May - Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month and Team Lilly at Great Strides

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month.  Across the country, volunteers and people with CF and their families will be spreading awareness about the disease and highlighting the progress the CFF has made in the search for a cure.  

Walk today.  Add tomorrows.  Great Strides is the CFF's largest national fundraising event.  More than 250,000 walkers come together each year as one community for one cause...to help find a cure for CF.  The Lexington Great Strides walk will be at Whitaker Bank Ballpark on Saturday, May 18, 2013, and Team Lilly will be there.  

Team Lilly was formed in Lilly's honor as a way for her friends and family to help her battle this disease and do what little they can to find a cure and make it possible for her to live a long and healthy life.  None of the children and adults with CF should suffer the way that they do.  None of their families and loved ones should suffer watching them battle the disease.  We want Lilly and others who fight CF to have a long, happy, and healthy life without the difficulties associated with disease.  Lilly is the reason we are so passionate about raising awareness and funds.  We are so close to a cure and every dollar counts.  Our friends and family have been so supportive over the years and we cannot thank them enough.  The money and support is all for this little superhero who brings sunshine to our rainiest days...  

Every dollar we raise makes it possible for these sisters to share many years together... 

We have one goal - to make sure Lilly is given the same opportunities as the rest of us lucky enough to be born without the yoke of CF around our necks...

So in that spirit, Team Lilly is once again raising money for the CFF by participating in Great Strides.  Please take a look at our team page and consider helping us reach our goal of $5,000.00 by donating to our cause or joining us at Whitaker Bank Ballpark to raise awareness on May 18th.  You can donate at:

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=8449&idUser=359691

If you join us at Great Strides, look for the boys and girls in pink and blue.  Team Lilly creates tshirts to help raise awareness each year.  Our theme this year is a superhero theme, a result of Lilly and Olivia's love of superheroes and the realization that Lilly is a little superhero who in our eyes has an amazing amount of courage in battling this disease...

Standing beside Lilly, we will fight for a cure...

We will raise awareness and money through fundraisers like Team Lilly Spirit Night at Chik-fil-a...

And Painting with a Purpose scheduled for 

Monday, May 13th, from 7-9 p.m. ...

(To sign up, go to http://www.paintingwithatwist.com/events/viewEvent.aspx?eventID=112311)

We do these fundraisers so that one day we can all "breathe easy" when we find a cure. 

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you there!

April - Spring Break at the Louisville Zoo and Swimming, Disney Princess On Ice, and Olivia's 6th Birthday!

We couldn't take a beach vacation this year, so instead we took the girls to the Louisville zoo and swimming at a hotel pool in Louisville - same thing, right?  I don't think they realized much difference.  We had a blast - vacations are all about family time anyway!

Riding the Merry-Go-Round

Ready for the sunshine!

Lilly loves the lizards (ugh).

I like the flamingos better :)

Cuddle time with Daddy's girl

We are all fans of the elephants!

The daffodils were incredible!

Stopping to smell the flowers.

The girls were worn out after the zoo, but that didn't stop some serious swimming after some rest time!

Check out Olivia's belly-flop form!

I think those swimming lessons are paying off :)

The pool was a little cold for Lilly so we snuggled poolside while Olivia and Daddy swam.

In other news...

Bobbie made Lilly a Batman dress - how adorable is this?

April brought a little better weather and time to play on the swingset!

We also had the opportunity to attend Disney Princess on Ice courtesy of Grammie and Grandpa - the girls loved it!  

Lilly ate an entire bucket of popcorn by herself (with a little help from me...)

Olivia loved the cotton candy!

April always brings a special birthday...

Olivia turned 6 years old on April 30th - where does the time go??  Here she is playing with her new City Lego project courtesy of Grammie and Grandpa and with a little help from her Uncles Rusty and Randy...

We had a big birthday party to celebrate the birthday girl...

The birthday girl getting ready for her party at Kids Place!

These sisters really do love each other and were so excited for the party!

Liv was so excited that Kids Place "decorated" with Legos, which is her party theme!

Ollie is getting so big! Love it that my best friend from childhood brings her son to celebrate with my daughter - friendships last a lifetime, no matter where your life leads...

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

  

Blowing out candles like a pro!

Presents galore!

 

Since Olivia's party was the night before her actual birthday, we had to do something to celebrate the official day - so in the spirit of those infamous words, "Let them eat cake!" we let her Liv have cake for breakfast!  She loved it, obviously!  Happy 6th Birthday to my precious, beautiful, intelligent, and caring little girl who promises me that she will always be my baby no matter how old she gets.  I expect her to keep her promise and Olivia, when you read this one day, remember, you are always my baby and I love you more than anything in the world!  Mommy is so proud of the child you are and the young lady you are becoming!