I just came across this website, T-21 Club and I want to buy everything off of it! I've been wanting something different to get certain family members and I think I found it!

I don't think I have much else to update on. I'm going to be busy helping to plan the CDSC's Buddy Walk on September 30. Pat and I joined the committee and are doing what we can to help. It's only the CDSC's second walk, but we're expecting around 400 people. It's been nice helping to plan something as important to DS awareness as the Buddy Walk. I'm looking forward to get more involved as time goes on. It's hard right now with Joey only being 4 1/2 months old, but once things get more settled down, it'll be easier (I hope).

I've been thinking about before Joey was born, how boring our lives were and how lonely I was. We got married and I moved up here to Connecticut with Patrick and knew no one besides Pat's family. I still don't know many people, but having Joey has actully helped me to make friends... if he didn't have T-21, I wouldn't be meeting the wonderful families that I have, not to mention all of you other Moms that I've met on here.

Back to the Buddy Walk, I've been trying to come up with ideas for our Team Name. I don't want to do "Team Joey", there's going to be other Joeys there so I need something different. Does anyone have any ideas?

I've been trying to read new T-21 and other parenting blogs and added a couple new ones to my list Overwhelmed With Joy, Sweetest Cherry In An Apple Pie, and Till My Head Falls Off. I'm looking forward to reading more!!

I've been tagged!!

Big Blueberry Eyes Tagged Me!!

Five items in my freezer - Ground beef, ice cream, ice, chicken pot pies, popsicles

Five items in my closet - clothes, blankets, shoes, purses, belts

Five items in my car - stroller, CDs, blankets, kleenex, hands free cell phone thing

Five items in my purse - Driver's license, debit cards, cell phone, appointment calender, makeup

Five people I tag - Always Chaos, Brady's Bunch, and whoever else feels like doing it!!

CDSC Picnic

Today was the Connecticut Down Syndrome Conngress's Annual picnic. We had a great time, it was at Hammonasett Beach. Joey was the hit of the picnic with the other T-21 children. It was so weird, there was other babies there but they all clung to us and Joey. I don't know if it was because we're younger parents, I dunno, but Joey was definitely one the hits of the picnic! They had an Elvis Impersonator, a DJ, kites for everyone to fly, and of corse the beach to go swimming!

Gigi's Playhouse

Here's a very interesting article called Learning to Read With Down Syndrome written by Karen Meyer. It's about a literacy program at Gigi's Playhouse in Chicago. You can also go to http://www.gigisplayhouse.com/

Today was a better day. No more episodes with Joey, hopefully it was just a one time thing. I found something at Target today that absolutely made my day though... Animaniac's on DVD!! It was my favorite cartoon when I when I was 13! It was one of Patrick's too so I splurged and spent the $29 on it.

Then we spent the afternoon over at my mother-in-laws. Patrick's family has been so good in helping me out. I know I've said this in the past, but I don't know what I would do without them, especially his mom.

This evening, Joey was in one of the best moods I've ever seen him in... he played/ exercised for about 20 minutes (he usually only lasts about 15). He was talking away to Pat & I, it was great!! Joey wants to sit up on his own so bad, but he's not strong enough yet, but the look on his face when he tries in so determined. I don't think it will be long at all until he's able to do so. Anyways, I guess that's it for now!

Reece's Rainbow

Always Chaos posted a link to this website, Reece's Rainbow. I can't express how important it is to pass this site along to any family who might be interested in adopting a child with Down syndrome. Or at least if you know someone who is generous in making contributions to charities, this one is definitely one worth giving to.

Today was definelty a bad day... it started around 1:30 when Joey's physical therapist was here. He was in a great mood... laughing, smiling, I couldn't of asked for a happier baby. About 20 minutes later he started crying and it wasn't his normal crying. It was different. His PT was even worried. She stayed around for a bit, then a few minutes after she left, his crying got worse, then he stopped crying and his eyes rolled back in his head and started shaking. This lasted about 10 seconds then he started crying uncontrollably again. I'm not sure if he had a seizure or what. I called his pediatrician in a panic and he said since Joey wasn't running a fever that he doubts it was a seizure. I just don't know what to think. The only thing I know is that it scared the hell out of me. After crying for about 30 minutes longer, he fell asleep. My mother-in-law came over a little bit after that. Joey woke up and was fine and happy as could be. But I had never been happier to see Pat's mom in my life. Joey really scared me, I just didn't know what to think when his eyes rolled back and they started shaking all over the place. Thank God he's ok now, I just hope that never happens again.

Meme!

Miss E tagged Joey!!

3 Things That Scare Me
1. Gas
2. Running out of milk
3. Dirty Diapers


People That Make Me Laugh
1. My Mommy
2. My Daddy
3. My Twin Aunts Margaret and Maureen (we'll count them as one since they look alike)

3 Things I Love
1. A clean diaper
2. A full bottle
3. A car ride to make me fall asleep

3 Things I Dislike
1. Gas
2. Shots
3. Dirty Diapers

3 Things I Don't Understand
1. how to tell my mommy what's wrong
2. why my diaper feels funny sometimes
3.

3 Things On My Floor
1. my bumbo chair
2. my tummy time mat
3. a rattle

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now
1. babbling
2. trying to finish my bottle
3. smiling

3 Things I Can Do
1. roll over
2. hold my head up
3. smile & laugh

3 Things I Can't Do
1. crawl
2. walk
3. talk

3 Ways to Describe My Personality
1. spoiled
2. determined
3. comedian

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To
1. Celtic music
2. baby einstein
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd

3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To
1. me, when I have gas!
2. me, when my diaper is dirty!
3. me, when I'm hungrey

3 Absolute Favorite Foods
1. milk
2. rice ceral
3. applesauce

3 Things I'd Like to Learn
1. how to crawl
2. how to talk
3. how to walk

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly
1. formula
2. water
3.

3 Shows I Watch On Occasion
1. Baby Einstein
2.
3.

3 babies or toddlers I tag:
1. Tristan from Channelle and Tristan
2. Vincent from Prince Vince
3. that's it!!!!

Patrick's boss brought Joey home a set of Mickey ears when she went to Disney, isn't he just the cutest thing?

Also, cross your fingers for me that my digital camera is up and working again :)

Poor Joey, I took him to his doctor yesterday for his 4 month check up and he got 2 more vaccinations. He was running a slight fever still this morning, even with me giving him tylenol. It is so obvious he doesn't feel good. He's slept most of the day away and when he hasn't been sleeping, he's been crying. I feel so bad. The good news about his Dr. visit, he weighs 12 lbs 8 oz and he's 23 inches long!! I can't believe how big the little guy has gotten!

One of our local groceries is having a sale on canned goods this week so I figured I would go and stock up. Well I get there and it was a MAD HOUSE! I braved the crowd anyways, found some good deals and got the heck out of there. Sometimes I just think that it's not worth getting messed up in the crowds and waiting in the lines just for a cheaper grocery bill, but then a penny saved is a penny earned :)

Yesterday, Joey's speech therapist decided that we should go ahead and try Joey on another food besides cereal so we tried bananas. He loved them! His smile got bigger with every single bite! I don't think I have ever seen him so happy before. Today, applesauce!

I can't believe how hot it is today! The news said it was 85 degrees at 7:30 this morning. I'm so glad that we have air conditioning... where would we be without it?! I thought moving from Ohio to Connecticut would give me a little freedom from the extremely hot summer days, boy, was I wrong!

Joey can't fall asleep on his own during the day. I lay him down in his crib for a nap and he screams his head off so I try rocking him, patting his back, feeding him and it rarely works. He gets so tired, he can barely keep his eyes open and starts crying. Finally when he falls asleep, I put him down and he wakes up 5 minutes later. The only way I can get him to stay asleep is if I lay him on my chest, which doesn't give me a break during the day to get stuff done. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

Chad's Chopp'N Company

Another great article...

A man with Down syndrome starts his own business. Posted in the Star-Telegram written by Terry Lee Goodrich.

Wow, I'm on a role today finding articles!! Here's a couple more that I really enjoyed today...

"Swimming lessons of a lifetime" written by Brad Gaskins. Hunter Thomson decided for his senior year project that he was going to teach his neighbor who has Mosaic Down syndrome how to swim. A wonderful article!!

Another great article, "Can-do Kim Bain refuses to let Down's syndrome hold him back" published in the Freeport News is about a man with DS who was voted employee of the month at his job.

As some of you might remember, I wasn't very happy with TIME magazine (look back to my November 16 post) after they published an article called "The Down Dilemma. Is a life with the syndrome worth living? A first-trimester test raises the question earlier than ever". Many parents including myself were very unhappy with this article, but they actully published an article worth reading this week, "A Very Special Wedding. A new generation of people with Down syndrome are living longer, finishing school, getting jobs and now--with a little help--beginning to marry" written by Claudia Wallis. I cannot wait for the day to see Joey go to school, graduate college and get married.

The groom, Sujeet, has his own webpage with more details from their wedding!

I just wanted to share this website in honor of Olivia Grace May, a baby girl that had Trisomy 18 who passed away after couple days after she was born. I had read a little on Trisomy 18, but the impact this baby girl had on her family and friends was amazing and I just wanted to share it with you. Thank you to Barbara for posting Olivia's webpage on her blog.

I just wanted to wish a Happy 3rd Birthday to Michelle's daughter Kayla!!!

4 MONTHS!!

I can't believe how quickly the past 4 months have gone... Joey is 4 months old today! It just seems like yesterday that I was in the hospital giving birth to him!!

I was on the phone with the social security people for almost 20 minutes this morning trying to get a human being and finally got through to someone. I made our appointment to get Joey on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Between formula and diapers the little guy is going to bankrupt us so I figured it was time for SSI.


The past couple days, Joey has been crying a lot. I don't know if adding cereal to his diet has upset his tummy, or if he just wants to be held all the time. I dunno, it's just getting really frustrating at times.

unfortunately, my digital camera is on the outs, I'm hoping I just need a new memory card, so I have no new pictures to post :(


Anyways, I will leave you with this...

Cereal, oh my!

Well, I started Joey on baby cereal. The first attempt didn't go so well, the second a little better and today it actully went fairly well. More still got on his face and bib than in his mouth, but with practice, we'll get better! The pictures don't do justice to the amount he was actully wearing by the end of the feeding!!!
Any advice or suggestions?

I found a very heartwarming article called The birth of a 'messenger from God' written by Norris Burkes. Like this mother, I feel like we were chosen by God to be Joey's parents. During my pregnancy, I turned to prayer when the doctors told me that Joey had some health problems. Thank goodness, my prayers were answered and Joey has helped to make my outlook on religion much stronger. I just wanted to share this article with everyone and hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Vacation

Well, I had this awesome post about our trip and somehow managed to delete it (don't you hate it when that happens?!

Anyways, our trip was so much fun. We got spoiled by my mom... every morning when Joey woke up, she would feed him and let us sleep in!! My dad bonded with Joey daily... they took naps together! We went to the pool almost everyday, Joey even got in once!

Friday, we went out to the bar that my friends own. It was nice to see everyone. My cousin's Sara and Carrie were there with us. I even had a couple drinks! Well, a couple too many, but luckly, I felt ok the next morning. It felt so good to be out with my friends and having a good time!

Saturday, we went to church and saw Father Ray. He was so happy to see Joey for the first time.

Sunday, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was 100+ degrees outside, so we left Joey home with my parents. It was a lot of fun though. The zoo had a nice hands on birds exhibit so we were able to feed them and dodge getting pooped on! Margaret and Maureen seemed to enjoy the zoo too!

Monday, my dad took Margaret and Maureen fishing for the first time. They each caught a fish, one caught a couple bluegills and the other caught a bass!!

On the 4th, we went met up with some of my friends from high school at Delco Park. The rain held off until about 10 minutes before the fireworks started so we braved the rain and enjoyed the fireworks show rain and all.

Unfortunatly, our trip went by way too quick but luckly, Joey and I are going back next month for the Dublin Irish Festival in Columbus.

We just got home today from our vacation to Ohio to see my family. It was so nice to be home with my family and friends. Patrick and I took his twin 13 yr old sisters with us. We had such a great time. I'll post details and pictures hopefully tomorrow. Right now, I'm extremely tired, we drove through the night last night then had dinner this evening over at my in-laws THEN I had to go to the grocery so I think it's time for me to hit the sack!!