Sammy at Now I Can

Now I Can sent this video a while ago and I keep forgetting to post it.  It's funny to watch this video after being home for a few months.  It brings me back to those long days...and I just feel so grateful.  Grateful for the therapists and staff who work there.  Grateful for a beautiful daughter who teaches me compassion, patience, and charity.  Grateful for friends, family, and strangers who help us get there.  My heart is full.

Watch the video HERE

Samantha's Doing Great

Wow.  This trip to Utah for therapy has been so much more than that!

1. Drive from California to Salt Lake City and stay with my friend for a week.  She has her baby a bit sooner than planned.
2. Come down to Provo.
3. Marcus flies into town for the weekend because Samantha is invited to be the BYU Football Team's Thursday's Hero!  Awesome
4. Since we're here, we travel a bit to try some alternative therapy for Samantha and my mom.
5. The Daily Universe (BYU's newspaper) comes to Now I Can to interview Tracey (founder) and interviews me about Samantha.
6. Buy some doTerra oils and sign up to be a consultant and seller.  If I sell some, great, but I signed up for the discount really.  We'll see how they work for Samantha.
7.  Oh yeah, and we're here for therapy.  Sheesh.  We've been so busy.

I can't believe we're already approaching the end of week 2.  I'm so glad we're here for 4 weeks.  Here are some changes in Samantha that I've noticed since being in Utah.

*  Samantha sleeps with her arms straight.  She has never done that before, but many mornings, when I pull her in bed with me, she lays flat.  Incredible actually since she is always so tight and curled up.
*  Though she is always pretty verbal (aka: loud), this wasn't a huge thing to me at first, but Sergio has said that she is more verbal with him during therapy than she's been in the past.  They "talk" back and forth more.  He said it seems more conversational.
*  The other night, she was crying.  I went in to see what was wrong.  She was saying "mommy."  I've never heard her say Mommy.  Mama, yes.  Mommy, this is a first.
* Overall, she is much calmer.  It surprises my mom and stuns Sergio!
*  She can hold a static position longer.  Before, she was unable to truly sit still in good form for more than 20 seconds.  Now, she is holding some positions for over 30.
* She is standing taller and straighter.
*  She is flat foot more often.
*  Her natural position is to have knees bent, tummy tight and tucked, slightly bent at hips, shoulders hunched, and arms bent.  Anywhere she can fold in, she will.  Those "bends" aren't as severe.
* Her hands seem noticably more open and relaxed.
*  I sat in the back of the car with her the other day.  She held my hand.  Not, Sammy-I'm-going-to-hold-your-hand-and-you'll-like-it, but she sincerely held my hand when I reached over for her.  She's never quite done it like this. 
*  Today, during her snack, at least 90% of the time, she picked up the food she wanted and got it in her mouth!  That is HUGE!  Yesterday, I was watching her struggle and I sad and frustrated for her.  Today, she was a new kid.  Here's hoping that sticks!  Nearly everything she went for, she picked up on the first try and got it in her mouth.  That's either huge progress, or starvation is a bigger motivator!

Seeking Normal

I feel like, over time, I've embraced the special needs life.  It has become who we are as a family.  We entered this strange community as soon as Samantha was born, and we cannot leave it.  We will always be a part of it, and it will always be a part of us.  And, that's ok with me.  At times, that seems so strange, so weird, that I embrace it like I do.  But, it was a clear decision that I made -- that I felt I needed to make. 

With that said, there are times when I seek "normal" -- I crave it.  Samantha just graduated from pre-school, and as ridiculous as I think pre-school graduation is, I think it's adorable!  I have seen preschool graduations on many of my friend's blogs, and it made me sad that Sammy's school didn't seem to have one.  There were no programs, no certificates.  She simply will move onto kindergarten in the Fall.  And that secretly made me so sad. 

The other day Samantha came home from school with this picture...

I can't tell you the joy it brought me.  First, because she's so dang cute.  But secondly, it fulfilled that part of me that wanted "normal," even if normal is ridiculous (at least in my opinion).  This picture, and it's just a picture, to me meant that my Sammy was having the same celebration of preschool as other kids her age.  It meant that she was moving on, graduating, to new adventures in her life.  And, that is something to be celebrated! 

I used to feel like these were conflicting feelings -- embracing our life while still desiring "normal."  But, I have realized that you can have both.  And it's ok to have both.  Wanting normal doesn't mean that I want Samantha to change.  That's really never been (at least in the past few years) what I want.  I just want her to have similar joys and experiences in life.  I want her to be treated the same, even if that's different.  Does that even make sense?  (sigh) 

Even if I can't articulate those thoughts, you got to admit that this picture is pretty cute and makes this mama pretty proud.  I love my little Sammy. 

Wow!

Sweatin' for Sammy -- 5k was a huge success.  Some of the highlights from the day, for me, include the following:





* Seeing Kelly Dippel there, ready to walk with her coffee mug in hand -- she had been up until 4:30am the night before, and was there ready to do this for Sammy!

* Being at Quicksilver at 6:30am, when it was quiet and peaceful (and cold) and feeling that surge of energy and excitement with simultaneous peace 

 

After the 5K family picture



* Knowing that volunteers were working at Hellyer Park in order to make this event free for us...incredible...knowing that they weren't with us at the 5K but off-site working for Sammy...feel a lot of appreciation for those guys.



Christine Valasco, our timing guru!

* When Jackie (who vounteered in our committee but has never met any of us or Samantha) met Sammy for the first time.  It was magical for me.

* Seeing Sammy in that oversized Sweatin' for Sammy t-shirt

* The incredible turnout (and the 40 additional people who registered the day of)

* Seeing the awesome banner that FastSigns donated -- awesome

Part of the Davis family.

* Being with my brother and his family who we don't get to see terribly often

* Meeting a woman who wants to hold her own fundraiser for Samantha

At the start line -- all ready to take off.

* Meeting a husband and wife who read about Samantha in the newspaper and decided to come out to donate and give us the blanket she made for Samantha (for the record, I LOVE this blanket and slept with it Saturday night.  I have to keep reminding myself it's for Samantha -- not me!)

* Getting to the top of that blasted mile long hill!

Our gorgous banner.

* Drinking ice cold water up at the top 

* Crossing the finish line with Sammy and seeing the crowd cheer and clap for her.  Quite emotional.

* Being surrounded by family

* Being surrounded by friends

* Being surrounded by strangers who were there for my little girl...humbling feeling

* All the volunteers!



Jen and I before people starting coming in.



* Seeing all the awesome t-shirts that said Sweatin' for Sammy.  It was just a cool feeling knowing that they were all wearing Sammy's shirt.

* Sammy totally happy during the walk/hike and yelling "Go!  Go!"

* Watching people get their medals at the end of the race

Kelsey Black, Sydney Black, Diane Black (event planner/coordinator/goddess), me, Jennifer Williams, Lori Ellington, Marty Judd, Kim Nelson, and Ranger Patrick right in the center.  I loved our ranger.  He was so helpful and made sure we had everything we needed.

* Amazed seeing how many people stayed after the race to just be there

* People taking pictures with Samantha in front of the banner

* Having Marcus by my side

Penni and Chad.  So much hard work from this fine lady!

* Announcing we have enough money for Samantha's 1st session of therapy and hearing those cheers!

* Going to Subway and Pinkberry after the race and seeing how many people were there.

* Talking to a man who participated and he, not knowing I was Samantha's mom, expressed how deeply he felt about the race (I did tell him I was Sammy's mom...and he gave me a hug)

Callie was such a good sport and had a lot of fun.  She took the microphone from Tom Pack and invited everyone over for a party.  The crowd liked that idea.  That's our Callie -- always up for some fun!

* The hugs from so many people

* The fabulous nap afterward!!!
* Callie taking the microphone and inviting everyone over to "my house" afterwards.



Trail of runners at the trail head

And that's just a few of the highlights.  It was an incredible incredible day.  I talked to my mom on the phone later that afternoon and tried to express some of the feelings I had there.  One thing that was overwhelming, was this sense of family.  There were definitely people there who I know and would call family -- aside from my actual family members being present.  And, of course, there were complete strangers there as well.  Yet, noone felt like a stranger to me.  They were all there for Samantha.  We had a total of 179 participants on the trail, in addition to our abundance of volunteers.  We were a large group, but we were small.  It felt very intimate.  We were on a hard trail, immersed in nature, walking/running/hiking/sweatin' for Sammy. 

As people have already discussed plans to do this again  next year, I think about all those who were there on Saturday and the intimacy of that event -- the closeness and the love -- and I feel so blessed to have been there with these people who were there in the beginning of, what I feel, is the beginning of a journey.

This 5K has changed my life.  Yes, it is helping us to cover therapy expenses, but it's more than that.  It has changed me.  To see not only the willingness, but the excitement, and, almost a passion, in these people -- all for Sammy -- it has changed me.  And I'm so excited for our next chapter. 

Thank you to all who helped, volunteered, attended, etc. 

The after-the-5K-party where Subway donated 15% to Sammy.  Pinkberry donated 20% -- didn't get a picture there, but we had a lot of people hitting up that frozen yogurt!

Amato's and More

Tonight I went to Amato's Pizzeria.  Let me just say, I was in awe.  First, yes...we did a Chevy's fundraiser back in April and the turnout was shockingly amazing, to say the least.  Tonight, while I was there, the crowd was smaller, but just a glorious.  I saw friends and family.  I met Mahmood, the owner of Amato's.  He is a kind and generous man.  To name a few things, he bought an acquaintance's shopping items in the checkout line once without her knowing it...until she went to pay and her bill ended up being $5.49 (when the value of her purchase was clearly much much more).  Another acquaintance was stranded and he drove up a rental car to give to her so she wouldn't be stuck.  There are plenty of other stories like this.  He's just a good man.

Mahmood doesn't know me personally, or Samantha.  When he heard about her, though, he decided he needed to get involved and whipped up this fundraiser.  He then told Kelly (I'll introduce her in a moment), "After tonight, I'll write a check for $500 in addition to whatever the fundraiser brings in."  I mean, really.  He also offered his restaurant to me for a silent auction, or anything else we would want to use it for.  This man beams charitable love and goodness.

I also met Kelly Dippel tonight.  She's a petite woman with a powerful drive.  This lady is incredible.  My friend, Penni Allen, decided that she needed to have a meeting with Kelly -- since Kelly was awarded Most Influential Woman in Silicon Valley a couple years back.  Now, it's obvious Penni has some drive of her own!  Kelly, once hearing about Samantha, got involved.  Her organization, Silicon Valley Cares, took Samantha on and got the word out.  They have their members participating in the run.  They are advertising it.  Their PR person, Cheryl Ryan, wrote an article that will be going in the Almaden Times on Wednesday (by the way, Cheryl was delightful...very warm and beautiful).  Kelly talked with Mahmood and instigated the shindig tonight.  Tonight, I met Kelly's other members on Silicon Valley Cares.  They are all like her -- kind, warm, generous, loving, wanting to make a difference in the lives of people living in their community.  I was so touched by their goodness.  And as they gushed over my baby girl, I was so proud to be Sammy's mom. 

I feel like a broken record saying this, but I feel like Samantha is so much more than this one child.  I feel like she is truly representative of the impact one child, one individual, can have on an entire community.  It's amazing for me to witness. 

So, tonight. Thank you to Kelly Dippel and her crew.  Thank you to Silicon Valley Cares.  Thank you to Mahmood and Amato's Pizzeria.  Thank you for loving my little girl and showing it through your service.  It has left a deep impression on our hearts.

My Biker Girl

Grandpa sure did it this time.  He made Sammy some adaptive bike pedals and bought sheer delight to both her and her mommy.  That's right.  Sammy'll be trying to ride a bike ladies and gentlemen.  Watch out!!!

Trying to push the pedals on her own.

Feeling like a big girl.

Well, we all fall down sometimes, right?

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Samantha and Callie's acting has yet again astounded us all.  We hope all your Christmases were merry this year.

Rylee's: The Reason to Snack

Ok, if I had my own chip company, I would totally do this...but alas, I do not. But luckily Rylee's family does. Rylee is a little girl, born with microcephaly. Her family created Rylee's Snacks and I'm so excited about this that I'm about to run to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to find out how to talk to their buyers and get Rylee's Snacks into their stores! Rylee's Snacks are kettle chips made preservative free, and all that other good stuff, and part of the proceeds go to the Foundation for Children with Microcephaly! How cool is that?!

I've always had a desire to do something really big for FCM...to raise awareness, to raise money, to...I don't know...make kettle chips and sell them to the world! I'm so excited for this family and for the larger-than-we-think "micro" community.

Hip hip hooray!

Read the article on it here.