A Poem....

I received this from one of my crafty yahoo groups. This is so me and my stuff....I am thrilled to know there is someone else out there like me too....

I have no idea who wrote it....but it's really cute. Enjoy.


Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace?
Or a Cricut, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him,
"Hi Santa, " I said
"You know....good little girls
Should be in their beds."
"I know I should Santa,
And now I've got caught.
But I was just so excited
To see what you brought."
"Well, let's take a look
In this room where you work.
He shook his head quickly,
And left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim
As he put it in gear.
"You've got enough crap,
I'll see you next year!"

The McConnell Update

Hi...It's been months since I last posted....Time has been flying by.

What's happened in the last 6 months....

In June, we finally moved. That was quite an interesting chore. It took forever. We were suppose to move in March....and things didn't go as planned...so we had Plan B, and that became Plan C, and that became Plan D...And well, finally months later we did it. My thoughts at this time is...WE ARE NEVER MOVING again....However, knowing my husband...well, it's just a matter of time before he gets antsy feet again.

Since we moved, we painted the kitchen and 2 bedrooms...Andy's and Lucas' rooms. Andy's is orange and red...with the CARS theme going on. Luke wanted a purple room and we picked out a really nice blue that we thought was really close to purple...and Well, Luke was happy that he got his purple room...Mind you, it's not purple...He does know his colors...so I'm not quite sure what's going on with the purple and blue thing. But he is happy about it.

We had Adam our wonderful physical therapist came and stay with us in November. He worked with Andy for 3 days. I think I will be looking for a Therasuit to purchase for the next time Adam comes. I think Andy will still benefit from it.

We hosted Thanksgiving here...we invited over 30 people...I think it went very well...nothing was burnt....and I think the family and friends will be back again.

We are hosting a Christmas Eve party this year. I haven't even started working on that. The house needs to be cleaned. That is on my to-do list for next week. I will have 3 days.

We made Christmas cookies for most of the neighbors...Luke and I will need to make a few more plates for the rest of the neighbors. We will be starting that tomorrow.

I have been having Scrapbook crops a few times a month. It so nice to have a big enough house to hold them here. I can't wait to have a crop in the play room. I think it will hold about 15 people. That will be fun. Maybe in the next few months...I can get enough of us together.

Well, there's the update for now.

Digital Scrapbook Layouts

The Christmas Dance

Click here to create your own video

TLC's Lifetimez Online Brag Book

Andy Talking 011808 Part 1

Andy Talking 011808 pt 2

Andy talking 011808 part 4

Andy talking to me 011808 part 5

Pages I Created Using Lifetimez Online

Here's our newest addition to the family

Frog Jumping July 12, 2007

Andy, Lucas & Cait were playing frog jumping today. It was awesome to see Andy doing this!!!

Video of Andy June 13 & June 18, 2007

Movement Discoveries June 2007

Well, we are here once again. This is the last week for Andy's intensive therapy program. He has been working with Adam and Matt. Andy has once again suprised the therapist how well he bounces back from things.

When we came here it was only 8 weeks ago he had foot surgery. He had 2 tendon transfers and achilles transfer on his left ankle. It was only 2 weeks ago the cast came off. It was only 4 days ago he was able to walk from the house to the van in the garage with me holding his hand.

I have to say I am impressed with Andy's determination to walk. His foot is still recovering so it still has a lot of swelling and we could tell the first week it was still pretty sore but through it all he still did everything Adam and Matt asked him to do then some.

By the end of the first week, without braces, Andy was able to walk from the hotel room to the van. This is quite a walk from the parking lot since we have a room in the courtyard.

The last week and a half, he has been learning to stand up from the ground. A few days ago he actually stood up and picked up a 3 pound ball and walked across the room to put it in a box. I have it on video...I will try to upload it here.

We have 2 days left. I will post some pictures and videos as soon as I figure out how to do it.

December 2005

Boy, where does the time go. It's been so long since I last posted. Here's a quick update.

In November I took Andy to Movement Discoveries. They are an intensive physical therapy program in Burlingame, CA. We stayed there for 3 long weeks. My mother in law was able to come with us. She was a big help. Andy did 4 hours of therapy, 5 days a week for the 3 weeks. He did great. By the end of the 3rd week he was able to take 18 independent steps by himself. His legs are so much stronger. He doesn't trip over them like he use to. He still has balance issues but hopefully in the next year he will continue to get stronger and over come the issues. We really want to go back soon.

Lucas stayed home with my husband at night and my mom during the day while Bruce was working. That was a big help as well. While I was gone Bruce was able to clean the downstairs. Where he nicely put most of the toys in boxes in the garage. I have to learn how to rotate them. He was able to get the garage in order so I can do this. It was nice coming home to a nice clean house....but it all changed once I unpacked the van. All I could say to him was, "Honey, I'm home, did ya miss me!!!". I have told him over and over that I am a true "packrat"!!!

While in San Francsico, we went to San Francsico Zoo and to Half Moon Bay beach. Lucas enjoyed the zoo but not the beach. Andy enjoyed the beach but was not interested in the zoo at all. Guess we can't please both of them at the same time. Maybe one day.

Lucas is 18 months old this month. He is signing a number of signs now. "thank you", "please", "red", "more", "potty", "nigh-nigh", "pig", "dad". He was saying "mom" mostly when I was gone but doesn't say it much now that I am back. He loves cars, trucks and animals. He pointed to everything and wants to know what everything is. He loves looking at books where they have the objects he can point to. He knows: pig, sheep, zebra, horse, dog, cat, bunny, cow, tractor, truck, car, clock, fan, banana. I am sure he knows more but I can't think of them now. His favorite drink is chocolate milk! He is getting a sweet tooth, which I am not too happy about. He is so much like his daddy. Lucas also is playing on Andy's computer. We have a game called Reader Rabbit. We have a touch screen monitor that he is able to use. He is able to play this game independently. In fact, Lucas will push Andy out of the way when Andy is trying to play it. Not a good thing, it's too early for them to fight over things. I told Bruce yesterday we need to get Lucas his own computer. He thought I was crazy!!!

Well, I will try to update later with some pictures. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the update.

Andy's Accomplishments for 2004 & 2005.

Andy has done an awesome job this last year as well as this year. I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard.

These are some of the things he has working on to accomplished in 2005....
*In Feb. 2005...we switched phyiscal therapist....what a difference. He is learning to stand on his own. He still has a long way to go but hey....he is doing it.

*In March 2005, he took his first step by himself. Boy, I had tears in my eyes.
*By the end of March 2005, He has taken up to 6 steps by himself.

These are some of the things he accomplished in 2004.
*January 2004...He learned to walk independently with his kaye walker. He now uses it to go everywhere. The only time he uses his wheelchair is if we go shopping and will be walking for a long time. Any quick shopping trips he will use his walker.

*The rest of his accomplishments are not in any kind of order.....
*July 2004...learned to blow bubbles.
*June 2004...learned his colors and the signs of each color.
*Learning to swing on a regular swing.
*Drink from an open cup without spilling.
*Learned 75 signs.
*Recognize his name on paper.
*Dress & undress himself.....He knows how to do this but I still help him alot. (It's a time thing.)
*Using his signs in sentences.

I would like to thank Deanna for all the hard work and time she spent with Andy.....She was Andy's nanny last year. She really worked hard with him to get to where he is today. (By the way, Deanna....he loves his blanket....many times a day he looks at the pictures. Thank you very much.)

Lucas Accomplishments for 2004 & 2005.

Lucas is 10 months old this April month. He weighs 19 pounds 1 oz. and is in the 25% for both weight and height. He is doing really well. He is starting to stand up holding onto furniture, and sitting on his knees . He loves to play with cars and balls.

At 9 months old, he started signing "more" and "all done". He blows kissing and waved bye-bye...backwards. (It's really cute.) He loves eating finger foods and pretty much stopped eating the nasty gerber baby foods. He also learned to crawl.

At 8 months, he started to using his pointer finger...and poking any hole he can find.

At 7 months, he started drinking from a straw. He was working really hard on crawling, getting onto all 4's and rocling back and forth. He weighed 17 pounds 8 oz.

At 6 months, weighing in at 17 pounds....He is rolling everywhere....Loves vegetables but doesn't like baby cereal or fruit very much.

At 5 months, Weighing in at 16 pounds 12 oz. He was sick most of this month with bronocolitis (?). Started rolling back and forth.

At 4 months, Weighing in at 15 pounds 10 oz. He started sitting up. He also learned to roll from side to side.

At 13 weeks old, he laughed out loud for the first time. He loved to cuddle with his blankie and play with his hands and thumb.

Horse Therapy for Andy

October 2004, Andy started horse therapy. Each session goes for 6 weeks for 30 minutes. February 2005, a new session started for another 6 weeks. (This picture was taken March 05.) He has improved so much since the first time he got up on the horse. He is sitting up straighter and he is holding on much better. He is wearing his theratogs which have really made a difference in his posture. He seems to enjoy the horses.

Andy standing by himself for the first time!!! This was taken in Feb. 2005. We finally changed physical therapist after having the same one for 2 years. Look what he can do now.....Thanks to Burger Rehab in Folsom!!! After one visit, Andy was able to stand by himself for a few seconds.

This picture was taken in February 2005. Andy just turned 5 and Lucas is 8 months old.