July- family bbq

In the beginning of July we had a family bbq to celebrate the graduates.  It was a lot of fun playing with cousins, chatting with siblings and enjoying a meal together!

his favorite thing to do- play with a basketball

as you can see- having a cast didn't stop him

lovin' feeding the calves.  my boys love to go to farms and check out all the animals!

June

June was filled with end of school activities and the graduation of a nephew and a niece.  I had been going through all our stuff underneath the stairs and came across an extra tent so we set it up to see if it was still in good condition.  Kyle wanted to sleep in it that night so Daddy & him slept in it together for one night in the backyard.

May

In May I went to a mother's day tea at school.  When I got there Kyle was quite worried about how I'd fit 2 corsages on my shirt but I assured him that there was room.  They sang some songs for us and recited memory work and then we had a delicious lunch:)

 Then at the end of May, Benjamin and Kyle had a field trip to Harrison.  Even though it was cold when we left in the morning it sure warmed up!!  The boys had a blast.  Kyle went in the water to fill up his pail with water to make a sand castle.  But every time he went in the water he went a little deeper.  By the end he was soaked up to his waist.  Thankfully I had thought ahead, knowing my boys, and brought extra clothes.

Kyle walking hand in hand with one of his good friends

busy building his sandcastle

Benjamin having fun doing bubbles and getting Mrs. G. all wet

A Counting We Will Go

This weekend Benjamin was walking around the house counting "one, two, three."  It really surprised us since he had never done that before!  Way to go Benjamin!! You have come so far since starting school!

For the past months we've been working on getting funding for a new bed called a Sleep Safe bed.  It was all in place and the bed was delivered today.  It is a very expensive bed- $13,000.  It is a bed that can be raised and lowered.  The whole bed can be raised & lowered, the head and feet can be raised and lowered and it has a bed rail that can be put down.  Looking forward to him being able to sleep on an angle without us propping pillows under the mattress and me not having to lift him awkwardly over a bed rail.

Now to work on funding for a wheelchair accessible van...

A Special Moment

Today Benjamin said "Mom" for the first time ever!!! Usually it is "Ma" or "Man."  So I was pretty excited!!! He seems to be learning words on a fairly steady basis.  Sometimes we can't understand what he means but most of the time we can.

This week he also learned the concept of me.  Now when asked, " Who wants to go on the bus? or Who wants to read a book?" he will answer with "Me."  This concept was picked up very fast by him.

It seems he is learning more and more things.  It is so great to see!!

Benjamin is home!!

What a change from last night!!!! When we left last night Benjamin was ok but not doing that great.   They had told us not to expect him home for a few days.  But when we came in this morning he was wide awake, sitting up in bed, on no oxygen!!!  Amazing!! He looked great and was very happy to see us.  When round came, the doctor asked if we'd like to take him home.   Yes, yes yes!!!  He is still very weak and tires out quite quickly.  He is still coughing a lot and might need a bit of oxygen in the coming days but he is home and looks to be improving.  What a change!!  Thank you for all your prayers for us!

This past Thursday Benjamin was airlifted to Children's Hospital.  He was fine in the morning but when I came home from Ladies Fellowship, he threw up.  He then looked "off" so we checked his sats and sure enough they were at 89.  Within 15 minutes he was breathing very quick (58 breaths per minute) so off to the ER I went with him.  Thankfully I phoned his pediatrician on his cell and he said he'd meet me there.  We registered and as we were waiting for triage, he came down the hallway and asked if Benjamin had been seen yet.  Because he hadn't he went to triage and told them that he wanted him to be seen next.  Triage started assessing him and told me his sats were horrible.  I got a bit scared then and asked what they were.  She told me 87.  I then relaxed a bit as that isn't that horrible in Benjamin's history.  We got in a bed and he kept getting worse and worse.  He went for a chest x-ray, got an IV and had antibiotics and fluids.  He kept looking worse so the pediatrician asked me to run home and get our bi-pap for Benjamin.  Once we set that up it was a bit easier for him to breathe but as the afternoon progressed he kept getting worse.  They put oxygen through the bi-pap and called over to Childrens.  They then arranged transport.  Once we got to Childrens he seemed a bit better.  On the helicopter he even got mad at the ITT guys because he didn't have a headset.  So one of the guys gave him his.  And he was chatting away to us.  Once we got here he seemed to even out.  He didn't sleep that great that night.  Yesterday he was ok.  But again last night he didn't sleep.  He looked worse this morning to us but now that he is on almost full feeds he seems to be perking up a bit.  He is still coughing and his coughing results in vomitting at times but he has only thrown up once today.  He had a great 2 hour deep sleep this afternoon which did him a world of good.  He seemed a lot perkier after his nap.  Hopefully tonight he'll be able to sleep good and then we will see what tomorrow brings.  I'm having a bit of a hard time with him in the hospital for the 3rd year in a row at this time.  But he isn't doing that bad. I'm just a little sick of hospitals and not getting much sleep myself.  I think I'm kind of scared he won't be home for his birthday and wonder if he'll be able to go back to school.  I pray he will because he loves it so much.  He also keeps pointing at his iv and saying "out".  Then he asks to go home.  I think he's sick of being here too. 

Christmas

The month of December seemed to fly by this year.  Christmas came so fast.  It was an awesome day celebrating Jesus' birth. There were a lot of special memories made this year.

I was really worried about Benjamin since he doesn't do good with a lot of parties and usually has a lot more seizures but thankfully he didn't this year.  He mostly enjoyed all the parties with a few times where he couldn't handle all the people/noise.  Christmas with a special needs child is always different.  Sometimes he will have a lot of seizures because of the noise.  Sometimes he hits a lot more because of a change in routine. We never know what brings it on.  But this year was great- no seizures and only a bit more hitting.  He loved going to Auntie Evelyn & Uncle Glenn's house for the Hansma get together.  He showed them how he could walk holding onto hands.  My arms were getting sore so I put him down but he did NOT like that idea.  So Glenn walked with him for a bit.  Everyone was amazed with how great he did.  Then he decided that he was going to show them what he has been practicing at physio- getting up the stairs backward by pushing with his feet and hand.  He did great.  He is also loving the art easel/ chalkboard he got from Grandma.  At the Kanis get together he kept us busy by scooting down the stairs all the time and then whining at the bottom of the stairs that he wanted to come back up.  Since it takes a long time for him to get up the stairs and he needs a lot of help, everyone took turns carrying him.

Kyle asked all the time whose house we were going to next.  He loved all the parties.  He especially loved playing with his cousin Levi at Auntie Evelyn & Uncle Glenn's house.  He was really excited over the art easel.  He had gone with me to town a couple days before and seen it in town and wanted to buy it so when he saw it a few days later he was really excited.  At the Kanis Christmas get together Kath & I had decided to do a craft for the kids and he had a lot of fun with that.  The next few days he was busy asking when we could do the next craft.

I think this was the first Christmas that Devon actually understood the whole idea of presents.  He was so excited to get presents.  But everyone kept nudging him to go a little faster opening his present.  He would rip one piece of paper off, put it in the garbage, and then rip the next little, piece, put it in the garbage, etc, etc.  He loves the art easel and loved the tent he got from Grandma & Grandpa K.  He even slept under it the next night since we can attach it to his bed.  Well, I'm not actually sure if he slept since he was really excited and then wanted us to take it off after a while.

It was a very blessed Christmas.  I hope you all had a blessed Christmas too and that you took time to celebrate Christ's birth.

Fire Safety

Last week Kyle learnt about fire safety at school.  He came home and right away told us that we had to practice our fire drill.  So I told him we would after dinner.  Everyone had to go in their beds and we set our test alarm off.  The plan was for Gary to grab Benjamin, me to grab Devon, and Kyle to go on his own to the tree in the front yard.  As Kyle was running to the door he wanted to stop & grab his jacket and his boots but I let him know that if there is a fire there is no time to grab that.  So he just went in his bare feet to the tree.  He was not impressed.  "I don't like this.  I'm cold."  Then he asked what we were supposed to do once we were at the tree.  I said we'd go to the neighbours and let them know our house is on fire and could we come inside and call 911.  Gary laughed at me and said that he didn't think I'd be that calm but I didn't really want to scare Kyle.  A couple days later Kyle came home from school and said that we did the fire drill wrong because we are supposed to feel the door first and then if it's hot climb out the window.  He asked if we could do another drill but I thought the neighbours might start wondering so said we'd do it another time.

OK Falls

A few weeks ago we went to OK Falls for a few days!!  It was a great time!!  We just relaxed, went for walks, played games, watched videos, and played at the park.  Some of my favorite memories from this trip:

-On the way there we saw a car flipped upside down in the ditch against the mountain.  The next day Kyle asked if he could pray after our meal and this is part of what he said: "Thank you God for the car in the ditch when we drove here."  No praying for the people who were in the car...
-Monday morning we woke up to everything covered in white so we got all their warm clothes on, their snowsuits etc on and went downstairs to build a snowman.  I was thankful that I had thought to bring our box of winter gear.  Except Benjamin did not like the snow so he went in the stroller for a walk with daddy.
-Going for walks along the Kettle Valley Railway.  Again I was thankful I had brought all our winter gear since it was VERY cold with the wind.

This morning I got a phone call from one of the mothers in KG.  Apparently her nephew was talking to his aunt and said "Do you know Benjamin?  He is SO smart!!  He knows dutch."  This story just made my morning.  So apparently when you can't understand him he is speaking dutch;)

The Agassiz Fair

Yesterday we decided on the spur of a moment to head out to the Agassiz fair.  Our boys had never been on rides before so we weren't sure how it would go.  But they all had a blast!!  Benjamin absolutely loved the monster truck ride and the first time we went on it I had a hard time getting him off so the attendant came over to me and said "Oh, let them ride again.  I'll give it to you for free."  So he got another ride:)

Devon milking a cow

Kyle milking a cow

Goldfish races

Benjamin had more fun splashing everyone than the actual goldfish race;)

Benjamin's first day of KG

Last Friday Benjamin had his first day of KG.  He was so excited to go!!!  He kept saying "schooool!"  He was a little apprehensive about the transfer into the bus but once he was in he was raring to go!  Grandpa Kanis met him by the bus at school and Benjamin had a huge smile on his face.  He had lots of fun at school! He was surrounded by girls on the playground at lunchtime and just flirted with them all!  When he came home I asked him if he had fun at school and he replied with a huge grin on his face "YEAH!"

Right now it's been a busy few weeks of trying to get everything in place for Benjamin to go to school!  Training EAs, getting the care plan done, teaching how to use the walker, new private physio, trying to find a new walker, etc, etc.  It has been a stressful time as this is all new to me but it will be worth it when I see Benjamin's huge smile on Friday.  Yes, Friday is the first day of school for him.  I'm so excited for him!!  I'm a little worried as he hasn't been in a school setting in 1 1/2 years and when he went to VBS he kept throwing tantrums in the craft room.  But he has been really patient with everyone learning.  At times there were 5 adults in our house all trying to learn about Benjamin and then he was really tired after that.  He's also outgrown his walker so I'm working on setting up a time to try out some new walkers.  I came across a few on the Internet that I like & Motion Specialties has those so we are going to be trying them out in the next couple weeks.  He has been doing so good with walking.  He just got the ok from the orthopedic surgeon a few weeks ago to start weight bearing and we already went for a 1/2 hour- 1 hour walk with him and he did amazing!! I'm so proud of him!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing which walker fits him best and getting a new one.  I wish I could just get it right away, but I have to learn patience too.  These things do take a bit of time;)

Kyle's First Day of KG

He woke up this morning and excitedly told me he's going to Kindergarten.  We had a special breakfast for his first day of school- cinnamon buns:)  He ate about 3/4 of his cinnamon bun, drank his orange juice and ate his vitamin and then told me he was full.  He went to the bathroom to get dressed and came out a preppy boy:)   Then to get his lunch and backpack and shoes on and wait for the bus.  Daddy came home to see him off but when he went to hug Kyle he was told "Don't touch me Dad!! You'll get me all dirty!!!" We took lots of pictures on the front step.  We didn't get any on the bus since he was too excited and just ran onto the bus.  I didn't even get a wave good bye.  My little boy is growing up so fast!! How can he be going to Kindergarten already?

And home again:)

Oma

When we went to Oyama we also got to visit with my Oma Hansma.  It was very special to be able to visit with her again:)  Every day at the kitchen table our boys point to a picture we have of her on the photo frame we have by our kitchen table.  It was nice that they were able to spend time with her in person.

Oyama

This year we decided to go to Oyama and go camping with my dad.  A HUGE thank you to Uncle Jim & Aunt Cindy who lent us their trailer.  It was loads of fun!  My Oma & Opa own lakefront property so the campsite is right on the water with the beach only a minute walk away.  Our kids ( and us) had loads of fun:)

van stuffed full

enjoying some kfc on the way there

snuggling with Great-Oma after my nap

Kyle & Dominick & Uncle John

Kyle

4 of us in the water

Me & Devon

Benjamin & Oma ('Ma)

I was going to take Benjamin on this but he threw a fit and kept saying "Ma, Ma."  So I asked him if he wanted to go with Oma and he said "Yea"

Kyle, Devon & Austin

Kyle driving the pontoon boat with Great-Opa

Devon driving the pontoon boat with Great-Opa

Benjamin driving the pontoon boat with Great-Opa