Also on the horizon, are major lifestyle changes. We had Ella's check-up at the UNC Spina Bifida clinic this past Thursday, and I was quite taken aback by something one of the doctors told us. Apparently, Ella has put on a bit of weight this past year, and because of her physical difficulties this puts her at a risk of injury and possibly losing her ability to walk. Talk about shock, yep I was in it. You see Ella has always been on the small side and in the negative percentiles for both height & weight, but this past year her weight drastically increased, but not the height so therefore her curve on the chart has shifted and put her in the at risk category. Now just to look at Ella you wouldn't think this was the case but nonetheless it has given this momma the motivation she has so desperately been needing to radically change our sedentary lifestyle. I immediately started trying to think, "what has changed so much this past year, that we are in this predicament?" And I realized that even though our eating has been rather good in comparison to the majority of people, there are a lot of things I can change in our eating to make us healthier.

First of all, this past year brought a lot more homework for Ella so she was inside a lot more, not outside playing. We tended to eat out a lot more just because I never could get myself organized this year. Most of the time we were making fairly good choices about where we ate out, but no matter, it is never as healthy as eating at home. And the biggest thing for Ella I think, was that she ate school lunch at least 2-3 times per week. I know that the schools have very limited resources and do their best with what they have and for many children the school lunch is their healthiest and maybe only complete meal they have each day. However, I know it is also not as healthy as a meal I can send with her. This is going to be a lot more work and I'm going to have to get myself organized, but my baby girl's mobility and quality of life is just too important to not make this happen. We've worked so hard for 8 years to get her up and walking, I can't just sit back and let it be taken away.