Thursday, February 27, 2014

Emmie and Pets...

Em loves animals. 

As you can see here, she is holding our gerbil Gus Gus, with tender loving care...




I  was unfortunately  forced into an impromptu anatomy of a gerbil lesson as she is holding him upside down.  I begged her NOT to give kisses, while I tried not to pee myself from laughing so hard and of course get the one in a million photo.

* Disclaimer, no gerbils were harmed during this hands on moment. Gus Gus is very welled loved in our home.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

There is a "K' in Milk

Ok , just a quick posting bragging about Miss Em's speech! She now pronounces all the letters in the word MILK! 

Em is lazy talker, as dubbed by her mom.( I can say that ;)   If she can find a way to shorten a word she will. So most words don't have the proper endings. And she has something against the letter "C" all together. She replaces it with "T".



So we are celebrating in the house today by pouring cup after cup of M I L K.. 

Sure wish we had so kies( cookies) to go with that... We're working on it! 



Monday, February 24, 2014

21 Days of Hope... Gracelynn's Chance

As 2014 rolled in I promised myself a year without procrastination. We've been friends for so long, I wasn't sure if I could say goodbye. But I severed ties and I've been doing rather well.

So, no procrastinating on this post. I'm strapped for time, so here it is.

Reece's Rainbow has another brilliant campaign in the making .  21 Days of Hope.

You can read all the details here! It's amazing! 

But in a nutshell it is HOPE for 21 children listed on RR that will be highlighted  during the month of March.

I need Gracelynn to be one of them.



 She is an older child. She is already 11. Older children are harder to place. No secret about that. Now, throw in the words Down syndrome and International adoption and her odds just hit the curb.

Voting for the top 21 as begun, and I'm going to do everything possible to get her enough votes. Pride has been tossed to the wind...  long ago, and I'm not above begging for the life of a child.

Her life depends on her being adopted as soon as possible. I'm not playing with drama here. Institutions are no place for anyone, especially children.

Here's what I need you to do, Sweet Friends. 

1. Click HERE and vote for Gracelynn. Today! And then once everyday until the 28th
2. Share this post, so others can see my girl too... please.
3.Pray she makes the top 21!!!

And about that voting. It's fast, free, and painless. There is no signing up, no form to fill , no personal info, NOTHING! Just a simple click on Gracelynn's name.  Not time consuming at all.   

And the most important part, is you will be helping to save the life of a child. A child no one really cares about. A child no one has chosen to love.. yet. A child that for the past 11 years has lived without the love of a family.



A child that deserves to live.

Many thanks,
Stephanie


Sunday, February 23, 2014

A Thankful Sunday Post... Yes, you read that right!



I know , I know, does anyone right theses anymore? I mean I haven't written a Thankful Sunday post in at least 100 Sundays.  Seems we've (my family and I) have been in  " Tuck N Roll"  mode for way too long.
And when you're busy trying to land on your feet from all the bumps life is throwing you, you sure can forget the good things that are sometimes lost in the mix.

Every dark day has at least a little twinkling of light somewhere!

Today I am thankful for a beautiful day I had yesterday. Bella and her team kicked butt at their meet, each taking home a giant trophy.



  The older girls held down the forte and when we got home it was clean, the baby was clean, and no one was fighting! That's a miracle and I am thankful!!!!! 

The weather, dare I say, seems to be breaking. Looks like God is going to allow spring after all! THANKFUL!!!


I'm thankful for old friends and new ones. 

I'm thankful for every inch of my tiny house that I complain about every single day. Because without it where would we be???

Soon the weather will be warm and the house will be all opened up! The yard and deck and sun room make it seem bigger.  We will only be inside to sleep as summer will have us outside all day. For that I am thankful!

Have a blessed and restful Sunday! 



 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Face of Down syndrome

Quite simply, the face of Down syndrome is: 

AMAZING !
 FUN!


 SILLY!


FRIENDSHIP!



LEARNING!






GROUCHY !

PEACEFUL !



MINE! 



HIS!







THEIRS!




The face of Down syndrome is more than a face, it's a person. A child, a sister, a brother, a friend, a student.

The face of Down syndrome is a face just like yours and mine.

The face of Down syndrome, is a human being to be treasured and loved and respected. Not a mistake to be aborted, or discarded.  

If you are carrying a child, and you have received a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome and you are scared or confused, let me tell you what most doctors will not.   You ready?

Your child is a blessing. 
Your life is not over
Your child WILL grow and learn


Will you be challenged daily? Of course. 

Will you be frustrated? Oh Yeah

Will you be pushed to your limits? Hell yeah!

But guess what. 

That would happen even if your child didn't have Down syndrome.

Quite simply Down syndrome is made to sound a lot worse than it is by a medical field who doesn't understand it fully themselves.  Granted there are a few wonderful doctors out there who do "get it". God bless them! But for the most part, they unfortunately do not.

Move past the diagnosis, and love your child unconditionally.

Because quite simply, The face of Down syndrome is :

LOVE:

 

 






Sunday, February 16, 2014

Where in the World is Emilia?

Haven't been here in so long I almost need GPS to find my way back!

So where is Em and what is she up to? Well she is up to everything. She never stops and is ruling the roost.







She is loving school and we are getting ready for kindergarten next September. Her words are coming. She can speak with great clarity these catchie phrases.

No way
Go away
Moooove
Mine
NO!

We also hear,

I love you, bye
Gimme (your) hand
Hi mommy, mommy
It's ok
boo boo (give a kiss)  all better!!
lalalala, lalalala, Elmos world (as sung as only Em could )
ummm, eat?
I want to eat.
knuckle punch
High five

And tons of other new words.

Still stuck on colors and letters and of course as always boycotting potty training...

She loves to clean up and will put her dishes in the sink after she eats. She will also put anything not nailed down into the sink too. Her other favorite places to put things when she's cleaning up is the garbage.   Don't even want to know what we've thrown out. 


She can put her socks on by herself and some slip in shoes. She is just about to manage getting her pants on. Just trying to convince her to put one leg in each of those holes. So far she is liking the mermaid look. And of course she has no trouble taking her clothes off. 


She has been invited to numerous birthday parties and her favorites are definitely Chuck E Cheese... who she is obsessed with.

She is exhausting and demanding.Quite impossible at times and we often have our "disagreements". She knows where the corner is and has spent her fair share of time in it. She is a spitfire with a heck of arm... she is currently testing our limits on hitting.


She still makes us laugh until we cry.  She is crazy in all good ways and her antics are our daily entertainment. She continues to be our guiding light and our daily strength.  She knows she is loved and in return she lavishes us with her endless unconditional love.



We are beyond blessed!