Thanksgiving Cooking

This year for Thanksgiving Courtney helped Kaleem to make the Lemon Meringue Pie.  They started by picking the lemons from the tree in the back yard.  Then Courtney read the recipe and Kaleem helped her do every step on her own.  She matched the number on the cups and spoons to the ones in the recipe, grated, squeezed, stirred, mixed, cracked eggs, and did a great job.  She was quite the little chief and the pie turned out wonderful!

Just a little note:  Courtney didn't try any of the pie...she likes pumpkin pie with whipped cream on the side!

Overcoming a Bump

Courtney has overcome some big physically challenging obstacles recently.  With a body that has low-tone, balance is more of a challenge for her than for others.  However, she recently has been overcoming her fear of larger slides.  I'm so proud of her for sliding during her OT session now 1-2 times per week.
Tonight she blew me away...
We were at Courtney's Great-Grandma's 75th Birthday Party.  They had bumper cars where we were.  I was surprised when Courtney wanted to ride them.  She had to ride by herself, it was dark, and the music was playing loud.  The nobs to turn and go were somewhat difficult to push...all things that normally lead to an unpleasant experience for Courtney.  I was VERY worried that this was going to end with her screaming, crying, having to stop the ride and escort her off.
Boy was I wrong...
It started, she pushed on her levers and took off.  She LOVED it.  She was racing around, bumping people, spinning her car and keeping up with all of us.  She had a look of vengeance (as she raced toward her cousins, me, Arron and my cousins and brothers) and at the same time complete joy on her face the entire time.  As she climbed out of her car at the end and headed to the exit she exclaimed, "That was AWESOME!"
I'm so proud of her!

Little Update

Just a little update on Courtney's growing abilities.  She is now in the 3rd grade and she LOVES to read.  At the end of 2nd grade she was tested in reading and math (and other things) and was found to be par for reading (she was at a second grade, seventh month level and that's exactly where she was in school!!).  Seriously, this girl LOVES to read!
Courtney recently got a new bike.  She loves to play with the kids in the court and now more fully participates in that fun.  Her new bike is a large trike.  She had to get use to her new bike, but she now loves to ride it-especially when we go around the block.
Courtney is such a big help with her sisters.  She helps with chores around the house-she especially loves to dust.  Courtney loves to act out songs and movies.
Courtney is healthy and happy and learning more everyday!

Hospital Stay

Courtney recently had to go to the hospital for a minor biopsy surgery.  We needed to know if she had Celiac's Disease.  She had shown positive on a few blood tests over a year's time and it was just time to find out for sure.
Courtney did AMAZING.  She and her Jesse (from Toy Story 2) doll checked into the hospital at 6:00am and she enjoyed the attention from the nurse, the warm blanket and the idea of getting graham crackers and juice when she was done!  She didn't like getting the IV put in, but Dad help her close and she got threw it.  The surgery was done in about 15 minutes and she woke with no problem.  She enjoyed her juice and crackers.  Within the week the doctor called to inform us...NO CELIAC'S!!!  Courtney LOVES bread and so this is great news for us.
I'm so proud of her and her willingness to be so cooperative in these situations.

Mankind

Courtney and I were discussing the 3rd Article of Faith. It has the phrase "all mankind" in it. I asked her what does "all mankind" mean. She said that it was a guy that is nice!

Funny Girl

Courtney loves to be funny. In her social group (a group she meets with once a week that has about 8 girls around her age...they just have a blast together and their speech therapist loves them too) she is always making the girls giggle. She calls them cute names when she says hello (like silly-willy), is always telling them jokes, etc. She likes to make up knock-knock jokes and just loves to laugh.
Tonight we were walking into a restaurant for dinner and I over-hear her say (enthusiastically) "Oh...this is the best place I ever lay (small pause) MOUTH on! Hee, hee!"
It made me laugh!

The R-Word

Today is "Spread the word to end the word" day. I wish I had known earlier, but better now than never. I know I have brought this up before, but I also know people that are close to me that still use the r-word as slang. It is offensive and hurtful to those who need us most.
Decide today to be conscience about the r-word and rid it from using it in your vocabulary in an offensive way.

Blood Work

Courtney has to have her blood drawn about every 6 months. We monitor things like her thyroid and Complete Blood Count to make sure that she is staying as healthy as possible and to catch anything that may become a problem BEFORE it becomes a problem.
She is so brave! First of all, she has to fast. We go first thing in the morning so that we can have breakfast as soon as she is done. Arron holds her and I hold and stroke her face and tell her how brave she is being. They have to fill about 8-10 of those little viles and she is not happy about having it done. As soon as the needle is out and the band-aid is on she stops crying and is over it. She also immediately starts requesting her treat. We talk about several options (breakfast type options) and then she gets to decide where we go for her treat. This time she had her heart and tummy set on In & Out (this was not an option we discussed, but she has just endured the trauma so the deal is she gets to decide)!
She was so happy to have her cheeseburger (even though it was 10am!)
Here she is showing off her band-aid!

Proud

Courtney's Uncle Peter is serving a mission for our church. He will go to Tucson, AZ to serve for 2 years. Courtney's Grandma and Grandpa are also serving a mission for our church. They will go to a country near Armenia called Georgia where they will serve for 18 months. This has been a big focus of Courtney's life lately. We have had MANY family gatherings and many activities surrounding the events of them leaving. I have been so impressed with how proud Courtney is of them. She tells her friends about them and shares about them in her therapy classes.

We woke very early one morning (3:30am) to send off Uncle Peter at the airport. Courtney thought it was so much fun to wake up in "the middle of the night" to do this. When we got to the airport she thought it was so much fun to be wearing her pajamas at the airport!
Big Bear Hugs
Courtney loves to give the biggest hugs and nearly knocked Uncle Peter to the ground. I have to say I met a nearly 16ish age boy the other day who came out of his class and "jumped" into his father's arms-legs wrapped around his waist and everything! The dad just grabbed him up and hugged him. I hope that Courtney doesn't outgrow her big hugs either!

I had to include this picture because as Courtney sat there chatting it up with Grandpa (at 4 am mind you) they were so cute...with their hands both in their pockets chatting away. I have to say, out of all of us who made the 4am truck to the airport, I worried that Courtney would not like that idea and boy was I wrong. She was the happiest of all of us and had a great day following the early adventure!

Hands-On Learning

Courtney is a hands-on learner. She is homeschooled and has a lot of opportunity for hands-on learning. We recently went to the Children's Museum of Stockton where we had a day full of hands-on learning.
This is a water table. The water flows with a little current from one end to the other. The square plates in the water can be arranged to allow water flow or block it. There are ducks and other small toys that you can then send down the water to see if the path you made will help them get to the end, or keep them caught in a pool of water. Courtney loved fishing the ducks out and running them back to the top to send them down again.
Courtney LOVES to put on a show. This little puppet corner was great for her. She and her sister were taking turns being the introducer of the show and then putting on little puppet shows.
Courtney didn't stay in this outfit too long (it is a really heavy hat), but I couldn't hardly get her off of the fire truck they have. Her imagination is so great. She drove all over town putting out fires and helping people.

Baptism

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (LDS). As members, we believe in being baptized when you are 8 or older. As Courtney turned 7 it was really important to me that we spend a year discussing what that means and what happens and that it be her choice to do it and that she understood what that meant. We spent many family nights discussing this choice with Courtney and teaching her what it would mean to be baptized. Over the year, she decided that this is something that she wanted to do.
I asked Courtney's grandma (who she only knows as "Tuki"-the "grandma" name that all the grandkids have for her) to make her a special new dress that she could wear for the occasion. It turned out beautiful and Courtney calls it her princess dress. She turned 8 in December and in January, we had a special day for her baptism.
There were so many people that came to support her that they filled all the chairs in the room we were in and they had to open according doors to the next room in order to accommodate everyone that was there. This little girl sure is loved. She was baptized by her father, Arron.
We are so proud of Courtney for making such a big decision. We are also proud of all the time and effort she put into know what that means.