Exciting times- surprise surprise and new web site

So this is a quick post to let you know that we will be in ITV surprise surprise tonight at 7pm. Obviously I can't go into details at this point so please all tune in And see what Holly had in store for us.
We have also launched a brand new web site today for Isabella which has mums diary section in so I will probably start updating that more than the blog. You will be able to see how life is changing for us and Isabella and how the fundraising is going. Please all check it out its www.isabellasfund.co.uk

Sorry it's been so long I have been struggling

Sorry it's been so long since I have wrote anything. We have had a lot on and have been away for our good friends wedding. Isabella was a little bridesmaid and looked lovely. Although she preferred the disco and really came into her own when the music started think the rest she found a bit boring lol.
I think the other reason I haven't been in is that I always try and be positive and I have been struggling keeping positive. The fundraising is going great but it just hit me that I can't provide for my daughter and its a really hard thing to accept that you need help. But the truth is we really do, many of you know that we are trying to raise £30,000 for Isabella's therapy what you might not know is that we are also trying to get our home adapted for Isabella we will hopefully receive a grant towards the cost of some of this but we still need to raise probably an additional £20,000 to get the adaptions done. At the minute we are carrying Isabella upstairs to her room and trying to bathe her in a normal bathroom as we can not install any hoists as it will all be changing and the rooms aren't currently big enough to fit them the older she gets the more difficult this is getting and the more strain its putting on my back. I have just found out from the council who do the grants that we have to get the application in very quickly otherwise they will withdraw us from the application process, the problem being from the point they approve the grant we have to have all work finalised within twelve months and there is the problem we don't have £20,000 and we can't get a loan or mortgage our property any more so the fundraising pressure has just gone crazy. As well as this we have had to reduce the amount of physiotherapy for Isabella as we were paying £1000 a month and the money was disappearing quickly do we have had to reduce to once a week.

Hope this explains a little about why I haven't been in I have needed some time to get my head round everything I need to do and provide for my baby whilst at the same time working.
Any way my motivation has kicked in and we will get everything Isabella needs because she is an incredible little girl who touches so many people and enforces what's important in life..... Family.
Love you all and thanks so much for your support it keeps us all going

I hate computers !!!!!

Sorry it's been do long but as you will have guessed, our laptop has broke. It's amazing how much you depend on it. Will put a proper update on soon as writing this on my phone and its not the easiest thing to do.
Brownstock was awesome anyone who hasn't been to this local festival should Definately check it out great for the family and even had a disabled toilet. They raised over six hundred pounds for Isabella which was great.
Some time has passed since the walk and I am now in the middle of planning the next challenge, tony (Isabella's step dad) and are good friend nick will be rowing the Thames at Easter this is a huge challenge considering neither have been in a kayak yet. I guess there is no point doing a challenge if its not difficult. We are nearly
a third if the way to our target which is great but so far to go it all seems a bit daunting but failure is not an option for my family and I. So huge thanks to everyone that has helped us get to this point xxxx

Brownstock this weekend cant wait

So its been some time since i have updated the blog unfortunately i have had a few health problems so not had as much time as possible to get on the computer and update how things are going. As such not much has been happening.

So this weekend we are taking isabella to Brownstock which is a local festival, i am so excited am sure isabella will love it with all the music and the atmosphere. Brownstock is run by a local family in essex who host the festival on their farm. They have been extremely good to us and have agreed to put isabellas collection pots out for us. Not only this but they have offered children from little havens hospice tickets to attend the festival. For all of you essex people that dont know about it google it its great with some great acts confirmed such as labrinth and nero am sure tickets are still available at a fraction of the cost of v festival.
Will post some pics of isabella at her first festival next week.

So in relation to fundraising we still have a huge way to go, the funds are slowly creeping up and we are not far fom £8000 although we still have £22000 to go lol

The next event will be on 20th September when O Connors bar in chelmsford will be hospting a quiz night, they have been a huge support to the fundraising, this will be the second quiz they have done since fundraising has started and i am sure it will be a huge success. Its £25 per team, with teams of up to six people. The quiz starts at 8 so get there early to make sure you get a table.

 So isabellas step father tony and our good friend Nick are in the middle of planning a sponsored kayak. The plan is that they will do the length of the thames over five days covering a total of 190 miles. This is a huge challenge considering neither of them have been in a kayak. The plan is that they will do this in April so we are currently looking into getting them all there licenses that they will need as well as some lessons lol.

Obviously the main reason they are doing this is to raise money for isabella so i have been sending letters out to local companies to see if any of them will sponsor the boys in exchange we will put their company logos onto the kayaks. I am also looking into trying to find some one to do a proper web site for us at the minute which will give us the ability to put company logos on the site for businesses that sponsor the event. I have also sent out letters to all the supermarkets in our area asking for the opportunity to go into the store to bag pack this was ahuge success when it was done in the lake district so hopefully some of them wil let us. We have had a letter from Morrisons in maldon who sadly cant help us so fingers crossed for some of the others.

A huge thanks to all the people that have and continue to support us its hugely appreciated

My amazing family

Hi well i am so excited to announce karen and suzy got back to essex in great spirits, even if they did wander into the fun day before i had chance to get everyone round to cheer them through our hand made finish line. Oh well the best plans, think they were just so excited to see their families after two long weeks that they forgot to give me my five minute warning of their arrival. lol. They had fun especially on the bouncy castles and slide. ( think the fluffy slippers they wore all day eased the blisters so they could enjoy themselves)

Everything seemed to be on our side for the fun day, when i turned up there that morning i could have cried there was torrential rain which meant i was unable to start getting set up, this combined with the fact my back is still painful from my car injury meant i had quite a tearful morning. thankfully some one was looking out for me and as quickly as the rain came down it stopped and the day was transformed by brilliant sunshine. Shortly followed by the army of family and friends who came to help get set up. I think its fair to say that the situation didnt bring out the best in my personality lol.

I think in hindsight i had put myself under so much pressure to make the day perfect for my sisters and family that i was probably never going to live up to my own expectations and the delay in setting up most definately did not help.  How do you thank people that do something as amazing as my sisters did for my daughter. I am sitting here now and still cant believe what my sisters did for isabella, its simply amazing. Sometimes i wish i could slow time down and go back to the fun day and really take it all in, I was so humbled by what they did but also the effort my family and friends put in to make it possible.It was great to see so many familiar faces and a few blasts from the past just wish i had been able to speak to everyone and let them know how grateful i was for their support.

Its amazing how things pull together and amazing the kindness of strangers, i met so many lovely people at the fun day who came to offer their support as well as the wonderful stall holders who came with their businesses and supported me throughout the day. I have recieved such kind words of support from members of our community, its extremely humbling and makes you realise that there are some amazing people out there.

I am a great believer in that everything happens for a reason. I feel honoured and privelaged to have the family i have and most importantly my daughter. I know i have said this numerous times but my daughter has taught me how to be a better person, she has taught me empathy and most importantly what is important in life and how we should look at how rich we are in life, not be material possesions but the real treasures. If we look at our life in this way i am most definately a millionaire. We can all get through life when everything is going to plan but what makes you realise some ones worth is how they react and adapt when life is stressful and sacrifices need to be made, which leads me on to my amazing fiance tony. We got together when isabella was just over 18months old and he has been by my side ever since supporting me through every hospital visit and illness, sitting up all night with me whilst we watch isabella. he is just great , i am very lucky and cant wait to become his wife in January.

Tony and our good friend nick are currently in training to row the thames next year in a bid to raise money for isabella. We havent counted all the money from the fun day yet but it is looking like we have initially raised approximately £1000. i will post some pics and a definate final total tomorrow as i need to grab some more money bags to finish counting.
HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT CAME AND EVERYONE THAT HAS DONATED ON LINE, WE ARE GETTING THERE BUT £30,000 IS A HUGE CHALLENGE SO FINGERS CROSSED WE WILL GET THERE AS WOULD LOVE TO TAKE HER NEXT MAY.

The girls are still going and the end is in sight

Well there was definately a moment when i didnt think i would be writing this post but am so so proud of my sisters and cant believe how after all the pain and set backs they are still on track with their walk. I spoke to them today and they seem i great spirits although when i asked them how there legs were holding up they told me they had gone past the point of pain and that there legs were permanently covered in freeze spray. Not good but they are on the home stretch with only three days and approximately seventy miles to go.
I dont know about you but seventy miles seems like a feat in itself and thats before you add on the 300 they have nearlly completed over the last week and a half.

Well its been full steam ahead in essex as well as we all knuckle down with the fun day planning, this has been slightly hampered by my back injury following a car accident but my new motto has been slow and steady, something which i am sure karen and suzy are also working to by now, but as we all know slow and steady wins the race.

The fun day will be held at baddow recreational ground and millenium hall in chelmsford on saurday 30 june between 1200 and 1600, there will be loads going on with both the field and the hall being taken advantage of. The field will have all your favourites with bouncy castles, coco nut shires, face painters as well as hook the duck and lots of other fun day favourites, there will also be some independant crafters there setting up stalls selling their beautiful products. I think i will be parting with some money that day. We also have the hall in case the weather isnt so great were there will be a soft play area, arts and crafts and a messy play area.

We would love to see you all there and have as big a crowd as possible to cheer karen and suzy over the finish line.

I am aware that Chelmsford Weekly news are very kindly putting an article in the paper advertising the event for us, unfortunately they have forgotten to put on there how people can donate so for all those people if you wish to help us get to our target of £30,000 then you can donate either by handing it in to any essex police station marked for the attention of DC 3017 Bennett at Brentwood police station, by using the paypal donation button on this site or by contacting me by e mail on christine_bennett79@yahoo.co.uk for us to discuss other arrangements ot to provide you with an alternative postal address.

Again thanklyou to everyone for all your support it has kept karen and suzy going and kept them motivated in what can only be described as a huge task.

Speak to you all soon and i will post some pics of the fun day for those of you supporting from other parts of the uk.

a note from the intrepid two

Thank you all for all the support you have shown us over the last couple of days it has really kept us going. As some of you are probably aware we had to pay a little visit to A&E following in insect bite on Tuesday which has turned quite nasty.




All was not lost though as we did manage to entertain all the staff and other ill patients that were waiting to be seen as both me and Suzie decided to have a fit of giggles when we realised that yet again we had problems in opposite legs!!!



This concluded in the receptionist announcing that they had a right pair in reception and putting the mental health team on standby.



Suzie then proceeded to completely baffle the poor doctor when after giving her a thorough examination for Deep Vein Thromboses he confessed he was very confused and asked again how she had received these injuries? Her reply was to say we had been walking..............when asked where have you been walking she told him Barrow in Furness, cumbria. He proceeded to remove her shoes and socks and was in complete shock at the state of her feet untill she explained "oh don't worry they are just blister plasters" I think he thought she has some sort of skin dissorder!!! She then decided this was a good time to let him know we were walking to Chelmsford (I think the doctor at this point was loosing the will live), especially when she was told she could go, he then spotted the tube coming out of her rucksack!!! he questions what the tube was for to which she replied while smiling "oh don't worry about that thats for my water" I now think the doctor is receiving medication as he thought Suzie was on oxygen!!! All made for a very entertaining day.



We will be fine, and we complete this challenge.



All our Love Karen & Suzie

tears, A&E and infected legs

Well over the last couple of days things have been getting tougher and tougher for karen and suzy, they have obvioulsy tried to keep from us how much they were struggling. I was aware that there legs had been swelling up quite significantly every day and they have had to sleep with them elevated and cold compresses on and whilst this hasnt aleviated the problem it has ease it enough for them to ease the pain and continueing walking. Unfortunately this morning they woke in a lot of pain and none of the swelling had gone down making it difficult and painful for them to bend their legs. Thankkfully they thought with their heads and not their hurts and went to hospital. After several hours they were advised they needed to rest and elevate their legs as they had damaged all the soft tissue. Karen also found out that in the process of her walking shehad been bitten by something which had caused her leg to become quite badly infected. She is now on anti biotics four times a day and hopefully the pain will ease over the next 24 hours.

I recieved a very teary phone call from them both today were they felt so bad, as a family we are obvioulsy worried for them, i would love to go and see them but i am unable to drive at the minute as am suffering from whiplash following a car accident a couple of weeks ago. We have spoken to them and reassured them that they have to rest today and tomorrow. they have looked at their route and have told me that they will finish the walk and will still get to chelmsford on saturday as they had planned to.

We are so proud of them and wish them all the best, they are two of the strongest woman i know and they have worked so hard i think its times like this when we can all sit back and think about the size of this challenge and how tough it has been on them.

Thankyou for all those people that have sponsored them and donated, we have raised nearlly six thousand pounds, we obvioulsy have a huge way to go as our aim is £30.000. For any one that wants to donate there is a paypal link on the home page of this blog on the left hand side or contact me on my e mail which is christine_bennett79@yahoo.co.uk if you wish to donate trough bank transfer or by sending a cheque.

Please share this blog with family and friends as i regularly update my sisters about how many hits we are getting , its a nice way of them knowing that even though they are far away from family and friends we are all thinking of them and care

three days of walking and seventy five mile later

So Karen and suzy have completed three days and seventy five miles which is amazing, its not been the easiest of starts with the first two days being up and down mountains in torrential rain (i guess this is what happens when you start in the lake district) lol
The walk has been tough so far not only physically but mentally as well, in the first two days they only came across two people whilst out walking, thankfully they have been really lucky with the bed and breakfasts they have been staying in and the owners have been on shoe drying duties, although to be fair think they offered before karen and suzy removed their boots. Hopefully they have recovered from the fumes.
Day three arrived and the sun came out unfortunately by this point the blisters had already arrived and suzy was struggling with her boots ( the boots she trained in fell apart one week before they were due to set off so she only had a week to break them in before they left).
Day three started with the girls swapping boots to try and ease the pain suzy was in, however after ten miles karens feet started to hurt, it was at this point they realised that suzys boots hurt karens right foor were as they hurt suzy left. The result was that they did the rest of the walk wearing odd boots. Well it was definately a connverstaion starter on their route. To add to all this the toe nails are starting to lift already so they are having to tape their toes every day, my heart really goes out to them as they have another eleven days of walking left. They will be walking 25 miles a day, some days more with only one day off next sunday. Thats a huge ten day walking for nearlly ten hours every day with no break, they are literally getting to their accomadation each evening eating having a shower and going to bed.
Below are a few pics of them over the first two days, the first one shows the grass that they had to get through in the pouring rain, they had over two miles of this, just what you need when your walking long distances. Then suzy having lunch at their make shift picnic spot trying to stay out of the rain

Its amazing what they are doing but the one thing that sometimes gets missed is that both karen and suzy are mums as well and each have three boys, none of this woulod be possible without the support of the rest of the family and the amazing attitude of their children who are not seeing their mums for two weeks. Thw hols family has go behind him, Suzys youngest son cameron who is the six years old like Isabella has decided that he wants to do a stall at the fun day, after some serious thought he has come up with " CAMERON THE MAGNIFICENT CAKE EATING BOY" he is going to sit at his table eating cake and is confinced that loads of people will give him money for isabella to watch him eating cake. He is already asking his dad and grandma to help him make his sign. Like all children he never forgets so i am fully expecting hom to turn up with his sign and to sit there all day with his cake, however i have asked him to go on the bouncy castle before the cake eating starts. Please all support them as they are doing so well and making so many sacrifices for my little girl, there is a paypal link on the home page of the blog if anyone wouold like to sponsor them or donate to the cause. We have £30,000 to raise and so far are at about £5,000 i really want to make sure the amount we raise from this walk really justifies the pain karen and suzy are both going through.

cant believe the walk starts tomorrow argghhhh

So the day is finally upon us after months and months of prepartation and long and difficult training sessions that have left both suzy and karen in quite a lot of pain with shin splints and hip problems they are at last going to set off in the morning... ...
Well the day started off with lots of excitement as we regressed to children with lots of text message thoughout the week which mainly comprised of how many sleeps they had left till they set off. I have to say my excitement started to turn to mild panick when i was filling up the car at the petrol station ( yes some of this was due to the rocketiing petrol prices at this rate we will all be walking).Out of the corner of my eye i noticed the headlines on the front page, yes its said "storms to hit the uk, 80mph winds and three months of rain to fall in the next three days. Not good this will be the three days they are walking through the lake district. Dont think any umbrella is going to help them with the weather thats coming in. Fingers crossed they will be fine and the weather man will have got it wrong. i am not holding my breath.

Well i guess this has made us all realise how much of a huge challenge this is and how its really important we all get behind them so that so that this huge challenge is worth the pain that they will go through. I am still finishing off the final details for the fun day and am still looking for some stall holders to add this something else to the event. So if any of you are keen crafters or are starting up your own business and wqnt o come along then please e mail. There will be no charge for stall holders but it is obvioulsy a charity event and we have a huge challenge of £30,000 to raise so all i ask is that if the day is succesful for you and you make lots of sales then you donate some money to the event.

The fun day will be help at baddow recreational ground in chelmsford between 1200 and 1600, the day will start with the little ones doing a sponsored toddle round the field before letting loose on the stalls bouncy castles and soft play. If any of you want to enter your child into the toddle then please e mail me and i will send you the sponsor form some are going to take part in fancy dress, i think isabella is going as a bee. Although its a toddle we are definately all inclusive , isabella will be doing it in her wheelchair and some tiny ones will be in baby walkers and prams. The day is all about fun and everyone feeling included. We have also hired the hall inside the hall there will be a soft play area ( which there is no charge for) and pen pencils messy play for the children to enjoy to give a sensory exploring area.

Would be great to see you all there any questions pop me an e mail on christine_bennett79@yahoo.co.uk

Isabellasfund teams up with Inspirecard chelmsford

Well i am very pleased to announce that we have been in talks with a lovely man by the name of tony who is trying to change the face of fundraising. he is the man behind simply fundraising and has more recently started up the chelmsford inspire card.
Inspire card is a great idea and is fully supported by chelmsford borough council, its a discount card for chelmsford retailers, unlike the taste card it doesnt just focus on restaurants although there are loads of restaurants and pubs included as well as days out health and beauty and everything in between. As a special offer tony has agreed to sell the card for half its normal retail value. All you need to do is put "isabellasfund" into the promo code and you will get the card for an amazing £34.95 and the best news of all ( for us anyway is that ten pound from each sale will come directly to isabella.)

To buy a card just log onto the website which is http://www.inspire.simplyfundraising.co.uk/.

As you can see this is a great deal as you will get discounts in 150 local businesses and independant retailers, with some companies offering a 25% discount for card holders its not difficult to see that it only take one use of the card and you have all ready made your money back, just imagine the amount of money that you could save over a twelve month period.

Isabella has finally sat up on her own

Well i am extremely excited to announce that isabella has shocked us all and yesterday evening she decided she could get from lying down to sitting up all on her own. As you can imaging this is a huge shock for us all but one we are so excited about. It just goes to show that we were doing the correct thing continuing to push her and now more than ever has shown us that its not out of the question that she will walk one day.
She was so pleased with herself and has continued to practice. She was awake last night until half one in the morning practising and everytime i tried to get her to lie down she would giggle and pull herself back up. To be honest as tired as we were we had waited six years for that moment so we ended up sitting up with her and laughing at how naughty she had become.

Before isabella was born i had alot of expectations about what i would and wouldnt do and i guess we all talk about how our children will never misbehave. But we take  for granted the ability it takes for a child to be naughty and cheeky and how it shows their personalities are developing and how they are able to make decisions for themselves and have an understanding of the world around them. I am by no means saying we should allow our children to misbehave but just take a second to appreciate every achievement they make no matter how big or small. Life goes very quickly and we are all under so much pressure that i think sometimes we all need to take a step back and look around us at all the amazing things that are happening every single day, isabella has taught us so much and she has an amazing way of bringing out the best in people. through isabella we have met the most amazing and interesting people and it has shown me that there are a lot of extremely kind people around and there is although sometimes it can apprear hidden a great sense of community that we should all be proud of. IT doesnt take any extra time out of your day to wish some one a good morning or to say hello to that person you see on the train every morning but could make all the difference to them.

and so the fundraising begins

Well the fundraising has officially begun this weekend my family who live in the lake district have been bag packing in the local morrisons. The support they have got from staff and customers has been amazing. I am genuinly humbled by the support and generosity of people, I guess its time like these that i wish i was a natural writer as i never seem to be able to find the words to express my gratitude or explain how humbling all the support we have recieved is. We have a huge challenge ahead of us with the amount of money we need to raise but the community has given me hope that it is possible.
I am genuinly excited about what the future may hold for my adorable daughter and am looking forward to the fun day it will be lovely to meet everyone and shuold be loads of fun. Dont forget to contact me if you want to enter your child into the little sponsored toddle as i will need to send sponsor forms to you. Fancy dress is optional, think isabellas going as a bumble bee lol

Isabella's in the paper

Well we have just bought the Essex chronicle and after loads of pictures they chose one in which mummy looks like she has been caught in headlights. Everyone is making fun of her but at least I look really cute in it. Just for any one that has seen the article there was a few bits that weren't accurate so thought we should clarify a few points. Isabella used to be fed for twenty hours a day but after her last trip to America they have helped us reduce this to five feeds a day which gives her organs time to recover in between each feed. It also means she is not connected to the tubes overnight as we always worried it would get wrapped round her neck. The hope is that now she is used to this we can return to America and they can work and making her mouth less sensitive and trying to get her to learn to swallow and to realise her mouth and stomach are connected. This is a step they couldn't do on the last visit due to being so dependant and constantly attached to the machine.
The centre we are attending is called therapist 4 kids and they run an intensive physiotherapy program which was initially designed for astronauts returning from space with low muscle tone. One of the little girls we met on our last visit is now walking, it's so great to see. We know they can't work miracles but they have taught us with a lot of hard work commitment and their advancements in treatments things you never thought possible can happen. There was a time I feared Isabella wouldn't make it to six years old let alone be laughing sitting and playing. Just shows that you have to never give up and always try to achieve and be the best you can

Isabella is now awake but there is a lot if coughing and spluttering, she is on anti biotics now for a chest infection. Hopefully she will start to feel better soon as we are meant to be visiting family in a couple of weeks. There is no real way to know whether the chest infection triggered the seizure or if the seizure caused the chest infection as it can cause fluid on the lungs. Either way looking forward to her being her happy cheery self again as she is exhausted at the min bless her x x x hope your all well. Planning is still going into the fun day and hopefully the newspaper article in the Essex chronicle this week will help generate some new support as we have a long way to go to get the amount if money we need.

Just a little update

Just thought I would put a quick update on the blog for those that heard Isabella hadn't been well. Thank you for all your support. She is getting much better and is currently home on the sofa having cuddles and sleeping. Her temperature is a lot better and hopefully once she has slept off the effects of the seizure she will be back to her happy smiley self.
Thanks to everyone and we hope to see you all soon

Hi everyone cant believe how quickly time is going . To think this time next month karen and suzy will have hopefully completed day one of their walk. they will be feeling the pain and we will be keeping our fingers crossed that they have no blisters at this early stage.

Sorry not updated much lately but htings have been so busy and hectic with trying to get the fundraising going, thankfully the fun day seems to be going full steam ahead now with the bouncy castles and soft play all sorted and finalised we will be having a bouncy castle for disabled or very young children so all can be involved in the day. I know how frustrating it can be one your little one cant go on the bouncy castle because of the bigger ones having so much fun this is why we are going to have more than one so everyone can have loads of fun. Just got a few smaller stalls and attractions to sort out now, children are getting involved in the sponsored toddle which is great and the first lot of sponsor forms have been sent out which is great. Think it would be great if the little or big ones came in fancy dress, am sure i can find a prize for the best outfit. Just need top sort isabellas outfit out now. we can go either bumble bee or cinderella.

As well as all this i am busy sorting out getting our house adapted for isabella, the plan is that the garage will be converted into a bedroom and bathroom for isabella with hoists installed which will help getting her in and out of the bath. Have to be honest my back is starting to suffer with leaning over the bath to get her in and out lol. I have had two builders rounds and the quotes are in so i am busy completing the application form to the council for funding for the adaption although i have already been told that they will not fund the whole job so just have to wait to find out exactly how much money we need to find to complete the job. Unfortunately the way the grant works is that you have to complete work within twelve months from when its approved. I am sure it will be fine and just keeping my fingers crossed that the amount of money we need to find isnt too high.

Hope your all doing great and thankyou for taking such an interest in my amazingly inspirational daughter. Just got to keep everything crossed now that we manage to raise enough to get her back out to america, she is trying  so hard and definately has the motivation now. The world is her oyster and there is so much possibility for her, its amazing how although she doesnt speak how she teaches so many people whats important in life

family fun day

i have just booked baddow recreational ground for the 3oth june, this will be the final leg of karen and suzys walk. The plan is that they will end their walk at the centre and that we will have a big fun day to celebrate. We are currently trying to source bouncy castles etc for the kids and there will be arts and crafts stations for them to play . The hope is that we will also do a sponsored toddle waddle. ( a small sponsored walk / push /bike for toddlers around the field )
Sponsor forms and details will be available next week.

hope to see you all there

christine, tony and isabella

77 days to go

Well its 77 days until Aunty Karen and Aunty Suzy set off on their sponsored walk from Barrow in furness cumbria to Chelmsford in essex. This is not going to be easy and training has been far from smooth with painful shinsplints before they have even started, i think we can appreciate how difficult this will be. When we started this blog it was way for our family to stay in touch whilst we were in America with Isabella. Well how times have changed, i never thought i would see the day my little girl smiled and giggled let alone sat on her own and played with toys. This is a little girl that couldnt play or interact with anybody.
From the bottom of my heart thankyou to everyone you have given us the most precious gift.
This has given us hope and it has taught me hope and that you should never accept limitations, i am often asked what isabellas prognosis is the truth is i dont know but its looking a whole lot better and whilst i dont know if she will ever walk she is now putting her feet to the floor which is a start.

I would love to take isabella back to america, whether we ever will i dont know it was an awful lot of money, the centre in milten keynes is great but and whilst not as much as america still costs more than we have available to us, which is why we are so grateful for all your help.

On the 30th June we will be holding a family fun day at Baddow recreational ground which will be the finale of the sponsored walk we will have a childrens sponsored toddle waddle round the field as well as activities on for the children.
It would be lovely to meet you all  and i am sure karen and suzy would love the support

all our love
christine , tony and isabella

Hi
 well i dont know were to start soooooo much has been happening, adam did his sky dive he was so brave we are all so proud and grateful to him. He is one of them people that restores your faith that there are good people out there. to be honest with you we have met so many kind people whilst raising money for isabella  its touching. Its a shame the good people do doesnt make the papers quite as often,

The fundraising is starting again, this time it goes to my sisiter karen and my sister in law suzie although to be honest she is more like a sister she has been part of the family since she was at school. They are completing a sponsored walk in june for isabella. Some how calling it a sponsored walk doesnt seem to do it justice they are actually walking from Barrow in Furness in Cumbria ( for those rubbish at geography its the last county before scotland on the west coast) to chelmsford in essex. this is going to take them approximately two weeks of walking as they try and venture not only south but also across country. We all think they are slightly mad but we rae all so greatful and hopefully this will raise a lot of money as they will be in soo much pain bless them with them averaging twenty miles every day.
If any one wants to sponsor them it can be done on the pay pal link on this blog address, if you could reference the walk that would be great.
We also have a facebook page set up called " walk for isabella" please find it, like it and share it so we can make our cause as well known as possible, which will hopefully help as much money as we can.

NOW on to the BIG BIG news, those of you that have helped us raise money in the post will understand how little isabella could do so i am so happy to announce that she is now sitting on her own for approximately one and a half hours on her own and plays with her toys. Hopefully you will appreciate what a huge step this is for her and the quality of her life is now a thousand times better. to think this little girl was unable to play with toys before America let alone sit on her own and do it.  So big thanks to Therapies for kids in America and celebral Palsey physio centre in Milten Keynes who are dealing with isabellas mmonthly therapy. I honestly feel the sky is the limit.


All our love

Christine isabella and family