Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Test drove a van today

We were checking out new vans getting ready to go to court and ask permission to buy one. It will be better if we have figures prepared including what we can get for a trade in on our current van. So the guy we spoke to said he thinks the Honda Odyssey is the best choice for us. We definitely need something a little roomier than what we have now (Chrysler Town and Country) with Jackson's chair being so large and in tilt all the time. I was originally thinking about a full size van but with gas the way it is now that is just not practical. Of the other 2 vans we were thinking of (Toyota and Honda) he said the Toyota is actually less room than what we have now in the middle. The Honda has quite a bit more length in the center (although not as much as I'd like) and some nicer features (like the middle windows roll down so the poor kid can get some air!). I drove it and it was nice so we are having them work up some numbers for us. We are also going to the competing mobility van place next week to get some numbers from them.

Hopefully the judge will just let us trade in for the new van outright with no problems. The county courts seem a little more reasonable than the federal anyway.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Family Fun Day at school

Well, unfortunately it was not so fun for Jackson this time. He already wasn't feeling well when we were outside waiting for the bus this morning, I think it was just too hot even though it was only 8:15 am. When I got to school he was looking kind of like he did not want to wake up, but also just unhappy in general. He did not feel hot to touch or look flushed though.

Then it was time to go out to the parade, which is a loop around the school. They had his chair very nicely decorated again this year.


After the parade, we had to hurry and get over to the relay race area since Jackson was scheduled to be first in the go-bot. Poor kiddo would not open his eyes though...he wasn't asleep, he just refused to open his eyes and you could tell he was not feeling good. So we let Karuna go ahead and hoped that Jackson would feel better so he could have a turn later on.

Once I got him into the shade he opened his eyes a little, but still not feeling like getting into the go-bot. Poor kiddo, he had a really good time racing last year. But he still got to race in his wheelchair, that is his OT pushing him in the picture. You can see how miserable he was.


After the race, I tried to get him to tell me what he wanted to do, but he was not talking. Finally he did somewhat smile when I asked if he wanted to go look at bubbles with Jaiden (one of his classmates) so we did bubbles for a few minutes. He also got a goldfish painted on his hand. But he was not feeling good still so I took him home.

It really must have just been the heat because after a few minutes in the van with the AC cranking he perked right up...not only opening his eyes, but also singing along with his tunes. I feel so bad for him.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Happy birthday and Hallelujah!!

Yesterday my baby turned 5 years old!! We had a little party with Dave and Kari in the evening and I think Jackson had a fun day even though it was pretty low key. He got to talk to a lot of family on the phone, open presents, go on a nice walk with daddy, blow out candles, and get sung to. Here are a couple pics. The first one is the gift from Dave and Kari which was the Captain Underpants Collection (books). He thought the word underpants was pretty funny. The second picture is one of the presents from mom and dad. We offered him tastes of cake and ice cream but he did not want any.



But (maybe you ought to sit down for this) the best birthday present of all is that THE MONEY CAME!!!!! I honestly thought this day might never come but here it is. Now we have to get a lot of stuff ready for court, we have to get permission from a judge to spend any of the money from Jackson's estate.