Happy Halloween!

Tonight was our Fall Carnival at church.  Our cell group always does the Cake Walk but this year we did the Cookie Monster Walk and gave out cookies instead.  Maddie was a little flower, and I was her gardener.  Kyle was a shepherd.  We had a great time!  Here's some pics...

Setting the Record Straight

Well, in this post I may have painted Kyle in a bad light and to set the record straight I feel I need to tell you how supportive he has also been. : )  He did help me put all of the picture wires on the frames and the truth is, he has always been my voice of reason - which is one of the things I love so about him so much.  I would always rather have honesty than pander.  So, even though it may be hard to take sometimes, thanks for your honesty. 

Martin Park Nature Center

Thursday I took Maddie to the Nature Park. At this particular spot, which was absolutely beautiful, the rocks had a slant to them and at first Maddie wasn't so sure, but it then I saw her build up her courage and little by little she let go of my pant leg and began to explore on her own. It was one of those moments in life a Mommy feels so proud of her little one and honored to witness it.

The Final Three

This tree photography contest has become a big deal to me.  The other night Kyle (in all his honesty) said he didn’t think I had any pictures worthy of entering.  (ouch!)

 There was a time in my life I would have been crushed, but not anymore! I’m a risk taker at heart, and this feels right.  I've learned when you are a follower of Christ things happen in your life (big or small) for one of two reasons: 1) to glorify God 2)to further your own destiny (which, incidentally, glorifies God).  God’s got this.  Besides, what do I have to lose?  A few bucks on the entry fee.  No big deal.  Kyle may be right, and I may have no business entering this contest, but the process has already been so worth it!  I’ve been out in nature.  I’ve seen trees.  I’ve taken pictures.  I’ve seen the glory of God.  And that makes me a winner whether I win the contest or not.  

So here are the final entries:

Transformation

True Colors (i'm taking a big risk with this one and putting it in a red frame)

Plank in the Eye

Discovering Pumpkin Guts

Maddie and I have been talking about pumpkins quite a bit lately.  We finally sliced into one yesterday.

Maddie reaction was hilarious...no need to explain just look at her expression!

She finally made peace with the yuck and really enjoyed it...she was even ready to eat the seeds!

And this is what we ended up with.  Now we will roast them...YUM!

Tuckered out

We met our Speech Therapist, Kara, with Sooner Start at the park this morning (so fun!) and on the walk back home, Maddie fell asleep. See her new Sock Monkey hat? I couldn't wait for an excuse to put it on her, so when the wind picked up just a tiny bit I swooped in and covered her ears because that's what good mommas do right? : ) I found this little gem at the Affair of the Heart craft show this weekend. Me and Mom and Mistie and Christie had a really good time and shopped till we dropped!

Plank in the Eye

I think I'll submit this one for the photo contest. Do you see the face? Finally, a tree with quite a personality : ) I especially like its dread locks.

Sew Cute!

I finished this cute little number for Maddie yesterday.  I'm planning on making corduroy pants with a ruffle at the bottom to go with them, but we really need the dining room table back so that will have to wait for another time!

One Tree, Two Tree. Three Tree.

I didn't realize how hard it was to get an interesting picture of a tree.  If only they could give me a smile or an interesting pose, but no.  They just stand there, so it's up to me to pull out the interesting details.  Here's what I've got so far.  Do you think any of these are worthy of entering in the competition?

Our List: Hearing Test - Check!

I'm so glad our hearing test is over and done with! Maddie had an Auditory Brainstem Response test yesterday that she had to be sedated for. This required sleep depriving her and since she had to drink chloral hydrate, or as we call it "sleep juice" she couldn't eat or drink anything 3 hours before the testing. We kept her up late the night before and woke her up at 6:15 yesterday morning to sleep-deprive her. She had her breakfast right away, and then I offered her some graham crackers at 9:30 but she wasn't interested. By 11:00 she was ready to eat, but it was too late. Her test was at 1:00. She kept signing apples, cheese, banana, but nothing was working. It was sad to have to tell her no! She usually naps between 11:00 and 12:00 so she was really getting sleepy. You would think a combination of needing sleep and a very hungry toddler would make for a monster-of-a-child, but amazingly Maddie was her pleasant, wonderful self! The hardest part was keeping her awake during the 30 minute drive to the clinic. Once we got there, she was greeting everyone in the lobby and being super cute.
The testing took a couple of hours and we learned she hears perfectly! This is big news for our speech development journey. We won't have to worry whether she is hearing the sounds or not. What a relief!!
Poor thing didn't wake up until 4:30. She went to bed at her normal 8:30 bedtime and slept through the night!

Wishing we had big trees...

So we could do this with REAL leaves!! 
And so I could get a great shot of a tree to submit for a photo contest for the Norman Parks Department!  The deadline is Nov. 3 and so far I've got nothing.  I'm thinking a trip to the Nature park will have to be scheduled sometime this week. 

More Pumpkin Patch Pics

Growing so big!

Taking time to smell the roses feel the corn.

Halfway through corn maze, needing to catch a ride with Daddy.

Umm, what am I supposed to do I do with this?

It Happened for the First Time

Kyle had the day off (yay!) so we decided to take a little family outing and visit the pumpkin patch. There were a group of school children there as well. As we were leaving a couple of boys, probably just 5-6 years old noticed Maddie. One of them laughed at Maddie and said, "Her face looks funny." My initial instinct was to scoop her up and run like a bat out of hell (which is exactly what I did). The mother or teacher of the little boy called him over and told him something and as we passed by she said how cute Maddie was. I smiled and said Thank you while holding back the tears. All the while Maddie is just smiling and waving bye-bye to the little boys.
I admit I've been in denial...seriously, telling myself this day might never come. But I suppose it's good to happen now, while Maddie can still smile and wave back and I can prepare ourselves for the day when it will hurt far worse than today. The day when a comment is made and Maddie realizes she's different.
In hind sight, I should have stopped and explained to the little boys that she looks a little different simply because she has Down Syndrome. To expect acceptance we have to teach acceptance, right?
So, how would you have handled it? How do you prepare a child for something like this?

Q: How do you hold a toddler's attention for more than 30 minutes?

A: Sensory tubs!

These are so much fun, Maddie played and played and played yesterday.  This is our new Halloween tub.

She especially liked the little skeletons.  They feel squishy and are stretchy.

She was really good about keeping the beans in the tub and not putting anything in her mouth.  We'll have to do this again.  Now, the ironic this is I have to find a time when we will have a 30 minute span of nothing else to do!!

Too much Sesame Street?

See my little monster friend? Maddie watches Sesame Street every day, and I think it's rubbing off on me. Now instead of seeing a piece of wood with a couple of screws I see cute little monsters.

Designer Genes

I was so happy the other day to find this pair of designer jeans at a consignment store (for super cheap!) But then I was thinking about my baby's designer genes. Some of you may not know that although she has Down Syndrome, she still only has 46 chromosomes! CRAZY, RIGHT? Turns out I only have 45 chromosomes. Both of our 14th chromosomes hitched a ride with the 13th chromosome leaving us with an extra long 13th chromosome and only one 14th chromosome. How amazing is God? Thanks God for our designer genes and the super great deal on these designer jeans too!!

Awww, My Baby Shares!

Shot of the Day

Yesterday we went to the library for storytime. Maddie squealed with delight as soon as we crossed the threshold of the library entrance...know why? BUBBLES! At the end of storytime, they always blow bubbles and it's Maddie's favorite thing. I got this picture with shutter priority setting at 1/80. A faster shutter speed would have helped with clarity, but then I may not have captured the blur in the background, so this is the shot and I'm sticking to it!

We're Montessor-ting

I've been trying to implement some Montessori principles in our daily preschool time. We may not be perfect but we've made progress! See that little mat Maddie is sitting on? She's sitting on it! That was a big accomplishment, believe it or not. This was a game of sorting gourds by color. She finds them more tasty than colorful right now, but we're making progress and she loves preshool time. It's the one thing that motivates her to clean up!

Finger paints!

Yesterday Maddie got her hands dirty in the finger paints! The idea was to swirl around the red and yellow paints until the pumpkin is orange, but as you can see...we have a mostly red pumpkin. Hey, it's the process not the product right? The important thing to remember here is - she loved that ooey gooey goodness smooshed between her fingers!