Our First Venture into Politics

Elias and I had the unique opportunity to testify before a Texas Senate committee this past Wednesday regarding the need for insurance companies to cover prosthetics. Currently there are no mandates for insurance companies to pay for prosthetics, which is obviously a necessity and not a luxury.

Prosthetics are expensive! Elias' leg costs between $11,000-$15,000. And he needs a new one every 10 months or so. His current insurance policy only covers $2500 per year. That's it.

We once tried to get an independent policy for Elias. He was denied coverage by every single company. It was very discouraging!

We are very fortunate that we have the option to pay for his prosthetics at cost, and Chase has been able to swing some deals where we get some stuff for free (like Elias $1500 foot) in exchange for our input on the product. The great majority of people though do not have this advantage.

So a group of amputees in Texas have been working hard to get legislation passed that requires insurance companies to cover prosthetics at a reasonable amount. House Bill 806 was being voted on this week by the Senate committee so Elias and I were asked 24 hours in advance if we would go and testify.

Being there in the Capitol with a group of amputees, all of us passionate about our cause, was an incredible experience. We had the opportunity to testify before the committee and then visit the offices of a couple of the Senators. It was wild to be there in the middle of all the political activity and overhear all the coversations between legislators and lobbyists and citizens.

Best of all was getting to meet and connect with other amputees and hear their stories. Elias hit it off with an 11-year-old boy named Drew who lost his leg due to cancer at the age of six. The boys compared Mr. Stumpies and Elias got to ride in a wheelchair with him which was the highlight of his day. (Drew doesn't have a prosthetic leg right now because his new one is currently being made). These connections are always so significant for us and we're already making plans to go to San Antonio to see one of Drew's baseball games.

Here are a few pictures of our day. They were taken with my phone so aren't the greatest of quality, but I think you'll get the idea.

Elias and Drew become fast friends

Elias sits with others while they testify (I spoke later)

Future Senator Brown

Learning to Ride a Bike

We got Elias a new bike and helmet for Christmas. He hadn't really been into bike riding yet since he wasn't able to pedal on his own. But we figured a new bike and flaming helmet would help his motivation. We were right.

Chase customized the pedals on Elias' bike for him so that he can strap his feet in to help with pedaling. Now that he's getting the hang of it he wants to ride it everyday!

He forgets to steer most of the time because he's concentrating on getting his feet to go around and around. But that's okay. This is a huge accomplishment for him and we're so proud!

A new family tradition

The whole fam participated in the Capitol 10K race today. It was a blast!

Chase's mom, "Lulo", came into town this weekend and decided to walk the race, which was significant since she just finished her chemo treatments not long ago. It's awesome to have her healthy and active again!

Over 18,000 people participated in the race. It was really crowded the entire 6.2 miles and a little hard to navigate a clunky stroller through all those people. But Elias had a great time and I'm so glad we decided to push him along with us.

The highlight of the race was when Chase had to wait in line for TWENTY MINUTES to use the port-a-potty. Right in the middle of the race! Argh. I got a picture of that while I waited not very patiently on the sidewalk.

Elias got out of the stroller at the end and ran across the finish line. He loved it and kept saying "I won! I won!"

Definitely a new family tradition for the Browns.

Interview with Elias

These little interview questions were floating around on facebook, so I thought I'd conduct my own interview with Elias. It was pretty funny and insightful...

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"I love you"

2. What makes mom happy?
Playing with me.

3. What makes mom sad?
Spankings.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Doing funny jokes.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
You looked like your little dog sammy.

6. How old is your mom?
Thirty three.

7. How tall is your mom?
twenty and three feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Um play with me. No I mean, clean up.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
She tries to find me.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
No I will be the famoust.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Drawing.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Going up hills.

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Pay money.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Tires. No, chocolate. No, soup.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I don't know.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Superman.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play cars and trucks.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We're not. I have brown and you don't.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Our clothes. Because that's how God made us in the whole world!

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Cause she loves me.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Hugging him.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Taco Bell.

My commentary: Some of these answers really touched me, especially question #18. I was struck by how quickly he answered that we're different, not the same; that he's so cognisant of our different skin colors. I found it interesting and relieving though the way he answered it- that HE has brown and I don't, not the other way around. I DO need to work on playing more and cleaning up less. :-) And for the record, Taco Bell is NOT my favorite place to go.

Time w/ Daddy in the Workshop

Chase here. I haven't written on the blog for many moons now and I know many of you are frustrated with the lack of media coverage provided by my lovely wife and family news correspondent, so I thought I'd write a little something for the many fans out there in blog land. (By "many fans", I mean our parents and a few close friends who check this now and then.)

One of my favorite things to do in order to relax and spend time w/ Elias is spend time in the workshop. By workshop, I mean my approxiamate 1/3 of the garage that is mine and that I use as a work space to do whatever tinkering I feel necessary. We do everything from gunsmithing, auto repair, and an occasional HotWheels monster truck axel repair. No, I'm not kidding - I have fixed more than one HotWheels monster truck in my time. Any of you who know Elias well know exactly why.

This past Sunday was one those rare, wonderful days where we had no plans and nothing too pressing to do. So naturally, Elias and I spent some time... in the workshop. We also wondered outside a bit and practiced a little baseball, which Elias is getting into lately. I share this simply because it is one of my favorite things in the world and it is a little glimpse into our life. And I got a great pic of E that I had to post...

Making a Leg- The Series Returns

Well the "Making a Leg" series was very short-lived. There was about a five month delay on getting Elias' new prosthesis made. Daddy Prosthetist (DP) made several prototypes with different designs, but many of them didn't work for Elias.

A couple of these practice legs would fall off several times a day. Let me tell you that is not convenient when you're running across the Walmart parking lot with groceries and your 38 lb son in your arms and have to go back and pick up a leg in the parking lot.

Anyway, the final product is in and it's a huge hit! It was originally going to be Spiderman leg but Elias was captivated by some "flames" fabric at Hobby Lobby that took the look of his prosthetic leg in a whole new direction. I asked him why he chose the flames and he said he wanted it so he could "fire everybody". I told him to call Donald Trump.

So here is a picture of E on fire. Now I'll back up and finish the rest of how the prosthetic leg is made.

P.S. My apologies to all our fellow Aggies who notice the blatant display of disrespect in the first picture. Austin has had a bad influence on our son and we're trying desperately to gain some ground in this area. :-)

Nothing New

This blog is overdue for a fresh post, but quite frankly, we can't think of anything interesting to write about. I even commissioned Chase for his input, and we're both here staring at the computer with blank minds. That's the thing about blogs. You feel like every post has to be something interesting and exciting. Or at least include some good pictures. I don't have any of those components right now though.

Here are some random things...

* Elias has been learning to read. I try to catch him in teachable moments and we sit down and do a few minutes of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He is loving it and gets so excited to find the letters on everything around town.

* I haven't run even a single step since the race 3 weeks ago. My excuse was that I was waiting for my new fancy running shoes to come in. They did. Five days ago. So I'll start tomorrow.

* No news on the adoption front. Just waiting for a referral, but we don't feel like it's going to happen anytime soon. For a variety of reasons that require a post all by itself, we're pretty sure that our kid(s) won't be home with us this year. Maybe late this year, but we're not counting on it. That's a little disheartening but we remain peaceful and confident that God will bring us together at the right time and not a moment too soon or too late.

* We made a lot of valentine treats this last week. It's a family tradition to have huge heart cookies for each person on Valentines Day. I think we all ate ours for breakfast. I'll admit that it's not unusual for me to eat something horribly unhealthy like that first thing in the morning. But it was sure fun to share that guilty pleasure with my wide-eyed little boy. He was amazed that I said "yes".

My mind is blank again. So if you have any ideas for a post, write a comment and let us know!