Belli's Big Birthday Surprise

This year for Belli's birthday I decided it was high time for a swing set of her own.  After looking for a few weeks I finally decided on this one:

It has a slide, swings, monkey bars, a built in toy box, bench/bar, and picnic table to eat and drink at.  It also has an area that you can fill with sand for a sand box but I haaaaaaate sand so I haven't put anything in it yet.  Anyway, I knew it would be difficult to put together but I really enjoy building stuff so I thought it would be fun.  I took pictures each day to capture my progress.

Here is day one.  The amount of wood and hardware alone took up my whole den.

Day Two (I can't find the pictures for day two but I am pretty sure I just put together the ladders)

Day Three: I had help from my dad and sister hold the pieces up while we attached the top boards.

Day Four (I only had a few hours to work but I got the floors in that day)

Day Five

Day 6 (had help from Belli's dad putting the roof up)

Day 7

Isn't it beautiful?!?!  And in case you are wondering, yes, I did do almost all of it by myself.  Big props to my dad though for helping me a few times when I couldn't figure something out.  But, the biggest props of all go to my sister and mother for keeping Belli entertained for the whole week while I built it.  Without them there is no way I would have had the time to do it nor would I have been able to keep it a secret from her.  She was majorly surprised.  I will post picture from the birthday soon!

In the Past 3 Months...

I have been sooooo busy (and a little bit lazy) which would explain my lack of updates.  But, due to many "complaints" (Ahem...Lori and Aunt Karen) I felt it was high time I let everyone know what has been going on our lives.

Honestly...it has been really boring and uneventful for the most part.

I finished another semester of school at the beginning of May.  I feel like I had a lot going on in May but now I can't remember a single thing that I did.  I started another semester of school in June and it has been a whirlwind ever since.  I am only taking two classes but when you have to get in the same amount of work in two months that you normally do in four months it feels like a lot more than that.  So needless to say I have been unbelievably busy with school work.  As part of an assignment for one class I had to spend 20 hours at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.  There is a regional center in Birmingham which is where I was.  It was a very enlightening experience.  The first day we went to the Lakeshore Foundation and the kids did the rock climbing wall and swam.  The second day we went to the zoo and the last day we went to the Botanical Gardens and then bowling.  It was amazing to me what these kids could do.  I mean climbing a rock wall and diving into a pool with no sight is very brave to me.  Just goes to show that a child with a disability can still do all of the same things everyone else can.

Back in June I had a bit of a health scare when I found a medium sized lump in one of my breasts.  My fears were almost immediately put to rest though when I consulted Dr. Google and decided that it was likely a fibroadenoma.  That was exactly what it felt like and it didn't have any of the characteristics of a "bad" lump.  I scheduled and appointment with my doctor and he thought the same thing and sent me to get an ultrasound.  The radiologist agreed but said it was pretty large so I decided to go ahead and have it removed.  The surgery was yesterday and I was in and out in no time.  They sent the mass to pathology but my surgeon said it looked just like a fibroadenoma so that's most likely what it was.  Should get the results for sure though some time next week.  

We went to the beach a couple of weeks ago and me being the horrible mother that I am took ZERO pictures.  I did take one video of her swimming though.  It took a full day of screeching but I finally convinced Belli that she would not sink with her floaties on and she finally let me let her go.  After that she had a blast.  Fortunately my mom did take a few pictures so at least I have something to remember the trip!

  

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Belli has also taken to dancing lately.  I posted this on my Facebook so those of you who I am friends with may have seen this but if not it's worth a look.  Very funny!


Health wise Belli is good.  We will see both ortho and neuro sometime in August so there are no new updates since the last time I posted about them.  She did have her well check up this week though and everything looked good.  She has finally broken the 30 pound mark at 30 pounds 8 ounces. 

On the school front she will be starting back at her public school in August just one day a week and then will start going the other four days to our church preschool.  I am VERY excited about this because I am taking three classes in the fall which means I will need to do 60 observation hours and with Belli in school 5 days a week I will have plenty of time to do them.  This will be my last semester of classes and I will be doing my student teaching in the Spring.  Hooray!!

I think that is all for now.  I promise I won't go so long without an update again.  Belli's birthday is coming up so I am sure I will have a post about that.  And then another one in August after her check ups with her ortho and neuro.  Hopefully they will both be good reports!

Bagel, Belliism, Bunnies, and Awards

When I was in 4th grade we got a family dog.  She was a beagle and I (rather smartly I thought) named her Bagel.  Yep, Bagel the beagle.  This is her:

Or, I suppose I should say, this was her.  Sadly, after almost 15 years we had to put her down back in March.  This was the first death that Belli has ever had to deal with so I was interested to see how she would react.  I decided not to mention it to her unless she asked because she was never really fond of dear Bagel anyway.  I mean why bring it up if she doesn't really care anyway right?

Well a few days later Belli was outside with my dad and she asked him where Bagel was.  He told her something about her getting sick and being in doggy Heaven now and all that stuff.  Well, without missing a beat Belli says, "Well.  I guess that means she won't be bothering when I play in my sandbox anymore now will she?"  So, needless to say Belli handled the death well. 

On the upside, because Bagel is no longer on the prowl in our backyard we now have a brand new bunny.  Belli named him Bruno and he lives in our backyard.  What's really awesome about him is that he is a wild bunny so we don't even have to take care of him.  He comes and goes as he pleases and finds his own food.  It's quite nice really.  Here is Bruno:

Isn't he cute?  We love to sit by the back door and watch him hop around.

And last, but certainly not least, Belli was nominated for the Finley Award.  This is an award that our school system does based on character.  There is one kid per class per grade nominated each year and they pick the kids who have consistently shown good character.  Only the high school overall winners and the faculty winner get the money that is awarded but just to be nominated is an honor.  Here are some picture from the ceremony last night:

And here are some pictures of her certificate, free meal from Beef O'Bradys, and her medal:

I am one proud momma!

Five Question Friday

Head over to Mama M's to join in on Five question Friday!

1.  Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?
I've definitely never left her at a store but there was one time a couple of years ago when she was in MDO so I could go to class that I almost forgot her.  Class got out early one day so I went home to lay down for a little bit before I had to go get her.  I was supposed to pick her up at 2 and the next thing I know I wake up at it was 1:55.  I was WAY late picking her up.  So I guess I didn't technically forget her...I just fell asleep.

2.  Where did you go on you first date?
I actually don't remember...Most of the guys I dated where people I actually knew already so there was never really a "first date" per se.

3.  What's your "silly" fear?
Insects.  Any insect.  OH. MY. GOD.

4.  Confrontation:  do you cause it, deal with it as it comes, or run far far away from it?
It depends on the situation.  I will cause it if I need to or avoid it if I don't think it's necessary.

5.  Wood floors or carpet?
I am currently a big fan of the laminate wood flooring.   

Belli Finally Got Into A Preschool!!!

Now you may be wondering why I am so excited that she got into a preschool since that's just kind of a normal thing.  Well it's because it has taken me two years to finally find a place that will take her.

Every other place I looked (probably 5 or 6 places) wouldn't take her because of her disability.  Which, by the way, is illegal.  Even the daycare who is run by the United Cerebral Palsy foundation that takes special needs children wouldn't take her.  You can read about the devastation here.

But now, finally, I received a letter from my church preschool saying she will have a spot in the fall.  Thank GOD!  Finally!

Snow Day

We have had quite a few snow days lately but today was the first day that we finally got out and played.

Belli Has Lost Her Head