Tiana had so much fun trick or treating!!

Ashlyn had her one year post surgery MRI which shows that everything is healing nicely and there are no new problems. We met with her surgeon who was very pleased with the progress. The surgeon said Ashlyn has more functioning in her hand then most children who have this surgery. She is so proud of herself because she has started reading and spelling. She continues to work very hard in school in therapy.

Angels for Ashlyn II

The Angels for Ashlyn Benefit Concert was another huge success!!! I want to thank everyone who attended and donated their time, auction items and money. I want to extend a special thank you to Love and War Plano, Courtney Keith, Larry Bartek, and Jordan and Casey Hendrix. The bands were awesome and very gracious. Ashlyn stood with Miss Texas (picture above) to sing the National Anthem, and also performed her own solo (so cute). What a special day!

It looks like we are going to have beautiful weather this Sunday for Ashlyn's benefit concert at Love and War in Plano!!! The support we have received for this event has been AMAZING. Ashlyn is so excited about "her party!" She has been working on a new song to sing this year... :)

My First Day of Kindergarten

We have survived the first week of kindergarten :) I think mommy has struggled with it more then Ashlyn. She seems to love her new school and teacher. She is such a big girl now! She is in a main stream kindergarten class and pulled out for special education services. She will continue her therapies through the school year and horse therapy will start in September. July marked one year since her brain surgery and she continues to be seizure free. The neurologist told us that two years seizure free means the surgery was a success. Our focus now is therapy therapy therapy and helping her catch up to her peers in regards to social skills and maturity.

Love and War in Plano is hosting a 2nd benefit concert for Ashlyn on Sunday, October 3rd, at 4 p.m. The line-up includes Randy Brown (who was a big hit at last year's benefit concert), Mike Mancy and headliner-Two Tons of Steel. The money earned will continue to help pay for medical expenses still lingering from her surgeries and her continued medical care and therapies. We feel very strongly that all of the service providers who have changed Ashlyn's life for the better deserve their bills to be paid. Ashlyn is so excited about her "PARTY" and we look forward to seeing everyone there.

Ashlyn just finished her first session of adaptive swim lessons. In three lessons she was dunking herself under water and swimming small distances without a life jacket! It's so amazing to watch considering she wouldn't put her face in the water just a month ago. She starts a second session next weekend.

We had a neurology appointment last week and the doctor took her off of one of seizure medications (Dilantin) which was very exciting! She will remain on one seizure medication for the long hall. The doctor is adding a medication for ADHD in a couple of weeks. We have made it one successful year out of surgery. Two years seizure free is considered a success!!!!

We took her to Six Flags this weekend and she is definitely an adrenaline junky like her mama! She basically rode every water ride and roller coaster allowed for her height. We can't figure out how the car makes her so nauseous but stick her on roller coasters and she's perfectly fine????

*** A second Benefit Concert (Angels for Ashlyn) is in the works for October 3rd at Love and War Plano....

Ashlyn completed a week long horse riding session this month. This is different from hippotherapy because she is learning more about the mechanics of riding her horse. They are working with her on holding the reigns with both hands...which is challenging for her. We are hoping to squeeze in one more riding session this summer and then start back up with hippotherapy and riding in the fall. The summer has been filled with a lot of swimming so far. She started an adaptive swim class on the weekends.

My baby has officially graduated from pre-school and will start kindergarten in the fall. She is so excited!

The Last Couple of Months...

We have been very busy since the last posting. Our families had a wonderful Christmas holiday! What a gift to see Ashlyn on Christmas morning; I think she is a professional present opener now. Her big gift from Santa was a three story dollhouse. She has loved all of the snow days....even the random one we had this past weekend. She has mastered the snowball in mommy's face. Ashlyn had an awesome 5th birthday party which she shared with family and friends. It was so cute to meet all of her friends and watch her interact with them. The theme of the party was "Princess" because someone has named herself "Snow White, AKA Princess Ashlyn."

Ashlyn has continued to remain seizure free!!!! YEAH!!!!! She is still in therapy three times a week and wears all types of apparatus to assist with her motor function and spasticity. She is still learning to adapt to her loss of vision to the right side but we have seen much improvement. Thank you for all of the continued thoughts a prayers.