Down Syndrome Awareness Month

wow! it's hard to believe it's october already! where has this month gone? and why am i still awake? up with the oldest son trying to figure out the "perfect" gift for his girlfriend's 18th birthday....

october is down syndrome awareness month, and i've joined dozens of others who will be blogging daily in honor of our kiddos with down syndrome! 2 years ago i would not have even known that there was a buddy walk or down syndrome awareness month, but i'm now fully aware of those events and so much more! God has truly expanded my boundaries....

today i get to have lunch with 4 ladies i would never have met had God not blessed us with wyatt! when we scheduled this lunch date, we were not even thinking about it being the first day of DS awareness month.....but what a great way to "kick the month off!" carol has graciously invited us into her home, and we'll be joined by april, noel and kristen; all moms of precious little ones with ds! michael, wyatt and clayton will be able to "play" together while the bigger kids; chloe and logan, are in school!

i am so blessed to have these women in my life. i can call them anytime with any question! if they don't know the answer, they know where to find it! as i often blog about, i also have THE BEST support online that i could have ever hoped for! i post a question or concern and within moments i get responses from across the country and around the world!

down syndrome has added such a wonderful new dimension to my life....precious friends i've come to lean on, appreciate and love! i thank God for each of you!

A Heart for Adoption...

my good friend kym is at the "type a mom conference" in asheville as i type this. she is not a "type a mom" she readily admits. kym is the mother of 7 children; an artist, exceptionally creative, talented....and so much more. i've learned so much from kym in the 10+ years that i've known her! i'm so excited that she had this opportunity. i just wish that i was there with her!

she called me on her way to the conference because she forgot to bring the directions to the hotel (a type a mom would not forget this important detail!); i quickly found the directions online for her and guided her to the hotel....it's the closest i'm getting to the conference this year! it sounds like so much fun, and i'm experiencing it vicariously through kym! she's been feeding me bits of information via facebook throughout the weekend, and assures me she has much more to share with me when it's over!

kym also has a heart for orphans; her whole family does. she and her husband have recently started the process for adoption; they are in the early stages. as long as i've known them they have wanted to adopt....their children have talked about it for years! i'm excited and praying for them as they seek "to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27) may God bless their obedience and give them the desires of their heart!

The "Right" Thing To Do....

sometimes it's just so hard to know the "right" thing to do. especially when it comes to your kids. i know that we didn't have the same types of "major" decisions to make with our older kids when they were so young! with wyatt it seems like everything is "major"....at least to me! i guess it's the feeling that i must do the absolute best for him, to give him every advantage.

so we're back to trying to figure out wyatt's hearing. seven months ago our local ENT and audiologist recommended that we put a bone conductive hearing aid on wyatt. we got a second opinion from a pediatric ENT at nemours children's clinic, to be sure it was the best decision. his opinion was not to move forward with any hearing amplification. long story short....i think that i made a mistake in trusting the second opinion. we saw him again a couple of weeks ago, and i just got the feeling that he really doesn't think it matters if wyatt hears well or not, since he has down syndrome.... i know that sounds harsh, but that's just the feeling i got...all that to say, today we saw our original ENT and she again recommended the bone conductive hearing aid...and so we move forward....

so i think we should have taken the more proactive approach several months ago. and i feel like i've wasted six months of good hearing for wyatt. good hearing that is foundational to good speech, which has been my greatest goal for wyatt...that he speak as clearly as he possibly can.

and i wonder, will i always be second guessing my decisions concerning wyatt? i know that i'm doing the best i can, but i guess sometimes it just doesn't seem like enough...

"God Breaks...."

i find it funny that with all the plans i make, God often says..."stop!" this has happened to me so many times...."God breaks," i call them. i'll be looking at full days for a busy week ahead; my plans, good things, some important, some not so important, and someone will get sick...maybe more than one somebody! maybe even me! and then i have to STOP. (at least somewhat!)

this has been one of those weeks....it usually happens in the fall...and even though we don't have fall weather right now.....wyatt's ear infection turned into bronchitis, which he shared with me.

he's such an easy baby that we could continue to do some of the "musts" on our list, but not everything! it's too bad that it took until the end of the week for me to recognize this "God break...."! i wonder what i missed out on in my busyness of trying to keep going? will i ever learn???

i think i'll go REST now! (cough, cough!)

Grandmother's Love

as i was browsing through new backgrounds for my blog, i wasn't quite ready to commit to fall yet (these 95+ degree days are not helping me get in the "fall mood!"...i was even thinking about changing over my home decor; yes, i'm one of those....i change out decor seasonally, but it's just too blooming hot outside to put out the pumpkins yet!) anyway....i came across this unusual background called "attack of the brooches"...and was reminded of my grandmother....

grandmother was my mom's mom, my favorite grandmother! she was soft and "fluffy;" she always smelled just like every little old lady i've ever known...you know the smell! i'm pretty sure it was the perfect blend of body powder (you know the one in the big round box with the huge powder puff?) and whatever her perfume of choice was for that day, maybe some estee lauder, maybe white shoulders, maybe avon....she liked to smell good...and she did! after all the hard work she did every day, i now know how hard it must have been to smell so sweet!

i can vividly recall watching her get ready for church on sunday mornings getting all dolled up....pretty brooches and all! she rarely missed church, and wanted her whole family there with her! we lived in a different town, but when we were there, we went to church with her.....at Easter in our handmade (by her) polyester and lace dresses. (i had polyester and lace TO THIS DAY!)...there was no air conditioning, and that polyester did not "breathe" at all!

grandmother LOVED me....she loved all her grandchildren, and we knew she loved us. Christmas was BIG with grandmother...maybe that's where i get it from! i can remember no matter how early i awoke on Christmas morning, grandmother was already awake and up, with the gas heaters roaring and breakfast cooking....even at 4:30 on a dark cold country morning! she was ready for us girls to get up and see what santa had brought! i think she got as excited as we did! and i remember when our whole family gathered for Christmas eve, dozens of us, she had a gift for everyone....usually panties and socks for the grandchildren!

i miss my grandmother....wish she was here to enjoy our boys. oh how she would love them! she was already quite frail and suffering from some dementia by the time our ethan was born....but she did get to hold him. i can picture that too, through my tears....he was such a big boy, and although she might not have known who or whose he was, she enjoyed him so very much!

i could go on and on with the precious memories i have of grandmother...so this blog design and post is for her...september 1st was birthday.....happy birthday grandmother! thank you for showing me what unconditional love is....i miss you!

Yep, I'm Getting Old.....

this is what my bedtime ritual has looked like recently:

1. use allergy nasal spray, take allergy med, indigestion med and a bonus
800 mg motrin for good measure...
2. brush teeth (forget flossing, no time!)....
3. apply "all purpose nipple cream" (because nursing baby's sharp teeth are pulverizing me!)...
4. rub down elbows with bio-freeze, because arms are killing me from lifting said baby all day/all night long...
5. apply a nose strip so i won't snore and keep my hubby awake all night...

pretty picture, huh? gotta love aging.....naw, i'm not getting old.....