Wordless Wednesday!

Awesome awesome news story about an amazing cheerleading squad :)

http://www.kget.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=2877765

Also, please pretty please don't forget about our Birthday Bash Giveaway- only 9 days left!!

It's now a known fact: people with Down syndrome make the world a better place

I could go on and on, and I know I have on occasion.... about how awesome life is with our Evan.  You've seen it right here I'm sure.  Now there are statistics in black and white supporting my case!

Parents, Siblings, and People With Down Syndrome Report Positive Experiences

In light of all the new prenatal testing becoming available to detect Down syndrome inutero much earlier in pregnancy, we need to be sure those mamas-to-be have accurate information regarding the precious little bundle growing inside them.  It is a fact that 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome prenatally are aborted.  When you increase the number of prenatal diagnoses, make the diagnoses much earlier in pregnancy as opposed to ~20 weeks during an amnio, I fear what will happen with the abortion rates even though they scare me enough as it is.

These moms are scared.  I was scared when I first received word of Evan's diagnosis just moments after he was born.  However, #1- I could never go through an abortion had I received a prenatal diagnosis.  #2- I had my precious baby right there in front of me to fall madly in love with.  #3- I had wonderful physicians caring for me and my baby- I was not receiving false information like so many women receive from their OB's and geneticists once given a prenatal diagnosis.

I wish the article above would be given out to all the moms receiving prenatal diagnoses, as well as a ton more information about the opportunities available to people with Down syndrome today.  I wish these moms would each receive a copy of the book, Gifts, and read more about how life really looks "on the other side."  I wish I could give each and everyone of them my phone number and a long list of blogs to follow to see how awesome and rewarding this whole experience really is.

Taken from the article:

The first study evaluated surveys from 2,044 parents or guardians, representing an estimated response rate of 29 percent. Its findings:

• 99 percent of parent/guardians said they loved their child with Down syndrome
• 79 percent felt their outlook on life was more positive because of their child
• 5 percent felt embarrassed by their child
• 4 percent regretted having their child.

The second study evaluated responses to similar questions from 822 brothers and sisters age 9 and older (estimated response rate, 19 percent). Of the siblings age 12 and older:

• 94 percent expressed feelings of pride about their sibling
• 7 percent felt embarrassed by their sibling
• 4 percent would "trade their sibling in" for another
• 88 percent said they felt they were better people because of their sibling with Down syndrome

Of siblings aged 9-11:

• 97 percent said they loved their sibling
• 90 percent felt their friends are comfortable around their sibling

The third study evaluated survey responses from 284 people with Down syndrome (estimated response rate, 17 percent). The average age was 23, and 84 percent were living with one or both parents/guardians. The findings:

• 99 percent said they were happy with their lives
• 97 percent liked who they are
• 96 percent liked how they look
• 86 percent indicated they could make friends easily
• 4 percent expressed sadness about their life. 

Would the rest of the general population in the United States be able to report the same feelings?  I think it's safe to say that people with Down syndrome make the world a better place, and they make us better people for knowing them. No, I'm not just wearing rose colored glasses.  These are the facts.

Buddy Walk 2011!!

We stayed local this year hoping more people could join us... we had MomMom and PopPop join us!!  It was a wet, soggy day- of course it wasn't raining at the house nor did we see rain in the forecast, so it caught us quite by surprise when it started raining halfway there.  Oops.  We didn't have raincoats, just fleece and sweatshirts... two umbrellas to share with 7 people LOL Oh well!  It sprinkled for the first hour or so, then stopped by the time it was ready to walk.  Oh, and not only did we neglect to bring rain gear, I also forgot my camera. :( So, iPhone pics will have to do!

We arrived shortly after 11:00 which is when registration began, and first found our way over to the little petting zoo.  Kaylin is in the pink jacket and Justin in the red :)

There really was a nice set up- there were a few bouncy things for the kids to play on/in, a pottery tent where you could make your own piece- Kaylin made this cute little swan (sorry the photo is blurry)

And there was a man drawing caricatures- which Kaylin also participated in- she is the go-getter!

Also lots of food vendors- and everything was free!  It was a nice time, just would have been so much better had it not been raining. :(  At about 12:15 I walked Evan back to the van to feed him some lunch since there wasn't anywhere dry to sit down, then we made it back in time for it to pretty much stop raining for the walk.

Wishing we got some pics with MomMom and PopPop! :(  And yes, Evan is in major need of a haircut.

playing with PopPop's hat :)

showing off our AWESOME t-shirt we won from one of my friend Christie's giveaways :))

Rockin' this extra chromosome!!

Also, at one of the tents where I spied some Reece's Rainbow pamphlets- I saw they were selling DVD's of a movie called "Deedah"- about a little girl's perspective and appreciation of her little brother who has Down syndrome.  Couldn't resist- for $5 it was mine!  Kaylin was especially interested in it.  We watched it after dinner- such a sweet and heartwarming video!!  Justin even requested to watch it again last night. :) HIGHLY recommend it to all families, especially the parents and young siblings to children with DS.  So precious.  I teared up a few times, but mostly smiles and giggles.  :) Jonathan, the little boy with DS, is SO adorable- speaks remarkably well, is learning to read, has a huge sense of humor, and is six years old.  I was so impressed by this little boy!!

You can get your own copy of the DVD - HERE.  It's $13 at this site, but in my eyes it's worth every penny.

Also, please be sure to check out our Birthday Bash Giveaway where we are giving away several prizes, including an iPad2!!  Participation has been slow going- I'm really hoping this turns out to be a big success since we are paying $600 out of pocket for the iPad2.  Right now chances are pretty good for walking away with SOMETHING! ;) Go check it out!

Wordless Wednesday

Remembering...

The date: September 11, 2001.  My location: my Pre-K classroom with a room full of energetic 4-year-olds.  Class was bustling as usual, and my assistant just returned to the classroom after taking the attendance envelope up to the office.  She had the most worried look I have ever seen.  She whispered into my ear, "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!" It took me a few seconds to fully understand what this meant.  I wasn't thinking terrorist attack, I was thinking what kind of freak accident was this?  But Cindy was so shaken.... it had to be more.  She went back out of the room and returned a few minutes later and informed me the other tower was hit, and now the fear really set in.

Our school was not far from Camp David nor far from Fort Detrick- two major targets for terror attacks.  We weren't too terribly far from Washington DC also, and many, including myself, had family members working there.  We. Were. Scared.  Are they safe?  How in the world are they going to get home?

Parents started filling the school- frantically coming in to take their children home from school early.  When I say frantically- I mean they were gathered in the hallways crying very visibly.  Other students passing down the halls would see the upset parents taking their children and worried about what was happening and why weren't their parents coming to get them too?

I kept my classroom door shut.  I needed to shield my innocent little 4-yr-olds from the chaos outside.... I didn't want them to be scared.... I didn't want them to know how cruel the world can be sometimes.  I kept it together and put on my happy face... sang through our songs and went through our day as if all was fine.

A television was placed in the teacher's lounge so we could watch what was unfolding- I sat down and watched as I ate my lunch after my students left for the day.  I drove home, turned on the television, and cried the rest of the day.  Mike came home from work early and cried along with me on the couch.  The footage would replay over and over and over for the rest of the week and I cried over and over and over for all the lives lost.  Our country would never be the same.

I downloaded all the patriotic music I could find.  I wore red white and blue ribbons in my hair and pins on my shirts.  I bought little American flags to fly on my car and flew our big flag on our front porch.  The patriotism that exploded after 9/11 was something I will never forget as well.  Every house on our street had a flag flying out front.  Almost every car driving by had either a flag on their window or a magnet on the back.  Flags hung at every overpass along the highway.  The love for our country was evident, and it warmed my heart to see everyone coming together to support the US of A.

We will never forget....

Wheels on the Bus :)

Evan  has been such the little sponge lately, especially when it comes to imitating signs and hand motions.  We've been singing Wheels on the Bus for a little while now, and Evan recently mastered all the motions!  I caught him on video doing just about all of them- some are more obvious than others, but he's attempting each one. :) My favorite verse- the babies ;) Keep an ear out!

And now presenting Evan's big performance of Wheels on the Bus!!! *insert wild applause*

(oh and please ignore my singing LOL!)

Brag time! ;)

Now that school is back in session, the house is a bit more quiet during the day, and more time to focus on Evan and all his greatness!!  Before we start our Evan brags- here's a pic of the big kids on the first day of school:

They were both SO excited to go back- especially Kaylin who had been counting down since school ended last June!  She is such a little social butterfly and missed her friends sooooooooo much.... :)

Evan wasted no time getting into trouble after we put them on the bus...

His preferred method of watching Baby Signing Time.  Ugh.  The boy climbs on top of EVERYTHING.  He's now mastered the couch, and also can now crawl under the baby gate on one side of the room- the one right next to the steps.  Yep, as soon as his lil butt gets under the gate he is RIGHT up those steps.  Daddy will need to work on moving it- which will require some creativity since it is attached to the bannister on one side and has to sit above the air return on the opposite wall- hence the gap at the bottom.  Of course the other two kids NEVER tried crawling under it... Leave it to Mr. Smartypants!  I will have to catch him in the act to show you. ;) You can see said gate in the photo below.

So my baby isn't such a baby anymore.... I refuse to admit he is growing up sooo quickly... He's getting entirely too big, that's for sure.

Ok, so this isn't the best pic- I couldn't get him to smile while standing, but wanted to show how TALL he is!!

There, that's better :)

And now for our brag... Evan signing!  Here are just a few of the signs he knows- his attention span was only so long ;)

Some others he will sign on command:
sorry, bath, more, eat, hat, ball, shoes, wash hands

I know there are more but my mind is drawing a blank, and he picks them up faster than I can keep track!  For our next brag, I will try to get a video of him "singing" Wheels on the Bus- he is SO cute doing the motions!