So most of you reading this know that I am a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program to Hannah...or Hannah Banana as I call her. We were matched in April of 2006 right after she turned 5 years old (kids have to be 5 years old to be in the program). When you first start as a "Big" you are given several children to choose from and they will give you several options, I felt bad passing on the first few they mentioned but for some reason they just didn't feel right for me. Then they called and told me about Hannah. They were going to originally match me with her older sister, Samantha, but said that Hannah had been on the waiting list and knew she would be difficult to place b/c of some issues she had and when they described her and given my background in developmental psych they thought we would be a good fit. I knew right off the bat.. she was my little. I prayed super hard about it and knew within a couple days she was who I was to be matched with and so called back and set up our meeting date. I still remember the first time I met her and the rest of her family. She was soooooo tiny and seemed sooooo shy (for any of you who know Hannah, that shy is not a word you would use to describe her). We went out for ice cream that first day and she was just so much fun! We instantly bonded and had so much fun and have made soo many memories over these two years. Now don't get me wrong, it has not been without challenges, she has challenged me beyond belief but we have both learned so much from each other and have grown together. She has come SUCH a long way from that first day when I look back, wow.
Well she was having such a difficult year when she first started kindergarten and was getting reds (the worst color on her behavior chart) daily and so I offered her a reward. Sam and I had annual passes to Disney World so I told her that we would go to Disney to celebrate her getting one week of all blue, which is the best behavior color. She really tried hard and poor thing would get so close, 4 blues and then a yellow for example. She talked about Disney all the time and in fact when she sat on Santa's lap that year rather than asking for toys or anything else under the sun she asked for 5 blues in a row. It was so sweet. We talked a lot about how it was in her control, not something someone can give to her. Anyway, she finally got her blues the last few weeks of school! We were all soo proud! Problem was, by then ( I honestly had no idea it would take her the entire school year, I had way underestimated her) our passes had expired and we didn't have the money to pay for the tickets, gas, hotel, and spending while there. I felt sooo terrible! Plus, Disney in middle of summer is a pretty rough, it is soo hot and the lines are soo long, a combo that screams trouble for Hannah's behavior. We had a talk and decided we would wait until Christmas time or right after Christmas time when it as cooler and not so hot and had a plan. That way we could save up the money and have our trip. Nope... who knew I would get pregnant! If you remember I was sooo sick, like I lost 16 pounds in the first trimester sick with throwing up, plus couldn't ride on any rides so, Disney was out again. It was all I could do to still hang out with her and the poor thing and her siblings had to see me throw up a few times, gross!
Well, long story short, I had Sammy and so it definitely wasn't happening this past Christmas.. he was barely 2 months old and I had not adjusted to mommyhood yet and EVERY week when I picked her up she would ask 2 questions... 1. "Are we going to Disney World today?" and 2. " Can we go to Chuck E Cheese with Megan and Marc?" , both of which were out of the question given they were both too expensive and out of town.
I won't go into her family background history, but Hannah & her 4 siblings live with their grandparents. We got word that her mother may be coming back in the picture and it was looking like the kids would be going to live with her. I was devastated! Putting my own feelings aside was hard and I really didn't think this was in the best interest of the kids, it was really scary. I just kept thinking, great.. she will leave and I will never find her again and out of everything I have tried to teach her and instill in her, all she will remember is a promise I made to take her to Disney and never came through on. It really burned me up b/c I am soo careful not to make promises I can't keep. ugh! Enter my dear dear friend.....
I got the best surprise one day.. my amazing friend who will remain nameless was over and said God had blessed her family extra well that month and they had decided what they wanted to do with the extra money was to buy tickets for me & Hannah to go to Disney World to celebrate us! I cried, obviously, and couldn't wait to call my little Banana but decided to tell her in person. I wish I had recorded her reaction, it was priceless! She was beyond excited and screamed and jumped up and down, so adorable. So a few weekends ago we got to go on our long awaited Disney Trip, and what a trip it was. I can not thank you enough, you know you you are, for your kindness, you will prob never know the impact that trip had on that little girl. She was so overstimulated the entire time, it was hilarious. I will post a picture (the first one..trust me, there will be no question if you are looking at the right picture) that really sums up Hannah at Disney World. Hilarious! It still cracks me up! I also am going to post one of my favorite pictures of her from our first year together as well as one of Haley & Kim on Thunder Mountain and Haley & Hannah with the one & only... M-I-C-K-E-Y!
We ended up going with Kim & Haley (Kim and I joined the big Sisters program together and thus Haley and Hannah have hung out a lot over the years) on a Friday and we ate at one of the character dinners, then spent the night in a hotel which Hannah thought was the coolest, then spent the entire Sat at the park. I was so proud of her for going on her first ever roller coaster.. Thunder Mountain! She thought it was just a little train ride.....little did she know! She even put her hands up during the middle of it! After that there was no stopping her and she went on Splash Mountain with us all too. Very brave. I have uploaded the pics to our photo site but also put them in an scrapbook below. In doing this I found a scrapbook I made the year we were matched and thought I would post it too.. she was so very tiny!
Hope you enjoy the pics and thank you Kim and Haley for going and surviving Disney with me and Hannah.. you should get an award! haha! We love you two!
