Glamourazzi

Last week, we participated in one of our favorite Children's Hospital events, Glamourazzi.  Sponsored by Q106.1, this event is all about pampering the kids and Jayla definitely likes that!  We enjoyed good food from Subway and Andy's Custard, and then Jayla got to get her hair, nails and make-up done.  There was lots of media and photographers there, so it really did feel like the kids were celebrities.  By the time they were finished with her, Jayla certainly looked the part!  She was also super-excited because we got to invite a hospital caregiver to join us in the festivities.  Jayla invited her good friend, Corrinne, from Child Life.  They hung out together and got their picture taken.  To top the night off, Jayla got a bag full of all kinds of goodies... nail polish, movie tickets, gift certificates... oh my!  It's so wonderful to be able to do something at the hospital that's strictly for fun.  I think it does a lot to make it a less scary place!

Jayla got her finger and toe nails done.

She loved all the pretty curls but was upset at how quickly they slid out.

Always the cheese ball!

Corrinne hung with Jayla while she got her makeup done

The finished product!

Beautiful!

Hangin' with Royalty

Yesterday was a very fun day for Jayla!  We made the trip to St. Louis to officially "send off" Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen, Shelby Steingraeber.  At the send-off event, we got to see all the beautiful clothes Shelby will be wearing during the national competition in Orlando.  We also got to hear her sing for the talent portion.  Shelby has a beautiful, soulful voice.  Between outfit changes, we were also treated to performances by other titleholders.  Immediately after the showcase, Jayla began practicing her ballet :-)  Jayla and her CMNH friend, Cassidy-Rae, were introduced to the audience as well.  For the first time ever, Jayla was actually shy!

Jayla with Miss MO Outstanding Teen, Shelby Steingraeber, and fellow CMNH child, Cassidy-Rae. 

Jayla with Cassidy-Rae and all the titleholders in attendance!

Shelby was so sweet and gracious to Jayla, giving her lots of attention and making her feel like she had all the time in the world for her.  Following the showcase, Jayla was insistent that we had to go to Shelby's house, so we joined in the buffet dinner and continued celebrations.  Again, Jayla was all about Shelby!

It is easy to see why Shelby was selected as Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen.  She is a remarkable young woman... beautiful inside and out.  We know she'll do amazing on the national stage and has great things in her future!  We are so thrilled that she is involved with CMNH!

Miracle Treat Day

Yesterday was one of Jayla's favorite days out of the whole year - Dairy Queen's Miracle Treat Day.  In fact, she told me that it was second only to her birthday and Christmas!  Part of the reason she probably loves it so much is that she and I spend the day together visiting Dairy Queens and eating ice cream.  Who wouldn't love that?

This year, we spent the afternoon at the Fulton Dairy Queen.  Let me tell you, it was the place to be!  Shawn, Lisa and the whole team there have been working hard leading up to Miracle Treat Day.  They've sold hundreds of paper icons that were hanging on all the windows and have taken pre-orders for blizzards.

Yesterday was the big day though.  There was music, a dunk tank, balloon animals and the 2nd annual banana split eating contest.  Miss Missouri, Teppe Emmott was on hand in the morning and Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen, Shelby Steingraeber spent the afternoon enjoying the festivities.

Jayla with Miss MO Outstanding Teen,
Shelby Steingraeber at the Fulton Dairy Queen.

Jayla took an instant liking to Shelby and they ran around selling raffle tickets and playing.  Shelby invited Jayla to her send-off for the pageant, which she is very excited about.  

Jayla and Shelby were fast friends!

  

Jayla presented the prizes to the winners of the banana split
eating contest.

Jayla also helped hand out the prizes for the banana split eating contest!  We had a great time and are so thankful to everyone at Dairy Queen for their hard work!

Street Party

This weekend was the annual CMNH Street Fair.  We love to come to this event every year even though it is insanely hot.  As Jayla gets a little older, she likes to go even more because there are table after table of crafts!

This year, Jayla made a photo frame, a chalk board, sand art, a magnet and a suncatcher.  She also won a fish (yipee!) and tried very hard to dunk Cosmo, from Y107, in the dunk booth.  We also ate good food, stopped at the face painting tent and tried really hard to win the awesome prizes in the raffle.  Jayla put good luck mojo on all our tickets, but it must have rubbed off on someone else's ticket!

We also got to see some old friends - Cassidy-Rae and her mom, Renee, and our good friend Mike Halford.  A very nice woman from the hospital even hooked Dylan up with an ice pack to put in his stroller so he'd stay cool and we could stay longer!

It was a great day and, as always, a great event!  I'm sure there will be more pictures to come, but I wanted to go ahead and get a few up now.

Jayla, the Cowgirl!

For some time now Jayla has been telling us that she's going to be a cowgirl when she grows up.  She loves all things horses and has wanted the chance to ride for quite some time.  I blame myself for developing this love as I started taking her out to the barns at William Woods University when she was just a baby.  She's always loved watching the riders and visiting the stables.  That's why I knew she would be so excited when Dawn Williams, the Director of the Miss Columbia pageant, invited Jayla to come out and ride her horse.


I can say without reservation that this is the single most exciting thing Jayla has gotten to do as Missouri's Champion Child.  She was more excited about this than flying in an airplane!  When I told her we were going out to ride, she started counting the days.  When the day finally arrived, she counted the hours.  We ended up arriving a little early because I couldn't take counting the minutes!


We arrived at the Columbia Equestrian Center to meet Dawn yesterday.  Jayla was decked out in her cowboy boots and horse t-shirt... she certainly looked the part!  Dawn was so wonderful with Jayla.  She introduced her to her horse, Hannah, who apparently has allergies and sneezed on Jayla!  


Jayla was a little nervous at first.  She's quick to say that she wasn't scared... just stressed.  Dawn was very patient and led Hannah around the arena, so Jayla could get used to the feel of being on a horse and in the saddle.  Hannah was very patient too!  By the end, Jayla was much more comfortable and was looking forward to coming back to try trotting.  She had learned how to get Hannah to go and stop and got to lead her back to the barn.  Once there, Jayla was actually excited to help groom Hannah, brushing her down and combing her tail.

I fear we may have ignited a love for a very expensive hobby!  We are so grateful to Dawn for giving Jayla this wonderful opportunity.  She is already looking forward to coming back next week!

Safe Kids

We had a great time at Safe Kids this weekend.  This event is largely funded through CMN Hospitals donations and featured lots of informational booths and activities.  Jayla got to check out the fire truck, ambulance and helicopter as well as the police motorcycle like the one her Uncle Matt used to ride.  She even won a door prize!

Jayla really wanted to get her face painted, but she wanted it taken off a few minutes later.  It was just so hot!

Coaches for Kids

Our family enjoyed spending time at Old Hawthorne Golf Course for the Coaches for Kids Golf Classic.  We started the celebrations the night before at the pairing party with several of our CMN Hospitals friends.

The next day, we headed to the golf course.  Jayla got to hang out with the MU Cheerleaders who were helping out with the tournament.

After a little refresher practice, it was Jayla's big moment.  She got to do the opening swing for the tournament.  There were tons of people watching... I was so stressed just watching!  She didn't get nervous at all, but the golf pro put the ball up on the tee (she had practiced without).  She managed to hit the ball although it didn't go very far.  She got lots of applause and was happy as could be!