The Last Days of March...

I despise the month of March!  There I said it. Here in New England March is an ugly , unpredictable , cold gloomy 31 days!  Sure you might get a warm day, just to have it turn into a blizzard, or some hideous cold rain. March stinks!

April, on the other hand, always was the month of hope for me. April is beautiful. 

Carina was born in April. For anyone who might not know, Carina is a little girl , an orphan who I advocated for, and she owns a piece of my heart.

 Unfortunately she lives in Russia and i can longer raise money for her. The Russian ban against American adoptions has halted all that. My sweet girl sits somewhere. Most likely in an institution by now, since she will be five years old on one of the days in April. Usually the process to transfer these beautiful children to an institution begins at the age of four.  Carina has Down syndrome and her chances of being adopted by a  Russian family is ZERO! She has lost her hope, and I have lost her... for now.

I really thought I would never advocate again. My heart really could not take another blow like this one. 

Still I find it difficult to attach myself to another child.   I feel like I'm abandoning Carina. I know!! I'm not!!  This is just something I have to deal with. 

Still I have an overpowering love for the orphan and for families adopting. 

SO.......

In honor of my girls birthday month, I will be trying to help a family finish up their adoption. 

Another Sweetie , near and dear to my heart found a home last year. 

Brigita, now Darya

Dee adopted Darya last year. She is home and thriving and having a blast!!!!!! But most importantly she is LOVED!!!!

I know it sounds a little strange to be home but not all done with the adoption process, but Dee and Darya still have one  more trip to make back to Darya's country. Then it will be done. 
 

This April giveaway , "hopefully" will help them with that trip. I want to keep Carina with me, and keep her birthday month special. Most of all I want April to stay the month of HOPE. It can Darya's HOPE this year. 

A little girl most deserving of it. 

I will be posting the giveaway Monday, April 1st... No this is not an April Fools joke, LOL It's the real thing.

I'm still accepting any donations, gift cards, jewelry, big ticket or tiny ticket items , it doesn't matter! And I don't actually need the item , just a picture will do. The person donating usually does the shipping. Just makes things easier. So give it a thought and if you have something please contact me. Stephkac222@gmail.com or you can PM me on FB

And come back on Monday!! 

Rockin the Socks for WDSD!

Emmie goes to one of the best school in the world! Just my opinion :)

Drum Rock Early Learning Center, was totally rockin their socks today on WDSD!

 

No wonder Em loves school so much!

 

Celebrate Big! World Down syndrome Day!!!

Today is WDSD! A day recognized worldwide! A day to celebrate you buns off!!! A day to hold up high, that person in your life, who was blessed with an extra chromosome. The person in your life who opened your eyes, to a world of delight and color and joy you never knew existed!

So who is it for you? A son, daughter, cousin, friend?? An aunt or uncle, brother or sister.  Is it the quiet but friendly guy who bags your groceries, or the cute girlie girl who works at the coffee shop?

A student? A friends child? Is it the Dumpling you see in church every week?  Your patient? 

Whoever and wherever... CELEBRATE THEM TODAY! 

They deserve it, and Lord knows they have earned it! Because whoever they are and wherever they are , they had to work that extra chromosome off to get there. 

Tell them what  great job they are doing. Tell them you are proud of them. Tell them they are the BEST!

And above all wear your colorful socks!!!! Where them everywhere ! And let people ask you , "hey, what's up with the socks"?  

Then tell them, today is WDSD!!! We're celebrating the beauty of Down syndrome by wearing lots of socks!
Emmie's whole school is celebrating today! As is my other children's school. I'm so happy and blessed to have such fabulous support in each school. 

So, go get some crazy socks and celebrate!  

Can I use this as a Toddler bed????

An empty toy chest. Can it double as a toddler bed? I mean it takes up less space, it's safe and she fits. 

Plus I'm sick of it sitting in my living room!  

I was very proud of myself for condensing the kids toy chests into one. Meaning, the empty one could be removed from my house! But "someone" has become very attached to it , and i don't have the heart to get rid of it yet. 

Why is there always something finding it;s way to my very small living room??

Remember the ball pit?? LOL 

Send in the Clown

Ringling Brothers is coming to town in May. We most likely won't make the show, but at least we won't miss the clowns. 

We breed our own, LOL

The flippin best!!!!

She loves herself!!!

Blessed to the extreme!

In Honor of Carina..

Spring is fast approaching.  The temperatures are rising and the promise of longer, sweeter days are within reach. 

So, why do I feel so sad?

April is around the corner. I used to love April. 

I was married in April, my moms birthday is in April.  Aprils air is sweet and the breeze is gentle. Forsythia bloom in April.  The many shades of green replace the dismal gray of the landscape and the spring birds are back and busy building the perfect nest.

It's a beautiful time time of year.

But I'm dreading it this year.

April is Carina's birthday month.  Last year at this time I was busily preparing a huge giveaway for her. Last year at this time she had hope. Last year , I thought that she would surly be home for her 5th birthday. I truly believed that. And if she wasn't than I'd have another big fund raiser for her this April, and that would do it for sure!

And last year at this time I promised her , I would find her mama. 

The ban on Russian adoptions changed all that. 

I cannot raise money for Carina anymore. And I just cannot seem to attach myself to another child just yet.

But April is fast approaching  and I can't ignore that. I can't pretend that I don't know it's her birthday month. I can't not honor her in some way. Until  the ban is lifted and she gets a mama, I'm her only mama. I'm the one crying at night for her, dreaming about her, worrying about her. I have her in my heart and on my mind constantly.

So in honor of Miss Carina, I'm having an auction for one of my dearest friends, Dee. She as adopted Darya.

This is the face that so many of us fell in love with. There's a twinkle in her eye that just makes me smile. My daughter Sophia found her on Reece's Rainbow a couple years back. I never would have seen her otherwise. Sophia asked to be Darya's Prayer Warrior. So, our connection to Darya and  Dee run deep.
I have to admit, I had my doubts about Darya finding a home.  She was older, and didn't have much of a grant. But her fan club was growing. And soon enough Dee found her and fell in love. The rest is history!

Still has that twinkle!

So, now you may be wondering if Darya was adopted and is home what in the world am I fund raising for. Well, Darya was allowed to come home with Dee, but she still needed to travel back to Latvia two more times for court.  She has already made one of those trips. The next one, Darya will have to travel too. So even though Darya is home and living it up, Dee is still not fully funded.  


So, here's my idea. With my Sweet Carina inspiring me to keep moving forward, and in honor of the beautiful month of April and her birthday... an Auction for Dee and Darya.

I'm so proud of Dee for stepping out in faith and going after her daughter full force! She's just about there and I believe we can get her fully funded and help her out with this last trip she has to take with Darya back to her country. 

I'd like to start on April first. So I'm asking for anything and everything for this auction. Anything you have to donate will be more than appreciated! Last years giveaway for Carina raised $1000.00! I know we can do it again for Dee and Darya. 

And in a way, for Carina too. I have to keep moving forward for her. One day this ban will be lifted and I'll keep my promise to her.

But Darya is home and has hope and love and a mama! And I want to do everything possible to help get them fully funded, so they can close this chapter of their lives and just concentrate on being a happy family!!

Please help out in any way! Contact me via FB or email  Stephkac222@gmail.com if you'd like to donate something for the Auction . And pray for me that this is a success!!! I'm feeling a little bit rusty!!! :) 





 

It's Magic!!!

Emmie the magnificent performs...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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The Bean Box

The Bean Box!!! When Emmie was still getting her OT from Early Intervention, her therapist came over with a bean box one day. Well, it became Emmie's favorite activity to play with Rebecca.  When Em turned three we said bye bye to Rebecca ;(  And the bean box  :)     

Sorry, but picking up thousands of beans that Miss Em would fling wildly with both fists chuck full was more than I could take.

Then I started to feel guilty.  I hate mommy guilt!!! I mean Em was learning how to pour so nicely...

So I made her a bean box! 
And she has been enjoying it ever since!

And she has learned how to open it all by herself! Which means when no one is paying attention,  I mean really busy with the other children, she can entertain herself with thousands of beans!!

And even though it weighs about as much as she does , she has also mastered picking it up and or dragging it to wherever she wants it. Like where no one can see or hear the beans tinging off the light fixtures.

So many accomplishments!

So why do we all cringe when she runs like  the wind to play with it??

Why do "we" occasionally hide it..

And why does everyone scatter when it starts to "rain" beans in the house??

And why is the word "bean" not allowed to be spoken out loud?
 

 

I think it may have something to do with the crazed look in her eyes, when she is playing with her beans...

This Girlie Girl luvs her bean box!!!

Mama Bear Could Eat You Right Now!!! Don't Mess With Our Kids!

Every once in a while someone  or something crawls up under my skin and I have a hard time shaking it out. When I was younger, I was such a hot headed , explosive , shoot first ask questions later type of person. I thought I had mellowed out a bit with age (although my kids probably would disagree).  But the other day I saw something posted on FB that just about gave me a stroke. Literally! I felt my heart racing and my cheeks were on fire.  And I could not leave without responding. 

Here is what set me off and my response! This was posted on a FB page called I Am A Nurse. which should be immediately changed to I am an ignorant idiot... just saying

Down's Syndrome devastating effects affects almost every system. The following picture shows just but a few areas that are normally hit hard. Please share on your timeline

And my response:

EXCUSE ME WHILE I CLARIFY THIS BULLSHIT. THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG!

1,GROWTH FAILURE,MENTAL RETARDATION: My child is 4 and has yet to fail to grow. I suppose technically she is mentally retarded but the rest of the free world now uses intellectual challenges, or genius in the making.Guess the medical profession didn't get the memo on that one. 2,FLAT BACK OF HEAD: Some of our sweeties have a little flat look going on but so did the guy i saw last night. Wonder what his "problem" was. 3,MANY LOOPS ON FINGERS AND PALM CREASE. I don't know what the hell the loops could possibly be, and have you checked out you palm lately? Odds are you have creases.. better get that checked you may have Down syndrome too. 4, SPECIAL SKIN RIDGE PATTERNS, Too stupid to address. 5,ABSENCE OF A RIB, Never heard this one. Guess it could happen. Hey, wasn't Adam missing a rib? maybe he had DS too! 6,INTESTINAL BLOCKAGE, An absolute possibility. Also very treatable and appears in typical children too. 7,UMBILICAL HERNIA, yup,so what. 8, ABNORMAL PELVIS, In a radiological study of the pelvis in 66 adult subjects with Down's syndrome, 25 (38%) were found to have the classical pelvic shape associated with Down's syndrome in infancy and childhood. The appearance of the pelvis and hip joints was very variable and matched the variety of appearances seen in normal subjects, except that generally the pelvis was smaller than normal. The discriminating value of the iliac index (which is abnormal in up to 80% of affected infants) was lost in this group of affected adults. Subluxation and osteoarthrosis of the hips were very uncommon features. In addition to the primary morphological abnormalities in the pelvis in Down's syndrome that are described in the literature, posture probably plays a part in producing the variable radiological appearances of the pelvis. No I'm not a smarty pants I got that info here. And i really can't say I agree with you that this is devastating.http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0009926080801991?via=sd&cc=y 9,DIMINISHED MUSCLE TONE, Definitely seen across the board, in people with DS. But did you know muscle tone does not determine strength. So my daughter who is as strong as a horse will never have a six pack.. neither will I. Again not devastating. 10, BROAD FLAT FACE, SLANTING EYES, ETC..Some facial features are definitely unique to DS. I personally love them all. Especially the slanting eyes that look like beautiful almonds. They are exquisite. 11, SHORT AND BROAD HANDS... devastating?? Really? 12, BIG WRINKLED TONGUE , Just wondering how many people with DS have let you that close to examine their tongues. Also wondering if you've ever actually met anyone with DS. Gotta say.. NO, to the big wrinkled tongue. That's just weird. 13, DENTAL ANOMALIES, I believe every child with braces qualifies as a dental anomaly. You're funny. 14. CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE, YES!!! Finally you got one!!! CHD is devastating!!! But guess what, it's a crap shoot. No guarantee your typically developing child won't be born with CHD. 35,000 infants are born with CHD. That's 1/125 . 1/691 are born with DS. The odds are in your favor for having a child born with CHD. 15, ENLARGED COLON, Some children with DS do experience gastrointestinal problems, so do typical kids, and they can be treated. Again not devastating. And my absolute favorite # 16, BIG TOES, WIDELY SPACED. This is also referred to as the flip flop toes. Perfectly made for flip flops. And one of the cutest qualities of DS. Please educate yourself before you put crap like this up on your wall. Women who are pregnant and receive a diagnosis of DS for their baby are scared and confused. Stupidity like this is all they are bombarded with. DS is not devastating. Yes some children are born with medical conditions and yes some are serious. But ANY child can be born with any of these conditions. And the odds of a child being born with all of them is unheard of. More than one sure, but not all of these "devastating effects". You are not helping anyone with this. If anything you are making things worse. And BTW, it's Down syndrome not Down's syndrome.

The only reason I'm reposting this here on my blog is because this page has a gazillion "likes". I don't even want to think about how many people saw this and believed it. What if a pregnant woman saw this and because of it decided to have an abortion. This is trash, and it's not true! The words "devastating affects" are used to describe flip flop toes for God's sake! Seriously???  

Our kids are amazing in every way!Down syndrome is not devastating! People need to educate themselves before they try to educate others about things they do not understand!

 This picture captures her flip flop toes , her dental anomalies, her slanted eyes. 

Here you can see her devastating , short and broad hands(hehe) Along with her smiley face pinky. She's mastered her little short hands pretty well, since she used them to pull out about 80 wipes in the blink of an eye.

And here is a great shot of the big wrinkled tongue! HA! This one has a little bit of crackers stuck to it, LOL  I think this was the goofiest thing I ever heard. Myth/lie/stupidity broken with this pic! 

I hope I have taken the "devastation" out of Down syndrome, because this little girl is anything and everything but, devastating!