Fairy GodMAW Grants Princess Bella's WISH! Update 12/2 - One more sleep til Disney!

[yinyanggirls]

The greatest part about DFN is that it can be completely customized to your family. It doesn't even need to include watching the movie, it could just be activities and food based around a movie, theme, or even a single character! I have found that 'dressing up' food is a good way for our girls to try new things, but you could 'dress up' foods that your family regularly eat as well. Another option would be to have the kids assist in making the food. For me, that would be kind of annoying but it could work for other families. Even if it's just an activity once a week, DFNs can be lots of fun and a great excuse for quality family time.

Okay, okay, you've challenged me. As soon as I get all our ADRs final and a basic schedule down I will be calm enough to give it more thought. I guess I could just stick to Tessa's fave movies, and go from there.

 

[revrob]

SO cute! Love seeing all the cute things that your girlies have been enjoying! I'll be sending another matchy box tomorrow - hope you enjoy!

 

[All7OfUs]

Hey Stefani,

It's been a weird and crazy week for all of us. More on that later on my own PTR, but let's just say my world has been rocked...

Hence, I'm terribly behind on all the threads I follow!!

Let's see...

The I-Spy pillows are fantastic!! How absolutely adorable and creative! Very cool!

Love your Little Mermaid DFMN (Disney Family Movie Night). HA! those hot dogs were admittedly very clever! (and so easy!) OH, how I miss fish! Fish of any kind or variety! We only can get river fish, but don't eat it because of the pollution here and because they mine uranium around here. I really don't want to glow...

 

[yinyanggirls]

Hey Stefani,
It's been a weird and crazy week for all of us. More on that later on my own PTR, but let's just say my world has been rocked...

Ooooo, suspense!

We only can get river fish, but don't eat it because of the pollution here and because they mine uranium around here. I really don't want to glow...

I had to laugh at that, because I know how you feel. We can't drink our water because of the copper mines and the subsequent arsenic. Yum!

 

[StefaniLyn]

Okay, okay, you've challenged me. As soon as I get all our ADRs final and a basic schedule down I will be calm enough to give it more thought. I guess I could just stick to Tessa's fave movies, and go from there.

I'd be happy to help if you need it!

SO cute! Love seeing all the cute things that your girlies have been enjoying! I'll be sending another matchy box tomorrow - hope you enjoy!

Can you tell I'm a BIG fan of matchiness? I can't wait! I will be drooling er, um, I mean watching the mailbox!

Hey Stefani,

It's been a weird and crazy week for all of us. More on that later on my own PTR, but let's just say my world has been rocked...

Hence, I'm terribly behind on all the threads I follow!!

Let's see...

The I-Spy pillows are fantastic!! How absolutely adorable and creative! Very cool!

Love your Little Mermaid DFMN (Disney Family Movie Night). HA! those hot dogs were admittedly very clever! (and so easy!) OH, how I miss fish! Fish of any kind or variety! We only can get river fish, but don't eat it because of the pollution here and because they mine uranium around here. I really don't want to glow...

I hope all is okay Liesa! I will mosey on over to your PTR in a few moments and check out al lthe excitement! I take no credit for the Ursula dogs. It was an idea I found online! And fish . . . . I hate to sound ungrateful but I don't particularly enjoy fish. About the only fish I enjoy is fried and served religiously on friday nights around here!

Smart woman avoiding those river fish. Um, ew! I would hate to see you start glowing!

I had to laugh at that, because I know how you feel. We can't drink our water because of the copper mines and the subsequent arsenic. Yum!

Oh my goodness! Arsenic in your water? Yipes!
Dang it, who keeps moving my smilies around? I almost clicked on this one instead Wouldn't that have been akward?

 

[yinyanggirls]

I'd be happy to help if you need it!

I'm sure I will.


Oh my goodness! Arsenic in your water? Yipes!
Dang it, who keeps moving my smilies around? I almost clicked on this one instead Wouldn't that have been akward?

What did I ever do to you???

 

[StefaniLyn]

Day 5 - Monday, December 7th

Our plans for Day 5 of Bella's Wish Trip are relatively bland for the simple fact that I have't been to Sea World and I simply don't have enough information to form a logical touring plan! So we will simply meander blindly around Sea World and hope to have a good time in the process! My single disappointment this trip may be Sea World. Not because I don't expect to have a great time, but because I have recently discovered that many of the Christmas festivities here ONLY take place on weekends. As our 2 weekend days are already spoken for in a manner that is unchangeable (CP with SCC on Saturday and MVMCP on Sunday), seeing Shamu's Christmas show and others simply isn't going to happen. Give me a few more days and I will likely get over this little glitch - I hope!

So now, on with the show! Our anticipated itinerary for Monday is as follows:

7:30AM - Breakfast at GKTW (I'm probably stretching it on this one - we will be at MVMCP quite late the prior evening!)
8:00-8:30AM & 9:30-10:00AM – Disney Character Photos GKTW Julie’s Safari Theater (most likely, we will oversleep and end up going to the later one!)
9:00AM – Sea World!
12:00PM – Lunch at Sea World
6:45PM – 7:30PM – Discovery Cove Animal Exploration GKTW Avenue of Angels
6:30PM – Dinner at GKTW
5:45PM- 9:00PM – Kids Night Out/Grown Up’s Night Off at Amberville Train Station (not sure if we will be doing this or not - I don't know much about it but seeing as I have had one babysitter EVER for my children, I don't think I'll be leaving them with strangers, even if the strangers are amazing GKTW volunteers)
8:00PM – 8:45PM – Safari Double Dare in GKTW Julie’s Safari Theater
(again, not sure what this is or if we will be attending?)

We plan to hit most of the shows during the day, with Shamu being the priority. We would like to go on a handful of rides as well. Unfortunately, the ride height restriction for almost all of the rides is 42"! This excludes Bella from almost everything, and I feel terrible about it! I will probably find something fun and special for Bella to do while the girls and DH go on the rides.

I believe there may be some sort of dolphin feeding experience for Wish kids, but I don't have any details. Do any of you past Wish Trip families know more about this?

I don't plan to do the Shamu meal. We will likely just buy a meal at the park.

So, like I said, it's a rather bland and generic touring plan for Sea World. If anybody has any tips or hints they'd like to pass along, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Wish Party Plans

We FINALLY have the plans set for Bella's Wish Party. Obviously it did not take place on Thursday at Stonefire Pizza as I had hoped it would. Believe me, you would have heard about it!

In fact, the person from Stonefire Pizza never even bothered to call our Wish Granter back. I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. I understand if they were unable to offer a discount or whatever, but at least have the courtesy of calling her back!

Anyway, I digress. Carrie (Wish Granter) called me on Wednesday morning and we both agreed that we needed to go to Plan B. So Carrie contacted the bowling ally and worked quickly with the manager (who, incidentaly, not only answered her phone but was also very excited about the party and gave Carrie every answer she needed) to coordinate Bella's Wish Party.

Because of Thanksgiving, our school district has no school on Wednesday so we decided it would be a great day for a party! The party will be at noon, and we will have pizza and soda for the kids. They will also be able to bowl for a couple hours. The manager gave Carrie a great deal on lane and shoe rentals too!

Given the party time, the bowling alley isn't likely to be smokey as it would normally be during evening hours so I feel better about that. I have 2 confirmed friends of Bella's from school who will definitely be attending. I also have 5 messages left for other kids that Bella named when I asked her who her 'very best friends' were. Hopefully a few of them can come as well.

So to summarize:
Bella's Wish Party
Wednesday, November 25th, 12:00-3:00PM
Watertown Bowl North


It's almost party time!

E-Day

I am officially proclaiming tomorrow to be E-Day. Tomorrow morning, we have a very important doctor's appointment that I have been waiting a VERY long time for (3 months to be exact!)

Tomorrow, Bella will see an endocrinologist. I am hoping that they have some easy, miracle answer to Bella's rapid gastric emptying and subsequent blood glucose spikes that make her absolutely miserable shortly after every meal she eats. Her gastrointerologist and feeding team are stumped. Her nutritionist has tried everything she can think of to make Bella more comfortable without any significant results. Every other doctor (and she has a lot of them) has been unable to help us figure this out.

There's a lot of medical history on Bella back in chapter 3 or 4. To summarize it: Bella was tube fed for nearly 4 years, recently learned how to swallow and eat 'regular' food, but she can only eat pureed foods and really doesn't like to eat at all. She honestly would prefer to starve, and I am not kidding! Anyway, for some time now, every time Bella eats, her blood glucose level spikes to 200-250 (normal is 120). This spike causes nausea, cramping, sweatiness, headache, heart racing, and a bunch of other very uncomfortable feelings. Essentially, eating makes her very, very sick for about an hour. And to top it off, we have to feed her 5 times a day.

Please keep Bella in your prayers tomorrow. We need the doctors to figure out what is causing this and how to remedy it. There are several possible outcomes to tomorrow's appointment and unfortunately, the one that holds the most promise is the least likely.
1. The endocrinologist can diagnose something that every other doctor has missed. S/he can prescribe a medication or change in diet that will stop the blood glucose spikes. This is what I am hoping for!
2. The endocrinologist won't figure anything out and will send us off to lab where we will wait forever until someone uses Bella as a pincushion and then wait even longer for some useless test results. Then we will make another appointment with endocrinologist and start it all over again. Ugh!
3. The endocrinologist will want to admit Bella to take lab value bloodwork and closely monitor intake and output. This scenario was proposed by our GI doc when her referred us to endocrine.

I honestly don't know what to do if the doc wants to admit her. To be frank, we don't have time for a hospital admission right now. With the party coming up on Wednesday and Thanksgiving on Thursday, a hospital stay would really put a crimp in our plans. And next week isn't really good for us either as we leave the following Thursday.

What to do? What to do? Dear Lord, give me strength . . . .

That's about it for this eveing. I need to quickly fill out the 6 page questionairre for tomorrow. Thankfully, I have her medical history tattooed on my brain from filling it out so frequently that it should take too long. Night All!

 

[maroo]

I think it is a little too big because today's package fit in as well. I know better now however and I am checking the mail after it comes instead of waiting until evening. More matchy? I can't wait! Do you happen to know Kelly's DIS name?

Hi!

Thanks so much for posting the pictures! What fun it was to see your girls open the package and I am so glad they liked the bows and headbands. A friend from high school let me know about the Dis Big Give board and knew it would be the kind of thing that I would just love to be a part of. A boy was she right!

I got a sneak peek at the matchy outfits and oooohhh. Ok that's all I'm gonna say.

Kelly

to the DIS! So glad you posted! And your bows are beautiful!

 

[maroo]

Wow...! Quite an update!

Sea World is really big! You do know about feeding the dolphins, right?? That you get a free tray of "fish" and you can feed the dolphins? Make sure that they see your button and they will make sure that Bella is able to really touch them. It is an amazing moment, especially if you love Dolphins. They are beautiful animals!

I hope you sleep in that day. I don't think getting there early will really make a big difference at Sea World. And bring your walking shoes...it is HUGE.


Good luck with the endo! Let us know how that goes! I am hoping they have some answers for you.


and can't wait to see pics from your Wish Party!

 

[cleostar09]

It's almost here!! Are u super excited?!!! I sure am! I hope u all have fun at ur Wish Party. Sunny is having a Tea Party with the company that sponsored her trip. Her Wish Party is on Saturday. Can u believe how fast time flies?! I will definitely keep Bella in my prayers. I hope all goes well with the doctors. Please let us know!!!
Fingers crossed and praying hard!
Annastesia

 

[Momofwishkid]

I hope your appointment goes well and they can give you some answers.
It sounds like Bella's party is going to be wonderful cant wait to see pics!

 

[that's nice]

WOW... I've really missed a lot!

The big give i-spy's are really cool! The girls looked really excited to get them. You should of taken a picture of their faces when you said they couldn't have them till the plane!!!! LOL

The bowling party sounds like fun. I doubt it will be very busy while you are there. It is very nice for the owner to work with your wish granters.. I'm sure it will go smoothly!

We will be thinking of Bella tomorrow. I hope you get some answers. I hope they would hear your concerns about admitting her the week of Thanksgiving. (if it came to that) Maybe they will set something up when you return from Bella's trip.

 

[yinyanggirls]

What jerks at the pizza place! Good pizza or not, it's rude not to return a phone call. So glad the bowling alley was willing to work with them on short notice!

From other TRs I've read, I believe that the Dolphin feeding opportunity is kind of "added on" to the regular dolphin feeding that they offer to all guests. I seem to remember that some families got to do it right before the rest of the crowd or right after, so they kind of got some quieter, one-on-one time. I think they also give you a photo, if I'm not mistaken. I think you have to talk to someone when you get there and let them know about the wish child. I don't think you can make prior arrangements or reservations. The feedings only happen at certain times of day (after a certain show maybe) so you may want to call the park ahead just to verify. (From what I remember reading, so take with a grain of salt!)

And I almost forgot! I hope you get answers tomorrow!!!

 

[StefaniLyn]

Wow...! Quite an update!

Sea World is really big! You do know about feeding the dolphins, right?? That you get a free tray of "fish" and you can feed the dolphins? Make sure that they see your button and they will make sure that Bella is able to really touch them. It is an amazing moment, especially if you love Dolphins. They are beautiful animals!

I hope you sleep in that day. I don't think getting there early will really make a big difference at Sea World. And bring your walking shoes...it is HUGE.


Good luck with the endo! Let us know how that goes! I am hoping they have some answers for you.


and can't wait to see pics from your Wish Party!

that's what I needed to know about the dolphins. Is it explained (where/when, etc) at GKTW orientation? I think we will proably just plan to sleep in. I do not want to get burnt out, and I don't want the kids to either! Walking shoes? check! Will definitely bring those. I will update about endo tomorrow - too much to go into detail for now. Thanks!!

It's almost here!! Are u super excited?!!! I sure am! I hope u all have fun at ur Wish Party. Sunny is having a Tea Party with the company that sponsored her trip. Her Wish Party is on Saturday. Can u believe how fast time flies?! I will definitely keep Bella in my prayers. I hope all goes well with the doctors. Please let us know!!!
Fingers crossed and praying hard!
Annastesia

We are so excited for the Wish Party and almost every friend that Bella invited is able to come! The Tea Party sounds awesome. I hope you can share some pictures with us! There will be an E-Day update tomorrow night sometime! I have a more exciting update for tonight that I will be posting later! Thank you for your prayers!

I hope your appointment goes well and they can give you some answers.
It sounds like Bella's party is going to be wonderful cant wait to see pics!

The appointment went fairly well, but I just wish the endocrine doctor had a magic wand!
We only have 2 more days until party time!!! Pictures will be taken for sure!

WOW... I've really missed a lot!

The big give i-spy's are really cool! The girls looked really excited to get them. You should of taken a picture of their faces when you said they couldn't have them till the plane!!!! LOL

The bowling party sounds like fun. I doubt it will be very busy while you are there. It is very nice for the owner to work with your wish granters.. I'm sure it will go smoothly!

We will be thinking of Bella tomorrow. I hope you get some answers. I hope they would hear your concerns about admitting her the week of Thanksgiving. (if it came to that) Maybe they will set something up when you return from Bella's trip.

LOL. You should have seen their faces. It was like I just cancelled Christmas or something!

I am really excietd about the bowling party now. In fact, I'm glad it is in town and not 45 minutes away. She has 5 or 6 friends from school coming!

Thanks for thinking of Bella. We have a plan of action, which is something I guess More details on that to follow. It's kinda boring and filled with medical 'stuff'. On the positive side, he didn't even mention admission! ,

What jerks at the pizza place! Good pizza or not, it's rude not to return a phone call. So glad the bowling alley was willing to work with them on short notice!

From other TRs I've read, I believe that the Dolphin feeding opportunity is kind of "added on" to the regular dolphin feeding that they offer to all guests. I seem to remember that some families got to do it right before the rest of the crowd or right after, so they kind of got some quieter, one-on-one time. I think they also give you a photo, if I'm not mistaken. I think you have to talk to someone when you get there and let them know about the wish child. I don't think you can make prior arrangements or reservations. The feedings only happen at certain times of day (after a certain show maybe) so you may want to call the park ahead just to verify. (From what I remember reading, so take with a grain of salt!)

And I almost forgot! I hope you get answers tomorrow!!!

It's not just that the pizza is good, the bigger deal is that it's gluten free. Something almost impossible to find. But whatever. Bella will be just as happy with eating popcorn at the bowling alley! I'm soooooo over it! And woo hoo for the hometown bowling alley!

Thanks for the dolphin information. We will definitely need to see what that is all about. Bella would get a kick out of seeing a dolphin close up and AJ will probably faint! Hmmmm . . . do I wait to tell her until that day or tease her with it now?

 

[StefaniLyn]

It's Christmas today in the Griggs house - or at least it feels like Christmas! And it came in the form of more DIS Big Give! Today, not just one, not even two, but THREE packages were waiting for the girls when they returned home from school! That sneaky mailman put two on the front stoop and I *almost* didn't check the mailbox but, at the last minute, a little voice in my head told me I should and lo and behold - another one!

They were so excited that their homework was finished and their rooms were cleaned in warp speed as we had just an hour after school before I needed to leave for a board meeting!
Package #1 - Postmark Ohio!
Bella selected this one to open first. It is from Ohio!

AJ and Bella tear open the box as Kennedy rushes into help.

And the box reveals . . . . .

This AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS outfit! Bella's sly little smile doesn't even begin to capture the sheer joy on her face when she first saw it! I should have snapped a picture sooner as this one was taken after I had already informed the child that NO, she could Not wear it to bed tonight! Mean mommy, I know. At least I caught a little grin and not the sourpuss look she gave me just moments before.

This amazing outfit was made by a Daddy, yes, I did say Daddy, named Tom who loves to sew for his daughter. Is't that awesome!?! His DISBoards name is PrincessLeighsDaddy and as you can see he is incredibly talented. I am jealous of his sewing abilities! Do you remember the bows from a couple days back? They match PERFECTLY!

Tom also included a note which AJ read

Griggs Family, Have a magical time at Disney World! Here is a little something for Bella. May it bring her as much joy wearing it as I had making it. My DisBoard name is PrincessLeighsDaddy. Yes, you read that right, I am a dad who sews for his princess! I noticed that you liked a few of the dresses I ddi on the Bog Give Board. I felt honored that you liked them. It was my pleasure to do this for you! You will be receiving a few more pieces for your other girls to coordinate with this set. Have a great trip and treasure the memories that you will create. Sincerely, Tom and Family

Isn't that the sweetest letter ever?

AJ reads the letter from Tom that accompanied the dress. See that smile on her face? She was reading about the coordinating outfit that will be coming in the mail for her soon!

THANK YOU SO MUCH PRINCESSLEIGHSDADDY for the beautiful Minnie Mouse dress!

Package #2 - from Utah!

AJ and Bella tear into it!

Kennedy fell in love with it before she even knew what it was!

The girls quckly discovered taht the package contained 3 bags, each labeled with their name. Each bag contained a gorgeous patchwork skirt! Don't these just make you want to decorate your Christmas tree? The small print opposite of the polka dots is a Mickey Mouse Christmas fabric! So perfect for Disney!!

So flippin cute! And there was also a note inside which read: We hope you have a wonderful trip! It was from DIS Boards member Jham and family. They have 4 kids!

There was also a P.S. that told the girls another part of the outfit would be coming soon!!!!! And do you recall the other super cute bow/headband accessories? Yep, they match perfectly. You Big Givers are so coordinated!
Adrianna was really excited that her name was spelled correctly! Sometimes the second 'n' is omitted!

THANK YOU JHAM and FAMILY for the awesome twirly patchwork skirts!

Package #3 - From Tennessee
The third box was decorated with green mickey mouse heads that read BIG GIVE! It was from a Lynn in Tennessee! The box contained 4 packages, also bearing Mickey heads! AJ remarked on the carefully color coordinated packaging! Very nice!

and each Mickey head had a name which made it very easy to determine who got what. I made the girls wait to open them until I could get a picture. Look at those eager little hands just waiting to unwrap their surprises!

AJ was thrilled when she saw this paddle ball. Kennedy remarked "I can't wait to take this on the plane!" Um, I apologize in advance to whoever is sitting in front of Kennedy on the plane! LOL

Bella had an extra special surprise. This cute Belle dress photo holder. I have the perfect picture for it also - Bella and Belle at the play last week! And when we return, I hope to have another picture of Bella and Belle!

The girls received all sorts of goodies and it was impossible for me to get a good picture of them while they were sorting, oooohhhhhing and aaaaahhhhhing over everything!

This is AJ's "stuff." The paddleball, a coloring book, a stencil, two card games, and a fairy necklace and booklet as well as a orca themed crayon roll-up.

Here is Kennedy's. Hopefully her paddleball will not get us kicked off the plane! Kennedy's crayon roll up was tinkerbell themed and had her name on it!

Some of you may be asking 'what is a crayon roll up?' It is an ingenious idea for taking crayons on vacation. The roll up unrolls and has little pockets for each crayon. There is also a mini pen and an eraser in each.

When not in use, it rolls up and ties snugly with the cute little ribbon.

See the crayons inside? Safe and secure and not rolling around on the airplane floor!

And here is Bella's goodies! Her crayon roll up has princesses on it! So perfect!

This package was filled with so many wonderful goodies we will use on our trip. The crayon roll ups are so perfect and those, along with the activity books, will keep the girls entertained for quite sometime on the plane and during downtime in the villa.

This Big Give Gift was perfectly prepared by DISer CajunFan. Thank you so much Lynn! The girls love everything and I am going to love a nice long nap on the plane!!

We were astounded at the incredible items we saw upon opening our packages today! I delight in watching the girls eyes light up at the sight of each and every surprise that will enhance our Wish Trip and help us create lifelong memories. Our hearts are touched by the kindness of the DIS community and the Big Give. DH, Ben, would like me to pass along his appreciation as well. We cannot thank you enough. God Bless You all!

 

[All7OfUs]

Gosh! Everything is so adorable, and aren't folks on the DIS so generous?!
Kudos to everyone helping out this family to make their trip extra special!!

I'm really praying that indeed you can find some answers to this feeding dilemma!! How hard. Finding an answer may really help find just the right solution.

Keep us posted, Stafani!

 

[revrob]

What an awesome update! It really was like Christmas! What a joy to follow along and see the joy! Thanks for posting!

 

[that's nice]

It looked like Christmas indeed!!!!!!

The Big Give folks are very talented! You guys are awesome!

I'm so happy for your girls. You can see the pure joy and excitement in their faces! I just know you will have the best trip ever!

 

[pipersmom]

How awesome is that? Everything is so cute..there are some truly talented people lurking about the boards! So glad an admission wasn't mentioned at the Dr's yesterday...

 

[Chelley00]

Somehow I unsubscribed and I've missed a ton of updates! All caught up now. I'm so excited for the girls with all their Big Give stuff! How exciting! You are getting so close to your trip. I hope you have as magical time as R and I did!!