Hello there.  What a week it's been.  But at least no snow - thank you God.  Last year at this time we were totally stranded.  We have a driveway that rivals Mt. Everest - it's super steep and has a hairpin turn.  WHY you might ask did we move into the house, then?  Well the house itself is perfect for Cody - one big great room with the wall busted out so we can see him at all times.  One story so no stairs for him to fall on.  But yes......the big sacrifice was the heinous driveway.

Our fun news this week;

Casey is potty training!  After 2 good days, he got the reward of 'big boy' pants and he (of course) picked out the superhero variety.  Sadly, there were no veggie tale unders which grieved me.  But Captain America will have to do.  Casey paraded them around all day - and thinks he is ALL THAT!  He is not quite ready for them .... yet.... but they are a great incentive for potty training!

Here are my favorite conversation with Casey this week:

Mommy:  What is daddy's first name?

Casey:  DONALD!

Mommy:  GREAT!  Now here's a tough one - what is daddy's middle name? 

Casey:  DUCK!

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haha.  We have all of our gifts delivered to Cody's therapists and Dr's...which is very important to me.  We rely on these people year-round and this is the time we show our appreciation for them.  Still, it is no small task when you figure that Cody has about 20 providers! 

Cody's had a rough week - he is still not sleeping and is up at least two hours every night.  Usually it's from about 2-5 or 3-6am.  His seizures are coming more frequently, but they are shorter in duration....and yet stronger.  Don't know if any of that is good or bad.  But at any given time you will see him shoot backward about 2 feet as if he's attached to a rocket - then thud against the floor or wall in mid-seizure.  Used to be, he kind of went into slow motion at the beginning of a seizure, but nowadays they come on fast and strong and knock him into whatever he's near (banging his head on the counter, the window sill, the floor.)  This is *not* a good development. 

We drove to see my mom last night for her birthday and even though it's only 1 hour 15 minutes in the car, Cody screamed non-stop the whole way.  He simply hates car rides...we can't take him anywhere that is further than a 1/2 hour away these days.  He was so undone last night when we arrived that I feared he'd for sure go into a seizure from the stress.  Poor little guy.

And poor Casey is really reeling from the stress of things here.  He sits next to Cody on that drive and holds his hands over his ears the whole time saying 'too noisy!  too loud!  scares me!'  I'm actually looking into getting Casey a pair of headphones to cancel out some of Cody's noises...Casey is really made nervous by all the constant raspberrying.  I have to admit, I am too.  It is constant, high decibel noise that goes on all day and all night.  And for those 3 hours Cody is up all night, the raspberrying is so intense and so loud I even wear headphones or ear plugs. 

So that's the good, the bad and the ugly of the moment.  Tomorrow begins a new week of therapy, dentist appts, and the gradual progression to Christmas.  We pray this is a good week for you all - and for us as well.

with love,

Shawna