Weekend in review

This weekend seemed to fly by as we were very busy.

Saturday morning we caught the first hour of the DSG new parent breakfast. It was really nice to visit with a few friends we have met in the past 10 months and meet some new ones. So many cute babies....this year our DSG has welcomed over 50 new babies with down syndrome. YAHOO!

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From there we were off to Aidan's soccer match. It was a great game in which they tied 8-8 (Aidan scored 3 goals). It is really fun to watch his team each week. Just since last week they were really getting behind the ball much more and actually defending! So fun to watch their skills improve and their Bible knowledge improve (each week they memorize scripture and talk about how they can use their Christianity on and off the pitch).

We came home to allow Alayna a real nap in her bed then we were off again. As it was a truly beautiful day, the boys jumped on their bikes for a 4 mile ride down to the river. Alayna and I opted to bring all the fishing equipment in the SUV (thankfully so, Aidan needed to come home with us). Aidan fished for over an hour with no luck, he was determined to catch dinner. Alayna and I watched for a while then went to the playground and hit the swings and the slide.

We went home to have dinner (tacos not fish :) ) and Aidan snapped his fingers and said, "I'm pooped!" (Jason was too after his 8 mile ride).

Sunday was another beautiful day so we made plans to get outside again but, Alayna, who took a only a 30 minute catnap on my shoulder during church, had other plans. She was tired and took a long afternoon nap. Aidan took advantage of the time and played with Jason and I on his own then got in some good outside time with the neighborhood kids. When he came in for dinner he was blue, purple, pink, yellow, green and every other color in the rainbow (they had been playing with sidewalk chalk for a long time).

After dinner we let Aidan go back out to finish his masterpiece and unknowingly wait on a big surprise...Grandma and Pop Pop made it back into town. They drove down the street and went to turn into our driveway and Aidan came running...he was SO excited.

Alayna had smiles for grandma but, was a little more reserved with Pop Pop. Aidan talked non-stop telling them all about school, summer, our Disney trip etc. until I finally made him stop and get into bed. I think he would still be talking today if I hadn't stopped him.

What a great weekend we had together as a family!

Parallel parking at its finest

Alayna is getting all over the house (in reverse). She has a great knack of backing herself under the couch, tables, chairs, and even straddling the garbage can. Wow, she is amazing at finding all the roadblocks.


I put her down in the kitchen and within minutes she had moved herself into the living room and very carefully parallel parked herself under my curio cabinet. She thought it was pretty cool until she got too far under and looked up and bumped her head! Ouch! Then she was quite happy for me to show her how to move forward and get out of her little parking garage she created.

She is talking a lot more now and has added something that sounds like Aidan (an AHHH sound with a D on the end). We have heard it several times, always in reference or calling him. She did it again when he walked in after school yesterday. She makes the "m" sound but, NO mama yet. Boy, where did I go wrong? She laughs at me when I say mama and then quickly starts with dadada.

Aidan's second week of school has gone much smoother and he seems to be in a good routine now. It is amazing HOW much he can talk when he gets home. I think he spoke for 30 minutes straight after he got off the bus yesterday without a breath. (I am still not sure where he gets his chattiness from...oh yes, now I remember... that was ME getting into trouble for talking in class). Thankfully he waits until he gets home to let it all out.

(If you don't know, before staying home with the kids I was a high school assistant principal, my son knows that I don't take it lightly if he were to get in trouble at school.)

We are really excited to be going to another DSG new parent breakfast on Saturday morning. We can't wait to see our friends and make new ones. It is so fun to see how much everyone has changed in the past few months since the last get together. We are truly thankful for this group that has welcomed us, educated us, supported us and helped us through this first year with Alayna. (If you haven't already joined our Step Up for Down Syndrome team please click on the link at the right).

After the breakfast we will be off to another soccer match with Aidan. He is excited to score some more goals...must be the British coming out in him!

We hope you all have a safe and happy weekend. Cheerio!

Dear LC,

Dear LC,
I just wanted to say fanks for the great workout video that you posted on pulling up to standing. I have been watching it over and over again and finally got up the courage to twy it myself. I surprised everyone at being able to stand up without any practice (of course they didn't know I was watching your video over and over and over...)
Oh, and fanks for the tip on volume that you shared with me in baby class yesterday. I tried out that volume 10 that you told me about for 30 minutes after Aidan got home from school. I was talking SO loud that Aidan couldn't hear mommy tell him to do his homework (Aidan LOVES me even more now...) Good work buddy, you are a great pal.

Now if you can only make one of those work out videos to show me how to get moving forward as I am still stuck in reverse...
fanks for evweething,
your fwend,
alayna

Back to school...baby style

Yesterday Alayna was all revved up to start baby class...she had a great 2 hour nap in the morning, ate a good lunch then....fell asleep as we were pulling in the parking lot at school (ugh).

Needless to say she wasn't super excited about not getting her nap in but she didn't complain too much, she still had a great time socializing with her buddies and their parents (especially Ian's mom, Agnes - Alayna loved looking at her and smiling at her).

Our best buddy, LC and her wonderful mom, Courtney documented the day with pictures and a great post check it out on LC's blog (thanks CH)! It is so fun to see how far these girlies have come in 10 months, they just get cuter and cuter!

Aidan had a really good day to start his second week! He & Jason even ran into Aidan' teacher at Walmart on Saturday and she said Aidan was doing really well in class and she was enjoying him. YEAH! So nice to have that positive feedback!

First pony ride!

On Saturday evening, we were invited to my sister's work for their annual carnival.

It was a great time and the kids had a blast. They had bounce houses and slides, rides, pony rides, food, ice cream, a DJ and karaoke.

Alayna really enjoyed the pony ride, while Aidan loved the scrambler (I think he rode it 5 times!) Round and round they went and they didn't even get dizzy (but, we sure did watching them).

Aidan climbed up on the Titanic bounce house slide but caught his foot and twisted his little toe backwards (it is really bruised today), trust me that didn't slow him down for a minute! Although he is feeling the pain today, poor guy!

Overall, a great time was had by all and even at 9pm the big kids didn't want to leave yet. But, Alayna had lasted all night and hadn't complained (as usual) and she was getting VERY sleepy so we headed for home and had 2 little dreamy kids in a matter of minutes after they hit their beds!

Football fever

Football (Soccer) fever is rampant at our house. It must be the English blood...Aidan had his first soccer match this morning. He had so much fun and enjoyed chasing the ball around and scoring goals (they looked like bees chasing a honeypot). He was worn out by the end of the game though!

Thankfully our niece, Grace is on the same team so we have a big cheering section just for the two of them.

Aunt Elise, Rayne & Alayna cheered Aidan & Grace's team on to victory. My crazy Englishman paced the sidelines the whole game...even though they don't officially keep score he was a proud papa when Aidan scored!

Rain, Rain go away, it's time for school!

It was a downpour of a rainy day for the first day of school but, it was a great day for us all.

Aidan got on the bus bright and early and Alayna & I got busy doing odds and ends around the house. I didn't even have time to miss the cute, little blonde headed boy until I got ready to make my sandwich for lunch and realized Aidan wasn't there, I had to eat without him for the first time ever. UGH (shed a few tears). I quickly pulled myself together and got on with the day. It was VERY peaceful here, almost too peaceful. Alayna only napped for 45 minutes in the morning I think she missed her brother.

Aidan came home really excited and said the best part of his day was meeting new friends. He thinks he teacher is as great as his kindergarten teacher (which is a really high standard...we all LOVED Mrs. Gordon). He enjoyed eating at school and came home with fun, first day handprints.

We are thankful that he is off to a great start!

Alayna starts back on Thursday with her individual pt session.