31 for 21..Day 3

Can the Carolina weather get any better? It is so nice to sleep with the windows open! We had a fun day going to garage sales & our neighborhood Fall Festival. The kids are exhausted..I am exhausted! Tomorrow will be another long day out & about. Church in the morning & the Buddy Walk in the afternoon. It's the first time we have participated in the walk, so we are very excited!

We're on day 3 & I am doin good! Will post some pics tomorrow from the Buddy Walk :)

31 for 21..Day 2

I first read this on a forum I belong to a few years back. I remember thinking it was beautiful. Of course at that time it did not have the meaning to me that it does now. This is awesome & I still get tears in my eyes when I read it!

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland".

"Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy"

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

31 for 21..Day 1

October is Down Syndrome awareness month. Last year at this time I did not know this. I do now. Last year I didn't know what an amazing gift would be given to us in a matter of days. I do now. It is hard to believe that almost a year ago our lives changed forever..in a good way.

To help raise Down Syndrome awareness, I am going to attempt the 31 for 21 challenge One blog post each day for the entire month of October. This is definetly a challenge for me as I tend to put off blogging..a lot. Since I took a small leave from from blog this Summer, I have a lot to catch you up on.

Also, Sunday the 4th is the DSAC (Down Syndrome Association of Charlotte) Buddy Walk. We have a team set up, so if you are interested in walking with us or supporting us in the walk here are the links..

Donate/Support Ben
Join Ben's Team

Let the Blog Challenge begin :)

It's the First...

but more than likely not last time. Stitches! It was bound to happen & with Kaylea turning 9 this year we were doing good. Until today..

It started with a great morning at Church (other than leaving Ben in the nursery for the first time & me being a blubbery mess)..anyways, we came home & are getting lunch for the kids. Zach wanted a candy bar on the counter, I told him no because he hadn't eaten lunch yet & that I was going to eat it..1st mistake. He proceeded to have a meltdown yelling & screaming at me..I just walked away & sat down with Ben. About 30 seconds goes by & he comes in & starts slapping me & hanging on my arm. I am trying to get him off my arm, so that he doesn't accidentally hit Ben, & asking him to please stop. I move my arm out from me & he lets go, steps back & trips on a bag full of Ben's toys sitting on the floor & smacks right on the edge of the end table. He is screaming & Bill comes running & there is blood everywhere. Shockingly Bill was more calm then I was. When we saw where he had hit we knew he would need stitches. So 2 hours at Urgent Care & 4 stitches later..all is somewhat well...other than I feel like a horrible mom today :( It is going to be a long week!



My poor baby :(

Wordless Wednesday

Baby Love

Spring has got to be the best time of the year..well except for these darn allergies! I love that everything looks so pretty & feels so fresh & new. There is also all the new babies! Bill was mowing last week & happened upon a bunny hole in the yard. He ran over it without seeing it, when he was coming back on another pass he saw a baby bunny go running. Unfortunately one did not make it out of the mower fight..Bill felt so bad:( But he did find the other little baby bunny..I naturally wanted to keep it..he was so cute! He ended up running to the neighbors yard & we haven't seen him since. Here are some pics of baby bunny foofoo!

Just like his Daddy!!

What can I say..he drives like his Father..LOL!!


Mowing the yard together :)

So much to blog about..

so little time to do it! The days just seem to zip by me lately. Bill & I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary..doesn't feel like it has been that long. Ten years ago I never would have guessed we would have 4 great kids & be living in North Carolina! Can't wait to see what the next 10 years hold for us!

Ben went to see an allergy/asthma doctor last week. He tested negative for the most common allergies & he seems to be doing well on the Singular & Pulmacort(sp?). He is eating new foods every week & he LOVES it! I have been making his baby food & I can't believe I didn't do this for the other kiddos! It's so easy & so much better for him. He is seeing the Cardiologist tomorrow..will update asap!

Everyone else is doing great..girls are excited for Summer to be here..so am I! Bill is working hard as usual and Zach is funnier than ever! He is such a goofball..he'll probably end up being the class clown! Emma will be 7 on Saturday the 9th. WOW! Where does the time go!

Happy & sad news from my little sis Stef. My brother in law is going to be a doctor in the Airforce & they are moving to Louisiana in July..it's about 13 hours from me :( I am so excited for their new adventure but sad it's so far away. They also have to put their dog Winnie down. She is such a sweet dog & will definitely be missed. The happy news is...they are expecting another baby in December! Stef is an awesome Mom, J is a great Dad & they make beautiful babies together! Congrats guys!!

I think that is all the updates! I know..I need to do more blogging..I'm working on it!

Hanging at the hospital


Check out my Baby Legs!!


I can reach my feet now..and they taste good!


Emma & her crazy hair!


Kaylea :)


Zach..he needs a bike to go with his cool new helmet!


Check out my new hat!

6 Months

It is amazing that 6 months has passed since Ben was born. It seems to be flying by. He is eating solids now & he loves it! I think he does something new everyday. He has had a rough April though. He was back in the hospital again the weekend of Easter. I took him to the ER on Friday night & he had a 7 day stay. At one point he was on 5 liters of oxygen, 2 antiboitics & breathing treatments every 2 hours. I am still nervous that he is going to get sick again. We are taking him to see a Pulmanologist on Monday, so hopefully they will be able to give us some insight as to why he keeps getting pneumonia.

He is also going to see a cardiologist in a few weeks for a check-up on his heart. They are not concerned but because it is rare for Downs babies to not have heart problems, they wanted to re-check him at 6 months.

As hard as it is to have had multiple hospital stays with Ben, I know things could be so much worse. We are thankful everyday & feel so blessed. Our family, friends & neighbors have been such a huge help..I don't know what we would do without them!

Here are Ben's Elmo pics..1 month & 6 months :)

Ben...

I am wondering if this roller coaster will ever stop. Before we went to Florida, we took Ben to Urgent Care where they told us he had pneumonia. They put him on antibiotics & steroids. We took our vacation & had a great time..will post more about that later.

I was concerned with his breathing this past week again. So we took him to the pediatrician. They had us give him neb treatments every 4 hours as needed. It wasn't doing much. On Monday we took him back to the ped & he left there in an ambulance because of respiratory distress.

He was admitted to the Children's hospital & put on oxygen. They have been giving him steroids & breathing treatments everyday. He is getting better but they are thinking it is asthma. They thought maybe when he was nursing that a small amount was going into his lungs. They tested that today & that was not the case. Which is good but asthma isn't good either. They have prescribed for him to be on a steroid neb treatment twice a day, everyday. Hopefully they have figured out why our little man has breathing issues.

I want to thank everyone for your thoughts & prayers. They mean so much!
Here are some pics of Ben hanging out at the hospital.