Therapy

Have I mentioned how much I *LOVE* Abby's therapists? Seriously, they are all amazing. I really enjoy taking her to therapy and seeing what they have in store for her that day.

She rides bikes...

She paints with pudding... (and then gets to eat it!)

She 'spray' paints... (this was cool - she had a spray bottle filled with paint and had to squeeze the trigger to get the paint onto her picture. She really liked this activity - she didn't want to stop so we got her a second picture to paint!)

Her fine motor skills are incredible. But she does so well with just feeling around and using her hands that she doesn't always use her eyes to look at what she is doing. It is harder to use both senses at once (touch and sight), so often she will only use one or the other. To force her to use both at the same time and work on her visual motor skills, she was given this task:

The tupperware had paint inside and the lid had a hole just big enough for the paint brush. If Abby wanted paint, she had to stick the brush inside the hole to get it. And she did great! Just like the toothpicks from a few weeks ago, she looked at the hole and stuck the brush right in. She is amazing!

Abby had some fun things to eat this week. We had pizza one night (one of her FAVORITE foods!). We haven't had pizza since she got home from the hospital because it just seems wrong to blend it up into a puree. That takes all the fun out of it! But now that she can have soft solids, I just pulled off the cheese and toppings and gave her pieces of the soft crust with sauce. That still takes the fun out of it, but at least it seemed more like pizza than a puree would. She did really well with it and we were excited. She also did great with pancakes, toast and butter, steamed carrots, steamed broccoli, soggy rice crispies, and some chocolate cake.

There have definitely been several days during the last few months when I felt like I was the one who needed therapy (as in counseling). But somehow something always comes along to boost me back up - loving words from friends and family, a passage of scripture, etc. A couple weeks ago a good friend of mine shared a quote with me from Elder Neal A. Maxwell:

"When in situations of stress, we wonder if there is any more in us to give. We can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or be wicked. Let us remember that we were measured before and were found equal to our tasks; therefore, let us continue with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not over-program us; He will not press upon us more than we can bear.”

I love this! It is something I already knew but needed to be reminded of. The very God that I have faith in, actually has faith in ME too, that I can do this. How empowering is that?

I also came across a cute saying this week:

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain."

That's exactly what we are trying to do.