Good Bye and Hello!

Today marked the last day of our physical therapy, yesterday was the last day of speech therapy, and Friday is the end of special therapy. He will be moving on to a new program in January since he is turning 3 this week. I thought that I would be glad for therapy to come to an end. It will be an end to driving to Marshville back and forth and quick cleaning my house before the therapist gets here and I thoroughly embarrass my self. But it has been incredibly sad. These therapists have blessed us so much by their love for Sam and dedication to see him improve. This program has been such a huge help for us when we were so unsure of how to help Sam. I cannot thank them enough. I felt so silly trying to find them gift cards in small amounts. How can you repay someone who loves your child and cheers them on to new levels? Today, as we were leaving his therapy session, I just started to cry having to leave them. Don't worry, they all have seen me cry many times. I guess that is another reason why it is hard. They know and understand the difficulties Sam has faced and the ones he will face. They have heard my worries and my hopes for Sam. Thank you God for bringing each of them into our lives! My mission is to get the word out about this wonderful program so that it can help other families as much as it has helped us.

Sam has finished up all evaluations and has been placed in a class starting in January. He will be going to "school" Monday through Friday and will be receiving his therapy there. He will be eating breakfast and lunch there. I was able to go and visit last week and was very impressed. This is a tough decision to make but we feel that this is the best for our Sam. I have heard so many great things about this program and wonderful testimonies on how much it has helped different children. So, we are going to give it a try. But we are sure that Sam will love this especially since the room is like a huge playroom with an art center, a music center, cars, and balls,etc... The teachers were very nice and seemed to love what they do. But. it's still going to be incredibly hard to send him.

A Busy Week

The past few weeks have been so busy with appointments. We have practically lived in our car. Tomorrow, we will see the airway specialist who will review Sam's x-rays. Then, we will be visiting the school that Sam will be attending in January. I can't believe that my little Sam will be going to school. This breaks my heart and was such a hard decision to make. I feel like we are trading in his early years at home with me for therapy. I met with 6 therapists last week at the school so that they could evaluate him. I was filling out papers and they were discussing and analyzing Sam's every move. It was a little overwhelming but they did do everything that they could to make me comfortable. They were all very nice. I did voice my concerns and hesitations in committing Sam to this program but they did explain something to me that I had not thought about before. That yes, Sam will be receiving lots of intense therapy now, but the goal is for Sam to not have to receive any by the time he reaches school age when he will notice that he is different. On Thursday, we will be meeting again to hear their recommendations for what kind of services they feel will best help Sam. Please continue to pray for his development. His speech needs so much work and we have yet to figure out why he cannot yet speak very well. I know that Sam has such a great future and God's hand is on him.

Lastly, I wanted to ask you to pray for this family. I have been reading her blog for quite a while now and am always so blessed and encouraged by what she writes. I do not know her but just came upon her blog when doing a search on symptoms that Sam was having. Sam's problems do not even compare to what they have been through with their son. Her son's name is Noah and he needs your prayers. They have been through so much and his health is not good. Yet, they continue to praise our Lord. They do not have a diagnosis yet for their son but he is in the hospital and not doing too well. I promise that you will be blessed if you are able to read her blog. I think that they have 7 kids with one on the way. It's funny how we come across certain people that the Lord writes on our heart and this is a child that I have on mine. Please pray for Noah's healing!