New Chair

Callie got a new chair from Great Grandma (Granny) this weekend. Both kids were loving it! Look how big Callie looks.. Sure makes Zak look Big. What Cute Kids!!

Family Pictures - Ashley Nicole Photography

We had family pictures this past weekend. Nicole from Ashley Nicole Photography in Edgar, WI took the pictures. She did an AMAZING job. I just love them. This first picture says it all!

A Week of Pictures

It has been another busy week at the house.. Last Saturday we were woke to Zak's G-tube leaking all over his crib at 5am. This seems to be a norm lately. So in the shower Zak went with Daddy. Since we were awake we decided to do something around the house. Paint the basement bathroom! Something we have wanted to do since we moved in (almost 4 years ago).

Here is the before (or once we thought to take a picture)

And then the after! What a change. I love it.

Chris's cousin was back for the week on spring break. It was nice to spend some time with her catching up for the week.

Wednesday - Happy St. Patty's day! What cute kids!!

Saturday was spent celebrating Zak's birthday with the family!

Can you find him?

A special thanks to Children's Miracle Network and Noah's Never Ending Rainbow for helping pay for Zak's new bed! It is a twin size Crib that we had hand made by Enable Designs out of Appleton. We have spend over 2 years planning for the next step. Something safe that will work for Zak as he is getting to big for a crib.

Vision Conference

It was Callie's first night away from the house (that was not a hospital) Big Steps! We were off to a vision conference in Stevens Point for Birth to 6 year olds. The state puts this conference on each year and the staff does an amazing job.

We took the kids with us on Friday night, Grandma and grandpa came to help. Sat they went home and we had a night of sleep! We had a parent night to get to know others on Friday. Sat was a packed day 7a-8p with meetings and sessions non stop. Each year we always learn something new. I could go on for hours talking about resources, networking, therapy and many many more things we always take away. Chris made the comment while we were there "look how far we have come." I still remember the first year going and it was such an eye opener. We actually fit in. It was the first time I was really around families that understood our life. I was a bit quiet and reserved. Now we are the experienced ones saying hello to all the faces we recognize and being very vocal. Wow how things can change.

A huge Thank you to the Janesville team that makes the conference a huge I success.

I could not resist posting these pictures.. Zak loves spoons. He enjoys playing with them. Daddy and Zak were goofing around at the dinner table :)

Visit to School

Friday was a wonderful day! I was able to go to school with Zak for his Parent Play date. I got to see what he has been doing and get some good ideas of what to work on at home. It was fun to see him with the other kids.

Then we went to see his new school. I am very excited - I was so nervous about the change, however Chris and I decided he needed to go to kindergarten. I am so excited now. The teacher and aids are extremely nice and seem very knowledgeable. I was shown around the whole school. The central office for the therapists is across the hall from his class room. He will be enrolled in a cognitive Disability Class and I think he will fit in great. There are children of different ages and different abilities. I think they will all compliment each other well. When we arrived it was cooking class and they were making puppy chow (the chex mix with the peanut butter and chocolate and powder sugar). They even had Zak help with shaking the bag. It was so fun to see. He seemed to like it. The teacher even let me know of a summer program that is 6 weeks long and Zak will even get to go swimming. I am excited for him to have some activities this summer.