O Christmas Tree!

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I love the sounds, smells, activities and memories associated with the season. If it were up to me, I would get out the Christmas decor the day after Halloween (Daniel would never allow for such nonsense...well, he wouldn't help me anyway...but I would be "allowed" :)) For most of our marriage, we put up the Christmas tree the weekend before Thanksgiving because we were always out of town for the long weekend. I prefer that so I have the tree up longer, but this year just didn't work out that way. In fact, we started the day before Thanksgiving- getting up the tree and lights- then had to finish the ornaments a couple days later. I put up all the other decor the following week. Weird. Anyway, time has certainly gotten away from us, thus explaining the drought of blog posts on my end, but we did manage to finish the decorating. Enjoy the pics!

the kids wore out quickly and took to watching us finish with the lights

 Maggie's ornament was first on the tree!

so serious

We enjoyed our traditional hot chocolate and cookies, even though I didn't get pictures this year.

Will's tooth

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted anything! Times are busy but I'm working to catch up and write a few blogs this week.
So a few weeks ago Will hit another milestone. He lost his first tooth!! It was wiggly for awhile and the final straw was biting into an apple one afternoon. He was not interested in selling his tooth, but rather wanted to hold onto as a keepsake and to show people. I'm pretty sure he's forgotten about it now. My little man is turning into such a big boy! His little smile is forever changed now. One by one his "baby" teeth are on their way out and the permanents will replace them. Life just doesn't stand still for very long, does it? I love you Will Will and your new little man smile!!

It also snowed that afternoon, so it was a pretty good day for Will. :)

somebody was not happy he was left inside...

Maggie's website!

You may know already, but we've started a website to raise funds for Maggie's next trip to Health in Motion. Daniel started working on the bare bones while we were still in Canada and I spent time writing each section the last week Maggie and I were there. After making several style and writing decisions and choices, we finally officially launched the website last week. As in, we started telling people about it. Once you create a web page, technically anyone can get to it. :) If you haven't already seen, here's the link to our baby girl's website:

http://maggieinmotion.lotekness.net/

We're also in the midst of two other fundraisers right now (though all the funds raised will go into one account for Maggie): a 31 catalog party and a Mary Kay web sale! We're so blessed to have people willing to help us and donate proceeds from these parties to Maggie's treatment. In the case of MK, our friend is donating 100% of the profit to Maggie! If you're interested in either party (or both) you can follow the links below to buy gifts and support our little Moosie at the same time!

Thirty One catalog party and Mary Kay web sale

For the Mary Kay party, you'll need to register and in the comments section mention the Belchers to give Maggie 100% of the profit from your purchase.

Health in Motion- week 4

Last week and it's just the girls! This week was basically the same as the previous week, except we didn't have the boys to come home to. I was still on the floor learning and working with Maggie- the only real difference is I did a little more of everything because I was able to complete things quicker and with fewer questions. Maggie very much enjoyed working with mommy (and daddy) opposed to Natan. However, she did throw a couple fits where she refused to work and Natan stepped in to show me what it looks like to keep going in the middle of the fit. It's hard to do, but important, otherwise she'll think she just has to throw a fit to get out of whatever she doesn't want to do.

When the week ended, I had an opportunity to share our story and God's perfect timing within it all and Christ's love for us. I was humbled and amazed by the response I received. I also was able to express our gratitude, as best as words can, to Natan for the work he's doing and what working with him as meant to us and Maggie. It was a day filled with some tears, hugs and love. God's love. The most amazing thing of all.

Health in Motion- week 3

Now it's our turn to learn! Yep, week three brought about instruction for Daniel and I so we can take home everything she's learned and implement daily. Since these movements are different from what we've done in the past and they must be executed in a certain way, it's important that Natan show us the specific steps, where to place our hands, correct vocabulary for verbal cues, etc. He can also correct us if we do something improperly or we allow her to complete a movement/transition incorrectly. We'll know for sure what to do/not to do/look for when we leave Natan.

Maggie's schedule is two hours of functional therapy with Natan, 1.5 hours for massage, break, then another hour with Natan. The order and times fluctuate on a daily and weekly basis, though they're usually similar. She always has a break between visits with Natan, though, never 3 hours straight with him. Since the first week of instruction was Daniel's last week here, he went for the two hour session with Natan and I took the one hour.

 Because we were working with Maggie, we couldn't take any pictures, but the HIM staff did and graciously allowed us to use them. Natan taught us how to do everything he and Maggie worked on the previous two weeks: stretching, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, walking with the walker and all the transitions between. While I had a good idea what he was doing and started implementing things at "home" in the evenings, there was still a learning curve when I was actually the one on the floor guiding her.

Natan gave Maggie a flower :)

This week ended with the boys leaving. It was hard saying goodbye to all our boys- Daniel was sad to leave his girls behind, but was ready to get the drive over with; Will was a little sad, but very happy to be heading home and Jake, well, he's a baby. But Daniel said he appeared to be looking for mommy when they got home. I missed them all very much, cried of course, and I found it difficult to hold back tears once I got to HIM (they left when our break ended). Still, we had some girl time and I think Maggie really enjoyed having mommy all to herself. She never really has. The weekend was the hardest- so much time to fill and not a lot to do without spending a bunch of money. We played, took walks, went grocery shopping and window shopping at a nearby mall which is huge. We especially enjoyed the Disney Store- Maggie has never been there, but instantly fell in love with the abundance of princess items, particularly Rapunzel. She was promised another visit to the one at home and was pleased with this. I didn't take many pictures since we mostly hung out and walked in the neighborhood or stores. It rained all day Saturday but was beautiful Sunday with a tiny bite to the wind.

 fell asleep during our neighborhood walk

Toronto Zoo

Canada celebrated their Thanksgiving on Monday, October 14th (second Tuesday of October- same as our Columbus Day). HIM was closed due to the holiday, which gave us an extended weekend and another day to sight-see. Plus, we like zoos and wanted to check this one out. I was able to use my Nashville zoo membership to get a 50% discount on our tickets, plus they were running a promotion where kids got in free. Double awesome! We were blessed with another beautiful day to enjoy the huge zoo with no shortage of animals.

I have a picture somewhere of Daniel holding Will while he waves  at a rhino as well :)

we unstrapped Jake and he stood up in the stroller, really having a good time!

white lions...Maggie's favorite

they sure are enjoying each other's company

Jake wanted to listen to music too

polar bear, my fave

panda bear, Daniel was looking forward to seeing this guy

The food at the zoo was obviously overpriced and we did not plan ahead with a picnic lunch. They have designated picnic areas all over the zoo so it would've been a nice treat. Either way, we enjoyed our trip but sure were wore out!

CN Tower

One of the world's tallest buildings. When mom and I went to Lake Ontario, I saw this tower across the lake- it's hard to miss as it 'towers' above everything else, but then didn't think about it again with everything else going on. Daniel arrived on a Saturday evening, but it rained Sunday and we didn't do much.

When his first full weekend arrived- my second- my thoughts were on exploring this city I temporarily called home. I wanted to hit the highlights...like the places that "you'd be crazy to miss if you visited Toronto." You know, the must sees. Niagara Falls was a given. One day while conversing with the landlord's wife, she said what about the CN Tower? You have to go there. And so we did. Our perfect day was spent in Niagara so we faced a rainy, foggy view from the tower, but better to be inside during such weather anyway.

stopped at Union Station for lunch and Daniel had to have a picture of this
pigeon inside! I will never understand that man's fascination with pigeons :)

a view from the top

Lake Ontario

Maggie is letting down her hair...that's right, this is Rapunzel's tower :)

the outdoor portion of the tower- boy was it chilly out there! 

the glass floor...can you see all the way down?

We had a great day visiting the CN Tower! I love the picture above of Jake looking down, no doubt wondering what he was looking at. We had a delicious dinner downtown too- just down the street from the tower- mexican and pizza were right next to each other. Daniel got a burrito, me tacos and the kids shared a pizza. They were two great finds. We didn't wander downtown as much as Daniel would've liked, but we did walk it some and what we saw was very nice, not even the rain got us down. :)