Riley Turner

Riley Turner Golf Classic

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:40:00 +0000

Please join us for the Riley Turner Golf Classic Friday April 26th at the Golf Club at South Hampton. For more details on this event or to sign up please click the link to the right. This tournament benefits The Riley E. Turner Special Needs Trust and helps to cover Riley's medical and nursing expenses. We are so thankful for your support and hope to see you all there!

A very special (& BIG) thank you to Riley's Pops, Ed New, for all your hard work for this tournament! We love you!

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:34:00 +0000

The 4th Annual Riley Turner Gold Classic is coming up Friday June 1st! It is a fun day of golf, contests, and prizes and all of the proceeds benefit the Riley E. Turner Irrecoverable Special Needs Trust Fund. For more information please click on the link to the right!

An update and a prayer request

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 07:57:00 +0000

UPDATE

We are so sorry that our updates are few and far between these days. Here is the latest on Riley . . .

We just celebrated her FOURTH birthday in February and we are so happy to say that she has been doing really great. Growing, getting stronger, and for the most part staying healthy. Riley has started attending the staff daycare at our church on Monday mornings and absolutely loves it. I go with her to assist with her mobility & to manage her airway and it is the highlight of the week for both of us. I love watching her interact with the other children and just have fun being a little kid. She is a major social butterfly and talks all week long about her friends at church, counting down the days until the next Monday. Circle time is her favorite and she has taught all the other kids a good bit of sign language. We are beyond grateful for the accepting and loving environment the Celebration Church staff and their families have created.

Riley continues to show improvement in her speech and electro-stimulation swallow therapy and is now eating several bites of ice cream and other foods each week in our therapy sessions. We have also seen an improvement in her vocalization, she is now consistently able to make small low breathy sounds while wearing a special trach valve. Not enough to communicate verbally (YET!) but tremendous progress and we are so proud of her.

Riley has truly grown into a loving, funny, outgoing, and beautiful little girl. She is affectionate, caring, and has the most determination & strength of anyone I know. Her favorite things right now are daycare, nail polish, playing hair salon, going to the park and playing pretend.

PRAY REQUEST

While Riley's over all health has been doing great, due to the level of her over all muscle weakness she has developed severe scoliosis and her doctors told us this week that it has gotten to the point where we must intervene with spinal surgery. In November her doctor plans to do a major spinal surgery where they implant metal rods and use a series of hooks, wires, and screws to help straighten her spine. Because she is so young, repeat spinal surgeries will need to be done every 6 months to allow for growth until she has stopped growing, then they will do a spinal fusion surgery where they put small pieces of bone over the spine and the pieces grow together with the spinal bone, fusing it into proper position. To say this was difficult news is a massive understatement. These surgeries would not only mean huge amounts of time spent in the hospital, but also rigid spine (Riley will lose of the ability to bend or curve her spine), decreased mobility, back pain, risk of complications . . . the list goes on and on. If the past 4 years have taught us anything it is that we serve a loving, gracious, and BIG God. We know that every moment of her life has been loving planned and we know that he will carry us through all of these moments to come. Our prayer is that she would not have to endure all of this and we ask that you please join us in praying that her spine would straighten and strengthen and that she would not have to undergo these surgeries. We firmly believe that God is able to health Riley and do far more than we could ever imagine however we place our hope not in the out come of all of this but in Christ and Him alone. We learned early on that we can not begin to comprehend or understand His ways but we do know His power and His heart and that is where we place our trust and faith. We know that whatever happens His grace will help us to walk through it. Two scriptures that have been somewhat of an mantra for us this week are

1 Cor 2:5

We rest our faith not on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.

Lamentations 3:21-32

But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young
to stick it out through the hard times.When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The "worst" is never the worst.Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return.

If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.

Thank you all for you continued prayers for Riley. We would not be able to do any of this with out the love and support of so many amazing people in our lives. We love you guys and are so very thankful for you!

Love,

Becca

So.......

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

I have been sitting here the past almost 3 hours now and re-reading Riley's blog.....Honestly, it has been ridiculously hard....I have been sitting here pretty much just crying in my office, however I have realized something...GOD IS FAITHFUL AND WE ARE BLESSED

As I go back and read all of the different entries and prayers, I realize that God has answered sooooo many of the prayers. Riley will be 4 next month when she was not suppose to live past 1, that she speaks with sign language and hasn't been in the hospital in a really long time. She is amazing and Gods faithfulness is breathtaking.

Also, I am so thankful for everyone that has been and continues to be a part of this journey with us. It is amazing to see how Gods people rally together in times of need to support and lift each other in prayer and also practical needs.

Thank all of you so much we love you,
The Turners

I

Running for Riley

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Only one week till Running for Riley 5k! Please click on the link to the right for all the details

Guest Blog for Celebraton Sisterhood

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:10:00 +0000

I had the honor of writing a guest blog for the Sisterhood (women's ministry) Blog at our church a last week and I wrote something inspired by Riley so I thought I would share it here as well. Below is my post or you can view it at www.sisterhood.celebration.org.

My sweet daughter Riley is three years old and one of the most precious things in the world. She has long brown hair with ringlets at the end, dark green eyes, an adorable little nose and porcelain skin – she is BEAUTIFUL! Every day I ask her “Who is the prettiest girl here?” Or, “Who is the most beautiful girl in the world?” And without hesitation she always points to herself and smiles. The other day she was sitting in my lap while I was getting ready and I caught her staring at herself in my compact mirror, so of course I ask, “Are you the most beautiful girl in the world?!” But this time, instead of proudly agreeing with me she shook her head no and pointed to where a tiny vein is slightly visible through the porcelain skin on her forehead. This broke my heart!

And not only was I heartbroken by this, but I was mad. I felt like, “Where on earth did you ever get an idea like this? Show me who told you this lie and I will take care of them!” I immediately wrapped my arms around her, looked her in the eyes and told her that she was and always would be the most beautiful girl who ever lived. And that I loved her just the way she was because every imperfection, every part of her makes up the perfection that is Riley! As I sat there loving on my sweet little girl, I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “I feel EXACTLY the same way about you.”

I don’t know about you, but most women I know (myself included), our first thought when we look in the mirror is not “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” and can I tell you, this breaks God’s heart. He loves us with a fierce passion that we cannot even begin to grasp and if we could only see ourselves as He sees us, we would be unstoppable. The enemy knows this. He knows that the little lies and bits of doubt and insecurity can completely cripple God’s daughters. But it is time that we as women look beyond the lies we have been told and truly see the value, beauty, and perfection of God’s handiwork in ourselves. God is calling the women of His church to a role too important for us to let our insecurities get in the way. When God looks at you, He does not see your imperfections, blemishes, or flaws, but He sees His Son. He sees the blood of Christ that covers your imperfections and makes you holy, blameless, and set apart. How different would your life be if you lived every day with the full realization of who you are in Christ and who God sees when He looks at you–His beautiful daughter?

And just so you know, Riley is back to knowing and loving her Most Beautiful Girl in the World title. :)

Running for Riley

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:36:00 +0000

Only a week and 1/2 till the 5k Walk/Run for Riley! Please click the link to the right for all the details. We hope to see you there!

Blenderized Feeds!

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:31:00 +0000

It took 3 years, a complex surgery, and getting a very special (& expensive) industrial blender but I just got to buy the 1st jar of baby food for Riley! :) Because Riley is doing so well after her stomach surgery this summer we are able to feed her directly into her stomach via a gastric tube. Before we had to deliver her nutrition through a long tube into her small intestine. We could only use a very basic and thin formula for fear of clogging the tube. But the gastric tube she has now is very short directly to her stomach and gives us the ability to give her blenderized feeds. These feeds allow us to give her super healthy, customized vitamins and foods that are focused nutrition for her specific needs. This is going to be so much better for her than the basic formula we have been forced to use. Plus I am just super excited about being able to cook for my sweet baby :)

4th Annual Riley Run

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:47:00 +0000

The 4th Annual Riley Walk/Run 5k is coming up October 8th at 8:00am at the St. Johns Town Center. Please click on the link to the right to get all the details about the race and how to register or donate. Riley’s amazing extended family is sponsoring this Walk/Run fund raiser for Riley as part of “The Human Race”, a 5K Walk/Run and 1 Mile Fun Run promoted by HandsOn Jacksonville and the RITA Foundation, the umbrella organizations for the event. All pledge money raised for Riley flows through The RITA Foundation and is returned 100% to The Riley E. Turner Special Needs Trust Fund to help cover the cost of Riley's on going medical expenses. It is a really fun event and a huge blessing to our family. Hope to see you all there! :)

Thanks!

August 2011

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:37:00 +0000

Riley has been doing really great this summer. Since her surgery at the end of June she has recovered nicely and is doing really well with her feeds going directly into her stomach. She has even gained a pound :). She has been working hard in all her therapies and is steadily making improvements in alot of areas. And after we finally had all of the colds and surgery behind us, we have been enjoying the last few weeks of summer and spending alot of time at the pool. Riley can't get water higher than her belly button because of her g-tube and trach but we have a little boat floaty that lets her legs kick around in the water and she loves the pool. We plan to start back with Vital Stem Therapy again this fall and we are also going to be working on a few other things with her doctors as well but for right now we are just letting her enjoy the last little bit of summer with lots of tea parties and play time.

Another big update ... our church just broke ground on the new Celebration Church Arena at Baymeadows & 9A yesterday! This new building will be able to reach so many more people for Christ and will be the hub of all that Celebration Church is doing in Jacksonville and around the world. We are so very excited about this building project for a whole number of reasons, one of those being that there is going to a children's space devoted specifically to kids with special needs! Our AMAZING senior pastors, Pastor Stovall and Kerri Weems have a huge heart for children with special needs. Their vision for this new building is that it would be a place where EVERYONE feels welcome and can experience Christ on their level. We are so excited about the new special needs space and all that it will mean for Riley and so many other precious kids in our area. Riley went to the ground breaking ceremony with us yesterday to help celebrate the new building and all that God is doing in and through Celebration Church.

Riley is coming home today

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Riley is doing great with all of her post op recovery. She is back to her usual playful self and is healing nicely after all of the procedures. She has been tolerating feeding directly into her stomach with no issues and we have been working up to a rate with her feeding pump that is almost twice what she was previously able to tolerate when feeds were going into her small intestine (Success! This was one of the main goals of her stomach operation). It is never easy to have to gonthrough stuff like this and spending some many days in the hospital is not top on my list of things to do but we could not be more thankful for the amazing staff at Wolfson's Children's Hospital PICU. They all treat Riley like a princess and take such good care of us while we are here. We are planning on going home sometime today and Riley could not be more excited. She has been telling me all morning about all of the stuff she is going to play with her big brother once we get home. We are so happy and relieved that her procedures and recovery all went so well. And we are so very thankful for all of the prayer, support, and Starbucks from everyone over the past several days. And one last thing that I want to share - which is by far the highlight of my week. After her feed this morning Riley told me that she was full! I gotta be honest, I cried. With all of her reflux and aspiration problems she has been eating into her small intestine for over to years and this is the first time she has ever been able tontell me that she actually feels full! I am so very thankful that everything has gone well and we have a full, happy tummy to prove it!

:) Becca

Riley's post op recovery is going great

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:18:00 +0000

Riley is doing great! They took out the g/j tube yesterday and put in just a g-tube & she has tolerated feeds into her stomach all night!!!! :) they might let us go home as early as this afternoon

...sent from mobile device...

PICU day 3

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:57:00 +0000

Riley is recovering really well. We are still in the PICU but she has been much more playful today talking with the nurses & staff here, acting much less home sick. She is still requiring a good amount of pain medication but has been letting us move her around a bit more today which should help with all the air build up on her tummy that is pretty painful. We hope to try food into her stomach over the weekend to see if the surgery was completely successful. We hope to get out of here around the 4th. Thanks for all your prayers & support.

Xoxo

Becca

...Sent from mobile device...

Update

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:40:00 +0000

The surgery went well and Riley will be spending the next few days recovering in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Wolfson's. We are having to give her alot of pain medication right now but she is a trooper and has been smiling and in a pretty good mood most of the time. Please keep her in your prayers for a quick & pain free recovery. Thanks!

Surgery Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:18:00 +0000

Riley is having surgery tomorrow and will be in the Pediatric ICU for a few days after for recovery. She is having new ear tubes put it and they are doing a repeat muscle biopsy to hopefully help point us toward a diagnosis. But the main reason for this trip to the O.R. is for a Nissen Fundoplication - the doctors will take the upper curve of her stomach (the fundus) and wrap it around her esophagus and sew it into place so that the lower portion of her esophagus will pass through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery will strengthen her lower esophageal sphincter (the valve between the esophagus and stomach) which will keep food and stomach acid from backing up into the esophagus as easily. This will help us be able to feed her directly into her stomach instead of her small intestine which will have alot of benefits - it will prevent reflux that leads to aspiration and pneumonia, she will have the sensation of hunger/full, we can feed her at a faster rate that will allow for more play time and less time on her feeding pump, and hopefully this will take us one step closer to being able to eat by mouth some day. It is a Laparoscopic surgery (which means they will only make 3 or 4 very small incisions and then perform the entire surgery using a small camera and thin tools rather than it being a full open surgery . . . nuts right?!) We know that this surgery will be for the best for her but it is still so hard to see your baby have to go through this. Please be praying for a peaceful, pain-free, perfect surgery for Riley and strength & peace for me and Josh. We will keep you guys posted on how everything goes.

Much Love,
Becca and Josh

Marriage with a special needs child

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:57:00 +0000

I had the amazing privilege of guest blogging for a friend and mentor of mine today about navigating married life with a special needs child. I have copied the blog post below but to check it out plus tons of amazing words of wisdom by an incredible woman of God, Pastor Kerri Weems, please visit www.KerriWeems.com.

Marriage: With a special needs child

June 27, 2011 ·

This is a Guest Blog by Becca Turner. She is married to our Student Ministries Pastor, Josh Turner, and has helped out in many ways at the church. One of her most recent contributions was leading the Decor Team for Shine 2011–and didn’t she do an incredible job? She has truly shown herself strong and faithful, and I know you’ll be blessed by this post! Please let me know what you think. Love you all, Kerri xx

—

First off, I just want to say that I am beyond honored to be able to guest blog for the fabulous Pastor Kerri Weems. Pastor Kerri is a huge source of inspiration in my life and I could not love her or the rest of the Weems family any more than I do.

Secondly, please let me say that I feel like I am by no means any sort of authority on marriage with a special needs child. Most days I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, but luckily I am married to an incredible man who is full of life and just as hopeless as I am–and together we serve a God who loves and knows us intimately and, as such, showers us with huge amounts of grace daily. Doing life with a special needs child is in no way easy, but when our daughter Riley was born, Josh and I decided that no matter what, our family would do whatever we could to give as much glory as possible to our Heavenly Father. And we try our best to live out that decision every day.

Finances, kids, stress, in-laws, personality differences, dirty socks left on the bathroom floor . . . There is a lot to deal with in any marriage and I don’t think having a special needs child creates any new issues to overcome–but it does amplify them. I have learned a lot about myself and our marriage over the past three years, but by far the most important thing I have discovered is that my life is impossible unless I am putting God first. I learned pretty early on that I am not enough. The stress on me, my marriage, and my kids is too much to bear without God’s grace, joy, and peace to strengthen and carry us.

The second thing I have learned is that you have to be real. You have to be honest with yourself. Be realistic about your own limitations and realize that you are going to fail. Get a good support system and get good at learning to lean on others. Be real with your husband. If one of us is struggling, we have to be open about it and rely heavily on each other for encouragement and support. And also be real with God. God does not want or deserve anything less than our humility and honesty when we approach Him in prayer. We cannot hide our anger, doubt, fears, and worries from Him, be honest, give those over to Him and let Him walk you through it.

And lastly, I have learned to be intentional. When you have a special needs child you are on duty 24 hours a day and there is always some pressing matter to deal with. I have to be very intentional with guarding my time for my other child, myself, and my husband. A lot of the time that means getting creative. Taking a coffee break and giving myself a quick manicure, camping out in the den with my son, or creating a romantic night at home for me and the husband. Another part of being intentional is being intentionally proactive. Statistically the odds are against you in marriage and even more so with special needs children. The divorce rate among special needs families is about 35% higher than the national average. So knowing that the odds are not in our favor, Josh and I meet with a marriage counselor. Not because we are struggling, but because we have a great relationship and we want to keep it that way. We do have our issues like every marriage does, but the key for us is being real, being intentional, and doing our best to live a God-first life.

3rd Annual Riley Turner Charity Golf Classic Friday June 3rd

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:27:00 +0000

Please check out the link to the right about the upcoming Golf Tournament for Riley Friday June 3rd at 1:00pm. This is a great event and always alot of fun. It is also a HUGE blessing to our family in helping to raise money for Riley's medical and nursing care. We want to say a special thank you to Chick-fil-a at 13672 Beach Blvd. and Jeff & Christine Wier for supporting Riley and sponsoring a Chick-fil-a lunch for the event. Hope to see you all there!

Riley's Big Debut

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:15:00 +0000

I am not sure if all of you saw this, but this is the promo video for the Celebration Special Needs Easter Egg Hunt. I think you will notice my boy and girl....Get the tissues ready

In the Midst

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:44:00 +0000

Man, it has been a long times since I have posted on Riley's Blog, but I figured that Becca can not be the only one having the fun ;) This post will probably be more about my thoughts and struggles as I continue to walk this out, than about anything else.

As I write this Riley is sleeping right in front of me and I have to say that she is seriously the most beautiful child I have ever seen, don't tell Ayden. She has grown up to be a little girl full of personality and even though she can't talk still she has no problem letting you know just exactly what it is she thinks. She is a part of our family that I could never imagine being with out or to be honest with you imagine her being any other way.

I have learned more about myself and God through this season of my life than through anything else I have ever experienced. I never thought that a 3 year old special needs child would teach me so much about the love of our heavenly father and my own heart. However, God continues to use her to take me to places of continued wrestling, but it is beautiful....Let me explain:

A few weeks ago at church we were having a prayer night and there was a pastor that was leading a prayer for healing. In his prayers for healing he kept saying a phrase over and over which was, "God can heal and He will, He can and He will." Well I absolutely believe that God can heal and I know that it is His will for all to be healed, but other than that I don't understand healing. So, I found my self getting very frustrated in this moment and by frustrated I mean angry, but here is the amazing thing about God. In the midst of my frustration and anger a friend walked up to me where I was standing in this service and said, "God wants me to tell you something." Now I have been in ministry long enough to be very weary of what usually follows next, but this friend looked at me and said, "God wants you to know that He is going to heal your daughter, but it is going to be in His time and not yours." My friend then just grabbed me hugged me and cried with me. As he walked off Pastor James Price walked up to me and said, "God wants me to tell you something." Once again I was very weary ( I mean have you met James jk) Anyways James looked at me and said, "Do you remember the story of the paralytic on the mat?" Yes, I replied Then James looked at me and said, "When did God heal him?" and I said "in His time." Then James said, "God wants you to know that He is going to heal Riley, but it is going to be in His time and not yours." I lost it.........

I did not lose it at the thought of Riley being healed, but at the fact that in the midst of my anger/frustration God met me there. It just reminded me once again how much he loves me and that even in my anger He is there comforting me and holding me.

Through Riley I have learned more about Jesus than through anything else and for that I am thankful and blessed

Blessed and Highly Favored

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:05:00 +0000

I was reading today in Luke about when Gabriel came to tell Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Now, I am sure that when an angel of the Lord appears to you and tells you that you will give birth to the Son of God and Savior for all the only response you can really give is yes but I wonder if she looked back on her life and laughed at how little she knew of what she was getting herself into. While I am sure Jesus was the dream child for any mother - no time outs or temper tantrums - being His mother was with out a doubt an impossible burden for Mary. She had to raise, care for, and love a little boy that became the greatest man to walk this earth but all the while she had to watch as He was rejected, mocked, different, tortured, dismissed, beaten, spit on, laughed at, and ultimately killed. Now please let me be clear that I am in NO WAY comparing myself to Mary AT ALL, but as I read these verses I started thinking that she had the right attitude for sure in the beginning and I imagine she had to remind herself that alot as her role in life played out. Always repeating to herself "I am blessed and highly favored among women" and what a good mantra to have. While I can't fathom being Mary I do understand loving and caring for a sweet child that has a impossible burden to carry and I want to always maintain Mary's attitude about it. I do feel blessed and highly favored that God found our family worthy of such a burden with Riley & all she has to deal with and my prayer daily is that I would conduct myself as a woman who knows she is blessed and uses what God has given her to bring as much glory as possible back to Him.

Please keep Riley in your prayers - she is finally almost over her pneumonia and we are trying to make sure she stays as healthy as possible because she has a surgery coming up on May 18th. She is having her ear tubes replaced, another muscle biospy done for additional testing, and a stomach operation to help her be able to take food directly into her stomach via a g-tube rather than into her small intestine like she does now. It is a fairly complicated stomach surgery and she will have to stay in the intesive care unit for a few days afterward while she recovers. While surgery of any kind always makes us nervous & we hate that she has to deal with this, all of these procedures will really benefit Riley in the long run and we are trusting God with this just like everything else. Thanks for following our story and for loving and praying for our little Rileybugs.

Much Love,
Becca

Riley Update

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:33:00 +0000

It has been WAY to long since the last time I posted an update and I am so very sorry about that. So here is the abbreviated version of what had been going on with little Riley since the last time I blogged . . .
Over the winter Riley did a very aggressive type of speech therapy called VitalStim. It is an treatment for Oropharyngeal Dysphagia that uses electrical stimulation with exercises in order to strengthen the muscles used to swallow. The therapy was hard but little Riley handled it like a champ. At first most of the sessions ended with both me and her in tears they were so tough but after a while with some creative encouraging and distraction techniques Riley got to where she would just breeze through the sessions. And we saw AMAZING results! Riley is actually swallowing much more frequently now! She is protecting her own airway more than before and we have also been able to work with her on swallowing a few liquids like chicken broth or flavored water. I am not gonna lie, I balled my eyes out the first time she swallowed something in her therapy session luckly her therapist is amazing and just praised God right along with me. We are currently taking a small break from the treatments just to give Riley a break from all the hard work and because they are simply too expensive for us to keep up year round but we hope to start back in the fall.

Another big update . . RILEY TURNED THREE THIS FEBRUARY! We were thrilled to celebrate this big milestone with her and rejoyce in the fact that doctors are not always right! Each birthday we celebrate with her serves a such sweet reminder that everyday with her is a miracle and one we never knew that we would have. This year for her birthday (through the generosity of some amazing people) we were able to take Riley in her new wheelchair to Disney World! Riley has become increasingly obsessed with Disney princesses and she had an absolutely ball! The look on her face when she met Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) still makes me tear up when I think about it. Ayden (the worlds best big brother) glady opted for the "little girlie" rides and was always the first to suggest we go visit Tinkerbell instead of Space Mountain. I have posted some of the pictures to her flicker.

One more major update is that we are currently working very hard with her Neurologist in Gainseville to get a definative diagnosis. We have made several visits down there resently and still have a few more procedures and test that we will be headed back down there for over the next few weeks. The testing is stressful and hard on Riley but we hope it will all pay off in the end with giving us the answers we have been after for years now and also helping us to better formulate a treatment plan. We are also hoping that if we are able to get a diagnosis that will help us be able to qualify for disability assistance. But it is a little bit of a catch 22 cause if we had a diagnosis then we could get assistance more easily to help with her medical expenses but in the process of trying to find a diagnosis, we are increasing her medical expenses exponentially.

Well I gotta run, Riley is waking up from her nap. Sorry this post is sporatic and all over the place but I just wanted to try to catch up on how our little Rye has been doing. I will post a better update soon.

Please keep Riley in your prayers she has pnuemonia right now and we have been managing it at home ok (no hospitals thank goodness) but we are ready for her to be healthy & to be back to playing and having fun.

Thanks!
Love,
Becca

THANK YOU!

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:13:00 +0000

Thank you so very much to everyone who took part in the Riley 5k this past weekend! There was a great turn out and we raised a lot of money to go toward Riley's medical and nursing care expenses. It was so incredibly humbling for us to see so many people wake up early on a Saturday to come out in support of our family. We know we are super blessed to have many amazing people in our lives but to see the turn out of people, everyone wearing those pink "Running for Riley" stickers. . . well it was overwhelming to say the least. We were truly touched and we are so very thankful. We simply would not be able to give Riley the medical care she needs without the support of loving and giving people in our lives. The fact that she is still here, getting stronger and baffling her doctors, is because of God's faithfulness and the generosity of so many people who love her. It is such an odd and wonderful situation as her parents to know that we are kidding ourselves to think that Riley is just "our"daughter, she is being raised by a whole community of people. I only wish I could better express our gratitude that this little girl that we love more than anything in this world is so loved by all of you as well. Thank you!

Much Love,
The Turner Family

Running for Riley 5k Walk/Run OCT 9th

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 10:43:00 +0000

Less than a week till the 5k! We are so excited and hope everyone can make it there. Please don't forget to try to get sponsors if you are running. The race registration fee does not go toward Riley, only any donations or sponsors for the runners. For more info and details on the race please click the link to the right.

Thanks!

Much Love,
The Turners

Being totally unrealistic and loving it!

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:58:00 +0000

In Riley's weekly life of doctor appointments and therapy sessions we work with a lot of "goals". We focus our sessions and daily exercises around working toward these lists of achievements & hopes we have set for her physical strength and health. This is one area where I drive Riley's specialists nuts because I am always pushing for beyond what they call "realistic". When Riley was 5 months old I had a meeting with 4 therapists/specialists to lay out some goals and a plan of action for the next few years of Riley's physical therapy. When discussing realistic long term goals I said "to sit up unassited for 5 minutes" and I was sweetly told that sitting up on her own by the age of 3 could be somewhat of an unrealistic goal. Well, today during her physical therapy session Riley sat up on her own and played catch with me today for a full 10 minutes! This is just one more example to add to the ever growing list of things in Riley's life that prove nothing is "unrealistic" for our God.

3rd Annual Riley Run!

noreply@blogger.com (beccaturner) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:50:00 +0000

It is that time again! :) We are blessed once again this year to be able to be a part of Hands on Jacksonville's Human Race 5k & 1 mile fun run. SATURDAY OCTOBER 9TH AT THE ST. JOHNS TOWN CENTER AT 8AM! It is a really fun race that wraps through the Town Center. Please click the link to the right for more information about the race and to download entry form, flyers, and info sheets.

Riley's expenses (after insurance benefits have been exhausted) are about $70,000.00 per year for her nighttime nursing care, medications, and medical equipment. This 5k is a HUGE way for us to help raise funds in order to ensure that we are able to give Riley the care that she needs. If you cannot participate in the race you donate directly to Riley's special needs trust fund by clicking the Online Giving Donate button to the right. It is hard to put into words how truely thankful we are for your support and donations. Just the fact that Riley is still here is in a big way due to the support we have recieved, without which we simply could not afford the eguipment and care she needs. So Thank you! Thank you for praying for and helping to support our precious Riley. It means to world to our family!

Hope to see you all at the Riley Run! :)

The Turner Family