my little cheeky monkeys

two new awareness blankets!

2011-11-19T19:44:00.002-06:00

can't believe thanksgiving is next week! crazy. i have been listening to christmas music to get in the holiday spirit. it just does not feel like the holidays, especially when the weather still hits 80 on some days. yuck. i want my high of 50s weather. i want to break out my big cozy sweaters and curl up on the couch.

anyways...just want to let all of you know i have two new awareness blankets up for sale. you can find them here. don't forget you can get any awareness you want!

cat

giraffe

awareness security blankets

2011-11-10T21:35:00.004-06:00

well i am back at making some awareness items. it's been my passion for awhile and i hope to one day get into making other awareness stuff. but for now i am starting out making some awareness security blankets for ANY CAUSE!!! my first two are up and available at my other etsy site 21 Ribbons formerly known as swaddled in awareness. can i just say that i researched online a couple different fabric places and found some amazingly soft minky fabric for the blankets. i want to make an adult size version for myself. all the facial features are machine embroidered. i didn't want to use any plastic parts that could be hazardous for a little one. i want my blankets to be soft for all ages.

here are some pics of the first two blankets available. i will have many more to come. hopefully, sometime within the next two weeks i will have a cat, dog, cow, and giraffe up.

monkey

your cause goes here!

horse

your cause goes here!

pumpkin time

2011-11-02T19:39:00.002-05:00

buddy walk reminder

2011-11-01T20:30:00.003-05:00

just a reminder that buddy walk donations are due and if you'd like to donate this year click here to find out how.

thanks so much!!!

happy halloween

2011-11-01T18:56:00.002-05:00

i knew i wanted to do a "theme." i knew i wanted to do something different. i have been making felt food and what does my son henry love more than anything in this world - bacon! bingo, bacon and eggs...

henry really got into halloween this year. he enjoyed going up to the houses and getting candy. he especially loved passing out candy. he would sit for the longest time just holding the candy pieces in his hands, waiting for someone to come to our porch. it was pretty cute how excited he was about it.

genetics

2011-10-24T21:58:00.003-05:00

boy am i way behind...same story, different year. been a little busy, so busy that i just put up halloween decorations today.

genetics...no i'm not going to get into chromosomes and all that jazz. i want to talk about something a little more basic. when you first find out your pregnant, you begin to wonder what your baby is going to be like. what are they going to look like, what is their personality going to be like, what kinds of things will he/she like. well, the same is true even with a child who has down syndrome. but it seems you have a lot more questions and a lot more concern. will the child look different, will he/she even look like us, will he be able to do simple things like play ball, write, talk, etc. will he/she even take after our personalities or will this child be someone completely different because of ds.

i'm here to tell you, your child with ds is going to be a combination of both you and your spouse just like any other child. henry has a double dose of bull headedness that he inherited. he loves sports like his dad. he loves art like me. he loves music like both of us. he has is a joker like both of us. he looks like both of our families. all his chromosomes, even the extra one has justin and mine dna.

i always tell parents, when they ask me what is their child going to be like, your child is going to be a combination of the both of you. and to drive my point home and put worries aside i tell them something very simple....

henry has so far been in the 90th percentile and above for height and weight on a TYPICAL CHART. why does this have any meaning? well children with down syndrome have their own growth chart because they tend to be smaller. now i don't say this to brag that my kid is a beast. haha. trust me there have been some disadvantages to having a tall child. i say this because henry has tall genes. his grandfathers are well over six feet. most of his uncles and great uncles are over six feet as well. it's a simple way to show parents, yes your child has down syndrome...but for the most part he's/she's a child that has 100% your dna. he/she is going to be typical in more ways than not. and all the things you read, all the stereotypes you hear about doesn't mean your child is going to be forced into some ds mold. will henry always be tall, who knows. i hope so, otherwise my go to story goes out the window. ;)

down syndrome fact of the day:

Myth: People with Down syndrome have severe cognitive delays.

Truth: Most people with Down syndrome have cognitive delays that are mild to moderate. IQ is not an adequate measure of the functional status of people with Down syndrome. People with Down syndrome have great potential if given opportunities.

dallas arboretum

2011-10-17T12:36:00.012-05:00

yesterday we went to the arboretum. they have lots of things for the kids to do this time of year, and it's a perfect spot to get pictures. it was a little wore and the kids pooped out but they did have some fun running around beforehand. ollie especially loved the wide open spaces! here are some pics from the day. there a couple goods one despite both kids not wanting to coorperate. but what are you going to do? :)

new felt food

2011-10-17T10:20:00.002-05:00

felt food deli sandwich with chips, that all comes in a brown lunch bag! you can find it HERE

music, music, music

2011-10-16T19:46:00.002-05:00

henry loves music. loves to dance, love songs with hand motions. favorites in our house are wheels on the bus, head, shoulders, knees, and toes, the itsy bitsy spider, and i'm a little tea pot. if mine and justin's vocal cords didn't get worn out henry would have us sit for an hour doing wheels on the bus. he knows all the hand motions and moves right along with us. he may not be able to sing along, but he definitely knows the words and what we are doing.

henry also loves ac/dc apparently. we say that's the franklin county in him. ;) how do we know this? well we were at best buy one day and he wondered on over to the audio/tv area with justin. ac/dc live tour videos were on and he began to rock out. he had everyone around him rockin. it's funny watching him go through all my iphone songs and seeing which ones he stops at. he likes things with a good beat. his biggest motivation when i would were with him was any toy that played music. it was about the only thing that would keep his attention. it would be great to get him in some type of music lessons one day. maybe some guitar or piano lessons. somehow i see him as a drum player though.

fact of the day:

the stereotype that people with Down syndrome are always happy is SOOOOOOOOO not true. this is by far the most annoying thing that people say to me. "oh, they're so happy all the time." gag me. people with Down syndrome experience a full range of emotions such as sadness, anger and happiness, just like everyone else. when people make little comments insinuating that henry is this happy little ball of "funness" 24/7, i usually want to snap back with get a clue. but i refrain. it's not their fault. they're just trying to me nice. blah blah blah. :) but i do say, awwww. thanks, yah you should see him when he's tired or for the moment he's happy. i think it irks me so bad because it is so completely far from the truth. yes henry can be super sweet, happy, and a ball of fun...but henry can also be a straight up brat. some mornings we are in time out more times than not. he throws tantrums, he screams, he hits, he drops to the ground and refuses to move. he has a wide range of emotions.

justin and i will joke from time to time when henry is being a crabby, typical three year old, "where's this sweet little kid we were supposed to get? isn't he supposed to be happy all the time. sheesh." henry has a double dose of strong will. he comes by it honestly from both justin and i. and i'm glad he's independent and speaks his mind. he isn't going to take anyone's crap. you don't want to break a kid's spirit.

iphone time

2011-10-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

is it not amazing what kids know how to do. henry can navigate through my iphone all on his own. he has more apps than i do. angry birds is a favorite. he may not understand 100% the object of all the games, but he enjoys playing them. i love how many educational apps there are for the iphone. waiting at doctor offices, in the car, at the grocery store...the iphone comes to the rescue. he will go from watching "finding nemo" to playing bocce ball. the point of this is to say that henry is a smart little booger. all the posts this month are to show that henry is like any other kid in many, many ways. kids like henry deserve the opportunities any kid gets.

is he a genius because he can work the iphone? no. but it's little things like that that show our kids are capable of learning. i never showed him how to use my phone. he picks up stuff on his own. 20, 30 years ago many kids w/ds were institutionalized because of a diagnosis w/ds. children in foriegn countries still are. i will post before this month is up about reece's rainbow. a great adoption agency for children with ds. it breaks my heart to see a headline next to a pic of a child in urgent request of being adopted, because they are headed to an institution where they will perish within a few years. 7 year olds left in cribs all day. it's heartbreaking. but i digress.

fact of the day:

While it is unfortunately clinically acceptable to say “mental retardation,” you should use the more socially acceptable “intellectual disability”. NDSS strongly condemns the use of the word "retarded" in any derogatory context. Using this word is hurtful and suggests that people with disabilities are not competent.

brotherly love

2011-10-11T21:10:00.002-05:00

henry is a great big brother...well 80% of the time ;) sometimes he's annoyed by oliver's crying or noisiness, and bonks him on the head. timeout henry. timeout was quite the reoccurring phrase in our house for awhile. things have gotten a lot better here lately. they have already started egging each other on. oliver's favorite thing to do is press the on/off button on the cable box, to which we tell him no. then henry laughs at us telling oliver no, which in turn makes oliver laugh and before we know it they are both belly laughing.

they have also started to play together. henry is very good about giving toys to oliver. example, if they are playing with their "car ramp" toy, henry will give oliver a car to play with. however, if oliver has a toy henry wants, you better believe henry is going to snatch it. luckily, they can both be easily distracted with a different toy option. i really don't want to start buying two of everything yet! :)the cutest thing is when i put them in the car to go somewhere, henry will pick up a toy, hand it to oliver, and then will select his toy. he will even give oliver all the toys in the car except the one henry wants to play with.

for right now, they still play independently a lot. i look forward to the day when they are chasing each other around and playing together. oliver definitely wants to do everything henry does. he watches everything henry does. which is nice because he is learning a lot from his big brother...on the bad side i think he learned how to throw a tantrum from his as well. ahhh. life with a 3 and 1 year old. i know they will be partners in crime.

it's going to be a lot of fun watching them grow up together and i pray they will be close and stay close with each other, and all their future siblings.

down syndrome fact of the day:

Recent US studies have indicated that when Down syndrome is diagnosed prenatally, 84-91% of those babies will be killed by abortion.

probably the most shocking thing i've learned pertaining to down syndrome. it breaks my heart. i can't imagine our lives without henry. when we found out he had down syndrome, yah we were devastated. i was upset, i was mad, i felt rejected by my faith. i was scared of the unknown. i didn't want to follow this new path in life. i wanted the path i expected, the path i planned for. BUT NOTHING, nothing in this world would have kept me from aborting henry. and yes we knew prenatally our odds were increased for having a child with ds. it was tough i'm not going to lie. but guess what? you get over it. you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and become a stronger, better person.

you wish you could show people faced with whether or not to abort their child w/down syndrome, a glimpse into their future. show them how unbelievably rewarding your life becomes. how all those negative feelings they have at the moment will become non-existent and be replaced with even stronger feelings of love, hope, and such a greater outlook on life and things valued. but you can't show that. you can't make someone believe that until they go through it. but i hope that the more i become an advocate, along with so many other parents, for children with disabilities that people will change. that people will open up their hearts to something scary and unknown.

you see the pictures of henry throughout this blog. can you imagine him not existing??? ugh. makes me tear up to know there are so many henrys or henryettas not giving a chance to be here.

henry's parent teacher conference

2011-10-10T21:03:00.002-05:00

we had our first parent teacher conference with henry ppcd teacher. it was good. nothing unexpected went over different things. talked about evaluation results, blah blah, blah. the exciting part was learning all the new things henry was now doing. some things we've seen at home. some we haven't. he is getting better at drawing circles. he draws smiley faces. sometimes recognizable, sometimes not. his favorite part is drawing hair. when we started working on drawing smiley faces i would hold his hand and go crazy with the hair, so now he does it on his own.

he is beginning to traces lines and shapes as well as copy lines, crosses, etc. great little trick i learned from his school for learning how to draw circles. put small stickers all over a piece of paper and have the child go around the sticker. henry is saying more words, too!

his teacher called me last week and told that henry was the only one who said all the "b" words of the day. if you said the word, you got to hold the item. she told me no one would speak up and then out of nowhere henry said banana, then boat, ball...and so on and so on. how cool is that?! in all areas of the eval he was delayed, mostly because of his speech which lowers scoring in multiple areas. but in writing skills he scored at exactly his age!!!!! yee-haw. couldn't be more excited.

what else. she told us henry enjoys being the "light leader," the person that turns on lights. now we understand why all the sudden for the past couple weeks he goes around and turns on the lights in the house. he never really showed interest in the lights prior. too funny. his teacher, ms. c told us all the kids love him and miss him the days he at his other school. he is doing so well and we couldn't be happier.

down syndrome fact of the day:

According to a new study put out by Dr. Brian Skotko, 97% of siblings (ages 9-11) said they love their brother/sister with Down syndrome. Similarly, among siblings (ages 12 and older), 97% expressed feelings of pride about their brother/sister with DS and 88% were convinced they were better people because of their sibling with DS. One of the reasons birthparents chose to end their pregnancy is because they don't think it is fair to their other children. Sadly, they did not know it is just the opposite!

Buddy Walk 2011

2011-10-09T20:37:00.002-05:00

We finally put together our Buddy Walk letter today and will be sending it out tomorrow. I wanted to provide donation information on here in case anyone not on our "mailing list" wanted to donate!!! We would greatly appreciate any donation.

Hello Everyone,

It is that time of year again- BUDDY WALK TIME! Last year our team, Henry’s RedBirds, was able to raise over $4000.00 and we hope to make this year even better. With your generous support the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas (DSGD) is able to fund local programs, national education, research, and advocacy programs. The DSGD is one of the first places many new parents of children with Down Syndrome (DS) go to for assistance, advice, and acceptance.

In the past 20 years, educators have learned so much more about children with DS. No longer is it common for children diagnosed with DS to be institutionalized or cast aside from society’s mainstream. Today, these children are given the support to be integrated into typical classrooms, go onto high school and forms of higher education. Many adults with DS are living independently, getting married, driving, taking part of the workforce, etc. Those opportunities would not have happened if it wasn’t for national education and research.

Henry has been a beneficiary of the rapidly changing climate surrounding DS. He finished a full year of preschool and made lots of new friends. This year he is back in preschool and loving it. He is learning letters, numbers, colors, and so much more. Henry has also taken quite an interest in sports. He loves playing basketball with his little brother, Oliver. We look forward to getting Henry involved in community sports within the next couple years.

Currently, our main focus is his speech development. While Henry makes his needs known, can we say terrible 3’s, he has a limited vocabulary. Twice a week he attends speech therapy, along with therapy he gets at school. Speech is the biggest struggle for the majority of children with DS. By donating you can help educational and research groups learn more about the genetics of children with DS, and how they process information. The funding of research is paramount to providing children, like Henry, the tools they need to better communicate, develop, and learn.

Please support our cause and assist in the continuous improvement of everyone’s life that has been touched by DS. Henry has been one of our greatest joys in life. He sometimes may need a little extra help in reaching developmental milestones, but is capable of accomplishing the same goals his typical peers. He has helped us not take one moment for granted and opened up our hearts to appreciating and respecting all life. We hope that you will show your support of Henry and all people with DS by donating to this year’s Buddy Walk.

You can donate online by going to http://www.downsyndromedallas.org/
Click on the Orange and Yellow “Donate Now” icon in the upper right corner
- Fill out the necessary information ALONG WITH THE FOLLOWING STEPS
- Under Gift Information Section, next to “Fund” select Buddy Walk
- And under the Comments Section type in “Henry’s RedBirds”

Along with a monetary donation we would love for you to walk with us on Sunday, November 13th, 2011. There will be activities, food, fun, entertainment, and more!!! Activities begin at 11:00am and the Walk begins at 1:00pm. The 2011 Buddy Walk takes place on Flag Pole Hill at White Rock Lake. If you have any questions feel free to contact me via email - cheekymonkeys@att.net or leave a message on my blog.

Thanks for your love and support,

The Bolzenius Family

new project

2011-10-07T22:59:00.003-05:00

i was in the bookstore one day looking for something new to make for the boys and came across felt food. i fell in love. felt food is adorable!!! and so i began making stuff for the henry and oliver. i'm obsessed and have all this stuff i want to make. i wish i could lock myself in a room for one straight week and sew away. so here and there i have made a few items and decided to create an etsy site to sell the items as well. i figure it doesn't cost that much to sell on etsy, so what the hay. the most time intensive part is creating my own patterns. once i have my pattern figured out, it is much smoother to create something for someone else.

so check out my site if you get a chance. again, it is a start.

toy story

2011-10-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

herny's favorite movies are the toy story series. last year he was woody for halloween and had the biggest smile everytime he put on his costume. i must say he made the cutest little woody. whenever i put in a toy story movie he goes and gets his buzz and woody dolls, and sits in the big leather chair with his buddies. he will act out of the scenes right along with the movie. there is nothing more adorable than watching him lift buzz up into the sky and make the swoosh sound. we are slowly getting into pretend play. besides the tantrums, this is so far the best age. it is fun to have some interactive playtime. building towers together, bridges for cars to go under. making buzz and woody "play" together. pushing cars around and making them go vroom. cooking food with the kitchen set and "eating" meals.

down syndrome fact of the day

The incidence of births of children with Down syndrome increases with the age of the mother. But due to higher fertility rates in younger women, 80% of children with Down syndrome are born to women under 35 years of age.

playing ball

2011-10-06T21:39:00.003-05:00

when henry was first born and we were told he had down syndrome, i pictured the
antithesis of what henry is. i visualized a child in a wheelchair not able to talk, not able to do anything for themselves. i didn't know anyone with ds, i didnt' have any knowledge of what life would be like having a child with ds. so i want all of my posts this month to show new parents what children with ds are really like. now, every child with ds is different and has differen abilities, just like any child is unique in his/her own right. some kids may have strengths that henry doesn't have, and some kids may have weaknesses that henry doesn't have. all i can show you is what henry's life is like. and i think he has a pretty good life. afterall, he has two parents waiting on him hand and foot. :)

moving on...

henry loves to play ball. he loves to play basketball and can shoot from a small distance. he can catch a ball with two hands. he loves playing catch with the velco catch game. he has a pretty good arm. he kicks a ball. he can hold a bat and hit a ball off a tee. he is so far showing quite an interest in sports. i can not wait to enroll him in team sports. i hope he enjoys it when the time comes, because i think it will be wonderful socially and build his self-esteem.

now you may be asking, so what? don't all three year olds do this stuff. well, yah most do. that's the point. henry may take more time to learn things. he may learn things at a slower rate, but he learns things. that's the point. he isn't the child i first imagined. he's doing all kinds of typical stuff. i will never forget the first time i saw a toddler with ds. my friend's son was climbing all over this little play house and kicking a ball. he was doing just typical play actions. and for the first time, i thought..."this is going to be okay." i couldn't wait to come home and tell justin all the things this child was doing. he was just as uplifted as i was.

down syndrome fact of the day:

Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. One in every 691 babies is born with Down syndrome.

trying people

2011-10-05T22:56:00.004-05:00

okay. already behind of posts...sheesh. i'm trying. i had my first order from my new etsy site - B's Market, and it was a biggie. finally done with that and more on that later. but i plan on doing some blogging catch up tomorrow! so much to do and so little time!

finally decided

2011-10-03T22:59:00.001-05:00

so i decided how i'm going to approach 31 for 21. i am going to write a little bit about henry and who he is. then i'm going to post at the end a ds fact. easy enough

first up. henry. he has two current favorite foods. bacon and tortilla wraps. he could literally eat a whole package of bacon by himself if i allowed it. he could probably eat two packs of bacon. when we make bacon, we will give him one piece with his breakfast. he will immediately scarf it down and get up to point and the remaining pieces of bacon. he will point at the plate, saying "that" until we get him back to the table. and when the bacon is all gone i have to show him the plate is empty. like i'm lying to him?! haha.

now wraps have become his recent obsession. we've learned that he will eat anything if you put it in a tortilla wrap. handy info. but his preference is to eat them plain. everyday out of nowhere he gets up and starts saying, "wrap, wrap." again, he would eat a whole pack of wraps if allowed.

so if you were thinking that you're child with ds will not grow up to communicate what they want...i'm here to tell you that is sooooooooooooooooooo (could fill a whole page up with o's) not the case!! as this month's posts continue you will learn about how strong-willed henry is.

ds fact of the day.

there are actually three types of down syndrome:

Trisomy 21 (nondisjunction) is caused by a faulty cell division that results in the baby having three #21 chromosomes instead of two. Prior to or at conception, a pair of #21 chromosomes in either the egg or the sperm fails to separate properly. The extra chromosome is replicated in every cell of the body. Ninety five percent of all people with Down syndrome have Trisomy 21. This is the type that Henry has.

Translocation accounts for only 3% to 4% of all cases. In translocation a part of chromosome #21 breaks off during cell division and attaches to another chromosome. The presence of
an extra piece of the 21st chromosome causes the characteristics of Down syndrome. Unlike Trisomy 21, which is the result of random error in the early cell division, translocation may indicate that one of the parents is carrying chromosomal material that is arranged in an unusual manner.

Mosaicism occurs when nondisjunction of chromosome #21 takes place in one of the initial cell divisions after fertilization. When this happens, there is a mixture of two types of cells, some containing 46 chromosomes and some with 47. The cells with 47 chromosomes contain an extra 21st chromosome. Because of the “mosaic” pattern of the cells, the term mosaicism is used. This type of Down syndrome occurs in only one to two percent of all cases of Down syndrome.

down syndrome facts provided by NADS (National Association for Down Syndrome)

taking a look back

2011-10-02T14:06:00.010-05:00

to kick off 31 for 21 i thought i would start with a look back from beginning to now. i haven't decided how i'm going to go about writing this month. should i have a theme? should i just post random stuff. i'm the queen of randomness, so that's probably what'll happen even if i start out with a direction. haha. anywho, here we go....at a rate of about every six months

31 for 21

2011-10-01T21:22:00.007-05:00

Grab This Button

if you'd like to participate in 31 for 21 click on the above button and read all about it. what a perfect month to get back into the swing of things. this month you are going to learn all about this little guy.

wow, has it really been that long....

2011-10-01T12:34:00.002-05:00

i can't believe my last post was back in june. so much has happened this summer...

well, i am here to tell i'm BACK BABY! hahaha. there has been a few reasons for my lack of posting. one, there has been a lot of stuff i just haven't wanted to talk about. but i have passed those hurdles and am ready to discuss :)

two, second child + first child = one busy mom!

three, i haven't had a computer for about a year now and typing things out on the ipad just isn't fun. but i am here to say that i finally bit the bullet and bought a new laptop. i hate spending stuff on myself. especially a lot of money. i much rather buy my kids stuff and see their little faces light up. not tooting my own horn, i just have such a sense of guilt when i buy myself something. avoid the purchase = avoid the guilt. that simple. and i am the worst when it comes to buyer's remorse in self purchases. i always think of all the things i could have done with the money spent instead. i've been fine with my iphone and ipad for a long time, but there has been so much that i've been wanting to do on a computer. so it was time!

with all those things said i am excited to get my blog back up and running. i will be participating in 31 for 21 this month, and will write another post later to tell you all about that!

my sister a's wedding

2011-06-23T16:33:00.000-05:00

my sister got married two weeks ago and it was the second best wedding i've been to, outside my own! it was a beautiful day...little hot, but it was a wonderful celebration of a great couple. justin, henry and i were in the wedding. henry looked so cute in his tux. did he walk down the aisle- nope. he was tired and crabby. i had to walk down and get him. he shortly passed out on the church floor. poor little guy. i got ollie the cutest little knicker outfit for the wedding and luckily it will still fit him when my brother p. gets married in september.

it was such an emotional day. one of my baby sisters is grown up and married. everyone was crying during the toasts. it was a blessed day and i know a. and t. will have a lifetime of happiness. it's been really nice growing closer to my sister as she has gotten older. and it's also nice that justin and t. get along great...a little too great. they can be a bit annoying at times! haha. it was just a really great time and special day for all of us.

i got these pictures from family. i can't wait to see the photographer's pics.

the rehearsal dinner

my beautiful sisters

the wedding

my brother p.

my nephews

my siblings and i

the happy couple

me getting henry :(

the wineries in between mass and reception

my sister and i

mr and mrs

my sister c. being goofy

justin and i

my brother c. and sister a.

the reception

their first dance

sister c. and dad

maid of honor toast

brother p. and fiance

getting ready for the garter toss

i'm ready!

ollie and g-ma b. w/out justin's parents we would have never made it through the day. big thanks!!!

ollie and g-pa b.

handsome guys

variety of pics

2011-06-20T20:09:00.000-05:00

wearing my glasses

looks good in glasses

in the bathtub. ollie will not sit. he wants to be on his back or stomach rolling around. we are constantly saying, "bend at the waist!"

cuddling with "tiny" the bear

such a cutie

doesn't get any cuter than this

planting cherry tomatoes and herbs

part of his easter gift from g-ma b.

hope henry's thumb is green because mine definitely is not

always playing with water

updating

2011-06-18T09:46:00.008-05:00

so much has been going on since the last time i posted. so let's start with the beginning...

easter is up first. we went back to stl this year and easter was...well...sad for a variety of reasons. one was the weather. rained all week long. went to church the night before easter sunday. my sister a's fiance (now husband) became a catholic during easter vigil mass. three hours and the boys made it through. whewww. they did great! we did a quick egg hunt at justin's parents and i got a few pictures, but with the rain there aren't too many. i don't think i got any of oliver. poor kid. with a one-on-one defense now, no one has free hands to take pictures. what's more important, the pictures or time spent together??? can you tell i feel slightly guilty about this. haha. i even thought about doing mock easter pics once we got back home. then i thought about how i've never seen pictures of my first easter, nor do i care. so will it matter to any of my kids that i don't have pictures of all their firsts? probably not.

it was a long day and unfortunately i wanted it to end quickly. it bums me out that oliver's first easter will be remembered as something negative but i couldn't do anything about it. i was happy that we got to stay a whole week after easter. at the end of the week we had my sister a.'s bachelorette party...and i'm old. :) i was exhausted from the night before and getting up early to clean/help get things together. i fell asleep around 9ish and woke up around 11pm to head back out. again, i felt guilty and went back out to party for another hour or so. anyone who travels for holidays knows how exhausting it is. we drive for 11 hours and it's nonstop go, go, go once we are there. i just couldn't keep my eyes open after awhile. never been that tired in my life. but my sister had a great time and that's all that mattered.

since the bachelorette party was last minute justin and i switched up travel plans. he drove home by himself and i flew home with the kids. i have never seen so many airline employees falling all over themselves to help me out. i thought i was in the twilight zone or something. not sure if the staff got a raise that day or they are always that nice to moms traveling alone with multiple kids. i've flown plenty when we had just henry and no one was ever that nice. i guess kid two evokes sympathy! :) i was so nervous about flying home with the kids alone. but they did great! both slept the whole way.

we got home and returned to life as usual. we have decided to put henry in ppcd along with his typical preschool. i will write more about that later. not in the mood to get into that emotional rollercoaster. however, i will say that we met for his ppcd eval and they got a good idea of who he is and his capabilities. we have our ard meeting this thursday coming up. henry is out of school for the summer and boy was that emotional in itself. i cried as i hugged his teacher goodbye. i can't say enough about miss k. she is an amazing teacher and person. it breaks my heart that henry will not have her as a teacher anymore. i wish she could follow him for his entire schooling.

oh, mother's day was in there somewhere, too. had a wonderful day. went to the dallas nature and science museum. highly recommend going there. they are building a new museum in victory park. the plans for it are AMAZING! can't wait for that, but will be waiting until 2013. the current one is great though, they have a whole floor for kids. henry had a blast. oliver slept most of the time. next year ollie, next year!

well that's it for now. more to come...pictures for now.

easter 2011. hunting with dad and uncle n.

let's get going dad!!!

found one...he ended up with quite a loot.

why is the wrapping stuff always the most fun part of a gift?!

henry got his bday present from uncle n. while back for easter

it was his very own peddle tractor. it was adorable. he saw what it was and kissed the box! hey there's ollie ;)

at the dallas nature and science museum on mother's day

monkey playing with monkeys :)

trying to climb up the mammoth

later that day at home. lounging around

leaving the museum, oliver is done.

taking a walk later that day. henry likes to pull around ollie.

playing together

learning to milk cows. he was pretty good at. maybe he'll be a dairy farmer one day :)

fun with water

we were in this room for quite awhile. both boys love water.

such a cutie

digging for fossils

and then covering things up again. including my feet.

loving all the fossils

am i ever going to get out of this thing?

the ping pong balls were a big hit, too

last day of school :(

picture above is henry with the teacher's aide- miss r. and below is with his teacher miss k.

Conversation with God, for Women

2011-04-17T14:17:00.002-05:00

if you could sit down with God and ask him anything, what would you ask him?

"why should we trust You?"

"how do we know what You want?"

"why do Your followers have to suffer?"

"how can You expect us to forgive?"

these are just some of the questions you will find in the book, "A Conversation with God, for Women." It is a nice little book written by Marcia Ford. It covers topics about God, Jesus, the bible, life, prayer, relationships, and good and evil.

this book came via BookSneeze. It is another site i signed up for to receive books in exchange for reviews.

I received this book at a somewhat trying time in my life. Found the part on relationships and forgiveness to be a bit hard to swallow. We all have people in our lives that test our ability to love and support, right? :) We may not always want to hear what God has to say on every subject, but we need to hear His words nonetheless.

The great thing about this book is that it is divided into sections and you can easily flip to the topic/question you want to read or know about.

Set up in dialogue form, it gives you examples from the bible while listening from Jesus, God, or Mary. In the notes section it also references the bible verse(s) that the answer derive(s) from.

I really enjoyed this book. there are so many faith based books out there and the bible itself is not something that easy to read for one, and then decipher...that's why churches have bible study sessions!!

The book discusses some of the most desirable questions i think we all want to from God. And for each question there are clear examples that help unviel the mystery of God's desires for His people. While the message throughout the book is in many ways common sense or common knowledge, sometimes we need a quick reminder of God's message for all of us. I would buy this book as a "go-to" reference to wuickly remind us of His way, not our way.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5. Overall, great but at times a little wordy and a little over kill on examples for each question.

wrapping up oliver's room

2011-04-15T22:18:00.004-05:00

after finishing henry's room, it was time to move onto oliver's room...

can i just say that i have been to every store that sells curtains and have scoured the internet looking for curtains for oliver's room. i've bought at least 5 different kinds. i even bought a pair of sheets in a different color to make curtains out of. nothing. nothing looked good. i needed a different approach. maybe the curtains didn't look good because they were breaking up the mural.

enter the idea for a roman shade. and so i came across a ribbon roman shade idea while googling my happy little heart away. i followed this great tutorial.

shade goes up

shade goes down :)

for those of you who keep asking me where do i find the time...well i was staying up till 1am sometimes 2am for a bit. wouldn't recommend it. haha.

i do not like staying up that late sam i am.

my next dilemma- the brown rocking chair. love the chair. don't love the cushion covers. i don't know why i chose tan when we bought it. i guess i thought neutral would go with anything. and while it does, it also screams blah! i decided to call the store we bought it from and see how much it cost to get new cushions. i remembered from when we bought it that you could get new cushions. unfortunately, i found out the store closed down. they probably would have been too expensive anyways. and so i was stuck to recover them myself. did not look forward to that at all, but it was actually pretty easy and way easier than i thought it would be. i love the blue minky fabric i picked up. total spent to recover the chair/ottoman - $15.00.

the diy'in continues. we bought these side tables a long time ago when justin's parents were down here at a little sidewalk flea market. total for two- $10.00. i spray painted them blue, then yellow, then red. sheesh. finally, i painted them white and said if they don't look good then it's the tables and not the color. well, the white works.

curtain, chair, table...then comes bedding. i decided upon getting a black gingham bed skirt. do you know the cheapest black gingham bed skirt i could find on the internet was $60-$70. seriously? maybe i didn't look hard enough. but that is ridiculous. why 'o why? well at least my sewing machine is getting a workout. just as well because i wanted to make a little table scarf for the white table.

we already had some dr. seuss bed sheets and for now the bumper is one of those breathable bumpers. i don't know if i will just keep that or buy a solid color one. i really hope that i find something i like if i do decide to buy one, because i do not want to have to make a bumper.

made a couple pillows with leftover fabric on the embroidery/sewing machine and viola, another room completed.

although, it still seems to need something. maybe some "filler" stuff. but i think it turned out pretty good. i wanted something bright and fun. i wanted to do a mural but i didn't want to do the same 'ol, same 'ol stuff. brainstorming -bright, fun, child, nursery, colorful...led me to dr. seuss. i've always liked dr. seuss and i suppose the idea popped into my head because some of the books henry likes to have read over and over were dr. seuss books.

which led me to buying more dr. seuss books, drawing out a plan, drawing that plan out on the wall and then painting it. plan complete. ahhh. feels good to have both rooms done.

finishing touches

2011-04-05T22:04:00.009-05:00

when i was planning out henry's room i had all kinds of ideas swirling around. i knew i really wanted the room to be bright, fun, and interactive. i also knew that i was going to get a bed and table with chairs from ikea for the room. the first step... the walls. you don't have to be original or creative to make a great room. you just have to know how to use the computer.

i started with this chalkboard paint recipe from martha stewart. i didn't want to be held to the few chalkboard paint colors you can find online, and i could only find green or black at stores. if you use this recipe make it only a few cups at a time like it says. i made up a whole gallon and ended up with cement and wasted a gallon of paint. YIKES! if you clicked on the link you may have noticed something familiar. i got the idea for the calendar squares from this site as well.

i thought about dry erase, magnetic, and chalkboard paint. settled on the chalkboard for the entire room, magnetic/chalkboard for the small calendar space, and a no go on the dry erase part. i don't need henry having a dry erase markers :) in googling chalkboard paint ideas i ran across...

this from decor 8

and this idea from ohdeedoh

so that is where i came up with the idea of my trees and chair rail border of houses and the road. which led to me buying the car bedding duvet and playmat from ikea as well.

but i absolutely loved this alphabet art from pottery barn i found when online...

so why can't i have the alphabet on one wall? but buying letters of various sizes...that would be a lot of money!! enter my dad who cut them all out and we painted them together.

it's my favorite thing in henry's room. moving on...i really wanted to get a little armchair for his room but after scouring the internet and going to store after store, i couldn't find anything i liked. as luck would have it, ikea came to the rescue. I LOVE IKEA! :) i saw an adorable red chair that was very budget friendly. and i realized that getting a regular sized chair would get more use than a kid size chair. i don't even know if he'd be comfortable in a little chair. he's probably already too tall. this way justin or i could read to him in his room as well.

but what's a chair without an ottoman or footstool. again, i couldn't find anything i liked. wanted something funky, round, and small. i started googling "make your own ottoman" and came across this great tutorial for a pouf. used some fabric i happened to have and viola-

walls done. furniture done. bedding done. found some cute sheets and curtains from target to go with the room. onto lighting. i didn't want to have any table or floor lamps because i feared henry knocking them over. i remembered that my parents had some adorable arm lamps in their b&b and thought that would be perfect. found two great lights at lowes. trimmed out in some orange ribbon to tie them in.

a little detour... his teacher mentioned awhile back that henry loves the kitchen set at school.

so add in a kitchen set from...you guessed it- ikea and his room is finally done. well, almost. i want to make a couple decorative pillows and then it will be done!

i love his room and i think henry does, too!!!

parks, feeding, bath, misc...

2011-03-27T21:43:00.003-05:00

henry loves to pour water on oliver's head :( he thought it was really fun to push oliver in the swing i was feeding oliver and henry decided he wanted to do it, so he took over note to self: don't ever take a pic in justin's sunglasses

blogging for books

2011-03-22T21:13:00.003-05:00

a little while ago i found out about a couple book sites where you can receive free books in exchange for reviews. the catch...well the sites are christian based but being a christian i don't find that to really be a catch. i signed up mainly because they have childrens' books. the first book to review is "God Gave Us So Much," written by Lisa Tawn Bergren and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant.

I received this book through the Walterbrook Multnomah Publishing site. I didn't realize the book was actually three books in one- God Gave Us The World, God Gave Us Love, and God Gave Us Heaven! I also didn't realize that this book was of a series that I already had one book from, "God Gave Us You."

I really enjoyed the first part of this book, "God Gave Us The World." The main characters of all the books involve a family of bears. This story talked about many different, wonderful things we find in this world. And showed how uniquely different God makes each one of us through describing different types of bears and their habitats. Very cute story.

The second part "God Gave Us Love" was about different kinds of love, how God shows us his love, and how we can show love. Some of the concepts of this story would be a little over a child's head. It mentions sending Jesus to save us to show us the way. For a toddler that is probably a bit confusing. If you were to buy this book alone than I would suggest it for a little bit of an older child. It would be a great book to help a parent discuss how we love people in different ways and sometimes we may not always feel that like loving someone but the love is always there.

The last book in this collection is "God Gave Us Heaven." Again this book is for an older child. It talks about Heaven, death, and how to get to Heaven. This would actually be a great book to read if a child were to experience a death in the family. It doesn't seem like a story you'd want to just read to a child, but that could just be me. It discusses how wonderful heaven is how we will all get to spend time with our loved ones forever in heaven.

Overall, the books are sweet and great little christian based books. My only complaint is the stories are kind of all over the place. It seems as if a lot of stuff is trying to be crammed into one little story. They are a bit wordy to be a children's book. The stories would be a lot better if they were kept simple. They are best suited for kids around age 4 to 6 or 7. with that said my recently turned three year old will sit through the book and listen to it.

I would rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

cold turkey

2011-03-10T20:49:00.000-06:00

this past weekend we weaned oliver off the pacifier- yikes! why you may ask?? well he was beginning to wake up multiple times in the middle of the night and during naps to have the pacifier put back in. he started doing this after a time when he was sleeping through the night without any issues. so we knew first and foremost he was capable of sleeping through the night, and it was simply the pacifier falling out that was keeping him from a restful night's sleep. the lack of sleep during the day and night was starting to affect his eating as well. he just wasn't himself.

justin and i decided to try out the ferber method. night one was rough. crying on and off for two hours. night two- about 20 minutes. night three- no crying. since then he has settled down within a few minutes or not cried at all. his feedings have improved and he is eating more. he is also waking up in a good mood, something he was not doing even when he was sleeping through the night originally.

some critics of this method say it's too harsh. i think it is more harsh on the parent than the child. i admit. the first night i wanted to cave in the worst way. but parenting isn't about taking the easy way out. it was worth a good try and the results speak for themselves. the biggest thing is knowing your child is ready. obviously, you shouldn't try it out on a two month old. and you don't simply put your child in bed and let them scream their heads off w/out comforting them.

it's all up to what the parent is comfortable with. i'm a parent who believes children should have their own space. i don't choose to let our children sleep with us. our bed is our bed, and their bed is their bed. we cuddle throughout the day, and every night we cuddle and read before bedtime. to me, it is important to have that alone time with justin and for us to get sleep. if they are sick or have a bad dream, they are more than welcome in our bed. and in the beginning when oliver was up every hour and crying and wouldn't go to sleep unless i was holding him....well you do what you got to do simply to get any amount of sleep for the first couple months.

i also am a parent that isn't agaisnt pacifiers but i don't necessarily like them either. in the beginning, it's survival. after a certain age, they need to go. especially, when they are interferring with development and sleep. after all, let's be honest...the reason why the child gets a pacifier in the first place is because it's an easy, quick solution to soothing a child. i'm guilty and not afraid to admit it :) if oliver was able to stay asleep while using one, he'd still have it. i think up until a year or so there's no harm in it as long as it's not causing issues.

we chose the ferber method because the results are quick and we wanted to nip this in the bud before his feedings and sleep habits got worse. it really only took one night. thank goodness! because i don't know if i would have been able to listen to him cry for multiple nights. like i said, every family is different and you have to do what's best for your situation.

first birthday party

2011-03-09T21:02:00.000-06:00

this past weekend henry went to his first birthday party. it was awesome and will put all our parties to shame! :) bowling, delicious food, and arcade games. he got the hang of bowling quickly and did not want to wait for his turn. it was so cute watching the little kids bowl. the kids in his class get so excited to see him, warms my heart. nothing better than hearing little voices screaming in excitement, "henry!" the party was toy story themed and henry got a toy story goodie bag along with a buzz balloon. the balloon is staring at me right now as we speak. ;) wish i would of gotten more pics of him bowling but oliver needed to eat.

five months

2011-03-08T22:56:00.003-06:00

today was a warm one and oliver put to use one of henry's old outfits. one of my favorites and i will never forget said outfit, because it is the one henry wore the night before his heart surgery. one of my favorite pictures of henry wearing it...

of course i made justin hold oliver and take the same pic! :) both boys are five months in the pics

three years

2011-03-06T23:11:00.004-06:00

putting together photos for a picture display in henry's room that involves a photo every six months. thought i would share them on here for a look back!

birth

six months

one year

18 months

two

two and an half

three

here's the deal

2011-03-05T23:15:00.000-06:00

so february 27th came and went and my blog is still public. hmmm. i don't know what to do. do i make it private and lose one of its main purpose - education and advocacy? or do i keep it public and share only so much?

i realize that if someone wanted to harm my family they could do it with or without the help of my blog. i try to keep very personal stuff off here and i try to keep places and dates off here as well. and the fact is that i have lots of facebook ds friends who i don't know very well either. so i'd have to delete all kinds of people on facebook as well following the same mentality. lastly, i know statistically it's people that one knows and has in their life that end up harming their children in whatever way. i know there are people in my life that read my blog and don't deserve to know what my family and i are up to. there are people who have used my words on here agaisnt me. again, do i ruin it for so many because of a few people?

where's does this leave things? for right now the blog will remain public. nothing is more rewarding than when i get an email telling me how inspirational henry is and asking me for advice. nothing makes me feel better that getting an email saying, "i'm so glad i'm not the only one." and when it comes to ds i don't hide anything. if justin and i are going through something with henry, chances are somebody else is or will, too. just like talking about the testosterone shots we are doing with henry. that is a sensitive topic. can be an embarrassing topic. but it is something we were faced with because of henry having ds. i've had multiple emails asking about what we were doing more in depth. as well as people saying that they were happy that i discussed this because they were wondering about their own son and didn't know exactly how to bring it up or who to talk to about it.

more than anything i want people to see how positive it is to have a child with down syndrome and how henry is like any other child. i want others to be hopeful by seeing all the things that henry is doing and capable of. i will never forget how low i was in many ways when henry was first born, which is a reaccurring theme from all new parents of newborns with ds. and now to see how far our journey has already taken us. i know it gives others hope, because they've told me. to me, it doesn't get any better than that.

now with all that said i will be putting a copyright on my pictures. i will as always be cautious with what i say on here. and if i become more uncomfortable about having things public then i will not hesitate in going private.

more birthday fun

2011-03-04T12:27:00.002-06:00

my birthday was actually right before henry's but we all know once you have kids it's not about you anymore ;) so i posted the pictures from his big day first. although there are some early bday celebration pics below as well!!!

two weekends ago most of my family decided to come on down for mine and henry's birthday. i had no idea they were coming and was surprised a few days beforehand that they were coming down. i think everyone had a great time. much better than last time when i was pregnant. we went to the stockyards in fort worth one day. played games both nights. had a cake for henry. rode a mechanical bull for the first time (way harder than you'd think) and henry got his bday present early!

cousin time

feeding the goats

making buddies everywhere we go

sister c. riding the bull

cousin j. i've never seen bluer eyes! gorgeous

even g-pa u. taking a turn

cupcake cake

he got so shy when everyone started to sing to him

make a wish...

ralphie, you'll poke your eye

on my actual bday, day

toy story kind of day

2011-03-02T22:17:00.003-06:00

as always...so much to say and little time to do so for now. henry's birthday was today and i think you will be able to tell from the pics how much he loves toy story!

his favorite dinner - spaghetti and meatballs...just so happens to be mine, too! :)

woody finally gets his horse!

could it be???

it is!!! BUZZ!!!!

what's going on man?

happy 3rd birthday henry! my little baby is no longer little or a baby :(

crown he got at school for his birthday

he has a big boy bed now!

Private or public

2011-03-02T09:56:00.001-06:00

Post to come...

oliver sitting

2011-02-16T21:23:00.002-06:00

interrupt sunday updates for a milestone video. oliver is slowly getting the hang of this sitting thing. he definitely is motor driven. always moving and wants to see what everyone is doing, especially henry! he doesn't like to lay down at all. if you are holding him he wants to sit upright. if i put him on his back he rolls over and pushes up to see what's going on. he is fascinated with henry. not so much the other way around. ;)

valentine's day is tomorrow

2011-02-13T23:19:00.003-06:00

weekly update for this week.

tomorrow is valentine's day and i spent too much time on decorating a kleenex box for henry to take to school for valentines. i had to scale it back and take some stuff off because justin told me it was too girly. it's kind of hard to make a manly valentine box. the holiday screams hearts, flowers, kisses, etc. i need a daughter. :) i was very excited to get his little box together and buy valentines for him to pass out. it's his first school valentine's day! he's becoming such a big kid.

this week i also spoke with his speech therapist and went over his recent evaluation. i was actually quite surprised. his speech, both expressive and receptive, is in line with a typical two year old speech. obviously, on the lower end of the scale...but none the less i was so happy to hear about all his progress. i don't really remember everything that he was or wasn't doing six months ago and i'm always taken aback at how far he's come along. you tend to stay focused on the current or next step/milestone that sometimes you forget all the great things already accompolished.

we did talk about the next year and goals for the upcoming year. we also talked about how the gap in speech will probably grow. at three kids are putting together sentences and for henry we are still working on piecing sounds together to get more words. so the current goals for henry are following two step directions, identifying mine and yours, parts of a whole (where's the window on the car? where's the shoes on the boy), working on muscle control and strength, stringing together more vowel/consonants sounds to make words, getting henry to initiate speech more (instead of me asking where's the ball, ask what is that and he has to idenitfy the object), work on "yes!" lol. all he knows is no. even when i ask him if he wants "x" and i know he wants it, he will still say no. he won't say yes. sheesh. those are just a few things we are working on.

justin and i definitely think henry understands more than we give him credit for. he often surprises us and we are like, "oh, you do understand that." it's just hard when the expressive language isn't there. at therapy i will also be signing him up for a dance class. it's a special group therapy thing they are doing. it meets once a week for a few weeks, and each session is a different theme. it's main focus is coordination and at the end of the sessions there will be a recital. that should be a hoot. but since henry LOVES music and is very interested in dancing lately i thought he would really enjoy it. we shall see.

we have started feeding oliver. it's a little interesting. he keeps putting his hands in his mouth nonstop so it's just a mess. so far we done cereals and peas. the first bite of peas and he made a face of someone putting something sour in their mouth. he's sitting longer and longer. nothing close to the point where i would say, yes he's sitting up independently...but definitely getting better at it. i think i jinxed myself when i talked about him sleeping through the night because he's been getting up in the middle of the night this past week or so.

he had his four month appointment and his weight and height are both around the 70%. his head i think was around 20%. tiny head like his brother. i'll take a tiny head versus a big 'ol noggin. oliver sure does love his jumper. my goodness. he is such a busy body. to the point where you wonder if it's typical. he does not want to stay still. constant kicking and moving. he is not a cuddly baby. wants to be in the jumper or on the ground rolling around.

well time for bed...the rest will have to wait till next week.

neither one wanted to take a nap and so they crashed on justin

what are you feeding me?

super bowl sunday

2011-02-06T15:27:00.003-06:00

this week was quite a week. we were snowed/iced in from tuesday to friday. no school, no therapy. oliver was sick and CRANKY! henry had a runny nose, too. both are doing much better, except oliver is back to waking up in the middle of the night. i suppose i jinxed it. yikes. i was so ready to get out of the house which i did on friday to walmart. very exciting i know. :) oliver is starting to sit for about 5 to 10 seconds. couple times he was up to half a minute before he falls over. he still like to fling backwards. he is hyperactive. always moving. nonstop kicking. he loves his jumper. sometimes i think he's going to jump right out of it when he really gets going. he's rolling more and more. and so talkative...

henry has added a few more words to his arsenal. he goes around saying guck all the time for yuck and stuck. he also likes to say owww a lot now. he's communicating and mimicking more and more. the other day we were watching despicable me and at the end when mr. gru starts to dance, henry got up and started dancing. he would try to do what mr. gru was doing. he even dropped down to the ground when mr. gru goes down for the splits. we are slowly moving away from elmo and getting into movie characters. he loves, i mean LOVES toy story. he gets so excited when he is shown anything toy story and is still carrying around his woody doll my mom got for him back in the summer. i'm going to have to get him a little minion doll now.

this week we worked on some art projects to send to grandparents. his fine motor skills have come a long way just in the past few months. it wasn't that long ago when we attempted finger painted he would just want the paint of his hands. now he smears it all around and goes through sheets after sheets of paper. he is also walking up and down the stairs holding onto the railing with just one hand. up and down curbs by himself with no problem as well. kicking the ball and throwing a ball are so much better as well. the kid has quite an arm.

yesterday we got henry out in the snow. he didn't care for it too much. still a little young i suppose. maybe next year. just wanted to knock over the snowman justin and i built. this week he will have his first valentine party as well as another one on the day of valentine's. his grade is a two day program. most kids go on both days like henry, but some kids only attend one day on both days. (hope that makes sense!) so henry gets two parties. this year will be the first time he gives out valentine's. little guy is growing up. we pick out some toy story ones of course. i will leave you with some pics!!

this picture reminds me of henry so much

wearing woody's hat

cowboy oliver

standing tall

sitting pretty

this picture makes me laugh. all three are watching very intently

henry's turn for the hat

sharing his hat with ollie. i was actually shocked he let him wear woody's hat

kisses

fun in a box

henry 2000

beep boop beep beep boop

helping make a snowman

making snow angels

henry lunged back and caught me off balance. down we went

really into blocks lately

ollie wants to build, too!

favorite part - knocking them down!

weekend update with kevin nealon

2011-01-30T14:56:00.003-06:00

okay. this is what i'm going to try out. this blog is highly neglected. two kids will do that. so i'm going to try on every sunday to do a weekly update of all that occurred over the week. i'll give it one week ;)

this week i got together with a couple moms from henry's class. was very nice to get to know some moms a little better and talk about how rambunctious are kids are. although it is a little hard when the moms are talking about the funny things their kids say, or cute stories of their kids telling them they "wuv 'em" and so on. i'd love for henry to be talking and better be able to know what he does or doesn't understand. some of the things the moms say their kids say or do...i don't know if henry would even comprehend the same thing.

however, on the otherhand this week while sitting in the waiting room at henry's therapy i heard a young child ask why and what questions NONSTOP to a stranger. the mom just let the kid keep going and going. i just sat there thinking, "please, someone shut this kid up." and i was thankful that henry was there yet. there's pros and cons to just about everything. i'm just happy that henry is able to keep up with the typical kids in his class. he's been doing so great. today we went to ikea to look at big boy beds. that will be interesting. i'm not so worried about nighttime sleeping, but more naptime. he's fighting naps more and more even though if he doesn't get a nap he's exhausted by 5 or 6. he still needs them. a toddler bed can't confine him until he settles down. i've also been thinking about potty training more and more. i don't think he's there yet, but i think i might try this summer and if it happens, it happens. most of the boys i know with ds were potty trained around 4ish. he'll only be 3.

relating to potty training...this week henry also had his first testosterone shot. i talked about why we were doing that HERE. we did the hcg stimulation test last month and the doctor said that his body was sending and receiving all its signals properly relating the hormones stimulated. therefore, when he gets to puberty we shouldn't have any issues with his hormones and development. just the wonderful things i have to learn about having a child with ds. to think about henry's puberty and overall sexuality at two is a little bizarre. things i don't want to think about at any age and you can only imagine the google results i get when i search the term micropenis.

anywho. like i said we did the first shot this week and will two more. one a month the next two months. and can i just say that i am so beyond sick of being taken advantage of because we have insurance. i completely feel like we are penalized for having insurance, working hard, paying bills, and trying to do the right thing. i received a bill from children's for "education" because our insurance didn't cover it. the "education" involved the nurse who administered the first hcg shot telling us exactly what was discussed several times with the doctor. so i was billed over $100 for a couple minutes of "education." when i called to discuss the bill because i feel like that is just taking complete advantage of someone i was told i could have declined the "education." REALLY? well one, make the patient aware of what they are going to be billed for. i'm so tired of surprise charges.

i truly feel like we are charged for anything and everything because we have insurance. if we didn't have insurance i find it hard to believe we'd be charged for the exact same services and amounts as we have been for anything henry has had done or gone through. we still have to meet a deductible and out of pocket max people, plus every paycheck has money taken out of it to pay for said insurance. not to mention we have to pay for any ridiculous thing our insurance doesn't cover. anyways, that's my rant on private insurance and hospitals/doctor offices.

such is life and it could be a hell of a lot worse.

moving on, don't want to jinx it. but justin and i have really lucked out when it comes to kids. but both oliver and henry were/are good babies. oliver is already sleeping through the night, about 9 to 7, and settling himself to sleep. he goes with the flow and is really an easy baby for the most part. i hear all these horror stories of babies and i just thank God that's not ollie. maybe it'll be our third kid that puts us in our grave. or fourth, or fifth, sixth, seventh...just kidding. seven might be a bit much. lol.

that's all i have to report....

two rooms, two months

2011-01-24T20:07:00.005-06:00

after two months i have both boys' rooms painted. now we move onto furniture buying and accessories. but that stuff we can do as we go along and find things we like. oliver gets the nursery furniture and henry is getting some new stuff. we are going to buy a toddler bed and little table and chairs for his room. i don't think i'm going to buy a dresser. his clothes don't take up much space and he has a nice size closet, so i'm going to get some closet organization stuff for his clothes. that way there is more space to play.

my girlfriend showed me a really cute sofa chair (kid size) from homegoods that i think would go cute in the corner with a little table and books. henry loves his books!

i had found some really cute side tables in downtown mckinney when justin's parents were last in town. they were having a little flea market in the street. two tables for $15. can't beat that. all i had to do was lightly sand them and spray paint them. they look really good. he still needs some new bedding. justin's mom got him some really cute cat in the hat sheets and blankets, but i need a bumper and bedskirt. i think i'm going to go with a solid or ginham bedskirt and bumper. the walls are busy enough. if i see something that i like, i'll pick it up as we go along.

it's been a lot of fun doing their rooms. makes our house feel more like a home. that and it was neat to do something different. it was a chance to do something funky. ;) henry's room is all chalkboard paint. i mean the entire wall, every wall. i found a "make your own" chalkboard paint recipe on the martha stewart website. and then he has a small area of magnetic/chalkboard paint as well. i may have to switch rooms with him. most of my ideas were things i found online and compiled into what i wanted. i started by measuring their rooms and drawing things out on paper to scale. then drew on the walls what i had planned out on paper. last the paint selection and painting. the people at lowes are probably so sick of me. next up...well i think i may have to take a little painting break and then perhaps the bathroom or guest bedroom.

oliver's room

henry's room
magnetic/chalkboard area. going to frame out in white molding

catching up

2011-01-21T22:36:00.003-06:00

first, a few of you have asked why i am going private. well, it's for a couple reasons. but mostly because i had an incident of someone taking my pictures without asking and without me knowing who they were. it wasn't in a malicious manner, but just weird. and now that henry is doing things more outside the home, i just would feel better being able to better control who reads up on us.

i have no problem with people reading my blog, even if it is just to be "nosy." but i'd like to at least have an idea of who's coming and going. ;)

second, the catching up part. i have been busy redoing the boys' rooms. not a lot of time for much. i've grown to like facebook. quick updates from me and i can handle reading quick updates from other people. i haven't read any blogs in forever. i'll have pics to post eventually. oliver hit a milestone rolling from back to front. i think he may be getting a tooth as well. he's gnawing on his had nonstop and slobbering all over. he has become such an easy baby *knock on wood*

i added rice to his bottles and he's take long naps now. no more cat naps. he's sleeping through the night. it's been wonderful! he giggling and babbling up a storm. henry is being a good big brother. he will put oliver's pacifier in his mouth...only to pull it right back out. he likes to bring him his bottle or a toy. a few times i've caught him trying to console ollie. i can't complain. i have two cutie pies.

this past week justin and i met with henry's teacher and the head of the school to discuss next year and to see what they were thinking. i had sent an email to his teacher last week to talk about how he's doing and what she thinks about next year, and so she set up a meeting for us this past wednesday. it was such a great meeting! we talked about things henry was doing. she told me he's doing everything his peers are doing. he's keeping up and doing things age appropriate. pretend plays, interacts with the other kids, follows direction, does the art projects, participates during music time, etc. i started tearing up hearing all the things he was doing. his teacher told me earlier that day he was pushing around a little girl in a car and they were both giggling.

it makes me feel so good to hear stories of him playing with the other kids and having little buddies. the only thing henry is lagging behind on, is his speech. while it has come a long way in the past couple months, we still have a long way to go. as for next year the head of the school said she'd love to have him. he's doing great and his smile is infectious! i hope even after next year he will be able to continue on at his current school, but we will just take things year by year.

oh, speaking of school. i got a note in his lunch box saying that i needed to pack more food. for the longest time i wasn't packing that much because he would eat it. well apparently henry has gone from not eating at all in the beginning of the year to eating all his food, and moving onto to trying to steal other kiddos' food. the next school day he had a lunch box chucked full of food!

justin and i are so very proud of henry everyday.

what else...did i talk about the holidays? seems so long ago. the holidays were bittersweet for various reasons but they were simply the holidays for the most part. eat too much, jump from christmas to christmas event, open gifts, go to church, spend time with families, eat too much again. henry understood gifts this year and thoroughly enjoyed ripping through them. it was a good year. ollie's first christmas. both kids healthy and happy. it just goes by too fast. i wish there was more time to just relax with our family. and it doesn't help that i was sick. for about two months i was fighting something. still coughing and congested from time to time, but at least have some energy back.

well that's enough for now. i'm exhausted!

going private

2011-01-18T22:52:00.002-06:00

unfortunately, i will be taking this blog private. i hate doing that because i know many moms of new little ones with ds come here to get info, and this blog is a way for me to be an advocate for down syndrome. but for now, i feel it is the best thing to do for a variety of reasons. with that said, if you would like to continue viewing this blog please email me at cheekymonkeys@att.net. please include your info including your email address, and if you have a blog please add it, too. on february 27th, 2011 i will switch it over to private.

christmas 2010 part three

2011-01-12T13:39:00.000-06:00

christmas morning at g-ma and g-pa u's

gag gift

pic of all the grandkids

not sure what justin is so excited about

a little later at great g-pa and g-ma m's

oliver's baptism

2011-01-11T14:12:00.000-06:00

getting the family gown on

Godmother c with henry and oliver

very cute

looking pretty cute in a dress ;)

us and his Godparents

mischief in the pew

time for a little water

henry getting a blessing. he can't have enough with all that meanness :)

us and Godparents

fr. k

parents and grandparents

luncheon afterwards

delicious cake

was a great day!

christmas 2010 part two

2011-01-10T13:31:00.000-06:00

christmas eve at g-ma and g-pa b's

christmas 2010 part one

2011-01-09T13:13:00.002-06:00

christmas breakfast

henry looking dapper as always

traditional pic on the stairs

spotted his bike right away ;)

climbed right on

ollie watching the action from his bumbo

let the paper flying begin

helping ollie open a gift

ollie checking out one of his new toys

checking out ollie's toy and claiming it as his

getting some help

cheese

more paper flying

every year i take a bow pic. think they'll do it when they are 15 and 17. lol

this year was a lot of fun. henry actually understood present opening and got really excited when he opened something cool

construction time

he fell asleep like this. poor kid

checking in...

2010-12-14T10:19:00.003-06:00

it's been awhile since i've written out a post. just been busy. we are all fighting sinus and cold issues for awhile now. so ready to not be sick anymore. we were back in stl for a week over thanksgiving. henry was out of school all last week since he was sick. oliver now has a cold this week. my hands are raw from washing them so much, germs please go away. ;)

i have been busy painting oliver's room. naptimes and bedtimes, i'm in his room painting away. i hope to have it done in january and then i will move onto henry's room. his room shouldn't take as long though. i won't be painting things with as much detail for his bedroom.

we've been doing standard christmas stuff. shopping, wrapping, putting up decorations, seeing santa, etc. looking forward to christmas this year.

oliver is good. sleeping better, and getting bigger and bigger by the day. he weighs almost 13lbs. i forget how tall he is. somewhere in the 70% i think.

henry is weighing in at 42lbs and 40 inches tall- yikes! this week we he is undergoing an hcg stimulation test. we are doing this to get a baseline of certain hormones levels and how his body produces hormones. on MWF he gets a small dose of hcg injected into his leg to stimulate his body into produces certain hormones. why are we doing this?

well, we saw the endo from children's a couple weeks ago to talk about testosterone shots for him. the endo wanted to see how his body produces hormones and supposedly it will give us an idea of what his body will do when puberty hits. *tmi warning* after much research we have decided to give henry testosterone shots to give his little wee wee a boost. very common among boys with ds..their little boys parts can be a little underdeveloped. awhile back when we first saw the urologist for his hypospadias and undescended testicle he mentioned the shots. but he said that henry is of normal length, the circumference is on the small side. plus his wee wee is hidden a lot under his fat pad down there. also, common among boys with ds. well, we thought okay he will be a little small - no biggie. well after having oliver we see the difference (i had no idea what size henry should be).

also, we are going to be approaching potty train soon and well i don't know how we would begin to do that since "it" hides out. the urologist also mentioned self-esteem and the shots helping him be of normal size when he's older. soooooo...i made an appt with and endo a couple weeks ago and discussed the shots. from everything i read, especially on ds boards the shots do help out. there really aren't any side effects other than a possible short burst of overall bone growth. no behavior issues or early onset puberty issues. he only gets a set of 3 or 4, small dose amounts of testosterone. he will get a shot a month.

his body could not react to it at all but hopefully it will. luckily, if it doesn't help his case isn't on the severe spectrum as some little boys are. both the urologist and endo said that his case is borderline and it's up to us. for us i want henry to not have anything more to be insecure about when he gets older. i know that sounds odd, but just because he has ds doesn't mean he won't think about things like that when he's older. i only write about this because the majority of people who read my blog are parents of children with ds and i like to inform others of things we go through ds wise. if anyone has any questions about what we are doing, feel free to ask.

also, wanted to mention that henry is doing great in therapy. adding more and more words every week to his vocab. the other day he said giraffe and thank-you. his aunt taught him to do fist bumps and say boom. it's pretty cute. we had a six month review for ot. he's on par for his age when it comes to fine motor skills. he's pretty much on par gross motor skills wise as well. speech is our biggest delay and focus right now.

a couple things we are supposed to work on right now is jumping, stepping up and down on different height surfaces, riding a tricycle, etc. ot- the last visit she said the next things he is supposed to be doing is all imitation related. example: i draw a straight line, you draw a straight line, i build a tower of four blocks, you build a tower of four blocks, etc.

in speech we are working on getting henry to say two-word phrases and bringing together consonants with vowels. as well as not ramble on. example: instead of saying bub, bub, bub, bub just say bub-bles and stop. some other ideas when he says moo for cow, get him to say cow moo. just really focus on saying two words together and stopping. also, trying to get him to respond back more. example: pointing at things and asking "henry, what is that?" and getting him to reply back what objects are.

pictures galore, no time for words ;)

2010-12-07T22:47:00.003-06:00

school picture day

decided to take a bath on his own while in pj's

thanksgiving - oliver and great g-ma betty

g-pa b. and cousins

stirring up trouble

checking out g-pa u's trains

choo choo

getting the christmas tree ready

hanging up his ornament

needs a little help

oliver's ornament time

my boys

decided oliver needs his nose blowed

helping w/bathtime

putting the angel on

brotherly love

crabby lil guy

me thinks someone is hungry

sneak attack

the sky is blue

2010-11-18T10:17:00.004-06:00

well the sky and water is done...

slowly but surely things are coming together. now that i have the sky done i'm going to work on things here and there. i hope to finish things after the holidays. then henry's room is next!

dr. seuss bedroom part II

2010-11-14T21:17:00.003-06:00

this weekend i drew out the dr. seuss design on the walls in oliver's future room. the room was already green from when we painted it for henry. and since the majority of the bottom half is going to be green hills, i left it green. with that said i had to fill in everything else with white before i paint on different colors.

a family that put their child with ds up for adoption

2010-11-14T08:22:00.000-06:00

i thought i would share this story with all of you. it just goes to show you never know how life will turn out with any child.

my mom and sister were in a dress shop and got to talking with the elderly couple that ran the shop. somehow henry came up and the fact that he has down syndrome. the shop owner was very interested in hearing about henry and then began to tell her story.

she and her husband gave birth to a third child in a time when children with ds weren't given much hope for a future. they found out their child had ds upon birth and their doctor convinced them that it would be best for them, their family, and the child with ds if they sign away their rights to the child. the doctor advised that the child with ds would be a drain on their lives, especially their income.

and so they left the hospital without their child. they have regretted their decision ever since...

now that their other two children are grown, the one son has nothing to do with them. he's chosen a life of substance abuse. their other child has been in and out of institutions her whole life due to pyschological issues. they've spent their life savings trying to get help for their daughter throughout her life.

they continued to say they feel their daughter was old enough to understand what was going on when they gave away their child with ds, and she has never been the same since. the couple felt the day they left their child with ds in the hospital their family life took a wrong turn and never got back on track. that sometimes a family can endure tragedy throughout its existence after one misstep. i certainly can believe that. i can see how living with such pain and guilt could affect your life and the lives of your children. they didn't want to give up their child with ds but were convinced by their doctor to do so. decades ago, i can only imagine how scary and unknown it would be to have a child with special needs.

the woman went on to ask if i knew henry had ds before he was born. my mom told her that i had a non-invasive test done that did show a slight increase but we didn't know 100% and we did not do any further testing. we knew that no matter what we wanted henry and an amnio seemed pointless. the woman said she was so glad that they didn't have prenatal tests back then because she doesn't think she would have had the strength to continue her pregnancy with the child who had ds.

fast-forwarding from the child's birth. they have since reconnected with their child as an adult. the son with ds was adopted and brought up in a loving home. he has a job and a girlfriend. the shop owners expressed how much they appreciated the adoptive parents for letting them be a part of the son's life now. they are so grateful that their biological child with ds has anything to do with them.

the shop owner told my mom out of all her children, the only "normal" relationship they have is with the child who has ds.

makes you think...

dr. seuss bedroom phase 1

2010-11-11T19:30:00.004-06:00

i will be redoing henry's current room, which will become oliver's room in a couple months. the theme is going to be dr. seuss and i will be attempting a wall mural. i don't think it will be hard persay...just time consuming. i think the hardest part will be drawing it out on the walls and adding all the black detail. i have taken measurements of the room and laid everything out.

yesterday and today i drew out a rough plan...i didn't finish coloring some of it. the entire sky will be light blue.

this bed is too small

2010-11-11T08:02:00.000-06:00

as i was putting away laundry, i turn and find henry....

<
he was in our bed and crawled on over to try out ollie's

2010 Buddy Walk

2010-11-09T07:44:00.003-06:00

we had a wonderful time this year the the DSGD Buddy Walk. Each year gets better and better as Henry can participate more and more. We raised a teensy bit over $4000.00 this year. While that's down from last year quite a bit, I think it is still amazing that we have such generous people in our lives to have raised that much.

it was great to see friends we haven't seen in awhile and catch up, as well as meet some new friends. Being a participant in the walk it is so uplifting to see how many people love and support our little ones with ds. here are a few pics from the day...

rise and shine, time to get ready....

hanging out in the bounce house

bouncing around

g-ma b. getting her traditional "i love henry" face painting

playing games

that's a winner

a new buddy

big hugs

getting some leverage

walk time

i see you

3 of us, ollie was asleep the entire time...and you don't wake a sleeping baby...not even for pics

ollie hanging out with g-ma b after we got back

so cute

wrestling with g-pa b. and ellie

i think henry is winning

a little "me" time to unwind

One month check-up

2010-11-03T23:54:00.002-05:00

Oliver had his one month check-up today. He gained about three pounds in one month! He is now 9lbs 8ozs. His weight is now at the same percentile as his height which is around 50% on the growth charts. Still find it funny my kid with ds measured bigger than my child who is typical.

I knew Ollie gained some weight because he's pudging out and eating a whole bunch, but was surprised with his weight. Guess he's catching up from being born smaller. He's doing really well. Pretty easy baby all in all. Not a great sleeper but things could be a whole lot worse. I was reading online about colic and gas because I think he gets gas pains a lot. But i read some kids who have colic cry for hours nonstop. Knock on wood, I hope that never happens to me.

He's got some cradle cap and baby acne going on. And that's my biggest concerns with him! I'll take it. Don't want to jinx myself but life is currently easy breezy. Knock on wood, knock on wood!!! It hasn't been that way in quite awhile.

A first milestone for ollie

2010-11-02T11:00:00.002-05:00

Oliver has hit his first milestone. He's rolled over from his stomach to his back a few times. I wouldn't say he's a roller quite yet...more like all the stars lined up just right. But he's done it more than once! He's actually pretty strong. I can't believe he's already a month old. Time is flying by.

halloween pictures

2010-11-01T09:28:00.004-05:00

milestones

2010-11-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

it has been so long since i've talked about milestones and henry. we've been just moving along and i'm not even sure what he's supposed to be doing for his age. but i do know the things we work on at therapy and home. it's kind of hard to come up with everything he does, especially words he says. i'll have to add things as i remember them, but here's what i came up with so far...

things henry can do now:

strings beads on a shoe string
larger wooden puzzles
stack 6 to 8 blocks consistently without tipping
holds crayon/marker with proper grip
scribbles
independently climbs up and down stairs while holding onto rail
climbs on play equipment and slides by himself
blows nose with adult holding tissue
spits
blows whistle
eats independently with utensils
does movements to songs like wheels on the bus, itsy bitsy spider, etc
identifies common animals, food, objects with ease
identifies common colors for the most part
follows simple directions
can do somersaults
can step up and down curbs without holding hands
pretend plays (moves car around while making car noise, using play food properly, makes figures "walk," etc)
imitates actions
kicks a ball
gets undressed with minimal assistance
knows several body parts
climbs on everything!!!
knows how to use my iphone
points to objects for identification
asks for things in his own way (example: wants tv on, he brings me remote)

words: bye, hey, hi, moo, woof, no, cheese, please, pop, ball, car, red, hoo-hoo (owl sound), mom, dad, book, up, uh-oh, please, vroom,

signs: cow, horse, pig, more, please, duck, drink

right now in his therapies we are working on a variety of things. in OT she really is just helping him finetune things (puzzles, stringing beads, scribbling) and works on strength building as well as self-dressing. PT is more strength building but also works on jumping, going up and down a variety of step heights, walking with legs closer together to prevent a waddle walk later in life, etc. OT and PT is mostly strength building and coordination work.

our main focus is speech. right now his ST is working vowels sounds, adding consonants in here and there, getting him to say two-word phrases, stop after one word instead of continued babble (example: instead of repeating mom, mom, mom, just say mom and stop). she also is working on understanding possession- yours and mine, does oral stimulation to strenghten muscles and wake them up.

mmmmm, carbs!

2010-10-30T21:12:00.001-05:00

like mother, like son. henry pulled some leftover bread off the counter, got it out of the bag, and began to chow down. he wasn't too happy when i took it away :(

down syndrome awareness month

2010-10-29T16:02:00.003-05:00

the month of october is down syndrome awareness month. the past two years i've attempted to participate in 31 for 21, which is where you blog everyday in the month of october to promote down syndrome awareness. this year, with oliver newly arriving, i didn't even make an attempt. but i do want to write about henry and what down syndrome means for us now that henry is two.

to be perfectly honest, down syndrome really doesn't play into our lives a whole lot right now. we are past the medical issues, we are past the initial shock...life is just kind of boring. which is a great thing!

no, there is not a day that goes by that the words "down syndrome" don't pop into my mind. it's a part of who henry is. just like my youngest sister who has juvenile diabetes. it's a part of her. she has to manage her diabetes everyday and she can't ignore it. she can't hide from it or she will get very sick. granted down syndrome isn't going to make henry sick but it is a part of him and none of us can ignore that.

henry is very much like a typical two year old. he walks, climbs, gets into mischief, loves elmo, does things to make us laugh, plays pretend, talks, goes to school, is becoming a picky eater, etc. he does and acts no different than any other child. the biggest difference among him and other children, henry has therapy. he goes to therapy twice a week to aid in his development. therapy has been a huge part of his life.

my wants and worries are the exact same every parent has for their child. i want him to do well in school, go to college, find someone special in his life, be happy..

i worry about how he will do in school, how he will fit in with his peers, i worry about him being made fun of, his self-esteem...i worry a lot about his future. and i will worry about all my children. the only difference is that my fears for henry are heightened more than usual because of him having ds. i have no doubt that he will have friends, play sports, get good grades, etc. but it will kill me the first time he is made fun of. but the fact of the matter is that all kids are teased. teasing isn't right, but it's part of any childhood.

i try to put the future out of my mind. we will cross bridges when we have to and right now we have met so many wonderful and supportive people because of henry having ds. i'm thoroughly enjoying his age right now. i don't have to worry about little brats in his class, i don't have to worry about the bullying, i don't have to worry about grades and tests. my biggest worries for him right now are what i'm going to pack in his lunch and keeping him from hurting himself as he rough houses around.

it may be hard for people to understand why we wouldn't change henry for anything, or to believe that we truly have embraced down syndrome. but henry has changed our hearts and lives in ways that wouldn't have been possible without him being born with that little extra chromosome. it is kind of ironic, but i kind of pity others that they will never know what it's like to have a child like henry. it truly is a gift. he is just an amazing kid!

backyard fun with a dog named ellie

2010-10-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

hanging out in the backyard with henry and oliver. taking pics while holding a baby...little more challenging!

pumpkin patch pictures galore

2010-10-28T18:47:00.003-05:00

we spent hours at pumpkin patches this past weekend. henry played for at least an hour on the blow-up slide. ollie was a trooper for his big brother!

the loss of a child

2010-10-27T13:14:00.003-05:00

there's no greater pain than the loss of a child. this post is two parts. the first being about a family who lost their daughter and sister this past weekend. ella neier was a classmate of my youngest sister c. she was killed in a horrible car accident. everything about it was just tragic, he passing, how it happened, how she was found...

news article

she wasn't being wreckless, she wasn't drinking, she was simply driving home from a friend's house. a house that my sister has driven to and from many times before. i didn't know ella, but her father taught all my high school gym classes and was the coach of the my high school golf team as well as several teams my siblings were on.

i can't help but to think of this young girl and imagine it being my sister instead. it's just awful. Henry has taught me over and over that God has different paths for all of us. We don't always understand why. His plans and ours, usually don't coincide. I can't even begin to imagine the grief ella's family is going through right now. life is very precious and when the young are taken from this world it just doesn't make sense. it never will. so if you could say an extra prayer for ella's family and friends...

this story somewhat correlates with another post i was going to write but i thought i would lump them together. for nine months, nine very long months i worried about oliver. i didn't worry about down syndrome, i didn't worry so much about him being typical or not. i worried about losing him. Henry has brought so much joy into our lives that we would not have normally experienced with a typical child. but he has also brought us an understanding that life is unpredictable. no matter what we ask of God, He doesn't always answer us the way we think he should. i just couldn't get past this feeling that one- i was going to miscarry with oliver, or two- if i didn't miscarry we were going to lose him right away.

certain things are out of our control. i can't tell you the relief i have now. everyday i just thank God for Oliver. I don't know what our future holds, but in this moment right now i couldn't be more relieved and happy. God has given me two beautiful children. i just feel so much heartache for ella's family. it is amazing how someone you've never met can affect you so much at any given moment. the neier family is experiencing what was my greatest fear for nine months....really what is any parents' greatest fear. parents aren't supposed to bury children. day in and day out you forget just how fragile life is.

first park outing

2010-10-22T08:51:00.001-05:00

my little man

2010-10-21T20:28:00.002-05:00

Update on henry and school

2010-10-20T17:23:00.005-05:00

As many of you know henry goes to a preschool program through a local church. He is in a class with all typical kids. As far as I know he is the only child with special needs in the entire school which goes from two to kindergarten. I'm sure there are kids with delays, sensory issues, feeding issues, etc. But I haven't heard of any other children with a specific diagnosis like autism or adhd.

The school has been extremely supportive and excited to have Henry from day one. His teacher is amazing! Her degree is special education and you can just tell she loves her job and truly wants to help kids. Right before I had Oliver she pulled me aside and asked about henry's therapy. I had mentioned in passing a week before that he has OT, PT, and ST. Since Henry is only two and doing a lot of things two year olds do, I haven't really discussed henry's therapy or him having ds. Yes, they know he has ds and i had to go over certain things he can or can't do with the school coordinator when we first met. but for me I just wanted to give it a go and see how Henry would do for the first couple months. If any issues arose I figured we would address them step by step, but I didn't want to start out the year with a laundry lists of can nots and cans. i didn't want to put limitations on henry. i wanted his teacher to have him try to do the same things all the other kids do. if he can do things- great! if he can't, than he can't.

the first few weeks, i'm pretty sure they thought henry couldn't do much. the aide kept asking if he can feed himself because he wasn't eating lunch. the teacher mentioned he won't go on the play structure equipment. he would just sit in the mulch no matter how much she tried to get him to simply go down the slide. but i knew he would warm up. everyday got a little better, especially when the other kids quit getting upset during the day. that was the biggest issue. henry was just shutting down when the other kids were upset.

and there was some guilt dropping henry off. it tore at my heart seeing him get upset during drop-off. but i knew me staying and prolonging good-byes only made things harder. and that's how it usually is with any kid. once all the parents are gone, the kids calm down and all is well.

now, let me tell you...what a transformation. henry loves school. he walks right into the classroom, picks a toy and says good-bye to me. he doesn't get upset. the past couple times when i drop him off he finds a buddy and plays with him/her. there is a really great group of families who's kids are in his class. all the other parents are always telling me that their little one ask about henry. they all missed him when we had him out a couple days when ollie came. the other kids are excited to see him, he already has buddies. it makes me feel so good.

he's always in a good mood when i pick him up now. he just babbles away in the car ride home. his language has really started to pick up. he's saying a lot more words. kids imitate kids, and i'm so glad to have found such a great school where he can be around kids who are typical. there are quite a few kids in his class that are talking a lot and it's great that henry can be exposed to that. we had such a hard time deciding which school to put henry in and i really wanted to find a place where he was fully included among typical kids.

it's just been an amazing experience all around. the parents, the teacher, the staff. everyone knows henry and us. any staff we pass during drop-off and pick-up says hi to him. i love that the school coordinator knows what henry is up to day to day. i'm sure she's doing it partly to see his progress, but i feel that she genuinely has a vested interest in henry.

i'm not naive in thinking that every year will be a great school year for henry. all teachers are different, all schools are different. we don't even know if henry will be able to attend his current school next year. it all depends on what he's capable of doing, what the school curriculum is, and how much support they can give henry since it is a private school. next year we may be at the public school. who knows. but for right now, he's doing amazing. we could not be happier and more proud of him. the school is the perfect fit for him this year. we feel so blessed to be having such a great experience. *knock of wood* i hope the rest of the year just keeps getting better and better.

for all those parents of children with disabilities, there are people out there that want our kids to excel...you just have to seek out those people.

more pics

2010-10-19T10:22:00.001-05:00

ollie looks just like justin's older nephew a. in this pic

grandma b. with henry and oliver

grandma b. holding ollie

crazy man. ;)

other crazy man. :)

dad and ollie

seriously?!

sleeping

snug as a bug in a rug

three weeks

2010-10-19T09:37:00.003-05:00

when i was pregnant with oliver i couldn't picture a second child in our family. he was planned, he was wanted, he was loved but i just couldn't picture two little kids running around.

i had a conversation with my mom while pregnant and told her how i felt. for awhile now, it has been justin, henry, and i. a family of three. we had our routines, our rhythm. and with henry having surgeries and down syndrome, it was even more all about henry. my mom put it the best way...it is kind of like you feel child number two is an outsider coming in. but she said once he gets here those feelings will immediately go away.

she was right. it's been three weeks since oliver was born. and now i can't picture a life without him. it's like he was always here, always been a part of our family. such a short time...but it's hard for me to visualize our previous family of three. oliver is doing great. he's eating a ton. he's finally over his jaundice. he's so strong. there are definite difference between a child that has ds and a child that is typical. it's interesting to see the differences. all i can say is that henry spoiled us. we went through a lot with him, but as far as everyday "baby-ness," he spoiled us. oliver is a little more high maintenance. ;)

the biggest difference between the two. henry was very relaxed. because of low tone he would lay all sprawled out. oliver keeps tight in a little ball. it is so hard to just change his diapers because he keeps his legs bent up toward his stomach and i can not unbend them. it'll be interesting seeing the difference over time. henry has been a rockstar with milestones, so i wonder if we'll notice the differences as much.

one of the hardest things about having oliver is that we can't have a conversation with henry explaining the new addition. i know henry understands that oliver is here to stay, but i wish i could know that henry understands that we still love him just the same. the first couple weeks broke my heart. i was trying to feed oliver, so i was in my room a lot while henry was with his g-ma or justin. i could tell he was missing his momma. there is a little bit of guilt there. i feel bad for henry that i now am splitting up my attention and he gets less. i know that oliver and henry will be great for one another, but it is an adjustment for all of us...especially henry. i remember when my sister a. came along. i did not like her stealing my parents' attention at all.

i think henry is handling things better than i did, though. :) he's more and more interested in oliver. loves to hold him. mostly because he gets attention from justin and i for being sweet to ollie. we are working on being gentle. when henry is done holding ollie, he wants to just push him off. he's going to be a great big brother. and ollie...well he better get big fast!!!!

Bye mom

2010-10-18T12:56:00.003-05:00

I haven't talked about Henry and school lately. Hopefully, I'll get a chance soon. But I did want to share real quick...

Took Henry to school today. He walked right into class. Went over to the dinosaur toys and started playing with another little boy who had a dinosaur. It was so cute. When I turned to leave, he looked back at me and said, "bye."

He's doing so well at school. I'm so proud of him!

feeding issues

2010-10-18T10:24:00.002-05:00

so apparently feeding issues are going to be a running theme in this family. henry never breastfed for a variety of reasons- low tone, surgery at birth, feeding tube and bottle fed at birth, etc.

i thought when i had oliver breastfeeding wouldn't necessarily be easy but definitely possible. i really wanted to breastfeed oliver and i'm a firm believer that breastmilk is the best. but it wasn't meant to be.

when we brought oliver home he would latch, but every feeding was a struggle. the first two weeks of trying to breastfeed were hell. lots of frustration, crying, and guilt. working on his latch led to pain and soreness. oliver wanted to eat 24/7- literally. he wasn't sleeping a whole lot. he was crabby. it was a mess. i got help from a lactation specialist a few times, but no matter what i did something seemed wrong. listen to your motherly intuition.

after a terrible day i got fed up and pumped. i gave oliver a bottle of expressed milk and you wouldn't believe it. i had a totally different baby. he slept better. he actually had periods of being awake w/out being crabby. he was in a word- satisfied! i read so many forums online saying that some babies just like to be at the breast all day. that some babies like to nurse for soothing purposes. well, i have a two year old and i just can't do that. i have to be able to take care of henry, too. and come to find out...maybe those moms on the forum that experienced similiar nursing habits and said "hang in there, it'll stop after a couple months..." ummmmmm, maybe your baby wasn't getting enough to eat.

i'm sorry, but getting oliver's basic needs met overrides my want to breastfeed. and come to find out after pumping...i have a low milk supply. that kind of shocked me because with henry i was able to do okay for the first few months. so for a variety reasons i chose to stop breastfeeding.

oliver needs food and he needs normal patterns of sleep and awakeness to grow well. i began to pump for a few days and it was pitiful. i couldn't figure it out. there was no way i should have had a low supply. they say the more you feed, the better your supply. well i couldn't have tried to feed oliver more. i was already having to supplement with formula while pumping the first few days. and i swore i would never pump again after having henry. it was painful. it made me nauseous because of the hormone released during let-down. i really got depressed while i pumped for henry. but i thought i can do this for oliver. i can suffer through. after a few days of pumping it was pointless. he was mostly getting formula and pumping was no longer worth it.

i didn't want to give up and i felt so guilty in quitting. which is ridiculous. why do women feel so guilty about not breastfeeding. i think it's a shame that there is such a stigma about formula. new moms have so much pressure and stress on them already. they shouldn't feel bad about not choosing or not being able to breastfeed. i was given formula, my siblings were given formula, justin and his siblings were given formula. lots of people are formula fed and turn out just fine. ;)

i am happy that oliver got colostrum and breastmilk the first couple weeks, but i have to do what's best for him, henry, and myself. a child is one part of a whole. and i must say that i feel great now. i have more time for both my kids now that i'm not attached to oliver all day. oliver is happier, too. he's a totally different child. he's sleeping well. he's playing and alert.

i wanted to write this post because all the sites i read were moms telling other moms to suffer through it. well i don't feel oliver should have to suffer through not getting want he needs just because breastmilk is better than formula. ultimately, oliver is going to be just fine regardless of what he was fed the first few months of his life.

it's been a couple days on all formula, and i can't believe how much oliver is eating. formula is supposed to take longer to digest, so the volume input is often less than breastfed babies. yeahhhhh. i don't want to know how much breastmilk oliver would consume. hindsight is 20/20 and now i know there is just no way we could have stuck to breastfeeding or pumping. he eats too much. i couldn't have kept up and he would have been so frustrated. that makes me feel a lot better and i know that i made the right decision for him.

to all those moms out there thinking about stopping to breastfeed. my advice...if it's important to you. exhaust all options first and get help from a lactation specialist. but if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. your baby will be just fine and don't feel guilty. the most important thing is that your baby gets the food it needs regardless of whether it's breastmilk or formula. i still feel a little guilty, but i know i gave it a true attempt and tried several different things to improve feedings...it just didn't work out and that's okay.

warming up

2010-10-17T10:12:00.001-05:00

seems like all i have time for is uploading pics here and there. anything that i can do with one hand since i'm spending most of my time feeding ollie with the other. if you really want updates on us, add me via facebook. i do a lot of one handed updates on there! :)

henry is definitely warming up to oliver. he shows him affection for two reasons. one, i think he is genuinely interested and two, he gets attention for giving attention.

4 years and counting

2010-10-16T16:23:00.007-05:00

this week was mine and justin's 4th wedding anniversary! so far we haven't killed each other, i think that's pretty good!! ;) our wedding day was truly perfect. i wouldn't have changed a single thing. beautiful weather, everything went smoothly, justin became my husband, delicious food, everyone had a blast and we were surrounded by the people that care about us the most. i scanned some photos in for a little look back...

my dad and i

giving me away

exchanging vows

"you may now kiss the bride"

hubbie and wife

wedding party, surrounded by the most important people in our lives- our family
our nephews

my family

justin's family

in between time at the winery, getting the party started

perfect fall day in october

don't ask...

we all had a great time!

that's the look of embarrassment folks ;)

my sister and i. her toast got me teary eyed

love you

mmmmmmm, cake

getting ready for the bouquet toss

now time for the garter

somebody...won't say who, had the time of his life!

two babies, one big, one small

2010-10-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

who knew henry would enjoy his old playmat ;)

first bath

2010-10-12T21:38:00.002-05:00

oliver's beginning

2010-10-11T13:49:00.003-05:00

monday september 27th, 2010 i went into my regular weekly ob appt. blood pressure high of course. how is it not suppose to be high when i get unbelievably nervous everytime i step inside the office? but this time, my fluid was low. high blood plus low fluid equals being induced. at that point what was i going to say. it was time. i knew going into the appt, that monday was going to be the day. i had already begun to mentally prepare for it.

i surrendered. left the office. called justin and told him "today is the day." he went and picked up henry early from school, then met be back at the house. on my drive from the doctor appt to the house i lost it. i cried and cried. somewhere in between the sobbing called my mom, girlfriend, and dad. held it together in speaking with my mom and girlfriend, but somehow couldn't choke back the tears as i left a message on my dad's cell. i was just overwhelmed. nine months of sooooooooooo much worry and now it was time. it was time to bring oliver into this world.

got home and went into automode. cleaned up, packed my bag, packed henry a bag, did all the last minute things i needed to do. somehow i found strength. crying and letting it all out usually does the trick. i feel a weight lifted after a good sobfest. justin and i dropped henry off at my girlfriend's and off to the hospital.

got there around 1pm and the inducing began around two. i was tickled to death just to have the iv in my forearm this time than my hand. i specifically asked for my arm because with henry i had the iv in my hand, it drove me nuts the entire time. i tell people that was the worst part of my labor. the damn iv in my hand.

the labor pains were so different from when i had henry. kind of gross but i actually thought i was having horrible gas pains. i finally asked the nurse if the monitored showed me having a contraction when i thought it was just a brief build-up of gas. she said yes and i just laughed. she looked at me funny, and with some embarrassment i told her what i thought was going on. she laughed and said, "if you sound like you are in that much pain just asking, it's labor sweety."

that was my cue to get an epidural. there was no way in heck i was waiting around like i did with henry. the anesthesiologist came in and i was really nervous this time around. with henry i was in so much labor pain that all i could think about was the pain. this time around i wasn't in the full swing of labor yet. she set up everything behind me which took forevvvvvvvver! i couldn't look to see what she was doing back there but i did keep asking her, "you are going to tell me when you do something right? you aren't going to just jab me." i'm sure she thought i was nuts.

the shot of numbing stuff they give you before the epidural. holy crap. i don't remember that. it burned. and then came the epidural. that didn't hurt, just felt really, really weird. she had a little bit of a hard time getting it in the right place. the nurse asked her if she was going to have to pull it out and try again. i thought to myself, "oh, please get it right the first time!" and luckily, she did.

after that was done and i got to relax...i was in heaven. i got so gitty. when i called my mom for an update she said i sounded like i was drunk. the staff kept asking justin if i'm always this giggly. with the drugs running though me, i think i was just finally at a peaceful place after nine LONG months. i dilated a centimeter every hour. the only frustrating part was that i could not move my left leg at all. they kept having me switch sides to lay on and i couldn't get any leverage. it was so aggravating. everytime the nurse tried to help me out i just felt like a fatass. i kept having justin come over to help me out.

eventually, the time came and after about 10 minutes of pushing...oliver was here at 12:03am on septemeber 28th.

when i was pregnant i had pictured how i thought his birth would go. i thought he would be born and i would examine him for anything atypical. reality, i saw him alive and i cried. he was crying and his color looked good and i was just so relieved to see him breathe. silly i know. but i have been preparing myself for the worst and hoping for the best. not that you can really ever prepare yourself for the worst. i had such a sense of peace. that's all i really needed.

after i held him briefly, they took him to the side and did all their standard tests. cleaned him up and he was back in my arms. i couldn't have asked for a better delivery. justin was so amazing. he really was attentive and great. the actual delivery was easy. no complications from being induced or my blood pressure.

my mom had made it into town right before oliver arrived. she came in and got to see him for a bit. shortly after she left i was transferred to a recovery room where oliver stayed with me most of the time. later that day the pediatrician wanted to do a standard check-up on him and i got a sick feeling in my stomach when they came and got him. when we had henry and they took him to be looked at by the pedi. that's when we found out henry had ds and birth defects.

i didn't want them to take oliver away. after he came back within a 30 minutes i knew all was okay. henry had been gone for a couple hours. he was gone for so long i actually got suspicious that something was wrong.

it was all so surreal. i kept thinking, "so this is how this normally goes." i don't mean this in a negative way, but it was rather uneventful. not that oliver's arrival wasn't joyous, but it was easy. it seemed almost too easy. we weren't on an emotional rollercoaster ride. we both kind of kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. i sat in my bed holding oliver and thanked God over and over for giving me a beautiful baby boy...for giving me this moment in time.

justin went home that morning. got cleaned up and brought henry up. henry took one look at oliver and bolted for the door. justin had to drag him in. he wanted absolutely nothing to do with oliver. henry's motto was, "if i don't look at him, he doesn't exist!" we just let him do his thing not wanting to force the love. ;)

henry spent his time in my bed watching tv and exploring the hospital room in between trying to escape here and there. since i had oliver a little past midnight on tuesday i could have stayed until thursday. i wanted to get the hell out of there. hospitals don't conjur up positive feelings for us, and none of us were getting sleep with nurses in and out all day and night. so i decided to leave early on wednesday evening. we got in the car and that was that. i think justin and i were both like, "hmmmmm, what do we do now?" this is so different for us.

nine months. nine months of tears, heartache, praying, stress, etc. and it was over. oliver was here. he is so tiny. he has the longest feet and fingers. he's tall and skinny. and the hair. so much dark brown hair. i know it's an old wives' tale, but i did have horrible heartburn. tiny little nose and mouth. huge eyes. he's very alert and strong. i can't get over how strong he is. he's just perfect. i can't really figure out who he looks like. when he first came out i thought he looked just like henry. in his hospital pics he looks like henry, too. but sometimes i think he looks like one of justin's nephews. my mom thought he looked like justin.

i just can't believe how tiny he is. after holding oliver, henry looks twice as big now in my eyes. justin and i are so blessed and i know many people sighed with relief after oliver finally got here.

oliver is here!

2010-10-02T21:15:00.002-05:00

we are all doing great and i'll save the story for now and give you the good stuff- pictures!

waiting to be induced. all smiles!

excited!
swelled and in pain. giving myself more anesthetic. one last smile!

getting sleepy

oliver overton born 6lbs. 11oz, 20.5 inches at 12:03am on sept. 28th, 2010

lots and lots of hair!

henry keeping his distance

henry enjoyed my bed more than having a new brother

taking over the place

seriously? he covered himself up.

grandma u. taking a break from taking care of henry

we got to leave early!

going home!!!

interested until he saw what was in the carseat ;)

first family photo of all of us.

Dental care and half off toothbrushes

2010-09-26T15:43:00.000-05:00

What I am not going to worry about....

I have 3 dental implants and a cap towards the front of my mouth. I have had many, many oral surgeries and have shed many, many tears because of it. But that was 10 years ago and I haven't thought about it much since...until this week.

My gums started to swell and become tender around my implants a couple days ago. Uh-oh! Gum/mouth issues completely normal in pregnancy. shouldn't be much to worry about, right? I went to the dentist Friday and she can't tell me a thing because she can't take an x-ray. Well that's fan-freak'in-tabulous. She does think it is probably an infection because it is only swelling up around my implants but she isn't sure.

Apparently, you can't just treat an infection like that with antibiotics. The implants usually have to be replaced. Don't know. A surgeon will have to look at my mouth if it is an infection and we will go from there. The costs of implants would make you sick. But I won't think about that. And i won't think about how more than paying for that I don't want to have to go through that process again. Even though I knew the implants wouldn't last forever. They do need to be replaced after a period of time.

So I will be praying it isn't my implants or that the solution doesn't involve total replacement. Right now I can't think about it.

I am kind of worried about having a possible infection while pregnant. I will talk to my ob tomorrow at my appt. I can so see him going "let's just induce already!" lol. I'm not really helping out my cause much am I? ;).

Anywho, my semi-point to all this is that walmart is having a rebate deal with oral-b on their website. On selected electronic toothbrushes you can get them 50% off after a mail-in rebate. You have to buy it online, which the toothbrushes are cheaper online anyways, and it's free shipping if you have it shipped to a store!

Dental care is taking on a whole new meaning. I have always taken good care of my teeth but I made two purchases today- an electric toothbrush with extra heads to get into tight places and an oral irrigator. Nobody's mouth is going to be cleaner than mine. Hopefully, this won't happen my next pregnancy.

Oh and I have a cavity for the first time in my life. Oliver is zapping all the nutrients out of me. He better get a good job when he is older because he has some paying back to do!! Lol.

Other news, wondering when he will get here. Getting really excited!!!

flash cards

2010-09-24T13:31:00.005-05:00

awhile back i had a post that showed a book i made for henry. i also wanted to make flash cards to go along with it. so i have been working on the past couple weeks getting the majority of them made. all i have left is "action" cards, like drinking, sitting, swinging, etc. oh, and body parts. maybe letters and numbers down the road. i think i just like using my laminator.

right now the cards include: colors, animals, food items, objects. some of the pictures i found from online and for others i took pictures. the color cards are just cut out from construction paper i had. most of the objects are pics i took because i wanted to use things familiar to henry. also, all the action cards will be ones i take so he can see himself doing things. along with the picture cards, i made matching word cards for later use.

i will lay out about four to five cards and ask for a particular card. right now, if i lay out more than that he looses focus while trying to scan through all the cards. when he picks the correct one there is the usual cheering/clapping and then he gets to throw the card up in the air. he thinks it is funny and it helps to keep him interested. he is pretty good at all the objects, food, and animals. colors are another story. i just started working on colors with henry. he's fairly consistent with a couple and it is quite adorable hearing him say red.

to make it easier for the colors i hold up two cards and ask him to choose. once he is consistent between two options we will bump it up. they are just something i bring out and work on if he is interested. if he isn't then i don't even try. other times i just give him the cards and let him dump them out and look through them. he really likes to look at all the pictures. as he picks each one up he says something and moves onto the next. what is he saying? i have no idea! :)

i made two sets. one for home and i gave the other to his speech therapist. all you need to make said flash cards is the following:

1. laminator. i bought the scotch thermal laminator at walmart for $26. i also saw them at target for the same price. very inexpensive and works great for what i'm doing.
2. laminator pouches. again target had a package of 50 pouches for under $10. i have over half left.
3. double sided tape or glue stick
4. pictures
5. scissors and/or rotary cutter

yes, i could have spent even less and just bought flash cards but i wanted them to be of things henry uses and could easily recognize. all in all it was pretty cheap in making the cards. plus i love my laminator. haha.

i used adobe photoshop to place nine pictures on an 8.5x11 page. but microsoft office would probably work well. printed the sheets off on photo paper at home. you could use regular paper or have them printed off at a photo place. i know 8.5x11 are the cheapest to buy at photo stores, so putting two pics on a 4x6 would be a better option cost wise.

i cut out the pics, taped two together, back to back with double sided tape. (example: when you flip the lion card around there is elephant) i taped the pics/words together to prevent sliding. arranged nine pics in one laminate pouch. ran the pouch through the laminator.

cut up the cards and ran them through the laminator individually once more for good measure. :)

and viola! durable, water-proof flash cards.

with the word cards i used microsoft office and printed out sheets with two columns of words. cut them out and taped them together. i printed them out on regular computer paper. i also put a piece of blank paper in between to avoid seeing a word on one side of the card through the other. once laminated and cut out i ran the cards through again individually. i have a rotary cutter and cutting mats from cutting quilt blocks/fabric so the process was easier and faster than had i just used a scissors.

ANOTHER USE: i thought the cards might be good to have for later on when henry is trying to tell us something he wants or wants to do. i know a lot of people have pics they put on the fridge or have available to kids with speech delays, as a way to communicate. they simply pick the card of the item they want to eat, play with, or activity to do.

stability

2010-09-23T13:28:00.003-05:00

i'm going to be honest. i don't know how people without positive and stable parents survive in life. i suppose you seek out someone's opinion that you value and trust or you go nuts. ;)

the older i get the more i open up and rely on my parents for advice. as a child and young adult you have the "i don't need help, i'm smarter than you attitude." but henry has taught me that i'm pretty much clueless.

my mom has helped me think things through many, many times. i know she worries greatly about me and my family but she is a voice of calmness. if i didn't have my mother i think i would have gone crazy by now. i feel very fortunate to have two parents that i can depend upon, have always looked out for my best interest, and are just "normal."

today, i called my mom and told her about how my doctor wants to induce me and i don't want to. i don't know what to do. i know that my blood pressure is slowly increasing, i know that i'm getting headaches more frequently, i'm extremely stressed and have been since day one of this pregnancy. i know that my doctor realizes i have been worried and feels that getting the baby out will resolve my stress and increasing blood pressure.

but on the otherhand, oliver isn't in any real danger. my bp is still in an okay range. he's still growing. he's supposedly small, why would i want him to come out early? the idea of being induced scares me. as a pregnant woman you just want things to go the way they are supposed to go. things can go wrong with being induced, it could not work and maybe lead to a c-section.

i'm already worried and i feel that if i choose to be induced it's going to make me even more worried during labor which could cause an even bigger issue for my bp. but then on the otherhand if it's what's best for oliver than i need to suck it up and get him out so he can have proper medical care if needed.

it's a back and forth. anyways, i called my mom this morning and expressed all my concerns. and as always she helped me down from the ledge. she reminded me that....

-if oliver was in current danger and needed to be delivered i wouldn't really have a choice. my doctor would be, "that baby needs to come out now!"

-he's still growing and thriving. he looks good, the fluid is good, the placenta is good.

-just give it a few more days and keep testing my bp at home. actually follow the doctor's orders of bedrest. and fyi, what is that point of telling a mom of a toddler to be on bedrest, really? have you met my son?!

despite knowing that women are induced all the time and there isn't usually any real danger in doing so, there's just such a part of me that wants things to occur the way they are supposed to occur. i want oliver to come in his own time. and there is a part of me that feels the best place for him to be is inside my belly not hooked up to machines if needed.

i think more than anything my mom just helps me step back and look at situations in a more rational way.

what a day

2010-09-21T21:25:00.003-05:00

went to ob for weekly check-up. blood pressure was really high. why? maybe had something to do with chasing down an escaped dog when i had to leave for said appt. glad one of my neighbors was outside to hear me curse and tell ellie i was going to kill her. ;)

doctor wanted me to go over to the hospital to be evaluated for a bit. as we are leaving ob's office henry's hand gets stuck in the elevator. my heart about burst. the door kept opening and his hand was stuck between the wall and the door as the door was drag his hand in. i had to yank out his hand. poor kid. his fingers swelled up and of course was crying.

he calmed down fairly quick and was moving them. and since it wasn't as if his hand was crushed between something, we decided to wait and see if the swelling got worse. he was immediately acting fine and his hand has gone down in swelling.

after that there was no way i could go straight to the hospital to have them monitor my blood pressure. so we went to lunch since we had henry and were going to be sitting in a hospital for a few hours.

all calmed down, went to the hospital, laid in a hospital bed for about 3 hours while they monitored oliver, took my blood pressure every five minutes, and took some blood. i knew we were going home. the same thing happened with henry three weeks before he was born. my bp numbers came down and bloodwork came back fine.

today, i realized i am soooooooo not ready for oliver to get here. all i wanted to do was go home as soon as i got there. i need forewarning. my next appt is monday. we'll see what the doctor says. he really wants me to be induced since my bp is slowing getting higher and he knows how stressed i've been. but as long as everything is okay and nothing is a true problem i want oliver to come in his own time. plus with henry, my bp was not an issue during labor at all.

balloon festival

2010-09-20T10:58:00.004-05:00

sunday we woke up at 6am to get to a hot air balloon festival launch at 7am. so sleepy. lol. it was pretty neat to see. as we were driving it was still fairly dark out and there were a couple balloons already in the sky. all you could see was the huge flame lighting up from time to time.

there were at least 20 to 30 balloons. henry seemed to be interested for the most part. it was a little early for him as well ;)

10 days left till my due date and not a moment for relaxing when you have a two year old! :)

henry didn't care too much for the clown balloon

a little too close for comfort

just because he's cute

Telling it like it is

2010-09-16T23:35:00.002-05:00

Thought this was funny...

Yesterday at the doctor office the doctor was talking about my blood pressure and if certain things happen to go straight to the ER. One of the things was swelling up...

Me: "how much swelling is too much? Like I can't wear my wedding rings anymore."

Doctor: "that's pretty normal. Too much would be like your husband would notice."

Me: "ahhhh, so pretty bad."

And my labs came back today to look at somethings that would indicate my bp is not good. all came back good. So we just sit and wait.

a cloud has lifted

2010-09-16T13:20:00.002-05:00

today is a day for looking up to the heavens and thanking God for a good day. i had my weekly ob appt and oliver is still growing. but now his head measurements have caught up and are the biggest measurements. i feel such a sense of relief. and i don't care if he's born with a big head or small head. the simple fact is that his measurements have flip-flopped giving me reasurance that they aren't worth a whole lot. i've read and read about ultrasounds and the accuracy of measurements. the further in the pregnancy, the more inaccurate they are. but it is still hard to believe things sometimes.

i feel so much peace. even if i go in next time and his head measurements are the way behind again, it won't matter to me because i now know that things can change in the blink of an eye. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

oliver in general is still measuring on the smaller side. if the ultrasounds are close at all he'll probably be right around 7 lbs at 40 weeks, which is a good weight. everything still looks great. i'm not dilated and he hasn't dropped. could be wrong but i think it'll be a bit before he decides to enter into this world and that is fine by me.

thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. i will be worried until he gets here, but at least now i can breath easier. i'm so happy i could scream. lol. which is good because i was getting really annoyed by my own sulking and worrying.

same dress, different week

2010-09-15T09:41:00.001-05:00

38 weeks

at 18 weeks i was wearing the same dress. 20 weeks later you can see my belly grow. lol.

redoing rooms, need ideas!

2010-09-14T21:16:00.004-05:00

first i just want to let everyone know how much i appreciate you keeping us in your prayers. it won't be too long and mr. oliver will be here! henry came in his own time so i plan on letting oliver do the same.

when oliver gets here we will have him downstairs with us for a bit and then he will take over henry's room and henry will get a new room. i'm not exactly sure what i want to do for henry's room. and i'm thinking more and more i want to do something different to oliver's room (henry's old room).

for henry's room we were think a old-timish sports theme. but then again, i want to do something fun. something bright.

for oliver's room i want to do something more colorful. right now the room is painted a brighter greenish color and the bedding is pottery barn's cottontail. i was even thinking i wanted to paint a mural on the wall. i like dr. suess stuff. i also like curious george. i do NOT like winnie the pooh or most disney stuff. although if i had a girl i would so do a non-disney classic alice in wonderland theme. i love alice in wonderland.

I NEED SOME IDEAS FOR BOTH ROOMS! maybe for henry bright dinosaurs would be cute. it needs to be something he won't outgrow too fast. i like thomas the train stuff. that could be cute. henry has a couple thomas books he really likes. and there is even a train named henry. :) it'll be awhile before we do any of this but it's something to think about. all i know is that i want things to be bright and colorful! all our main areas are very neutral and classic. but for kid rooms it is a chance to do something more funky.

still here. no baby yet.

2010-09-13T11:53:00.003-05:00

i had a great morning, this morning. met with a few friends this morning for breakfast and a lil baby shower for me! getting gifts is always fun and sweet, but more than anything- just being able to spend time with friends w/out kids is an even greater gift. the past few weeks have been a mix of emotions and it was really nice to do something fun and positive. it was very sweet and very unexpected. thank you so much!!!!

little oliver is still growing and doing his thang. lol. i am VERY pregnant and feel like a whale rolling around most of the time. ;) i am excited but also have a full range of emotions right now. i want my body back but am apprehensive in oliver's arrival. once he's here then all our worries will either be confirmed or put to rest. i feel like prolonging answers right now. since he's measuring small, i hope he goes past my due date. i do not want him coming any early. but that's really not up to me. he's doing good. like i said, still growing. still moving around a lot. he's very active. i have another ultrasound this thursday just to make sure everything still looks good.
fluid is good. placenta is good.

physically, i'm doing pretty good. just the usually. harder to move around, more aches and pains, uncomfortable and sleeping even less, very tired the past couple weeks. but nothing overwhelming or truly miserable. just nine months pregnant. henry keeps me going!

speaking of henry. he's great. i love him so much. haha. i was thinking about henry and his birth the other day. and i was thinking about oliver and how i would feel if oliver had down syndrome or something else. it would be hard. but i reminded myself of how i felt when henry was born and all negative feelings we had, and then how we feel now about him. i don't think it is possible to love henry anymore than we do and we love everything about him. i think about how much he's changed us and know we will all be fine no matter what.

henry amazes us everyday. each day going to school is getting better and better. the teacher said he's starting to open up and interact more. i made a bunch of flash cards this past week and can't believe how many things he recognizes and picks out. his volcabulary is continually progressing. i love his speech therapist! he's growing up so fast.

updates

2010-09-01T18:09:00.005-05:00

which child should i talk about first?

i guess the oldest comes first. :) second day of school henry throws himself down in front of the door to his classroom. i pick him up we go in and he goes to play with a toy. i get to the door and he runs to me and starts to tear up. ugh, breaks my heart. i bring him back over to another toy to distract him and rush to the door.

i see him through the glass in the door and he's crying pretty hard. hate to see him cry but i know he'll be fine in a few minutes. it's kind of frustrating because he is completely fine until other kids start crying or screaming. BUT i'm glad he will be getting use to that because oliver will be here soon and babies are pretty good at crying. lol.

i stayed to volunteer for bit. spent an hour and an half tracing and cutting up things for teachers. i had some time to kill before my ob appt so why not. as i was leaving i peeked through the glass and all the kids are having snack time. henry is just sitting there eating his cheerios. no one is crying!

go to pick him up and the teacher said everyone had a better day today. he was awake and sitting in the reading circle this time around. he only took a couple bites of lunch. the aide asked again if he knows how to feed himself. yes, feeding is not an issue. i have a feeling it'll be awhile before he eats his lunch. i can just picture him sitting there watching all the kids and feeling overwhelmed. they eat with the five year olds, too. so i'm sure that adds to it. i know he'll be fine and get used to everything shortly. henry is a pretty adaptable kid.

miss k. said he did great and during nap time another little boy held henry's hand. how cute is that?! the other mom told me that when her son falls asleep he wants to hold someone's hand. pretty cute.

for me, today was great! haha. i love my free time!! after i left school i went to my ob appt, had lunch with justin. can't tell you how nice it was to have lunch with just justin. then i went to barnes and noble and looked at some craft books before i had to go pick up henry. it's just so nice! with no family here, no nanny/babysitter, it's always just henry and i. everywhere, EVERYWHERE I GO, henry goes. the only no henry time justin and i get is when we go back to stl and our families watch him. so these short little regular breaks are so nice. how many times can i say nice.
---------------------------------------------------------

moving onto my ob appt and oliver. oliver is growing! so that's good. i will have a sonogram every week until he is here. my blood pressure is doing fine. the fluid and placenta are good. everything is looking good. he is still measuring small and his head is even smaller. i asked again multiple times, do you see anything wrong? are you worried about anything? to which he replied no. he pointed out some other things that if they were off he would be worried but looking at the results he is not worried. no guarantees, but as of right now he doesn't have any concerns. oliver is just small. i then asked if he sees that a lot. where the head is even smaller and he said all the time. some babies have small heads. some people have small heads, some people have large heads. the weekly sonograms are just to make sure that he continues to grow in general. if he stops growing than i will have a c-section.

my nurse said that her baby completely stopped growing the last two weeks and had a c-section. nothing was wrong. they didn't know why he stopped growing, but he was healthy and is now a healthy older boy. the sonogram tech said her daughter was really small, too and they didn't know why she was so small. just was and she was born healthy. that made me feel better. i do feel better after today. i still worry, of course i worry. i will worry until he is here. i didn't even know i was having a sono today but i'm glad i got to see that he's growing. i am 36 weeks today. four more weeks. craziness!

first day of school

2010-08-30T20:00:00.004-05:00

henry's first day of school (ever) was today!!! i have been anxious about this day for a long time. and well, henry made it easy on me. this morning he was quite a pill and i was like, "fine, go to school!!!" had he been all sweet and pleasant this morning i probably would have had a harder time. :)

he did well. went into the classroom. picked the messiest toy he could find (fish bowl w/water in it) and played away. justin and i snuck out within a couple minutes and that was that. very uneventful. no crying on anyone's part.

when i picked him up he was laying somewhat on his nap mat. some kids were still napping, others were up and about. henry looked like he was in a state of shock. lol. he saw me but didn't move. i walked over to him, knelt down, and had to coax him to get up. he wasn't upset or fussy. i think just overwhelmed.

overwhelmed was the word of the day and on his teacher's note sent home. i spoke with miss k. when i picked him up and henry did as i expected. he didn't do much because some of the other kids were crying on and off all day. his teacher said he would put his arm on the other kids to comfort and looked like he was about to cry himself. he didn't eat his lunch either. i figured he wouldn't. he really shuts down when other kids are crying or upset. so hopefully one of two things will happen shortly- one, the other kids quite crying and get used to being at school or two- henry gets used to the crying. even better yet, both will happen. miss k. did say besides all that he did very well.

so what did i do on my first free day. justin and i went to get a coffee. i came home and relaxed for a bit. then cleaned. your forget how nice it is to be able to listen to the car radio as loud as you want. watch whatever you want on tv. sit and do nothing w/out feeling guilty. clean w/out a little toddler right behind you undoing everything you just cleaned up. it was very pleasant. i could get used to this. i have one month to enjoy some solo time before oliver comes.

school is going to be wonderful for the both of us!

first day of school breakfast- blueberry pancakes!

he fell back a couple times due to the backpack

getting angry because he really wanted to go outside

getting even more angry

dad and henry

henry and i

on the way to school

outside school

sitting on the fountain in the courtyard

looking handsome

hugs before going in

one last pic and in we go

found some messy fun

shoe storage

2010-08-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

this is apparently where our shoes go now- YUCK!

i'm capable of rational thought...

2010-08-27T13:50:00.002-05:00

but i often tune it out! ;) this past wednesday i had a sonogram at my check-up for ollie. i expected all to be on track and out the door. i was in such a great mood that day, too. the weather was beautiful. i talked about it in my last post. what i didn't tell you about was my appt. the tech is doing the ultrasound and i can see all the numbers/stats on the tv screen. i'm 35 weeks. my baby's measurements were all around 33 and his head was even smaller. i start to get that little panic feeling creeping up. the tech took the same measurements a few times to make sure and then said we'll see what the doctor says.

results: ollie is measuring two weeks behind, his head even smaller. all results are still normal. nothing out of the ordinary, just a small baby.

thought: WHY IS MY BABY SMALL? henry had two defects and down syndrome slowing down growth and he was always on track. henry was born a 7lbs 11oz. nice size for any baby. how can (what we believe at this time) our typical child be smaller than my child with down syndrome? how can parents who have tall genes have a small baby?

sorry but you can't tell a mother who has a child with down syndrome that their latest baby is small and his head is even smaller without some worry. for all you that don't know what i'm talking about. children with ds are usually smaller. they have their own growth charts and their heads are usually smaller as well.

i broke down. really...is it really too much to ask to be able to go in for an appt and hear everything is right on track see ya next week? i don't want to hear anything other than that. i'm already high strung with this pregnancy.

ugh.

so i went online after we got back from henry's school orientation. found that ultrasounds are the greatest for pinpointing size when you are in your third trimester.

okay. so rationally i can tell myself the following. i can't compare henry to oliver. it doesn't work that way. pregnancy don't correlate with one another. every child is different. two- just because we have large genes doesn't mean our baby will be huge. small babies can turn into really tall adults and large babies can turn out to be small adults. three- ultrasounds aren't 100% accurate. four- our baby could just happen to be small. just because he's small doesn't mean there is anything wrong with him. five-nothing, NOTHING has shown up on any lab work or ultrasounds with oliver. with henry something did show up we just didn't do further testing. six- all his parts/organs are there. his heart rate is good. responding well, he's doing everything he should be doing. seven- i have only gained about 15lbs with this pregnancy, maybe that's part of it. and i do have chronic high blood pressure. there is a correlation between maternal high blood pressure and small babies. eight-the doctor even said that while he understands my concerns, he doesn't see anything abnormal. he's just small. he did say if i wanted to i could go back to the perinatologist if it would make me feel better.

so as you can see i can tell all myself these things. you know what i listen to, though? WHY IS MY BABY SMALL, WHY IS MY BABY SMALL? WHY IS HIS HEAD SMALL. HENRY'S HEAD WAS SMALLER THAN THE REST OF HIM AS WELL. HOW CAN HENRY BE BIGGER THAN OLIVER? HOW CAN JUSTIN AND I HAVE A SMALL BABY. I'M EXPECTING TO HEAR, "YOUR BABY IS A BEAST!" HOW CAN A PERFECTLY HEALTHY OLIVER BE SMALLER THAN A NOT HEALTHY HENRY?

today...

we went to the perinatologist. same results. yesterday i was already feeling better. i read a lot online. today dr. a told us the same thing. although, his measurements were a little larger than my ob's. baby is at about 5.2lbs. his measurements were all around 34 weeks, head almost 33 weeks. he said as far as his head is concerned. when plotting it out you want it to fall within 3 standard deviation points of the mean. oliver's was -2. so while it is on the small side it is still well within the spread and completely normal. then he joked that he has two daughters in college, one has a big head, one has a small head and they both do just fine in school. he looked at all his organs. all showed to be normal at this point. again, ultrasounds aren't 100% accurate when picking up different things. they are usually at the highest around 80% accurate for picking up a variety of birth defects or disorders.

honestly...

i'm okay now. i do eventually let some of that rational thinking stick around. but i'm going to be worried about oliver until he's born. i'll worry about him even after birth. there is a lot of pressure on this pregnancy. i love henry and i would love to have another child with ds. BUT i want to know i can have typical children as well. i want to have those experiences, too. i want it all. lol. and if oliver has a disorder, syndrome, etc. we will love him just the same...but there is a lot more thought that goes into whether or not we expand our family even more. and i want to have at least four kids. kids with special needs do require a bigger investement of a variety of things.

and to be even more honest. henry isn't that old. we just went through so much with him not that long ago. i want to leave the hospital in the standard two days. i don't want to have surgeries dangling over our heads. not right now. no time is a good time for an unhealthy baby, but especially right now would be tough. i want a healthy baby, and there is nothing wrong in wanting that. i've always said the down syndrome isn't much compared to everything else we went through with henry. i really just want things to be easy right now. where's my easy button?

break in weather

2010-08-26T11:24:00.003-05:00

yesterday was amazing! it was only a high of around 85. i woke up so tired and sluggish but it would have been a shame to pass up the day without being outside. henry and i went for two walks. one- he walked a little, two- a longer walk with him in the stroller. then we spent the rest of the morning playing with a ball and his popper. he didn't want to go in.

last night was henry's parent orientation. nothing of interest. pretty much just went over some things in the rule book or whatever it's called. i can't think of the name right now. friday there is a fun event for parents and kids, then monday is the first day of school.

distancing myself

2010-08-24T08:28:00.003-05:00

you ever feel like tuning out the world for a bit. well that's how i've been feeling for a bit. it's not a "i feel depressed and don't want to talk to anyone." it's more a "i have a lot to focus on in my own life right now and don't want to add onto it" type of thing. :) i'm more introvert than an extrovert to begin with. i'm a person who needs family and a few close friends. i've never had a desire to have tons of friends and be super sociable. i like having a strong circle of friends and family i can trust and depend upon. i much rather have that than 100 acquintances to socialize with here and there. and i don't have a problem being alone. i enjoy quiet time. time to read, time to unwind. some people need to always be on the phone, have people surrround them, always be on the go. i don't. it's just not me.

anyways....

when i went back to stl in the beginning of the summer, i had a really difficult time returning home. i talked about it in a previous post. it took awhile to get over that. and during that time i would say i was definitely in a downer mood. now i don't feel down, i just feel...i don't know. maybe overwhelmed a bit. so if i haven't talked to you or responded back much, it's not because i'm mad or upset with you. i'm just trying to make it through the next month or so without adding anymore onto my plate. i know that's not being the greatest friend, but hopefully all will understand.

i know why i feel the way i feel and after the next couple months i know i will be in a better mindset. one- the pregnancy hormones are not helping. two- the heat. i know that sounds odd. but it has been one hot summer. i don't want to go outside at all. i don't want to even run errands because of the heat. so henry and i have been inside a lot this summer. which isn't good, because you get cabin fever, restless, and no sunshine. being outside and getting sun gets you moving and you get the sun rays to boost your mood. instead we stay in a blind shut/curtain closed, dark dungeon.

three- henry is starting his school program next week. i'm worried and apprehensive. i'm upset he's growing so fast and is no longer my baby. i have a million questions swirling in my head about him and how school will go. this is just the beginning of what will be a long path of education, and many ups and downs. four- oliver is coming. i'm excited but i'm also nervous. i have a lot of tense feelings when it comes to childbirth since my first experience wasn't the smoothest process. not the actually labor/birth. just all that occurred afterwards.

five- i miss my family more and more. i sometimes feel out of the loop and that can be tough at times. i think it is even harder now because my sister a. is getting married and i want to be there to do things with her. and my youngest is going to be a junior in high school this year. before i know it she'll be in college and busier than ever. i'd just like to be there for them more.

six- i wish i had help. not getting a break from henry during this pregnancy is hard. everywhere i go, he goes. henry is an energetic 40lb, two year old. trying lifting around 40lbs all the time. plus there are all the guilty feelings i have of not doing more with him because i haven't felt good at times throughout this pregnancy and i haven't taken him outside much. i think justin and i need a break, too. we've never had an opportunity to just decompress for a couple days after having henry. after oliver comes i hope he and i can get away for a few days. we both need it.

seven- there are a variety of other things that i stress about- medical bills, henry's new therapy schedule, my car needs to be worked on, how i'm going to manage henry and oliver, how are henry and oliver going to get along, the extra cost of baby number 2, a messy house, not being a good friend, losing weight after oliver, things that need to be done to the house, my dog driving me nuts, etc.

all this adds up to nothing major. all mundane things. my life is not nearly as hectic as other lives. but that doesn't mean i can't allow myself to feel what i feel. i just have to keep things in perspective. plus, i remind myself all will be better in about a month. oliver will be here, henry will be in school. a lot of questions will be answered. the weather will break. holiday time is right around the corner. i love winter time. i love fires in the fireplace. i love bundling up. i love christmas music. i love holiday food. i love having all our families together. i love hot chocolate and chili. i love holiday decorations. and this year we will be a family of four! i can't wait to hold my little baby.

a lot of it is the hormones. everything is heightened because of them. i can't wait for things to return back to a norm.

tinkering around

2010-08-23T20:19:00.002-05:00

brief recap

2010-08-20T14:59:00.002-05:00

last week justin went out of town for business so i went back to stl since i'm not a fan of being home alone. despite a kick-off of having to run pushing a two year-old while eight months pregnant at the airport, almost missing my flight, and losing my driver's license (which justin picked up later at the lost and found)...the week was pretty relaxing.

it was probably the most relaxing week i've had visiting family. wasn't a whole lot to do and took offers of help when it came to henry. normally, i try to do everything with him because i don't want henry or i to be of a "burden." but quite frankly, i surrender. he weighs too much and it is getting harder and harder to lift him. justin's mom is wonderful. she will take him for a whole day here and there, and there is usually an overnighter mixed in there. i got to sleep in!!! ahhhhh!

g-ma b. watches henry's cousins, so they are always there when henry comes to visit. they have the best of times. the first day i took him over there he walked in the door, saw his cousins, and took off towards them with a big smile.

my dad's birthday occurred while we were back. my parents, henry, and i went to the history museum on his b-day to see a vatican exhibit and go out to eat. we celebrated his bday on sunday with the whole family which was great. swam one day when the weather broke. went to the outlet mall and got henry some fall clothes. what else? i got to see my new nephew j. he's adorable and has the longest toes, i call them finger toes. :) saw my aunt j. and her daughters. that's always a good time. and that's pretty much it. for the most part i just took it easy and got to read quite a bit. justin has me finally watching true blood on hbo. i was very reluctant but finally am sucked in. i decided i would give the books a try. i'm on my fourth. they are pretty short.

this time around i wasn't as emotional leaving. one- i missed justin. two- oliver now feels like he will be here right around the corner, and three- i will see my family a lot in the next few months between oliver's arrival, thanksgiving, christmas, etc.

before i post the pics i have to mention what happened to justin while i was out of town. he got back a few days before me and had to pick up ellie from the vet, where she was boarded, right after he got in . the car broke down at the vet. couldn't jump it. waited over an hour for a tow truck. was towed to the mechanic who was closing. got a cab to go home...doing all this in triple digit weather, wearing business clothes, carrying a shih-tzu, and having his luggage and briefcase. i felt bad for him...but had i stayed home it would have been me with henry and justin would have been out of town-yikes! we've had a lot of unexpected costs here lately. doesn't the universe know i'm having a baby soon and an influx of doctor/hospital bills coming our way. ;)

so tiny ;)

my favorite pic with baby j.

we want cake, we want cake!!!

i think the house might catch on fire!

seriously, that's a lot of candles!

shocked the smoke alarm didn't go off

being whiny while waiting for cake

uncle p. and his mini-me

signing book

2010-08-08T09:30:00.002-05:00

i've made three books from blurb. one- was a copy of my blog up to a certain point, two- a photobook of henry's first 18 months, and three- was a signing book.

i think blurb is a great sight to use. the program makes it quite easy to make a book. the price is fairly reasonable. you have to look at it this way, how much would it cost to printout 150 pages worth of pictures on nice paper? it wouldn't be all that cheap. i do opt for the higher quality paper and the pages are really, really thick. and if you decide to use the sight there are always coupon codes online for free shipping or a discount of your order.

here is henry's latest book. some of the pictures are ones i found and some are ones i took. the categories are food, household furniture/items, bathtime items, clothes, body parts, activities, colors, shapes, people, etc. and almost all pages have a picture/sentence on how to sign the image. i take the book to therapy as well.

nap mat

2010-08-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

henry needs a nap mat for school, so i decided to make him one! it turned out pretty cute. i found a great little tutorial on the internet.

my fabrics

finished mat

all rolled up

watching sesame street

ahhhh, i think he likes it.

snug as a bug in a rug

he looks like he's sleeping in this one.

my newest lil nephew

2010-08-05T14:57:00.004-05:00

please welcome baby j.weighing in at 9lbs and 8oz and 22 inches tall!! he is so adorable and i can't wait to meet him. i am so sad it'll be awhile before that happens, but this momma has to stay in texas for now.

mom, dad, and baby are all doing great!!!

how cute is this lil chubby face!!!

look at all that hair!

proud mommy and daddy

my parents holding their newest grand baby.

32 weeks

2010-08-04T12:47:00.000-05:00

i can hardly believe i am 32 weeks. oliver will be here before we know it. i can't wait. this past week i've been having dreams about him. he has the chubbiest lil face with beautiful brown hair. much like his older brother henry. it is still unreal and hard to imagine. i try to think back to when henry was a tiny baby and i just can't picture it. i guess it is hard to picture a little fragile 8lb baby when a 40lb toddler is body slamming me everyday.

i know it will be rough the first couple months having a baby and a toddler with no help living around here, but we'll make do. we always do. i can't wait to see henry and oliver play together one day.

i think i'm even more excited about having oliver right before the holidays. around the corner is halloween, then thanksgiving and christmas. it'll be such an exciting time. i miss having a little baby. kids just grow up too darn fast!

overall, i'm doing well. it's summertime so i'm hot and sweaty. just the run of the mill typical pregnancy stuff- backaches, trouble sleeping, peeing a lot, swelling, fatigue, rls, not as agile as i once was, etc. lol. but i really can't complain. none of that stuff really bothers me much. i just enjoy feeling him roll around and thinking about what he'll look like.

we haven't decided on a middle name yet. justin mentioned having it be justin which i am completely fine with, BUT he ruined it by referring to our child as "OJ." this is what i live with people. lol. i still tell him that if it is important to him than we can name the baby oliver justin, but if i ever hear OJ out of his mouth i get to punch him as hard as i can. and i am not a dainty fighter. i told him it is up to him. so far he's told me he doesn't really care and thinks that his name doesn't really sound good as a middle name...but i told him oliver justin sounds fine to me and to think about it. we have plenty of time to decide. our other option is what we originally came up with- oliver overton. overton is one of my grandfather's name. i also mentioned that it isn't too late we can change oliver's name to something else. afterall, he isn't born yet. i mentioned charles or william. to which he said "willie" or "cj." WHY, WHY ME?

i think maybe it's time for a new hubbie. ;)