Happy Birthday To Me!!

Yay me! I celebrate my birthday today. As I tell Judson, I'm 39 years old. I will be 39 next year at this time and the year following that. (This revelation drives him crazy. He cannot understand why I do not age by 1 at each birthday like he does) I tell him it is a mommy's choice as to how old she wants to be. I'm going to be 39!

P.S. Happy Birthday (belated) to my friend Lori! Hope you had a good one on the 25th. Were you celebrating #39 also?

The Best News Ever!

We took Sawyer to the cardiologist for a follow up appointment. He blew them away with his healthy self! His pulmonary pressures were great. His valves were in good shape. The places that were surgically repaired looked wonderful. The spots that closed on their own, looked fantastic. Everything was A-O-K! Even better news.....he doesn't have to go back for 2 years! That's right. He'll be almost 5 before he has to see the cardiologist again. Can't ask for anything better than that.

On a side note, our cardiologist is also an accomplished artist. He has art shows for his paintings/drawings. He's apparently a very talented man. He picked up a doodle pro (magnetic drawing pad) that Sawyer was doodling on. He was very much impressed with Sawyer's scribbles. He said they had a Picasso-like quality to them. I said, "I think that has to do with his wrist not being very stable." (OK... I'm a mom and I think all their drawings are beautiful but I don't see things in terms of "Oh my God, I've got a artistic whiz on my hands") He was quite serious. He said, "You need to keep a pencil in this little guy's hands". So now Sawyer's two very left brained parents have to find ways to enhance their little guy's right brained abilities. No telling what the outcome of that adventure will be.

Just Plain Hot!

Is it H-O-T or what? We thought we'd take the kids out Saturday night. There was a car show downtown so, what the heck, we decided to go. We went by the play place at McD's first. Of course, Sawyer climbs up to the top but cannot easily get down without killing or seriously maiming himself. So Randy climbs up to the top of a very windy and small stairwell to retrieve him, not once but twice. After some fun and food, we headed over to the car show. Mind you, the thermometer at the bank was registering 95 degrees at 6:30pm! The hit of the show was actually the train that came thru. They all loved that. They really didn't care too much for the cars though. So after about 30 minutes (if that long) we decided to come home. Here are a couple of pictures, before and after. Notice how big Ansley is looking these days and how RED their faces look. Did I mention it was HOT?

Daddy - Judson Bonding Time

Randy and a new friend we made at a Down Syndrome function met last week and went hiking. They took Judson with them. They hiked for 3 hours in the heat! Judson absolutely loved it. So did Dad. They liked it so much that they intend on getting up at the crack of dawn this weekend and do it again, in spite of the 1,000,000 degree heat we are experiencing. Here are some pictures. (Forgive the quality of the pictures. They took the old camera that doesn't work so well.)

Buddy Walk Reminder for August

Last year many of you followed our adventure with the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta's Buddy Walk. Just wanted to let you know we are doing it again and would love to have your support.

The purpose of the Buddy Walk is to raise money. They use the money to promote national education, research and advocacy projects for people with Down Syndrome. Obviously, that is important to our family.

If you would like to help you may go to our family site:

http://buddywalk.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=237018&supId=182868676

And donate online using your credit card.

You may instead send a check made out to DSAA. Please put Sawyer Stricklin in the Memo/For section. You may either send the check to us or directly to:
Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta
Attn: Buddy Walk
4355 J Cobb Parkway, #213
Atlanta, GA 30339

Thank you for your support!

More Pictures (as promised)

Here are a few more pictures. We took 200+ pictures. So I'm sure I'll have a few more to post later. Have a great weekend!

Here we are getting ready to go to church.

Pop and Sawyer. Nana and Sawyer on the tractor.



Just after getting our bath.