Just an "after homecoming" update....

I know everyone is still wanting Kensley updates! Now that she is home they are few and far between aren't they?!? We'll TRY to do better! However, we ALL love to sit and talk and spend time with her! She is now a totally rotten, silly little girl! She gets funnier by the minute. Here are some highlights:

* She is now holding herself up great! When she got home Wednesday night she was still having some problems holding her back up and was even sliding down in her wheelchair. Today she is sitting up and even leaning up and over in her wheelchair and doing well!

* She went to eat lunch at school with Konnor on Friday and got to visit her class and her friends.

* We took a little field trip to the Delta Zeta craft show on Saturday....we were amazed at the people that stopped us and ask if that was Kensley!! She is a superstar and doesn't even realize it!! :)

* She went to church Saturday night. All of her little friends wore hats to church so they could make her feel comfortable! Sooooo cute!!

* She went to church Sunday night also. She was sitting on the bench between me and Melissa and leaned back on me. She kept leaning up and grabbing the bench in front of us. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "trying to stand up." So I told her to go for it. And she did. Then people started paying her to do it....like real money, even a $5 dollar bill....so she kept doing it. She was raised right...lol.

* Today she started her therapy here in town for the first time. They put her in a harness and let her walk. She was excited!!

She is still making awesome improvements daily! We are so proud of every little thing! We scream and clap and get excited over every move!! :)

Kensley Homecoming

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Kensley is Home!!!

She's Home!!! Praise the Lord!!! Here is footage from WHNT. Hopefully Marty will have time to upload some pictures sometime today :)

 

Coming Home!!

Good Morning everybody, this is Melissa and I am happy to report that we will be coming home tomorrow afternoon. We are so excited!!! Please keep us in your prayers as we head back, we love all of yall and can't wait to see everyone.

Kensley Speaks :)

This is from Sunday, November 8, after we had worn her out talking all morning! Today she is without the feeding tube and talking even more! God is good!!

Joy Unspeakable!

Joy unspeakable and FULL of glory!! I Peter 1:8

I went to see Kensley yesterday and this is the only way I know how to describe how I felt leaving the hospital. To see where she is from where she was just a few weeks ago is nothing short of a miracle. She was smiling, blowing kisses, giving thumbs up, winking, sticking her thumb out and showing some of that DQ personality we've all missed over the last 5 weeks. Here is some of the video I shot while I was there - please ignore my obnoxious voice - we were just a little excited!!!!

Let me back up a few days. Kensley had made amazing progress in her therapy this week. She has a very strict schedule and was responding well. All reports all week were baby steps that everyone was SO thankful for. It started when she took a kleenex away from Melissa to wipe her own nose, then we saw pictures of her on the computer, then she made a laughing sound at Konnor. These sound like baby steps, but what wonderful baby steps they were!!! Then on Thursday, she had a swallowing test to see if she could tolerate eating real food - she passed!!! They kept the feeding tube in just in case, but she started eating pureed real food. That's about where the videos pick up......

And then came this morning - I get a phone call from Marty saying, "Did they call you??" I couldn't help but think the worst. Then she said these words, "SHE'S TALKING!!!" I was speechless (I know that some of you can't believe that :)) Marty was half laughing and half crying. I was trying to comprehend it all. I was just there yesterday, and we were so excited that she tried to say "HI", and here she was calling people on the phone!!! From what I understand, she pulled her feeding tube out in the night (she was really aggravated by that thing). As Melissa went to leave this morning to get cleaned up, she said, "Bye". Then Dustin walked in and she said, "Hey Daddy!!!" I don't know how Dustin and Melissa are still standing up at this point. The overwhelming joy and fulfillment of faith surely can not be put into words for them at this point!! By mid morning, Kensley was on the phone calling family members and sending all of them into some combination of shock and sheer joy!!! Several of our friends are calling this Kensley's Waking Up Talking Day!

God is Good - ALL the time!!! This journey is guided by His perfect timing, but I know I speak for everyone, we are all SO thankful that the past week's steps have been swift and prosperous.

I hope to have more video to share tomorrow. We are going down to have a "diva" party in the morning. If anyone wants hot pink, glitter nail polish with crowns and fur boas, come on down!!

Stephanie

So thankful for this new friend!

Over the past month our family has talked so many times about how many people's lives have been touched because of Kensley. It's so amazing to look at her facebook page and see that she has a little under 9,000 members of her group. Wow. What more can you say? Just...WOW. Every person that has said one prayer for Kensley is our friend. We may never meet them, never really know them, but they are our friends. Because they too cared enough about our baby to ask God to help her. We are so truly blessed. We are so truly amazed. We can't even fathom how to repay what has been given. We can't say thank you enough for what everyone has done and the prayers that were prayed.

I do want to show this picture. Because we are thankful for this new friend. I have never even thought to ask how he found Kensley's facebook page. But he did. This gentleman was traveling with some friends to the Florida/LSU game at approximately 4:45 p.m. on I10, around Holt, Florida. He happened to be right behind Dustin and Melissa at the time of the wreck. He has since told me that that is something he never wants to experience again. When the accident happened, he and his friends took time out of their day to stop and help our family. How do you express how thankful you are for that? I can't come up with words.

He and I have emailed several times since the wreck, he has been so concerned over Kensley. His last email stated he was flying into Birmingham on business and would like to stop by the hospital if it was okay. Didn't take long to figure the answer to that one out! So today, he got to stop by and visit with Kensley, Dustin and Melissa. And of course, had to have a picture for our book!

So thankful for this new friend of our family!!

Oh...and I am assuming he is a big Florida fan, being from there and all....everyone has one flaw.....ROLL TIDE!!!! :)

Little things that are HUGE!!!!!

Just got this picture from Dustin………Melissa was trying to wipe Kensley’s nose with a Kleenex and obviously Kensley didn’t like the job she was doing so she grabbed the Kleenex and starting wiping it herself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He called me to tell me he sent a picture and she heard him telling me about it and got tickled and started laughing!!!!!!

We grasp and hold on to all things big and small. For us, this accomplishment is small, but for Kensley, this is so HUGE!!!

Wow! How fast things can turn around! We know she still has a long way to be well. But until then, we're going to take pictures and blog and post about her wiping her nose....... :)

Marty