Nate has been busy

So what has Nate been up to the last month.  

He had his 3rd Fourth of July.  He thought it was great.  We went to the Los Altos 4th of July extravaganza where Nate got to hear a live band, wave an American flag and get a real close look at a turtle, which he thought was hilarious.  What he didn't think was so hilarious was at the pool party that afternoon....when he took a dive into the pool.

Nate was in his trusty fire engine floaty having a blast when something slipped and suddenly Nate was over the edge of his floaty and completely underwater.  We had always assumed this would be instant drowning for Nate but I yanked him out and (after a panicky moment) despite being completely freaked out he was fine.  So we cleared out his tube, suctioned him and I brought him back in despite his protests.  He ended up loving it.

Nate has also spent some time with cousins.  He loves his cousins.  Sometimes he just loves them a bit too much.

Adorbsies moment of the month was Callie having a walk with Nate outside Grammy's house.  She pushed him a few houses down and back and if we hadn't had to leave they would have wanted to keep at it.

He loves to sit on the bench in the back yard.  He apparently also loves to pretend fish with Callie.  I made him gut his own pretend fish though and that seemed to turn him off the idea.

Nate built and painted a train his Grandpa gave him for his birthday.  He's been asking us to let him paint it for months.

He managed to become not one but TWO superheroes.  I don't know where he finds the time but a kid with SMARD is the perfect secret identity.

He's been busy.

 

 

Daddy

I think the day Nate was born was the best day of Scott's life (our wedding day was way too hot to be in the running).  Scott was so, so excited to become a dad.  He wanted kids sooner and in greater quantities than I would ever even consider.  When Nate came along, he was the happiest new father I've ever seen. 

 

I think Scott's greatest strength as a human being is the way he embraces his role as a father.  I mean, he's really, really good at it.  And being Nate's father is extremely hard work in every way something can be hard work.  Nate's condition taxes you physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and every other -ally out there.  But Scott's love for and sense of duty to Nate is way bigger than any of that. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see Scott, Nate, and his vent sitting down way out there?  Scott was bone-tired by the time they got to that point.  And there was still a very long way to go to get to the water.  And Nate is SO heavy these days.  And his vent is heavy.  And it was hot.  And the sand was hard to walk in.  But Nate wanted to dip his feet in, so Scott took him to the water.  That's the kind of dad Scott is. 

 

I don't really know what else to say except that I really believe that Scott is the perfect dad for Nate, and I hope that someday Nate will be able to catch even a tiny glimpse of how lucky he is.

 

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

The van. And thank you.

Meet the newest member of our family, Bill.

I am in no way a "car person" but I love this car so much I want to hug it every time I see it.  It has literally changed our lives.

Check out that ramp coming down with just the push of a button on our keys.

Ta-freakin'-da!

The whole floor of the van is lowered so the ceiling height is fantastic.  Scott and I can both practically stand up in there.

Nate's wheelchair can act as his carseat.  We just lock the wheelchair base in and that's that.

 I like when he uses his wheelchair because his cute little face is right there behind me while I'm driving.

But we still use his carseat sometimes, too.  It's so easy to push his stroller into the van and put him in.  We used to have to practically throw him into his carseat in our sedan and bumped his head almost every time.  

One of the best things about the van is that it has power outlets for all his machines.  This is how we were able to go on our first road trip.  

You could probably guess that an awesome van like this comes with an awesome pricetag to match.  We never, ever could have made this purchase without the help of so many generous friends and donors.  We are grateful every single day for those of you who helped make this dream a reality for us.  

Nate gets to leave the house so much more now.  He's safe and comfortable getting in and out of the car.  We can be out for more than a couple of hours.  We can go on vacation!  Very simply, life is just better for Nate and for all of us now.  And our car could eat the rest of those non-accessible minivans out there on the road.  

If you participated in our bike ride last year, bought tickets to the BYU/SJSU football game, donated to the Fundly page, or contributed to Nate's special equipment fund, you made this van possible for us.  We cannot say thank you enough!