I can’t believe we wrapped up equestrian therapy a week ago for the year. The sessions have been incredibly awesome for Jordan this Fall and I hate to see it go. In the final session for the year, Jordan had a chance to earn a medal. And of course, she was very proud.

I think this last session was her best ever. She got to work with her favorite horse Thunder and use her helper arm to its fullest. By the end, she was getting really good at using her arm with the reigns. I captured her best reigns picture a few weeks ago:

The funniest part about our final session was how Jordan decided to flirt with one of her side walkers… It was super funny to watch. I actually had to interrupt the flirting to remind her that she was there to learn how to ride with Thunder, not how to improve her flirting skills.

Once again, I allowed life to keep us busy and I haven’t updated enough here. I have noticed that when I’m busy, I tend to share tiny moments online on Facebook and that gets republished onto  Twitter.

While I wasn’t posting enough here, Jordan continues to wear her helper arm at school every day. This past week, she also wore her different arms to her extra activities. At dance, I put her in her shortest straight arm with her bouncy hand so she could come closer to putting her “hands” together during pirouettes. She had actually talked about wanting to wear her helper arm at dance but she put up a heck of a fight leading up to class. I worked out a deal with her: she needed to wear her arm just for ballet and she could take it off during tap. A funny thing happened. She wore it the whole time and told me she told me she was glad she wore it after class. That was cool.

Equestrian therapy was another awesome helper arm moment. Jordan was using the reigns with her elbow arm (which has a hook that opens and closes). She was switching between her hand and her helper hand. It was so great. After class, the therapist got Jordan to announce she’s going to try riding with BOTH hands this week.

Soccer was a little tricky. She used her activity arm – it’s longer and doesn’t have princess fabric on it – it has pink and purple hearts and for some reason it isn’t pretty enough. A friend gave me the idea to let Jordan pick out some princess stickers to add on the arm. That might inspire her to wear it more. At soccer, she was trying to bounce the ball with her knee and bounce with her head. I’m not sure if her arm was helpful or not. But I know the extra arm is great for balancing while she runs.

I’m proud of Jordan for expanding her uses of her arms and hands. Now if I could turn off her automated desire to protest her helper arms and then we’d have a great thing.

One other great thing – I upgraded this site. You can’t really tell. But it should be available on any type of phone when you to go to bornjustright.com on your web browser. I hope you like it!

We had another successful day at equestrian therapy! Today was her second session since getting her new elbow helper arm. So she got to wear it with Thunder the horse.

I don’t know proper horse terminology but she held on with both hands with leather handles attached to the saddle. But when it came to using the reigns, she wanted to work on it with one hand.

After talking to the therapists who work with the riders, they think Jordan should continue wearing her arm to help with additional balance while riding her horse. Our little horse rider was proud and as usual, had a great time.

Jordan is back on her favorite horse Thunder this Fall. I’m so excited for her. This is her fifth session with the local therapeutic riding stables. We love it there, I love the people who works there and Jordan smiles such a huge smile with her favorite horse. This session I was pretty sure we weren’t going to be able to participate because I signed up late. Somehow we were able to sneak into a Friday afternoon session. Jordan not only got to participate, she still got to ride her favorite horse.

Jordan’s first Fall session went really well. She is working with new physical therapists and was able to show off everything she’s learned. The time she spends with Thunder really helps her learn her core strength and it helps her feel a balanced stride. The pictures really show how straight she sits and how confident she is. It’s super cool.

Jordan wrapped up another awesome Spring equestrian therapy session. She scored and AWESOME huge ribbon to celebrate her great work. She was so super proud and extra excited to get a ribbon that was blue. She missed her class last week when she fell into a five-day stretch of a strange high fever that would come and go with no other symptoms. I’m so glad she got out of that strange virus in time to enjoy her final equestrian class this season. We’re hoping to jump into the class again in the Fall.

After class we ran to pick up Cameron from school. Jordan and I enjoyed the day by walking to school to snag her brother. On our way back, a little boy walked up to Jordan and said she looked weird. I didn’t let that hang in the air. I stepped in and immediately said how Jordan was born with one hand – that’s not weird. It is different, but we’re all different. I totally stepped on Jordan’s opportunity to say something herself… But I just couldn’t allow a five or six year old calling my daughter weird. After I talked to the little boy he turned from shocked to super interested and not scared anymore. But this does bring up the challenge of when should I stop stepping in and just let Jordan take over. The mommy bear in me is going to have a hard time holding back.

Jordan had a super cool opportunity today. She was invited to represent her therapeutic riding center at a horse show by handing out ribbons to the winners.
The equestrian event was a fundraiser for the center. Jordan got to hand out ribbons for all kinds of horse riding styles. She loved the power of handing out the awards and she loved seeing and meetings so many horses and horse riders. I planned on being there for two hours, we stayed for four!

By the time we left, she thought she owned the equestrian center. She helped open and close the gates and wouldn’t really listen to anyone without her setting up her own terms. Clearly she missed her nap. Apparently the more tired she gets, the bossier she gets.

Jordan’s new thing to say when she sees me at the end of her school day is: “Where are we going next?” We’re so schedule-packed that when we don’t go anywhere she’s disappointed.

I’m trying so hard to try and calm our lives down. Last week I canceled trips to the gym so the kids could just be calm, eat a slow dinner at home and go to bed at a normal 8:00pm-ish time instead of the closer to 9:00pm-ish time that I don’t like… not one bit.

I used to think parents with over-scheduled kids were obnoxious. Now I’m trying to find ways to avoid that. I want my kids to explore activities. I want them to find things they love to do. I also want to find time to exercise… and sometimes that happens to be during times where Randy is still at work so the kids have to stay out too late during one of my exercise classes. The kids are on the go. Jordan is missing most of her nap on Thursdays to attend equestrian therapy. She dances on Saturdays. Her brother just wrapped up football season and is now moving to soccer and piano. Swimming? Yeah. The kids should be taking swimming since we made progress this summer.

I’m over-scheduling the kids! It’s a new thing to feel guilty about it!

By the way… tonight Boo wouldn’t go to sleep. She just kept squealing and singing until I had to remind her FOUR TIMES that it was bed and and maybe she should quiet down and go to sleep. I’m not sure what got her all excited about life tonight, but it was super funny.

I know this sounds cheesy… But Jordan wrapped up her little dance class for the school year and I’m feeling a little nostalgic about it all. It was a small class that met on Thursday mornings since last September. She’s had a chance to learn the basics of dance, improve her balance and overall jumping and bouncing abilities and really get to know some new friends. The girls are close from spending all of that time together dancing and giggling and just being girls.

I had a chance to really get to know a few moms and have a good time talking with them… And now our girls are grown up enough to move out of their little beginner class and dance with the Creative Movement class. That’s where 3-5 year olds dance together before they graduated into Kinder Dance. Craziness.

Anyway. I’m proud of the photo I got of the girls. They are all beautiful and they all felt like posing after their last class. Miss Jordan looks smug and proud to be who she is. Most of my friends say this picture proves she’s trouble… and they’re probably right. Either way, the girls move up with the other kids this summer for a short five week class before they return in the Fall. I think it’s probably worth keeping up with the dance experience as long as Jordan loves it the way she does.

This evening we’re meeting with Jordan’s case manager with the county program that helped provide funding for Jordan’s prosthetic arm and equestrian therapy. We’re looking into possible funding for a summer camp that invites families with kids who have limb differences to have fun for a few days. This year Camp No Limits is holding a camp in the St. Louis area and I’d hate to miss that opportunity. We’ll see if we can go. It’s a pretty steep expense if you take the whole family… so Jordan and I may be the only ones who can afford to go. We may also be able to sign Jordan up for another equestrian training class. Her first one ended this past week as well. She LOVED every bit of it. I’ll let you know how the visit with our manager goes. I’m so grateful to have access to support for our girl so we can give her some of these awesome opportunities.

By the way, that’s a picture of Jordan feeding Thunder, the horse she rides during equestrian therapy. She won the prize for “Best Trotting” in her final class. So now she has a big purple horse ribbon to show off with pride.

Jordan is brave. We’ve known that for a while… but HOLY COW did she prove it over the weekend. Her brother had a huge birthday party celebration at a local indoor playground. It’s a super large version of what my gym has… and the gym playground has clearly given her the bravery to do ANYTHING. While I coordinating the party, Randy kept watch on her. He says she did anything and everything it took to climb and slide and bounce and enjoy herself. I’m so darn proud. My friend Aurora was able to catch a piece of video of Jordan all the way at the top of the play area.

I also captured a moment of Jordan trotting with her horse, Thunder this past week. It was freezing outside, but Jordan didn’t complain. She did a really good job staying upright and centered on the saddle. It makes a Momma proud.

In other news, I’m wondering if there’s something the online community can do. The Shriners Hospital system isn’t able to raise money like it used to… And some of its hospitals are closing. It’s possible others will close soon. I learned about it from the Chaos and Mayhem blog. It looks like Shriners hospitals in Erie, PA, Galveston, TX, Greenville, SC, Shreveport, LA, Spokane, WA and Springfield, MA will close. According to Modern Healthcare, Shriners lost $3 billion due to the weak economy. Operations in the rest of the hospitals need to be trimmed by 20 to 30 percent. There are petitions out there to keep these hospitals running… But what will make that happen is money. I have only visited Shriners once, but it’s amazing what these hospitals do. I’m hoping to work with them to meet more families and children for Jordan to meet. Our closest hospital is two hours away… but some families have to travel across states to get there. Shriners are one of the few sources of inexpensive and free care for kids with all kinds of physical challenges. They do wonderful things and I’ve been lucky to work with them. If you’re able to give anything, here’s a link to donate to Shriners.

Miss Jordan is a natural with horses. It’s so cool to watch. She had equestrian therapy this afternoon and I got to watch everyone oooh and ahh about her ability to sit very upright even when she’s trotting with the horse. By the way, Jordan’s horse’s name is Thunder. She did so well today that her teacher let her feed Thunder a carrot. If it was so freaking cold outside I think Jordan would have been even more excited. Either way, she was thrilled. It’s a wonderful experience to watch such happiness from all of the kids taking part in the therapy.

We’re lucky to be able to take part in a county program that is paying for this class. Jordan’s fortunate to be able to get support here and there. This is a very cool opportunity.

Speaking of cool… It looks like there’s a meet up in the works this summer for limb different families in Missouri (and other states if the families are interested in the travel) to spend time together. I’m super excited. Our family is also looking forward to meeting up with a Sammy’s Friends family in a couple of weekends while I am in St. Louis to speak at a conference. Spending time with other families is one of the greatest feelings… To see our kids live a happy and regular life just like anyone else. And I’m so proud to see how Jordan is growing and learning everything she needs to know. I know when I met a older limb different kids when Jordan was a baby – it was so wonderful to see how these kids are awesome and able. It helped me parent Jordan with a confidence in knowing that she really can and will do it all.

The fun part? Jordan’s made sure we know that. That strong willed kid figures it all out.

Want an example? Tonight she put four different pajamas on to delay bed time. She took shirts on and off with no problem. It makes me pretty darn proud (and tired).