Dance

Emmie says "dance"

Welcome Gregory Kirill Davis

THE JUDGE SAID YES! BEFORE OUR EYES, A MIRACLE!

Yes You Can Have Your Cake And Eat it Too!

And if you watch closely you will see Miss Em ask for more by signing, and then say "more"! The big deal about her signing "more" is that she wasn't prompted at all. And verbalizing, well I don't have to tell any of you how awesome it is to hear any sort of word! pause my music.

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A Short And Shameless Plug

A mom just can't help herself sometimes. I'm proud of our school and the kids/teachers because this show is amazing!!! To any one local all I can tell you is it will be the best five bucks you ever spent to be entertained! Come and see the show! And my Dumpling Sophia got her name mentioned on the news. So cool, he even pronounced our last name pretty well!

Building A Home For Olga

I've stole yet another blog . This time from Jenn, Olga's mama. Love this fund raiser idea. Read on to see how simple this is. Olga needs to get out of Dodge and home to her family! And by helping Miss Olga you will also be helping Renee to get her Miss Paisely home. These two amazing and beautiful moms are helping each other. I don't know how many times Renee has stopped to help others even though she is also trying to raise funds to bring Paisely home. And I don't think Jenn has ever written a post and not advocated for another child too. They are both amazing and selfless people who so deserve our help and support. The following is Jenn's post.

**Building A Home For Olga*

We have seen many "puzzle" fundraisers and liked the concept but didn't want to do the same old thing. We came across the idea of doing a Lego fundraiser instead. So we started looking for just the right Lego set and then we found this one. I love that it's in a pink box and it's perfect for our sweet little girl.

We are going to be building a home for Olga. Just like building a real house takes the work of many people, so will this. We need your help to build her a home. Look at this sweet home, and it has two little girls. I like to think of it being Olga and one of her sisters, and oh did you see the little dog. I know Olga would love it, don't you. She deserves a home, doesn't she.

This is how it works :

We are asking for a $1 donation per a Lego brick. Just $1. Just about everyone can scrape together a dollar, in the car ashtray, in the couch cushions, bottom of your purse, in the junk drawer. You can donate here to our FSP and it's also tax deductible. Can you spare just a dollar to buy a brick for and help us build a home for Olga? We will take pictures of it through out the process and will be adding a page to her scrapbook with a picture of the finished house and a list of names of everyone who helped build her home. This home will set on her dresser in her room. Just donate, then leave a message with your name, how many bricks you bought, and your blog address if you have one.

So how many bricks will you buy today?

I have a sweet friend who has the biggest heart in the world. Her name is Renee Tam. Renee is working on raising the funds to bring her daughter Paisley home, and she is also working to help raise funds for another sweet lady Vashti. Renee has been such an encouragement to me and my family, she has helped me through some hard times with this adoption. I want to be a blessing to her as well. So for every $5 donated to Building a Home for Olga, we will donate $2 to Renee's fund. So when you buy a brick for Olga's home you are actually helping 2 orphans to come home and have a chance to grow just like Max, Ivanna, and Sophie.

Please, Please, Please blog, facebook, twitter, email about our Lego fundraiser. We truly do need your help spreading the word about it. Thank you!!

Every child deserves to feel the love of a family!

Hugs & Prayers

Jenn

It's Hard To Be Sad

Ever notice how your little ones or big ones with Down syndrome just have a way of making you smile. Even on the toughest most miserable days Miss Em will give me that silly sideways glance, that look she has that says, "I'm about to be up to something". I just melt when she does that.

Sometimes when I come home from driving everyone , everywhere, through hideous traffic, Miss Em will greet me with a clear and sweet, "hi",accompanied with the biggest smile she can muster. How can I not relax and feel the tension just drain from my body after a greeting like that.

But,

When I was still pregnant with Em, I remember wondering why God would do this to me. Why would He give me a child with Down syndrome. I remember being so flippin mad at Him. Wasn't my life hard enough, didn't we have enough problems! We needed help from him and this was how He answered us. I even had my closed fist raised to heaven, demanding an explanation. I crumbled to the floor out of complete exhaustion and wept like I never wept before. A sorrowful, mournful cry. I'll never forget it.

I can't even go back to that moment without crying. it's still so vivid.

Peter came and picked me up off the floor, and I remember telling him, God is going to hate me now, for speaking to Him like that. I'm going to hell for sure. I was completely irrational. Looking back now I probably had a complete breakdown.

For the rest of my pregnancy I had good days and bad days. I heard God whisper to me that it would be okay, and then there also were times of silence. Days when I felt all alone.

Then Em was born and there was joy like I had never known and honestly never expected.

I'm no longer wondering how or why God did this to me, why God gave me this child with Down syndrome. I know! I know it's because I had enough problems in my life, my life was hard enough, and we asked Him for help. Out of despair I had demanded an explanation from God, and out of love He gave me one. Emilia Faith.

The days since Em's birth have been paved with difficulties, stress, and unsureness. But it's hard to be sad for long when this Angel is hugging you.

Just Pics

it's blurry but I still love it

You Must Wish Signe Happy Birthday!!!! HURRY

OK, I just stole and entire post including, blinking Happy Birthday sign. I took Christie's post because I'm strapped for time, should be picking my kids up from school right now. Please read and follow instructions! You can earn money for Alexander, with no effort at all!! The following is Christie's post!!

Birthday Wishes for Signe to Bring Alexander HOME!!!

Can I just tell you all about my friend Signe? Well, her name rhymes with Fig-Knee...now you know how to say her name.

She has a little girl, Miss LoLo, born with Down syndrome. She has a brood of boys, Gaven (her sweet angel boy in heaven), Gabe, Davrin, and Nolan. And her oldest child, Ada--who was also born with special needs and is the BEST!!


I had the pleasure of meeting Signe, LoLo and Ada nearly one year ago (my word, has it been that long???) At another little girl's 1st birthday party. I did not know this family and they totally let me crash their baby girl's 1st birthday party just so I could meet Signe, in person, finally after about two years of growing our on-line friendship.

Joseph is gonna marry LoLo someday (at least that is what I like think). Of course, Will and his mommy (who has the SAME name as me by the way) has another plan.

Anyhow, back to Signe and the reason for this post. Signe is having a birthday today. Not only is she having a birthday today, but if you go to this page on Facebook CLICK HERE FOR SIGNE
you can wish her a happy birthday AND she will donate $.21 for every birthday wish left between Midnight May 10th and 11:30 p.m. that evening to Alexander's adoption fund!!!!

So come on, join in the fun and wish my dear, sweet, friend and sister a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! It will make her smile and help her to bless us too.

Happy Mothers Day/ Thankful Sunday

Sometimes short and sweet is perfect. on Mothers Day and every day I am thankful for my wonders!

And for all the Mothers who I start my day with, who inspire me , and keep me going, I am thankful for you all. Happy Mothers Day!

It takes Two to talk

For the last four weeks I've been attending a workshop called It Takes two to Talk. Based on the Hanen Program. It teaches simple strategies to get your little one talking. The best part about it, is that it doesn't put any pressure on actually making the child talk. No constant pounding of sounds or words, no holding back something desired by the child until they "speak". It has been so educational and fun!
We were offered the program through our early intervention and I advise anyone who can get into one to do it.

It deals with children of all ages and delays and covers specifics for each. So whether your child is only a "discoverer", meaning no words yet or a "combiner", meaning putting more words together there is a specific method to help enhance their speech.

You will learn simple techniques to use while playing with your child to prompt them to speak. And with this program a look, eye contact, a laugh, all count as communication.

I really cannot say enough about it.

Here's the link to read more about it

I am so glad we were able to participate in this program while we were still in EI and before Em went to school. I really think it's going to help her. But if you have older children it's still beneficial to all ages so check it out!!!

A Child, A Woman, A Miracle

We all have heard the expression, God works in mysterious ways. This post is about , to put it plainly a beautiful miracle, involving a child and a woman. The child lives far away across an ocean in a part of the world few if any of us have ever visited. The woman a U.S citizen, mother, wife. Two people worlds apart.
Yet God saw fit that these two lives should somehow touch each other. They touched each other without ever laying eyes on the other, without ever saying a word, without ever being in the same country. No touch was exchanged, no hug, not even a smile(well maybe on very sweet Cheshire smile).

You see this is the child,

Miss Brigita



And what she has done is reach into the heart of a woman and ignite a passion that was hidden. She has taken a lukewarm soul and brought it to a full boil!

There are four woman in this world who I have dubbed Brigita's first Mama's. We are scattered everywhere but somehow we all met up and became friends via the Internet. We all love Brigita with a mama's heart and will do anything to get her home. All of us would love to be her Mama, but for various reasons we cannot. So instead we band together and advocate, post, have giveaways, FB events, and pray for her mama to find her.

This post is about one of Brigita's "mama's."

I thought it was one of the most honest and beautiful posts I've ever read, and a beautiful way God used a child so far away to touch a heart.The following are pieces from a post she recently wrote.

"This is the little girl(Brigita) I can't get out of my head. One little face that propelled me, a secret dabbler in the faith of our fathers, to pray my first novenas (all the way to the end, that is...) and beg God for the faith of a mustard seed. She spurred me out of my lukewarmness, to get to the sacraments regularly, to read the works of the great saints, and to say the scary Holy Spirit prayer that requires you to PROMISE to "submit to all that you desire of me, and accept all that you permit to happen to me." I'm in over my head. And I don't want to blog. "


"Others have been trying their best to help her. I've been sitting by watching them do the brave thing in what seems like a futile effort, telling myself lies about how I'll sit down and write something just as soon as I get that next load of laundry done, just as soon as I change this diaper, just as soon as... No. Enough. This is not helping Brigita."


It seemed like God was giving me the green light at first. This being the first Lent in nearly two decades where I didn't qualify for the "pregnant or nursing mother" exemption, I had to, horrors, give up meat on Fridays, and do a bit of fasting. I'm not gonna lie - it was easy. Also, giving up coffee (something I had previously regarded as impossible) was easy. My newfound confidence suggested a brazen plan.


" Thoughts of coffee (and cookies and donuts and...) crowded out all that profound stuff I had been exposing myself to. Now, I'm not bright enough to know whether this was a ruse of the devil, or whether God wanted me to know my utter dependency. What I do know is that this Lent stuff is real. Christianity is real. Woe be to me, I'm thinking, if I just set this all aside."



To read the post in it's entirety, click here.

God can move mountains, He can make the impossible , possible. Please read the rest of this post. And believe in miracles.

Thankul Sunday

SUN!!! And lots of it!!! It's amazing what a little sun can do for you. Today , the sun is shining and there are blues skies above.



Opening Day!!!

Thanklful that Andrew got a hit yesterday and it didn't rain.



And so thankful to some generous friends who got us tickets to the Paw Sox game. It was a great treat! Thank you guys!! We had a super time!

And the seats we were sitting in just happen to be prime for catching foul balls. And guess what ! Miss Bella got one! note to any Paw Sox fans, if you see her coming get out of the way!! This girl means business! All bets are off when she's on the run for a ball! And my apologies to anyone who left the game limping!

And so thankful Andrew watched fireworks for the first time in many years last night. After the game the rest of the family went onto the field for fireworks while Andrew and I made a bee line for the car. he has very sensitive ears and fireworks send him in to a frenzy. It's gets really ugly. So we went to the car and put in ear plugs and rolled the windows up "tight" and I prayed!

Here is the result... no less than a miracle. Pause the music so you can here Andrew.

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And today we are celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday. One of the most beautiful days our faith celebrates.

Everyone have a beautiful sunny Sunday!!

Too Quiet!

OMGoodness, it's so quiet I can't think! Everyone is in school, Peter is out and the baby is sleeping. I thought it would be a great time to write a post and the silence is killing me. I've been staring at the screen for almost an hour. That's pathetic. I cooked a meatloaf in the time I've been attempting to get a post up.

I hate to waste this precious time staring blankly at my computer.

I guess I can catch you up on Emmie. She had a couple of doctor appointments this week. One with her ENT. Her tubes are doing fine. She recovered without any issues and I think she is hearing better. Em had constant fluid in her ears before the tubes went in, and she is really "talking" up a storm lately. Lots of jargon.
She had her 30 month check up at her pedi. She now weighs a whopping 22 pounds!!

Em now calls everything on her face "eyes".
Says cat and makes a cat sound,(which actually sounds like she's stepping on a cat).
Em is showing an interest in cleaning. Wipes things with a paper towel. That's useful!

Climbing up stairs and stepping down low steps alone. Can also step over things without falling.

More and more signs are emerging. Newest ones are, Good morning, music, mine(which she signs when it's someone else's turn at something), jump.

Still obsessed with signing time.

Loves salad.

Still making us laugh and smile every day.

All in Pink

So much for the traditional Easter picture in church. Miss Em was not having it. She does look like she's praying for someone to rescue her. (you can click to enlarge pics)


Emmie did warm up to the camera as the day went on. The smell of chocolate probably helped.

HE IS RISEN!

1: And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2: And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3: And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" 4: And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; -- it was very large. 5: And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were
amazed.6: And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. 7: But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."

Mark 16:1-7

Happy Easter Everyone!

Just My Thoughts And Feelings On This Good Friday.

I wasn't planning on posting today. I just wanted to use my morning time to catch up on some blogs and get back in touch. Feel like I've been away from blogland lately. But as I set out on my routine of going down my blog roll, the stories and posts today set the mood. It is Good Friday and the first thing I saw this morning was this from Diane, Lera's mommy, it's called Is's Friday but Sunday's Comin'
I put it at the end of this post, but please read through first.

Then I headed over to check on Olga and her family. And I left crying. I always get emotional when I go to Jenn's blog. It's Olga for goodness sake, the Dumpling that changed my heart and put a passion in me that I never expected. I want her home. The Abell family is having a yard sale today and tomorrow, A big one. Please pray that it is a successful one. They still need 14,000 to be fully funded and still need to submit their dossier. I'm praying that someone who comes to the yard sale is moved to do something big!

So after visiting Olga I thought I'd head over to see Pudge and Zippy. They're always good for a laugh. And yes Courtney has some delicious photos that made me laugh and cry at the same time. Love , love , love those kids.

Thinking I had recovered I went to see Polly, Kristen's mom and she has posted a beautiful quote about sorrow and how it touches us all, and again I found myself in tears.

And yes, there were some other happy posts that I took joy in this morning too. Birthdays and blessings, and things that made me smile. Photos that made me wish I could jump through the computer screen and just squeeze some of those smiling faces.

So with all that said and done I've decided to fast today. A Good Friday Fast. For successful fundraisers, for sad hearts missing their loved ones, for happy hearts that they always see their blessings, for the needs of my friends in blogland, and for the miracles that you pray for, the ones between you and God. For peace of mind, For Brigita's mama wherever you are. For all the waiting orphans. I'd love some company in fasting today.

Is's Friday but Sunday's comin'

For The Love Of Grapes

Miss Em loves her some grapes! So, I took her love of grapes and we practiced some simple directions, over and over and over again . After about a pound of grapes I think we got some really good results. I did post this on FB so it's a rerun for some, but not everyone is on FB.Pause my music.

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Helping Without Spending

OK, listen to this. One of my new favorite people in blogland is doing something amazing. Besides adopting a Princess from EE herself she is one of the BIGGEST advocates on the planet.
She is always lending a hand to others to help them get their Dumplings home too.
This is what Deanna is up to now. The Burgers are bringing home Brian and The Brownings are having a great Giveaway for them, Deanna and her husband Rob are donating one dollar for everyone that posts a link to the giveaway on their blogs or on FB.

The idea is to get the word out about the giveaway. The Burgers are short and they need to raise the rest of the money to be fully funded and get Brian out of hell and into their arms.

Read all the details here
The Brownings giveaway is here

And Beautiful Brian. He looks like an angel.


WILL BE HERE!

institution


This is a great way to help without spending money. Of course donations are gladly accepted. But I know sometimes I just cannot help out in a monetary way. There is always a way to do something! No gift is too small, no effort is in vain. I think I spent 15 minutes putting this post up. And hopefully Brian is one small step closer to home. If everyone does one small thing for these children it will turn into something huge!

Thankful Sunday

Well what a week! That dull moment never came!

This week I am so thankful that Em's surgery went so well. She has been great and except for some stuffiness from the surgery she is perfect.

Thankful that Sophia is feeling better. She wasn't feeling so well the first part of the week.

Thankful Olivia is better. She got sick Wednesday and gave us a big scare on Friday morning~ she fainted in the bathroom from dehydration. The scary part was she could not maintain conscientiousness. A trip to the ER, via a rescue, and an IV of fluids perked her right up.

Thankful that this is vacation week, as of right now we could all use a break!

Thankful for my friends who are always there for me and my sick kids!LOL Thanks guys!

Maybe next week I'll be thankful for warmer weather, but as of now ... NO!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Brigita's Giveaway, All the Way From NORWAY

Yes, when I said Miss Brigita had" Mama's" everywhere who love her I wasn't kidding. One of bloglands best treasures lives in Norway and is Brigita's Warrior.

This giveaway is very special to me. One, it's for Brigita and two, it takes place in Norway. think about it, do you know what the shipping is from Norway to the States? Brigita's Warrior has the biggest heart and to even attempt this is amazing. But she loves Miss B and wants more than anything to find her mama.

Please continue reading, the rest is Helle's post about her giveaway. It should be called "Tokens From The Heart" because that's exactly what it is. Please support it and Helle, and who knows, maybe soon Miss B will be on the MFFMP! We're not giving up on this kid.

The token prize post :)

... at last!

No fundraiser without a prize, right?
So as soon as I decided to pull something together for Brigita and Friends, my mind started reeling over what to offer.

A natural place to start fundrasing these days, would be somewhere near iTown ;-)
iPads, iPods, iPhones and such seems to be very popular now, and I can see why. It IS a cool thing to win!

Trouble is, I live in what might very well be the most expensive country in the world (ask any bewildered tourist who just got off the airport express train and grabbed a pint at the nearest shabby outdoor cafe. "Ten dollars? Is this some kind of joke?"). So to buy some gadget here at three times the American price, and then pay to send it to the States, would border on madness. I'd rather put the excess money into the older girls' account.

But I had to find something, just for the sport of it:) And as this is, after all, the Noggie Bloggie of the Broken English Spoken Perfectly, why not go for the tourist approach?

Prize one: Cheese slicer (aka "ostehøvel")

This Noggie invention, dated 1925, is practical for cutting your Jarlsberg cheese!

I'll promise to find a nice one.

Prize two: Freia milk chocolate

I googled to find some nice souvenir shops, but what I found was a lot of travellers' blogs going on and on about that fabulous Noggie chocolate and how it was their favourite souvenir.

So, even though I personally think that it's kind of cheapo as far as souvenirs go, I will listen to the experts and ship a few bars overseas. I might even add a traditional....

(no, no extra points for figuring out the meaning behind the odd spelling!)

Considering that there are so far only three participants- please leave a comment if you feel left out- I think we will leave it at that for the 1st of May drawing. But as this fundraiser is a work in progress, and some people have signaled they would like to participate later, I plan a June 1st drawing as well.

Maybe a...



troll (every mantlepiece is begging for one. Not necessarily quite this big, though)

Or perhaps some traditional jewelry to go with your bunad ?

A brooche?

Or maybe you prefer earrings?

The possibilities are endless :) And as always, any advice/help/criticism on this project is most appreciated. I am still a total newbie in these matters.

Anyway, the first drawing will take place on May 1st- for the cheese slicer and the yummy choco.

All of you who have donated to the older girls fund, or advocated for Brigita in any way, are in!

Click here to donate to the Older Girls on Reece's Rainbow
Click here to go to Helle's blog