She can get 70 mpg on this hog!

ARE YOU READY...???  Thanks to her anonymous donor and Ambucs AmTryke...she is going to be racing some seriously HOT WHEELS....Look out Dale Earnhardt, Jr.!

Upward mobility

So it's been too long, my friends.  I need to be better about keeping this up to date.  We've had a great summer and are finally cooling down a little here in the Carolinas....enough about the weather already!

I'll start with some SUPER cool news.  Back in July (after attending the annual conference) we put CeCe's name on a list (a loooooong list) for her to get a special tryke made to her exact needs and specifications AND....drum roll please.....SHE WAS PICKED on Friday!  We thought her PT had something to do with it, but just found out this morning that a family in High Point, NC does fund-raising and donates money to local NC kids to get these bikes....I can't tell you how that touches my heart and what a big deal this is to us....the new bike will be here THURSDAY!!!!!!!  Here's what her sweet ride will look like with a personalized license plate and everything...Watch your toes, people!

Now that we are on stable ground (as much as you every can be with sb) it's time for us to pay it forward.  So here's the latest... After several unfortunate experiences dealing with our local children's hospital and dreading the option to drive her three hours away when we have such wonderful facilities locally to Duke University to the next best clinic, we have decided to take matters into our own hands.  We recently contacted our local clinic to find out why we hadn't heard from them and where CeCe stood for a return visit...since we hadn't heard from them IN OVER A YEAR and phone message have never been returned...not one time....ever. So after trying to go thru the proper channels, I Googled "President of (Local Children's Hospital)" and got a phone number to "please let us know how to serve you better".  That was all I needed.  So, next Monday, dressed in my Sunday best, I will be meeting with the VP of the hospital, Dr. in charge of the clinic, nurse in charge of the clinic, and operations manager of the Specialty Center...WOOT WOOT.  We will be discussing, coordination of care issues, follow-up, attending clinicians & (sadly) promotion of the clinics existence as if broke my heart to find out families in our area never even knew it existed.  This type of clinic has been modeled well in other cities and there's no reason we can't make it happen here.  I'm saying all of this in hopes that someone reads this and knows we are trying to make this better.  In addition to that, I am submitting my name for nomination to the Family Centered Care Board of Directors so that families that get this diagnosis in the future have a place to turn to...someone that can lead them in the right direction.

Also, pamphlets are currently being printed by the SBA to be distributed to local MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) doctors and OB/GYN to help them learn how to Deliver the Diagnosis and a take home one on Receiving the Diagnosis to give parents a chance to find out more information and let them know what resources are available to them.  Just like CeCe learning to walk...once tiny step at a time.

{{Stepping down off soap box}}

On a more personal note, we were able to go to our family reunion this past Labor Day and my cousins, aunts, & uncles were able to meet both my girls.  It was fun to watch their kids interact with mine.  A cousin's son close to CeCe's age and her turned into NASCAR stars as they raced (with her walker and his push toy) around and around and around and around arou....well, you get the picture.  It was also super duper awesome to meet up with the Cleveland Crew...thanks for making the trip down just for a slice of pizza.  We miss you guys!

All in all, a pretty good summer....dont' forget the next Walk N Roll is right around the corner (May)....so get your laces strung up tight!

Here's Little Miss Fancy Pants at the splash-ground a few weeks ago....Happy Fall!

Can I get an "AMEN"?!

Holy COW!  Did we ever get a surprise during CeCe's PT session tonight...check it out with your own eyes....rock it, CCB!

Told you so...we KNEW it wouldn't be long!!!!!

It's what's on the inside that counts.

I’ve heard this phrase all my life…Almost always when it has to do with pre-judging someone or not giving someone a fair shot.  Sometimes it’s what people say when they just didn’t know what to say…kinda like, “It’s all for the best.”  Well, my friends, turns out it IS on the inside that counts even when it comes in the form of a syrinx. 

As you may recall, CeCe has a pool of fluid in her back that can be a bit ornery.  It was the hope that this pool would shrink and just lay there, still, not causing her any difficulties.  But as of her last MRI in November it was the same as it had been 6 months prior.  So here we were at her follow-up to her follow-up to her follow-up.  We waited on pins and needles in hopes of hearing the Neuro say those three little words…”Her syrinx IS smaller.”  Ok, that’s 4 words…whatev, math is not my strong suit.  Who cares!  Results=No pending surgeries!

Although we have to catheterize her now to prevent infections and protect her kidneys, she has come so far in just a short few months.  She has about a dozen words now (My favorite is “Mom-MEEEE” EVEN when she says it a hundred times over and over in time with her crawling cadence.)  She loves her some Elmo (“MoMo”) and she already IDOLIZES her big sister, Caroline…attempting to copy everything she does (Man, are we in trouble!).  She is ALMOST walking…ANY.DAY.NOW.

In other news…Team CeCe ROCKED the Walk N Roll.  We had such a blast and want to thank all the folks that supported our cause.  CeCe won first place for donations and left with a gift card that produced her first set of wheels…a Red Radio Flyer wagon.  I saw her eyeing the one a kid had at the walk, and thought she deserved a little something special.

Later, Gators.

Our girl made the paper!!!!!

I knew it would happen one day or another...but TODAY is the DAY!  CeCe is front page news in our local paper....check her out!  Thank you, John Deem!

http://www.lakenormancitizen.com/news/item/2162-a-little-girl-with-a-lot-of-backbone-fights-to-walk.html

To donate to the Walk N Roll...please click...
http://www.walknrollncsc.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1014740&lis=1&kntae1014740=83AEE55ED8F240DCB7C3F2DF014E78A8&team=4975325

Last chance, peeps...to donate to an amazing cause...The Walk N Roll is THIS Saturday... here's the site
 http://www.walknrollncsc.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1014740&lis=1&kntae1014740=5640ADC650A5498496B8992DCE30AB88

And here's a little inspiration...Thank you for helping future babies by supporting CeCe NOW!

And away she goes!

CeCe got her first walker yesterday and took to it like a fish to water. What a blessing it is to watch her tear up the living room, NASCAR -style.

She got it so quickly...she didn't want any help from her PT...as shown here...

 THAT'S MY GIRL!!!!

Ok. Ok....maybe she didn't love it the WHOLE time... :)