Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus!
Love,
The Chadwick's

Heavens Very Special Child

I found this poem on one of my favorite blogs, it brought tears to my eyes and reminded me of this verse:
"13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."

Psalm 139:13-14

It also reminds me how special Andrew is and how blessed we are to have been given such a special son!

Heavens Very Special Child (Author Edna Massionilla, December 1981)

A meeting was held quite far from Earth!
It's time again for another birth.
Said the Angels to the LORD above,
This Special Child will need much love.

His progress may be very slow,
Accomplishments he may not show.
And he'll require extra care
From the folks he meets down there.

He may not run or laugh or play,
His thoughts may seem quite far away,
In many ways he won't adapt,
And he'll be known as handicapped.

So let's be careful where he's sent,
We want his life to be content.
Please LORD, find the parents who
Will do a special job for you.

They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play,
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.

And soon they'll know the privilege given
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild,
Is HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD.


by Edna Massionilla
December 1981
The Optomist- newsletter for PROUD
Parents Regional Outreach for Understanding Down's Inc.

Date Night

Last weekend we were very blessed to have a group date with some of our dear friends. We started the evening at Chilli's for dinner and then headed to the main event...but it was a SURPRISE! My sweet friend Shannon had this evening all planned out for us as part of our Christmas gift.

The main event turned out to be tickets to see the ballet, The Night Before Christmas, in Dallas. It was a great show and after ended up back at Chilli's for their yummy dessert. It was so nice to get to spend the evening with our friends and with my best friend, my husband (and no crying babies).

Thanks again Shannon for the tickets, I am so thankful for your friendship!

Chadwick Style Therapy

I love my husband! He is so encouraging and very creative in ways we can make Drew use his hand so it still is fun (notice the rope and the sock). Here is a little example of Andrew and our "Chadwick Style" therapy.

slip n slide

This is Curt and Andrew's favorite thing to do together.... I think it is a guy thing!

Update on Drew

Last week Andrew went to see a Doctor who does Cranial Osteopathy (head chiropractor). The Dr is seeing another little girl who also had a in-utero stroke and has seen huge progress with her development. He said the recovery of his other patient is nothing short of miraculous! As well, he is encouraged at how much Andrew has changed since he first started treatment and would like to see him more.

What the dr is doing is shaping Andrew's growing skull to allow the proper flow of blood to the various portions of the brain. By doing this, we pray that the damaged areas will be able to recover as remaining stem cells generate into brain tissue. It sounds crazy but even after the appointment Drew was opening his hand a little more. Another interesting note is that our friend who is in medical school in Ft worth just happened to call us that very same night saying "you gotta see this guy in Dallas, he has two patients like Andrew who had strokes and are making great progress..." As it turns out Andrew is one of those patients! I love these subtle reminders that no matter how much we think we are in control we really aren't. It is the LORD who heals and I believe He will use anyone or anything!

Also on a side note Andrew has not had any seizures for the last four weeks! Praise GOD! As quickly as they came they left! He is still on meds but soon we will decrease the dosage.

Next week we go back to a orthopedist that Andrew saw a couple weeks ago to get a brace for his leg. I am not sure the type of brace, but it will cover his right foot and leg. He will wear it all the time when he is awake. It should help him to stand and keep his foot flat. He tends to want to stand on his toe. Once we go I will try to get a photo.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

Andrew's First Birthday Party

This Saturday is Andrew's birthday. We had his party last Sunday and it was a blast! He really had a great time playing with all his friends and sharing all his new toys. We are so thankful to be celebrating that he is ONE!!!! This has been a rough year with all we have been finding out and learning, but it has also been an encouraging one to see all that he is doing despite the odds! We love you Andrew, Happy Birthday!

Here he is in all his glory, he devoured his cupcake!


Here are some of my dear friends and their little ones:

For some videos of the party check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/acchadwick

And more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/curtmandychadwick

Happy Birthday, Jadyn

This weekend Andrew's best buddy Jadyn turned ONE!!!! Jadyn we love you and are so thankful we could celebrate this with you!

In the beginning:




Good Times!!!!!



You guys share everything!




First Kiss!!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY JADYN!!!!

Crawling and Pulling Up

Andrew is finally pulling himself up on things. The first time he pulled up was when I went into his room and he was standing in the crib. I love walking in and seeing him do this:

Next it was standing at the table he plays at.



Now it is pulling up to the couch to usually touch the computer or to get the remote. Sorry about the background noise :-) (I love my husband!!!!! He makes me laugh!)

These are big milestones for us cause we really don't know what he is going to be able to do or not to do.

Then today he started to get on his knees and actually crawl. He still tends to do the belly crawl but he is trying to crawl so I am super excited. I can't believe he is about to turn ONE!!!! We are so thankful for all that the Lord is doing and will continue to do! He is still having sezuires so please continue to keep him in your prayers! Thanks so much!!!!

Also in the last couple days he has started dancing when he hears music, I will try to get it on video soon.

Quilt givaway

Dana at Old Red Barn is having another quilt qiveaway! Go on over and check them out! She is not giving one away, but three!

The Delgados

Please pray for our friends the delgados, they had their babies tonight. Needless to say it was an emotional evening but God is good.

Halloween

This was Drew's first Halloween and we all had a blast. First Drew helped his Daddy carve a pumpkin:

Then we toasted some seeds:

Then later that day we took some photos:


Last but not least Drew and Curt went Trick or Treating :

Which resulted in candy and Drew's second lollipop, thanks to his daddy!
Also due to the lollipop Andrew had a major sugar rush which resulted in one wild and crazy baby.

Our Little Messy Monkey

Isn't he cute! Grandma made his Halloween costume and so we just had to try it on! Here he is:

Update on Drew

Hey everyone! Here are the notes we got from Dr Kelfer, Andrew's Neurologist, thank you all again for keeping us in your prayers! We have a mighty God and He loves our little guy more than we could even imagine!

1. What is Andrew's diagnosis? Cerebral Palsy (aka CP) and Epilepsy from the stroke which is the main diagnoses along with brain damage and seizures. The types of seizures are partial complex seizures, which means it happens on only the right side
2. Does Andrew have hemiplegia CP? Yes right sided
3. Are his seizures epileptic or non-epileptic? epileptic
4. Are they Petit mal? no
5. How necessary is it to treat the seizure's with Medication? Can this be treated without medication? What happens if you don't treat it with medication? Very important it would not be good stop it. Seizures beget more seizures
6. Can you tell is there any sensory loss on his rt. side? he didn't know this we will tell with time
7. When will one be able to tell if there are any profound disabilities? after year and if he has not reached any verbal milestones(mama, Dada) and pincher/ grasping skills, and if not he will need speech therapy. Also there was some concern if these do not happen there could be some mental delays/disabilities
8. Will he be able to walk? need extensive, lifelong care?????? cant tell yet
9. Do you think he needs orthotic device for hand/or foot area? that is up to PT and OT, recommended s to see Dr Marks who is a spasisity Dr, helps with tone
10. Exactly what area of the brain is this damage? what lobe??? temporal, parietal? almost the whole left side not so much any particular lobe
11.What are the side effects of his medication? new med has less than phenobarb, low sodium and increase in appetite
12. How long will he be on it? How will we know when to discontinue it? a year and after they test him to see if he is still having seizures
13. Does it effect liver functions or blood count?no
14. How do you feel about cranial sacral adjustments?similar to chiropractic it will not make a huge difference and did not cause the seizures but could make him feel better
15. Can you recommend another pediatrician that actually works with brain damage/special needs children. Someone that is aware of the developmental delays. Someone trained to identify any weaknesses or potential problem? no the one we have is fine
16. How do you feel about water therapy for Andrew? Do you think this would help his RT side? Would you write a RX for it? yes it would be helpful if we can find it
17. Is Andrew drooling because of motor problems? how long will this last? will it get better? there is medicine if it does not get better that he can take, but it could make him constipated
18. He appears to get startled a lot- loud noises bothering him....explain that. just a symptom of the brain damage
19 How do you tell if he has any visual problems? no (we actually went today to have his eyes check and they were good)

Seizures are very unpredictable. if they do continue there our other meds he can try and they will need to bring him in for an overnight evaluation.

Go vote!

In a couple of weeks we will all be voting (I hope). So in preparation for this big event us Chadwick's have our own voting going on.....so please go check it out and vote!

Artwork

Yesterday I went to Michaels Craft Store for one thing and of course came out with a lot more than I expected.
I recently saw on another Blog a sign that a mom did for her baby with his name. I have been looking for the last year for something like this and was encouraged, thinking I too could just do it myself. So here is how it turned out:

I am thinking of putting it here:



Also on a side note: the one thing I went in for I forgot to get!

Pumpkin Patch

Once again I love this time of year! The weather here has been so nice. Last weekend we decided to get out and enjoy it, so we took Drew to a pumpkin patch along with some of our dear friends. It was fun we even came home with a souvenir: a PUMPKIN!

I too echo my husband

As most of you have heard either from here or from me personally, you know about our friends, The Delgado's. I too am urging everyone to pray! Pray for them that God would give them wisdom in the days ahead, pray that if it is the Lord's will he would heal those precious babies, pray that all who don't know Him will be drawn to Him through this, and pray for the doctors that they would have wisdom likewise. I am so encouraged by this family faith! They never cease to amaze me in the way that they are always pointing everything back to our loving father. I know I too question why? But who are we to question the workings of our father. Who knows what His plan is for them through this, and who knows what His plan is for any of us in any situation we face. But one thing we do know is that we are called to trust in Him despite the situation and be still and know that He is God!

Yummy Goodness

I found a recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Little Momma and Company, and decided to make them today. Nothing like warm cookies fresh from the oven on a yucky cloudy day. They are super easy and take no time at all.

Soft cake box cookies
1 package of cake mix
1/3 C oil
2 eggs
Heat oven to 375. Stir together cake mix, oil and eggs with a spoon until well blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets to make 22 cookies.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until puffed and almost no indentation remains when touched. Cool 1 minute, remove onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Home Sweet Home

We made it after a very long couple days and we are home! Andrew is having seizures and they have started him on medicine to help. Unfortunately we will not know more until we go see our Neurologist in two weeks. So until then... we are thankful for all that God is doing and reminded that he is in control.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Heb 10:23

What!? A seizure?

Yes so the other day I started noticing Andrew was doing some out of the norm movements. As I further investigated and thanks to his Mimi, I suspected they were seizures. So after a call to the doctor and a week later, we are here in the hospital for a 24 hour evaluation to monitor and evaluate for any seizure activity. They have hooked Andrew up to a EEG machine and he has leads all over his head, he looks very silly, so the can check his brain waves when it happens. Well it happened thankfully while we were here and they came in and were able to catch it. The nurses have not come back to tell us all the details but please be keeping the little messy monkey in your prayers! As far as what the future holds we are not sure but we know who holds it!

One is silver and the others gold!

For those of you that ever did girl scouts you will remember the song we used to sing "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold!!!!" This was just a reminder to me of all the friends I have all across the world and how special each and everyone of you are!

This weekend my dear friend Shannon threw me a Surprise-Belated-Birthday-Scavenger-Bash! It was great! The day started with the first clue that led us to Shannon's house for a awesome lunch and the greatest part was it was just us girls!!! (more pictures to come)

Then came the second clue which led us to going to get a pedicure and manicure. What girl wouldn't want that!

Then the third clue led us to dinner with the rest of the gang... our husbands and kiddos.

It still went on to the last clue and destination being our house for yummy dessert and fellowship! It was a great day and just reminded me of how thankful we are for all our friends.

Fall!

The dog days of summer are behind us we opened up all the windows here the last couple days. It has been so nice out! This is my favorite time of year. Actually I think I say that twice a year, once now and again at springtime. Those of you who know how HOT Texas can be know that we welcome Fall.

My Mother and Father-in-law came and spent the weekend with us and even though it was a short time we accomplished a lot. We Went to the Civil War Museum, had dinner with family, and I learned how to embroider. Andrew also had a fitting for his Halloween costume that Grandma is making and just to keep you in suspense I am going to wait to tell you what it is! We had a great time! Can' t wait to see you all again soon!

To Flu Or Not To Flu

Andrew went today to his 9 month check up and the Dr said he looked great and was right were he should be. It has been very encouraging watching Andrew lately as he is progressing in milestones. Due to Andrews stroke we did not know what would be ahead of us and what he would struggle with. But God is good and each day we continue to look to Him and see what He will do in Andrew's life. I am encouraged that he is scooting and moving right along. Still has not said any words like Dada or Mama but we are hoping he will one day soon. Also on a side note he has been going to OT weekly and recently we took him to a neck and back Dr. that specializes in head injuries or traumatic births for kids. After we could tell a difference in how lose Andrews hand was and he was using it more. We go back in a couple weeks and the Dr will look at Andrew again.

Also the pediatrician recommended we give Andrew the Flu shot, what are your thoughts? I am thinking of not doing it but if you have any advice please let me know, thanks!!

Our dear friends

Some of you know our dear friends, The Delgado's. But those of you that don't here is their blog that tells their story. Please go see what awesome things God is doing! I am so encouraged by their faith and I hope you will be too!

Good Times Delgado Style