Faith's Mom's Blog

Me and my little family of three have a Thanksgiving tradition of going out for thanksgiving dinner on our own. This year, though, we invited another family of three to join as as they had done years ago after we first moved to Mandan. We had met this family at a church in Mandan and have recently reconnected with them as we all now go to New Life Church. So thankful to be reconnected with this wonderful family! So today we headed out to one of the buffets at a local hotel. I was looking so forward to eating a delicious turkey dinner and having pumpkin pie with whip cream for dessert. As we walked into the dining room, however, the first thing I noticed was that the pieces of pumpkin on the dessert tables were not topped with whip cream. I wasn't going to complain though, as I didn't want to appear to be ungrateful on Thanksgiving of all days. As we sat around the table, enjoying our delicious turkey dinner I couldn't help but notice that nobody was taking the bare

These past couple of weeks, we have had lots of fun seeing some wonderful friends we have not seen for awhile. Our flurry of visits started off when our friend, Brittnee was in town for the Sidewalk Prophets concert. The next day she came over to say hi to Faith and to hand-deliver the gift she bought for Faith when she was in Disney World. Faith was so happy to see her and of course continues to ask when Brittnee is coming over again. Another friend who came up to visit drove all the way from Kansas with her husband and her sister. She and her husband got to share with Faith that there is a baby in Kimberly's tummy! We are so happy for them and we know that Kimberly is going to be a great mom! She took such good care of Faith for us when she lived here and it was with Kimberly that Faith started playing with her doll and together they named her Baby Allie. Faith, Kimberly and Melanie getting baby Allie dressed Kimberly and Matt with a picture of the baby! Two of m

First of all, I'd like to thank the 2012  Faith's Fantastic 12 GABR Team: Becky Eske, Beth Kaylor, Cassie Brazell, Gwen Barone, Julie Jensen, Katie Huizinga, Kent Kaylor, Krysta Wrath, Rob Bousfield, Sarah Hoffman, Tanya Steckler and Brooke Schaff.   Thanks for riding and for fundraising! CLICK HERE TO SEE FAITH'S FANTASTIC 12 Also, a huge Thank You to all of you who donated to me for Faith's Fantastic 12:  Mike and Deone Lawlar (Grandpa and Grandma), Cousin Vicki Hammond, Friends Fran Dwelle, The Bitz Family, Tom & Diane Hahn, Michelle Stahl, The Sago Family, Peg Walth, Sandy Bauer, My dear college friends Janee Anez, Resa Hartl, Kristi Holzer and family, Faith's cousins, Sydnee and Kenzie Lawlar, Faith's auntie of sorts, Nicole Samuelson and family, Coworker Blaine Kincaid, Barrett Pharmacy & Variety of Watford City, Centennial Elementary School's staff and students and oh yeah, that mystery man from Marathon Oil! ALSO thanks to my brother Todd

As Rob was putting on his tie, he asked, "how did I get roped into this again?" He was referring to his and Faith's first ever Daddy-Daughter dance. A friend of ours who also has a little girl in a wheelchair has gone for the last four years and has asked Rob in the past if he was going or not. I was so excited when Rob decided to buy tickets for this year's dance called the Butterfly Ball, which is a fundraiser for a local music school. When we got to the venue, we were a little surprised at how packed it was. Not only were there 299 other dads with their little girls, but there were also moms, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors - all of them taking photos of the dressed up dads and daughters. What a handsome husband and beautiful daughter! Rob and Faith with our friends, Tracy and Paige Most of the dads were sporting suits and ties and most of the 5-12 year-old girls were dressed in mini prom dresses. I'm not sure where yo

Today we celebrated Easter, or as I like to call it, Resurrection Sunday. We started our day by attending church with Faith's auntie Barbara. Faith had never been to this church before - I had gone once before with Barbara. Though the music was a little loud, Faith did great. At one point, Rob was concerned about how she was doing so he took her out into the lobby but she wanted to come back in and sit by Barbara, who held her hand the whole time. The whole service ended up being about two hours long but Faith very patient through the sermon and at one point was repeating the words the pastor was saying. The pastor gave a great message talking about  the Resurrection of Christ being the foundation of Christianity - without Jesus rising from the dead, Christianity would be just like any other religion - completely man-made.We ended the service singing the great song "Because He Lives." After church, we had dinner with our two terrific friends, Bob and Lola. There were

Last month, we had a sad surprise - that Brittnee, a respite care worker who has been with us for a year and a half, was leaving. Once again, it was time to say goodbye to someone who had become like a part of the family. It's hard when these respite care girls leave, although it is completely understandable. More often than not, they are college-aged and in serious relationships which lead to engagement then marriage. There have been three wonderful girls we have gotten the privilege of knowing through respite care services. And I am continually impressed with their maturity, professionalism and most of all, their great care-taking skills with Faith. While it is hard for us to see them go, it is great that there is e-mail, Facebook and even Skype so we can keep in touch. With all of today's technology it makes the goodbye seem not so final. So to Kimberly, Lindsey and Brittnee - three amazing young ladies who we are blessed to know through respite care - we wish you the be

Just the other day we had a very special visit from our friends Kimberly and Matt. Kimberly used to do respite care for us and worked with Faith for about 3 1/2 years. They developed a very special relationship. Kimberly is the one who helped Faith make a very special gift for us - our " I love you stinky face " ceramic mug. It was also Kimberly who made Faith think her last name was spelled R-O-C-K-S because they would practice spelling Faith Rocks! While we were happy for Kimberly's fiance finding a job in her home state of Kansas last summer, we were very sad to see her go. After moving back to Kansas, Kimberly found her dream job in early childhood education and she and Matt got married. Throughout the year we have kept in contact with them through SKYPE. Sometimes our SKYPE sessions are over an hour long and Faith and Kimberly found a way to play hide and seek over the computer. And then when its time to say goodbye, Faith cries and tells me how much she misses K

I've been trying to take Faith out for walks - to get fresh air for her and exercise for me. We have our little routine that after her first feeding in the morning we go out and about - usually just around the neighborhood. It's a nice time because its not quite so hot - even though some mornings have been humid. Last week we walked to a friend's house and while sitting on her steps visiting, we noticed the sky starting to get dark then felt sprinkles. It's a good thing she only has one step - that made it easy to get Faith quickly inside. After we got inside, it began to downpour. We ended up extending our visit longer than we had planned because it wouldn't stop raining! Rob ended up having to come get us on his lunch break. Faith really liked our long visit because she got to spend time with Molly, one of her favorite dogs  On Saturday, I was excited to finally take Faith to the zoo for the first time since it had re-opened. We really wanted to see the z

Last night after being around some very energetic kids doing activities nonstop for 2 1/2 hours, Faith's response to the whole experience was, "Well that was quite the adventure!" Faith's friend, Chloe, invited Faith to go to Vacation Bible School (VBS) with her at Century Baptist, which is Chloe's family's home church. The theme this year was PandaMania "Where God is Wild about You!" Last night's lesson was based on "God made you." Chloe and Faith During the beginning, all the kids (and there were a lot of them) gathered together in the sanctuary to sing and dance and make a lot of noise. Faith was very nervous during this part and she was telling me she was scared. Both me and Chloe tried to console her the best we could but it was just too much for Faith. I took her outside to the lobby where she proceeded to tell me she wanted to go home. I talked her into staying as I knew we would be broken down into smaller, hopefully quie

Today at school there was a very special reception held for Faith. All of the first graders came along with their teachers and even the kindergarten teachers were there to join the festivities. There were also other staff at the school who came to eat ice cream and Oreo cookies - a few of Faith's favorites. It was a celebration of sorts held to honor Faith the GABR Star. We all got to watch the newscasts in which Faith was interviewed. The highlight of the afternoon was when they announced how much money the school had raised that day for GABR. To raise funds, Centennial Elementary had "Hat Day." If you donated money, you got to wear a hat to school. Some kids dug out their "tooth money" while others grabbed some coins from their piggy banks. And in the end, the students, staff and parents raised a grand total of $1,300 - the most ever raised by Centennial Elementary for GABR. The money was evenly distributed to the four students at Centennial who have teams

Faith had so much fun at her friend's birthday party this past weekend! The party was held at Claire's where Faith and seven other little girls had their nails done (all different colors), and got to wear eye make-up and lip gloss. She loved picking out which colors to wear. One of the funnest parts of the party was when the girls were getting ready for their "fashion show." They went all around the store to find cool accessories like a long necklace, bracelets, a purse, a hat and glasses. The girls were then able to sport their new look by walking down the "runway" and stopping to pose for pictures. It was too cute! Afterwards, the girls ate cupcakes and watched Chloe open her gifts. Before the girls left, they were able to pick out something for a value of up to $6.00. Faith picked the pretty, multi-colored long necklace that she wore during the fashion show. While most moms were not there to watch their daughter having so much fun, I'm glad I

Faith has a little dilemma. She has two birthday parties tomorrow, both of them around the same times for two little girls in her class. One is going to be like a princess party where the girls get to go to a local jewelry store and get their nails done and get to buy pieces of jewelry. The other is at the bowling alley. Faith would have fun at either of them. It's really too bad she can't swing both parties. Faith with some friends earlier in the year at a Halloween party We decided to go with the friend who sent her invitation first, who also happens to be one of Faith's best friends and came to Faith's birthday party. The other little girl though loves Faith too and is so sweet to her and I know Faith loves her back. How do I feel about this little dilemma? I feel blessed and overjoyed that both little girls think of Faith as their friend and that they want to include her in the celebrations of their lives. At the beginning of the school year, me and a frien