Praying for Parker

What is it about a haircut?

A sweet friend comes to my home to cut my hair. It’s been a lifesaver. This week she also cut Parker’s hair. Easy Peasy, no? Not even close. First is to have Parker assume the special haircut position. Yes, this indeed required the...

Published Thu, Sep 15 2011 7:11 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life, down syndrome, Special Needs, hair cuts

Increased Oxygen Needs and Cuffed Trachs: Help Needed

The night before Parker’s right heart cath his oxygen needs increased. Actually, they doubled. And we’ve been having issues ever since. During the cath we discovered that Parker has an air leak around his trach. The anesthesiologist felt that...

Published Sat, Aug 20 2011 9:26 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Frequent Flyin At The PCMC, A Day In Our Life, down symdrome, cuffed trachs, increased oxygen needs

Dehydrated Fruit for a Blenderized Diet

I love creating a blenderized diet each morning for Parker. I try to go organic as much as I can, using as high quality foods as possible. It can be a challenge to do this on a modest food budget. But it can be done. One strategy I use is gleaning. Gleaning...

Published Sun, Oct 16 2011 7:45 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: From Scratch, blenderized diet, blenderized diets, frugal living, g-tubes, Recipes, g-tube feeding, I love a tubie, kids with g-tubes

Carl Wimmer and the man in his mirror.

It all started with a tweet: @CarlWimmer: “It’s wrong for someone to confiscate your money, give it to someone else, and call that ‘compassion’. Carl, a Representative for the state of Utah, may have been a bit surprised to discover that that one tweet...

Published Sun, Apr 10 2011 10:17 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: The HIGH Cost of Health Care, A Day In Our Life, Advocacy, medicaid, Carl Wimmer

Because I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The 19 year old blogs. Just like her Mama. She’s also one of Parker’s biggest advocates. I’m going to link you to McCall’s blog today. She’s written a post on ending the r word. And you know what? I couldn’t have said...

Published Wed, Jun 15 2011 8:16 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Advocacy, down syndrome, Special Needs, end the r word

Abortion and Down Syndrome: So, exactly who’s quality of life are we talking about here?

I recently came across a message board created for those who chose to terminate a pregnancy for either medical reasons or a poor prenatal diagnosis. Down syndrome falls under a reason to abort because of poor prenatal diagnosis. Yeah, I...

Published Mon, Sep 17 2012 8:49 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Advocacy, A life worth living.

The Secret to Your Success

If I had a nickle for how many times someone has told me “I don’t know how you do it..”, I’d have a LOT of nickles. I bet many of you reading this have heard the same thing. I sometimes find myself thinking, yeah…...

Published Mon, Jun 11 2012 9:36 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: down syndrome, Life With Special Needs, secret to success, choosing happiness

Medical Binders and the kid with special needs.

Our local children’s hospital is also a teaching hospital. We would take Parker in for an appointment and the nurse would have a zillion questions for us to answer about Parker’s history. Then a resident would come in. Same questions. By the...

Published Tue, Feb 28 2012 6:50 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, medical binders

Weighted Vests: Experiences Wanted

There are days when trying to get Parker to focus and pay attention to the task at hand is a huge experience in futility. I teasingly refer to it as ‘Goofball Mode’ It’s when Parker simply starts…well, acting like a Goofball. Twisting...

Published Tue, Feb 21 2012 7:57 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, compression shirts, weighted vests, senory issues

It hasn’t ALL been bad…..

I took Parker on a grand adventure today. Something I’ve never done even with all of the hospital stays our Brave Hero has endured. I loaded him up in a red wagon and we went exploring. I don’t usually take Parker out of his hospital room...

Published Sun, Dec 20 2009 6:38 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Holding On Tight To My Faith, Frequent Flyin At The PCMC, Fantabulous-ness

A Lentil Soup Recipe

It simply wouldn’t be New Year’s Day without making a huge pot of Lentil Soup. Lentils are a big part of Parker’s blenderized diet, so I always have at least 20 pounds on hand. The ingredients are simple. And cheap. And you know how...

Published Sun, Jan 02 2011 10:12 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Totally Worth The Calories, Recipes

Loving Our Lucky Bums

Anyone who knows our Brave Hero also knows that the activity he loves the most is flying through the air in his play set from Make A Wish. Except, at the moment, the play set seems to be in the midst of a long winter’s nap. What’s a Brave...

Published Wed, Jan 05 2011 9:35 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life, Fantabulous-ness, Doing it Special Needs Style

Meanness at the expense of my child with special needs.

What do you see when you see Parker? Last week, during a quick run in to Target, I overheard what a few women thought when they saw my son. Look! one woman exclaimed as Parker and I rolled our cart by. It’s a ret*rd! I’ll admit, it took a...

Published Tue, Nov 10 2015 9:22 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Advocacy, down syndrome, Life With Special Needs, Target, end the r-word, bullying

Increasing Vocabulary Words for Non-Verbal Students

It is interesting, this journey to teach a non-verbal child how to read. Add in the fact that Parker spends so much of his time secluded because of his health and, well, this challenge becomes an even bigger one. Thankfully, I am fully secure in my knowledge...

Published Tue, Oct 07 2014 10:30 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting, activities for non-verbal children, teaching a child with special needs how to read

Anxiety Conference

Last week I was able to attend an anxiety conference at UVU with a sweet friend. It was very serendipitous how it all played out, and for that I am grateful. Cause me and anxiety? BFFs, baby. BFFs. There are several things I’d like to share with...

Published Tue, Apr 08 2014 10:24 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Holding On Tight To My Faith, down syndrome, Life With Special Needs, ptsd, special needs parenting, anxiety

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