Love For Ashley

Ashley is officially a teenager. Amazing, we weren't promised two years with her and yet we have been blessed with thirteen.  To God be the glory. We were hoping to surprise Ashley with tickets to So You Think You Can Dance. The tickets went on sale yesterday and the show tour kicks off here in Orlando on September 17. I just wish the tickets weren't so expensive. So disappointed, where is that money tree when you need it. Ashley did receive a cute birthday gift in the mail. Here she is pictured with it. Thank you Matthew for the Ballerina Bear. Tonight Ashley is having a sleepover birthday party with some of her friends.  Being born in the middle of the summer means that not all your friends can come to your party because they are on vacation.  However, we are going to make the best of it with those few who were able to celebrate with us.  I will post birthday party pictures later. For now I will leave you with these pictures: Brooke and Ashle...

Today, I had the wonderful chore of paying all of our bills.   The joys of being a responsible adult . Normally, it is an easy task but when you add medical bills in the mix, it can become a headache.  This month, however, it was pretty easy. Ashley's medical bills only totaled $317.08.  Sometimes I wonder how much we have paid out of pocket on Ashley since her birth.  After two major surgeries, several minor ones plus blood work, MRI's, CT Scans, Ultrasounds, HIDA Scans, medicines, three stays in the ICU, etc. it could be $500K or more.. choke, cough.  But then again maybe I don't want to know.

Everyone who reads this blog knows almost everything there is to know about Ashley. Everyone knows that Ashley is such a big piece of my heart but I want to introduce you to the other piece of my heart; Ashley's big brother, Brad. Brad was born in 1996 after several failed pregnancies.  He is just as much of a miracle to me as his sister.  When my husband was finally ready to have children I changed just about everything in my life.  I began to work out more, eat better, cut caffeine, was very blunt in asking people not to smoke around me.  At the time I worked at job that kept me on my feet virtually eight hours a day.  I never had problems getting pregnant, it was staying pregnant that proved to be a challenge.  Approximately two months before I found out was pregnant with Brad, I had a miscarriage.  It was devastating, I felt God was punishing me for some past wrongdoings but I was determined to become a mother. Being a mother was the ...

It is hard for me to believe that Ashley will be a 13 year old in less than two weeks. Right now I am trying to plan her 13th birthday, not exactly sure if we want to do a big party now since she will get a big party when she turns 16. Ashley has told me that she just wants money for her birthday...lots of money.  She is saving money so that she can go to camp at Sea World; swim with the dolphins. For years we have talked about going to Sea World's Discovery Cove but that cost $199 and this is with a Florida Resident Discount.  When Ashley's Make A Wish was granted back in 2003, swimming with the dolphins was the first thing she asked for, the second thing was a horse for the back yard.  Her wish ended up being a Disney Cruise, which we completely enjoyed. One of these days I hope to grant Ashley's wish of swimming with the dolphins. One of Ashley's goals before she celebrated her 13th birthday was to reach the 5 foot mark.  This weekend we measured her height...

We just got back from Starpower Nationals where Ashley competed in dance against many talented dancers from all across the United States and Canada.  There were many great studios present, many of them from Florida.  Watching the amazing talent on stage only made me wonder more about Ashley's future in dance.  Don't get me wrong Ashley will continue to dance as long as we can financially afford it.  But I wonder if Ashley should continue to compete in dance. I worry about her getting discouraged when she sees talent she feels she may never be able to achieve.  Ashley is a talented dancer but is she gifted?  Many trained professionals have told me that she has talent, and I do see that. Ashley has worked extremely hard in dance to get where she is today, many are born with this natural ability to dance, Ashley is not one of them.  However, she has the heart for dance and I believe sometimes that is more important then natural ability. Ashley's solo pe...