Tuesday, December 30, 2008

5 years ago today...


We were airlifted to The Burn unit at Birdgeport Hospital after David severely burned his leg in a back yard accident involving a campfire.

We spent months in the hospital.. almost 2 weeks in ICU. His leg is healed now, but the scars will always be there... in many different ways.

I was driving by Gardner Lake Fire Department at 4:30 this afternoon when it hit me that today was the day 5 years ago at that exact time that we were at the helocopter pad right there at the fire department being airlifted out... the sky was the same.... the start of a beautiful sunset... it was so surreal being lifted into the air... I had to ride up front with the pilot ( I had dog poo on my shoe and that is all I could think about was how bad it smelled) and the sky was so beautiful... so peaceful.... and yet at that very moment our lives were being turned upside down... we would live in the hospital for months... David would under go many painful surgeries...

Here is a post from a journal I started keeping the night after his accident.. It still makes me cry to read it.... keep in mind 3 weeks beofre the accident, Ben had very involved kidney surgery that kept us in the hospital for 2 weeks... we had only been home with him for 2 weeks when David got hurt.

Hi everybody,
I never thought in a million years that I would be doing another one of these pages.. let alone so soon, but they are a great way to keep everyone informed about what is going on. On Monday afternoon, we had a small campfire in the back yard which is something we have done from time to time with the boys. We're not really sure exactly what happened, we were all right there but it was one of those moments that just happens so quickly that its all a blur. David somehow cought his left leg on fire. By the time I reached him from maybe 20 feet away it was too late. I had to smother the flames with my shirt which I ripped off my own body. I knew instantly that it was really really bad. I started yelling for Ryan to call 911 which he did. Ryan kept it together for me in the first few minutes, getting the emergency vehicles dispatched, getting the kids in the house, and taking his own shirt off and giving it to me to cover up with.. (I only had a bra and jeans on) He then stayed with the other kids and cared for them until Dave got home. We were taken to the firehouse at Gardner Lake where David and I were Life Starred to The Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital. The entire trip took about 20 minutes, it was terrifying but comforting to know that we were getting to where we needed to be so quickly. The Pilot and paramedics on the helocopter were amazing and kind.. they kept me informed and gave David the upmost care.Once at teh hospital Trauma unit David was taken almost immediately into surgery. He has 3rd degree burns from his knee to his ankle completely around his leg. They had to cut the skin to prevent swelling from stopping circulation to his foot. I spent the hour he was in surgery, praying for his life.. It has to be one of my darkest times. I can't even type this without getting very emotional. I felt and still do feel very responsible for all of this, even though everyone has been so supportive and reassuring that I couldn't have changed it.Yesterday (monday) they changed the bandages and decided that he was ready to start skin grafts. So he was scheduled to go back to surgery this morning( Tuesday) to begin the grafting process. He was in surgery for 3 1/2 hours today and they took healthy skin from the tops of both of his thighs and grafted it to the burns. Now we Wait... not an easy thing... until Monday and pray that the grafts take and that they start to grow. David will possibly be in the hospital for a few weeks. They just don't know how fast he will heal, and if there will be any setbacks.. our 2 biggest enemys are infection, and the risk that the grafts won't take. Tonight I am home with the kids and Dave is at the hospital with David. We have been switching back and forth so that we both get at least a little rest and the kids get to see both of us. Everyne has been awesome with helping out here, we have friends and family who are babysitting, cooking, doing laundry, etc.. I appreciate each and every one of you. This is got to be the toughest thing we have been dealt and having the support of all of you has been incredible.I will try to update this page daily when I can. love, Vicki


What an incredible recovery it has been....

Had to share tonight.

~Vicki

Christmas Cookies...

These were taken Christmas eve... three kids with PWS and baking cookies!! They were having a blast... it was a "tad" OCD at times and VERY entertaining listening! I put Dad in charge of the mixing and overseeing the entire process while I manned the oven and did the dishes!
I did ask him at one point which recipe the beer went in! He said something about it being a "key ingredient!" hmmmm...
















Sunday, December 28, 2008

More Pony Pics....

I love this first one... Frosty kept getting too close to the camera while I was trying to take pictures! Nosey pony!!!




























Friday, December 26, 2008

This is what happens...

to you and your new Bitty Twins when you spend 2 whole days taking care of your new ponies....


More pony pictures tomorrow...

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Surprises...

What is that coming up our driveway on Christmas Morning?



Are THOSE Santa's Elves making a Delivery??? What on Earth is in that Trailer??



Santa's Elves brought Caroline her very own Ponies?!?!??!?




Caroline with Bear

Caroline with Frosty






David with Santa's Elves!

Ben with Frosty


Ok... Now the Story behind this Christmas gift!

About 8 months ago I put our application in to a program Called Personal Ponies. They are an organization who provides ponies to kids with Special Needs as companions. You can check out their website here... www.personalponies.org

We got a phone call a week and a half ago that these to were available and would we want them in time fro Christmas!?!? After trying to figure out the logistics of getting ready for them the week before Christmas, we decided to go for it! We workd non stop for over a week, building a stall in our barn, putting up electric fencing in a foot of snow, etc... to make it happen.

The woman who runs the program here in CT and her husband and 2 daughters packed the ponies up bright and early this morning and headed our direction. The ponies were all decked out with Christmas bows and Bells and the girls were dressed as elves! Sooo sweet! Caroline had abolutely no idea what was going on and was completely blown away when she realized what was happening. She didn't know that we had built a stall or put up the fencing... she was completely surprised!

Stay tuned for more pictures... I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas...

Love,

Vicki

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The Final Countdown....

Hi Everyone~

We are in FULL Chirstmas gear around here this week! I have been so busy I haven't had 2 seconds to write!

We got well over a foot of snow this weekend and the weather has been so cold! The kids had a snowday on Friday which put a huge crimp in my Christmas Shopping, so yesterday was the day. I left the house at 10am ( The kids had a 90 minute delay due to icy conditions) and didn't get home until after 4! I am done except for a few small things that I am heading out for this morning.

Stay tuned to Blog Family... we have big things going on here Christmas Day!! Some of you already know what the surprise is, so please keep it a secret here on the Blog for now.
I promise to post pictures as soon as I can on Christmas Day.
Dave and I have been working non stop to make this surprise happen in time for Christmas. We have had the help of a few of Santa's Elves too. I am s0 excited I can hardly keep it to myself...... But I'm gonna... so you will just hae to stop back and see what is goin' on here on Christmas Day!!!

If anyone wants to take a guess as to what the surprise is, please feel free to leave a comment... and No we are NOT adopting another Baby!!!

Love to all of you.
~Vicki

Thursday, December 18, 2008

EEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Christmas is in ONE WEEK!!!

I have SO MUCH shopping left to do it isn't even funny. Seriously... not funny.

The weather forecast is talking snow storm tomorrow... more snow for the weekend... more snow for Monday!!!!

Where are all of you with your shopping??

Good Luck!

V

Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Mother Letter Project



You all may remember me posting a long time ago about about the Mooney Family and their journey of 99 days with their son Eliot who had Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome.. see the video of Eliots life here. http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/570/99-Balloons
This story falls close to my heart, as 13 years ago this month Dave's brother Mike and his wife Kathy had a baby girl with Trisomy 13. Michaela was born/died just a few days after Christmas. Although I never had the chance to meet her, when I watch this video it makes me think of her.
Anyway.... instead of Christmas Gifts this year, the Mooney Family is donating the money they would have spent on gifts to charity. Matt Mooney is collecting open letters from Mothers to Mothers to give to his wife as a gift.

He is inviting all to participate by sharing their "Mother Story" with him to add to the collection.
Click on the picture above or the link in my right sidebar to read all the details.
Please consider participating in this wonderful tribute to Motherhood.
Have fun!
~Vicki

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Christmas Magic...

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year... I have collected so many special Christmas decorations over the years and I really try to have each one of them mean something to our family.


This year my favorite find is a story called "The Elf on the Shelf" Its a cute story that is about one of Santa's Elf's who comes to live at your house for the holiday season to see wether the children of the house are being "Naughty or Nice" He reports back to Santa each night and then before morning he comes back to your house and takes up a new place in the house for the kids to find him when they wake up. The set comes complete with a little elf that you go online and register with his own name. My kids are loving this and it is fun every morning to see where our elf is hiding! So... Here is "Maxwell" The Knopf Family's own personal line to Santa! Thanks Angie for the idea!! My Kids love this!!!






Here is my tree... I just wish I could block out the air conditioner behind it...



Our First Christmas


Ryan's Baby ornament... one of my all time favorites

from our cruise to the Cayman Islands 3 years ago

I'm not sure how this became an ornament, but it always has been...this was from the babyshower before Ben came home. It Says

"Finding a special child to love is more than a dream come true...I did not give you the gift of life, but it my heart I know The love I feel is as deep and real as if it had been so, for us to have eachother is like a dream come true! No, I didn't give you the gift of life... life gave me the gift of you.


This was from an ornament exchange on the PWS list years ago... made by Karen.. Aunt to Misty.



My Nativity scene, made by Dave's Grandmother and given to us on our First Christmas, it is sitting on the buffet sideboard that belonged to my grandmother who died last year.





Given to me right after David's accident 5 years ago


My Santa's with the print above that says "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"
This is a music box given to me when David was born.

These are a few of my favorites... stay tuned for more soon!!

peace..love..and light.

~Vicki~

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Cool School!!


East Lyme High School is Channel 3's Cool School of the week!

Tune in... Alex was interviewed for his participation in the cardboard boat race.. he had to build a cardboard boat for his engineering class.

Alex and Aric will be leaving here at 4am on Friday morning to be at the school when they go live on the air at 5am!

If you are local, tune in and watch for my guys!!!

Have a good day

~Vicki

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Quick Update...

Hi Everyone...
Sorry I have been MIA this week. I've been busy decorting, shopping and trying to survive some OCD issues (With Ben and David) that seem to crop up every year about this time!

We seem to have a bad case of the "Gimmies" here with Ben and David making their Christmas Lists... each is trying to out do the other and one gets mad if the other puts the same thing on their list.. it's exhausting.. really. Lastnight I finally told them to either put the lists away or I was writing to Santa to let him know about how they had been acting!
Well.... this put Caroline into tears and she wasn't even involved!!! She is worried that Santa might actually skip our house all together if the boys don't start behaving!!!

************!!!!PROZAC... TAKE ME AWAY!!!!**********

Anyway... I am off to the mall (for a gift for Hollister Boy) and to meet my sister for lunch.... I'm looking forward to a little sanity time... minus the trip to Hollister with the blairing music and the gobs of purfume!!! I may just run in... grab the first hoodie sweatshirt in a Large I can find.... throw some money at the counter and run out!!!!!

Stay tuned for some photos of my decorating efforts this week!! I love my decorations and my house looks so pretty right now!

Have a good day!!

~Vicki

Monday, December 1, 2008

14 Years Ago Today...

our world was turnd upside down and shaken to the core. 7 days later we heard the words Prader-Willi Syndrome for the first time and our lives were never the same again...

but what we had no way of knowing then, was that through the devistation of David's birth and diagnosis so many amazing things would come from it and what an awesome, terrific kid he would be!!

The song that is playing I used to play for David and dance with him... I would sing it to him and cry... I still get teary listening to it, this song really helped me to heal and knwo that he was going to be ok.


~HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY DAVID~







Then




Now