Halloween 2010 -- Miss Peacock

I really love to dress Paisley up for Halloween. I love trying to come up with ideas that can incorporate her wheelchair with the costume. It is a really fun challenge and Paisley always seems to think that getting dressed up for Halloween is kind of fun. Unfortunately it was way too rainy and cold for her to go trick-or-treating but she did get to hand out candy at the door and she thought that was pretty cool. Here are a few pictures to capture her finest moments as a peacock.

T-Ball Champion!!!

Paisley has been playing T-ball!! It has been so much fun. We found a t-ball team (clear out in Mapleton) that is for special needs kids. I will repeat again that it has been so much fun!! It has been so exciting for me to be able to see her have that experience in her life. To be part of a team and learn something new. They have "helpers" if they need one--they help them hit the ball and push them around the bases and help them in the out field. It is really great because it gives us a chance to watch and enjoy instead of run them around the bases. I think that Paisley is having as much fun as I am--it is pretty hot and that is hard on her but for the most part she seems to really enjoy it. Here are some of my favorite pictures and a little video:

I'm little Miss Sunshine.....

I'm so happy I'm glowing!!!

Have you ever seen anything as cute as that smile? These were taken at Aunt Chelsea's house in Maryland over the Christmas break. The only little girl missing is Ila from the bottom picture. It is really hard to catch Paisley in a full blown smile for a picture--she thinks pictures are very serious business. As hard as it is to catch there is something heart melting about her smile.

What a wonderful Christmas!!

We had such a great Christmas this year!! Tad, Paisley, my mom, and I all went out to Maryland to visit Chelsea, Andrew, and new baby Ila Joy. It was so much fun! We spent almost two weeks with them and they were probably ready for us to leave, but thank you Pratts for opening your home to us and making it such a wonderful holiday!!

Paisley got to meet her new cousin Ila, which could have been a little scary. But after a day or so Paisley realized that she wasn't being replaced and that Grandma could hold them both at the same time so everything was okay. Paisley actually loved little Ila--she smiled every time we let her get close to her and wanted to give her kisses.


This was a really exciting Christmas because I believe it was the first time ever that Paisley has shown any interest in getting gifts!!! Now, that doesn't mean that she ripped open the paper and screamed with excitement, but we will take what we can get. She was very interested in what was being opened and she wanted to make sure the Aunt Chelsea (the official gift distributor) had another gift ready for her. And she actually showed a little bit of excitement when the gift was opened. It was really exciting for her parents who have waited for the day she would care and help open her own gifts!!

(notice Grandma is safely holding Paisley's hands!!)

It was a really great holiday all around. While we were there they had Ila blessed and so it was nice to be able to be a part of that. The only downside of the holiday is that we didn't get to spend any of it with my brother Jesse and wife Amie, (we did get to see Ben, Lexi, & Sariah before we went to Maryland).

Halloween Nights

Another Halloween Night under our belts. This was a really fun Halloween! Tad made a special request for what Paisley would dress up as this year--Yoda!! Yoda, you ask? Yes, Yoda... But when it comes right down to it it is very appropriate and very fitting... and believe it or not Tad even dressed up as Obi-Wan. I have never seen Tad dress up or even show an interest in it--what a dad won't do for his little girl. Paisley had a really fun trick-or-treating night. She has been enough times that she knows what to expect. We used her talk box to record Yoda sayings and trick or treat. She thought that was really fun...
Believe it or not Paisley is smiling in the above picture--she is going through a stage. Paisley has a big Halloween celebration every year. They always have the school Carnival that week and so she dresses up for that one night and then they have the Halloween parade one day and then she goes trick or treating--When it is all over I think she is actually glad.

I couldn't help but think how much my Dad would have loved Paisley dressed up as Yoda--he might have insisted on being Obi-Wan himself and demoted Tad to a different character. I think that this was a Halloween for the ages. Here is to Yoda and Obi-Wan!!

I decided to take a look back at all of the last Halloweens and give you all a peek at Miss Paisley in all her dressed up glory. So here it is...

Tinker Bell, of course, on her very first Halloween 2003.

A little leopard cat

2004

Autumn Princess

Skin and Bones Skeleton

Little Princess Witch

A big fat pumpkin

To all the great Halloweens of the past and to all the great Halloweens to come!!

Fun Times!!!

The other day Paisley and I had one of those perfect days. It was so much fun!! Paisley was out of school for UEA break and Tad had to go to Cedar City, so it was just the two of us. We decided to head to the Provo Towne Center Mall--they have the little quarter rides that Paisley loves so much. We got there and did a little shopping (of course), and then we hit the rides like crazy!! We used a whole roll of quarters and rode all the rides. She had ice cream and then we hit the rides again. They even had their little train going so we rode that and then got our pictures taken in the photo booth. (I tried to scan them on the computer but you couldn't really see them--not the highest quality). It was soooo much fun. Sometimes when we try and plan things they don't work out for some reason or the other but this was just a perfect day, Paisley was feeling well, she was in a mood to have fun, and we found the thing that she found interesting. It was one of those great moments as a mother that I will always remember. (The above picture was taken in Maryland this summer doing the same thing).

This last Saturday we went on our annual adventure to BarnYard Boo at Thanksgiving Point. Paisley seems to really enjoy this. And this year she knew exactly what to do at all of the adventure stops. She wanted to feed the goats and ride the horses and she even knew how to do the ring toss (repetition is a good thing). BarnYard Boo is the perfect adventure level for Paisley. She doesn't have to participate in anything she doesn't want to. She gets to watch the other children and she gets to do all of the activities (including picking a prize). I could really tell a difference this year in her attention level. She actually watched to animals, the goats she really held out her hand to feed them and she was very excited about riding the horses. Grandma came and so of course it was a perfect day for Paisley. Anything that includes Grandma is usually a really good thing in Paisley's eyes.

Paisley's Closet

I figured out how to do a slide show!!! I can't figure out how to get it to actually fit on the page but you get most of the picture--I'll keep working on it. I named it Paisley's Closet because these are all of the clothes that I have actually made all by myself for little Miss Paisley. I started out sewing things for her because it is so hard to buy clothes (especially pants) that fit her, now I just really love to sew for her. I love creating cute things for her to wear. I don't have pictures of everything I've made so far but I will add new pictures as I make her new things so check it out often (I am very proud of my creations). The pictures aren't always that great--Paisley doesn't like still modeling she wants to move and shake so sometimes you can't actually see what the clothes are in the pictures but you can get the idea!