Our to do

a little bit of crazy you haven't see in a while.

she may look innocent here, but trust me, she's not!

This is going to be a very busy week, on top of our already crazy weeks that we usually have :) Tomorrow Jayden is getting her first cavity filled :( and she is very upset that she will not be able to eat breakfast in the morning. No food or drinks after midnight. We have to report to the dentist office at 8:50am and hopefully be home by around 10am. I hope the sedative that they are giving her mellows her out A LOT so there will be no major drama come filling time. We also have Soph's occupational therapist coming tomorrow and Randy is finally returning to work! HURRAY!!!!! Tuesday Jayden has preschool AND is Star Student of the Week! We are sending some pictures of the family and of some of her likes so that her classmates and teachers can learn a little more about her. Then Soph will have her physical therapy, which could be fine or it could be an hour of struggling with a stubborn kid, we'll see? Then Jayden has an open house Tuesday night at preschool, which will be fun to go and see her "special space." Wednesday we head up to Indy for a developmental pedatrician appointment and Thursday is another day of therapy and preschool. And to end the week we get to go back up to Indy, this is so not normal to have to go up there twice in one week BUT, we have to see Soph's cardiologist and meet with her speech pathologist. Both who we haven't seen in a while now. THIS will be a long day. So I am preparing myself for a long list of to do's this week, but it's nothing us girls can't handle!

From the website About.com, here is my little Down syndrome info for the day: "All infants and people with Down syndrome have some characteristic facial features, physical features, medical problems and cognitive delays in common. The features and medical problems associated with Down syndrome vary widely. Some kids with Down syndrome need a lot of medical attention, others lead healthy lives. While there are treatments for the medical conditions sometimes faced by people with Down syndrome, there is no cure for Down syndrome." (because Down syndrome isn't a disease). "Most of the medical problems seen in individuals with Down syndrome are also seen in other people. That is, the medical problems are not specific to Down syndrome, they just occur more frequently in people with Down syndrome."

Fall is in the air

We busted out all of our Halloween decorations the other day and decked out our porch for one of our favorite holidays! Jayden has been wearing her Halloween costume for the past couple weeks, almost non stop, and it's already starting to tear apart down the front :( I had a feeling it wouldn't last till Halloween, but I'm just excited that she is excited to wear a costume this year! For the past two years I haven't been able to get her in a costume. We're still working on Soph's costume and may change ideas after seeing an adorable costume the other day at Babies R Us.

We celebrated my 30th birthday yesterday, and I don't care how much crap Randy gives me, I'm fine with turning 30! Jayden and I went out for a pedicure and Jayden got her toes and nails painted and liked it, until she was left alone to get them dried and started to cry a little because she wanted her mommy. We then went to Toys R Us where Jayden ended up getting a present, on MY birthday. After kids, nothing ever really is the same :( We then got home to hear from Sophia's nurse that she had a little bit of a rough afternoon which entailed her puking/spitting up all over herself, including her hair, her bed and her clothes. She needed a bath, before we went out to eat for my birthday and then one mess just turned into about 5 before we could make it out the door. But supper was nice, at the Olive Garden, with my family and bestie and topped off the night with a game of cards.

Today we had our bake sale/raffle sale and candle sale over in West Terre Haute for our local playgroup, Wabash Valley S.T.A.R.S, to help raise money for Down Syndrome Indiana as well and it was going very well when I left at 3:30. We had raised over $500 at that point and was only to the half way point. Speaking of raising money, our team, Sophia's Stars, has raised close to $1500 through business sponsors and great family and friends who are AMAZING! I am so pleased and very impressed with all the support we've received this year. This is going to be a great Buddy Walk!

We topped off our evening with pumpkin decorating, one for each of the girls and carving one pumpkin and playing with the goo. Sophia messed in the goo some, but Jayden wasn't having any part in putting her hands in that stuff :) Randy finished carving a face on the pumpkin and they really do complete our festive porch!

One final note, to go with my hopes of blogging every day for the 31 days of October in support of Down syndrome awareness month, did you know that Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring genectic condition. One in every 733 live births is a child with Down syndrome, representing approximately 5,000 births per year in the United States alone. Today, more than 400,000 people in the United States have Down syndrome. (information brought to you from http://www.ndss.org/ (national down syndrome society))

October: Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Okay, so for Down syndrome awareness month there is this button going around for people who have blogs to commit to blogging daily, preferably about something related to Down syndrome, to bring awareness to those around us, so I am going to try and do this! Here we go, day 1:

Sophia, Sophia, Sophia, where do I even start. Yes, Sophia has Down syndrome, but Down syndrome is only a small part of who Sophia is. It doesn't drfine her as a person, just like the color of your hair doesn't define you as a person. Sophia is beautiful and full of life. She loves to laugh and smile and giggle, especially at her big sister Jayden. She is growing and thriving and doing new things every day, and even though she may not do things at the same pace as a typically developing child, she is meeting her milestones, just at her own pace. See, the biggest thing about Sophia is that she is very stubborn and hard headed. She will not do anything just because we want her to, or we think it's time for her to be doing somthing specific. In fact I think she deliberatly does the opposite of what we want her to do just so SHE knows that WE know SHE is in charge :) She refuses to be rushed to do anything and is perfectly content with just hanging out and enjoying the scenery around her, and that is just her personality right now, the observer.

Down syndrome was something I knew very little, if anything, about before Sophia was born. And to be completely honest, I don't really feel like I know as much as I should today because our lives don't revolve completely around Down syndrome, but instead they revolve completely around Sophia. Of course I've learned about different things that are more common in kiddos with Down syndrome like, low muscle tone, distinct facial features, medical conditions and developmental delays. But while Down syndrome may have a single cause, an extra chromosome 21, no two people with Down syndrome are identical. Each person with Down syndrome has their own personality, strengths and weaknesses. Sophia is simply Sophia. Yes, she has Down syndrome and that is nothing that we are ashamed of. She is PERFECT and SPECIAL, and she is ALL OURS! We love her for who she is and for what she has brought into our lives, and all we want is for everyone else to see who she is on the inside, not what they think she may be just by looking at her from the outside.

Wagon Wash

Our wagon was looking a little rough so Jayden said she'd help me out and wash it up, while Sophia and I watched :) She did it all by herself and did a really good job. She is such an amazing little helper, when she's in the right mood :) I love her so......

Absolute Perfection

LOVE this little ANGEL

Just Hangin Around

one of our two monkeys being silly

The Black Hole

Jayden had a dentist appointment today and she did wonderful. She was a little scared at first and shed a few tears, but warmed up pretty quick and got her teeth counted, cleaned and brand new Woody toothbrush! She also had her first xray taken of her teeth and did a fabulous job! Then we got the dreaded news.......Jayden has a CAVITY! We noticed a black dot on one of her back teeth a few weeks ago and thought she may have one and we were right :( So now we go back in few weeks to get it taken care of. They are going to give her a sedative to mellow her out and she shouldn't remember anything that happens. She will be a little out of it the rest of the morning, but should be fine by the afternoon. I'll keep you posted on how the filling of the cavity goes.