Installment #2 - the Shower

My wonderful, amazing, couldn't go on without them friends decided I needed a baby shower for our new little someone since it had been almost 8 years since we had a baby here! My super buddy Jenny even made a special effort to include M in the planning, decorating, and gift buying so she would feel included and proud. I had family and friends come from far away, one of them my BFF since 7th grade, Lori. There were church friends, in-laws, my relatives, friends from college, and friends I met here through my kids' schools. It was truly wonderful to have all these people that I love in one spot, and All of them knew Jack had been dx with ds, and it didn't matter to anyone one whit! They all came to welcome him and give us love and support. I'll never forget it. We had lots of food and cake (my favorite!) and opened so many presents I knew we wouldn't need to buy anything for months! I still had the crib and changing table/dresser from the other kids (I was keeping those for grandbabies anyway, ironic, huh?) but I got lots of other great stuff, including a cute, cute bassinet that I'm now trying to talk myself into selling. Jack came early and arrived before I had everything ready, but that would be the next story. Apparently, I only got a couple photos on my camera from the shower, but here are two. One is the yummy cake, and the other is my 2 of my super friends from out of town, Lori and Sherry.

Sarah Palin

Well, if you know me at all, you'll know I'm not into politics at all. However, I've been pretty interested since McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. She's the youngest governor Alaska has ever had she has 5 kids the youngest of whom has Down Syndrome! I've heard lots of other things like she used to be a stay-at-home mom, her dh stays home now, she married her high school sweet-heart, and she has over an 80% approval rate at home. Don't know if any of it is true but I'm going to find out. I figure, as a 44 yr old mom of a baby with ds, she and I have lots in common. Maybe she'll care about healthcare, education, and funding for people with special needs. Most people research and talk to others and attend rallies and watch debates before they cast a vote. I'm guilty of listening to a dab of news and opinions of family and going a lot on first impressions. I have a great one of her, ever since last Apr, when I first heard about this governor who had the baby with ds. Anyway, we'll see. I'm sure I'll be posting more on this later!

On another note, it's our first holiday weekend of the school year! How excited am I that there's no school Mon?! Very!! We went to my son's high school for their first varsity game tonight (they won after a tie at the end of the 4th - they played college rules so there was 2 "overtimes"(?) - it was cool)! Tomorrow, maybe we'll paint M's desk. Sun, maybe a movie and Mon, who knows?!

So, the grateful list:
1. Sarah Palin and her baby, Trig.
2. high school football!
3. Jack was walking, and clapping, and flirting with girls at the game
4. new friends, old friends, and friends I haven't made yet! :)

Met Some New Friends Today!

So, I've been going to the local DS Assoc support group meetings.  There are a few of us with little ones and we decided to have a play date today.  Of course, I forgot my camera but I got to chat with a couple of super neat ladies and play with 2 adorable little cutie-pies!  Jack got to hang with some people his size but he was the oldest so he looked a little confused sometimes, like why are they down here with me?!  Maybe someday I'll post a pic of our play dates since we decided to do it again soon (and maybe Miss Braska will get to join us the next time)!

We went to M's open house for school this evening.  New school, new teachers, new friends.  She seems really happy there so that's great!  Now we have T's tomorrow and A's 2 days later.  I'm gonna be overwhelmed!

Smart Guy

This just happened and I'm so excited!  I was in the LR, checking out blogs, when I heard Jack fussing from around the corner.  So I went to see what's up and he's sitting on the floor facing me.  I ask "what's a matter, baby?" and he puts his arms up.  As I'm picking him up I notice he's kinda turning his body around so I say "what do you want?" and he POINTS to a dish of Cherrios on the kitchen counter!  Instead of giving them to him, I was cracking up and yelled for dh to come see.  So he comes around the corner and I said again "what did you want Jack?" and he pointed AGAIN!  Now we don't usually have many problems figuring out what he wants but to point from that far away and twice and no fussing in the process?!  That was HUGE!!  And I am thrilled!  And for a couple more notes:  he's walking more and more and I think when they unclogged his ears they turned up his volume!  Is this normal?  I woulda thought he'd be a bit quieter thinking he's hearing everything louder.  I guess not.

Jack got Ear Tubes!!

Last week we took Jack to the surgery center for ear tubes.  He hadn't had any ear infections at all but he has had fluid in the left ear since Mar and the right, some time after that.  You can't let all that junk sit in there or it can cause permanent hearing damage.  So we got to the place by 7:30.  We (I) filled out crazy amounts of paper work, and we took him back to get ready about 8:20.  The anastesiologist (sorry, I'm the world's worst speller) let us know Jack would only be getting a bit of gas to go to sleep and a bit of pain meds into his nose (ewwww) and that's it.  Then our ENT cleared out his ears, put in the tubes, and he was done by 9:00!  YAY!  He was groggy for awhile but after we got home and he had a looong nap, he was back to happy!  I kept him on Tylenol just in case and tried to keep him quiet (yeah right) and calm and he's great!  Allan only had to take a couple of hours off and our pastor sat with us the whole time which was so nice of her.  I told her it was minor, minor surgery and she came anyway.  So, big thank you to Rev. Robin!  Of course I forgot my camera so I only got one shot of Jack in his gown with pink whales & elephants on it on my cell phone and have NO idea how to download that.  Maybe I'll figure it out some day!

So, here's my grateful list for today:
1. Andrew went back to football and is really enjoying it.  (So am I!)
2. Madelyn is enjoying her new school and I was really worried about that.
3. Jack now has new ear tubes and we keep noticing improvements in his hearing.
4. All my kids are healthy and happy and make me laugh daily!

Vacation pics!

We had a great time - Thanks Grandma and Grandpa S!!

We love boat rides!


Nice hair-doo Andrew!


Go that way Daddy!


I can handle this Dad.


Here's a good story. Several geese (a flock, perhaps) swam up to the dock. M ran inside to get some bread to feed these geese. Daddy showed Jack how to feed the geese by giving them bits of bread. So, when it was Jack's turn, Daddy gave him a bit of bread.........and Jack ate it. And this happened again, and again. What a hoot!


This is one of my favorites!


How's that for happy kids on vacation?!

Update on our friends

I'm not so very good at keeping you all informed about our special friends (remember, the buttons at the left?). So I hope you're all keeping up with them on your own. But if you aren't.....

Miss Emma had her heart surgery and she's recovering nicely at home. She has her moments of upset caused probably by pain, but overall she's doing well! Her mommy has posted some pics if you'd like to see her beautiful smile!

Our little "Sincess" Kennedy is going to have her halo removed tomorrow. Yes, it's a bit early but it was causing her some problems and her recovery should progress just fine. You can check on her as well.

Be warned though - these are highly addictive blogs!

What a day!

Well, I made it to bedtime! It was the first day of school for Capn' Jack's big sister and brothers. :( I may very well be the only mom in America who wasn't giddy today. I love when the kids are home and we have no big schedules to follow. So it wasn't a great day. Jack and I got the kids off to school, went to coffee with 2 mom friends, went to look for shorts on sale for M, came home for a nap (for Jack - I checked e-mail), went out to 2 stores for college ruled spiral notebooks (and grape jelly; Ty can't have lunch without pb&j!), went by the bank, came home for late lunch, got everyone home from school, checked backpacks and lunchboxes, put Jack down for nap #2, had dinner, got everyone to bed except Jack, and now I'm blogging. Still have to get dishes done, clean bathrooms, and get the Capn to bed! And that is the short version.

Okay, here are some updates on us:
We went on vacation. To the Lake of the Ozarks. We stayed in the vacation home of dh's parents. It was WONDERFUL! No phone and lots of swimming and boating! Then we went to the home of my parents for the MO state fair. The kids really enjoy going and they had a great time there too.

Jack has really "stepped up" the walking! He still lurches a lot, like he got into the wine cabinet (interesting, since we don't have one!) but he's taking several steps at a time, many times per day. Crawling is still most efficient so he does that when he's in a hurry - which reminds me of a funny:) He was crawling right to me but kept his head down so he bumped his head right into my leg. Well, I said "bonk!" just to make him laugh, but it made him keep doing it! Rammed his little head into my leg 10 times just to hear me go "bonk!" every time! He laughed too! So we're at Target today and he's in the cart and for some reason, I said "bonk". Don't remember why. Anyway, he immediately laughed and dropped his head onto the handle! Then he did it again! And again! I really wanted him to stop but we were both laughing so darn hard it went on for awhile!

Time to get the little man off to bed! Yay! Cuddle time!

trip with the kids

So yesterday, I took the kids to Six Flags. Poor hubby had to work so we went without him. 2 of the kids had those reading rewards to use before they expire so, away we went. It wasn't bad. We had the usual disagreements at first and I was thinking I'd made a mistake. But, they rallied and we ended up having a nice time. I was really worried about going without Allan, 'cause #1, I knew we would miss him and #2 I didn't know if I could handle everyone without him. But it worked out okay. Jack was good as gold. He seems to really like his stroller. He sat so nicely all day. He took a nap, and had lunch, and got out a couple of times to enjoy a ride. Here's a pic of him:



Notice the new haircut? He, Andrew and I all got a haircut the other day and we're all a bit short but it'll grow, right? Can't stop the cuteness on this boy!

So here's what I'm grateful for today:
1. Our trip to Six Flags.
2. Friends that keep in touch even when I drop the ball (love you Sherry!).
3. Jackson working on walking.
4. My hubby that lets me go places and do fun stuff even when he doesn't get to.