Archer's Journey

The days are counting down and we are about to experience and feel the love of our community. Many will come, some may not, all will be holding Archer close to their hearts this Friday evening, May 1st. The original blog post featured a slideshow of just a few of the silent auction items (50+) that have been donated by Archers community. His community is not just within the city limits of Dillon, it extends beyond the county line, and even the state line of Montana. We have had silent auction items sent across the Pacific ocean and from the mountains of Colorado and the plains of the mid-west. I'm sure if we combined hands we would reach across the world in a circle of prayer. Our family has gained the strength from those around us. We have found courage to share our story. Now, we must be brave to explore into the world of raising a child with complex needs. We were raised in the Rocky Mountains for a reason, to learn that there are peaks and valleys, a natural ...

Today you have a choice. You must get from point A to B there are 3 traveling options. There is no time frame, it's not a race nor competition, you decide. Route A: On the Freeway, traveling at higher speeds, plugged into your blue tooth participating in a meeting while eating your breakfast, your calendar dinging reminding you of other engagements, rush hour traffic of stop and go, but you still got to point be in an hour. Whew accomplishing so much. almost as if you were on auto-pilot. Route B: On the two lane highway, windows rolled down, the breeze blowing in your hair, cruise control set, but below the speed limit so you can enjoy enjoy the landscape while being safe driving. You arrived to point B in a few hours and got to see a bald eagle, you braked for a family of deer to cross the road, you for the most part were in the moment. Route C: Taking the backroads, the roads that do not even have posted speed limits, the roads that one vehice fits down, no cell s...

This journey of Archers life will not keep us indoors and ban us from living a 'normal' life. The wonderful community of Dillon has teamed up to help us 'Archer, Brandon, & Cheyanne' the ABC Sparks family to raise awareness for our little guy and help fund our travels to seek the specialized care. We have to jump into the cockpit and navigate who will see and care for our little boy. Not one doctor has the answers and with Archer's unique make-up we will be seeking out the best care for him. His team has evolved so much in just a year within the state of Montana. At the age of 10 weeks old Archer visited his first neurologist and now has seen 2 additional neurologists, 2 different genetic teams (the 3rd team is currently gearing up for the next phase of testing), 2 occupational therapist, 2 physical therapists, a speech pathologist, 1 cranial sacral therapist, 1 vision consultant, an ophthalmologist, 3 adaptive equipment outreach workers, not too m...

Today marks the day that I have nearly completed 5 weeks of single parenthood *bless every single parent for their effort and will to provide*. In no way shape or form have my husband and I been separated. He has been brave enough for the last 14 weeks to be apart from our family in pursuit of completing the student teaching requirements of his Elementary Education degree @ UMW. We tried switching Archer back and forth every week. Our little champ toughed it out, he LOVED being with his daddy, but when it came down to it he really just loved being HOME. The environment that is adapted for him to have the best opportunity to use his vision. The colorful Vietnamese mobile with bells hanging above his changing table that signals him he is in his room. When he is lucky enough to take a nap in the comfort of mommy and daddy's bed, maybe even intertwined in our arms, even better between the two of us making us whole as 3 souls! Needless to say home is where the heart is,...

I have been trying to get this written since Thursday. Yet, today on Easter the title is a little more appropriate. There are many forms of pray, from a very structured routine to grace to light and airy thoughts during the day. Whichever way you give through the power of your heart Archer knows, he feels the love we all have for him. There have been a few times so far in his life when I know he was being upheld in many prayers. The first time last May-June 2014, this is when we visited the ER for a new type of seizure coming in clusters several times a day. It was actually the Friday before my 1st Mothers Day. For mothers day we needed to get out and so OF course we took a trip to our magical place the Grasshopper Valley and Maverick Mountain! During this time Brandon and I slowly began reaching out for support and sharing stories of our journey with Archer. People began praying and holding him close to their hearts, one particular day in June the seizures had almost...

Day one on my journey of sharing Archer's story. Here we go, so much to share, as if I need just yet another daily task, but today I share the light that Archer needs in his life. His eyes work perfectly fine, it is his brain that is not "seeing." This imp airment is called CVI - Cortical Visual Impairment. That means his impairment involves his brain - not the structure of the eye. CVI is not about acuity, it is about recognition - about recognizing or making sense of what he sees. This is why we need to literally provide light in his life. Lights activate the brain's visual cortex. For the brain to have the best opportunity to see, another factor to consider is the complexity of array. For example, cluttered backgrounds, create a hard concept for him to visually via the brain interpret. He has a hard time identifying finer detail and boundaries of objects when not spaced apart and presented on a plain contrasting background. Think about it, if you were...