"B" is for "B"irthday and "B"oo!

Whew! What a busy weekend we had. Saturday, Judson and Mommy made cupcakes to celebrate Sawyer's birthday. Come to find out, Sawyer and Ansley are not overly fond of cupcakes. Never fear though, Judson likes them enough for everyone. Sunday, we went to the zoo for Boo at the Zoo. We met some friends there. We went trick or treating. Some went thru the haunted house. Some did not. The kangaroo stuck his head inside the pumpkin! The monkeys were out in the open, no cage! (I mean the REAL monkeys) I know it looks like they were not having fun at the zoo but they LOVED it. (How can you not love candy?) They were worn out by the end of the day and also a bit overwelmed by all the madness.

Playing with one of my presents...............I'm "2" years old!


Having fun yet?




Grooving with my buddy, Amelie! Meanwhile, Ansley showed off a few of her dance moves. (That's Sawyer's foot in the picture with Judson. Even he got out on the dance floor and busted a few moves.)



All tuckered out! (Yes, Sawyer fell asleep before we even made it to the car.)

New Hats!

Today was NEW HAT day. Even in Hot-Lanta, there is still an occasional need for a hat. They all loved their hats but Sawyer was especially excited about it. And NO we do not beat our children. The scratches on Sawyer's face this week are where he was rubbing his face because of allergies. Needless to say, I've cut the fingernails back. The green stuff on Ansley's face is icing from birthday cupcakes, NOT snot!!!! She is hilarious. She cannot stand for her hands to be dirty but she doesn't mind her face being dirty. In fact, she does not even like for you to wash her face but please please PLEASE get the dirt off her hands.

First Steps and Other Things

Just today Sawyer has started taking some steps. It's usually step, step, dive! It's a great start. He'll be 2 this week. I guess he's decided it's time to get on the stick and get things done. You can see by the pictures, it's all good! Life is just about being happy!!!! (no matter what your circumstances)

Ansley and Judson have decided that 'slurpy noodles' (or "noo-noo" as Ansley says) RULE! It's all my fault. I showed them how to slurp the noodles into the mouth. Now, eating is that much more fun. Judson says he can put more noodles in his mouth (at one time) than his sister. You decide...


Sometimes you don't know how tired you are until you sit still for 10 minutes!

Just another week

Nothing exciting to report at Stricklin-Central this week. Just the same old routine. I LOVE ROUTINE!!!!! Sawyer met his new occupational therapist this week. Boy, did he show out. He pulled every trick out of his book. She was appropriately impressed. Ansley continues to learn new words. She is Little Miss Social Butterfly. (the total opposite of Judson) She never meets a stranger. Everywhere we go, she is saying "hi" or "hey" or "helyo". It's pretty funny, the "helyo" has a very Asian accent while the "hey" has a decidedly southern twang to it. The pics are just some odds and ends. Sawyer is crying/screaming because he wasnt getting his dinner NOW. Ansley is modeling her pippy-longstocking outfit. And Judson is dancing. You can see he inherited Randy's groove-thang!

By the way, you do know you can run your cursor over the picture and click and it will bring it up in a larger window where you can see the pics better, right?

Have a great day!

Buddy Walk (long)

Today was a very big day. We all participated in the Atlanta Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk was started by the National Down Syndrome Society in 1995 to promote acceptance and awareness of people with Down syndrome. In 1995 there were 17 walks around the country, in 2006 there are more than 275 Buddy Walks planned. I would encourage anyone looking for a very enjoyable and inspiring event to attend a Buddy Walk. The event that we attended was held in the park at Duluth town square. There was at least 1500 people in attendance. Activities included things such as inflatable bouncy thingies, cake walks, silent autions, raffles and continuous musical entertainment. There was also a family from the Atlanta area with 23 special needs children (many with Down syndrome) in attendance. Several of the children in this family presented a gynastics performance. They were very good. The family received a $10,000 check from the Atlanta Down Syndrome Association, which I'm sure will go a long way in helping them continue what is truly amazing work for extremely deserving children.

The main event, of course, was the walk, in which you had the choice of taking the 1/4 mile walk or the 1 mile walk. Sawyer wanted to the go the full mile so that's what we did and everyone made it with no problems.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who donated to the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta in Sawyer's name. (GiGi, Jim Morris, Nana, Pop-Pop, David, Sarah and Josh, Lori, Leigh-Anne, and Evie) It means a great deal to us and I cannot fully express in words the awareness and opportunities that the donations promote for people with Down Syndrome. I can confidently say that each person with Down Syndrome who has been given the opportunity to realize their full potential will, without a doubt, help numerous others, with or without Down syndrome, to realize the beauty and wonder that life is.

Sawyer and the Doctor's Visit

Today we took Sawyer back to the cardiologist for a checkup. They are all amazed at how well he is doing. He had an EKG and and Echo and all was well. He does not have to go back until next summer. (about 9 months) Since he is the first for his type case to survive, they just don't know what to do with him, so they want to see him next summer.

Funny side note: Little Miss Priss was ever the flirt. While we were in the waiting room, she decided to try to make friends with a little boy. This little boy was playing a hand held game. So she sat down close to him. She tried everything in her bag of tricks to get his attention. She blinked her eyes. He never looked up. She made some noise. He didn't notice. She even offered him her bag of goldfish crackers. Again, he was oblivious to her ways. Had she had time, I'm sure she would have clubbed him over the head in order to gain his undivided attention and probably would have taken his game too.

Buddy Walk-October 14

Hi Everyone,

Just an update on Sawyer's fund raising for DSAA's Buddy Walk. He's raised $385 so far! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to his efforts. We walk next weekend. If you would still like to contribute, you can do so via the following methods. All contributions are tax deductible.

Sincerely,
Randy, Jan, Judson, Sawyer and Ansley

To donate online, click here to visit my personal Web page.

Check out the Team Page to see our little guy's picture, too.

To send a donation:

Make all checks payable to:

DSAA Put "Sawyer Stricklin" in the memo line

Mail to: DSAA
4355 J Cobb Parkway #213
Atlanta, GA 30339

This Week in Pictures

Not much to say. We had a good week. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Friends

We had some friends come over on Saturday. They have 3 boys! We all had a great time. Judson found a new playmate with Evan. They decorated cookies and built Thomas train tracks and 'trimmed' limbs off bushes in the back yard. Ansley had lots of kids to boss around and had someone else to flirt with. (as in Scott, the dad) Sawyer just did not know what to think. It was good for us to see old friends and good for the kids to make new friends.

I'm also throwing in a tu-tu dress picture for your enjoyment!

Good Ol' Rocky Top (lots of pics)

Oh what a wonderful weekend we had. We loaded up the car and headed to the Smokey Mountains for a long weekend. We were looking forward to enjoying the beauty that is so bountiful up there along with visiting some 'kin folk' (as Judson likes to say). Well, Mother Nature had other things in store. It rained inches upon inches! They even asked that people not come to Neyland Stadium because the streets were flooded. So outdoor beauty was limited to our view from the hotel room. We did get alot of visiting in and that was so much fun. It was the first time my family had been able to meet Ansley. She warmed up to them pretty quickly. (especially the men!)


We did have a few meltdowns. Have you ever stayed in ONE hotel room FOUR days with THREE very young children? The key is to keep moving. Do not stay in the room very long. We hit the mall in Knoxville (the 'K' is silent, so Judson tells me), the outlet mall and Christmas village in Pigeon Forge, along with a few eating establishments. Another key is NOT to go to restaurants where the food takes longer than 10 minutes to arrive at your table. All I can say is we left the hotels in one piece and the restaurants just a little bit messier than we found them.



It was wonderful and we're already thinking about what we'd like to do next time!

Observations after 3 months.

Can you believe it has only been 3 months since Ansley came home? It just hit me today, this child hasn't been with us FOREVER. It sure feels like she has. Her communication has grown geometrically over the last 3 months. Don't get me wrong, she still WHINES. Oh boy, does she whine. But she has gotten better. She is saying alot of words: Momma, DaDa, JuhJuh (Judson), SawSaw, bye, hello, wah(water), MeMe (cat), eat, no, bad. She is sleeping thru the nite with minimal waking. She still bites Sawyer every once in a while but she knows that is "BAD". She also knows what timeout means. She loves to GO, just like her mommy. She is very observant. She loves to put puzzles together. She loves music. She loves shoes. She is a little gymnast. She likes to play games: "Where's Ansley?" and "Ring around the Rosies". And she follows Judson around like a little puppy. What a perfect addition to our family!

This Week's Pictures

I had so much fun adding pictures to the collage last week, I decided to do it again for this week. Couple of things: One, Sawyer has a black eye because he fell while trying to cruise aroung the kitchen table. Two, Ansley LOVES music and LOVES to dance. Three, Ansley loves hiding underneath the bed! Four, Judson has a new Big Boy bike, hence the helmet.

Enjoy!!

Odds and Ends

This is just a collage of pics I've taken the last couple of days. EXPLANATION: Ansley is underneath the megasaucer in the middle right pic. While underneath the megasaucer, she was using the seat like a periscope. Thus the picture in the top right.

Judson's Birthday

Let me just take this opportunity to brag on my oldest son. His #4 birthday is coming up. And his Nana and Pop were in town and we decided to celebrate. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. His answer was " His mommy and a cake". Then I asked would he want a store bought cake or would he like to make a cake. He decided he wanted to make a train cake. So we spent a few hours making and decorating the cake. He even cracked the eggs (including some shells) and ran the mixer.
Then we opened presents. I promise you he would have been happy with any 'one' of these gifts. After opening each one, he'd want to play with it. He didn't want to move on to the other gifts. I've seen so many kids just mow thru packages and when the packages were all opened, they'd just say, "Are there any more". Not this kid. He was content just playing with the one gift he was opening. We had to coax him to get him to open the rest of the presents. Gosh, I hope he never changes.

He is an awesome little boy and growing into quite a young man!!!!!

Play Date

We had a playdate today with some cyber friends from Reece's Rainbow. The kids and I loaded up the car and treked north. It wasn't that bad, comparatively. We had a great time and got to make some new friends. Plus, it's always more fun to play with someone else's toys rather than the 'same' toys you have at your own house.