Brooklyn's Playground!

I hope by now you all have heard a thing or two about Brooklyn's Playground! But for those of you that haven't let me give ya a little background on a HUGE project the Fisher family has started.....

When Brooklyn was little I thought she would definately be walking independently by now (she is almost 5!) but about 2 years ago we realized our little girl needed a quicker mode of trasportation and got her a wheelchair. She loves it, we love it, and every person we come in contact with can't help but smile when they see my sweet Brookie cruising around in her hot pink chair.

About the same time she got her chair, we went to a cousins birthday party at a local playground. Since we have no playgrounds locally that accomodate wheelchairs, we put her knee pads and gloves on her (so she could crawl across the bark or course to play with her cousins) Well she got burnt out quickly and soon wanted to swing. There were no 'baby' swings so her dad put her in a regular swing....which she fell out of and got a concussion.

As Brooklyn got bigger it became harder and almost impossible for either one of us to enjoy our time at the playground. I either had to carry her everywhere, or I would watch while she was left behind sitting in the rocks or bark as the other children played. The summer I was pregnant with Leah, we skipped going to the playground at all. I simply couldn't do it by myself anymore...

Enter the idea for Brooklyn's Playground!!! For tons more info and awesome pics, visit our website at http://www.brooklynsplayground.org/ . This little idea of ours to build a playground that accomodates the needs of children of ALL abilites has been exciting, exhausting, fulfilling, and very terrifying. This playground is designed (the design is AWESOME), funded, and built by members in and around our community. So we are currently trying to fundraise $400,000 for this bad boy.

Design Day Celebration: it took us almost a year and a half to get to this day!

Just last month we had design day. We flew in a designer from New York. He took the ideas from us, the local elementary school kids, and our committe members, and by the end of the night he un-veiled the playground design at a celebration we held at a local elementary school.

We even have a theme song that brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it sung....especially by these very talented young kids who belong to the ISU children's choir. They are amazing.

Brooklyn's Winter Picnic for the Park: (this was our first official fundraiser and it raised over $20,000!)

Brooklyn had no idea that this was all because of her. She just wanted to see the princesses!

We had around 1,500 people show up. As you can see, it was a great turn out.

The beautiful Jasmine and Aladdin.

We have alot more things planned as we go along. We are nearing the $100,000 mark, and are hoping to be ready to build by September, but we still have along ways to go. Visit our website to see how you can help!

A Little Catch Up!

I thought about just forgetting to post about the past 2 1/2 months but as I looked through all my adorable pictures I couldn't help but post a few of my favorites...

My little Pebbles and the most beautiful Kitty EVER! Love these girls!

Little Miss Trouble. SOOO much personality. Love watching her grow....

Princess Tea.

Christmas

One Barbie Car, and the rocking horse that used to be Brooklyn's. Christmas was cheap and easy for these two!

Cousin Ellie and Leah. I had great plans to take the bottle away months ago. Guess I missed the boat! She asks for her baba ALL. DAY. LONG!

They Loved their matching horsey sweaters from Nana. Mya could be the sweetest best little cousin to Brookie. They are both so lucky to have eachother.

I just had to show a picture of my little curly haired Lou. The more hair she gets, the curlier it gets and I love it!

Island Park:

Baby Lou's first time in the snow! It was about -5 at this time, but they both had a ball.

Three of a Kind

I finally did something I have wanted to do for a long time. I have always loved the picture of me below taken when I was one. The little polka- dotted dress has stayed in near perfect condition and I am so grateful my mom kept it all these years. When Brooklyn was One I got her picture taken in it, and it only seemed right to keep the tradition going and take Leahs picture in. I finally got the picture of me scanned and saved on a cd so I can finally compare all three of us.

Can you even tell the difference? I love how we all only have two little teeth poking out too! The rest of the pictures are more that I got taken of Leah. The little dress she is wearing was made by my grandma. Hopefully I can perserve that dress so she can pass it on to her little girls one day! Thanks Holly for the beautiful pictures once again!

Birthday Girl!

That's right, my little Lewey is ONE! I had forgotten how fun this age is. Of course I prefer this age to her newborn stage of crying 20 hours a day, barely sleeping at night, barely sleeping during the day, and her refusals to nurse be cuddled or even be held for that matter. I start to twitch just thinking about it....

What a dramatic change this little girl has made from her grouchy first 7-8 months of life. She is a people person and little smiler. She smiles at anyone and anything.

Here are a few things about my big one year old:
*Two teeth
*Still crawling everywhere. Walking does not seem to be in her immediate future
*Somehow she knows that stairs are scary so she is very careful not to get too close to them. I love that I don't have to worry about her attempting to go down them. Though she loves to throw her toys down them.
* Says mama, dadda, doddy (doggy) uh-oh, hi, and hu-oh (hello). I swear she is a genius!
* Waves, claps, dances, signs 'more', points her cute chubby finger at everything and wants me to talk about it to her.
*Haven't taken her to the doctor for months, but pretty sure she is about 25lbs.
*Wears size 18-24 month clothes!
* I rarely cut her food. She is a champion chewer. She eats sandwiches, string cheese, spaghetti, yet hates anything remotely pureed.
* Still doesn't sleep through most nights, but I figure she is hearty enough, so when she tries to wake us up at 12, 2, or 4, A.M. I just turn off the monitor! She won't remember anyway right???
* Gives the best open mouth kisses
*Has taken only one nap a day for about 2 months. Brooklyn was still taking three naps at this age. I was hoping that was typical ;(

I realize why I love this age so much. She is still a baby, but is old enough to laugh at my teasing her, and knows how to play and interact with us. If only they could come out a one year old!

Before her party I let her open her first present from her great-grandpa Bills. She saves her best smiles for him!

Sittin in her chair ready for all her presents!

She loved her creepy monkey from her Nana.

She wasn't too sure about the ice cream at first, but she just picked it up with one hand and went to town. I have taught her well.

I love watching this little girl grow and learn. There are so many little milestones that didn't happen with Brooklyn that I love watching with Leah. She is so energetic and funny. I can honestly say I take joy in her messes. I have a 4 year old who NEVER made a mess, so I appreciate a good mess now and again! I smile when I see she has unrolled the toilet paper, or I find her little greasy handprints on the fridge, stove, dishwasher, coffee table, and any glass surface. It is so beautiful to watch these little people grow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH! Love you.

Jason Holman Fisher

After 3 long months without an update I realize I have much catching up to do. One reason for my lack of postings has been because my mind has been elsewhere. If I have been distracted, you can only imagine the trouble Jonny has had running a bookstore, putting together a committee to help build and fund raise for a $400,000 fully accessible playground for those with disabilities, and selling real-estate like a mad man. All the while dealing with the loss of his big brother Jason.



( Hawaii 2009: Jason, Jordan, Jonny, and Jared)

Almost two years to the date of his brain cancer diagnoses, Jonny lost his 35 year old brother and one of his best friends on October 3, 2010. Family was everything to Jason, and as his final gift to everyone he waited to pass away until every member of his immediate family was by his side. Jason loved to plan extravagant trips for the family and as a result we have all been to Hawaii three (four?) times together over the years.

I have often joked that Jonny and his two brothers had a relationship more like sisters have with eachother. More often than not Jonny would come home still on the phone with one of his brothers. Since they all run a few college bookstores together, this occured more frequently during their sales periods.He would walk in the door on the phone to one of his brothers comparing his store to theirs to see who did better. This is one thing that Jonny has said that he will miss most. Calling up his big brother J to rub it in if his store did better!

Two years ago for Christmas all Jason wanted was for the whole family to be together on Christmas morning. So we all took claim to any couch and space on the carpet that was available and slept up at Jonny's parent's house on Christmas eve. I think the real reason Jason wanted to do this was because although he had no kids of his own, he had an uncanny knack for giving his nieces and nephews the most perfect gifts. His gifts we often much better than "Santa's!"

What a blessing the gospel of Jesus Christ has been in our lives these past few months. We learned first hand that it is one thing to have a testimony that families are forever and quite another to rely on that testimony for strength and comfort.

We know that because Jason was so committed to his family that he knew that he could do more good for all of us on the other side than he could staying here with us. I suppose that was his last great gift.

We love you J!

9 Months

This little girl of mine is BEAUTIFUL and ADORABLE with a hysterical head of hair that is always out of control. She is so much fun and learning so many new "tricks" every day.Now that she is officially 9 months old I would like to take a moment to brag about my new favorite person.......

1- still no teeth

2- still not crawling

3- Says Mamma and Dadda

4- Waves bye bye. When she wakes up from her naps she likes to wave bye bye so I know she wants to leave the room. So CUTE!

5- Hates baby food (too bad I have a pantry full of the stupid stuff!) She only likes big people food and is a champ and feeding herself.
6- Dances on command

7- Spits on command (pretty sure dad taught her)

Her little cheeks must hurt by the end of the day from all her beautiful grinning! She still will pretty much go to anyone which is so nice.

It has been fun comparing the differences/similarities between Brooklyn and Leah. These are my favorites:

Brooklyn always looked picture perfect. She wore shoes every day and most days she also had little stick on earrings to match her outfits, and a bow to match every outfit......

I just bought Leah her first pair of shoes, and she cried when I put them on.

I love her all Natur-al. Her hair is so darn cute I usually just comb it and go. Love it.

Though she is so stinkin hyper, she is not yet crawling. She rolls, scoots, and army crawls, but I am starting to believe she really may never crawl. She still manages to make a mess and destroy most things in her path.....

I can't believe we are nearing her first birthday. So sad, but so fun. I love this age!

Lately I have been Loving the stages and ages of my girls. I spend most days wising time could just stop and we could go on like this forever!