A Trip to Target

Brian & I took all 4 kids to Target the other night.  It actually was "Targe" because the last t on the sign was burnt out! (Kirstin, we wanted to take a picture of Targe for you, but didn't have a camera... )

Anyway...  Braden had some returns/exchanges to make, and was floored to discover that 'these toys are like my money?'  Yup!  

It was getting close to dinner time, though, so we picked up some popcorn in the little Target snack area for the kids - 2 small bags of popcorn put into 4 bags was perfect for the kids.  I think it's the first time the little girls got popcorn on a Target trip, and they were both happy as can be, riding along in the cart with their snacks.

Yesterday ... Ruby stole a little treat snack paper bag I had ... and took her baby to Target!

pushing baby in the cart

showing me the 'popcorn bag' -- she was pretending to eat popcorn, and pretending to feed it to baby

showing me her baby

2011 Calendar

Reece's Rainbow has a free downloadable calendar, "Orphans No More".

You can also put it in the sidebar of a blog, like I did at the top of this page -->
and I believe it should update, so every month you'll see the different pages!

Stay tuned for August ;)

An Orphan No More 2011 Reece's Rainbow Calendar

CLICK HERE to get this free calendar to print or to post on your blog!

A Few New Treasures

I received my ornament in the mail yesterday - my Swarovski snowflake for 2010.
I have one for each year since we lost Lydia ... she's my little unique, fleeting beautiful treasure ... and I like that I have a little collection to honor her.



One of my biggest regrets from my summer in Ukraine is that I didn't get a set of Matryoshka dolls for myself. I meant to, but I had to exchange money ... and then our flight was suddenly moved up from Monday to Saturday and we were going HOME!

I love those little dolls (Lil's Gotcha Day dress was made of material covered in the dolls), and I mentioned it to my brother. He had shipped all his gifts to our house, the only ones that didn't arrive on time were for me (perhaps he planned it that way? He knows how much I hate waiting...) and yesterday also brought the arrival of my Christmas present:


They're measuring cups!!

Adorable, functional, easy to store ... Wonderful!



My last new gift is from a gift exchange I did with some lovely friends of mine who live in my computer ... this is my amazing treasure, made by my friend who is a fantastic photographer (it's just to cool not to share):

SWINGS!

I believe Lil's first Christmas home was a success.  She did great in the morning with the stocking & presents from Santa!  Then we ate breakfast and she was pretty much done with opening presents.  It's as if she was thinking, "We already DID that..."

The highlight of the day was when we brought the girls downstairs to see their new swings.

That's right.  Swings.  Inside the house.


Lil signing "Go"

So exciting!
The Silly Sisters hugging

It's okay ... Lil doesn't hug too hard!

Ruby pushing Lil from the front ... this picture looks like Ru is going to get plowed over, but they were loving it & no one got hurt :)

Santa Who?

My kids have been counting down the days all month ... counting down until this Friday.

Because that's when Uncle Mike comes to visit!

Not to mention some guy named Santa ... but the kids rarely mention that.  Only sometimes is it thrown on like an afterthought.  Uncle Mike outranks Santa... that's pretty impressive!

SCHOOL!!

Lil & I made our 2nd trip to visit her school today!

We went last week for about an hour, and today about the same length of time.  It's an afternoon 4K class,  which is 4-year-old kindergarten.  It's a small group, and she'll split her time with them and the Early Childhood classroom, for things she needs more individual attention on.  After seeing her with her classmates, I feel even better about the choice we made to put her in 4K.  It wasn't an easy decision by any means.

Lil did great today!  Last week she just roamed around & took everything in, today she participated with kids - snack time, dance time, signing time, and playtime.    Did you catch that -- signing time?  Lil & I led a little signing demonstration for her classmates, so they could see some of her signs & become a little acclimated.  I've offered my DVDs to her teacher, too, so they can watch some of the fun Signing Time videos, too.

The kids in her class were super!  Even when Lil tried to hug some of them, and sometimes she hugs really hard.

I can't believe January is almost here.  Lil's been home for 5 months now, and I think she's really ready to go to school and learn.  What will Ruby & I do on our own all afternoon while she's gone?

Christmas Party

A couple weekends ago, we went to a Christmas party put on by the local sibling support group. The party is for families of children with special needs, and we've gone the last few years. The kids really enjoy it!

At the party, you get a 'reservation' to see Santa. Unfortunately, they sat us on this couch, and then let like 3 families cut in front of us, since our kids 'were sitting so nicely...' I finally had to tell them, look, my girls are crying, can we please just GO? It was very hard to sit & wait, because they knew all the fun stuff going on in the bigger room, and they had no clue what we were sitting around for ...

Here's Brian, restraining Ru & talking to Lil (who is actually crying, which is some progress for her)


We did get a cute picture with Santa, I'll have to scan that in ... Lil didn't want to sit on his lap, but she did hand him her candy cane & sign "Thank you" to him before she walked away. Santa was smitten :)

There were lots of activities ... lots of teenage volunteers. Ruby was THRILLED when this girl didn't stop her from dumping out the whole box of crayons:

And Lil loved the music that was playing! She danced a lot.

Ru, knocking over blocks

Ru & Lil "help" Braden play on the Wii

Santa! I know him!

Brian's company had a party today, and the special guests were Mr & Mrs Claus!

Proving once again the irrisitability of Ruby - Santa's heart now belongs to her.

Santa told me at least 6 times how adorable she is!

Braden gets so shy with Santa ...

but he did manage to tell him about 14 times that he wants "LEGOS!"

No surprise there!

Now, Lil did have her turn to go meet Santa & get her gift, but she was wary and Brian went up with her. Since he also had the camera at the time, we didn't get any pictures of her with the Clauses. She was wary, but did fine -- she even hugged Mrs. Claus.

Karly stayed home, she still has a bad cold & is pretty miserable.

Lil danced around a lot, while the other kids were meeting Santa.   She was very entertaining - she acted like she was swimming around like a fish for a while.  Too cute, silly Lily!

The kids were all fans of the cookies -- they got to decorate their own & eat them. Lil was OBSESSED and was pretty ticked at me when I cut her off at 2. She's really digging this holiday stuff!

Lil's handling all the holiday stuff we've introduced her to very well. The party today wasn't huge - there were about a dozen children and their adults. I think the hardest part for her was the temptation of all those cookies that we didn't let her eat!

Look at that!

No, not the snow!

THE FENCE!

I know, I know ... who puts in a fence in December in Wisconsin?  WE DO!

Karly Update

Yesterday, Karly & I headed to Milwaukee for her regularly scheduled oncology checkup.  It's been 4 months since her last visit, and THREE YEARS since her diagnosis.

Prior to our trip down, she had some tests run locally - 2 different types of ultrasounds (1 after fasting, 1 after drinking a ton of water), an echo-cardiogram, and some bloodwork.

The tests look good.  There was some change in the 'vigor of the sqeeze' in her echo-cardiogram (her last one was in 2008), so we'll follow up with the pediatric cardiologist here.  The reason for this is one of the chemo drugs she received is known to have possible side effects on the heart, so we've been watching for this.  For now, it sounds like she'll be put on a medication & monitored, it's nothing too serious at this point, but since it's her heart, we don't take it lightly, either.

I talked to her oncologist about some memory problems Brian & I think she has since treatment, and he told me that it's time to go to the "Next Step" clinic.  So, this summer when we go back to see the oncology crew, we'll also go see the team that follows patients post-treatment.  They can help us with any concerns, and tell us what to watch for in the long term.  Karly is at risk of secondary cancers because of the chemo drugs and levels of radiation she received, and this team can help us pinpoint which drugs can cause which longterm effects and what to watch for.

Did you catch that, though -- this SUMMER?  We don't have to go back until Summer!  We're on a twice-yearly visiting schedule with oncology now, and pretty soon it'll be a once a year visit!  We love the oncology nurses & doctors, but the less we see them, the better!

Where ARE We?

I know our blog is sadly neglected lately!  Here's some info that may help explain it all ...

• Did you know, a few months ago Brian got a new job?  He doesn't work at home anymore.  HUGE change for all of us, but we're managing & in a pretty decent routine.  We miss him around here, though, that's for sure! 

• This fall, I volunteered to help Reece's Rainbow with some data entry.  It's very similar to my job at the shelter I used to have here in town, dealing with donor software and money.  So, I'm now the Donations Coordinator for Reece's Rainbow, and process donations that come in online for the waiting children and the adopting families.  I have to say, I LOVE IT.  It's very, very, very busy right now, though -- they have a major fundraising through November & December, trying to raise $1,000 grants for all the children with Down syndrome under age 6 who are still waiting for families.
  
  When we committed to Lil, she had a $2,000 grant, and that helped ease the initial plunge so much for us.  Some of these children have $5,000 or $10,000 grants!  Here's hoping their families find them soon!
  
  Check it out - A donation of any amount is welcome, but if you donate over $35 you get an ornament with the child's picture on it.  I have little Lesia hanging in my kitchen, I'm sure no one is surprised by that!

• Also -- the best for last -- we're potty training!  If you send me a Christmas card, be sure to add "c/o first floor bathroom" to my address, because that's where I live now.  We're ALWAYS going potty, me & the littles.  It's moving right along!  The girls are even wearing training underwear when we're home during the day -- and even to Target today!
  
  It's tricky, though -- and definitely a matter of Brian & I staying on top of getting them in there.  They're not asking to go yet, but that will come in time ... I hope!
  
• Gotta go!  It's potty break time, and the bathroom is not a laptop approved environment!  And don't you have to go order an ornament? :)

4 Sale

We're selling our SUV - we're getting something smaller.

Before it was ours, it used to be my mom's... so it's practially part of the family! It might be hard to see it go.



It's a 1997 Oldsmobile Bravada Sport Utility 4D with 133,000 miles. 4.3L V6, automatic transmission. Leather seats, CD player, power everything, towing package and luggage rack. It's been well cared for and is in good shape, with some rust on the underside. Recently replaced radiator. Runs well, we're just looking for something smaller. $2800

Every SAHM's Dream

Today, the girls & I picked Braden up and headed off to the doctor.  He needs his broken finger x-rayed, again, now that's it's been taped up for 2 weeks.

As we're driving along, he says, "Mom, could I start going to daycare?"

WHAT?!

Sorry, Buddy.  Not when Mom's home AND you're in school all day!

To be fair though, the day care we drive by all the time does have some pretty awesome toys outside...