balancing...

While Ben and I continue to work on balancing our schedule and lives, which can change at any moment, Ben and his therapists have been working on his balance skills. It has been fun to watch and now has turned into a competition between the therapists as to who can get Ben to stand and balance on his own the longest!

A few weeks ago Ben was barely standing over 1 minute. Then it was 1:30 and then moved up to 2:45. Last week we tried something new to see if it would help with his balance and that was using his snow board! Growing up Ben had a paper route and he would save his money to buy lift tickets to go boarding. He always wanted to take me up and teach me but the first winter when we were dating he was deployed, the next he went like one time because of his work schedule and the third we were in GA and got like a half inch of snow (first time in like 10 years) and everyone there freaked out! It was amazing to see that Ben still remembered how to sinch up his boots and strap himself to his board! He needed a bit of help but when he did he was able to tell his PT what to do! He has missed it!

You will see in the videos below that Ben has to work super hard just to get up off the couch. He fell and got back up! Please know that he is totally fine when he falls back and the couch is totally soft so he never gets hurt! The longest he stood on his board was 5:45!!!!! Go Ben go, go GOD go!! So proud of him!





The look of pride that Ben had on his face and the satisfaction of being on his board
was amazing! His face lit up, he tried to stand as straight as he could and when he started throwing some punches Ben was in his element! Although he was not on snow up on the mountain you could tell that just being in those boots and on that board was so good for him!

I have to say that today I got the report from him and his PT (I was working out at the gym...just trying to stay upright after my workout after being out of the gym for a month) that he balanced on his own this morning for 6 min!!! No snow board, no walker, no support...just Ben! Wowzers!! Ben got alot of praise, hugs and kisses!!











We are learing to balance and train Diesel too! He has been quite the amazing pup but there are those things that come with having a puppy! As are as his crate training goes he has an A+ in that department! We put him in at night and he goes all night without a peep! Thank you Diesel! Potty training is coming along. I am trying to get him to go in one place way in the back yard and he is working on it! Ben uses the yard alot of walking so we don't need droppings all over the place! We are starting to give him one word commands and he is slowly but surely getting it. I know it will not come over night but I know it will come!

Please continue to pray for Ben and his balance...and his mobility as a whole. He really needs this! He was getting his shower in today and he said, "I need to beat this brain injury soon because I have alot of things I need to do and accomplish!" He went on to list what they were and they were goals and dreams he had at the time of the accident. His mobility is huge and I really believe that when he gets control over that, that he will just thrive and bust the walls down and make huge gains.
So, please pray for balance, mobility and freedom from the things that hold Ben back!
I am praying that God will breath life into dead cells, weak bones, weak muscles and anything and everything that needs God's breath to heal his body!

We are blessed to have y'all in our lives and continually there to pray, encourage and cheer us on in this journey! We are grateful!

Please remember that family of Dan Dan Wheldon, Indy car driver. He passed away Sunday in a race. We had the privilege of meeting him last August when he came to visit the VA. He has a wife and 2 small boys that he was very proud of!