Happy Birthday Simon!

Three years ago today. I can't believe it. 3 years old.

I was so nervous towards the end of my pregnancy with Simon. He just didn't seem to be moving so much. We went into the doctor and he gave me one more ultra sound. Estimated weight - 10.3 lbs! No wonder he wasn't moving as much. The doctor asked if I wanted to schedule a C-section. I asked if I could at least try to go as planned. That was on a Friday and he wanted to induce labor on Monday. Monday we headed into the hospital. At that point we still didn't know if we were going to have a boy or girl. He came out a whopping 9 lbs 14 oz.

He as grown into an amazing little boy. I looked back to my post when he turned two and was surprised how much is still very true. He is so loving and kind, shy and tender hearted. He is also all boy. He loves to jump and run and throw. He loves cars, trains, puzzles and books. He is becoming quite the helper. The other day he said, "I love sweeping the floor." I considered getting it on video so that I could save it for a later date when I'm sure he will no longer love sweeping.

We've had quite a week. Simon and Ian have been a strange kind of sick. Every once in a while they throw up and don't have much of an appetite but other than that they are acting perfectly fine. For example, Simon has thrown up at least once in the past 3 days. Monday was at McDonald's. I decided to be brave enough to take all three of them to McDonald's playland by myself. We were just starting to eat and it happened. I had to rely on the kindness of a stranger to help me clean up and gather them into the car. It was one of those days when you are like.. "They are being so good. I bet I can do this." Then it all seems to fall apart so quickly. The second time was at lunch yesterday (at our house). Then last night was while he was sleeping. I was afraid last night would be a long night but it was just once and he woke up wanting to eat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we make it through today.

Snow Much Fun!

Once the fridged temps finalliy broke and before it melted away Simon and Lucy were able to enjoy the snow while Ian napped. One of Lucy's favorite snow activities is making snow angles. As you can see, she also loves snowmen.

Vanicream

This is my second product endorsement. Lucy's cheeks are very sensitive. During winter she always used to have cheeks that looked red and chapped. We tried lots of different lotions and creams. Our pharmacist suggested Vanicream. It has worked wonders. It has helped to prevent chapped skin and if we didn't apply it before she she was out it works quickly at restoring. If we apply it twice a day it seems to do the job. She doesn't even fight it anymore. Which make me pretty sure it is providing relief.

Posting Marathon

Well, my computer and blogger and finally friends again. I've finally been able to update. Enjoy!

Madi, Lucy and the Boo Boo

Here were are in Chicago waiting in the train station to take a ride down town. Aren't these two so cute!! You can also see Lucy's over bandaged hand.

Today we went to our doctor to have him remove the stitches. It was worse than our ER experience. The ER doctor told us not to mess with it and the gauze had clotted to her finger. To say the removal was painful would be putting it lightly! Good news- the doctor said it looks like it will heal well and he thinks that most likely her nail will grow back.

Thanks Aunt Susan and Uncle Jose!

Chirstmas Day!

On Christmas we always try to spend most of the morning together at our home. This year we had a little bit of a shorter time than usual because we were able to travel to Dayton to surprise our good friends James and Kelly with a special gift. Then it was to Pataskala to spend the day with my parents and my sister's family.

Here's more unsuccessful attempts at a picture by the tree!

Christmas Celebrations

I can’t believe the Christmas season is over. Most decorations are down and it’s back to work. We have really had such a wonderful season this year. Simon and Lucy were so excited about presents and traveling to visit family and friends. I’ll just do a little recap with pictures.

This was Christmas with Grandma Marcum. Simon got a Thomas set that he insisted on sleeping with and as you can see Lucy is loving her new doll.


On Christmas Eve we celebrated with Kevin’s parents. It was so nice to have some one travel to us! This was our attempt at getting a picture by the tree.

Later that evening I made an attempt at a new tradition. We made a birthday cake for Jesus, and took some time to reflect on why we celebrate.

No Pictures

I have this post all set up and ready with our cute Christmas pictures but for some reason I can't get a picture to up load.

Anyway the newest news in our house is that Lucy had a little mishap on New Year's Eve and we found ourselves in an ER in Chicago.

We had gone to visit our good friends Ben, Carey, Madi, and Luke. We had had a great time. Our kids play so well together. Madi and Lucy would have tea parties and Simon even shared his Cars cars with Luke. We had a crazy lunch at the rain forrest cafe and rode the train into the city.

All four of them were in a bedroom and then we heard a painful cry. Lucy's finger got shut in the closet door. We weren't sure how bad it was and if we needed to go to the ER but the bleeding wasn't stopping so off we went.

After a long wait and x-rays we learned that it wasn't broken but that the nail had just come out of the nail bed and that the doctor would need to do some stitches and try and put the nail back.

Our job was to try and keep her calm. We sang and told stories. Unfortunately because her nail is so small the doc wasn't able to get it back in place. She said that most nails grow back but it's not a guarantee.

I'm a little worried about the nail. It's on her right hand and what if she wants to paint her nails when she gets older? I really hope it grows back.

She has a huge bandage on her hand right now. I'd post a picture but stinkin' blogger.

The Littlest Chirstmas Tree

We've had a busy Christmas break. I came here to blog about our family celebrations but as I was looking through the pictures I noticed I hadn't mentioned Lucy's preschool program.

This year instead of just songs Lucy's class did a little play. One of the teachers read a little story while the class acted out the motions. Guess who was the lead role? Our Lucy. The title of the program was The Littlest Christmas Tree. So, I'm not sure she was cast because of her acting abilities or because she is by far the littlest in her class. Either way she did a great job!

After the program we all went back to the classroom for cookies, punch, and a visit from Santa. Both Simon and Lucy hopped right up on his lap. I was pretty surprised.

More Christmas stories to come...

Ian's B-Day Party

This post is about a month late. We celebrated Ian's b-day back in Nov but I haven't down loaded pictures since then. Yikes!

This was a before and after shot of him demolishing his cake. It was quite a sight. Most in attendance thought it was a great baby destroying cake event. I guess he only missed being perfect because the cake didn't end up on his head. I think he enjoyed playing in it more than tasting.

It was a great time and we were so thankful for the family and friends that made the trip. He is such a sweet little boy.

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Well, there are so many new things to post. I've just taken the time to finally down load some pictures from our camera. Today's post is our tree cutting adventure.

Ever since we've been married we have gone to the Cameron Christmas Tree Farm and cut down our own tree. Once the kids came along, they've joined in on our tradition. This was the first year since they came along that we were stroller free! (Sarah was kind enough to watch Ian for us- it was a little too cold for my baby.) Simon and Lucy spent most of the time chasing each other around. It was great to just let them run.

Every year we think about getting a fir tree but they are about $45-$50 so once again we decided on a spruce. Kevin likes to get the tree as big as possible. Our choice this year is probably one of our smaller ones.

Right now it's in the corner of our living room. Simon and Lucy really got into decorating this year. They both helped. I left the ornaments off the bottom third because I knew Ian would get them. They have slowing migrated their way up the tree. The top half is beautifully decorated.

Now that my Christmas break has officially began I'll try and post some of the things I have miss. Ian's birthday party, hair cuts, and Lucy's preschool program.

Doris Kemp

I met a beautiful woman tonight. She is 87 and has a son with DS. She gave an inspirational speech at a Christmas banquet I went to. Thanks to her and many other parents who fought the schools and those with the power so that our Lucy has so many more doors open for her. Thank you Doris Kemp! I pray that I'm brave enough to continue the fight.

Wondering

Jennifer has been talking some about "the wonder pill" and things like that on her blog. If there was a pill I could give Lucy that would take away the side effect of DS would I? I would love to save her from the bumps in the road she will have as she grows. Especially as she get older(30s-40s-50s). In all honesty I probably would like to save myself from some of those same bumps too!

Then I think about how on most days I've been able to view our experience as a gift. I've connected with some wonderful people. My eyes have been opened to people who I may have never noticed before. It's really helped to shape my world view.

I've noticed that when given this option some parents would love for their kids to have an easier time but would hate to "change" who they are. That's what I'm wondering about. How much of Lucy's personality is connected to DS? Would she love to sing, dance, and perform just as much if she didn't? Would she not pick on Simon so much? Would she need less guidance when it comes to following my directions. ie "Lucy come back here."

I'm convinced that DS doesn't define who she is. I'm as sure as I can be, that with or without it she would love music, singing, picking on her brothers and ice cream. I'm sure that DS puts a spin on all of these and how they are expressed.

Would I? I don't know. That's a very complicated question.

Thanksgiving

Our computer seems to be running slower and slower these days and I'm needing it to go faster and faster. Kevin also does a lot of work from home so when I'm ready to post the computer is often busy. I haven't been sticking to my atleast once a week rule.

Anyway-

For Thanksgiving we headed up to Cleveland to gather with Kevin's family. It was such a nice time. Susan, Jose, Austin, and Zach made the trip from Texas to be with us. We were so excited. Especially Ian- it was his first time meeting his aunt, uncle, and cousins. We had a great time and yummy food. We even got to visit the Cleveland Zoo on Thanksgiving day. It was free! I'm sure Grammy enjoyed the lack of distractions while she cooked.

Trick or Treat

I know this is a little behind but I still wanted to share my cuties.

Ian= Lion Lucy= Ming Ming Duckling Simon=Rintoo Tiger

For those of you who don't have toddlers. Simon and Lucy were inspired by cartoon characters.

Glee

After a day of chasing kids, working, and cleaning up the house I love to curl up on the couch and enjoy some brain candy-TV. One of my new favorites shows is Glee. It's quirky and great! There's a lot of good things about the show. It has a lot of diversity- kid in a wheel chair, diversity of races, a teen who is gay, and tonight two people with Down syndrome. When the beautiful young girl came on to the screen I felt so nervous. How would this be handled? I actually started to cry. I'm not sure why I cried.
Moments like this I wish I was better at expressing my thoughts with words. I just can't seem to figure out what to write. Anyway...
The show ended great. I was impressed.
Maybe I got emotional because it just brought forth things I've been thinking about lately. Maybe even some fears about the road our family will walk. I don't want to be on any other road. Let me make that perfectly clear. I don't want to be on any other road. But, I am on a different road.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Every time one of the kid's birthdays roll around I'm taken back to the day they were born. Today Ian turned 1. A whole year has passed since...

I'm not sure if it's that my ob is very cautious or what but as I got closer to my due date it seemed like I was getting a weekly stress test. They never really found anything but Ian's heart rate just wasn't beating in the pattern they wanted to see. I also had 7 ultrasounds with him. I'm not sure if they were concerned because of Lucy or because Simon was 9lbs 14 oz. It was a Thursday and I went to see the doctor in the morning. He sent me for a stress test and an ultrasound and they decided they would induce me that evening.

I eventually made my way back to the hospital. Kevin and the kids dropped me off at the door and I checked myself in at about 7pm. Kevin joined me when Grammy and Grandpa took over Simon and Lucy.

They started the process and I was fine until about 1am. From 1 am until he was born it was intense. The labor was harder and longer than it was with Simon. All three or my labor experiences are very similar. I had back labor with all three. Tail bone pressure, standing, and calm control during contractions is what got me through. I know when it's getting close because I puke. (Never once during pregnancy but always during labor) Soon after that it's the weirdest feeling in the world. Like your body is taking over and you have to push and you have to push now!

Ian was born at 6:22 am. He was 8lbs 14 oz and 21 1/4 inches.

He loves to smile, laugh, and to climb! He's more daring than Simon or Lucy ever was. Right now he's still Mommy's boy. I find myself letting him do more than I ever did with the other two, with three so close I'm thinking I don't really have a choice. He's a good eater and a decent sleeper. Naps wells- Goes to bed at a good time- Wakes up too early! We are working out the kinks of him and Simon sharing a room.

Ian we love you and are so blessed that you have come into our lives. Happy Birthday!

Always Happy?

A few months back Lucy and I were at the grocery store together waiting in line. Because Lucy is so friendly and says “Hi” to just about everybody we struck up a conversation with the lady behind us. I’m pretty sure she realized Lucy had Down syndrome and said, “I bet she is always this happy.” Let me just say that line always make me giggle.

I think it was the next day that Lucy and Simon officially got in their first fight with arms swinging at each other, lots of screaming, both crying, and Daddy putting them both in timeout with more screaming and crying to follow. But of course there were sorry’s, hugs, and “I love you’s” to follow.

Lucy is quite the pleasant kid. She can make friends with just about anybody and gives the best hugs, but she isn’t always happy. I’m amazed by the myth out there that people with Down syndrome are locked into this state of perpetual happiness. People with Down syndrome are human and experience all the same emotions that every other human in this world experiences. They are, like the new Down syndrome slogan says, “More Alike than Different.”

But to make all of you happy right now, here are a few pictures of my kids being happy and loving each other: