Long update

I apologize for not posting very recently. The last few weeks of the year I was sick, and then the whole fam came down with something. It was pretty hectic with trying to get ready for Christmas.
Things are going pretty well here, both the girls had a great holiday, with lots of presents from Santa and all their grandparents. Emma got us up at the fabulous hour of 5 AM on Christmas day. Argh. So, needless to say, all the gifts were opened by about 6:15am, and by 7am, I was passed out on the couch while Jeff was watching his Blue Man Group DVD and the girls were playing with their toys. I was still sick with a monster cold & sore throat, so I had to sleep in order to muster up enough energy to cook dinner.
We had decided that I would get the quad screen done, take make Jeff feel more at ease, and so I could get a Level II U/S. I got my results back and they were within normal ranges. So, we're looking forward to hopefully finding out what this little jumping bean will be on February 3rd. It will be a belated birthday present for me, lol.
Jeff got me an Eliptical Machine for Christmas (don't write him & tell him he's a chauvenist, I asked for it), so now I'll be able to work out regularly, and hopefully be in a little better shape when this baby's born. Mt. Pleasant has a lack of gyms, the only ones around are at the SAC on campus (too expensive) and at Wellness Central (no childcare). So, working out at home was the only logical choice.
Sarah has been exploring her world, and it's about to give me a heart attack. About 2 weeks ago, she wanted to climb the stairs, and me, being the kind of mom I am, indulged her. I stood right behind her the whole way, cheering her on, until she got to the top. Her PT said that it would help her with mobility & walking. Well, she apparently took the liberty I gave her to heart, because last week, she climbed the whole stairs, by herself, when no one was watching. I was reading a book, Jeff was upstairs on the phone, and he calls down to me, "Amanda, uh, Sarah's at the top of the stairs, and no one's with her." I about died. She's since done it once more, when it was just me at home. Ok, so the barracades go up at the bottom of the stairs when we're all down in the living room. The way this house is built, there's no wall on one side of the bottom of the stairs, so putting up a gate isn't possible. So, I drag the Pack 'N Play in front of the stairs to make a wall that she can't get past.
And for someone who can't walk yet, she's lightning quick. Earlier this week, I was preparing dinner and Sarah managed, in the space of abou 10 seconds, to crawl from the other side of the kitchen, over to the cabinets, reach up & grab the cord to the crock pot that was soaking on the counter, and pull it down on her head. The edge of the crock hit her squarely in the middle of her forehead, by her hairline. Instant goose egg, not to mention being soaked by cold soapy water. No broken skin, no bleeding, but off to the ER we go. After a head x-ray, they said she had no cracks or fractures (thank goodness). So, while I get it's true that babies are made of rubber, I'm really hoping she doesn't keep testing this theory. Because I'm about to have a stroke. Maybe it's because Emma was my first child and therefore I was free enough to keep ALL my attention on her ALL the time, but I seriously don't remember Emma being this adventurous or getting into this much trouble. As you get older, and have more responsibilities, you get less time to pay attention to everything all at once. My eyes are constantly darting around to make sure there's nothing in Sarah's path that can hurt her, but she still manages to get into something that she probably shouldn't. All this while still trying to take care of the house, not to mention 2 (and soon to be 3) other people. Oh, and myself; I always forget to take care of myself. That's why sometimes it's 3pm and I still haven't taken a shower. Emma's getting easier to take care of as she gets older. She's able to give herself a bath (she doesn't like showers, it's the water hitting her head or something), dress herself, take care of her bathroom necessities, clean her room (although this takes an act of Congress to actually get it done), etc. And not that's Sarah's hard to take care of, she's actually quite a pleasant baby/toddler. She doesn't get upset easily, is a good eater, and most of the time will sleep pretty well. She's just animated and has a ton of energy, which is hard to keep up with sometimes. She's doing really well with her gross motor skills, she's cruising along the furniture and bear crawling everywhere (that's where her legs are straight, with her hands & feet on the ground). She's also starting to sign more. She got the "Baby Signing Time" DVD's for Christmas, and has already learned "please" and "more". She's got "mommy" and "daddy" more sporadically. They're really cute videos. And one of the kids from the Trisomy21online.com website is in the video! His name is Brady. He's the only kid with special needs in the whole line of videos (I believe). She's also (finally) getting bigger. She's up to 18 lbs. and is in 12 month clothes now. We have her spitting up pretty much under control, and we discovered that she's sensative to liquid milk, so we've put her on soy, and she's taken to it pretty well. She can have other dairy products (cheese, ice cream) but in moderation.
In medical news, Sarah has a sedated ABR (basically a more advanced hearing test) next week. I'm not looking forward to them putting my baby under general anesthesia. I was freaking out when they had to do it to Emma when she had Bell's Palsy at age 3. Sarah's not even 2. And I have to deal with it by myself. Jeff starts his spring semester this week, and really can't take time off. And of course, it's in Lansing, so it's going to be a long day. But, they really can't do any diagnostic tests at her ENT's office here. They just don't have the equipment small enough for her tiny ears. She's never had an actual diagnosed ear infection, but she could have fluid in there, which would affect her hearing, and in turn, her speech. I dealt with that with Emma, and Sarah's already at a disadvantage for speech issues because of having Down syndrome. I want to circumvent that if at all possible.
Emma is doing wonderfully in Kindergarden. She loves school, loves her friends and her teachers. She's losing more teeth than I think should be allowed. Poor kid looks like she got into a losing fight. She has 4 spaces, her two top ones, and 2 on the bottom. She's also growing like a weed. She's so tall! She's definitely got genes from both Jeff & I. She's got long legs and a long torso. She's also so dark. Her hair has gotten very brown, and I think she's got more color in her skin than I do. She still has Jeff's bright blue eyes and she's got a smattering of cute little freckles on her nose & cheeks. She reminds me of me, when I was her age. I look at report cards from K & 1st grade, and they all say that I was very sociable with a lot of friends. That is Emma to a "T". She actually had to stay inside for 2 minutes of recess the first day back from Winter break because she was too busy talking to her friends, lol.
And Jeff, oh Jeff. He finished his fall semester with straight A's. I'm very proud of him. He works so hard for this family, I don't know how he does it sometimes. He was recently told (hush hush) that his Interim posistion of Manager will be made permanent sometime soon. He's only had the temporary position since August, and was told that they'd make a decision in about a year. But, the people in power decided that they'd seen enough of what he could do to make him permanent sooner. They still have to go through the interview process, as this is technically a state government job, because it's a state college. But, unless something drastic happens, he's going to get the job.
As for me, I'm doing well. Finally over all the virus and stuff that had invaded my body for weeks. I'm almost 19 weeks, next week will be halfway! That's actually scary to think about. Doesn't feel like I've been pregnant for 4 1/2 months. Jeff & I have been discussing baby names, and of course, we can't agree on anything we like. Plus, he's of the mindset, why not wait until we know what we're having, then we'll have less options to choose from. Because 1/2 of this arguement is going to be moot once we find out if we're having a girl or boy. Whatever.
Ok, so I think that covers everything that's happened in the last month or so. Hopefully it won't be another month before I can post again.

Happy Birthday to Emma!!!

Well this is sorts late, as her birthday was Saturday, but we're all just getting over the weekend, so this is the chance I've had to post. Emma turned 6 years old on Saturday. Wow, that's kinda scary. She had a great day. She woke us up extra early, fun, to ask for eggs & toast for breakfast. Then, after lounging a bit, we went out to lunch at Fazoli's, and then to the salon to get our hair cut. It was a family affair, as all of us, except for Sarah, got our hair cut. I desperately needed it, as the last time I got my hair cut was in April...I think. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get some last minute birthday party things, and then it was off to the SAC bowling alley for her party. While I'd invited her whole K class, I was happy to see that only 7 of the 16 kids I invited actually showed. I think that was our limit. It kept the party short & sweet. The kids had a blast bowling, then really had fun with the cake, a Coldstone cake, yum. And when she opened her gifts, the boys were kinda dumbfounded as to why the girls ketp getting all excited over Barbie toys & horses. Guess it's a girl thing. It only lasted about an hour and a half, which was the perfect amount of time for 6 year old attention spans.
Then yesterday we had someone showing the house, which Jeff was NOT happy about. But, our landlord promised us that we only need to deal with this for another 3 weeks. Either they'll sell the duplexes, or the contract with the realtor will expire. Either way, we're thinking we'll be out of here next July. So, we're looking into buying a house again. Since Jeff has had to slow down on school to halftime, it's going to take us twice as long to get outta here. So, buying a house might not be too terrible. We just have to make sure it's cute enough to sell when we need to get outta here.
And I think we've come to conclusion that Sarah is extremely sensative to milk fat. Or something in liquid milk that makes her projectile vomit all over the place. This has happened 4 times in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Ok, NO MORE MILK FOR THE BABY. Guess it's soy or rice milk time, joy. She's cool with cheese, yogurt & ice cream, just not milk. Little girl keeps us on our toes!

I swear I'm not dead

I know...I know...It's been awhile, so sue me. We've actually been quite busy, so it's not like I've just been sitting around eatin bon bons, regardless of what my husband thinks. We went to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. That was fun....long drive, with Sarah deciding not to sleep until nearly 4am...but fun. It was nice for Emma to see her little friends Ryan & Austin again. And Sarah had a great time following Justin around and generally wreaking havoc along with everyone else. Tiana & I did our annual "Get-up-at-the-butt-crack-of-dawn-why-do-we-do-this-to-ourselves-every-year" shopping trip, which was punctuated by going back home to deal with a fevery, lethargic, and anti-food & drink Sarah. It was made even more exciting by the fact that we had Thanksgiving dinner the day AFTER Thanksgiving. We drove down there on Wednesday night, it's a 14 hour drive, you do the math. Ok, so I'll tell you we got there at 7am, not entirely up for cooking all day. PLus, I felt bad that I wouldn't have been there early to help Tiana. So, we figured, what's the harm in putting it off for a day. The kids won't notice. And Jeff certainly didn't care. He got his hot wings that he wanted.
With Robert being in Afghanistan, it was up to Jeff to carve the turkey. Ryan helped, and it was really neat to see. The weather was ok, chilly the first day or so, but after that, warmed up quite nicely. We helped Tiana put up her Christmas lights on her house, and we spent a lot of time discussing a couple's trip to Sandals that won't happen until 2008, but it was nice to dream. We were able to stay until Monday, which made our drive home a lot less stressful.
Since we've been home, we've mostly been dealing with Jeff's finals coming up, people showing up all the time to look at the house, and trying to get organized for Christmas & birthdays. Emma's in on Saturday. She's having a party at the SAC bowling alley. She's really excited about it. Only one person has confirmed so far, though, so it might be a small party, lol. I invited everyone in her class. That's 17 kids. Yikes. Thus the reason we're not having it at our house this year.
We got our tree up last weekend. We went out & bought a 7.5 ft. fake, prelighted tree. It actually looks very nice. Emma put most of the ornaments on while I was busy trying to straighten out the limbs of the tree, having just come out of the box. Sarah was having a blast trying to eat all the boxes & bags the ornaments came in, and Jeff was being domestic, making his fabulous hot chocolate. All this topped off with Christmas music playing in the background, very Norman Rockwell.

Ah the joys of Michigan weather

I say that with a BIG smirk of saracasm. It snowed yesterday. Not a bunch, maybe 1/4 inch, just a dusting. But, it's COLD!!!! The temp when we took Jeff to work this morning was 25 degrees, with a wind child of 10. Yes, 10, as in degrees. Brrrrr. When it's that cold outside, you don't even want to move, because it's too uncomfortable to try.
I bundled up Emma like a Stay-Puff Marshmallow this morning. She had a sweatshirt on underneath her snow coat, with one of my scarves wrapped around her neck & a fuzzy headband covering her ears (she keeps forgetting her snow hat at school), and gloves. I don't envy the teachers who have to unwrap the kids when they get to school.
I was a bit upset because when she got off the bus yesterday, she wasn't wearing her coat. She was wearing a dress, and her coat was in her backpack. Ok, these people put my child on the bus, where you have to walk outside to get ON the bus, without her coat??? I was a little flabbergasted. It was freezing yesterday. If that happens again today, I'll be having words with the person who puts the kids on the bus. I know for a fact that the bus doesn't always show up right as school gets out & I've seen the kids waiting for it outside for at least 10 minutes. My kid better not have to wait in the cold for 10 minutes when it's 30 degrees outside because you don't want to bother with asking her where her coat is. She's 5, she needs help.
This weather doesn't help my family, who are all in various stages of recovery from some sort of illness. Sarah has been snotty for 6 weeks, Jeff stayed home from work yesterday with the flu, and Emma was just put on some medicine for a viral cough. Joy. Sarah's pedi thought the snottiness might be from allergies so he put her on oral granules of Singulair. We'll see how that goes. And the little bugger hasn't been sleeping very well. The past two nights have been horrible. Then ight before last she woke up at 4am, happy as a clam; then last night she woke up at midnight & 6am. I'm exhausted. It's a good thing my morning sickness/nausea hasn't been as bad as it's been in the past otherwise we'd all be living like "Lord of the Flies" right now. We're halfway there as it is.

Say hi baby!

We had our first U/S today. We were a tad nervous going into this today, due to the fear of having more than one in there, but that was quickly alleviated. There's only one, and so far, everything looks great. We saw the heartbeat, saw it moving around, and even saw it's arms & legs. Very cool. Got a couple of pictures that I need to try & somehow get into the computer. We don't have Photoshop installed at the moment, due to us getting a brand new computer this week. So I can't crop them & make them small enough to upload. But, hopefully soon. I also need to figure out how to take a decent picture of an ultrasound.

Too many movies, not enough time

There are so many new movies out that I'm dying to see. The new Harry Potter movie comes out next week, there's a remake of "Pride & Prejudice" that looks awesome, the Chronicles of Narnia one coming out in December, ahhhh! The list goes on & on! But of course, just 2 weeks ago, when we had TIME to see a movie, I didn't find anything that looked decent. Or that both Jeff & I wanted to see. He's still not into girly films, so I'll probably have to drag a friend to see Jane Austen. I know my aunt will be severely critical off the new film, as Colin Firth is her dream man. He played Mr. Darcy in the BBC version of P & P 10 years ago. She's got a wallpaper of him in full Mr. Darcy gear on her iBook.
Sarah has discovered our stairs and it's scaring the daylights out of me. She's SO fearless and has no concept of gravity, so she'll go up a couple and then plop down, thinking the ground will be there, like it's risen up to meet her diaper-covered bum. She took a small tumble over the weekend. Only one step, but still, not fun. And she has determined that sleep is for the weak. She's decided that regardless of the fact that she goes down for the night at 8pm, she thinks it's perfectly acceptable to still be awake at 10pm. I hope this is a phase, because I'm running on 5-6 hours of sleep a night as it is, which isn't cutting it for my pregnant self. I'm exhausted. It's so bad, I fell asleep at the computer the other night. I need to start taking a nap everyday, just so I can make it til the kids' bedtime!
Sarah has also decided that Duplo blocks are the best toys...to scatter & spread around the floor & then leave for me to step on and break my ankle. She does something put a couple together & then rip them apart, she likes the ripping apart.
Emma, on the other hand, is my prolific artist child. She is CONSTANTLY drawing, coloring, or creating something. We have bags of art & projects spanning only the last 2 years. It's crazy. But, she loves it. She's probably gone through at least one ream of computer printer paper, on her own, about every 2-3 months. We finally had to put a halt on that, and made her use her own construction paper. But, at least once a day, I get the question,"Mom, can I have a piece of paper??" I think the demand has gone down only because she's at school all day & uses THEIR paper. Maybe we have an ar-TEEST on our hands.

Morning funnies from Emma

My daughter is too funny. She tells me this morning, "I can't get dressed mommy, my bottom is itchy." Then she proceeds to ask me if I want to scratch her bottom for her, lol.

Halloween Weekend

After admitting defeat at not being able to make Emma's costume this year (her demands were a little high, lol), we broke down & bought the girls' costumes. Emma went as Belle and Sarah a lamb. Emma's school had a Harvest Festival on Saturday afternoon. It was fun. The girls went to different booths & got stickers for doing different tasks, like playing Halloween bingo, pinning a nose on a scarecrow, and decorating cookies. Once they accumulated 8 stickers, they could turn them in for a goodie bag. They had a Goodie Walk, which was kinda like musical chairs, but with numbers on the floor. When the music stopped, you stopped on a number, and if your number was drawn out of a hat, you got a goodie plate, filled with homebaked cookies, cupcakes & other yummy treats. Jeff played with Sarah and she won after only 2 turns! Emma was determined to win something, and kept at it. She also won a goodie plate. Then the girls & I went on a hay ride and I met a woman whose sister-in-law is the one that started the Capital Area Down syndrome society! I thought that was such a cool coincedence. It was a nice afternoon.
That evening, we had our friends Andrea & Gabe come over for dinner. It was a nice relaxing meal, and afterwards, we taught them how to play Spades. Of course, the girls won.
Then on Sunday Emma had her last soccer game. The weather was beautiful and the team played great! We actually won!!! Our first win! It was awesome, the kids have had so much fun.
Yesterday, being Halloween, we went to the Towers on campus for our new annual tradition of Trick-or-Treating. It's nice, because there are 6 buildings of 5-9 floors each, with at least 5 rooms on each floor giving out candy. It's a kid's dream come true. We only had to go through 2 buildings to get each kid a full bucket o sugar. I've uploaded some of the pics to the photobucket page. Click here.
The only problem with going out for Halloween is that we miss all the kids who come around our neighborhood, but truth be told, there probably aren't many. The street we live on is very busy and we don't have a ton of small kids in the area. Mostly just college kids. But, that just means, more candy for us. Not like this preggy needs it, lol.

An apple a day won't keep the OB away

These are appointments we can't avoid when we're pregnant. Not that they're bad, as later in the pregnancy it's awesome to hear the baby's heartbeat. But, in the beginning, when you're forced to make all these choices about testing and making sure you're as far a long as you think are just not fun. And the filling out of the paperwork, such as what I ate for the past two days (huh?). I told the information nurse that I wasn't getting the quad screen test, because, honestly, what's the point? What could happen? I could have a child with Down syndrome?? Uh, check that off the list, I've already got Sarah, and she's wonderful. I even joked to Jeff the other day about how I feel for people with "typical" kids, because they always seem to be the ones who are screaming whenever I'm on the phone with their parents. Not to say that Sarah doesn't have her fair share of temper tantrums & meltdowns. Oh yes, she's definitely a toddler. But, most of the time, she's very pleasant in her demeanor. She doesn't get flustered as much as I recall Emma doing (such as me keeping her out of the pantry, she just doggedly keeps trying to climb in there, no tears, just determination). Maybe this is part of the stereotype of people with T21 are always so happy. I don't think that's it. I think they have a different prospective on life, even at this young of age. Sarah just doesn't see the point in getting upset if it's the 5th time I've dragged her away from the cat's water dish & told/signed to her "no". She just looks at me & smiles, as if to say, whatever mom! I'm gonna go back & do it anyways!
Anyways, Jeff wants me to get the test, for his peace of mind. But, I've told him, it won't help mine. It'll worry me if it's elevated, and it really won't even if it's normal, because what if it's wrong? I just don't want to deal with the stress. It wouldn't change my mind either way. The only thing I'm concerned about is the baby's organs, the heart, brain, that sort of thing. I might end up seeing an ultrasound specialist to get a Level 2 ultrasound, but he requires that his patients have the quad screen first.
My OB is concerned that I'm measuring a little farther along than I should be for 7 weeks. I've gained about 4 pounds (by my estimate) in the past 3-4 weeks, which is odd, as I don't think I've been eating more than normal. So, he's scheduled a regular ultrasound in his office in 3 weeks. One, he wants to make sure that I'm as far along as we think (if not, I might be 4 weeks ahead, not sure) and two, he wants to make sure there's only one in there, yikes! Don't even joke!!!!! The thought we could be having twins stresses me out more than the idea of having another child with T21. When I told Jeff this, all he kept saying was, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! You're NOT having twins!" LOL I think I'm going to give the poor guy a heart attack. So, we'll see in 3 weeks how things go. I'm still having the nausea, but it's not as debilitating as it was earlier. Maybe I'm just learning to combat it a little better.

Blech

That's how I feel at the moment. Ugh, morning sickness has reared it's ugly head. I've just been feeling slightly nauseous the past week or so, but today it got a lot worse. So much for my morning cup of decaf with french vanilla creamer. I know I need to eat something in the morning to help prevent it, but I'm always afraid I'm going to pick the ONE food my tummy can't handle that day, and it won't turn out so pleasant. But, so far, the nausea has been like it was with Sarah, once I get through it in the morning, I'm ok for the rest of the day. But, we'll see how it goes.

Expecting

Jeff & I found out on Friday that we're expecting again. It's a little shocking & unexpected but we're excited none the less. According to my rudimentary calculatons, I'm due in the middle o June, near our anniversary. That's also near Emma's Kindergarden graduation, so we'll see which comes first, lol. Sarah came an hour into the day after her due date. And so far, both of my kids have been morning births, so who knows? If I miss Emma's K grad, I'll have a valid excuse.
Emma's already requesting a girl & Jeff a boy. But, I'm fairly certain the time has come & gone for putting in votes. The decision has been made & it's final. My grandparents from Santa Barbara were visiting on their cross-country trip said, "You could get both & have twins!"Don't even joke.
So now we have a little logistics to figure out: where everyone will sleep, as well as when to get Sarah out of the crib, and the dreaded "double-stroller" issue. But we still have a lot of time to worry about all that stuff. Now if only I hadn't just given away all my baby stuff...

Friends & colds

Our friends Robert & Tiana, along with their 3 boys, Ryan (5 3/4), Austin (3 1/2) and Justin (13 months) were here over the weekend for a visit. Robert is the one who's in the Navy, but who is being sent out to Afganistan to be deployed with the Army for 7 months. He's leaving the 23rd, and we wanted to see him before he left. It's always interesting whenever we get together. The kids run around and after awhile, get on each other's nerves. The babies roll/crawl (in Sarah's case)/walk (in Justin's case) and try to eat the cat food. And us adults play Spades and make outrageous bets. A fun time is had by all. But then comes the inevitable time of "the parting" and no one's ever happy about it. We live too far away from each other, minimum 12 hour drive. Needless to say, neither of us are ever too anxious to make the drive, although Robert & Tiana have done it quite a few more times than we have. But, with Robert leaving soon, we know we'll see Tiana & the boys more often. We're going down for Thanksgiving, they might be coming up for Christmas. And I know there will be a big celebration when Robert comes back from overseas.

The only bad part about this weekend was that Sarah woke up sicky on Saturday. She's got a cold, snotty and all nasty. No coughing or sneezing, so I'm hoping it won't get any worse. She's trying so hard to be positive, like my kids normally do, even when they're really sick. She still had enough energy to chase the cat & play with Justin. She just hates the bulb syringe. The "blue snot-sucker of death". She lashes her poor little head around, trying to evade the whooshing sound of snot being sucked out of her nostil like a vacuum. As much as I try to explain to her that she will be able to breath better without all the copious amounts of mucous in her nose, she doesn't quite believe me. Since this is really only her 3rd cold of her life (which is remarkable in & of itself), I can't really blame her for not realizing that it's helping her. She doesn't remember the last time we used it, lol.

On another note, Emma's team lost their 2nd game on Sunday. Boo. These 5-6 year old teams have ringers, I tell you! Each quarter there was ONE kid who just took the ball & knew exactly what to do with it. I'm not saying our kids aren't playing well themselves, but I think the kids on Emma's team are afraid of the net. They'll drive the ball right up to the goalie box, and ALL they have to do is kick it, but it seems like they chicken out. Emma does this, too. She'll run with the ball right up there, but then it seems she expects everyone to get out of her way and stop, so she can pause & kick the ball into the net without anyone trying to stop her. I think I should remind her the only way to do that is to get a penalty kick, and I don't think they implement that rule until about age 8-9. They're so cute in their little herd, ALL running around, no passing the ball to a teammate, no looking up to see where you're going, just running and kicking the ball. LOL It's too funny....frustrating, but funny.

This is too funny

Date: September 1, 2005
To: Child 4A0765B-1007@children.com, toddler_unit@children.com
From: Kevin, VP, Toddler Division
Subject: Quarterly Objectives

Happy new year, company members! As you know, our first quarter was a fruitful and productive one. By working together to delay our bedtimes, we acquired over 53,000 extra hours of valuable awake time. That’s 53,000 more hours of running in circles. 53,000 more hours of shaking our heads wildly and arching our backs. 53,000 more hours of the Parents straining to communicate that toothbrushes do not go in the diaper. We have seen the Parents falter and ultimately give way under our consistent efforts, and we are proud.

It should be mentioned that some of our members have made great strides in drastically limiting the variety of foodstuffs they allow to enter their face-holes. We are thinking especially of Child 3A0762C-0908, who now ingests only raisins and lukewarm water sipped from a plastic spork; Child 5B0755F-0528: ketchup on crackers and the occasional mashed grape; and, most breathtakingly, Child 8A0576L-0108: plain dried breadcrumbs licked off a moistened index finger.

For the second quarter of 2005, we’ve strengthened our resolve and shown what a little determination and a lot of screeching can accomplish. And we are ready for the next phase: Operation No-Pants.

Every morning without failing, the Caregivers initiate a dressing procedure that is tiresome at best and scratchy at worst. It distracts us from our viewing of Elmo and limits our access to our smooth smooth skin. Their motives are puzzling: either they are jealous of our smooth smooth skin or else are attempting to break our wills by imposing nonsensical rules and demanding that we comply. But they will not succeed, friends. Because we will resist.

So: no matter how sopping wet or poop-crammed your diaper is, refuse to let Caregiver remove it. Declare that diaper to be your FAVORITE DIAPER. Do not allow any larger beings to lay a finger on it. For motivation, imagine that said diaper is part of your body, like a real tushie over your tushie. If any attempt is made to remove it, you will scream. Remember: the Scream is your friend. Caregivers live in fear of the Scream. If you add to the Scream “No hit! No hit!” they’re sure to back away for fear of the authorities coming after them.

Once a clean diaper is on very little can stop them from dressing you. The soiled diaper is your last and best hope.

Now that you’ve mastered toddler-ese, use it! Declare your opinions at each and every turn, and make sure that they are as vague and baffling as your pronunciation. If Caregiver explains that dressing is a vital step in a traveling-to-playground initiative, screech, “Murfy! TOO MURFY!” Do not explain. Never explain.

But why do we resist, you ask? Why not get dressed and enter the playground, where fun could possibly had? Because, that’s why. Because because because. Because we must take every stand we are able to take. Also! Because Caregiver is deceiving you. There is another, better playground, a Naked Playground, with balloons and ice cream and cake. The soiled diaper will lead the way. This is true, we think.

Onward!

Pics of Oreo

Here are a few pictures of our new cat, Oreo. This first one was right after we brought her home, she's hiding in Sarah's dresser.


Sarah chasing down the cat:


Sitting pretty kitty:

Buddy Walk

We went to the Grand Rapids, MI Buddy Walk on Saturday. It was a long drive but we can't go to the one in Lansing, and we really wanted to attend one. The weather was a little chilly, but no rain, which was nice. There were about 500 people there, and it was so awesome to see so many people celebrating Down syndrome. There was a little boy who is one month younger than Sarah and he was just crawling all over the place & waving to everyone. He was so cute! And he was huge! I guess I don't really realize how petite Sarah is in comparison to other kids her age. We have friends coming from out of town this weekend and they have a little boy who is 4 months younger than Sarah, and I KNOW he'll be a lot bigger than her. A big thanks to all our friends and family who helped us raise over $300 to donate to the Buddy Walk!!! You guys are awesome!!
I was also able to meet the very first person I ever talked to who had a child with Down syndrome. She really helped me through the early stages after finding out about Sarah. She has a son, Jarod, who is about 4 1/2.
Here are a few pictures from our day!

Really long quiz

name = Amanda
piercings = ears
tattoos = nope
height= 5'9 1/4"
shoe size = 9 (ugh)

[LAST...]
movie you watched = Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
movie you bought = see above
song you listened to = theme song from "Little Bear"
song that was stuck in your head = some lame one by Mike Jones (thanks Jeff)
cd you bought = iTunes
cd you listened to = Gavin Degraw
person you've called = my mom
person that's called you = Jeff
tv show you've watched = MSNBC

[DO...]
you have a crush on someone = yes, my husband
you wish you could live somewhere else = yes
you think about suicide = only that it's selfish
you believe in online dating = better than bars
others find you attractive = don't know
you want more piercings = no thanks
you like cleaning = I like things clean, but not the process
you like roller coasters = yeppers
you write in cursive or print = mostly cursive

[FOR OR AGAINST...]
long distance relationships = depends on the couple, doesn't work most of the time
suicide = against
killing people = against
smoking = against
driving drunk = Completely against
gay/lesbian relationships = not up to me to judge

[HAVE YOU...]
ever cried over a girl = my children
ever cried over a boy = many times
ever lied to someone = unfortunately yes
ever been in a fist fight = no

[WHAT...]
shampoo do you use = Suave color
shoes do you wear = Saltwater sandals, tennis shoes, flip flops
are you scared of = something happening to my kids

[NUMBER...]
of times I have been in love? = twice
of times I have had my heart broken? = can't remember
of hearts I have broken? = none, I don't think
of times my name has appeared in the newspaper? = at least twice
of things in my past that I regret? = a few....

[DO YOU THINK YOU ARE...]
pretty= Sometimes
hot= yeah baby!
friendly= Always!!
amusing= I'm freakin' hilarious
ugly= can we say 6 am?
loveable= yes
caring= yes
sweet= I hope so
dorky= I'm 27 & I play video games, you take a guess

[FAVORITE...]
5 letter word: mommy
Actor/actress: Reece Witherspoon
Candy: See's
Cartoon: Blues Clues
Cereal: Raisin Bran
Chewing gum: Big Red
Color(s): Cerulean
Color nail polish: clear
Day of week: Saturday
Least fave day: Monday
Flower: Roses & daisies
Jello flavor: Watermelon
Jewelry: rings
Special skills/talents: I can simultaneously cook, talk on the phone & keep a toddler out of the cat's water/food dish.
Summer/Winter: summer


|| Person who last.. ||
Slept in your bed: me, DH & the cat
Saw you cry: DH
Made you cry:
You went to the movies with: Dh, and the kids
Yelled at you: probably Emma
Sent you an email: aside from the spam? Jeff

|| Have you ever.. ||
Said "I love you" and meant it?: yes
Gone out in public in your pajamas: oh I'm sure
Cried during a movie: many times
Planned your week based on the TV: uh no
Been on stage: yes
Been to New York: does JFK airport count?
Been to California: born & raised
Hawaii: yes
China:
Canada: no, eh
Europe: yes
Asia: no
South: south of what???
Australia: no, mate
Wished you were another gender: no thanks
What time is it now?: 10:37am

|| This or That? ||
Apples or bananas?: banannas
Blue or red?: blue
Walmart or target?: Walmart
Spring or Fall?: spring
What are you gonna do after you finish this?: play WoW
What was the last meal you ate?: muffin & coffee
Are you bored?: not so much
Last noise you heard?: me turning OFF MSNBC
Last smell you sniffed?: the litter box, need to clean it, ew

|| Friendship/Love ||
Do you believe in love at first sight?: yes
Do you want children one day & if so, how many? already have 2, contemplating more
Most important thing to you in a friendship is: laughter

|| Other Info ||
Criminal record?: rode in a police car once
Do you speak any other languages?: baby talk
last book you read: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
Name some of your favorite things in your bedroom?: my pillow
Worst feeling in the world: heartache
Who do you love: My family, my friends

|| You ||
Nickname(s): Mandie, Woman
Initials: ANW, yes like the drink
How old do you look?: older than I want to
How old do you act?: like I'm 18, with moments of 27ish
Glasses/Contacts: not anymore
Braces: used to have them, probably need them again, stupid wisdom teeth
Do you have any pets?: cat: Oreo
You get embarrassed: yep
What makes you happy?: happy kids, clean house, loving husband
What upsets you?: whining and feeling completely helpless

|| Finish the sentence: ||
I Love to... make others happy
I Miss... everyone in CA
I Wish... for acceptance for my daughter
I Hope... my children don't go on Oprah in 20 years & say I ruined their lives (LOL)
I'm Annoyed by... stupid college students
I Am...unique
I Want to be... content
I Would Never...steal your car
I'd Rather be... closer to family
I Am Tired of... housework
I Will Always be... who I am

Expect the unexpected

That should be the motto of the United States military. They make promises that are bound by signatures & mountains of paperwork, but at the whim of some Head Honcho in Washington, D.C., you're whole existence can come crashing down on you. Which is the big reason why we got out. Our friends, Robert & Tiana, are still in the Navy. He's been stationed, on shore duty, in Tennessee, for the past 2 years. They were preparing for him to be leaving early next year for a Pre-comm shipp in Mississippi. It's still being built, so there was no chance he'd have to go out on deployment until it was finished. Then, his Command dropped a bombshell: he's being shipped out to Afganistan with an Army Unit for 6 months, and he's leaving in 4 weeks. Wait, he's in the NAVY. Like boats and stuff. No sand, no cammies, no gigantic arthropods. I don't get it either. Somehow, the Army doesn't have anyone who can do his job (insert lame joke about lack of military intelligence here). They have thousands of ppl on ships all over the world, and they pick him, from Tennessee. While it's a given that the military can uproot you whenever they feel like it, this was COMPLETELY out of the blue. It's one thing to be told, while stationed on a ship, of by the way, we're going on deployment sooner than expected (which has been happening quite frequently) but it's quite another to be on SHORE duty, and be told you're going to a base, in the middle of a desert, with a completely different branch of the military. It's not like he's a SEAL, or a SeaBee. He's an IT, the military equivalent of Jeff. In fact, Jeff did his exact job while he was in the Navy. I just feel so bad for his family. But, this has solidified their resolve NOT to re-enlist. Thank you Mr. Bush.

Growing pains

Think I've discovered the reason why Sarah's been extremely, out-of-the ordinary, makes you want to pull out your hair, cranky lately. If my calculations are correct, she's grown an inch & a quarter in the past month. While my method of measuring her might not be scientific (put a book where her head is, stretch her out & put another book where her foot is) that's better than what they do at her pedi's office. So I'll take my measurement above theirs anyday. According to the Down syndrome growth charts, this puts her at about the 15th percentile for weight & the 25th percentile for height. Yay! This means, on paper, she's almost into 6-12 month clothes, lol! Although 6-9 month clothes still fall off her. Now if only her feet would grow a bit more. I'm finding her size 1 Stride Rite "crawling" shoes are getting a bit too tight, but she's not quite big enough for a size 2. In fact, I just measured her foot (almost 4 1/2 inches) and 4 inches is a size 0. The website I found says that for each additional 1/3 in, goes up a whole shoe size. So, if she's between 4 1/4 & 4 1/2, that would make her about a size 1. It's too confusing, I need more coffee. All I know is she's small, and she looks like she's 9 months old. But, whatever. She's handy carry-out size. Probably why the cat isn't so afraid of her, cause she's not much bigger than Oreo is.

Long update

A lot has been going on in our house lately. Last week, Emma & Jeff had their first soccer practice. It was a little chaotic, as parents were showing up at all different times, some not sure where they were supposed to be, one little boy didn't know if he really wanted to play, and then there were the bugs, lol. But, a fun time was had by all (mostly) and it was a nice "get to know you" type of practice. We have another practice tonight & then our first game on Sunday.
Also last week, Emma had her first real dentist appointment. I've been really bad about not taking her before now. I think she went once while we were in San Diego, but she had real "white coat syndrome" and hated being looked at or prodded at by any medical authority. So, at the time, I figured it would be easier to wait until she was older and more able to handle it. Well, they took x-rays (which she did GREAT at) and they saw a couple of spots that show decay. ::sigh:: Guess I waited too long. But, they're only in between her back molars, which have always been very tight. So, in a couple of weeks, we get to go back and get them taken care of. Jeff doesn't think we need to get them done, as she's going to lose those teeth anyways, but that could take years. She still has a ton of other teeth to lose before she loses those molars. So, we'll see how things go. We're only going to do one side, and then the other side a few weeks later.
Jeff also had a medical visit last week. He's had this weird, cyst looking growth (I know, TMI) on his back for a few years now. It really hasn't bothered him, but in the last year or so it's gotten a little bigger, so we decided to have it removed. The doctor doesn't think it's anything serious, probably a fybroid or other non-malignant growth, but we'll know for sure in about a week. He goes back to get the stitches taken out next week.
Emma's still loving school. We're in the midst of her first school fundraiser. Selling boxes of frozen goodies (i.e. cinnamon rolls, cookies and pizza). A college students' dream. Her class had a special event on Tuesday for Grandparent's Day. As all her G-parents are in CA, I went and took pictures of them all so she could show her friends. The kids served us juice & muffins, then we decorated a picture frame, and then they had recess. It was nice. There was another child in her class, who sits right next to her, whose mom did the same thing. His G-parents are in FL & Canada.
In Sarah news, she's cruising!!! She's starting to cruise the furniture and we feel that walking may only be a few months away! Her PT & I had set a tentative goal on having her walking by Christmas, looks like she'll most likely hit that! She also is starting to let go while standing and is hovering for a little bit before plopping down on her bottom. She's also up to 15 lbs. 14 oz. which is 5 oz. more than she was 4 weeks ago!
On Saturday we went to the animal shelter and adopted a cat, named Oreo. She's a 5 year old black & white short-haired cat. She's very lovable, but it's taken her a little while to get used to all the raucous that goes on around here. She spent the better part of the weekend either hiding in Sarah's dresser, behind the toilet or under our bed. She mainly only came out at night, after the kids went to bed. But, she's slowly starting to venture out into the rest of the house, even jumping onto the computer desk & the window sills. She knows where her food & water dishes are, and had no problem adjusting to her new litter box. She's even starting to lie down on Emma's bed in the evening when she goes to sleep! We got her a "kitty condo", a 2 story circular retreat, which also can double as a scratching post. So far, she doesn't seem into it, but it might take just a little while. Sarah's having a blast, chasing her around the house, and Oreo will sometimes even let her pet her for a minute, before Sarah makes some loud commotion and she runs off.
We recently found out that Jeff made the Dean's list for both the Spring 2005 semester & both Summer 2005 semesters! He's settling into his new position of Manager quite well, and things are going pretty smoothly now that the students have returned. He's now taking only 2 classes per semester. He even subbed for his computer teacher on Monday! He's down to the degree specific classes now, so it'll be pretty much nothing but math & computer classes from now on.
Well that's update from the farm! Hopefully I'll have some cute pictures to put up after our game on Sunday. I'm still trying to get Oreo to sit still for a portrait, not working too well though, lol.

Saturday mornings at our house

On the weekends, Jeff & I usually each get one morning to sleep in. Saturday's are normally my days, but since Jeff had his "surgery" yesterday, I figured he'd been it more than I. He's had this cyst looking thingy on his back for a few years, and it's gotten a little bigger lately, so we figured it was time to get it looked at. They decided to remove it, just to make sure it wasn't anything serious. If you know Jeff at all, you know that he hates doctors. He hates needles & he hates pain in general. The procedure itself was pretty quick. Just a couple shots to numb the area, the doctor used a cookie cutter type thing to cut out the "anamoly", leaving a precise circle cut-out. He then stitched it up and put bandages on it. We were in & out within a half hour. So, all in all, it wasn't that bad.
So, it's just the girls & I this morning, until Jeff wakes up. Emma's on the computer, at the Playhouse Disney website. Sarah's on the floor, playing with duplo legos, and I'm sitting at Jeff's laptop, drinking coffee. Ah, coffee.
Our friends Robert & Tiana were the ones to finally get me to drink coffee. They introduced us to "French Vanilla Creamer". I'm now a coffee snob. Just regular old milk & sugar won't do. I'd rather go without than have coffee without creamer. Because it completely covers up the coffee taste.
I think we're going to go & get the cat from the shelter this morning. I was called & told the scab on her back was NOT ringworm, but just an abrasion. So, she's free & clear. Then we need to go & get all the cat paraphernalia.
OK, totally off topic, I just saw the new Budweiser commercial. It's hilarious. There are the Clydesdales, all standing around, looking at a zebra, who has his head in an Intant Replay booth. There are two guys sitting there, and one says "This ref's a jacka$$." And the other guy goes, "No, I believe he's a zebra." Too funny. I guess you had to see it.
Ok, Jeff's up now, so we have to get ready.