31 for 21

Well, this is the end of the road for 31 for 21. I don't know if what I had to say this month had any effect on anyone, but it was fun to post every day. Back that up. I didn't post every day, but I did end up with more the 31 posts for the month. That counts doesn't it? I don't have a child with Down's Syndrome, but by sister has 2. I have learned so much about DS as I have tried (I hope) to help her. When William was born, we were all so shocked. Here they were first baby, my sister was only 23. It just wasn't something anyone expected. But they moved forward and the rest of us tried our best to help and support. He is a crazy boy, that Buck! We love him and my kids don't know that he is different. To them, he is William. When Mary was born, there were so many other complications with Kimberly, that I think the fact that Mary had DS wasn't really... I don't know. The other things seemed bigger then that, at least in my eyes. In the days following her birth, I searched for ways to help them. Things were different now, 2 kids was DS was so much bigger. I looked for support groups and blogs, anything that would offer support. We are a very close family, but this wasn't something that we could help with, not enough anyway. You always hear that having a child with DS is such a gift, but I don't think that's what they wanted to hear at the time. They knew that, but having 2 just makes everything different. How was it going to effect Ruth? She won't ever know the difference and will be better for it. Kids are kids, they just need to be loved and taken care of. I feel connected to people, that I don't even know, when I see they have a child with DS. I talk to them, not something I would have done before, and tell them about my sweet nephew and niece. They have been blessed with health and very few, what appear to be, minor complications. They have been a gift to our family and we have all been blessed because of them. I wish that we all lived closer, so that the cousins could play together. Aside from G&B, none of us live near cousins. Growing up we didn't either, but we weren't as close in age as all of our kids are. Once we started having babies, we went a little crazy! lol! The oldest is 5 1/2, the youngest is 2 months today and there are (I have to stop and think about this) 9 in between them! They love to play together, although they haven't been all together for over a year now. Hopefully blogging will keep us involved in each others lives. Knowing the in's and out's of each others days, offering words of encouragement and support when needed. That is what 31 for 21 has been for me.

Happy Halloween!

The kids were soooo very excited for today. Poor Max had to have shots, but he seemed to get over it pretty quick. Evelyn was in rollers all day, but didn't seem to mind. We even ran errands with them in. By this evening though, she said she wanted them out because her head was itchy. lol! They all looked so cute in their costumes. Sam kept saying he was Dumbo the Elephant. I should have sewn a feather onto the trunk of his costume.

Happy Halloween
2008

Transformation...

Just wanted to share with you the before and after pictures of Evelyn. She had rollers in her hair for almost 24 hours! lol!

Don't you just love the fro!

New Hair-Do...

So... I think I am ready for a new do. I am putting it out there for your opinion. What do you think I should do? I have been the same for more then a year, which for me, is nothing short of a miracle. I need color too. Do you have a favorite shade?

My Birthday...

I thought I would share the pages that I did from my birthday.

Photo Tag

I was on Erin's blog earlier and saw that she had been photo tagged and was hoping someone would tag me. lol! I thought it sounded like a fun one. I am supposed to go to my 4th folder and post the 4th picture.

This was taken last summer. Rick had just put training wheels on her bike.

So now I tag Mom, Kimberly, Ashley, Stacy, Brittani and Tami.

About Me (Whether You Wanted to Know or Not)

I've been tagged. This is a first for me, so here goes. The six things you might not know or want to know about me...

1. I can't stand when people clip their nails during Sacrament Meeting. There is always SOMEONE in every ward that does it. Ah, hello, couldn't you do that at home, IN THE BATHROOM before coming!? Yuck!

2. Smarmy people. You know the type that always have something to "sell" you. Someone of this nature came to my door yesterday morning. Seriously, they make my skin crawl.

3. Things that can be ate in pieces (say chips for instance), I have to eat the small ones first. I always save the big ones for last. (My brother does this too, so it must be genetic.) Things have to be even too. Take M&M's, if there are 3 brown, 4 reds and 2 yellows, I have to eat 1 brown and 2 reds before I will eat any of the yellows. Are you following me on this?

4. I have a weird thing with sharks. They freak me out! Not like I have ever seen one or anything. Ok, this is totally irrational and I realize that, but when I was younger and we would have swim practice early in the morning, swimming past the deep end of the pool when it still had the cover on gave me the creeps. Like there was something in there watching me. I KNOW there wasn't a shark in there, but it was a thing I had. Maybe I am reveling too much about myself. That I am actually a little (ok, a lot!) on the disturbed side... lol!

5. I can't stand yucky ears. Like my sil, I like the feeling of the q-tip in my ear. Maybe it was time in the barber shop cutting old man hair, but ears are gross. As I type this and think about it, it gives me the willies! Yesterday morning Max had a HUGE chunk of ear wax in his ear- YUCK! I am constantly checking my and my kids ears for anything that should not be there!

6. When I was young (like jr. high young) I wanted to be a fashion designer. Not that you could tell to look at me now! lol! I remember drawing outfits that were FABULOUS! lol! Probably something along the lines of Jem and the Hollograms. You know you have watched that! lol!

Ok, so now it's your turn... Erin, Jenn, Tami, Carolee, Ashley, Rachel

Road Warriors Return...

I haven't had a chance to talk to Rick yet, but in talking to Sam, this is what I gathered from their adventure-

Dad and Grandpa snored and he kept telling them to stop.

He went up Curly Mountain in the Rhino.

From the look of him when he got home, I'm not sure if he ate anything but sand and Oreo's! The first thing we did was give him a bath. When Evelyn went to get in the shower, she wanted to know what we all over the tub. It was sand from Sam. lol! He is now happily playing cars in his room.