PHASES & STAGES

These are leg/ankle braces. Therapists know them as AMO's and SMO's.

These are Kenidi's braces. They are ones that date all the way back to when she was approximately 16 months old up until now. I'm saving each pair so that she can look back at these some day and have many visuals at just how far she has come and see just how much she has accomplished in life.

She got new braces right before we left for Florida. (the tall ones on the far left end) She has to get new ones once a year in order to keep up with the growth of her feet and legs.

Unfortunately, the therapists all agreed that she needed to go back into the tall hinged braces this time because her left foot still leans inward so bad at the ankle bone. They want her more supported there for another year. We had the taller ones once before and then they put her back in the short ones last year. We were excited to have her in the shorter size again because they are less invasive, less noticeable in a shoe, etc. However, with the tall pair, you see them when she wears skirts and such. I know this is Kenidi and just part of who she is but Brent and I hate the stares that people give when they see her wearing those tall ones. They look like something you'd have seen back in the older days. It's rare that a child is seen wearing something that big, tall, and bold in today's modern medicine age.

Phases, stages, this thing we call life.....it's always keeping me on my toes. As I lined up Kenidi's braces, I teared up at the thought of what all she has endured and the thought of the large hills and hurdles ahead that she has yet to climb but I too, smiled at the thought of how much progress she has made.

I also smiled, laughed, and thanked God for giving her to us.