Update on BC Surfshop inappropriate advertisment

As background, last weekend during our back to school shopping we saw an advertisment at BC Surfshop that was very disappointing:
http://tommyupdate.blogspot.com/2008/08/another-reason-to-boycott.html

We talked to the staff in the shop.
We filed a complaint with mall management.
We returned to the shop to ask staff to remove the sign.

The general mgr at Bellis Fair mall understood our concerns and followed up with the store.
The corporate store has logged our complaint and hopefully understands the educational piece that we are trying to convey to their corporation and staff. We ask you not to buy from BC Surfshop.

We learned tonight thru reading more about this store and the company they were advertising for, this is apparently their advertising campaign:
http://www.skatetheory.com/events/girl-anti-hero-northwest-tour-2008/3695

Our family feels that using the word 'retard' only continues to label people by their intellectual disability, not by what they have to offer the world, and further isolates people. This poster clearly outlines an "in" crowd and the 'r' people are not in it. Disappointing. And very sad for the siblings of a child with disabilities who were simply school clothes shopping.

Children and adults with disabilities enjoy outdoor activities like skiing, snowshoeing, biking, and skateboarding. The same activities that this store was trying to exclude them from.

Our familiy is grateful for...

Grandma. And for aunt Debbie organizing our entire extended family photo of 17 of us!









Liam's love of trucks.









Our family is grateful for Michael and Robert and all their help this week. We are grateful for friends that continue to give us medical and therapy advice, tid bits of info, and just basically those folks that understand how stressful at times our life has become. We hope that more joyful times are ahead for us! Whew, what a journey.

Another reason to boycott

This was the poster hung outside of BC Surfshop in the mall. Unbelievable.

We had gone to the mall to buy a couple of "back to school" items for Hannah and Nate. Going into the this store, we saw this poster with the quote in the middle "Who broght the retard?".

We spoke with the staff in the shop (trying to educate them on not labeling people as "retard") who didn't seem to register what we were saying. We filed a complaint with mall management. Then went back to the store and requested that the poster, from an event back in MAY, be taken down.

It is unbelievable that this was posted in a public place like an indoor mall. We were offended, deeply saddened that most of the world apparently views developmentally delayed people in this light (trying to make fun of us), and disappointed that Bellis Fair mall would allow this to be posted for an entire three months. Grrrr.

Tropic thunder

Wonderfully written about the new movie and the use of the word 'retard':

http://dylanupdate.blogspot.com/2008/08/when-word-wound.html

We made it to the fair

I made it to the fair. That's me in the stroller with Liam. It was hot, real hot.

We want to thank Michael, Robert and Grandma Sue for helping out with huge amounts of actual hours at the fair. When mommy couldn't be there to help Hannah and Nate.... they were there. And thanks to all of our family/friends that visited Hannah and Nate, each enjoyed sharing fair stories with everyone. Special thanks to the Weisenhorn's for use of their alpaca, the Blecha's for all their transporation help and both of our 4H clubs leaders (Joyce and Barb). 4H has helped Hannah and Nate learn so much!

We are very proud of Hannah and Nate after this year's fair. They both were responsible with their animals, kept track of their daily schedules, and they made new friends. I love my big sis and brother.

Hannah's horse Mac was there and he was trying to keep cool. Her 4H club had cool decorations
for their stalls, they chose the movie theme Zoro.












My big brother Nate brought his dairy goats to the fair. His 4H club chose the theme of Hollywood. Our goats didn't like being too warm.









I was cranky at the fair because it was hot and I still didn't feel good. But I did smile a few times.

Much better

Tommy is feeling much better this week. The antibiotic is working as well as the new nebulizer treatments. He is back to his sneaky self of crawling, climbing and hiding. With HUGE smiles to share with all of us.

Scary night

Last night we called 911 for Tommy. At midnight, he was struggling to breath more than we have ever seen him. It scared us. It scared him.

By 12:20 we were at St. Joe's on oxygen and getting various treatments to help what they had identified. Croup. We had no idea croup could cause Tommy to struggle so much.

Croup is a spasm of the larynx that develops from a viral infection in children. The hoarse, barking cough and trouble breathing came on unexpectedly in the middle of the night. It was frightening to both Tommy and us as it appeared without warning. Not even a runny nose or sniffle the day before.

We were discharged from the ER at 6am with much stronger nebulizer treatments than we give normally give him. Plus he received medicines in his Gtube to help reduce the inflamation in his larynx and lungs.

We took our little champ in to see our regular pediatrician this afternoon and he is now on antibiotics (again!!) just to make sure there is nothing else going on. Me (as an overprotective momma) called Children's cardiology and left a message that I still think we need to bump up our echo scheduled in October. We will see what our dr there has to say.

Heavy sigh. During the day today Tommy looked great, played, ate wonderfully, etc. It's the strangest thing that croup comes on so fast.

Big sky country

We enjoyed another family reunion, this time for daddy's side of the family. Eight days in Montana were relaxing and fun. We missed not having Hannah and Nate with us this year, but they had fun on a separate vacation with most of their cousins.

Grandma Dorothy and all of us piled into the boat for a ride around the lake.







Uncle Bruce and I had fun together. I can sign the Itsy Bitsy spider song (over and over again).

Mommy and daddy said our car ride was a total of 1,500 miles roundtrip. They look remarkably good for being in the car with us for 12 hours each way.














We stopped for lunch along the Flathead river, it's fast moving and made loud sounds.












Sometimes we dined outside, sometimes inside the cabin... look at that elk hanging on the wall behind me. He looks hungry too!









We all looked very well rested by the end of our week in Montana.

Jump Starts!

I know that many of you who read this blog have children with special healthcare needs that might include orthotics. This posting will probably not be new information for you. But our experience at a local orthotic vendor- Cascade Dafo and getting Tommy fitted for orthotics was.... WONDERFUL.


The orthotics are called JumpStarts and fit inside of his regular shoes. Each child has different needs for orthotics, for Tommy these fit his needs.





When Tommy was fitted for them, there were plenty of toys, lots of space to roam around when bored and extremely nice folks to talk to. Liam wandered the halls and met many of the nice people there.















Tommy LOVES his new jumpstarts and is standing more often everyday. His crawling didn't change at all. It just gave him the stability he needed to stand.

Tommy says thanks for the 'jump start to walking'.