MAW Send-off Party

After Natalie's end of chemo princess ball last year, this is what her wish became.
All ready for her her party.
Here is Natalie with her amazing wish granter April. April lives very close to us and has come over quite a few times over the last year helping Natalie and us to prepare for this wonderful experience, and just to get to know Natalie and do some fun projects together. April is a nurse in the ER and we have had her as our nurse a few times, thankfully not recently.

She did an amazing job planning the entire party with the help of her wonderful family and friends. Many items for the party were donated and we are extremely overwhelmed by the generosity and love we felt. Little Ceasars donated half the pizzas and Sam's club donated the cake. Our homeowners association donated the rental of the amenity center. Aprils' friend is starting a new photography business and he donated his time and pictures, coming soon.

My friend Crys, founder and director of the Princess Alexa Foundation, brought a special gift for Natalie from Alexa. It is called a Dress up Delivery and is what we send to seriously ill kids all around the country. "Miss Cryst" has been waiting for Natalie's send off party to give one to Natalie and she really decked it out and made it special. It somes with a special letter from Alexa, here she is reading it to Natalie.

All the little girls gathered around the see. One thing I loved, is how many of the little girls came all dressed up, just perfect for a princess party.
After opening her Dress up Delivery, all the little girls grabbed their gifts and started having Natalie open them. It wasn't planned that way, but it sure was cute and exciting for Natalie. I think they all loved the chaos of the moment. You could feel the excitement and it was so sweet to see Natalie surrounded by all her little friends. It seems simple, but a few years ago that would've been a hard moment to imagine.

An amazing facepainter came. She donated her time and stayed a lot longer than she intended painting away. She was so talented and everyone was thrilled with their faces. She did mini masterpieces on all the little faces.

Natalie never wants to get her face painted. She will get her hand painted, but something about face painting just hasn't been her thing. Darlene convinced Natalie to go for it and she LOVED it. We were at an event with facepainting the next day and Natalie didn't hesitate to have her face done, so I think Darlene cured her of that. Amazing job, thanks so much!

After getting her face painted, "Miss Cryst" helped Natalie change into the beautiful Belle ballgown that she brought. It was perfect, Natalie looked so lovely in it (something Natalie and I like to say to each other). Natalie re-entered the party just as Cinderella came in. Natalie did not know she was coming, but my Natalie is not shy and she rushed over to give Cinderella a big hug. Cinderella was wonderful. She donated her time coming to the party as well and was so cute and in character the entire time.






Our friends' baby came dressed perfectly. Isn't Makena the cutest baby Belle?

Cinderella was wonderful, she danced with the kids, played games with them, read to them, and crowned Natalie as the party princess. I was a little worried that the little boys wouldn't have fun with that, but they all loved it.



Natalie loved her princess cake.

Between The Colonel being tired and wanting Mom and trying spend at least a minute talking to our guests, I missed a few of the things with Natalie. I think I saw almost everything and she really just wanted to be with Cinderella anyway, so it worked out well. The one thing I was sad to miss and I'm not sure how I did, was Cinderella singing to Natalie. David recorded it for me. It is so sweet. I tried to upload it, but it wouldn't work. She sat Natalie on her lap and sang A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes.

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true

That song has always been special to me and couldn't have been more appropriate for a Make A Wish event. At the end of the song, Cinderella was getting ready to leave and asked Natalie if she had any last requests. Natalie said no, and then changed her mind and told her she did have one last request. She asked Cinderella to have cake with her. I saw Natalie and Cinderella sharing cake of the same plate and thought it was one the of sweetest moments of the night, but I had no idea until watching the video that it was because Natalie asked her to.


I drove home with April because there wasn't a lot of extra room in the car, so I came home a few minutes after everyone else. When I walked in, Natalie was just coming out of the bathroom, she washed her face paint all off all by herself to get ready for bed. The only thing she was wearing was socks, panties, her Alexa necklace, and she was still wearing her crown from the party. Somehow that was a sight that spoke to my heart, still wearing her crown and of course her Alexa necklace. I also really appreciated the layer of glitter that lined the counter top in my bathroom from when David sprayed her hair for the party. He got to spray it and finish curling her hair because The Colonel woke up grumpy and only wanted Mom. I guess it was good because we both got to help her get ready. Checj out this video of her as I was helping her get ready.



Since she didn't have her PJs on yet anyway, we spent the next while trying on all the dress ups "Miss Cryst" gave her. She would try one on and make up some funny little song, twirl and dance for me and then run into the other room to show Grandma and Daddy. She did this with each one. Truly feeling the spirit of Alexa's love of dress up. It was very special.
Natalie danced around with the room with these "wings" on and danced and sung, "I can fly, I can fly, I can fly."
She was so excited about the Ariel costume. Now there is a third rival for halloween..Belle, Jasmine, or Ariel.
I asked her where she learned to pose like that and she just grinned at me.
She is so excited about taking her new princess backpack on the airplane.
Natalie layed on her tummy looking at her new book for at least ten minutes. It is another of my favorite things. Laying on her tummy was something she never did when she didn't feel well, so in my mind it is just another reminder of how well she is doing.