About Me

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After being told I would never be able to have children, I am now a stay-at-home Mommy to Maddie who happens to have Down Syndrome. I've been married 16 years to my best friend, having the time of my life. Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our little journey through life.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Glasses Have Arrived!

We picked up Maddie's glasses yesterday.  It took over an hour to adjust and re-size them but I was grateful the ladies wanted to get it just right for Maddie's little face! 
Maddie didn't mind the wait.  We met Sully and gave him a proper place to sit.
And we had lots of fun with stacking rings.  Maddie's discovered they make great bracelets among other things.
I really didn't think she would keep her glasses on at all.  I told her it was Mommy's job to take the glasses off.  IT WORKED!  She kept them on most of the day and when she was tired of them she signed "help" and I took them off. 
She was signing eat  
We looked in the mirror to see how pretty she was in her new glasses.  And to make silly faces too!
We are very proud of our Little Miss.  She had a  great first day with her glasses.  Here's hoping we have many more!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ummm....How Much is Too Much?

You've heard the saying.  "You can never have too many [insert beloved whatever]"  But then I came upon this scene the other day.
 I used to think you could never have too many books for a little one, but maybe I was wrong : )  I have a plan though...I think I'll organize them by categories and get some of these for the play room. We'll rotate a few at a time, and then maybe we can keep them ON the bookshelf.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Look at What's to Come!

Aren't these fabrics awesome!  I wish you could reach through the screen and feel how soft and luxurious they are.  These little pretties are going to be Maddie's Easter dress!!  Yay! (that is if I can figure out the pattern...seriously pattern makers - isn't there an easier way to say what you want me to do?) I've already had to rip one seam, I'm sure there will be more, but at least I have a full month to get it done : )

Here's some pics of Maddie I took yesterday...

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Balloon Balooza!

I just love how a simple thing like a deflating balloon can provide so much fun for an active little toddler!

This is my simple things photo of the week...


Click here to see other simple things photos!

The Day After

So today is all about just letting the fun of yesterday soak in. Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes!!  It really means a lot to me, and here's how my day went:

7:00 ish - I wake up before anyone else, let the dog out and enjoy a few quiet moments to myself.

8:00 ish - I've decided to pretty myself up on my birthday and I get ready and curl my hair

9:30 - Class begins!  I'm in my second photography class learning more than my little brain can take in, but enjoying every minute of it.  
really lame picture, i know but it's the best I got 
12:30 - Meet my friends Paige and Tracy for lunch at Pei Wei (No Pics!! I totally forgot!)

2:30 - Back at home, time for my annual birthday pic!

2:31- Battery goes dead in camera (booo!)  I promise I didn't break the camera! : ) 

3:00 - Daddy and Maddie make Birthday Brownies for Mommy!

6:30 - Battery is fully charged and ready to go!
7:00- a little pick up/ clean up time
Before 
After!
7:15 - Maddie and I jam out to Bon Jovi
7:30 - I confuse Maddie by using her plastic cucumber for a microphone...she tries to eat microphone.
7:45 - We play until bedtime

9:30 - I enjoy a glass of wine and read my Real Simple Magazine until my bedtime.

The End!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

It's My Birthday!

Yay for me, I'm 33!  I'm trying to document my birthday hour by hour with pictures, but I've already missed some important shots, and then my battery went dead.  Oh well!  Maybe I can still salvage the project.  So that's what's coming tomorrow, but for today...a few pics from our day yesterday. 
We headed to Edmond yesterday afternoon to get Maddie's glasses.
this picture was taken in the visor mirror

so was this one

There is an optical shop there that makes glasses specifically to fit children with Down Syndrome.  They are called Specs 4 Us and they were SUPER cute!!  They should be ready next week. 
After we ordered her glasses we met up with my parents and sister who were in town taking care of errands. 
We met for a late lunch at Red Robin

When Maddie saw Grammie and PaPa, she was more than excited!  She did her little happy dance she does when she just can't contain her emotions!  Pure exhilaration, it was!
PaPa was pretty excited too!

Grammie got some lovin's.  
And Aunt Christie and Maddie played a game with the coasters. 

Another great day!

Friday, March 25, 2011

A Day of Ups and Downs

You never know what a day will bring!  Yesterday I had quite a few ups and downs.  Luckily, the ups outweighed the downs. 

UP: We Kyle finished Maddie's sand box!!

 DOWN:  I dropped a brand new carton of yogurt on the tile floor and busted it.  All of the yogurt spilled on the floor.

UP:  Maddie put herself to sleep for nap time!  Lately, she hasn't been taking naps, so we've been having "quiet time".  I was just about to tell her quiet time was over, when I noticed complete silence...she fell asleep all by herself!

DOWN:  I had my yearly wellness appointment yesterday that was scheduled a year ago (is that weird for anyone else?).  Anyway, I needed to leave the house by 1:30 and at 2:00 I realized I was still at home!!  What just happened!  I called the Dr.'s office to see if I could still make it and they said the Dr. had been in surgery and was catching up so he could fit me in!  Pheww, I didn't want to reschedule that appointment, especially since Kyle had taken off work to watch Maddie!

UP:  At our play date my two good friends Kristi and Melissa had a little party for my birthday!!  I have the best friends EVER!!
DOWN:  Maddie smeared chocolate frosting all over her brand new outfit!
UP:  I noticed my peony that I planted two years ago is growing!!

UP:  American Idol was so fun to watch last night!!  Yay for Casey!

Here's hoping your day brings you more ups than downs, and may the ups be up-ier than your downs! Happy Friday!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Look What I Found!

Someone to teach me how to Spring Clean!!


Photobucket
I'm totally going to try it.  She even has a list of everything you'll need...looks like I'll be heading to Target for a new duster!  Here's her link if you want to clean along.

Here's a few of our pics from yesterday...
Maddie had just woke up from her nap.  She wasn't in the picture taking mood.

But that didn't stop me!

Enough already, she said!

We went for rides in the wheel barrel outside.  She loved it and was really upset when Mommy had to stop to catch her breath!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A Glasses Update

For those of you who follow my blog, you probably remember back in January a post about Maddie needing glasses.  I wasn't completely convinced glasses were necessary so I wanted a second opinion.  We set an appointment for the Dean McGee Eye Institute.  It took 6 weeks to get in, but we finally had our appointment yesterday. 
I wasn't sure how this appointment would go.  Maddie hasn't taken a nap the last three days and here we were, heading to the appointment with no nap!  She was in her element though.  Meeting new people!  What a lovely way to spend the day!  She charmed and "talked" to everyone in the waiting room.  I had filled out all of the paperwork they sent through the mail, but when I got there, they told me they had sent the wrong forms. I had to fill out several forms while Maddie was busy "exploring". 
They called us back before I had time to finish the paperwork, and Maddie had a really gross dirty diaper.  Not to mention all of our props to keep child in one place toys were strewn all over the floor!  I quickly scooped up all of our toys, gathered the paperwork, and apologized for Maddie's stinkiness.  I told the nurse she would probably want me to change her diaper before we got too far into the exam.  She agreed!  It was that stinky!  I didn't have a little bag to put the stinky diaper in so I had to use a ziploc bag I had the wipes in...and keep it with me...gross!  Later, I just couldn't bring myself to use the rest of those wipes, so they were all tossed out. : ) 
After 2 hours I heard the verdict...she really does need glasses!  Dr. Trigler (who was amazing!) really explained it well and now I understand.  Maddie has been doing so well, she can obviously see things in her environment; she points out pictures in books, she never trips or falls over things in her way, she will bring me specific items on the floor, etc.  so I just didn't understand why she really needed glasses.  The Dr. explained that her brain is having to tell the eyes to really focus on things and it overcompensates for her farsightedness and that's whey she sometimes crosses her eyes.  The glasses aren't for her to see more clearly, the purpose is more for her brain to relax and not tell her eyes to overcompensate.  Otherwise, he said she would begin crossing her eyes all of the time instead of every once in a while.  Ahhh, OK.  Makes perfect sense now. 
So...we are now on a mission to find glasses.  I think I'm going to have to get a pair for Elmo too.  I'm hoping if Elmo wears glasses, she will too!  Fingers crossed!

Monday, March 21, 2011

A Catch Up Post

I'm still playing around with a self-timer.  I really wish Maddie would have been in focus, but I love her expression.
My sisters and I spent Friday night at the Science Museum with my nephews and niece and my cousin's oldest son.  It was a LOT of fun!  It's a program called Bright Nights.  They have different themes each time and Friday night's theme was Flight. 
Here's some of the pics from the night...

The kids ate a cheese ball dipped in liquid nitrogen (I think).      

The segways were a big hit!
The younger kids went to sleep around 2:30, but the two older ones stayed up all night!

morning coffee...a MUST for all adults!

Friday, March 18, 2011

More Time With Our Cousins

Wednesday we met back up with Maddie's cousins in Bricktown.  The cousins swam all morning in the hotel's pool, then we had lunch, visited the candy store, walked the canal, and then the cousins went to see the movie Gnomeo and Juliet while Maddie came home for a nap.  Another great day!  Here's our pics...