Pretty Pictures of the Princess.

Well I have the house decorated and the outside stuff up for the holidays. Christina had fun helping me hang some lights and decorate the tree.

Christina loves being outside in the cold and snow. She walked super well in the gait trainer outside. I was impressed how well with all the layers of clothing.





More pics to come when I get them done.

Yup, it has been awhile since I posted. The first reason... I have been lazy. The second, I had a hdd crash and needed to start from scratch with software.

Now would be a good time to reinforce the importance of backups. I lost no data. Items I did not lose: pictures, videos, music, documents, email, etc. Backup, backup, backup!!! Make sure you have two. That means there are at a minimum three copies of a single piece of information. I'll list them original, backup number 1 which is stored locally like on a external drive or CD/DVD, backup number 2 which is off site like at a family members house or a lock-box or a third-party service.

Christina has been loving school. The princess is growing up so fast. The pictures lately have really shown the older features in her face.

We've been going going going most of the summer so I think it is a good time for a weekend at home. With lots of play time.

Crap realized the time, gotta get ready for work and finish up the cooking.

Christina loves going to school, but it really wears her out. By afternoon she is starting to get cranky. The little princess enjoys school so much that she wants to go go go and pushes herself. And nap time is not on her list of things to do, she may miss something.

This past weekend was the International Fall Festival. Christina was in the parade to show support for the local Children's Museum. I opted to pull Christina in the instead of pushing her in her chair since she enjoys her wagon rides so much. Christina did very well waving to the onlookers.

With Christina in school today I find myself wondering what to do and the list of chores swirling in my head.

I figured I would start 'ripping' my cd collection. I knew it would be quite the undertaking, but it isn't going to bad so far.

I am debating what method to use to make a backup of pictures and video onto DVDs. After going through the software list already installed everything I found uses a proprietary format. Not too sure I want to go that route. I also need to use some sort of compression, or at least I should. Doing some quick math there should be about 15 DVDs of uncompressed so far. Maybe that is the way to go, just start burning and if it takes a lot so be it.

Christina really enjoys school; however, it has been wearing her out. She is so tired in the evening and wants to keep going. The princess does not want to go to bed early. Probably figures she may miss something.

Happy Labor Day!!!

Christina has continued her busy streak. Things should start to get into a rhythm soon.

Christina's appointment for Phenol blocks and Botox injections went well. A long day for all, but it did go well. Christina is again learning how to walk with the lower tone.

Christina really likes school and riding the bus. The princess goes for a full day now and is tired by evening. Christina likes to tell us about her day and the activities.

Christina was able to see all the first cousins this weekend. It was nice to get the kids together. Lots of pictures, heh.

Christina has two molars poking through on the bottom. Gums are swollen and uncomfortable. Hoping they come through all the way soon.

I have the pictures all organized. Enjoy. Slideshow pics coming.

Christina and Grace


Gma Kar reading


One of my current favorites.

Thursday was Christina's first day of school, but Friday was the first full day. Christina rode the bus and participated with her new classmates.

Christina really enjoys riding the bus. There was an assembly at school and Christina went and did wonderfully. She has come such a long way, we are very proud.

Many kids surrounded Christina when she first got into her classroom and it was a little overwhelming. Everybody enjoys Christina's company.

It was a good first day and Christina hung in there all through the school day. I bet she sleeps hard tonight.

Daddy and Mommy are super proud of you Christina!!!

Today Christina had her Phenol blocks and Botox shots. It seemed to take longer than usual for the princess to wake up.

Once again I will state that it does not get any easier watching your child get put down.

The hospital seemed a little off today, but I think it was more the new policies that are getting implemented. Each visit seems to have at least one new policy that interrupts the flow for awhile.

I'm feeling productive since as I post this I am backing up the pictures from the week. The backups should be done tonight then I will upload some pics for the slideshow. And for those paying attention, yes I did say 'backups' plural.Original, local backup, off site backup, redundant local backup.

Cheers.

Christina has her new wheelchair. She picked out the color and surprise it is pink. The fitting was yesterday and Christina was tolerant, but not thrilled. I know she will like the new chair, but like any of us the fitting part is never a good time. It went quickly though and overall the trip was not too bad. Now mommy and daddy get to watch for bruising.

How to put this... ummm... seeing the new wheelchair is harder this time than seeing her first one(the Kid Kart).

Christina also went to the Big Rig Truck Show. And wanted to see the Truck Light Parade. I have to share how we ended up going to the parade.

I knew the parade was at 8. I thought Christina may like it, but was concerned about the time. That is the princess' getting ready for bed time. As the day wound down I opted not to go to the parade. Feeling bad about this I figured it would be better if I asked Christina if she wanted to go. Knowing it had been a full day, Christina was in her wind down stage, she loves her bath time and bedtime routine my guess was Christina would agree the parade could be skipped. I was wrong. I set the yes/no switches and asked Christina if she wanted to go to the Truck Light Parade. Christina reached for the yes hitting no on the way. She then proceeded to hit yes many time. I moved the switch, adjusted her so she was sitting more upright and put the switch back on her lap. I asked again and she looked at me and hit yes, yes, yes. We went to the Truck Light Parade.

Christina and John


Christina checking out a big truck

Where to start on what has been going on... Let's start with what's in my head up front and center.

Christina had her wheelchair fitting yesterday. It went well, but it was and is emotionally draining. Let's start with the good stuff. The chair is pink with black padding. The side prompts will hold Christina from her side to side shifting. The chest prompt is neoprene with an elastic band attached which should give the comfort of the neoprene and still have the strength to hold Christina correctly. The lap belt goes over her hips not her waist which should hold the princess in place better as she tries to squirm around. The ankle straps seem more comfortable, but we'll know for sure looking for bruising.

The princess was well behaved throughout; although, she was not a fan and you could tell after a couple hours in the hospital she was ready to go.

We went to the Big Rig Truck Show. Christina enjoyed some of the odd stuff we did. We walked under/in one of the big plows and had fun waling over the foot bridge. Christina wanted to check out the Truck Light Parade that night. As she was watching the trucks go by I was watching her track the lights. Good job Christina. And when they blew their horns Christina giggled on the loud ones.

Christina helped with my first attempt at zucchini bread. After we were done mixing everything and I was greasing the pans Christina asked for a taste. I didn't want to tell her no, but I didn't think it would taste good. So I told her I wasn't sure what it would taste like and she could try it if she wanted. She wanted.
This is taste number four.