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.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Marvelous Messenger Bag

The other day I was talking to my beautiful niece and she mentioned she needs a new bag...because she's starting a new school... as a 6th grader!? Wow.  That's really hard to believe.  
I knew I could sew her a messenger bag and this time the project was a huge success! 
It's a great tutorial. I followed all of her measurements as written and I like the size of it.  
I used Waverly Modern Essentials Sun Flair fabric for the outside and the coordinating indigo for the lining.  
I loved this project...I think I need one for myself too!!

I'm linking up to We Did It! Wednesday...check out some of the other projects floating around the bloggy world!


Monday, August 8, 2011

Joining Her Friends

Maddie puts her friends to sleep each night in her doll bed.  In the morning, the first thing we do is wake everyone up with a kiss and a "Good Morning!" The other day, I guess Maddie decided to join her friends rather then get them up!


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Simple Things: Bedtime Stories


I love this picture because is represents the very best of the childhood spirit.  I love that Maddie decided (out of no where) to gather each and every "friend" for the special ritual of bedtime stories.


Friday, August 5, 2011

Fun Day with Friends and Sea Creatures

Kyle and I took Maddie to the Oklahoma Aquarium yesterday where we met up with our good friends who moved to the area a few months ago.  Maddie's first reunion with her good buddy Kyler!!  We had so much fun!  Just to warn you, I took LOTS of pictures!  Here's some of my favorites...
So good to see our good friends!!  We miss you terribly!  
Kamrin! 

so peaceful

Love this pic!

one of my faves
Ha! One of Maddie's favorite exhibits.  Good thing she can't read yet. 
We found Nemo!

Maddie loved this one because of the bubbles!

This was by far the most interesting "sea creature" of the day!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Pressure

Do you ever have those days when the pressure mounts and mounts and builds and builds and rumbles around inside you like boiling water ready to burst open at any minute?  I do.  Like yesterday.  The ironic thing is I never really knew it was there until it was too late...far too late.  I have to admit, I really didn't handle it great.  I said things like, "if I'm going to be treated like a maid, I might as well start acting like one.  Maids don't eat dinner with the family."  As soon as I finished making dinner, I left to get the much-needed items on our grocery list...didn't even eat.  Thankfully, I have a husband who does not feed off the dramatic antics.  He let me throw my fit and calmly waited for me to "get it all out."  Then he insisted I "take the rest of the night off" while he changed the rest of the poopy diapers, gave Maddie her bath, and put her to bed. I do have a great husband.

I wonder if Maddie may have been feeling the same pressure yesterday.  She was all out of sorts when she woke up from her nap...really grumpy!  Although it was still pretty hot outside, I knew we needed SOMETHING to do at least for a little while.  I thought she would like to paint with her feet.  So I set everything up and thankfully, it was the perfect pressure relief valve for her.  
We started with our feet, but the activity soon took on a turn...
She discovered hands painted a little better than feet.
 And then she discovered it felt a lot better to ditch the poster board and use herself as a canvas.
pure joy
I had intended to use a tub to wash off feet before going back inside.  Maddie, of course, had other ideas...
Wouldn't it be nice to be two again and feel the paint between your toes for the first time?  Even if it can't be painting with feet, I think we all need pressure relief valves.  I'm working on figuring out what mine are but in the meantime I found comfort in Matthew 11:28 "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."  Maybe that's all I need.  Period. 

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Expressions

Maddie has always been very expressive.  Before she began talking, we often knew what she was thinking by the look on her face.  Here's a few of the many expressions of Maddie...





Monday, August 1, 2011

Maddie Learns to Pour Milk




We've been practicing pouring around here and Maddie has made some good progress!  I'm not sure if the "pitcher" use is really the best for this type of activity, but that's all we have for now.  Anyone know of a good child-sized pitcher that's easier for little ones to manage?