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1/23/13

Yuba the Great


All I have to say to Ailyn is "Do you know what day it is?" She will sign "dog" knowing that it's Yuba day. One day a week we have PT with Yuba the therapy dog at the local children's hospital. 


Ailyn has so much love for Yuba. Yuba is so good with her. Yuba makes PT a little easier for Ailyn. While Rejani stretches Ailyn, Yuba is right there. Stretching is painful but having Yuba right there to pet keeps he mind off it.


After stretching, it's time to walk. Yuba will go about 20 feet in front of Ailyn. Ailyn then walks the whole way on her own. 


At the end of each walk, Ailyn gets to pick which cone she thinks a ball is under. Then Yuba knocks over the cone. Ailyn's favorite part of this game is to clean up the cones.



She stops to give Yuba hugs and kisses.


Their new favorite game is tug of war. Ailyn really can hold her own! This is great for core strength and balance.



Yuba has brought so much support and happiness to us. I hope one day Cash can be there for Ailyn, until then we will look forward to our Yuba days!!

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1/15/13

Want some Cash?

Cash at 8 & 9 weeks old















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1/14/13

It's a BOY!!!


Meet Cash James! The newest member of our family.  (the puppy above may not be Cash)


We have been talking about getting a puppy for a year. We wanted to wait until the right time. A lot goes into caring for a puppy. And, I knew I would have 90% of the responsibility. For months we researched a few breeds we liked. I followed the local shelters. One day I took the kids to Petco for an adoption day. Ailyn was being her insane self. The puppies/dogs were not there yet. A lady came up to me and rudely said "Your daughter is a liability". I couldn't argue. She was. So driving home with tears flowing, I decided that buying a puppy from a breeder would be best for our family. We needed a puppy from birth to grow up with Ailyn. 



One Saturday I called a ton of breeders. Most breeders were "sold out" because it was Christmas time. Everyone wanted a puppy for Christmas. Not the perfect time to look for a puppy. I was looking at this one breeders Facebook page. I loved all the comments on people who bought a puppy from them. Luckily, he had two puppies left in a little just born. We put a deposit down that day.


The breeder was 2 hours away. This breeder would have let us visit whenever we wanted. It was so hard not to jump in the car to visit!! BUT, we were keeping it a secret from the kids until Christmas Day. So we met the puppies when they were 2 weeks old. It was the mother's first litter. The parents were amazing dogs!! The father thought we were there to see him and wanted all our attention. The breeder and his family were such nice people. 


When the puppies were 6 weeks old we got to pick one out. The breeder was choosing 2 puppies for other people so we had the choice between 4 puppies. The breeder new about Ailyn's CP and gave us his opinion of which puppies he thought would be best based on their personalities. Right away we narrowed it down to two puppies. But, knew Cash was the one. 




Cash is on the right.


The kids had NO idea. Camden asked Santa for a "live dog" and Santa said that he wasn't able to bring live dogs because they jump out of the sleigh. But, he would bring puppy food and toys. This was OK with Camden. He knew we were talking about getting a puppy. But, thought we would get one in the spring.


After opening a 20 pound bag of dog food, Camden said "WOW! This is a lifetime supply of food!!" Then we handed them a box to open. It had two framed pictures of Cash and a collar with his name. Which BTW Daddy and I decided to name him so we didn't end up with a puppy named Fluffy or Darth Vader.



Of course I was day dreaming of this moment for weeks. I wanted it to be perfect. It was such a huge moment. Adding a dog to our family was big!  Besides for my dying camera taking crappy pics and Ailyn's whiny mood, it was perfect. Camden asked "Where is he??" Thinking a puppy would come running around the corner. 


He took the news pretty well that we were not going to pick him up until New Years Day. Ailyn understood we were getting a puppy I think. We prepped her the entire week.


So much anticipation on the drive there!!


Cash was HUGE! he had grown so much! The kids fell in love instantly. 


Cash fit in our family from day one. Camden and Ailyn are loving him.


So far he's a great puppy! We are having a lot of fun with him. He loves to be around us. He sleeps all night long. I take him out twice when he wakes to move. He pees and goes right back to sleep. We crate him when we leave the house. This does not make him happy at all! But, I know better than to leave a puppy roam the house ;)



Stay tuned for some super cute Cash pics. Aaron bought me a new camera for Christmas and I have already taken 1,000 pics of Cash. 





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1/4/13

December went too fast!

I had plans to blog all of December. It seems we always have big news to share. Something always seems to change with Ailyn's medical issues. Now I will just have to sum up our December in one blog post.

 
At the end of November, Ailyn's aide left her school. This made us very sad. Kristen was so great with Ailyn. She just "got" Ailyn. And, Ailyn LOVES her. But, it wasn't that sad..... Kristen has been coming over to babysit for us!! We are so fortunate to have found Kristen. She's an amazing friend to our family already. The kids adore her.
 

 
Ailyn got bronchitis for the first time. It started as a rash all over her face. Then turned quickly into a bad cough. She missed a week of school. She handeled it pretty well without having to have any breathing treatments.
 
 
 
We said goodbye to our feeding tube supplies!!! Homecare picked up the monitor and the IV pole and we sent our extra supplies to an Instagram friend. Ailyn did regress with feeding since being so sick. She still drinks enough Pediasure to keep her weight up. Her Gtube site is still leaking and bleeding. She will  have to get it surgically closed soon.
 
 
 
We picked the perfect tree out. Ailyn refused to wear her sock and shoe so she wasn't allowed in the photo.
 
 
 
I made super cute ornaments thanks to Pinterest.
 
 
Ailyn pettled a bike or the first time!!! AND, slept 12 hours after!
 
 
And, blew bubbles! Her school speech teacher told me she could and I got to see it for myself!
 
 
We had our 2nd annual reindeer food making party. It was a lot of fun.
 
 
 
this girls got some new attitude!
 
 
Santa was a huge hit! Ailyn loved him. Camden told him he wanted a "live dog" and Ailyn signed that she wanted a "baby".
 

 
We exchanged gifts with Yuba.
 
 
Ailyn has a wonderful new aide. She is very sweet and I can tell she really likes Ailyn.  I  think it's another great fit!
 
 
She can stop growing up now.....
 
 
Ailyn got fitted for new braces. Ailyn was going to have Botox on both ankles then be casted for 6 weeks but thank goodness that is being held off! We got a second opinion and the doctor thinks new braces will help her right now.
 
It was a busy month with therapies, appointments, school and Christmas "stuff". By Christmas Day I was done and needed a few pj days..... which we were able to have!!
 
Christmas Day was HUGE in our house this year!!! It's a post all on it's on for sure!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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