Punta Cana

We've been home for a week now, but I'm still savouring the memories of our trip to the Dominican. Two weeks, our whole family, on a tropical vacation. It was sooooo lovely...

We stayed at the Bahia Principe Esmerelda. The grounds were beautiful, the resort very nice. Good food, great shows. I can never get enough of palm trees, turquoise water and tropical flowers. The beaches in the Dominican are the nicest we've ever seen. Beautiful, clean white sand, crystal clear water. Sigh!

Marissa had lots of fun. Unfortunately the Kids Club wasn't what we had hoped for. It had so much potential, the list of activities through the week were awesome, but there was hardly ever any kids there. Marissa was disappointed, she really wanted to have friends to play with. She did meet two very sweet girls from Toronto the same age as her and Taylor but they only had a few days together before they headed home. Marissa still managed to enjoy herself though. She spent lots of time in the pool with Daddy. She loved hunting for coconuts and little geckos. It was the mission of choice anytime we were walking around the grounds! In fact she collected 29 baby coconuts that had fallen to the ground and was determined to bring them home. We prepared her for the fact that they would likely be taken away at the airport by security, but they didn't, so she was super excited to bring them home. The tops are now getting some mold on them, so I'm not sure how that's going to go over when I tell her it's time to throw them out!! There was a spectacular water park on the property that Marissa enjoyed lots of time at, with Kids Club a couple times, and us a couple of times. Bizarre rules wouldn't let parents on the water slides, so she had to do that by herself. She loved going to the show at night, the highlight being the Michael Jackson show which was fantastic! I now have myself a little Michael Jackson fan, so much in fact that she wants to have a Michael Jackson birthday party next month! There was also a nice little mini golf course that she played at a few times. One night she got to dress up as one of Snow White's seven dwarfs to be part of the evening kids show. She made a very cute little dwarf! I think the most fun I witnessed Marissa have was playing and jumping in the waves on the beach. It still puts a big smile on my face to remember the pure joy on her face out there.

We were so happy to have Taylor with us on our winter vacation this year. The last winter holiday she came with us was three years ago, just before she started the Ketogenic Diet. Once she was on that there was no way we could bring her because we needed access to a kitchen, grocery store and a scale to weigh by the gram all the ingredients to prepare her meals. When she stopped eating and got her feeding tube, the possibility of going away with her was there because we only needed to be able to prepare ketogenic formula every night, and we could do that without a kitchen. But she wasn't stable enough for us to be comfortable taking her to the Caribbean. She's been so stable for a while now that we decided this winter the time was right. Travel days were challenging with a wheelchair and all the extra stuff we need to bring for her, but it was soooo worth it. She did so well and handled the heat with no trouble. Taylor loves the pool, so it was a joy to see her in the water every day for two weeks. She was so happy. So many smiles on her face during her pool time. And she loved being in the section where the jets were and feeling them push her. Her swimava neck ring gives her complete freedom to move her body in any direction it wants, it must be such a great feeling for her, the only time she has that complete freedom.

We spent much of our time by the pool every day, and enjoyed our down time. We did however take one excursion. It was on that day that Taylor got her first kiss from a boy, a 5 year old dolphin named Alex. Such a special memory! It was at Dolphin Explorer in Punta Cana. We went on the Funtastic option, where everyone in the group got a dolphin kiss, a dance, and lots of slippery touches. It was in the ocean, and there was a platform that we all stood along. Marissa was unexpectedly spooked by the water and all the little fish swimming around us that she completely refused to participate and sat on the dock above us the whole time. I'm still sad that she missed the special opportunity, especially because of her love of dolphins, but she did manage to touch Alex once at the very end. And she did experience the welcome kiss that we each got from a sea lion!

One morning we had one of the resort photographers take some photos of us and he captured some really nice shots...

Francis and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary while we were away. The family we met from Toronto had hired a babysitter one night from the resort and told us how wonderful she was, so they introduced us to her (Yuleyda from Butler Services) and she met the girls, and we had her watch the girls on our anniversary so that we could go out for dinner just the two of us. We went to the restaurant Don Pablo over in the Ambar section of the resort which is adults only and had a lovely dinner. Was nice to get out for the evening alone. Yuleyda (pronounced "Joolayda") was a sweetheart, she spoke English very well and loved the girls.

Enjoying our drink of choice, "Bahama Mama"

You can check out a few more pics on my Instagram feed here. Feels like we're still slowly settling in back home. Taylor's back on her regular routine of therapy/school during the week. Marissa went back to school on Tuesday. The laundry is nearly done. But the vacation memories are still fresh. Feeling happy and very, very grateful.

Happy New Year!

It's 2013 everyone, and we're still here! I guess the Mayan's were wrong, thank goodness! It was a pretty low key New Year's Eve celebration at our house, but we like it that way just fine. Call it age, or having kids, whatever the reason, we're okay with it! I managed to tidy up that afternoon, it's amazing how new gifts and toys can spread themselves over the entire main floor in a couple of days. It looked like a bomb had gone off in my living room. I decided to set the table up all fancy in black and white, even though it was just the four of us. But it looked so pretty. And nothing like getting into the spirit and enjoying an evening like a cleaned up place and a fancy dining room.

We were unsure leading up to NYE what we were going to do for supper. We ended up deciding to order a Chinese feast, and it was delicious, even if all Marissa seemed interested in eating was the fortune cookies!

Marissa wanted to stay up til midnight to watch the ball drop on TV, so we just watched the Eastern broadcasts, and the magic happened at 10pm our time. And that was just about when she was expiring, so it was perfect timing. We made party hats and silly pipecleaner glasses. We had confetti poppers and noisemakers.

Poor Taylor had fallen asleep and when we honked the noisemakers her arms shot up in the air, eyes wide open, as if to say "holy crap what are you people trying to do to me?!!"

Since we're talking about Taylor, our little Supergirl is still on fire! For a while now she will maintain an independent sitting position for about 3 minutes. The morning of New Year's Eve she sat independently for 11 minutes. Yeah, you heard right, 11 minutes!!! I am fiercely proud of her. She loves to stand, with minimal but mandatory support at her waist. Yesterday Francis stood her up without her AFO's or shoes on, felt her relatively steady and let go. She held herself for 2 seconds. Un-freaking-believable!!! I think she's giving us a little preview of what she has in store for 2013.

On a more personal note, I've never been one for New Year's resolutions. Does anyone seriously make a resolution and keep it for a whole year? Certainly not me! But I got the best idea from my friend Janella. This past year she made 12 resolutions that she committed to over each of the 12 months. One committment a month. Bite sized. Doable in my book. So I decided to do the same. More to come on that...

Proud Mama

We attended an event at Marissa's school tonight, the Photography Exhibit & Gala. The kids had been learning about photography, cameras, and how to take pictures. There were photos on display that the students had taken of each other. In Marissa's class, they had each chosen what their favourite body part was and why. When I found Marissa's photo and quote, well let's just say I was indeed the proudest mama there...

"The best part of me is my heart. I like my heart because you can love people with it. You use your heart to say sorry if you did something wrong."  ~ Marissa D.

I love your heart too baby...xoxo

Happy Halloween!

When did you go to your first school dance? I remember having a 'sock-hop' as they called it, when I was in Grade 6 but everyone just stood around, I don't think a single one of us danced. Junior High was the first real one that I remember where there was a DJ and everyone dancing. Apparently today you attend your first dance in Kindergarten! Marissa's school is Kindergarten through Grade 4. I'm talkin' DJ, loud dance music, dark gym, kids dancing...the real deal. Not my kid. Marissa stood there, surrounded by dancing kids, totally frozen! It took a long time before she warmed up, then when they played our favourite dance song "Hello", I saw her start to bust a groove. My girl can be pretty shy sometimes. But she got into it near the end though, and when it was over, she didn't want to go. We dressed Taylor in an old costume of Marissa's, she looked pretty cute. Marissa had blue lips to match her Dorothy dress from the blue candy ring she had! Oh and there was face painting, always a favourite of Marissa's. Although I'm not quite sure what the red and gold things beside her eyes were meant to be, but she was happy!

Last night was our regular Sunday Dinner at Mom's, and she went all out with a Spooktacular event! The table was all decorated with skulls and bones and eyeballs and spiders. Marissa and Mady had orange Halloween cups with twisty straws that screamed when they drank...seriously! And the skeleton you see hanging from Mom's chandelier in the first picture, she put red Swarovski crystals in the eye sockets! Wouldn't you?!

The girls got treat baskets, and Taylor got a new soother strap...Halloween style! Thank you Mom, you are awesome!

Marissa's school has orange and black day on Halloween. She doesn't have anything orange in her closet. So I bought this fun t-shirt making kit at Michaels, took one of her plain white t-shirts and created something 'orange-and-black'. I made Taylor one too. In true Tasha form, I was up late last night getting it ready for Marissa to wear to school this morning. I'm really good at leaving things to the last minute!

And here's my two Halloween girls all dressed up for the occasion...

If you asked me, I'd say Taylor knew that today was different. The whole 'dressing up' thing. Turning the lights off, lighting candles, kids coming to the door. I got so many smiles from her today and tonight when I was taking pictures. I felt like the paparazzi, she kept smiling so I kept clicking! Check out this array of smiles caught on film today, and this is just some of them...

I made a fun supper tonight, we had Mummy Dogs! Hot dogs wrapped in Pillsbury crescent rolls, mustard eyes, served with a side of blood! I wasn't expecting much, but they were actually pretty tasty! Marissa picked all the pastry off hers and just ate the hot dog by itself. To each their own!

Here's some of my Halloween decor. Marissa and I made the haunted trees one afternoon and she made the Oreo turkey at Sparks. My milk jug ghosts were by the front door to greet the trick-or-treaters...

We had a family of four jack-o-lanterns lining the front steps...

Marissa met up with her cousin Mady to go trick-or-treating and when they got back their poor cheeks were frozen! Nothing some hot cocoa with marshmallows couldn't fix though...

Happy Halloween to you!

Call her crazy!

Marissa's loving gymnastics. The girl has so much energy in her, if I had just a quarter of it I'd be doing well! I think it's suiting her far better than the ballet thing. This week they got to go to class with crazy hair. I did 6 ponytails framing her face with rainbow coloured elastics. She thought it was awesome...or, should I say, crazy! And she played the 'crazy' role in every way A.L.L. day :-)

Fall Family Day

It was a perfect fall day today: blue sky, warm sunshine, fallen leaves. So off we went to the Calgary Corn Maze for their Autumn Pumpkin Festival. We could tell as soon as we pulled into the parking area that half the city also thought it was a great idea! But we braved the crowd and soaked up the fun anyways!

We managed to prop Taylor up all by herself on some pumpkins and against a barrel. Then, we put a pumpkin on her lap while she was in her wheelchair and she just fixated on it!

This hay bail made the perfect backdrop!

What would a pumpkin festival be without some scarecrows?!

The girls both enjoyed the festivities, in their own different ways. Marissa enjoyed all the fun stuff there is to do there. Like the steep tunnel slide, the petting zoo, the playground, the jumping pillows, the cow train. And Taylor...well, she loves being out-and-about in her wheelchair, and she just took it all in. Such a different backdrop from her typical day, you could watch her eyes locking in on all the interesting things to see. Francis took her on the cow train in his arms and she lit right up with some sweet smiles. The corn maze was pretty much dried up. Marissa found a cob lying on the ground, shucked it and pretended to take a bite!

We had a great afternoon of family time. I'll end this post with a sweet shot of my favourite two little people. I braved a shot of Marissa holding her sister all by herself. She's holding onto Taylor for dear life!

Little Spark

Marissa started Sparks this fall, and we got to go together as a family on her official Enrollment Night. It was really cute. One by one, the littles walked on butterfly stepping stones and through a rainbow of balloons to receive their pin, official handshake, and enrollment certificate. They held up their right hands with two fingers up and promised to share and be a friend.

Her group of girls meets on Monday nights for an hour. They sing, do crafts and learn about safety, community, sharing and being a friend. And of course, twice a year they sell Girl Guide Cookies! The chocolate mint wafers in the fall, and the traditional chocolate and vanilla ones in the spring.

They sang this cute Polar Bear song after the ceremony and had to choose a hugging partner for it. She chose Taylor and wheeled her wheelchair into the circle for the song, and gave her a hug on every hugging part. My heart was full.

When I pick her up every week, part of their closing ritual is singing this song to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star...

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spark

Time to go. It's getting dark.

Hurry! Hurry! Off to bed.

Time to rest your sleepy head.

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

What fun we'll have in every way!

A New Chapter

Today was the big day. Marissa's very first day of school. The buildup has been mounting for some time and once the moment was finally here it did not disappoint! She's been excited about Kindergarten ever since Preschool started last year. And once she found out she was going to be riding a school bus ALL. BY. HERSELF. well she couldn't stifle her joy! She has to contain that for a few more days because today and tomorrow the parents bring them to school. Tuesday is the first ride on the big yellow bus.

We had some lead-up to the big event. There was shopping together yesterday for the first-day-of-school-outfit, of course. Followed by the four of us having dinner together at Montana's. When Francis left for work at 6:30am this morning, Marissa was all ready to get dressed. She was so puffed up with excitement this morning I thought she was going to spontaneously combust! She was adorable I must say.

All the Kindergarteners gathered in the gym, got nametags, lined up, then got taken to the classroom by their teachers. There was one little darling in the lineup whose poor eyes were brimming with tears, I just wanted to give her a hug. My kid, no tears there, she was vibrating as she waited patiently in line to head off on her life's newest adventure. I love her passion. I'm so proud of the way she handles big changes like this. No fear. No reservations. Both feet forward. Way to go monkey.

It was just an hour today, enough to sweeten the pot and lure them back for more tomorrow. When the teachers opened the doors they told us it was a great first day and fun was had by all. Marissa came running to me and wrapped herself around me tight. She had a ball.

I had asked her what she'd like for supper on her first day and she chose chicken pot pies. Not homemade, no. The frozen kind. Where's the big red button from Staples?? Cause people, that-was-easy!

Big Sister Recap

Some catch-up to do on the Big Sister! Marissa has had some excitement of her own that I haven't had a chance to blog about yet. June was an extremely busy month for our monkey. I took her for a special Mommy & Marissa date to see a children's production of The Wizard of Oz. Her first play. It's a classic that I love and have been wanting to watch it with her for a while now. One day, by accident, I passed by a poster advertising the production. And two days later her and I were on our way downtown to see it. It was kids performing, so it was cute and Marissa was entertained by that. I am so pleased at how much she enjoyed it. We went for Starbucks together after the play and she was spinning around in her dress singing "we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz!"

When we got home from the play we decided to make brownies. Marissa decorated them with mini M&M's and was most helpful licking the beaters and the bowl! Perhaps more of a taster than a baker at this point :-)

Another bit of excitement for her was going to Andrew Sibbald for the kids Kindergarten orientation. It wasn't a formal affair. Just an opportunity for the kids to be in the classroom. They had lots of stations set up for the kids to explore. And they got to meet the two Kindergarten teachers. So she's all excited for September now and a little bit more familiar with where she'll be going. Exciting times ahead!

Next up was Marissa's dance recital. Last year was ballet, this year they did a tap number to "Baby Face". A little bit overboard if you asked me, with so many preschoolers in elaborate costumes and full makeup, but cute none-the-less. When Marissa gets shy, she does funny things with her tongue. She sticks it out, rolls it around. It's hilarious really. So when their number started, there was some definite tongue action going on, I'm sure it's pretty intimidating for a 5 year old to be performing on stage for a very packed theatre. Despite the tongue, she managed to get some moves down, and run off stage faster than you can imagine as soon as it was over! Special girl had all her grandparents there to cheer her on, thanks you guys for coming, especially Oma & Papi who drove all the way out from Medicine Hat to see her two minutes on stage!

She's almost unrecognizable with all that makeup!

Posing with her dance class

Marissa's fan club...Mommy & Daddy, Granny & Grandad, Grandma & Grandpa, Oma & Papi

I think the most exciting event of all though was Marissa's Preschool Graduation. You haven't seen adorable until you've seen a classroom of five year olds wearing caps and gowns. Seriously adorable. Miss Heather shared a couple things about each child as they were called up to shake her hand and move on to receive their diploma from Miss Shanon. Marissa's favourite part of preschool was circle time, and when she grows up she wants to be a nurse, a doctor and a dentist. I guess we better start saving our pennies! Big dreams for a little girl :-) The kids performed a few songs, and recited a special pledge with their hands over their hearts. It went like this..

I pledge to myself on this day
To try to be kind in every way
To every person big or small
I will help them if they fall
When I love myself and others too
That is the best that i can do

After the ceremony, the kids got to enjoy refreshments, play with each other, and even get their faces painted. Marissa really enjoyed Leap N Learn this year and loved her teachers. She's sad that it's over, but excited for what comes next!

Our little girl is growing up!

With her classmates, and her best buds Brayden and Emilea