My Hero - the snake wrangler

I came downstairs after Alayna's nap to find a teeny, tiny ringneck snake (seriously smaller than an earthworm) in my kitchen.

Thankfully, my snake wrangler had it cleared out in no time.

Note: If you ONLY knew how afraid of snakes Jason is you would seriously be patting him on the back for this rescue!

Thanks honey!!!

2nd note : I won't tell you that he called 3 times before he got home to see if I had taken it out yet. (Giggle, giggle...)

Thankful Thursday

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.

~Author Unknown

~Lots of positive feedback & good discussions with people about my post When is it ok to use the R word?

~Pecan, carmel popcorn

~Bike rides & walks together as a family.

~Alayna's continued great progress. She has started taking more than her "just 3" steps (most of the time). As you can see big brother is a huge motivation for her. Her self feeding using utensils, language and pretend play skills continue to flourish.







~I always pray for God to tightly bond Aidan & Alayna. I love to sit back and watch as He shows me that they truly are bonded. Alayna continues to get SUPER excited hearing or seeing the bus bringing Aidan home. (Fast forward to 55 seconds and just watch the last 10 seconds...she LOVES her brother!)




~A great start to the soccer season for Aidan (they won 7-0) however, the game was at 8am & little sister decided to sleep in so she & I missed the season opener.


We hope you have a wonderful Labor day weekend and safe travels.

We hope you have had a great week but even if you didn't we hope that you take time to reflect on at least one thing to be thankful for and leave a comment and share it with us.

More career opportunities

The future career opportunities are endless...

Chef? What, you don't chew on all the food before you serve it?







Doctor / Nurse - She has gotten great at saying "ahhh"




Entertainer / Musician - She is always drawn to musical instruments and enjoys singing & playing.



However, topping the list right now is Master children's librarian! She loves to get ALL her books out, sit in the middle of them and "read".

Come on who wouldn't take their child to story time at Alayna's library?

Thankful Thursday

~So very thankful for fall like weather. We have been able to get out and walk and play at the park.

~A piano, we found a piano! A sweet lady was retiring and moving to a Caribbean island (must be nice eh?) and gave us a great deal on her one owner Baldwin. She was hoping that it would go to someone who had a child learning to play. Aidan is super excited to start piano lessons next week.

~Alayna's fine motor skills are coming along nicely. She is loving using her utensils so much that she will pick up a cheerio that has landed on her tray and put it back in the bowl so she can scoop them out with her spoon.

~We have had so many people join &/or donate to our Step Up for Down Syndrome team.

~I am thankful for my sweet husband who doesn't even mind when I blow off cleaning or errands or even skip going to the grocery store in lieu of a park date with Alayna!

Hope you have had a great week, don't forget to leave your thankful....

When is it ok to use the "R" word???

Last week Alayna & I dealt with the R word face to face and I can honestly tell you that as a parent of a child with special needs it is NEVER ok to use the R word. It is hurtful.

Alayna & I walked into a doctor's office for a visit for me. I had only met this doctor one other time a week earlier but, in that meeting we discussed that I have daughter with down syndrome.

She happened to be 30 minutes late and apologized saying it was an emergency with one of her children. I immediately said, " I hope everything is ok" then the doctor said, "oh it was nothing really, actually it is just a retarded story"...and went on to explain how her daughter forgot to take something to school and she had to go and drop it off at the school for her.

Now there are millions of adjectives in the world. On this very day as I am standing there holding my sweet daughter she HAD to use this word?

I could have kept my mouth shut and walked away but (you know me better), I believe God specifically put me in this truly uncomfortable position to help me grow and to help me advocate for my daughter.

When she paused I immediately said, "Our family doesn't use that word and we would appreciate if you didn't either". She quickly said, "Oh, I would never use that word in reference to someone who IS intellectually challenged."

This second comment hit me like a ton of bricks. Here I was face to face with someone I didn't really know, with whom I hadn't built a rapport, who obviously is educated but, she really thought that is was ok to use this word if she wasn't referring to someone with special needs.

I explained that it is never ok to use this word. I explained how hurtful this word is and how easily people throw it around.

Her next words then were heartfelt, " I am so sorry for using that word, I should not have used it and I am deeply sorry."

I have no idea if this doctor will think twice about using the R word again or not. My prayer is that she not only never uses it again but that she also goes on to advocate that others not use it either.

Please help eliminate the use of the R word in everyday speech.

Thankful Thursday

~Great start to the school year for Aidan. (Minus having to miss day #2 due to strep throat). He loves his teacher and is so excited to learn all the cool 2nd grade stuff.

~A great visit with my 96 year old grandmother yesterday. She LOVES Alayna. Alayna made her day today by sitting on her lap and playing patty cake and giving her high fives. Very sweet to watch.

~Alayna starting back to school today after a nice few weeks off. We are blessed by all the teachers and therapists who work with her. They are all top notch and love her dearly. (Please pray for her speech therapist, Valerie who had surgery this week and won't be with us for a couple months).

~Awesome piano teacher for Aidan that decided to start teaching again at just the time we were praying about lessons for him. God's timing is so amazing.

~Sibling love - I love to sit back and watch Aidan & Alayna interact. Especially when one of them is sick or hurt, they immediately comfort one another. She is over the moon when he picks her up and hugs her after he gets off the bus. This morning when I got up I found Aidan in Alayna's crib with her making her giggle. Don't get me wrong they definitely have their brother / sister moments already too. I guess that is why when I see how much they really do love one another it melts my heart.

Please share one of your great moments from your week that you are thankful for...

Hooky on the 2nd day of school?

Aidan was devastated to wake up this weekend with a sore throat which only got worse and by bedtime included a high temperature.

We went to see our friends at Urgent care (they do love us as we are keeping them from going out of business during the recession.)

Thankfully after a rapid strep test that came back immediately positive he was given a round of antibiotics to help him get back on the healing trail.

Not to worry though he had the cutest little nurse in the metro area taking care of him. She made sure to deliver his blankets, tuck him in, pat him on the back, tickle him a little, get him water and popsicles and finally Motrin (when I could squeeze it out of her cute little fingers).

Needless to say he couldn't go to school today but he is in good hands and is well on his way to feeling better and will return to the petri dish tomorrow!