Ugh.

So I kind of went back and forth on posting this. But I decided as long as I leave names out it should be OK!

Justin received a gift card to a chain of restaurants. We decided to venture out with Kendall to eat at one of them on Saturday evening. We were going a bit stir crazy and felt like a laid back dinner out that included Kendall would be nice. We lugged her wheelchair out of the car to go into the first one. The wait was extremely long, so we decided to go to another one not far away. (Both of which are in our "small" town. We like to keep business locally, but tend to eat at the "mom and pop" restaurants mostly instead of the chains. They know us, love us, and always ask about our family!)

Anyway, we arrived at our second choice. We were pleased to find that there wasn't a wait. I asked for a table for "two and a wheelchair" because I wanted to make sure there would be plenty of room for Kendall in her chair to pull up to the table and be included in our dinner (so what if she wasn't actually eating...she usually likes being out and about and taking in the scenes.)

It started pretty rocky, Kendall was arching and stiffening and beginning to fuss. We decided to order our meal to go because it looked like she wasn't going to make it.

Anyway...there was a family seated behind us, so Kendall had to be in the isle. Long story short...the waitress behind us told me we couldn't have our stroller in the isle. I ignored her. I was more focused on getting our stuff together and dodging the stares we received for a yelping baby. Justin agreed to stay behind, wait for our food, pay, and meet us in the car. Kendall likes to be on the go, and when she's in that mood, especially in a public restaurant, we oblige her.

So, no big deal. We were leaving. I was calm. The first waitress was a b. But I figured she was in the weeds and frustrated. I let it go. THEN, on our way out a tray was blocking us fitting Kendall through, so we waited patiently when ANOTHER waitress told me we weren't allowed strollers inside. I looked at her shocked, and said, "trust me, if we didn't need this special chair, we wouldn't be using it."

I headed for the door, wanting to duck out and run for the hills, but I reminded myself I have a new job. A job I didn't exactly sign up for, and don't get paid for, but a job nonetheless. So I told the hostess the table they sat us at wasn't wheelchair accessible. We were leaving, but not for that reason, just in the future, she and the manager might like to know and have another plan. She looked at me blankly. Then the hostess holding the door for us on our way out gave me a big attitude.

Honestly, I left feeling really bad. I was not at all embarrassed by Kendall. And goodness knows Justin and I have had our fair share of eating out with our jobs so it wasn't that either. I just left feeling for the first time in 20 months sad, disappointed, and angry. For the first time in Kendall's life, I felt that her special needs were inconveniencing people. All they wanted to do was get rid of us and ignore the situation. And that pisses me off.

I e-mailed the manager yesterday. He has yet to respond. I'm boycotting that stupid restaurant and their baby back ribs now.

Oh, and when we got home, we found our order was wrong. That pissed me off even more. I probably would have drown myself in a bottle of wine and lost myself in my silly Vampire book if it weren't for my husband. He told me "Look on the bright side of things. At least you have your next blog entry thought out. This shit practically writes itself."

And so it does.

Christmas Pictures!

These first two pictures pretty much sum up our last few days! Kendall has been in a super great mood, or a super bad one! Poor baby woke up Christmas morning....yes, Christmas morning having seizures. Kamden waited so patiently for us to get her straightened out. Fortunately they stopped very quickly and we were able to keep them at bay for the whole day.

We enjoyed lots of time with our family, and as usual, Kamden and Kendall were showered with gifts. Completely spoiled yet again by Aunt Kristin and Uncle John!

We had a white Christmas this year. Some were calling it a blizzard... (ha!)

Kam had a great time playing in the snow with Chloe and throwing snow balls at everyone! (so did Justin)

Kam got a Pocket Rocket...he was thrilled. Not only do I have a huge fear of guns and completely disapprove of anything that remotely looks like one for Kamden (my efforts are ignored though) I feel the same way about motorcycles...

However; he will be fully decked out in helmets and pads, and only riding it under complete supervision across the street at the school track or parking loop. Grandad and Uncle John gave him a quick tutorial, but it was too wet and cold the next day to ride it.

Kendall's favorite gift was her Ekorre Swing from Ikea. Aunt Kristin surprised her with it! She loves it. Our ceilings are way too high to hang it in the living room where she can enjoy it more, but we are working on a solution. (OK, Justin is!)

The greatest gift Justin received was Kendall's repeated use of the word Daa Daa. She started on Tuesday night and has said it more and more frequently and with such purpose. This makes my heart happy too!

One of my greatest gifts came on Tuesday evening when I took Cooper to the vet, completely ready to hear his death sentence. He's been so neglected: not taking his seizure meds regularly, not being groomed regularly to the point he had matted hair, and I completely ignored the last warning about the two tumors he had growing on his leg and chest. My Christmas miracle came when the vet told me his heart sounded perfect! We could discontinue his meds, and he looked great! He's on a diet (apparently 49 pounds for a Cocker Spaniel is unacceptable! who knew!) He's on antibiotics for skin issues but expected to make a full recovery! His tumors are just fatty tumors that don't cause any harm. Ha! Justin said he was going on Hospice...he was wrong!

We had an amazing Christmas dinner with Nonny, Poppy, Grandad, Nonna, Uncle Josh, and Val and her family! Kendall and Kamden received more gifts there! (big thanks to Tara and Chloe for the suggestions on books...Nonnny bought these two books for Kendall and they brought tears of hope to all of our eyes!)






So, it was a very merry, white Christmas in Ft. Worth this year! Hope you all had one too!

Merry Christmas

New Stander...

I thought I'd post a picture of our new stander. We were thrilled to get it, and Kendall is getting stronger by the minute in it. The only problem is her constant need to be moving while in it! In order to get in an hour a day, we have to push her around the house a lot. But hey, I guess you gotta do what ya gotta do...

Oh, and Daddy's do not know how BabyLegs should be worn:

School's Out...

And I celebrated with Kamden and Kendall on Friday as we made the 30 minute drive to pick up Kendall's diluted insulin from the compounding pharmacy...(there's a long story behind why this is the only pharmacy I go to... and why we still find ourselves paying co-pays each month that cost more than a nice car payment!)

Anyway, we had a nice afternoon with ice-cream and lots of talking in the car. Kam made the suggestion to stop by the Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens on the way home. This is a place near and dear to our hearts. Kamden and I spent many days having picnics there when I was a teacher and off during the summer. Justin and I got engaged in the rose garden . Our wedding was also there. So, I enjoyed the walk down memory lane yesterday. That place always makes me smile!

I didn't get any really good pictures of Kendall, which was a bit odd since yesterday was a really good day for her. But we had a great time together!

Justin is off work now for a while, and we are excited to spend time with our family and friends in the upcoming days!












e