Category Archives: Special needs children

Gideon’s New Wheels

Special needs children, , , ,

If you follow our family’s journey on social media, then you know we attended the Abilities Expo in early December. This expo has a wide variety of venders that offer an ever wider variety of equipment, supplies, services, etc. for people with disabilities.

While we were there, I rode something called The Duet. It’s an adaptive bike that allows me and Gideon to ride together. The front half is a wheelchair fastened to a modified bike; but the wheelchair can be detached and used independently! How cool is that?

Duet Wheelchair Bicycle Tandem Duet Basic model
image credit: https://www.mobilityaccess.com/duet



I knew I wasn’t going to talk my husband into purchasing it… I mean, after all, the basic bike starts at 5k. As we left the expo, I felt like a piece of my heart was attached to that silly bike. I say silly because the bike isn’t necessary. It’s a luxury item. One that most families simply cannot afford.

Why did I have such a strong desire for this thing? I think my heart longed for what the bike represented- inclusion. You see every time we take a family bike ride, it’s not really a family bike ride. Someone always has to stay behind with Gideon. My desire is for him to be included in everything we do if at all possible. And this bike would make it possible!

Well…

Not very long after I posted that video, some people we love dearly got together and bought Gideon that bike for Christmas!!! They just bought it! I’m still in disbelief and still moved to tears over this. It’s such a huge gift! And while I would love to share their names, they’ve asked to remain anonymous. They want no credit for giving Gideon the gift of inclusion…and fun! It makes me love these people even more.

So hopefully we will have some random warm days this winter. (We do live in Texas.)

And as we do, watch our social media sites for videos of Gideon’s new wheels!

Thanks for following our family’s journey.
Thanks for loving Gideon and cheering him on.
He will be turning 10 on January 18th!!!!!!!

My 72 year old father took him for a ride.

Christmas 2022

Faith & Hope, Parenting, Special needs children, , , ,

It’s hard to believe this is our 9th Christmas with Gideon. After his diagnosis, I never thought we’d get one Christmas with him; but here we are celebrating the birth of Christ for the ninth time with our little man!

I’m not gonna lie. This Christmas was rough. Kevin and I were up till 1:30 am getting all the things ready. Like usual, we waited until the last minute to assemble ride toys & electronics. But it’s never been that big of a deal…. until this year. Unfortunately for Kevin, Nya’s ride toy might as well have come from IKEA. Kevin spent hours building that thing from the ground up. Meanwhile, the new electronics proved my age and left me feeling uneducated.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

We laughed while saying all these things should come with a disclaimer on the box that says, “Estimated assembly time- several hours.. Do not attempt on Christmas Eve!”

We were asleep for just over an hour when Gideon woke up with a dirty diaper. Did he go back to sleep? Nope. Not until 6:30 am. The word exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe us at this point.

Of course our other children were up around 8 am. Praise God for Laynie! She made the littles Christmas pancakes (red and green with whipped cream and sprinkles), giving us an additional hour of sleep. God knew we needed her first in the birth order! Could you imagine if Josiah was our oldest!? Lol.

Christmas 2022 was the first Christmas we opened presents without Gideon present. He slept till noon and we felt bad making the other kids wait for him. Plus, he still doesn’t grasp the concept of opening a gift. He hates the feeling of paper and would much rather just be held. So it worked out.

Nevertheless, guilt (and fear) hit me hard as I watched my babies open their gifts while Gideon slept in. It was a visual reminder of what Christmas will look like one day, when Gideon is gone. It’s not a thought that enters my mind as much anymore because Gideon continues to defy the odds. But every now and then, especially when deprived of sleep, my mind goes there and I have to remind myself of the promises of our God.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light & momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts you.” Isaiah 26:3

“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” Hebrews 13:14

The truth is that none of us are promised tomorrow. Even though I may think Gideon’s life is shorter than most, any one of my children could be called home first. It’s why we love big every day. It’s why we seek reconciliation and forgiveness quickly. It’s why we make the most of Jesus as well as every single moment we have, whether it’s a holiday or not.

Jesus is the reason for the hope that we have.

Lord, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. -Psalm 90:12

Mother-Son Dance 2022

Faith & Hope, Special needs children, ,

The daddy-daughter dance rolls around every January and for the past 2 years Josiah has expressed how “unfair” it is that he can’t go just because he’s not a daughter. 😂

So you can imagine my excitement this year when I realized that there is a Mother-Son Dance, and apparently it’s every September! So this past weekend I had the opportunity of taking Josiah for some much needed one on one time.

He ran back and forth- playing golf, dancing and snacking. He finally got tired enough to get his face painted. Then he played more golf and did more dancing. The funniest part is when he picked his tattoo. I didn’t have my glasses so I didn’t see the tiny writing above his choice of hearts. (I honestly thought it was a squiggly decorative line.) As the guy was airbrushing the hearts on his hands, he asked me, “You don’t want the Bad Girl airbrushed, right?” I almost spit my drink out! Obviously I didn’t see that! Everyone around the table had a good laugh.

And while we had the best time ever, my heart was conflicted because we didn’t take Gideon with us. I bought 3 tickets with the intention of taking both boys; however Gideon hadn’t been feeling well and about hour before we left, Josiah asked if it could just be the two of us.

My heart was broken for both boys. Kevin reassured me that Gideon would most likely rather have time with me in the hot tub later and that Josiah would benefit from my full attention on the dance floor. I couldn’t argue with that. Nevertheless decisions like these seem minor to some, but are hard for me as a mother.

Balancing the needs of multiple children is tough and when you add in a child with special needs the weight at times feels unbearable. I’m thankful we serve a God who carries us when we feel overwhelmed.