Carter's Journey

Pep Rally for Carter...

On May 15, 2012 Brandon High School had a pep rally just for Carter. It was a 2 1/2 hour event devoted to Carter. It was an absolutely amazing event! I honestly had no idea of what to expect and I was completly shocked by what unraveled. There was a cheer that completly touched me. It said hope, joy, peace, love...Carter! Here is a video of the cheer!

For me the highlight of the event was when they brought Brandon, Carter and myself our to center court, while playing the song "Courageous". Everyone stood up and cheered for Carter. I saw tears streaming down the faces of strangers, young and old. It was very moving. I am not sure there was a dry eye in the gym. Knowing what all Carter has been through this past year, it meant so much to me. It made me realize how much of an effect his little life has already had on so many people. This was a big reminder of the BIG plan God has for Carter! Thank you Brandon High School for not only having the pep rally, but for the support and love you have shown our family. We love you all!

Here are a few pictures from the VERY special day!!!

All for Him...

Caring for Carter

The past few weeks have been CRAZY to say the least! We have been super busy. There was Caring for Carter Day, a pep rally for Carter, Brandon and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary and we unexpectetly had to move! We have been very busy, so I do appologize for not updating the blog sooner. I am going to try to play catch up with the next few post. Here we go...

Caring for Carter was a HUGE success! Hundreds of people came out to show their support for Carter. To say that it was overwhelming is an understatement. When we drove into Shiloh Park, I saw all of the cars and thought there was a baseball tournament going on. Much to my suprise the full parking lot was for the Caring for Carter event. We are so blessed to have such great co-workers and live in such a great community! I have to say a special thank you to my coworkers on the second floor of Blair E. Batson and a bigger thank you to Emily Sullivan. Emily came up with the idea and basically lived and breathed Caring for Carter for months. You all completely took my breath away and you honestly have no idea how much it meant to us! We are also extremely thankful to our Brandon Elementary School family. You all continuously do things for our family. We honestly could not make it without all of you. I am still in shock that there was a day devoted just to Carter!

There have been multiple times on this journey that Brandon and I have both asked one another how we are going to make it? I am not only talking about financially, but how will we make it emotinally and physically. To say that the past two years have been hard is just not good enough. We both feel like we have been tested on every aspect of our faith and lives. It has been hard! On the morning of the event Brandon woke up and read his daily devotional. It said, Relax in the knowledge that the One controls your life is totally trustworthy. Come to Me with confident expectation. There is nothing you need that I cannot provide. I am pretty sure this was meant for us. Actually, I am pretty sure the entire book was written for us. I will talk about other verses in my future post. God has met every one of our needs this far and I know he will continue to do so. Sometimes I am confused on what I did to deserve this. I do not deserve all of these blessings! God has been and continues to be so good to our family. I do not care how hard it gets. I will stand strong in my faith and continue to ride along on this little journey. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who came out to Caring for Carter Day. I also want to say a big thank you to all of the businesses, vendors and Colleges for your donations. It will be a day we will NEVER forget! As always... To Him be the Glory!

Here are a few pictures from the big day...

It was ALL for this little man!

Home Sweet Home!

We have made it home! Carter did great on the flights home and was thrilled to see his Peanut and Hankie(our dogs). All of Carter's Doctor's are meeting to discuss Carter's future. We plan to travel back to Cincinnati within the next 6 weeks and to Johns Hopkins sometime this Summer. We are enjoying every minute of being at home.

Today, Carter had an interview with News Channel 16 about the Caring For Carter day this Saturday. If you do not already know, our sweet co-workers have put together a full day of entertainment to benefit Carter. We are extremely grateful and we feel very special that they want to do this for our little boy. We would love to meet all of the followers of Carter's Journey and hope everyone comes out to have a good time. News Channel 16 will air the interview tomorrow morning or Friday morning between 5 and 6am. For more information on Caring for Carter Day please visit www.caringforcarterbenefit.com. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support for our family. We are humbled and overwhelmed by the love we feel for our family everyday. As always...To Him Be The Glory!

At least one of my kids knew how to behave on our flight! :)

Cincinnati Check-ups....

Carter had multiple check-ups with his Doctors in Cincinnati this week. He received great news from all of them. They were all impressed at how well he looks and his weight gain. They agreed we needed to switch up some of his medications to get rid of the stubborn infection. They changed his medications up quite a bit, hopefully it will help and he will fight off this infection. They also made changes to his formula, adding more calories. They want him as chunky as possible before his next surgery. I anticipate having a chunky monkey on my hands soon. Carter's stomach and parts of his colon have still not woke up, but we still have hope that they will. Overall it was a great trip and we received nothing but great news. Carter's team of Doctors are going to get together and we will most likely come back in the next month or two for more check-ups. We will be flying back to Jackson in the morning.

I know you have got to be wondering who this CUTE little girl is beside Carter. It's Lily! Lily has O.E.I.S Complex like Carter. We were so excited when we got to meet up with them after our appointment today. She is just precious and has the sweetest parents. I have posted about her once before when she sent Carter flowers in the hospital.:) It was great to get to talk to someone dealing with the same condition. Can you see the resemblance? They have the same color hair, same color eyes, same skin color and could pass as TWINS!

Carter 20 months. Lily 16 months.

Sweet babies!

After Carter's appointment today we had spare time, so we took him to the aquarium. He LOVED the fish and birds, but was more interested in holding our hands and walking around.

Come here bird! Come see Carter!

Daddy Kisses!

Cincinnati Here We Come...

We are flying back to Cincinnati today for follow up appointments. Besides an infection that Carter has not been able to get rid of, he has done really well since being home. If all goes well, we will return on Saturday. Please pray for a smooth day of travel and great appointments. Thank you all so much for your prayers!

I took Carter to the park a few days ago and he LOVED it. Here are a few pictures. He is amazed by the flags!

This Is What Life Is All About!!!

Look who got his walker! He absolutely loves it! I am able to hook his backpack, that holds his feedings, onto the back of the walker and he is able to go around by himself. This is the first time since September Carter has been able to go anywhere by himself! He is so proud!

It got delivered around 8p.m. so of course it was dark. However, that did not stop Carter. As soon as Brandon put it together, he was outside walking…in the DARK. Unfortunately, our house is not handicap accessible so he has to walk outside with it. I don’t think Carter minds because he is just so happy to walk by himself. I have to admit Brandon and I were both a little hesitant to let him have a walker. We were both afraid that he would become reliant on it and never learn to walk on his own. When we went to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, they brought in a walker for him and he took to it right away and did great with it. Once we saw how much leg strength he was gaining and how happy it made him, we knew he had to have one.

I do not think that putting a walker together for your child is ever anything you expect to have to do. I thought that I would feel sad watching Carter walk with the walker. Instead I feel such pride and joy knowing how happy it makes him and how much he has overcome to get to this point. Just 6 months ago Carter could hardly hold your hand and stand. Now he is walking by himself with a walker! We serve a mighty God! I will let the pictures write the rest of this post. ENJOY!

I have to admit this. I am a Nurse NOT a physical therapist. I had Carter walking the wrong way for the entire first day. After reading the booklet that came with the walker I became informed that he should hold the red handles and he should stand straight up when walking. Walking like he is in this picture will teach him to walk hunched over not standing up straight. OOPS!