Denver Diary: Our journey is nearing an end...

We have now been in Denver for 33 days and our journey is nearing an end.  We fly out very early Sunday morning.  As we are wrapping things up here I cannot help but feel a bit overwhelmed...overwhelmed by all that we have experienced through this huge undertaking.  It is hard for me to believe that after so much work, planning, anticipation, and yes - worry - that we are getting ready to head home for good.

We have experienced so many miracles...it is hard to comprehend all that God has brought us to see through bringing Cade here.  His therapy, though so super hard, has been such an unbelievable blessing.  We all have been stretched further than we thought possible, and we have made it through to the other side being so much stronger.  We have learned so much about ourselves here, so much about being Cade's parents, that it is simply impossible to put into words.

We will miss the STAR Center and all it has to offer...it made Cade's work so much easier!

Most importantly, we are bringing back a very different little boy than we left with in early July.  Cade has made remarkable gains here...he has learned coping strategies, how to communicate, ways to more appropriately play...he has worked so hard here without him even knowing it.  We have watched him go from a little boy who was frustrated almost all of the time to one that can bring himself out of his frustration with coping skills.  We have watched him blossom here...my heart is full from all that Cade has gotten from our time at the STAR Center.

Here Cade is bringing himself out of a meltdown...he is "retreating" to a place where he can have his "own space" -- much better than yelling and screaming!!

And we have learned how to play with Cade.  That may sound simply ridiculous...but playing with Cade needs to be so intentional because we are striving to retrain his brain.  And this has not been an easy job!  But we now know what avenues are the most important to take with him.  We have learned what we need to work hard to strive for, and what is simply not as important in his development.  I have watched Eric bark like a dog and "fetch" more times than I can count - and all without embarrassment, disdain, or regret.  I have watched Cade create new ideas with much more complication than I ever thought he would be able to do...and I have watched him be so excited about doing it.

Cade discovered some pom-poms...and introduced "Pom-Pom Fighting!"

J taught Cade how to play the game "Guess Who?"  I'm thinking it's going to be one of his favorites!

The next American Idol??

We will miss Julianna so much...she has been such a calm ray of light in the middle of this crazy, and sometimes seemingly relentless, process.  I thank God that he placed her right in the middle of Cade's life when he needed her the most.  I have watched him grow to truly love her, and I know he is going to forever hold her someplace deep in his little heart.  And I know that whenever we are struggling I can always pull from her advice that she has so richly given us, and hopefully be able to dig deep enough to find what I need.

Cade and "J" as he so affectionately calls her.

Having fun in the "Rainbow Room"

Denver has been remarkable.  We have grown so much, seen so much, struggled so much, and celebrated so much.  You all know that I am truly a Southern girl at heart, but I will always have such a special feeling for this place.  In the midst of all of its beauty and grandeur it surely holds some secret power that God placed right in the middle of the Rocky Mountains...I'm pretty sure that it will always draw me back for another, perhaps more relaxing, visit.

The mountain view...

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

But for now we are headed back to reality.  A different reality. We are headed back to the world where we must make everything flow smoothly, make sense of it as much as we can, and just keep on plugging along.  For as far as we have come here, we still have so far to go on our journey with Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism, ADHD, OCD, and many other labels that have found their way into our lives over the past year.  We are headed head first into a brand new school year -- the first as a "special needs family."  I will be entrusting my little boy to the hands of the public school PreK this year.  And I will be hopeful that he will encounter the love and support he needs to get his school experience off to a good start. 

But we are headed back with such a remarkable support system in place.  For in this journey, too, we have learned to lean on friends and family when the going gets tough  We have learned to not only accept blessings, but to truly rejoice when they come our way.  God has put so many in our path...those that helped us when our journey was just beginning and those that continue to be prayer warriors for us all along the way.  And those who have become true lasting friends, forever friends, bonded simply by our experience of trying to help our babies.  And God gave us Heather, our OT at home, who already has become such an important person to our family...I hope she is ready to "take the wheel" when we return!  To all, I could never say thank you enough for being a part of such a remarkable time in our lives...we will never forget the sacrifices and prayers you have given up for our little boy.

So goodbye, Denver.  Thank you for the special, magical time you have given my family here.  Thank you for the laughter, the memories, and the healing.  And most of all, thank you for helping to change the life of my little boy for the better.  You will forever be in my heart...

Cade and Eric at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre...Cade's energy never waivers!

Cade insisted that I take his picture with every purple trash can in Red Rocks park!!

Cade gave me a heart attack...his "no fear policy" is stressful sometimes!

Farewell Rocky Mountains...hope to see you again someday!

Denver Diary Day 30: The Squeaky Wheel

Cade is always the squeaky wheel...the one who everyone turns around and looks at and probably wonders about...the one who gets advice - sometimes out loud and sometimes just through a look.  He is the one who is considered demanding and hard...the one who sometimes struggles to keep a game going when the rules are not really what he wants or expects...the one who is sometimes hard to figure out.

It's hard to always be the squeaky wheel.  The squeaky wheel is the first to get noticed when he is climbing - on anything.  The squeaky wheel is the first to get the second look - the first to be called down and the last to be given the benefit of the doubt. The squeaky wheel is the first to be left behind the play huddle...and the first to be underestimated based solely on appearances.

Yes, he is the squeaky wheel.  But squeaky wheels aren't always bad.  Squeaky wheels still work hard to turn even though there is something causing them to squeak.  They are always heard and cause people to turn and look, only to show their stuff when the time is right.  Squeaky wheels are drawn to all other wheels, whether those wheels are squeaky or not, and still love to be around them.  And even the squeaky wheel is required in order for the vehicle to do it's job.

In the moments when I seek to make my little boy be somebody he's just not, I try to remember that he is actually exactly who God created him to be...and what he is doing is actually what God expected him to do.  He is fulfilling the mission on this earth just as God has planned for him at this moment in his life.  And my job as his mom is just to help the squeaky wheel remain on course, and maybe oil him a little now and then with love and support...and just to let God continue to use him for blessings.

Day 29: The dirty deed

**Disclaimer:  If you work, or have ever worked, as a shoe salesperson I hope you don't find this offensive.  For us moms out there...well, this is just the truth! :) **

Today was another day off from OT, and Cade woke up bouncing off the walls.  So since Eric had to get some work done I decided that he and I would take a field trip to the Super Target, and then go shoe shopping while we were there.  Why?  Probably because I temporarily lost my mind, but off we went anyway bouncing along the way!

Cade sitting on the huge "Target Ball"

Cade did great at Target -- he had a gift card from Nana and Pappy and was super excited to spend it!  He definitely has his father's "money burns a whole in my pocket" demeanor...there's very little saving from this kid!  But I always love it when he goes with his own money...and he is certainly much pickier then.  Today he settled on a kids' bowling set.  I was actually really happy with his choice...there is a mini bowling ball and weighted little pins that are big enough to actually let us play a "real" game. 

Cade proudly displaying his Bowling Set!

Then we went shoe shopping.  Now let me just say that this is about the least amount of fun I can have as Cade's mom.  First of all, shoe stores are NOT sensory-friendly.  In fact, I don't even think they are kid-friendly.  There are racks of shoes teetering on tiny little shelves, just waiting for little hands to swoop by and scoop them all to the floor.  And then there's those standing displays - you know the ones - little pieces of plastic that display the latest and greatest (and most expensive) shoes in the store...just screaming to a sensory kiddo like Cade, "Come on, buddy, climb on me!  See how high you can get!  Hurry on over!!"   I also adore how there's always only one employee working in the store when you go in to actually buy something - when you're just window-shopping they jump on you like white on rice.  But when you actually need their help it is all they can do to stop counting the endless pairs of shoes that for some reason they have piled a mile high onto the counter where you are supposed to pay and pry themselves back to the kids section, which, by the way, is ALWAYS in the back of the store.  I personally think the kids section of a shoe store should have a whole separate entrance and be completely encased with walls and doors where nobody but an adult can open it to get out.  And making the walls padded might not be such a bad idea...but I digress...

So we go into the shoe store, Cade proudly carrying two of his new bowling pins.  He really wanted to take in the ball, too, but I talked him out of that one, envisioning the nightmare that would be left behind in his wake.  So I say to the one man working in the entire store, "Can you help me?  I need to have my son's foot measured so I can make sure I buy the right size?"  To which Mr. Shoe Man slowly says something to the effect of "what I'd rather do is just stand here behind all of these shoe boxes and you can just take care of it yourself...the measuring things are in the back of the store in the kids section..."  I rest my case.  But he did assure me he would be there shortly to help me...we WERE the only customers in the entire store, so I'm not really sure what could have been more important than us at that moment, but whatever.  I herded Cade to the back corner.

Now it was around this time that I realized that allowing him to bring in the bowling pins was probably a really bad idea.  I was initially thinking they were perfect...they would keep his hands occupied and what harm could he do without the actual ball?  Mistake...apparently I had made a momentary lapse of "Sensory Mom Judgement" -- I KNOW Cade can find almost anything to do with anything.  So as I herded him to the back of the store he proceeds to use his bowling pins as drum sticks, and he plays a "tune" on every shelf on the way back.  Of course I know that this lovely symphony my son is creating will only delay any help from Mr. Shoe Man even more.  So I decide to take matters in my own hands.

I immediately rush around to find one of those dumb little measuring things for kids' feet.  Does anyone else think these things are ridiculous?!  I mean, not only do you have to make sure that your kid has his foot all the way back, but then you have to make sure that it's on the right side.  And then you have to attempt to decipher the zillions of numbers on the thing.  I mean, we live in America last time I checked...I have no idea why there are french/german/who knows what measurements on the measuring thingy.  And I am doing all of this, mind you, while trying to get my sensory-craving 4-year-old to just stand up tall and be still...while he is practically laying on the seat where I am trying to measure him, all the while continuing his "drumfest."

About this time lovely Mr. Shoe Man walks up.  I am practically laying in the floor trying to get Cade's foot exactly where it is supposed to be and see the tiny little numbers, while trying to figure out which ones are actual American measurements, all without my glasses mind you.  So surely Mr. Shoe Man will take over, right?  Wrong!  He simply stands over me and says, "You might want to turn him around to face you...it makes the numbers much easier to see."  What I say back to him, but only in my head, is, "You might want to stoop down here and do your JOB and measure my son's foot, because the longer we stay in your store the faster and louder this drumming symphony is gonna get!"  But instead I say nothing...I just turn Cade around and line his foot up. 

This brings me to the next ridiculous part of the foot measuring thingy.  Why, when your kid's foot lines up with the 10 1/2 line does the shoe man then tell you, "Well, it's close to the 11 so you'll probably need to get either an 11 1/2 or a 12."  WHAT?!  So basically I could have just blindfolded myself and pulled out a box and been almost as successful and the craziness of the last 10 minutes trying to use this dumb thing.  All I can say is it obviously wasn't invented by a MOM!!

It is at this point that I remember that Cade is wearing Crocs, and of course we are here to buy tennis shoes, which means I need socks.  Helpful Mr. Shoe Man says, "Do you have socks?"  to which I say, "No, but I guess I'll be buying some," to which he says, "You can use one of these," and hands me one of those ridiculous footie things.  I'm thinking, yeah right...I can see me getting that on Cade's foot.  I laugh to myself and say, "I probably should just buy socks because of the thickness" and head over to find the cheapest pack I can find.  Then I set about the task of helping Cade pick out some shoes.

Like most kids Cade is very visual, which means he picks out shoes based solely on the colors.  Usually this is a pain, but this time I find a pair of Nike's with a green stripe - one of Cade's favorite colors - and begin to scan the shelves for the right size...whatever that is.  I pull out an 11 1/2 and again herd Cade back to the seat to try them on.  By this time he has made it to the middle of the shoe store with his bowling pin serenade and isn't really that interested in stopping to try on shoes.  I finally get him back and pull the socks apart to get them on.  I am wrestling the socks onto his foot while he is reared back talking on the "phone" -- because of course I pick a seat for him that has an advertisement on the back with a picture of a giant phone.  He is telling who knows who all about the fact that he is shoe shopping and putting on socks and cannot talk right now.  I'm pulling out these gigantic shoes that literally look like skies on my little boy, realizing that an 11 1/2 is WAY too big.  I tell Cade to stay put (yeah, right!) and rush back to the shelf to get a smaller size (imagine that...he actually wears the size that the foot thingy measured instead of two sizes larger).  Of course when I return Cade in his sock feet are no longer there...I quickly find him on the next aisle and scoop him back up on the seat.

We finally try on the shoes and get them all tied up, and Cade is doing his "test run" from one side of the store to the other.  And about this time Eric calls.  He sweetly tells me that he sure wishes he could have gone (no duh...I sure wish that, too!), and that he really needs shoes.  So now, mostly because the store has a buy one get one half off thing going on, I am set upon the task of getting a new pair of shoes for Eric.  Cade, who has insisted that because these new shoes make him run really fast and even let him balance on one foot that he must wear them out, is very close to using up whatever is left of his shopping patience.  So we gather up the bowling pins/drum sticks, the socks and the package (half of which is stuck on Cade's face), and head over to the men's section.  I quickly found a pair that I thought Eric would like, knowing that he could return them later if he didn't, and headed up to pay and get out of here.

Now Mr. Shoe Man surely must have known that I was in a hurry.  But when I walked to the counter he meandered around those infamous mile-high shoe boxes...they were piled so deep I couldn't even get my purchases onto the counter.  He then tells me that Cade has to take off his shoes because he has to check the size.  WHAT?!  Man, I just spent a zillion minutes checking the size...why in the world would I buy two shoes with two different sizes.  But he must check, so I coax Cade to sit down while I remove his shoes to be checked.  Now Cade wasn't happy about this...he wanted to wear his shoes out, and taking them off wasn't on his radar screen.  He literally lays down on the floor in front of the counter while I plop down on the floor beside him.  I get them off and practically fling them at Mr. Shoe Man, who casually says, "Yep, they're both size 11," and hands them back.  I then wrestle them back on Cade's feet and double-tie them (because for some reason whoever makes shoes believes that kids' shoes must have 4 feet of laces...), then hand him my phone to watch a show on and send him to sit by the window. 

i am ready...I have my money out (which, by the way is a ton  now that Cade is in a bigger size...I will never understand why shoes are so expensive!) and am trying to wait patiently as Mr. Shoe Man painstakingly slowly completes my purchase.  I call to Cade, who by the time Mr. Shoe Man is finished is already doing another "test run" on his new shoes in the back of the store, then help him retrace his steps to find our bowling pins which have been traded in for a million other "finds" inside of the shoe store.  Finally we make it out!

One day I will find another way to complete this monstrous task before school starts every year (if anyone wants to volunteer feel free!).  But for now I am happy to say that the dirty deed is DONE for this year.  Now please, Lord, keep his foot the same size for a while, at least until May!

And here they are...

Denver Diary Days 27 and 28: What is normal?

So over the past few days as things have started to get better with Cade, Eric and I have been saying that our days seem "almost normal."  So that got me to thinking...what is normal, anyway?!  I mean, we all think we have our own normal...we go through our days doing what we think we should, usually keeping things basically the same.  And we figure out what we need to do to keep ourselves and our families "normal."

Normal for us isn't always the same.  I mean, I think we consider normal being that we will need to keep things minimally chaotic and make sure we have plenty of time for transitions.  And we know that we'll need to get plenty of activities in for Cade's sensory diet in order to make him more settled.  And we figure that we'll probably field a couple of meltdowns throughout the day, and try to redirect.  And certainly I will be digging Kai out of something he isn't supposed to be in to!

But although we can usually count on all of these things, I just wonder what we really consider to be normal.  Life certainly isn't what we expected, that's for sure.  And although we grieve for the life that we thought we would have - being the parents we expected to be - it seems that we have just settled in for the long haul.  And it's a haul that we've become familiar with, one that we've even embraced (at least most of the time!).  And even though it isn't always easy there are certainly always rewarding parts to it all. 

So today normal for us was a grouchy little 4-year-old, fielding a few meltdowns this morning, a calm evening with a sleeping child, and then feeding that same child a pb&j at midnight!  And I'm sure tomorrow there will be a new normal.  But I think that's not really a bad thing.  I think having our normal be different keeps us on our toes.  And it certainly keeps us always looking up -- which certainly cannot be a bad thing...

This is how Cade spent the entire afternoon...his "nap" turned into all-out exhaustion and he slept until just before midnight, when he woke up starving!  And now we're trying to get him back to bed...oh, the joys!!

Denver Diary Day 26: Non-expanding Recreational Foam

Today was a great day in Denver...the weather was fantastic (which is code for waaayyy cooler than Charleston, SC!!!), we had a fabulous breakfast made for us by a local company, Cade made some new friends, and therapy was a success.  But I guess today really started last night...that was when Cade fell asleep on his own for the first time in months!!  You have no idea the joy I felt when I turned around and saw him curled up with his blanket fast asleep under the covers!  I would say it was because he was tired, but I'm pretty sure staying up 24 hours like his episode last week constitutes as pretty tired, and he definitely wasn't falling asleep alone then.  Plus the same thing happened tonight, which has really made me think.  Cade was placed on an anti-depressant for anxiety during the first part of the year...we couldn't take him into a store without him worrying about people "looking at him" and he was really struggling.  Just a few weeks on the meds helped with that, so we were happy.  But looking back, especially after the crazy drug interaction that we just lived through, I'm thinking that the meds were probably the beginning of his major sleeping problems.  Don't get me wrong...he's really always struggled with staying asleep.  But it's only over the last several months that we have had the struggles with actually getting him to sleep.  I'm on top of that and will be investigating it further...but our main prayer is that the anxiety will not return and we can just forgo that medicine right now.

Today's therapy was excellent.  I can say that Cade met a huge new goal today.  He actually sustained playing with Julianna, Eric, and I for the entire length of the therapy session.  I'm talking for 45 minutes, folks!!  That might seem like nothing...but for a little boy that just two months ago couldn't walk into the room and even choose what to play, it's enormous!!  It was so much fun for all of us to actually sustain play with Cade.  He was able to generate ideas and situations, and was very articulate during the session.  The toy of choice?  The infamous NERF Gun...

Cade and Eric had a blast shooting together.

Cade decided to make a "birthday cake" with the NERF ammunition and everyone celebrated.

Cade was teaching me how to use the NERF Gun...and how to play his game!

So I have always wondered what in the world NERF means.  We all know what it is,,,but what in the world does NERF stand for?!  So I looked it up.  Here's some Jeopardy knowledge for you -- it stands for "Non-expanding Recreational Foam."  That definition made me think, and I believe NERF was made for sensory kiddos just like mine (ok, so probably not really, but just go with me here...).  You see, Sensory Processing Disorder is a lot like NERF.  It seems to be "non-expanding" - sensory kids have an extremely tough time expanding themselves in most situations.  "Recreational" -- well, everything about Cade is recreational...he never stops moving!  And then there's "foam."  When I think of foam I think of a soft cushiony place -- a place that is sometimes hard to bend but will always cushion your fall.  Deep down Cade is such a sweet soul.  He loves people, and even though many times he has a tough time showing it, when he does let you in to that part of him it is precious.  That part of him is a cushion...something inside of him can envelope you when you are able to tap into it.  And I do believe that one day, when we get his extreme sensory needs under control, he will be able to be such a great friend with a sympathetic heart -- a soft place to fall.

So I find it only fitting that today's success involved simply NERF guns.  And I know that in years to come I will be able to look back and rejoice in those little plastic play toys, knowing that they were such an integral part of my little boy's recovery.

Denver Diary Part Two: We have arrived!

We are officially back in Denver for round two of Cade's therapy at the STAR Center.  After the last week we have had I was very concerned about this one...Cade has had a very hard time regaining any impulse control.  After speaking with his doctor and finally determining the problem was an interaction of the two meds Cade was on, we have removed both of them in hopes of bringing him down from his "manic high" permanently.  She also gave us another medication specifically for meltdowns in hopes of getting us through the airports and helping Cade on the plane.

Cade was pretty unsettled from the start of our trip from Greenville, SC this time...he was pretty wild in the airport.  He quickly made friends with one of the airport security guards, never a good thing, after making a strong showing of trying to go unaccompanied up the escalator while we were attempting to get through security.  We made it to our gate and dispensed his "emergency meltdown meds," and sat back and waited for them to work.  Fortunately Eric had made arrangements with the airlines ahead of time so that they would allow us to board early, and we were able to get on the plane in Greenville before anyone else.

Well...we are still waiting for those "emergency meds" to work...they basically had no reaction and both plane trips were pretty tough.  Cade was completely resistant to the seat belt and sitting down in the seat was even a problem.  The poor lady who sat in front of him on the first flight, who thankfully was a very sweet grandmother, had to endure his feet randomly pushing on the back of her seat before I could grab them and redirect him.  The second flight was a bit better, but only after the first hour which he spent trying to get under the seat and sitting on the armrest against the window.  We discovered that even on a 3 1/2 hour flight they do not serve a snack (another pathetic attempt of the airlines to "save" money...), so we bought him an $8 snack box consisting of goldfish crackers, salami, pretzels, and a few other things and paid the $7 for him to watch DirecTV on the flight (ok, so I'm admitting that I let him watch "Spongebob" -- I was desperate, ok?!).  After consuming the food and watching for a while he fell sound asleep and continued to sleep until we were almost all of the way to Baggage Claim in the Denver airport.

It was almost 11:00 pm before we made it to get our rental car...another ridiculous event thanks to AVIS car rental and their two attendants with 25 people in line...but I am thrilled to report that we are in the Ron McD House again!!  Our friends met us when we arrived -- there is something to be said about being welcomed!  We were exhausted but just glad to finally be settled!


Cade is checking out the sites from the window of our rental car bus.



Today was our first day back at the STAR Center.  I was extremely wary...Cade has been so "off" for the last week I wasn't sure what to expect.  I met with Julianna prior to Cade seeing her for our first Parent Meeting and filled her in on all of the craziness that had occurred.  After our meeting Eric brought Cade to see Julianna for his therapy...and he was sound asleep from an apparent meltdown.  Cade is still having potty issues and there were problems at the park which ultimately led to them leaving to change Cade's clothes...hence the meltdown that led to complete shutdown and sleep.  Of course that added to our worry about how he would do with Julianna today.  This was how we started...

I left Cade, Eric, and Julianna to meet with our psychotherapist, fully expecting that we would be rescheduling his OT for another time.  I was so surprised and thrilled when Julianna met me in the hallway to let me know just how well Cade had done...what?! 

In case you missed it...Cade wakes up, looks up at Julianna, and says, "Did you miss me?"  So my heart melted just watching this! 

And in case there was ever any question about whether Cade loved his "J"...

An unsolicited hug is HUGE from Cade!!  I was so excited to see that he truly was so happy to see Julianna and had enough regulation at this point that he was able to relate to her, must less actually show her some affection. 

So tonight we are thanking God that whatever craziness that Cade has endured over the last many days that He chose today, on the day that we truly needed it, to begin to reverse the effects the meds have had on Cade.  And yet again God has shown Himself and given us a complete miracle. 

When we walked in to the Ron McD House room last night this is what we saw on our wall:

ENOUGH SAID!!

For Such a Time As This...

Tonight I have a heavy heart.  Not totally sure why, other than all of the craziness that's been going on over the last week.  But I think it has to do with school starting.  Everyone is getting ready to send their kids back...school supplies have been bought and lunches have been packed.  It's really an exciting time of year.  Kai is super excited to start back -- he has Ms. Teri and already loves her!  I'm praying that excitement will continue on through the first day when he actually has to go! 

But I am still so unsure about things with Cade this year...where he will go, and then what it will look like when he actually gets there.  We have been frantically trying to talk to people and make decisions.  Tomorrow morning we are going to orientation at the public school for PreK.  I just cannot get peace that public school is the best place for him right now.  Don't get me wrong, they can definitely provide the best accomodations for him...mostly because they have to.  But I guess I was just hoping, really thinking I would be pretty sure by now what was best.

I know many of you have prayed for us throughout our journey with Cade.  I reach out to you now and ask that you pray again...pray first of all that I have peace about where to send him this year.  And pray that wherever it is it will be the right fit for Cade...I am so worried that he will just be lost in the shufffle.  It was so hard to turn him over to his teacher at 18 months when we sent him 2 mornings each week.  It is so much harder now...I feel like I cannot tell them enough about what he needs, how he makes it through the day, what works best for him.

Last Thursday Cade and I went to the public school so he could get screened for PreK.  We walked into the classroom and I immediately saw Cade get totally overwhelmed -- his eyes scanned the room and he began to move from one spot to the other.  The screener just kept saying, "Over here to the table, Cade...you've got to come over here and sit down.  You can play with those things later, but I need you to come to the table."  All I could think was "Please just give him some time to acclimate to this new room and all of the 'busyness' in it..."  Sitting down at a table to do anything is super hard for Cade, especially in a classroom full of new things with someone he doesn't even know.

Please pray that his teacher just "gets" him -- that she will understand what makes him tick and just roll with it.  Please pray that the other kids get him, too...that they don't think he is just the "weird little boy" who chews and licks and runs all over, but that he really can be a great friend if you just give him a chance.  Please let there be little boys like Mason and Noah and Wiley, his best buddies from years past, who just took him where he was and loved him anyway.

I wish I could just protect him forever...just tuck him inside my wing and keep him safe from all that this great big world is going to throw at him.  But I know that really isn't best...I know that I must let him fly, even though his wing is broken and it takes him a little longer.  And I do know that many years from now we will look back on this year and just marvel at where he was and where God has brought him to. 

A song comes to my mind that I love called, "For Such a Time As This" by Wayne Watson.  It basically says that we were placed on the earth for such a time as this - whatever it is that is happening right now.  I truly believe, I know, that God has prepared a teacher and little friends just for Cade right now at this time in his life...for such a time as this.  I just need to take a deep breath and trust Him.  So I made this little video for him, for all of us...just so we can remember that no matter what is happening right now we are in the spot we need to be -- for such a time as this...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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