Things We Like to Do (lots of pictures)

There are lots of things we like to do. Seems like lately, we've gotten to do many of our favorite things. Here's some high lights. (you should be able to click on the picture to make it larger.)

Practice our penmanship and catch caterpillars. Look for 4-leaf clovers while playing with our furry friends. (who need a haircut)
Go here with our friends from our local Down Syndrome group.



Feed the Animals and squeal with glee when they take the food right out of your hands!

Wonder?????
Feed some more.....












Admire....

I have more great pictures. I've added them to a slide show below. The kids loved it. Ansley was the most fun to watch. She loved that the deer and the squirrels would come up and eat right out of her hands. The squirrels would just come up and 'ask' and the deer would nudge you if you weren't paying attention to them. Judson was taking it all in. I think it bothered him that the animals were in cages. We explained that most were rehabilitated or rescued animals and some could not be left to roam around and most would not make it out in the wild. Sawyer wasn't liking the animals so close but he loved the socializing. We'll definitely make this a regular outing.

Day Out

The kids and I met Kimmy and Olivia (mom and daughter from Dumplings class) for a play date today. We met at a kid's place and boy did the kids have fun. Judson was a bit older but still had a good time. Ansley wanted to be all shy (but I wouldn't let her) at first but she warmed up after a while. Sawyer, marched right in, said HI to everyone and started playing. Here are some pictures.

I swear, I thought she'd flip over. Alas, she never did.

Take a Look

I want you to go to this link: http://www.reecesrainbow.com/homecomings.htm

I want you to scroll down about 1/3 of the way and click on the Cornish's Blog. I don't post it here as I do not know them personally and don't want to publish their blog without permission.

Emma's mom has created a button to link to their blog. I've posted it on the right side of my blog. You can click on that and follow along. If your time is short, just read the post about Emma's cardiologist visit and you'll get the picture.

I want you to read about their daughter, Emma. Emma's medical story is much like Sawyer's, which is why I have been drawn to their blog. The difference is, that at the beginning of this year, Emma was lying in a bed in an orphanage in the Ukraine. She had little hope of life outside that orphanage. Now she is in the states. She has a heart condition that would most often be corrected by surgery at birth or soon after. However, she is 5 years old and has not had the surgery. By not having the surgery, her body has done some things to compensate. These things may prevent her from having surgery and may greatly shorten her life. (Like she may only have months to live, shorten)

This story amazes/touches me on so many different levels. While I'm not an overly 'religious' person, I do know what FAITH is. I hear so often people talk of their faith. I know of no one who has lived their faith more than this couple. They chose 2 children with medical conditions (On top of a diagnosis of Down Syndrome) to adopt. They knew nothing of the prognosis of these conditions but suspected that they may only have a short time with Emma. They chose her anyway. They did this because their 'faith' in God led them to do so.

They chose 2 children who have Down Syndrome. At home waiting on these 2 children, were 2 more children. One of these children also had Down Syndrome. The strength of this couple astonishes me. So, I ask you to read their story. (Have tissue ready) It is one of unselfishness and hope and faith. It is one that should inspire you to do more than you think you can.

More Pictures of "The Bow"

After her "Tap" dance: (Notice, the 'tap' shoes on the wrong feet)

Arms Out!
Dramatic Hair Swish and she bows forward
And....THE FINALE! (head swishes back and arms out, preparing for the next bow)

Everyone gets in on the act.

The Thing with Pooh

As Ansley's personality continues to emerge, it is becoming ever apparent that she will be 'outgoing'. Nothing could be farther from my personality than that. I'm a shy introvert, preferring small groups to large crowds. So what is a mom to do but suck it up and do things that are out of her comfort zone. I see endless recitals (dance, music, etc) in my future.

My daughter has been perfecting her bow. Not sure where she learned about a bow but I do know she is working on it, constantly. She begins with her hands on her chest, elbows up and out. Then one hand goes out and then the next. THEN, the head slings back (making sure the hair swishes properly) and then down to her chest as she bows from the waist. Then she raises back up with a very exaggerated head swish. It's something to behold. I can see her on stage now after a particularly rousing dance performance. People applauding and THE BOW.

Here she is beginning The Bow. (Only 1 hand, since the other hand was holding a prize possession) She is wearing her favorite house coat. It is one I had when I was a little girl. She loves it!

New Judsonisms

First:
J: Have you ever wanted to trade places with someone, just for a day?
M: Sure. Who would you choose to be for 1 day?
J: Maybe a 70 year old person, so I can see what it's like to be older.

Second:
J: Why can you pause a video but not life?

If I could pause life, it'd be right here for just one more minute to enjoy 4 of my 6 babies. (the other 2 were in their crate) Of course, I'd fast forward through the "Yes I am", "No you aren't" moments.

Easter 2008

Growing up, I remember going to my Grandmother's every Easter. We would go to church with her and then have a big lunch with all my cousins, uncles, aunts, brothers, sister, grandparents, parents, and whomever else showed up. Then we'd have an Easter egg hunt. I LOVED IT!

I am so happy my kids can continue the tradition. I am happy there are more cousins to help with the tradition. We have such a great family!

All the cousins...such a great melting pot of 'flavors'....
The hunt is on!After the hunt, more play! They played on the inflatable jumpy thing ALL WEEKEND!After all that play....you just HAVE to have a nap....

Almost Anniversary

Coming up on 10 YEARS of marriage! Wow! And they said it'd never last. (Okay, not sure who said it but I'm sure someone did)

Here are some pictures of the best things 10 years has brought into my life:

Thing 1 is hidden behind things 2,3 and 4.Things 2 and 3:Thing 4
I'm certainly blessed to have such a wonderful husband and 3 amazing children.

And for an added bonus to today's post. Here is a picture of the flowers the kids made during Sawyer's therapy session. Aren't they pretty?

Used Car Salesman?????

I went into the boys' room today, only to find out there was a sale going on. (Judson being the salesman) I bought a bed for $25 which I thought was a good price. Then I bought a xylophone for a mere $2. I thought that was great until I found out in order to play it, I'd need to pay $50 for the mallet. Wow, that's how they get you. Then he tried to sell me things from the 'clearance' rack. His sister's "Very Nice Stuffed Rabbit" was on sale. It was marked down from $3 to $1.50. Her blanket was 'free'! Amazing, all of her 'stuff' was on clearance. There were some really good deals!

Updates

Haven't posted many pictures lately, so I thought I'd post a few. Don't have much time because Ansley's friend Olivia is coming by today. I might need to pick up a toy or 2 or maybe 100!

Ansley's potty update:
She actually is doing quite well (as long as she's wearing the cloth diapers AND I catch her before she goes and hides in a corner).

Spring is in the air and the bicycles are out:


The flowers are starting to bloom:My all time favorite flower! It's a happy flower! It's a hopeful flower! AND it will forever remind me of my Grandmother.

Only At My House

Now, I'm sure lots of fathers discuss stocks with their sons. I suspect we are one of the rare households where the son in the discussion is only 5 years old. Yet, that is what I overheard today. Dad explaining dividends and splits to his son by pretending to set up an imaginary company. They set up Judson's Bungee Jumping business. Randy goes through the whole procedure of getting 'investors'. (Nana, Pop, Jim Morris, Momma, Daddy, GiGi, Aunt Jennifer, etc) How they'd pay dividends when they made 'extra' money. How they'd 'split' the stock if it got too expensive. Blah Blah Blah. They go through the whole explanation for about 15-20 minutes.... Dad explaining, Judson asking questions. In the end, Judson says, "but Dad, I'm too young to run a business".

AMEN!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/03/02/an_ambassador_against_fear/

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (long)

Every knows raising children is tough work. I'm not complaining as it's the best job in the world. Just sharing some of:

THE GOOD

I LOVE 5! It is such a great age. I wish Judson had a twin brother. It is that great. (Anyone who remembers the first 6 months of J's life, knows I would be dead now had he been twins) He has his moments but overall, I'm loving this age. On Saturday, I took him to the mall. I was looking for some clothes for me (BTW, who over the age of 30 wears the MOD SQUAD look that is in the malls these days) I told him AFTER we looked for mom some clothes he could go bungy jumping. As we were walking through the department store, the conversation went like this:
J: "Mom, I'm feeling so misunderstood"
M: "Why's that?"
J: "I REALLY want to go bungee jump"
M: "I'm feeling misunderstood too"
J: "Why"
M: "because I REALLY want to find me some clothes"
J: "I know, I know but I really want to go bungee jumping"
M: "I know, I know"

Later on, after bungee jumping and a snack, we're in another store and I"m trying on clothes. He hasn't stopped talking since we entered the dressing room.
J: Do you wear that size?
M: Not sure, that's why I brought in several sizes.
J: Do you need to lose weight?
M: Yes, I do
J: Do you need to lose 100 pounds? Maybe you need NutriSystem
M: Maybe, but I just need to lose 20 pounds
J: I'm pretty sure if you use NutriSystem you have to lose 100, or 90 or 80 or 70 pounds or something.
M: How bout I just try to eat less and I try to lose 20 pounds on my own
J: Okay. Mom? Do you think anyone knows we're in here?

THE BAD

When you are raising your children, in your head you constantly have the debate: "Is it genetic, is it age or is it something I'm doing wrong" With Sawyer, his tantrums bring on yet another dynamic. Is it Down Syndrome? He has some really 'bad' tantrums! He sounds possessed, like something from the Exorcist. I know it's a combination for genetics (Right, Pop-pop?) and age and Down Syndrome. Then you come to "How do I handle it" because with DS, that extra wrinkle comes into play. You can't overreact because that just fuels the fire. Punishment has very limited success, if any. The thing that works the best is THE STARE. So when his head starts spinning and THE VOICE starts coming out (in public or at home), the best thing to do is give him the best Pat Summit stare you have. And that's what I do...and I'm GOOD at it.

THE UGLY

So if parenting a child is hard and you ask yourself all the afore mentioned questions, then add the 'adoption' dynamic. You lose some of the 'genetic' dynamic (At least in our case) because I have no idea about the genetics. You add the adoption dynamic because you say, is it age or is it something that she's not resolved in her past? Ansley has such an artistic side to her. It was obvious from day 1. On our first post-placement visit with the social worker (at 1 or 2 months post placement), the social worker asked if we'd noticed any 'talents' she might have. I said then, "Artistic". It was obvious from the way she touched the keys on a piano. Not the typical 18month old banging, but a gentle touch as if she was listening to and memorizing each sound. Even now, she'll take a box of 24 crayons and lay them out in order in a very neat line. Not only is the line very orderly, the colors are grouped together. Not only are the colors grouped together but they are grouped by hues, with the red-orange hues together and the red-blue hues together and so on down the line. She can spend an hour getting these just right. In some ways, this is easy. I can say to her, "I wonder if your birth mother was artistic". Lord knows she didn't get it from Randy or I. We can only give her opportunities to grow that talent. We didn't impart that talent to her.

Then you have the stubborn, controlling, angry side of her. She's been this way since day one. Easy to chalk it up to change in her world. After 18 months and it's still here, what do you say, Still adoption adjustment issues? Age? Gender? Genetics? It's frustrating. We've really hit a wall lately with potty training. I'm sick of diapers. So last week, I decided to take dire measures. I started using cloth diapers. Not just 1 but 2, then a pr of training pants, then rubber pants. Makes it impossible to get into her skinny jeans. It has helped on the pee-pee. (Not so much the poo-poo) The flip side, she is feeling she has lost control. Oh the battles we are having for control......Oh the tantrums.....They've grown into some major battles. We've tried to show her what will come from going to the bathroom as far as positives. BUT I think she only sees she has lost control. She is frustrated to say the least. So we push on. We can't give up now as we've gotten this far but it's tough, IT'S UGLY right now.

Who'd of Thunk It

MontessoriMom.com - You're an Artsy Mother Hen:

"I'm an artsy mother hen"

Check out this website to see what type of mother hen you are:

http://montessorimom.com/what-type-mother-hen-are-you/

On the same website is a survey to determine what 'gifts/talents' your children have.
Here's what we came up with: (Sorry for the underlines...can't get rid of them)

Judson: Language
Ansley: Creativity
Sawyer: Adventure

Our Typical Week

This is what our typical week looks like. This just seems normal to us. It is our life and we love it. I think our life will be much busier as the kids get older and start doing more 'extra' things. It's funny how we sometimes think our life is the only way to define "normal" but the reality is, everybody's 'normal' is different. So how can their NORM be normal when our NORM is normal? Deep, eh? OK, maybe not so deep. Here's our week in a nutshell:

Sawyer has speech class twice a week at the local elementary school. He also has a 'special instructor' that comes to the house twice a week. We are still trying to get his OT back once a week. Do you realize 4o-50 years ago, this type of education/early intervention was unheard of for a child with Down Syndrome? It is still unheard of in most other countries in the world. He is thriving! His skills are far above what he would be without this intervention. How lucky we are to live in the country and era we live in. This kid has many talents/gifts. He shines!Right now, Ansley has her Dumpling Gang that meets every Sunday for a couple of hours. She loves it. And of course, she is dragged along to everything the other 2 are doing.Judson has karate once a week. He and Sawyer are also starting swimming lessons twice a week for the whole month of March. We also try to take advantage of the things around us. Like last nite, he and his dad when to the Seuss birthday celebration.In addition to the above, we also home school our kids. Luckily, right now nothing has to 'formalized' as they are too young for the state to want to know. Anyone who knows us, knows we do not fit the stereotypical mold for home schoolers. (If there is one) We are not fundamentalist nor are we granolas. We just feel STRONGLY that based on our children and their needs and our abilities (at this point), we can do a better job than the school system, public or private.

So there you have it. On top of all the formalized 'stuffs' we do, we also have lots of fun just playing as you can tell by the pictures.

Bad Karma Week

Well....having one of those weeks. I head over to the gym last nite and see all the people standing outside. Apparently, my gym is closed, for good. It was my solice! It was the few hours a week I got to 'get away'. I'm feeling tense already. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, today we go to Judson's karate class for the parent watch day. His Sensei announced he would not be returning. (after I signed Judson up for the next session, of course) There is supposedly another teacher going to be teaching next session. We'll see how it works out. I really liked Sensei Lawson though. He had a very easy way about him and handled the 4 and 5 year olds very well. More importantly, Judson loved the class. It was good for him and he did well in it. So, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Master Taylor will be equally good with the kids and Judson will continue to like karate.

Judson's last basketball game was last week. So at this point, we're an impaired exercise family. Hope things pick up in March!

Another Chance to Help

My friend Andrea is doing another fund raiser for her kids on Reece's Rainbow. She's trying to raise money for those kids most at risk of being sent to a mental institution. Kids have very little hope of surviving in a mental institution. Many don't live even 1 year. So if it is in your heart (and pocket book) to help, please check out her website.

http://www.reecesrainbow.com/giftoflife.htm

If you don't think your donations will help, check out the homecoming page. Many of these kids would not be with their forever families had it not been for donations to Reece's Rainbow. Check out the before and after photos of these kids. Amazing what love can do.

http://www.reecesrainbow.com/homecomings.htm

We Survived!

Oh yes, we survived basketball season. J's team went 7-1. Woo-hoo! AND, J got a trophy for "Most Improved Player". He's so excited.

We also survived our first (Hopefully one of the few) trip to ChuckECheese. Can you believe in my many years on this earth I had managed to avoid that place? Talk about your sensory overload....
J was overwhelmed to say the least. So was his dad for that matter. (Like father, Like son)

This is what you do when the buzzer is going off.....

Perfect!

For some time now,I've been searching for something that is just for Ansley. I think we hit upon our opportunity. I took her to our local university to try out the Dumpling class. It's basically a 'play date' for little ones her age. There were about 4 or 5 other girls there. All were adopted from China and all were around 3 years old. The class was run by students who were majoring in Chinese studies. Most were of Asian descent (Taiwanese/Chinese) while some were Caucasian. Like most students, they kind of flew by the seat of their pants. The kids loved it. Today they learned about the year of the Rat and played games and learned nursery rhymes. ("learned" being used in the loosest sense of the word.)

It was pitiful as I was pulling out of the driveway. Ansley said, "Mom, you bring me back home when we are through?" I almost started crying. I, of course, assured her we'd be coming home. The flip side of that was as we were leaving the classroom, she said, "Mom, we come back next week?" Again, I assured her we would.

So it was a success. I love it when a plan comes together!

Been Quiet

Nothing much going on. We are just doing what we normally do. Sawyer has therapy. Judson has basketball and karate. Ansley is her typical drama queen self. Just the usual.

Judson has 2 more basketball games. They lost their first game last week. Some of the older boys were quite upset about that one. Judson was oblivious. He knew they lost but it really didn't bother him. I think he's ready for round ball to be over. He wants to take more days of karate.

Reading to brother: (We really do feed him. He's just skin and bones)
Sawyer has therapy 4 days a week. Twice he goes to the local school for speech and twice they come to our house for 'special instruction'. He's doing great. We took him to the eye doctor this week. His left eye is turning up and in. Apparently, it's not enough to require treatment at this time. It's only enough to freak mom out.


At the game:
Ansley is her usual self. She screams 'bloody murder' whether you gouge her eye out or touch her hair. She is starting her very own 'thing' this Sunday. I found a place at the local college where kids can learn about Chinese culture through play activities. (Thanks Alison for passing that on). I'm going to take her this Sunday and see what it is all about. It's geared toward 2-4 year olds, so hopefully it will be perfect for her.

All dressed up with no place to go:
We've had a few unseasonably warm days which make us wish Spring were here. (without all the bad storms)