September 23rd

On Saturday Ashley danced at her cousin’s wedding. More precisely Dad danced and Ashley was holding on for dear life. In any case one of the motivators we used when patterning Ashley for walking was that we wanted to see her dance at her Jessica and Joe’s wedding. This always brought a smile to her face.

Well on Saturday night she got out of her chair on the dance floor and to the cheers of onlookers Ashley held her self up and we did some limited moves dancing.

On the Walk, Talk and Eat front, Ashley continues to take more and more unassisted steps each time we pattern her. While she still needs support from her walker or someone else it is so encouraging. Her consistency of eating, as well as the volume she is taking orally has definitely improved over the last few weeks. While we are still waiting on that first clear word Ashley is increasing the frequency of making sounds as well as an increasing the variety of pitch.

Ashley will celebrate her 21st birthday this Thursday. We could not be more proud. Just a little over a year ago we would have anticipated her starting her junior year at Saint Mary’s and starting to narrow down her school selections for her masters as a Physician’s Assistant. Now we know that God has other plans for Ashley. She is taking a hiatus from college, but as we watch her slowly progress and witness, what is to us, Ashley’s miraculous motivation and positive attitude it is becoming clearer that she will have a special vocation.

May we never fail to mention our awareness that there is a special partnership between Ashley’s hard work and the prayers and support we have received. It is blessed combination that knows no earthly limitation.