together.</div>
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6. This past fall, you learned how to mountain bike and joined me at the bike park doing the different hills. You didn't let falling off your bike deter you from the park and I look forward to going back there this summer.</div>
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5. You joined your cousin, Liam, and did "Man vs Wild" at camp this past summer, which involved you spending the week living up at your cousins. While you got a little homesick from time to time you had a great time with your cousins and being out in nature. Now one of your favorite things to do is to see what new video Coyote Peterson uploads on Tuesday, so we can discuss it.</div>
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4. You are finally going to join the swim team. After being recruited to join the swim team since you were 7 years old, there may finally be time in our schedule for you to be able to join the swim team. You have been working so incredibly hard building up your endurance and perfecting your turns, because you love being in the water.</div>
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3. You love to sing, even though you have your momma's singing ability. Sorry, kiddo, we were not made to be singers, but you keep belting out those songs in the shower or in your room or wherever you are, we LOVE it!<br />
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2. You love your family members with all your heart. You love to see your cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents whenever you can. You love to cook and play video games with your dad, read books and play games with your sister, and create and play your guitar with me.<br />
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1. You love Jesus with your whole heart. God gave you a compassionate heart and you have the desire to want to help everyone who is hurting. We love that about you.<br />
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Happy 10th birthday, Noah James! We love you so very much!</div>
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-81843286067130643212017-03-01T01:00:00.000-06:002017-03-01T07:04:16.388-06:00Confessions From a Brain Injured Introvert..<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March is Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness month, I experienced my brain injury in October of 2002, so this year it will be 15 years since it happened. People have told me that they can't really tell now that I have had one, and I attribute that to what I have learned since it happened. So, what have I learned in the past 15 years?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First of all, what a traumatic brain injury is. A traumatic brain injury is usually an event similar to other injuries, but that is where the similarity ends. One moment the person is normal and the net moment life has changed, sometimes dramatically. In most other ways, a traumatic brain injury is very different. Our brain defines who we are, and a brain injury can affect all aspects of our lives, including personality. A brain injury is different from a broken bone or a punctured lung. An injury like that limits the use of a specific part of your body, but your personality and mental abilities aren't changed. Brain injuries do not heal like other injuries and no two brain injuries are alike. One of the results of a brain injury is that the person often does not realize that a brain injury has occurred. That was me, I knew I hit my head badly but until Ryan pointed out that I was repeating my words and slurring my speech, I didn't think anything was wrong with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was already an introvert before my brain injury, but afterwards, I became even more introverted. Sometimes people think that I am being anti-social or a snob because I don't want to go to their gathering/party, but that is not it at all. It all has to do with the brain injury. They call it the "Meijers Effect", and it has to do with the brain becoming overloaded and not being able to process all the information that is being thrown at you. When my brain gets overloaded, I can't concentrate or focus on what I am trying to do. I need to get out of the situation and get into a quiet area where I can process information. At the beginning, I couldn't even go into our "married couples" Sunday school class until the class had started, because all of the conversations going on around me would make my brain shut down. The same happened with going into the sanctuary at church. I would have to wait until everyone was seated and church had started before going in to sit down. Today, if I'm having a bad brain day or had very little sleep, I still have to slide into church at the last minute and sit down. This is also another reason why I try to avoid large groups of people, I can't focus on the conversation that I am currently having if there are other groups of people having conversations around me. If I wind up in that situation, it exhausts me because I'm so focused on what the person is talking about that my brain shuts down when it is over. I would love to be in a group of people and not get overwhelmed, and it's easier for that to happen in the summertime, when I haven't been teaching all day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have been asked why I can teach but I can't do large groups. I will be honest with you, it is a totally different situation. When I am up in front of the classroom, my students are listening to me, taking notes and asking questions when called upon. It isn't one big free-for-all. However, lab days wear me out. Students are moving at various paces through the lab and I am bombarded with questions left and right. On those days, by the end of the day I want to change my name and by the time I go home I am mentally exhausted. It is even worse if it is a brand new lab that I have never done before. When that comes up, I always make sure I do the lab on my own so I can try to anticipate any questions that might come up during the lab and get them out of the way when students are sitting in their desks prior to going back into the lab (I am not always successful at that).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Something that I still struggle with is being easily distracted when I am working/grading. I usually need to be alone or if I am in a group of people I will have to put on headphones and music (some people think that I am a snob, but what I am trying to do is stay focused). I can waste time with the best of them if given the opportunity, but most of the time I choose to focus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also have no filter anymore. The phrase, "think before you speak," carries a lot more meaning for me now, especially when I am tired or if I am angry. At the beginning, I used to just blurt anything that came into my head and I hurt people because of it. 15 years later, I have more control. I still am a "blurter" but I have learned to slow down my tongue and think before I speak (Ryan may say differently, however).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have learned to compensate for having a damaged short term memory. If I have to remember something, an appointment or meeting, it goes into my phone (it used to be my color-coded calendar before I had a smart phone) with a reminder that will pop up when it's time. A few days before my brain injury, I had been in a good friends wedding. I have no memory of that and it is really weird for me to look at pictures of me at the wedding and have no memories. I also have no real memories of the 2 weeks after my brain injury, and if I do have any they are fuzzy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all it has been a learning experience for Ryan and I, and our relationship has grown stronger as a result. Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the support of my family and close friends (you guys know who you are). The brain injury may have changed me, but I didn't let it define who I am. Something I would like you to remember if you have made it all the way through this blog, is that a brain injury isn't a visible injury and a person may appear fine on the outside but on the inside they are not. They still need your love and compassion.</span></div>
Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-17322560932724466842016-12-19T04:00:00.000-06:002016-12-19T08:42:19.532-06:00Happy 40th Birthday, Ryan...<div dir="ltr">
Today my amazing husband turns the big 4-0. Originally, I had planned to post the top 40 reasons why I love him, but then I was like "no one will read all of those", so I narrowed it down to the top 5.<br />
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5) He sets a wonderful example of how a Godly man should be for both of our children. Every night at bedtime he prays with and for them.<br />
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4) He works hard. The man rarely stops moving, except when he is asleep. He is the example of how hard work does pay off.<br />
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3) He puts up with my craziness and still loves me. There are days when he comes home and I am on the ragged edge. Instead of getting irritated with me, he lets me unleash my crazy and then apologize without holding it against me.<br />
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2) He has a great sense of humor. He says he's a fall baby because winter doesn't start until December 21. He isn't afraid to laugh at himself or be silly with kids.<br />
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1) He makes sure we are always taken care of. He does all of the maintenance on our house and cars and is teaching it to the kids so that they can learn too.<br />
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Happy 40th Birthday, Ryan, we love you!<br />
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-66065002549423276402016-12-18T07:45:00.002-06:002016-12-19T08:41:56.464-06:00Escape Room...This year Ryan turns 40 (actually tomorrow). He didn't want a party or anything special, but 40 is a pretty big deal and I wanted to do something special for him. We had watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory where they do an escape room and solve it in 15 minutes. Ryan had mentioned that it looked fun, and I actually remembered it!<br />
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In August I started looking up the various types of escape rooms, locations, themes, etc. Originally, I had wanted to do a zombie one but I could only find one in Chicago and in December, who really wants to drive downtown?<br />
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At the end of November I found one that seemed do-able, it was in Schaumburg called : Outbreak- Find the Cure. I waited and eventually a Groupon and Living Social deal came around and I booked the room.<br />
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Yesterday we did the room. What a fun time! It got a little stressful at the very end when there was 7 minutes left a d we had 2 clues to solve, but we did it and escaped with 4 minutes to spare. I want to thank Tracy and Eric Takeda, Steve and Jill Capito, and Cari Lombardi for braving the weather and meeting up with us. Thank you to Jaime and Bill Patrick for joining us wandering us use their house afterwards for pizza and cake. And thanks to my mom for watching all 5 grandchildren so we could "adult". Ryan enjoyed it a lot and I think we all had a fun time.<br />
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<br />Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-57693184214201815072016-12-13T19:20:00.003-06:002016-12-13T19:20:32.316-06:00Good News and Not So Good News...We have been busy since Thanksgiving. I feel like all I do is drive from this appointment or therapy or lesson to that one. On the positive side, Juli was dismissed from Physical Therapy for her knee last week; all she needs to do is continue her exercises at home. Yay! Monday's are now free for the moment! We went to see her orthopedic doctor this past Monday night, and he said she can now fully participate in PE. Another reason to celebrate! He even gave her the cautious okay to sign up for Irish Dance lessons (after he said an emphatic no to gymnastics and karate), with the "if you dislocate you can't do it anymore" speech. In swim, Noah was moved to the highest level and they want him on the swim team (yikes!). Juli stayed at the same level, but she conquered her fear of jumping in to the deep end this swim session.<br />
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Onto the not so great news. This afternoon I sat in on Juli's IEP meeting. She is making some great strides in areas. She smashed several of her speech goals (that's my girl!). Her personality continues to dominate and she is quite the social butterfly (I honestly don't know where she gets that, as her dad and I are huge introverts). However, she is still behind with her reading and math. She is slowly making gains with both, which is a good thing because we worked our asses off on it this past summer. Our fear is that she will regress over the summer, so Juli will be doing the extended school year this summer. I haven't told her yet, she already hates school so much right now, so I will wait until it gets a bit closer. I know that this is something we have to do to make sure she gets caught up to her peers, but it breaks my heart that we have to do it.<br />
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<br />Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-23779102230195713892016-12-08T17:26:00.000-06:002016-12-08T17:26:53.004-06:00If I Had One Wish...School came easy for me, except for math. School came easy for Ryan. School comes easy for our first born. School does not come easy for Juli. Over Thanksgiving break several things happened.<br />
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1) We had parent-teacher conferences with both kids' teachers. Noah's went very well. Juli's went as expected. Some positives were that her reading scores had increased, she is almost to the point where she should have been at the start of the school year (all that hard work during summer and during this school year is paying off, yay!). However, math continues to be her biggest weakness. Adding and subtraction just won't click in her mind. We brainstormed some new strategies and came up with one that we hope will get math to click in her brain.<br />
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2) Juli had a giant meltdown about school on Saturday. She woke up in a foul mood on Saturday morning. We continued to anger her when we stuck by our rule that she had to earn screen time by completing her xtra math and reading. What started as a temper tantrum transitioned into a full out meltdown after she was sent to her room. After allowing her some time to cool down, I went up to her room to talk to her. That's when she told me how much she hates school because it's so hard for her to read and do math. She begged me to not make her go anymore. I pulled her into my lap as she cried and tried to kick and hit me. For 20 minutes I sat on her bed while she screamed about hating school and tried to kick me. Eventually she was done and wilted into a puddle of quiet sobs. My heart broke for her and I wanted to cry myself. <br />
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If I could wish for anything, it would be to make school easier for my little girl. She knows that she is different from her classmates. She knows that she is behind. She is too little to already hate school.<br />
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So I guess what I am asking for is prayer. Prayer for Juli to learn math and to keep reading. Prayer for Juli to stop hating school.<br />
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<br />Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-7520709914521149722016-05-18T09:19:00.005-05:002016-05-18T09:19:50.552-05:00Mentoring...This year, I had the opportunity to be a mentor to a new teacher. I was chosen to mentor a brand new teacher, fresh out of college. Her name is Elise, and she is a fantastic human being. She is sassy and bright and very excited to help students learn.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">80's day, isn't she cute?</td></tr>
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Mentoring was a two way street. I helped her and she helped me. She shared new labs, worksheets, videos and powerpoints. She also introduced me to the world of snapchat.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 1st snap!</td></tr>
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She is one of the hardest working new teachers we had this year (actually all of the new science teachers we hired this year are phenomenal- that's my shout out to Farias and Woods). She didn't take a single day off, not even when she was sick! <br />
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Elise, you were a joy to mentor and while I don't think I really did much to mentor you, I want you to know that I am so very proud of you and all you accomplished this year!Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-76165798477247626822016-05-16T18:33:00.002-05:002016-05-16T18:33:30.838-05:00Migraines and Piercings, Oh My...About 3 months ago, my good friend from school, Bernadette, showed me her Daith piercing. I asked her why she decided to get pierced. She told me that she had been doing her research (and if you know Bernadette, she never does anything that she hasn't fully researched) and read several articles that said Daith piercings can help alleviate migraine headaches. <br />
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Immediately my spidey-senses came alive. I have had migraines since I was 14 years old, which means I have had them for over half of the time I have been alive. I began doing some research of my own. Last month, I asked Bernadette how it was going migraine-wise, and she said she has had 2 migraines in 3 months as opposed to 2 migraines a week. So, I talked to Ryan about and he gave me the go ahead to try it out. At this point in my migraine journey, I am willing to try anything to help me out.<br />
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So, I found a place that did Daith piercings and had good reviews (I didn't want an infection and to have my ears fall off) and scheduled my piercing for Friday the 13th. The day arrived and I arrived for my piercing. A man named Bear was my piercer and he was very kind and friendly, I could tell he knew what he was doing. He walked me through the procedure and opened all his instruments in front of me to show me they were sterile. Then came time for the piercing. I will be honest with you, I wasn't sure how much pain to expect, but it barely hurt at all. He did a great job and now I am sporting these for the next few months until they are healed and I can pick out prettier jewelry.<br />
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<br />Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-90891067111254230762016-04-28T02:30:00.000-05:002016-04-28T05:36:37.167-05:00Happy 7th Birthday, Juli Rose...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This girl turns 7 today. </div>
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It has been a roller coaster of a year! It began with the anxiety of starting 1st grade (she chewed her fingers until they bled- we discovered the benefits of <a href="http://www.arktherapeutic.com/arks-brick-stick-textured-chew-necklace/?gclid=CKqriKmDsMwCFRIoaQodB5gF1w" target="_blank">chewelry</a> for children with anxiety). We knew she would love 1st grade, because she got the teacher we prayed she would get, and her confidence has soared in ways we hoped it would. Her speech has improved and her communication has gotten better as well. Most people who meet her don't know she tested and falls on the spectrum, and while the sensory processing issue still comes into play we are better equipped to handle it now.</div>
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She loves going to OT. At the start of the school year she got a new therapist at the place we go to outside of the school day. Ms. Stephanie. Ms. Stephanie works her hard, but lets her have fun too. When I showed her the video clip of Juli riding the tiny bike with no training wheels on Monday, she had tears in her eyes. She knows how hard of a skill it was for Juli to master, and how hard Juli will have to work to transition to a bigger bike. With Developmental Coordination Disorder, there isn't a set standard of what you will and won't be able to do, but Juli is determined to do it all. She also got to meet some special friends in November who were doing the Tower Climb with us, the Watsons. Juli loves Ms. Shari and Mr. George so very much and she bonded very closely with Mr. George who also has to do OT due to a spinal cord injury.<br />
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She gave us a scare in February, when I got the phone call at work that no parent wants to receive: "We are taking Juli by ambulance to the hospital. She had a seizure and was unresponsive in the classroom." I drove like a crazy lady and of course, hit every red light on the way to the hospital. She doesn't remember much from that day, but her principal rode in the ambulance with her, and 2 days later both her teacher and her special ed teacher came to the house to make sure she was okay- she scared them pretty badly too.</div>
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She loves to jump and sing. Most days you can find her on the trampoline jumping and singing to all sorts of songs that she puts on. But if she catches you recording her, she will give you the stink eye! She also loves to sing in the shower...</div>
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Happy Birthday, Punkin Horsie, we love you so very much!<br />
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-15717107741581072212016-03-03T02:00:00.000-06:002016-03-03T02:00:10.639-06:00My Baby Boy Turns 9 Today...<div style="text-align: left;">
Everyone tells you not to blink. That time goes by so quickly. I didn't believe them at first, but I do now. Noah turns 9 years old today. It was just yesterday that I held him in my arms and we rocked in the rocking chair and listened to Plumb's song, "<a href="https://youtu.be/MHFqsKw3HAQ" target="_blank">In My Arms</a>". Now, my baby boy almost comes up to my shoulder, and while he still snuggles in my lap, I can't just swaddle him and hold him like I did when he was a baby.</div>
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There is so much I want to write about you, Noah, but you always tell me that it's embarrassing, so I will keep it short and sweet, with only 10 things.</div>
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10. I love that you love to create. Right now you obsessed with the sinking of the Titanic and took it upon yourself to build yourself a Lego version of the Titanic. You also love to build and you spent the entire day building your K'Nex Ferris Wheel.</div>
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9. I love that you love to read. You constantly have your nose in a book, and you carry 2-3 books with you everywhere you go, in case you finish one or get bored reading one of them. Your favorites include Harry Potter (but you can only read up to number 3, even though you want to read farther), the Zombie Chronicles, Big Nate, Humphrey, the 13 story treehouse series and the Jedi Academy.</div>
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8. You love all things Harry Potter, just like your mom. We can talk about Harry Potter all day long and never get tired of it. I can't wait until we go to Universal Studios and get to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter together.</div>
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7. Besides Harry Potter, Star Wars is your favorite. You are a true Jedi. You were so excited to get to miss the half day before Christmas break to go and see star wars with your dad and your cousins. In fact, you were so excited after the movie, that you even blurted out about Han Solo as soon as you saw me.</div>
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6. You love to play guitar. You are doing such a great job with your lessons, and were so excited when your teacher taught you part of the theme to Harry Potter as well as Darth Vader's march. You aren't a fan of practicing every day, but if you could practice every other day you would be a happy camper.</div>
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5. You are a wonderful swimmer. You work so hard to perfect your dives. You have an amazing backstroke, you leave everyone in the dust even though you are one of the shortest kids in your level.<br />
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4. You love your sister and are a good big brother. As soon as you got to the hospital the day of her seizure, you ran up to her and held her hand while she laid on the bed. You kept trying to make her laugh while she was miserable and you made sure to bring home her valentine's because she missed her valentine's day party at school.<br />
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3. You love your cousins. You guys have a really close relationship and it's fun to see you all play together. It's even funnier to see you guys try to talk to each other on the phone or over the app on the kindle.<br />
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2. You love your grandparents and great-grandmothers. You enjoy sending your grandparents text messages and talking to them on the phone. You enjoyed going to Florida with them last summer and doing the Disney experience with both sets of grandparents.<br />
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1. You have the best heart of any kid around. You desire to help everyone and if you could, you would volunteer at Feed My Starving Children every single week. It makes your heart hurt to know that there are kids who go hungry in the world. You love going to SouthField Big Kids. You don't like when you have to miss going because someone is sick or you are sick. You love to learn about Jesus and it shows in your actions.<br />
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Happy Birthday, Baby Boy, we love you so very much!</div>
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-71329655799436347902015-11-28T12:30:00.001-06:002015-11-28T12:30:40.805-06:00SkyRise Chicago 2015...Things have been so busy since I did the SkyRise Chicago climb, but I wanted to share with everyone about the experience. It was such a humbling experience for me and I had many emotions to process through before the climb and afterwards.<br />
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A few weeks before the climb, I was contacted by the PR woman in charge of creating buzz for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. She wanted to share mine and Juli's story with the media. I was a bit surprised, because if you know anything about the RIC, they are the nations #1 rehab hospital for people who have been in bad accidents, had strokes, amputees, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, and the list goes on. When we go for Juli's appointments, I am always humbled by the patients we see and meet, it really puts Juli's issues into perspective. We emailed back and forth, while I answered questions about Juli, her doctor, and myself. As we got closer to the climb, I did a phone interview with her, and she let us know that we would be paired up with a media personality the day of the climb so that they could get to know a patient before they climbed (there was a challenge that went out to the media, which included a trophy to the personality who climbed the fastest). The Friday before the climb the RIC released a statement about the climb and some of the people who were climbing, we were <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-3000-expected-to-climb-willis-tower-for-the-rehabilitation-institute-of-chicago-300173848.html" target="_blank">included</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlugVab28AiZrUpb9sJB2rIp50JJj_UFxGKkWbp268ZlQxCWYoTC2Fe4pg1i5u4cGcvC4t5pbBdbdtJfnNNB-UWRmyTWsDJ6slQDMG2dATTQNdgzC4VFBsRClecahE065R2AWV6Rl51Mc/s1600/2015-11-08+08.11.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlugVab28AiZrUpb9sJB2rIp50JJj_UFxGKkWbp268ZlQxCWYoTC2Fe4pg1i5u4cGcvC4t5pbBdbdtJfnNNB-UWRmyTWsDJ6slQDMG2dATTQNdgzC4VFBsRClecahE065R2AWV6Rl51Mc/s320/2015-11-08+08.11.57.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early morning arrival</td></tr>
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The day of the climb, we were instructed to arrive at 8 AM to meet up with our media personality. Juli and I were assigned <a href="http://wxrt.cbslocal.com/jason-thomas-bio/" target="_blank">Jason Thomas of WXRT-FM</a>. He was a nice man, told me he had ridden his bike to the Willis Tower that morning as his "warm up". He shared with me about his little one at home and how much he likes being a dad. We talked for a little while longer, and then it was time to do "pictures with all the media" and then they were off on their climb. Jason ended up winning the challenge, climbing to the top in under 18 minutes (crazy!).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCF17OTW5ZVdGAghQBe2VffdmodH_IaHUq71lsLw1Dno7H8n9p3jE8xizAAtnt_-p2LNN_nm9N9Ogi6tM2ngGshFIEc3ciddBul0ikoxA7BrMltFHylFiFqFK73HsoBZsQkT04E7P5CU/s1600/2015-11-09+22.38.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCF17OTW5ZVdGAghQBe2VffdmodH_IaHUq71lsLw1Dno7H8n9p3jE8xizAAtnt_-p2LNN_nm9N9Ogi6tM2ngGshFIEc3ciddBul0ikoxA7BrMltFHylFiFqFK73HsoBZsQkT04E7P5CU/s320/2015-11-09+22.38.30.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing "press"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PIFx4u8d_9MrIAldBqPIjBrBrtQT2BRUsY6jwlHfyq_9pGsDZOyKGeK6g3zWnAMOBg-g6hiSIYKmegmMspyjseIC4T3kzmaig0iP_o2xSc-exb6bj6DsTmofSDnTvSct2zEdAJ_Xaso/s1600/2015-11-08+22.21.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PIFx4u8d_9MrIAldBqPIjBrBrtQT2BRUsY6jwlHfyq_9pGsDZOyKGeK6g3zWnAMOBg-g6hiSIYKmegmMspyjseIC4T3kzmaig0iP_o2xSc-exb6bj6DsTmofSDnTvSct2zEdAJ_Xaso/s320/2015-11-08+22.21.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She had to do a "selfie" for her webpage- she's on WGN Radio</td></tr>
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I didn't climb until 9:30. I failed to mention that that morning I had woken up with a terrible head cold and was extremely stuffed up. I hoped my nose spray would keep my nose clear until I got to the top, but by the time I was close to the stairway opening, I knew that was a pipe dream, lol. I started the climb, slow and steady. It was 103 flights, so I knew enough to not run up the stairs. There were a ton of people on the stairs which made it difficult to pass the slower climbers. As I finished the 2nd floor, I passed a man who was being helped up the stairs with a "gait belt" and had an entire team of people behind him. Each step for him was a struggle but he was determined. I told him he was doing a great job as I passed him, and he thanked me and asked me who Juli was (I was wearing a shirt I had made for Juli). I told him she was my daughter and a patient at the RIC. He wished me well and I wished him well and continued to climb. By the time I reached the 33rd floor, my nose was blocked up totally and I began to question how smart I was to do this with a head cold. Then I passed a woman who was climbing with an implant in her leg that was stimulating her leg muscle to work. We encouraged each other and I continued to climb. By the time I got to the 95th floor, I was sweaty, breathless and struggling. They had volunteers on each floor encouraging us, so I picked up my pace. My goal had been to climb in under 45 minutes, but I crossed the line at 48 minutes. I think if I had been healthy I would have been able to make my goal.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of my t-shirt</td></tr>
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Since Juli and I had "done press", Ryan, Noah and Juli were given VIP status and allowed to meet me at the top. Noah and Juli were given finisher medals, and a representative from the RIC recognized us from the morning press shoot and ushered us to one of the ledges to take our picture as a family. One of the best feelings in the world was receiving my finisher medal from an RIC patient at the top and hearing Juli tell me how proud she was of me. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying not to look too tired or sick</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken by the photographer for the RIC</td></tr>
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Thank you to everyone who supported our family for this climb. To those of you who donated, I know that the RIC will be helping more families by building a new facility. They have helped Juli so much in the 5 years we have been going there.<br />
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In my next post, I will tell you about George Watson and the amazing Watson family that stayed with us for the climb.<br />
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-66762553401006203492015-10-25T14:38:00.002-05:002015-10-25T14:38:15.710-05:002 Weeks Away...<div style="text-align: center;">
After work on Friday, I got the mail. There was a package sitting on our porch addressed to me. I opened it...</div>
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It's starting to get real, folks. 2 weeks from today, I will be standing on the sky deck of the Sears Tower (sorry, I can't call it the Willis Tower). All of that time running the stairs will have hopefully paid off and I will be at the top.</div>
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Why do I climb? <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR/SkyRise/General?px=1246948&pg=personal&fr_id=1120" target="_blank">I climb for Juli!</a> I climb to support the amazing doctors at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.</div>
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Thank you to all who have supported the 2 of us as we raised money for the climb. I am humbled by all of the love and support we have received.</div>
Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-51298542098737899522015-09-06T19:30:00.000-05:002015-09-06T19:30:00.798-05:00Remember to Thank a Police Officer...Most of us don't realize that when a police officer gets up in the morning, kisses their family goodbye, and walks out the door, that they might not come home that night. Tuesday was just a regular day for me, until I checked my phone when I got home from school. I had a bunch of text messages from friends who still live where I grew up. The ones from the morning said- a police officer has been shot in Fox Lake. I scrolled through message after message, and the last one- remember the cop who always came into Blockbuster to check on us? My stomach dropped. <br />
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I met Lt. Gliniewicz when I was 18 years old. Blockbuster Video had just opened in Fox Lake, IL, and several of my friends and I had gotten jobs there while we went to community college. It was nice and convenient since I lived in Pistakee Highlands, it was maybe a 10 minute drive if you hit the stoplights. I met Joe on my second day of work. He was on duty at the time, and he made sure to tell all of us if we ever felt like we weren't safe, to call the police department. At 18 years old, you think you are invincible, but we all told him that we would call. He became a regular at our video store. He would come in when he was on duty or off duty, and he always made sure our store was safe. When his sons were born, he told us all about them, showed us pictures of them and would show them off when he and his wife came into the store.<br />
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Eventually, we were made assistant managers, which meant we could open or close the store. Blockbuster closed at midnight, but once we closed there was always things we had to do before we could leave the store and sometimes we wouldn't get out of there until almost 1 in the morning, especially if the money didn't balance. If Lt. Gliniewicz was on duty, he would come in close to midnight, check the store, and he would stay in his patrol car in the parking lot until we were safely to our cars.<br />
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When he found out I had been assaulted by another employee in the parking lot, the next time I was working, he came to me and asked me why I didn't call. I told him I was ashamed and I didn't want people to know what happened, plus the guy had stopped and I had gotten away. He told me that I shouldn't be ashamed, and asked me if I wanted him to put the fear of God into the man. I told him my dad had already taken care of that. After that incident, anytime I was closing and he was on duty, his car was in the parking lot and he always got me to my car.<br />
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My biggest regret is that I never I told him how much I appreciated him for keeping us safe. Yes, I thanked him for walking me to my car after the attack, but I never told him that I always knew I was safe when he was on duty. I hope he knew that it meant a lot to us.<br />
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No one likes to be pulled over or given a ticket, but the next time you see a police officer, remember to thank them for what they do for us every day. Cops lives matter. His life mattered.<br />
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<br />Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-71563609246115513262015-07-30T20:41:00.000-05:002015-07-31T07:20:38.415-05:00I Climb For Juli...Those who know me, know that my daughter, Juliana, has faced some difficulties in her 6 years with us. They started at birth with her VSD heart defect, then she refused to eat, followed with her developmental delay. She has seen an array of specialists, all of whom have helped us in different ways. The one I am going to highlight in this post is Dr. Gaebler at the <a href="http://www.ric.org/" target="_blank">Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)</a>. <br />
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We were referred to Dr. Gaebler by Juli's GI doctor when Juli was about a year old. Juli had noticeable weakness on her left side and her GI doctor was curious if that had any impact on why Juli didn't like to eat. Our visits over the past 5 years have never given us insight into why Juli doesn't like to eat, but they have taken us down a different path. I learned new lingo: AFO and UCB (the different braces/orthotics that Juli wears). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juli's old AFO's, she has graduated to UCB's now </td></tr>
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We had even more tests done and were referred to different specialists from there. Finally, this year, Dr. Gaebler was the first doctor who gave us names/diagnoses for what is going on with Juli and from there, doors continued to open.<br />
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Juli was diagnosed with <a href="http://dcd.canchild.ca/en/EducationalMaterials/resources/dcd_developmental_coordination_disorder_home_school_community_booklet.pdf" target="_blank">Developmental Coordination Disorder</a> along with <a href="http://www.webmd.com/children/sensory-processing-disorder" target="_blank">Sensory Processing Disorder</a> by Dr. Gaebler. From there, our Developmental Pediatrician tested Juli and she tested high for anxiety (which broke my heart to hear that my 6 year old has anxiety, but it explained so much) and inattentive ADHD. She will never outgrow Developmental Coordination Disorder and it will make learning difficult for her. To help with this, we have added Occupational Therapy outside of the school (she already receives it during school). With the Sensory Processing Disorder, she is learning to handle it in her OT sessions. Her screaming episodes where she becomes overwhelmed and doesn't know how to process are decreasing, although now she will "shut down" in order to shut out all of the sensory information.<br />
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Why am I telling you all of this? Because on November 8th, I am participating in the SkyRise Chicago Tower Up Climb benefiting the RIC. Juli asked me to do the climb, and how could I say no to this face? <br />
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So, I need to raise $150 in order to climb the 103 flights of stairs, and I am hoping some of you will <a href="http://ric.convio.net/site/TR?px=1246948&pg=personal&fr_id=1120&et=G68_A3lKoepR3iXOLF8YaQ&s_tafId=10901" target="_blank">sponsor me</a>. I want to make this little girl proud of her mom. <br />
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**If you click on the words "sponsor me" it will take you to my page. I am overwhelmed already by those who have donated. Thank you so much!**Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-69836381876080408012015-07-29T09:47:00.001-05:002015-07-29T09:47:43.004-05:00God Is Good...Back in May, I posted a little bit about how the end of the school year sucked and I had to deal with having my character challenged. At the end of the school year, there was a mass exodus of a bunch of people who had done little to help me out, and some new people were hired, who I knew would have my back. However, with school starting back up in less than 2 weeks my anxiety level had begun rise to epic proportions starting last week. I was having nightmares every night of having to work with the person who had done this to me. Over the summer, I had worked on forgiving this person, but I knew that trusting that person wasn't going to happen, at least right away.<br />
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Last night, my cell phone rang, and it wasn't one of my set ringtones, so I almost didn't look to see who it was. I am glad I did. It was our new division chair. Our conversation went like this, "Hey Jenna, I don't know if you're going to be happy about this, but I have some news about your Chemistry team." My stomach dropped. Had I been removed...again? I had been summoned in over the summer by the new Assistant Principal to explain to him what had gone on, and I had made sure I was professional the entire time. "Am I off the team again?" "You're still on the team and so is Grant." "Okay, then what's not to like?" "Well, so and so has been removed from the team this year to go teach math. You will have a new co-teacher on your team." Immediately my anxiety level dropped, and I said as much. <br />
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God is good. I also don't find it a coincidence that yesterday morning I started 2 studies on anxiety, because I couldn't handle myself anymore. Thank you, Jesus, this year will be a better year.Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-53794435264792828452015-05-28T20:00:00.000-05:002015-05-28T20:00:19.942-05:00Character Challenge...I'm not going to lie to you, the month of May has sucked. I can even tell you the date the month began sucking for me, May 6th. That is the day that all hell broke loose, and an attack on my character began.<br />
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I've never really had to defend who I am. My character has usually spoken for itself. Sure, I have made my share of mistakes, but I typically own up to those mistakes. In this instance, I didn't do anything wrong, but my word meant nothing, length of time served meant nothing, who I was meant nothing. Fortunately, I had allies, who found out my character was being attacked and came to my defense, which unfortunately also put them in the hot seat. Never have I been in the office so many times in 1 month having to defend myself. I will admit, I lost my temper on multiple times. I did not always display a good Christian mouth (in fact mom, you probably would have put soap in my mouth one of the times- but I did apologize later for my language use), but I fought for what was right, and when it finally came down to what was right, it was found in my favor (it took the entire month, but I did come out on top).<br />
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Now here's the one thing I am struggling with: forgiveness. I know that I need to forgive the person who caused this in the first place. I don't want to. Not yet. I'm so angry that I had to go through almost 4 weeks of daily battles, that I'm not ready to forgive her. I need to though, but <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.3999996185303px; line-height: 19.1428565979004px;">it's hard to forgive someone when they don't feel any remorse for what they have done to you.</span><br />
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Matthew West has a song, "Forgiveness", and the lyrics are so true to everything that I am feeling towards this person right now.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">It is definitely something I will be working on and praying for this summer, that God can help me soften my heart so that I can forgive this person who hurt me like this, especially since I have to work very closely with them in the fall.</span></div>
Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370536297041868896.post-18048132069740277782015-05-17T15:52:00.002-05:002015-05-18T06:58:17.404-05:00Sean McGrail...Numb. I am still numb. <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=sean-mcgrail&pid=174878290&fhid=14629" target="_blank">Tomorrow, I attend your wake and Tuesday, your funeral</a>. It is hard for me to believe that you are gone, and yet you are. I have cried so many tears in the last 2 weeks, and still I grieve for you, for your family, for your mom.<br />
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<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/tmh6g8" target="_blank">Your accident happened on May 1st</a>, and I found out on May 3rd. Our family immediately began to pray for you. We share a friend, Stephanie, who encouraged me to go visit you in the hospital, and on Tuesday, I made my first visit.<br />
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Your mom welcomed me with a hug and thanked me for coming. She took me by the hand and as she led me down the hall to see you, her first question was: "How is your daughter doing?" I almost began to cry right then, because that was always your first question to me. "How is your daughter doing? I'm praying for her," you would say those words every time you saw me. You got your compassion and kindness from your mom. We went into your room, you were all bandaged up, bruised, connected to monitors. I took your hand and spoke to you. In our last email exchange, I had promised to take you out to lunch once school was out, and I reminded you of that promise. Your mom and I talked about you, she shared stories about you and I shared stories about you in class- your sense of humor, how you loved to listen to The Beatles. After our visit, I promised your mom I would come back again.<br />
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I didn't get a chance to make it back to the hospital again until Mother's Day. Things had changed by then. You had developed pnuemonia and a blood infection. You had had an MRI and the results were not good. On the outside, you were looking more like Sean, but on the inside you were fighting the battle of your life. I held your hand again and spoke to you. One of your friends had come at the same time as me and the 2 of us shared stories with your mom about you. I had spent all weekend looking through pictures for a certain picture I had taken of a drawing you had made on the board, so I could show it to your mom while I told her the story: The year I had you, my co-teacher, Lisa Jett, was on a rant about someone being disrespectful in the classroom. To lighten the mood while she was still on her rant, you got up out of your seat, went to the board and drew a picture. When you were done, I burst out laughing. Jett stopped mid-rant, and looked at the picture. You looked right at her and said, "let's bring it in for a group hug now", walked over to her and gave her a giant bear hug. The two of us laughed so hard we cried that day. You were good at making us laugh when we needed to. At the end of my visit, I promised your mom I would come back again.<br />
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At school the next day, I was searching through a folder, and I stumbled upon an essay you wrote your senior year for your English class. Your English teacher had given it to me, and God had me find it that day because He knew I needed some comfort.<br />
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The last time I visited you was on Wednesday, May 13. When I got to the hospital, I knew something had changed because I was asked for a pass code, and I didn't know it. I had brought a small gift for you and your mom, but I had to leave it at the desk with a note. I messaged Stephanie and she told me the code and a minute later I was messaged again by someone who had brought my gift to your mom and she had asked them to get me back. I went back to the hospital, and as I got off the elevator, I knew something was wrong. I caught some words being said to your mom and then she walked over to your dad and collapsed into tears on the floor. I turned to leave, but she asked me to say. <br />
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Your mom gave me a hug and thanked me for coming. As we walked down the hall to see you, she said to me: "it shouldn't have been 1994-2015" and the two of us cried together outside of your room. We went in to see you, Shannon and Maggie were on either side of you holding your hands and talking to you. I held your hand, I kissed your arm and told you I loved you before I left your room. I gave your dad a hug and told him how sorry I was, I hugged your mom and told her how much I loved your family. They shared pictures of you with me, pictures of when you were little, before I knew you. Your mom showed me the letter you had just received from the head coach of Notre Dame, telling you he was praying for you. Before I left, I promised your mom I would get your football jersey's from South for her.<br />
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On Thursday, Stephanie messaged me to start praying and to keep praying. I prayed and prayed, and so did my family. When I got the message that you were at peace in the arms of Jesus, I went into the bathroom and cried. I cried for your mom and dad and brother and sisters.<br />
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Seany, you were one of the kindest, compassionate, unselfish kids I have ever had in my classroom. Your last act on this Earth was to donate your organs so that someone else could continue living. I am so proud and blessed to have known you. On Friday, when I picked up your football jerseys, I clutched them to my chest and walked into my classroom. One of my students who is autistic asked me what I was carrying. I explained, and he said: "He sounded like a really cool kid. I bet he would have been my friend." I said to him, "You wouldn't have to bet. He would have been your friend."<br />
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I have been a teacher for 14 years. In those 14 years, I have lost 4 students. This is the one thing they don't prepare you for.<br />
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Sean, you were one of my favorite students of all times. You will always have a piece of my heart.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbU5NPb4rdFzA6SGpbQTY5a7bHXJqbGoeTCLBorfKfLETzPcLTW5-NNTjmRhaAiulznye4csf4imIJvwueB1Wmh7A3_MwQd5Gx3lZ5yVOVazlCsetd71a3to56Wai6SOTcdyzzb9koYk/s1600/2015-05-13+17.41.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbU5NPb4rdFzA6SGpbQTY5a7bHXJqbGoeTCLBorfKfLETzPcLTW5-NNTjmRhaAiulznye4csf4imIJvwueB1Wmh7A3_MwQd5Gx3lZ5yVOVazlCsetd71a3to56Wai6SOTcdyzzb9koYk/s320/2015-05-13+17.41.36.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean McGrail 1994-2015</td></tr>
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Jennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862490663795724978noreply@blogger.com3