Bump Watch - 21 weeks

A couple of weeks ago at our Family Circle meeting, we had to go around and introduce ourselves, say how far along we are, and tell one thing we're really enjoying so far about our pregnancy.  My first thought was, "I'm supposed to be enjoying this?!"  I'm sorry, but I just don't really enjoy being pregnant.  I am not comfortable in my body or my emotions and it only gets worse before it gets better.

I've been thinking about that a lot since that night.  Maybe I should start being more positive about being pregnant.  I do like to feel my baby kicking me, even if it's first thing in the morning.  And I also enjoy eating.  But honestly, this is going to take a lot of work to change my mindset about being pregnant!!  So, any tips or suggestions you want to leave me, I'd be happy to hear/read!!

How far along?  21 weeks

Weight Gain?  I'm almost embarrassed to say, since my cousin is 29 weeks pregnant and only has gained 17 pounds.  I'm up +28.  eek!

What's up with my Body?  I did get a full blown cold this last week.  This was the third time I've been sick this pregnancy.  With Sadie, I had one cold (although, it was a pretty bad one) at the very end of my pregnancy, so being sick this much is very different.  What's weird is that when I was pregnant with Sadie, I was in the classroom everyday, in contact with hundreds of children and thousands of germs.  Now, I stay home mostly all day...why am I sick more often this time???  Weird.

I've been really good about staying hydrated.  It helps a lot to be conscious of my water intake (which reminds me, I should take a big gulp right now).  The other night I was a little behind and I really felt it.  It's good that I have this pretty much under control because tomorrow the high temp is supposed to be 111 degrees (yes, you read that right...unfortunately).

I have reached the point where leaning forward or bending down AND breathing at the same time cannot happen.  It's one or the other.

Sleeping: I've been sleeping well.  I fall asleep easily, probably since I'm dead tired at the end of the day, and I get a good night's rest of about 8-9 hours.  Of course there are 3-4 potty breaks in there, but those never seem to keep me awake...I just go, come back to bed, and fall back asleep.  I'm enjoying this sleep while I can, because I know it won't last forever!!

Movement? The other night We laid in bed and Brian had his hand on my tummy and we just felt the baby kicking over and over.  It was really fun (see?  There's something I enjoy about my pregnancy...sharing it with Brian), and Brian asked me a bunch of questions about how it feels on the inside as opposed to what it feels like on the outside.  It was a bonding moment.

Gender? It's a boy!  You can read about our ultrasound appointment and see pictures if you go to this post here.

By the way, I picked out the perfect pink paint for Sadie's walls!!

Emotions: Okay, so normally I'm a crier.  I cry about everything anyway, but now it's really bad.  I watched something the other day (some video on Facebook that someone posted) and I BAWLED.  I mean, it's a good thing Brian wasn't home so I could just sob.  He would have laughed at me.  I cry at certain songs on the radio.  I even cried as I was writing a comment on my cousins blog about the grief associated with losing a baby/having a child with special needs.  I'm a mess.  It's just a matter of time before I break down in front of a stranger for no particular reason.  And that'll be embarrassing!

What I'm looking forward to:  I painted the playroom this last weekend, so I'm looking forward to getting that all put back together and sharing it with you.

I'm also starting to look forward to hand-me-downs (so if you're one of the people who promised me some, start shoveling them my way!!).

I'm also starting to look forward to feeling more baby movement all the time.

Best moment of the week:  The lady at the grocery store ringing up my groceries asked me when I'm due.  This is a big deal because it means that I'm obviously enough pregnant that she didn't hesitate, but assumed that I'm pregnant...which means I don't just look fat anymore!

How baby's growing: This week my baby is about 10.5 inches long...they equate this to the length of a carrot, I don't know about you, but carrots seem to vary quite a bit in length, so that seems a little vague to me!  He's also got eyebrows and eyelids now!!  Those are important.

How do I buy Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties?

(For the next few days, my posts are going to be about Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties.  This information may or may not apply to you, but I am trying to streamline my business, so if you've purchased from me in the past, you'll be happy to know, I'm making it a little easier!  If you don't know anything about button beauties, feel free to stick around and ask questions as you continue to read!!)


***If you don't know what Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties are, please visit this link to find out more about them.

You may be wondering after yesterday's post how you can purchase Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties.  Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties can be yours in 3 easy steps; 1. choose your designs, 2. place your order through paypal, 3. make your payment and submit your order!


The first thing you'll want to do is set up an account with paypal if you don't already have one.  It's easy and free, and you can do that here www.paypal.com.  You'll have to give them a little bit of your personal information, but don't worry, paypal is secure and safe.  I've been using it for almost 10 years and I've never had a problem.  The advantage of having a paypal account is that many online sellers use it, and it's a fast easy way to purchase online.


Okay, on to the button beauties...


Step 1.  Choose your designs.  There are two ways you can order, you can choose to buy a pack of 7 and pick all 7 designs yourself ($16), or you can buy a pack of 7 and have me choose for you by first indicating if you'd like boy, girl, or neutral designs ($15).  Shipping is included in both of these prices as long as I'm sending domestically (in the US).  If you are international, I'd be happy to send to you, but please contact me first regarding shipping costs!


Please see the designs below that I currently have available (these will be updated monthly as I have a LOT of different fabrics that I'd like to keep in the rotation)  When ordering, please be specific and name design exactly as to avoid confusion.

tropical fish

sparkly hearts

cupcakes

bumble bees

pink ladybugs

yellow hearts

purple leopard print

black and white dragonflies

Dora 

blue rainbow stars

Hello Kitty (limited quantity available)

flip flops

sparkly butterflies (I love this one!!)

Sock Monkeys (limited quantity available)

blue daisies

pink frogs

pink stars

pink pigs 

M&Ms

silly dinosaurs

Elmo and Dorothy

yellow stars

blue stars

clown cars (these are my favorite)

blue dots

beets!

recycle

flat cats

jungle safari

paw prints

red stars

sesame street

2. Place your order through paypal.  Below are your two options for ordering, please click on the appropriate button indicating how you'd like to purchase Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties and you will be directed to your paypal account.  If you are choosing your own designs, please indicate in the text field specifically which designs you'd like.  If you are choosing the grab bag, please indicate via the drop down menu if you'd like boy, girl, or neutral designs. (please note that button beauties that come in the grab bag may also include designs not shown here)  If you'd like to order more than one, please just come back and click again on the button you choose before completing your order.

Choose your own designs 7-pack - $16.00

please specify designs

Grab Bag 7-pack - $15.00

please specify

boy girl neutral

3. Make your payment and submit your order!  Below is an example of the screen you'll see after you've clicked on whichever 7-pack you'd like to purchase.  At this point, you can choose to continue shopping and add more button beauties to your cart, or you can check out.  You'll want to choose to check out with paypal (because, as it says, it's the safer, easier way to pay).  This will take you to a screen to complete your order and magically it will then appear in my email and I'll get to work on filling your order!!

And there you have it!  You've successfully ordered your very own Button Beauties made specially for you by Mrs. Beck!!

There are a couple of things I want to mention, however, before I'm done...

When ordering this way, I do not make your button beauties until I receive the order.  Therefore, it may take up to 2 weeks to get them...depending on how busy my life is at that moment, or how many other orders I have also received that day.  I do, however, complete and send out orders as I receive them.

If you don't like to wait, I am working on having pre-made button beauties available and restocked every week.  These will be offered on Mondays (mix and match Monday!) each week and mailed out the day after I receive the order.  There will be limited designs and quantities available, so make sure to keep an eye on that!

I also offer occasional sales.  I usually post these on various special needs and tube feeding pages on Facebook, but they will also be posted on the blog, so check back often to take advantage of those!  They'll always be worth your while...even if you don't need anymore right away, a sale is a good opportunity to stock up (they do wear out eventually)!

What are Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties?

(For the next few days, my posts are going to be about Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties.  This information may or may not apply to you, but I am trying to streamline my business, so if you've purchased from me in the past, you'll be happy to know, I'm making it a little easier!  If you don't know anything about button beauties, feel free to stick around and ask questions as you continue to read!!)


*** If you're interested in ordering some button beauties, you can visit this link for more information on ordering!

Button Beauties are meant to protect the skin between a G-button and your child's tender belly skin.  They are made from 3 layers of fabric.  The layer that touches the skin is a soft fleece designed to wick away any moisture from the skin.  This moisture might be from a leaking stoma, a leaking tube/button, or just sweat.  The fabric I use is the same fabric used inside a cloth diaper, it is not the same kind of fleece you can buy at the fabric store, I have to special order it.  The middle layer is the least complicated.  It's regular flannel, which is meant to absorb and hold in any moisture after it wicks through the bottom layer.  The top layer is the one you care about, it's the pretty one.  This may be flannel or just a plain cotton weave, but you can count on the fact that it'll be cute!!

The enclosure is a small piece of soft velcro and fastens just secure enough to keep the button beauty secure around your child's button, but not so tight that it is hard to unfasten (because I know that button can be a little sensitive sometimes!).

Button beauties are meant to be washed and dried and are much more durable than a piece of gauze or cotton.  Sadie still uses the ones she wore in the hospital after her surgery in August 2011 almost a year later!  The only thing you'll have to be careful of is that if you have an HE front-loading washing machine, you'll probably want to wash your button beauties in a mesh bag to keep them from ending up in the catch.  If that happens, they probably won't be clean, and chances are they'll curl and wear out faster.  If you have a top-loading machine, you can just throw them in with everything else...but it wouldn't hurt to put them in a mesh bag in your top-loader either!!

Sadie has used my button beauties since the day she came home from the hospital after her G-button surgery.  I won't tell you she didn't get granulation tissue, because she did.  And it was really bad.  But we were persistent about Sadie wearing them when her stoma was bloody or crusty or swollen, and eventually the granulation tissue healed and her stoma is beautiful now!!  We still keep the button beauties on there to protect her, as well as to stabilize her G-button a little and keep it from pulling her skin.

***Please note, the button beauties did NOT heal the granulation tissue, we did visit the doctor, who used silver nitrate to burn off the extra skin.  This was not a pleasant experience, and in the end, probably made the problem worse.  Eventually, we got to the point where we were told to just leave it alone and if it grows back, don't mess with it.  If your child has granulation tissue growing, please visit your doctor to advise you as to the proper treatment as all children are different.

If you'd like to try using Mrs. Beck's Button Beauties, stay tuned for a post tomorrow about prices, ordering, and choosing fabric.  I will also add a post for FAQs soon, but don't hesitate to email or ask your question below as it might not appear on the FAQ list.   And if you're curious to see what someone else thinks about my button beauties you can visit  Feeding Raya for a product review.

Meeting Sadie for the first time and Mommy & Me #3

When you meet a two-year-old for the first time, how do you act with them?  Do you say hi and expect them to say hi back?  Well, maybe they're shy, but you expect them to at least look at you, right?  Maybe wave? (that reminds me, I had a dream last night that Sadie waved at me...)  What about if you meet a two-year-old in a wheelchair?

I like introducing Sadie to new people.  She's cute and she's the love of my life (besides my husband and this belly bean growing inside me), and I want to shout it from the rooftops that I have a special needs child.  But, I've noticed that people don't always know how to react when they first meet her.  Heck, I'm not sure always how to react when I first meet new children who have special needs.  So, I want to give you a few tips and pointers when meeting children with special needs for the first time...

First, always remember that every child with special needs is unique and different.  Just like their fingerprints are one-of-a-kind, so are their needs, their personalities, and their reactions to certain situations.  If ever in doubt, ask the mom (or whoever the caregiver is at the time).  You don't have to feel like a jerk because you want to know if it's okay to touch the child, some children might be super sensitive and react negatively to being touched on the head, on the hand, etc.  Sadie loves to be touched, she likes any attention really.  If she were a typical two-year-old, she would be that one who is instantly your best friend and pulls you to her room to show you all her toys.

And don't think it's rude to ask if the child can see you.  If the child is sighted or not makes a huge difference in how you should approach them.  A child who is blind, or mostly blind, might be shocked by a touch if they don't know it's coming or don't expect it.  Speaking first to a child who is visually impaired is helpful.  Sadie will sometimes "look" at someone, but she's not really seeing them.  Or, if the person is talking to her, sometimes she'll turn her head so she can listen.  She knows you're there, she just might not acknowledge that with a visual response.  Don't always assume because a child isn't "looking" at you that they don't know you're there.

Depending on the child's age and ability, try to engage them in a conversation about something they like by asking questions.  Even if the child does not answer, the parent or caregiver who is with them will appreciate this, and probably answer for the child.  When a new person treats my child like a child, and not an alien-being, I'm always impressed.  This might be as simple as telling her she has on a pretty shirt/dress, or that she has lovely hair.  You might ask her a question based on the setting in which you meet her... "are you watching Sesame Street?"  "Are you gonna go swimming today?" etc.  And with Sadie, if you want a smile, your best bet is to tell her what a pretty girl she is, or what a pretty dress she's wearing.  She eats that stuff up!!

If you are unsure about anything else, compliments are always nice...but make sure you direct them at the child.  "What a big boy you are!"  or "That is a pretty flower in your hair!"  The biggest thing is to talk to the child.  Say, "nice to meet you" or "I'm so glad you came today!"  I think in situations where a child with special needs is severely disabled and you know they're not going to respond or interact with you much, it's okay to mostly interact with the parent/caregiver.  But, remember, even if it looks like the child doesn't know you're there or what is going on, they probably do...and nobody likes to be ignored!  Sadie interacts well, even if she can't talk.  She smiles at you, and she'll lift her head to your voice, which makes this a little more intuitive.

I have been so impressed with society's shift in perspective about children/people with special needs.  When I was a child, people like Sadie, and so many of her friends, were hidden.  It was taboo to talk about them, let alone to them.  Now, we integrate these children into society as much as possible.  We talk to them, we talk about them, we acknowledge their presence.  We put them in classrooms with all the other typically developing children, and we educate about their disability/condition/disease.  I am so proud to be Sadie's Mommy, just like any Mommy should be proud of her children, and I don't plan on that changing anytime soon!!

Mommy & Me #3:  getting some lovin'

(go check out the other bloggers and their Mommy & Me pictures by clicking below!!)
Linking up with...

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Playing in the sprinklers

Last week it was really hot.  I mean, like there were a couple of days that temperatures were 106-108 degrees!!  The kind of hot where you don't leave your house...and if you do, it's to go to the pool.

My neighbor and I decided we'd like to try playing in the sprinklers with our kids.  I have grass in my yard, so she came over here, we set up the sprinkler and I sat Sadie out there in the giant bumbo while the other kids ran around, sometimes sat, sometimes wanted to get wet, etc.  Sadie loved it.

I think this might be something we'll have to do again!!

I took a bunch of videos, but they were boring.  These were the two that were most fun to watch.  Sadie started out leaning way forward in the chair, but once she realized she liked the water, she figured out that if she leaned back it would sprinkle on her face and she thought that was great!!  You can really see how strong she is in these videos.  She can pull herself forward and back, it's like she just doesn't have balance, and that giant bumbo gives her just enough support that she can do it, but then can rest when she's tired.






This is what I mean... You can see from the pictures below how she started out leaning forward, then ended up leaning back.  And I didn't touch her, I just sat and watched her the whole time while she was enjoying herself!  In the second picture, in that position, she even managed to push so hard with her feet that she would start to lift the giant bumbo off the ground a little bit.  It would have scared me if I didn't know that it's so wide there was no way she could fall over in it!!

This little girl loves water.  And when it's 108 degrees outside, this is the perfect activity for her (and me).  After a while, she was shivering, so we decided to go in, but she was out there for probably 45 minutes.  Now I know that if we ever get invited to play with friends at one of those splash pads, we just need to bring the giant bumbo and some sunscreen!!

What do you do when it's hot outside and your kids need some activity???

Market on the Move

The line when we left the MOM (I'm glad we were there early)

As you might guess, because of the climate here in Phoenix, the agriculture is a little different.  I'll say "more specialized."  We can grow many different tropical fruits, but only certain kinds that can handle the dry climate.  And we can grow other kinds of fruits and veggies, but things need to be shaded, and soil has to be treated, and water has to be calculated very carefully.  And this is all stuff you have to LEARN.

Growing up in Oregon, you just plan stuff and it grows.  That's it.  So, when we started growing here, and that didn't work with everything, Brian figured out that he needed to start doing some research, asking some questions, and buying different things.  Then he found the Valley Permaculture Alliance.

The Valley Permaculture Alliance is a group of garden nerds, basically.  They exchange seeds, and then post on the website about things they're doing, they have backyard orchards, they raise sheep and goats and chickens, and they hold community classes to teach about canning and hydroponics and making your own cheese and stuff.  They're pretty much awesome.  And Brian has learned a lot about which species of things to buy and how to position them so that the sun won't burn them up and what to fertilize with and how to set your watering schedule for certain things.  

But they don't just post gardening stuff.  There is a lot of community information on this website too.  And that's how Brian found out about Market on the Move.  Market on the Move (MOM) is food a food rescue organization.  Apparently there are many restaurants and grocery stores who refuse the produce shipments that come to them for whatever reason (they already have too many, it's not in high demand, etc) and this produce just goes to waste.  What MOM does is rescue that produce and offer it to the public for a VERY affordable price.

setting up for the MOM, see those boxes stacked?  Those are FULL of produce!!

Each week, May - November, for just $10 you can come and get up to 60lbs of produce!!!  And they have locations all over the city.  The idea is that you get more than you need, so you will give it away to someone else who needs it.  

I told my neighbor about this and we decided to go today (the last week of the summer *sad face*) and decided to split it.  It was an amazing deal for $5 each!!  We got there early because we wanted to be one of the first in line (we didn't know what to expect) and they opened early, so that was nice too.  They gave us each a box and we FILLED it with cucumbers, summer squash (yellow and green) peppers (big, beautiful yellow and red peppers!), anaheim chiles, honeydew melons, tomatoes (organic) and asparagus.  My neighbor was so excited she was like shouting, "oh my gosh!  Look at how beautiful these are!  This is amazing!!"  She was so funny.

We got all of this for $10!!!

So then, as we were leaving, a lady stopped us in the parking lot and asked us if we knew about Superstition Market.  It was just down the road and was a farmer's market with all sorts of good deals on produce...so we headed down there next and spent another $40 (for both of us).  I got cherries and a watermelon and nectarines and apples and bananas and artichokes were 4 for $1 (I'm really into artichokes right now...so yummy)!  We went wild!  My neighbor actually just texted me to tell me her baby ate peach-melon puree for breakfast and her 2-year-old had a big bowl of melon!  I'm gonna go baby-food crazy this weekend (in addition to my big painting project in the playroom)!!

Superstition Ranch Market

Superstition Ranch Market

We both agreed that the market was too far to just come to (it was probably a 30 minute drive), but if we're gonna visit the MOM, it's a good place to also stop into.  We had such a great adventure!  We're only sad that we have to wait until November to do it again.

Bump Watch - 20 weeks

Tuesday night we had our first Family Circle prenatal group meeting.  This is a pretty cool idea.  They group you with 10-12 other women who have a due date similar to yours and you get together in the evenings with your husband/partner and do your prenatal visits (ie. weight check, blood pressure, pee in a cup, meet with the midwife), and then you talk about different things related to pregnancy and birth (ie. natural birthing options, breastfeeding, nutrition, etc).  Then when everybody's babies are born, you come back for one last meeting where you show off your new little ones!!

So Tuesday night was our first meeting.  Most of the conversation we had wasn't new to us since this isn't our first pregnancy, we talked about what you can and cannot eat.  I don't totally agree with some of the things they said you can have/do, but I'm not the official expert who is in medicine, so I just kept my mouth shut.  For me, if there's doubt, just abstain...it's only 9 months after all!!

But the fun part was doing all the vitals and things.  We got to be full participants in our prenatal care.  They taught us how to take our own blood pressure.  I peed in a cup, then dipped the little strip in it that measures my proteins and glucose (Brian thought that part was kind of gross).  We weighed ourselves.  And then when we met with the midwife and she got out the doppler to hear the heartbeat, she had Brian actually do it!  He was a little timid about how hard he needed to push on my belly, he thought he was hurting me.  Then we got to record all these things (oh, and we recorded Daddy's weight) on a log sheet they gave us in our little packet...which I plan on putting the baby book.  It was super fun!

How far along?  20 weeks!  This is officially the halfway point...I hope.

Weight Gain?  I stopped looking again, because I kind of don't care.  But I do want to note that since we had to wait in line to pee in the cup at our Family Circle Meeting, Brian and I did a little experiment.  I weighed before and after pee.  It was fascinating (and I use that term loosely) to find out that I peed 1.2 lbs of pee that night!

What's up with my Body?  I'm trying really hard to stay hydrated, especially since temperatures have been closer to 110 than 100 the last couple of days.  I am supposed to drink about a gallon of water a day.  That's 4 of my Nalgene water bottles.  My goal is to finish one by 10:00am (oops, it's 9:59 and I'm not even close!! *big gulp*), then another by 2:00pm, a third by bedtime, and then I usually drink a half to two thirds of one overnight.  I may not get to 4, but I get to 3.5...and I drink juice and milk and other things throughout the day.  It's amazing how much better I feel when I drink enough water.

I'm starting to feel like I might be getting a little cold.  My throat has been scratchy for the last couple of days and I've been sneezing.  I'm hoping it's just allergies, or that it's the dry hot weather irritating my throat, but I guess we'll see. 

Movement? Brian finally got to feel some movement.  It was only once, and it was little, but he said he felt it.  I feel movement pretty regularly, but I'm still early enough that I can mostly ignore it.

Gender? It's a boy!  You can read about our ultrasound appointment and see pictures if you go to this post here.

I was sort of in mourning that I couldn't paint Sadie's room pink.  It's a long story, but it had to do with both my kids sharing the space and that room not always being Sadie's room, etc.  Brian reassured me that we'd probably keep Sadie in that room for a long time...so go ahead and paint it pink, he told me.  Yay!!

Maternity Clothes: I went and bought a couple of pairs of shorts from the children's clothing second hand store.  I actually found some that fit and look nice.  So, I think I've got what I need at this point.  I mostly wear sweats and a tank top all day anyway.  I mean, I leave the house less than half a dozen times a week...and if people really care about what I look like when I go shopping at Target, then oh well.

What I'm looking forward to:  Finishing the play room.  We (and by we, I mean me and my neighbor Laura) moved my sewing stuff into the master bedroom and almost painted one whole wall the same color as Sadie's therapy table.  I need to finish clearing it out in there, paint the other walls and the baseboards, then I'll be able to move Sadie's table and the ball pit and all the toys back in there.  I'm also considering painting the bookshelf that's in there...

We're also getting Sadie a new bed.  I'm so excited about this because a friend had the exact bed we wanted and she was thinking about selling it.  So, we're getting a good deal.  I'll make sure to post pics of both the playroom and Sadie's room as we finish them (and again, by we I mean me...and maybe the babysitter and/or the neighbor).

Best moment of the week:  Getting Sadie's stander...my best moments are still related to Sadie, not to my pregnancy!!

How baby's growing: My baby is about the length of a banana and he's learning to swallow.  My uterus is about even with my belly button and I'm half way done!!

By the way, all the Mommys at the Family Circle were as big or smaller than me...and I was the "youngest in the group"  Everybody else was in their 20s, me, I was just 19.5.  I am HUGE!!

Sadie's first stander

Sadie's standing frame came Monday afternoon.  It's a pretty hurking big piece of equipment.  And I needed a therapist to help fit Sadie and show me how it worked... luckily she came Tuesday morning and we were able to get Sadie in it and upright!  She didn't complain, but I'm not sure she loved it either.

This is the Easy Stand Bantam and it's the coolest stander I've seen!  It's easy to get Sadie in it, and when she's tired, we can just sit her down, but continue with whatever activity we were doing.  The goal is to do as much therapy in this as we can throughout the week.


I think she DID like being upright.  She felt like a big girl.  And it was so fun to interact with her standing up (because as you can see, this lifts her about 18 inches off the ground).  Plus it was easier to do her hair without her head up against something, so having to hold her body at the same time.

The goal, to start out with, is 20 minutes a day of standing.  Then we'll work up to 30, and then 45.  We need to be checking for pressure sores, the PT told us, to make sure everything is positioned correctly for her and not rubbing or pushing on her in a way that is going to cause pain.  Hopefully in about 7-10 days she can tolerate 60 minutes a day of standing.  And about a week after that, we'll go for 45 minutes twice a day, so that's she's in it for an hour and a half each day.

This will help those hips by putting weight through her legs.  It will help her to strengthen muscles in her legs that she isn't used to using.  And hopefully it'll help her be more stable through her core, and she'll get better at standing completely upright (not leaning over like she is in this picture).  Right now, because she doesn't have the core strength, she is supporting her upper body on her elbows, which also helps put weight through her arms, which helps develop her shoulders and maintain mobility through her arms.

we start out in sitting position

Then move to standing

This is what her little legs look like all strapped in.

Who knows, maybe in a year, we'll be showing you video of Sadie using a gait trainer (which is like a walker, but more supportive)!!

Here's a little video of how easy this stander is to use!