Last weekend, Faith seemed to be struggling with a cold. On Sunday morning, I thought she had slept it off, but unfortunately, it hit full force that evening. Because she was so stuffed up, and had a lot of drainage, she did not sleep well that night. I tried to put her adjustable bed up as much as I could, but it still wasn't enough. Around 3 in the morning I put her in her chair where she slept for a few hours. After I put her back into bed, her sleep was still pretty disruptive. Finally, around 8:30 she had had enough and just wanted to get up for the day. On Monday, we called to cancel her Tuesday therapy sessions. She was bummed about having to miss aquatic therapy and occupational therapy but took it well. I was trying my best to help her feel better by giving her nose spray (which she was actually asking for), keeping her humidifier going, and also doing this face mask thing that makes steam so that she can breathe it in. She calls it her inhaler. On Wednesday, she ...
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A Wonderful Weekend Getaway
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This past weekend, Faith and I
both got to experience the Medora Musicaltogether - for the first time ever!
We went with my dad and sister. The singing and dancing definitely met our
expectations. After the National Anthem, some of the first songs they sang
included, "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Dancing on the
Ceiling." Both songs were a great and energetic way to start the show.
Faith was super excited, nearly dancing out of her chair! One reason she could
hardly contain her excitement was that a few of the performers (Adam and
Taylor) go to our church! The storytelling in between the musical numbers
described how the little "cow town" of Medora came to be, as well as
the influence that Theodore Roosevelt had in North Dakota.
View from our seats!
Close up of the performers.
Auntie Dawn and Grandpa
During the song, "Paint Your
Dreams Across the Sky" by Dolly Parton, the cast invited the children to
join them onstage. I wasn't expecting one of the cast members to come up and
stand by Faith to sing. It was super sweet, but unfortunately, I didn't get a
picture. They also sang "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," along with a
medley of gospel songs.
There were country songs and funny songs, too, that got
the crowd laughing and clapping along. One that I remember was "40 Cups of
Coffee." The entertainment also included a trick roping cowboy and another
one yodeling.
We were thoroughly enjoying the
show when I noticed a shift in the weather. It had been bright and sunny upon
arrival, but it had changed to cloudy and windy. Just as they were about to get
into the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, one of the ushers came over to us and
said they were going to call the show in five minutes if we wanted to get ahead
of the crowd to the elevators. I thought it was very kind of him to give us a
heads up, but I was also very disappointed.
Sadly, we didn't get to see much of the lumberjack show.
When we got up to the parking
lot, my sister Dawn pushed Faith as fast as she could to the van and just as
they got there, it began to rain. Just after the four of us piled inside the van,
it began to downpour.
Since we were just sitting there, I got a feeding going
for Faith. After the traffic cleared, we sadly made our way to Dickinson. All
was not lost, though, as there were some gorgeous rainbows in the sky. I have
never seen so many of them in such a short time span!
Bad weather heading straight for us.
The rain was coming down hard!
Videos by Michael Lawlar
Beautiful double rainbow heading from Medora to Dickinson (photo by Dawn Lawlar)
After getting to Dickinson, we
found a place to eat. It was called "Sanford's" and when we pulled
into the parking lot, Dawn and I realized it was the same restaurant we had
eaten at when we had traveled to Watford City about 3 years ago.
Once we were done eating supper,
we made our way back to the hotel and started Faith's evening routine. It had
been quite a day. I was so proud of Faith for how she was handling the
traveling and the disappointment with the musical ending early.
Waiting patiently for her chocolate milkshake!
Being udderly silly!
The next day after checking out,
we set out for our next adventure: a visit to the Dickinson Museum Center where they had the Badlands Dinosaur
Museum. Faith loves dinosaurs and she couldn't wait to get a new shirt for
T-Rex Thursday at her day program.
It was fun to look at the bones and try to
imagine what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth. There were also
numerous displays of minerals from all over the world, some of which were
fluorescent.
We also explored the Joachim
Regional History Museum and Dad even asked if they could open up the Pioneer
Machinery Hall, which they sometimes don't do on Sundays depending on how busy
it is. Faith was a little bored with some of the history stuff, so she and Dawn
ventured to the gift shop where she helped her auntie pick out stuffed dinosaur
toys for her grandkids. After all that, we hit up the A&W/KFC and made our
way back to Bismarck.
Dinosaurs and fossils galore!
Faith didn't look too scared!
Faith checking out the cool fluorescent fossils.
I told Faith this is how Laura from Little House travelled.
Grandpa was super impressed with this old tractor.
Getting Faith to the Medora
Musical was something I have been wanting to do for a long time and with the
improved accessibility at the venue, along with help from my sister, we were
able to make it happen! I was also very thankful that Faith's grandpa could
accompany us. I was so happy to be driving to western North Dakota, as that
will always be home to me.
The end of July was a great time to head west as
golden round bales dotted the landscape and the corn, sunflower, and wheat
crops were flourishing. The Badlands looked so beautiful, and we even passed by
a large herd of bison. It truly was a wonderful weekend getaway!
Last weekend, Faith seemed to be struggling with a cold. On Sunday morning, I thought she had slept it off, but unfortunately, it hit full force that evening. Because she was so stuffed up, and had a lot of drainage, she did not sleep well that night. I tried to put her adjustable bed up as much as I could, but it still wasn't enough. Around 3 in the morning I put her in her chair where she slept for a few hours. After I put her back into bed, her sleep was still pretty disruptive. Finally, around 8:30 she had had enough and just wanted to get up for the day. On Monday, we called to cancel her Tuesday therapy sessions. She was bummed about having to miss aquatic therapy and occupational therapy but took it well. I was trying my best to help her feel better by giving her nose spray (which she was actually asking for), keeping her humidifier going, and also doing this face mask thing that makes steam so that she can breathe it in. She calls it her inhaler. On Wednesday, she ...
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Every year, the one thing Faith wants to do for the 4th of July is go to the parade in Mandan. It surprises me how much she loves parades, considering the noise and crowds of people. About 20,000 people attend the annual 4th of July parade, and it's filled with very loud firetrucks, big machinery, trucks, and other kinds of loud noises. This year, there was also the concern that it would be more crowded than usual. This was due to the fact that part of the normal parade route was under construction. Besides all that, the Parade starts at 10:00, which means Faith needs to wake up pretty early so that we can arrive in time. Neither of us had slept well the night before, so I was already concerned that she didn't get enough sleep to get through the long, busy day. I let her sleep as late as possible and prayed for us both to have enough energy to make it through the day. It helped that we could do her morning feeding enroute and also during the parade. She normally doesn'...
This page contains affiliate links and Faith's Mom may earn a commission if you use them. As an Amazon Associate, Faith's Mom earns from qualifying purchases. Learn more. Ever since Faith was born, she has struggled with her digestion. When she was in the NICU, she would spit up after eating even the tiniest amount of formula. Her dad and I were convinced her tummy was too small to handle large volumes of food. Sometimes when she ate, her heart rate would drop really low, which is why she needed to be in the NICU for longer. She just could not get the hang of eating and breathing at the same time! Faith receiving food through an NG tube in the NICU. Grandma giving Faith a bottle when she was 2 months old. After finally bringing her home, eating continued to be an issue as she struggled with severe reflux and constipation. We tried various formulas, but she was never able to drink enough formula to gain a lot of weight. She also had trouble burping, and she...
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You just took us on the trip. Wonderful!
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