See ya 2014!!

It's getting pretty scary over here!

Well, it's past the first day of the month in which a holiday is being celebrated.  I have spoiled my kids, and they wanted to know why I have been slacking.  The Halloween bins had not been dusted off and brought out of the garage, and we were teetering on the edge of chaos!  How selfish of me to take a little time for me!  No worries, they have busted me out of my vacation bubble, and I can now say that we are decorated for Halloween, and yes, we are the only house on our street that has decorated for Halloween, and the kids were beaming with pride when cars slowed down to admire our work tonight.

Moms on break!

For the first time in 12 years my best friend and I are enjoying a weekend away without any kids!  It has been so much fun to catch up and laugh and do a whole lot of people watching!  We have no schedule, no one else to dress or remind of table manners!  It has been epic!  :)

I have to say that one of the most common questions that I get when people find out for the first time that I am a mother of a child with Down syndrome is, "Did you know he had Down syndrome before he was born."  I am always upfront that we did know, but it didn't matter.  Is it a question that is asked as a barometer of our morals?  What difference does it make?  Then why do I feel compelled to then explain why we had an amnio to confirm the diagnosis?  What does it matter?  We were going to be parents for a second time after suffering a devastating miscarriage, Rory was finally going to be a big sister...  What did it matter when we found out?  Trust me, it doesn't make us better people or better parents because we knew our son had Down syndrome before he was born.  We loved him from the moment we found out he was coming, and as with everything that comes with being a parent, are you ever ready for anything?

A person's a person..

It's Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

Well, I've been a failure at blogging lately….who am I kidding.  To say that it has been sporadic since we brought Brendan home from the hospital would be a little more accurate.  I started the blog after Brendan was born because I figured that it would be an easier way to keep our family and friends, and anyone one else who cared, up to date on Brendan's battle to come home.  At least I met the goal there! Then blogging became something to do to keep memories of our family, stories and pictures and good little black mailing bits that could be brought out many years later!

Today, October 1, 2014, it's hard to believe that they little fighting Irishman is almost 7!?!  How did that all go by so quickly?  We won't talk about how The Princess is closing in on double digits and the Littlest Kilbride is in Kindergarten???  Yikes!!!

I digress…back to the reason of the blog for today….  Just about 7 years ago we were brought into the Down syndrome family, and boy have we learned a lot!  We are still learning, advocating, and stumbling and bumbling along the way, but we have learned that we are not alone.  You have been on this journey with us, and so have so many other families that we have never met.  So this month I am going to attempt to blog something everyday in support of Down Syndrome Awareness month and also in support of 31 for 21..other bloggers who will post everyday of the month (31) in support of the third copy of the 21st chromosome.  Some days won't be about our journey…some days you'll be overloaded, but hey..I'm just trying to set a goal here!

So, click on the 31 for 21 button on the right side of the page and check out some of the other blogs there!

Happy October!!!

Colleen's Graduation

Since a celebration isn't really a celebration until we have given it the Kilbride spin…..  We now present to you Colleen Kilbride's Graduation Ceremony….

World Down Syndrome Day 2014

A HUGE heartfelt Thank You to everyone who participated in World Down Syndrome Day 2014.  We know that getting the word out about Down Syndrome will reduce the stigma, the fears, the looks and the stares.  Because of your actions the world is a better place for all people….

Sick of Frozen yet…

…oh well…

This is the performance that I came home to last night.  Please make note of all of the theatrical elements…including the light cues at the beginning…

Red Carpet Night 2014

Enjoy!

#Giving Tuesday

Christmas is the season of giving, so what better way to celebrate than giving a gift that keeps on giving!

Today is the second annual Giving Tuesday, do you know what it is?  It's the day to give, whether through monetary donations to non profits or giving of your time or material goods.  Do you want to give today and cross of a  gift from your Christmas list??  How about make a donation in honor of someone to a cause that is close to their heart, or to yours?  It's the perfect gift for that hard buy for person, and besides can't we all do with a little less stuff??

Need some ideas??

Down Syndrome Guild of Kansas City

Our family LOVES this organization!!  They do so much for families and for people with Down Syndrome...check them out to see how your donation can help!

Fisher House Foundation

Bryan and I were residents of the Fisher House at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for 6 weeks after Brendan was born.  It was a roof over our heads for no cost.  Fisher Houses are located all across the country at military instillations to help military families in time of need while a family member is undergoing medical treatments.

Wounded Warrior Project

WWP serves to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs.


Donors Choose

Teachers are amazing, I should know since I'm related to one!  Donors Choose is web site where teachers ask for funding for their projects in their classrooms.  You can search for a classroom project in your area by typing in your zip code!



I'm sure you also have ideas of your own, so why not?

For your viewing pleasure

It's more than half way through October, which means it is past the halfway point of Down syndrome awareness month.  I had a plan to be more faithful in my blogging this month, what can I say but life got in the way.

To make up for it, here is a video of Brendan and some of the things he has been doing in the last year...

Saturday...

We took a trip to the Sensory Friendly movies to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2...

You can't really see it well but Brendan has his own drink of Fruit Punch that keeps him happy through the whole movie..and don't you dare try to touch it!

Good thing we got the movie in this morning because shortly after we came home Brendan was off doing his laps around the house with his baby doll carriage, and then I heard screaming.  I'm not sure what happened but the baby carriage wheel got all caught up in a plastic bag and Brendan was mad as hell!  So I fixed that and then I saw these...

Yeah, I guess he had a good ol fit of rage!  He'll be bumping into walls for a few days while I work to get the new ones in!  Oh Joy!!!

A brother first...

a brother always...

Ready....

Set...

GO!!!!

Big brother carrying little brothers lunch box home from school.

Oh the joys of moving with an IEP

There are so many steps that you have to take as a parent of a special needs child.  Then there are the extra steps and leaps that you have to make when you are a parent of special needs child in the military.

Our family moves every 2 years.  We were lucky 2 duty stations ago because we were able to stay there for 3 years!  Every time we move we have to travel down the path of the special education in each different states, and it has been pretty straightforward so far, until now.

To say that I am frustrated and upset would be silly....I have much harsher words for what I am feeling about this process of getting Brendan on the right path in school with the correct services.  On the positive side, he has an amazing teacher, an amazing aide and fabulous Speech therapist.  On the other hand, I have not nice things to say about the Special Education Administration within the school.

We finally have the first IEP scheduled in Florida next week....wish them luck, trust me they'll need it!

It's Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

Maybe Down Syndrome Awareness Month will get me off of this blogger strike, or perhaps "blogging shutdown" would be more appropriate term for today,  just kidding.

I'll be sporting my brand new Down syndrome bracelet that my cousin told me about.  I think it looks fabulous, don't you??

I thought I would also let you see how Brendan is celebrating day 1 of Down syndrome awareness month...

That's right, he trashed the playroom!!  Just proof that he really is a 5 year old little boy who just happens to have Down syndrome!

4th of July

We did celebrate the 4th, but it was a toned down holiday than our normal fare...

We started with a brand new American flag on the house!

A little "Mommy-Rory" pool time

Brendan was catching up with a Sox game

Bryan grilled up hot dogs and hamburgers on our brand new grill

We ended dinner with "fabulous fourth" cupcakes....Brendan just wanted to eat it and not pose for pictures..

Rory is a poser..

..so is Jack!

It of course was pouring about the time that we were going to head out to watch the fireworks...so we just hung at our house and enjoyed the neighborhood fireworks..

 

Roughing it

So here we are in our new house, but all of our "stuff" has yet to catch up with us.  Actually I'm starting to wonder if it's ever going to get here especially since we found out yesterday that all of our crates are still sitting in storage in Texas because the total weight of our shipment was never put into the system.  Well, I almost put something into the system for them!!!  We should have an update today, fingers crossed...

Anyway, this is how we have been living, and it's not all that bad

Our cozy kitchen...

Rory's Room...

The Boys Room...

The Master...

Of course there is no washer or dryer here yet, so that means we have to make some trips to the laundromat.  I was paralyzed with fear at the though of making the trip to clean the clothes with my 3 precious ones....but off we went!!

This tranquil scene lasted just long enough for me to load 4 washing machines...then it was over!

This move may go down as our worst move, but we've made it so far with our wits, and maybe a few beers.   It can only get better from here!

I swear they added 300 miles in between Texas and Florida!!

Well, not really but the 1200 miles we drove over 2 days started to feel like it was more like 5000 miles especially as it got close to 10pm on day 2 of the trip!  The important thing is that we all survived!!!

Rory rode with Bryan and Chloe was her backseat travel companion.

We finally made it out of Texas and into Louisiana!  Jack had been asking since we pulled out of the driveway if we were out of Texas yet, so when I told him that we had finally crossed state lines this was his face....

....he promptly followed my announcement up with one of his own.."I want to go back to Texas!"

Brendan perfected his new trick of taking his arms out of his car seat straps....we quickly stopped that nonsense!

Come on Mississippi!!!

That was quickly followed by a welcome from Alabama!!!

Somehow I missed the "Welcome to Florida" sign, but here is that sign for Pensacola! (I know you can't really see it, so just trust me!)

Chloe had enough of being in the car and was trying to escape somewhere in northern Florida...she did not succeed!

Florida welcomed us with lots of crazy downpours..

....and a Dunkin' Donuts!!!