BIKE UPDATE…COMPLETELY HUMBLED!!!

I don’t even know how or where to begin to explain what has transpired over the last 48 hours with the bike situation. I sit here COMPLETELY humbled with tears in my eyes…overwhelmed with love and gratitude.

As you all know we have been pushing for weeks now to win Dakota a therapy bike from the Great Bike Giveaway!! I learned about this event from a blog reader/internet friend. ;) At the time she told me about it it had just happened and was a whole year away from happening again. So I put my email in to get notified of the next one and started surfing the web for used or cheaper bikes that maybe we could afford. They were hard to come by since they are few and far between. Back in February I got the email that the giveaway was about to happen again since it is a yearly thing and I jumped for joy thinking…we HAVE to win this for Dakota!!!
I put on my competitive shoes and went to work (I wear them a lot! ;)) I spread the word on my blog, facebook, instagram, texting to ANYONE and EVERYONE I could think of!! And man…I am still in awe at the amount of people that jumped in and went to work right alongside of me. My mom started passing out fliers everywhere she went, my grandma is the emailing and facebook queen, people went from computer to computer on their college campus to vote, my friends have shared and shared and shared, people who I don’t even  know personally have been campaigning from England to Canada to Australia to here for Dakota, and I can’t even count the number of times it was shared on facebook!! I am so overwhelmed by the love of so many who want more then ever to see Dakota win this bike!! I get so many texts a day wondering what place he is in…it is so so so sweet!!!

I want to SINCERELY thank EACH and EVERY one of you for your love and efforts in ours and Dakota’s behalf!!! It has touched our hearts TREMENDOUSLY and thank you is just not even enough!!! Without each and every one of you who has taken the time to vote and share we would never have even had a chance at this!!! As I sit here at this computer with 2 days left of this competition he has 28,252 votes!!!! Who would have thought we would ever get that high? Not me!!! I was so happy when we hit 1,000!!!



For those of you who have been following closely…he has been  neck and neck with a cute boy named Tristan who I think must have just as big of fan club as Dakota. I never dreamed it would be this hard but it makes me smile to see how much this has meant to so many!!

Well a couple days ago I got a phone call from some of my friends back in AZ whom I haven’t even spoken to in a little while. What they had to say knocked me right off of my chair and brought tears to my eyes.

They don’t want their names mentioned because that is what kind of people they are…but they have asked me to step back from trying to win this competition because they want to get Dakota this bike…not just to help him but to guarantee that cute Tristan will get his bike.They told me as they see more and more kids added to the competition each day they would love to be able to see each kid get a bike but they obviously can’t do that. But by helping Dakota get a bike it guarantees that another kid will for sure win a bike and that other kids will have a better chance.

All they want me to do now is to get each one of you to go and vote for any kid that doesn't have 50 votes yet…so that they are guaranteed an opportunity to get into the raffle to win one of the other bikes. The kindness and genuine care that they have for not just Dakota but all these kids literally has blown me away!!!

I can’t even describe in words the conversations that I have had with them. Of course I denied their VERY generous offer because we didn't enter into this competition for someone else to fork out money for us to have a bike. We were okay with asking people to take 2 seconds to vote for Dakota but not okay for asking for people's money. Both Zach and I struggle with being at the receiving end. It is WAY more fun to be on the giving end. But after two long conversations with both of them and a lot of thought about it…I truly believe that our loving Heavenly Father has blessed them to be in this position to be able to do this for Dakota because He knew what kind of hearts they have. As they sincerely turned to Him in prayer with this desire to want to do this in their heart…He answered them with a yes and ever since they have been “laser focused” (those are their words)on getting Dakota this bike!! It took Zach and I a couple days to soak it all in and humble ourselves to be able to say yes to something so so big!!

The only reason we decided we could…is because if any of you could have listened in on our conversation…you would have felt of this sweet couples sincerity and desire to want to give generously of what they have been blessed with and I know if Zach and I were in the same position to do this for someone else we wouldn’t skip a beat and we would be THRILLED to do this for someone else and would want more then ever for them to say yes! I truly have witnessed a marvelous thing and recognize a loving Heavenly Father’s hand in this. I know that each one of us truly are instruments in His hands and if we are willing to listen and allow Him to guide our lives as this sweet, incredible, and amazing friends of mine have…I know He will be able to use each and every one of us to do SO much good in the world! And it isn’t always about giving money. Sometimes he needs us to just be there for someone else to listen to, hug, or cry with. Sometimes he needs us to serve and just show someone else we love them!! I hope that every person that reads this will be able as touched by this incredible example as we have and become better human beings because of it!!

Matthew 25:40 “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

I still can't even believe this!! I don't even know how to begin to thank them for this!! I just hope that one day Zach and I can continue to pay it forward!!!

So to find and vote for the kids not yet in the raffle go to this link. If a kids box is grey and not green it means they haven’t quite hit 50 yet. Click on their box and nominate them. Again…I can’t thank you all enough for EVERYTHING you have done to get Dakota SO many votes! Thank you thank you!!!!!

32 Weeks…C-section or VBAC

I have to thank ALL of you who have been voting and sharing to help us win Dakota a bike!!! I was so humbled to see how far and wide this has gone and how many votes our sweet little Dakota has been getting! It means SO much to us that people care enough to want to help!! So thank you, thank you!!!
Unfortunately this has been a lot tougher race then I ever imagined!!! Dakota right now has 6,770 votes…that is a TON!!! He was in the lead yesterday for first place but today he is sitting in third by 600 votes!!! Holy smokes!! This is going to be a tough battle! ;) So…if you haven’t voted or shared with your family and friends please do! We honestly need EVERY vote we can get!!! The contest goes until the 26th so there is still a lot of time to share and vote and keep making a dent!! I shared the link on my facebook and instagram so if you are on either of those and want to share from there that would be awesome too!!! Here is the link once again to vote and share!!

Of course we would LOVE to win this but we will be so happy for whatever kid wins! ;) I kinda felt like my niece and nephew did when my sister showed them the website and all the kids…they said, “I want to vote for all the kids because I want all of them to get a bike!” As I have looked at the pictures of all of the kids in the running I want them all to have a bike too! They are all such angels and so darn cute!! ;)
Anyways…thank you for ALL of your love and support in this!! We can do this!! I won’t give up until it is over!!! ;) You all are the best!!!

So holy smokes this pregnancy is flying by!!!! I don’t know where the time is going because it doesn’t seem to be on my side! I feel completely unprepared for a baby to come in 6-8 weeks! What?! I feel that Navy is much more safe and easier to take care of in my belly so I think she should stay there for awhile longer! ;)

 
30 week pic!

I am beginning to enter into the big and awkward stage! Where every morning when you go to get dressed your like…what in the world am I gonna squeeze into today?!

Snuggling, holding, and carrying Dakota is more and more harder and awkward but still manageable. I just can’t hold him standing up for quite as long. My mom bought me one of those pregnancy support belts…which totally makes me feel like an old lady when I where it but I love it! I think it helps a lot!!!

I am still working out and running although I would call my running more of a fast paced walking speed. I am SOOO slow!!! It kinda drives me insane but I just keep reminding myself I’m carrying a lot more weight it’s ok! ;) I quite bringing my watch cuz I don’t even wanna see how slow I am anymore! ;) The hardest part about running is the feeling of having to pee every half mile!! By the end I’m taking small steps just to keep from peeing my pants!! Then when I finally go to the bathroom hardly anything comes out…it’s just the pressure of this little girl in there!! ;) Good times!!


We just had my our 32 week appointment with the doctor and finally talked to her about the pros and cons of doing a VBAC or C-section.. (A VBAC is just having a vaginal delivery after a c-section…it is kind of complicated) I have been pretty set on wanting to do a VBAC for several reasons. 1. Dakota’s was an emergency c-section due to his high heart rate, not due to me not progressing with labor which means we probably could have had a normal delivery. 2. I want to experience a normal delivery. I want to know what it’s like to have a baby the “right” way. 3. Probably most important to me is the recovery. I actually didn’t mind the recovery after my c-section that much but this time around is much different. I now have a 36 lb 5 year old boy that needs my attention and care and if I had a c-section I wouldn’t be able to lift or carry him for 3 whole weeks instead of 1. Now I know my family will be all over to help and that I won’t have to worry about it but it’s more my desire to want to lift and carry him. Our whole world is going to change when this baby comes and I don’t want him to feel like I don’t want to hold him anymore or anything like that. I’m still his mom and I want to be there for him!!!

So going into the appointment I was all for the VBAC. After talking to my doctor about the pros and cons and risks I am starting to question myself. The risk of the VBAC is that the scar where your c-section is can rupture during labor and tear the placenta. There is only a 4% chance of this happening but of this 4%, if this happens there is a 2% chance that your baby could die or have brain damage. As soon as I heard the words brain damage come out of her mouth my heart sank and that is when I began to doubt. Before Dakota’s accident I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye to those chances but now really knowing what brain damage really is…I look at those percentages A LOT different. They may sound slim to none to most people…but pretty much everything that has happened to our little family the chances of those were probably slim to none. We usually fall on the bad percentage side of things! So I just don’t know if that is a risk I can afford to take!!

Of course there are risks to a c-section too. It is a surgery so any time you do a surgery there are risks. But all of those risks are more to the mother and not the baby and that sounds a lot better to me. Zach on the other hand…doesn’t want any risks on me so he is more for the VBAC but I feel more comfortable with taking the risks then the baby!

It is such a tough decision…one we will obviously be praying a lot about before we decide. But I would LOVE to hear any feedback from any of you if you have any!!! Any good/bad experiences with either?? What you would recommend?? Or maybe what your doctors have told you?!

PLEASE help us WIN DAKOTA a BIKE!!!!!!

For those of you who have been reading my blog I have talked a little bit about this therapy bike that Dakota gets to use when we go to physical therapy. It is such an AMAZING bike and Dakota absolutely LOVES it! Not only does he smile and enjoy just being a regular kid riding a bike it helps a lot with his range of motion in his legs and helps him relax his legs and get rid of his spasticity. On top of that he gets to build muscle strength in his whole body as he works to hold his head up and push the petals a little bit on his own.

The problem is we only go to therapy twice a month and when he gets to ride the bike it is only for about 30 minutes if that. It is definitely not enough to get to make a big difference. His therapist and doctors have recommended that we get one for him to use at home but the problem is it is $4,000!!! If we had a money tree in our backyard I would be ALL over that bike…but unfortunately my landscaping husband hasn’t planted one of those yet! ;)

But this AMAZING organization called the friendship circle does a bike giveaway ONCE a year and it is happening this month!!! I just entered Dakota and NEED DESPERATELY ANYONE THAT READS THIS TO PLEASE VOTE FOR DAKOTA! The kid with the most votes automatically wins the bike and any other kid with at least 50 votes gets put in a raffle drawing for the remaining bikes.

Seriously…all you have to do is click on this link and their is a big red button that says vote for Dakota. Click it and you are done! It seriously takes 2 seconds!!  That is ALL I’m asking!! And then once you vote then you CAN tell ALL your friends and family about it too so they can vote too! ;) That’s it! The contest closes on the 24th so HURRY!!!!!!!

It would sure make my heart so happy to get to cruise Dakota around the neighborhood with the other kids and let him just be a kid!!!

Don’t you want to see more of this going on??? How can you say no to this cutest face and that little angel smile?! ;)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!