Can we live here forever?

This is what we wear to the park in January in San Diego.
Shorts, tank top and sandals!

Hope for SMA

Last tuesday we drove up to L.A. so Isabel and I could attend the Hope for SMA Gala, a fundraising event put on by a family who lost their little girl to SMA. It was such a beautiful event, they really did a great job. We had fun meeting a few different families who live in southern CA and even got to see Dr. Kaspar, a researcher who is working on a very promising treatment for SMA! We got all dressed up but I forgot my camera, so I stole this pic from facebook. Isn't Isabel so beautiful? She is looking like such a big girl lately. I'm just glad she still has her chubby soft baby cheeks!

Horse and Llama

My grandparents have a lot of neighbors with horses, but they have one neighbor that has horses and llamas! They used to have a camel too. We used to see them walking their camel down the street. It was so funny. On Christmas I took the girls down the street to see the llamas. The horse was either really friendly or just really wanted out because she came right up to the gate and stayed the whole time.
There's one of the llamas, the other one was being lazy and wouldn't come see us.

The girls really liked the horse. Maybe daddy will get them a pony one day!

Cupcakes

I found these pictures on my phone of Izzy (and her zebra) enjoying her birthday cupcakes!

More Birthday Fun

After the zoo party we headed to my in-laws for presents, cupcakes, and a pinata. Izzy had to change into her party dress!

This is her mini pinata. At her past birthdays she has been really upset after her pinata gets broken, so she gets to keep this one.

Here is the huge one! It's a little hard to tell from the pic but it was so big! Francisco's aunt made both pinatas! They turned out so cute!

Cute cupcakes.

Happy birthday Isabel! You've had a tough life for a 5 year old and have been through a lot of hard stuff, but you haven't let anything keep you down! You are the bravest and toughest
girl I know. I feel so lucky to have had you in my life the last 5 years, 4 1/2 of those we almost didn't have. Sometimes my mind wanders to what life would be like without you, and I truly cannot imagine how much I would miss you, every part of you, even the hard parts.
You are my little buddy, my best friend, my daughter, my whole world. I love you so much.

Izzy's 5! Hooray!

We wanted to do something special for Izzy's big birthday so we had a party at the zoo! Izzy loves walking around the zoo so we knew she would love it. Does she look 5 to you?
Isabel, Cori, and their cousin Xzavier had fun making some crafts.

The peacocks came to the party!

Cute cousins!

The whole group.

Look at my cake mom!

We did a special animal discovery where we got to see and pet a snake, big lizard, hedgehog, ferret, and turtle. My girls were brave and touched all of the them!

Face painting and carousel rides made Izzy happy.

The birthday girl in her birthday outfit!

I looked everywhere for these pants!

Sometimes I miss my baby, but I love my 5 year old!!!

Izzy's New Wheels!

Woo hoo! Izzy got her new wheelchair! Let me tell you, she has long outgrown her old one that she got when she was 1 1/2. This girl has some long legs and she was just way too big. So after months of viewing demos, submitting to insurance, and waiting for it to get here, we are so happy to have it! It's a bit larger and bulkier than her old one, but it has much more room for growth. She'll be able to use this for a long time. We are still figuring out where to fit all of her equipment too. It's a little tight, but so far everything fits.
Cori loves the "bumbrella"!

The seat on this chair is so much better for Izzy. It actually has some cushion to it and even has gel pad inserts to reduce pressure. She just looks more comfy, and I love that it has armrests. If her face looks a little unhappy, it's because she's not feeling so well right now.

Hooray that Izzy has been around long enough to have outgrown her old

wheelchair and need a new one!