Amanda Stanton

09/09/2026

09/07/2026

Zoe was born with a neurological condition called Moebius Syndrome, which is characterized by a lack of facial and lateral eye movement. It impacts her speech and her eating tremendously because it also affects her tongue movement. She can swallow, and she only eats by mouth, but for her to be able to do that, she needs food that requires very little chewing.
So today I’m mixing together some applesauce with other ingredients that will add calories and nutrients that applesauce alone doesn’t have. I added shredded coconut, ground flax seed, toddler formula, a little sugar, cinnamon, and baby oatmeal. All of these things stir really well into the applesauce without adding much texture, but it does thicken the consistency, which is also part of the goal.

09/06/2026

We took Abby to college four weeks ago, and we’ve seen her every week since. 😍

And Zoe’s dentist being an hour away is always worth the drive for us. We found this practice when she needed some dental work several years ago and were referred here because they have privileges at the children’s hospital. She loved them so much that we switched, and we haven’t looked back.

09/03/2026

Zoe really likes to be helpful. She likes to feel like she’s accomplishing something, which is part of what makes her dislike therapy. She doesn’t want to do it if it feels pointless, like she’s just doing it to do it. In helping to clean at a store, a restaurant, the library, or this gym, she isn’t just walking because someone told her to practice walking. She’s working. She just happens to be walking, stepping over obstacles, shifting her weight, fine-tuning her balance, and strengthening her muscles while she’s working. So this is her physical therapy for today.

09/02/2026

This is completely free, and you can get started today. It’s not a free trial or a “free account” with paid options. This is a free resource.

K12 Learning Hub is a great way to get in a little extra help in an area when you realize it’s needed or to stay engaged and get a little ahead of the game during school breaks.

Comment HUB, and I’ll send you the link to create your free account.

08/28/2026

Every week she brings her dust mop and helps clean the floors at our local Sam's Club . The workers are so kind. They thank her and compliment her work, and she stands a little taller. ❤️

08/26/2026

I couldn’t let National Dog Day go by without a post for our sweet Ragland, the best boy. 🐶

He turned 6 years old last month, and I need to edit that video, but for now, here’s to our favorite pup.

08/26/2026

Most of Zoe’s meals are the results of experiments we’ve done, based on ideas we’ve had for offering her a variety of meals that are easy for her to eat, that we think she will enjoy. Sometimes we love it the first time we make her something new. Other times, the texture or flavor needs some tweaking to be as good as we think it could be.

We tend to make a lot of the same things over and over again because experimenting is time-consuming and not always fruitful, but this was definitely worth the effort.

It tasted really good, and it’s dramatically less expensive than buying the Ge**er cereal. The texture is a little more work for her to eat, but not difficult, and that’s a good balance to keep making progress and get some practice with a different texture.

Abby saw me making it a few weeks ago and pointed out that if I “keep making her food preparation more complicated, she’ll never get to the point that she can make it herself.” And she’s not wrong. My goal here though, is to get her proficient in this different texture so that eventually she may not need it blended to be so smooth. Then maybe one day she’ll be able to eat the individual packets of instant oatmeal, and I know that she could make that herself. She could do that now. She just would really struggle to eat it.

08/26/2026

Back to school 📚

Since we homeschool, Zoe doesn’t actually fully take the summer off because she likes the flexibility of being able to take a mental health day whenever it suits her. To balance that out, she doesn’t take the traditional, pre-planned school breaks. She also will randomly wake up on a Saturday and decide it’s a school day just because she feels like doing school. So it works out in the end; we get our days in, and we take full advantage of the flexibility to really make our schedule our own. So she’s actually been doing school work off and on all summer, but they both have officially started now.

This is the first year Abby hasn’t been home with us for back to school since she’s away at college now, but she sent me photos of her first day without my even asking. 🥰

We miss her, of course, but she’s having a great time, already ahead on homework and making us insanely proud. We’ve actually gotten to see her twice (once when we visited to bring her a few things she’d forgotten and once when the school lost power for a day, and she came back to visit and enjoy the a/c for a hot afternoon). BOTH TIMES I neglected to get a photo with her or of her, but *I did get hugs* and that’s what’s most important. And Zoe has a dentist appointment coming up in the same city next week, so we hope to have dinner with her that evening before heading home.

08/21/2026

🚙 🚗 My girls have super cute cars.