Birthday Cookies..

That's right, birthday cookies.  This is the tradition in our house, when school allows you to bring a treat into the classroom to celebrate your birthday we make cookies cut out in whatever shape is wanted.  As you can probably imagine, Rory has had Princess Tiara cookies for her past 2 birthdays, and no, that wasn't an easy cookie cutter to find.

Since Brendan's birthday is this weekend, and he only goes to school on Wednesday and Thursday, you guessed it...tomorrow is cookie day.  Why couldn't I have anticipated this happening?  Well, I didn't so I don't have a Dora cookie cutter, or a car cookie cutter, or a train.  You know what I have...Santa Claus, pumpkins, witch hats, flowers, bunny rabbits and of course the tiara.  Well, that won't work.  Then there it was.....the CIRCLE!!!!!  I can do baseballs, or soccer balls, or I could just use a stencil and put a letter B on them for Brendan's Birthday!  Wicked smart if I do say so.

Yes, I know that he will probably never remember or care about the cookies that he had in his classroom for his birthday, but I will.  He is in a classroom, and personally, I thought there should have been a full marching band leading the way for him on his first day of school!  Since there was no marching band, the cookies are what I can do to let him know, and let everyone else know, that I am proud of my son and I'll celebrate him in whatever special way that I can.

My November Challenge:
1.  I am very thankful that I had the chance to talk to Bryan today
2.  I am thankful for laughter that Jack and Brendan filled the house with this afternoon...those 2 are something else

Ahh....Hanging onto Summer just a little while longer

Yes, it is November....I know, but the weather here in Kansas was a true late summer day.  After the boys and I picked up Rory from school we played outside in the front yard with sidewalk chalk, bubbles and our neighbors.  There were no jackets, just lots of smiles and laughs and running around!  Brendan had so much fun he had a true "boy" moment....

I think the last bit of summer like evenings inspired our dinner tonight. 

(Tortellini Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Green Beans)

 Nothing says summer to me more than tomatoes.  Disagree if you like, but to me picking the tomatoes out of the garden with my grandfather Bart, and taking the salt shaker with you, then eating them like an apple is what summer is to me.  It also reminds me how much I miss my grandparents, and it reminds me of how grateful I am to have had them, gotten to really know them and to have such wonderful memories.  I know they are looking down on us and watching us and their great grandchildren from their Recliner chairs with the candy dish on the table between the chairs, and watching with great pride. 

My November Challenge:
1. I am grateful for the 2 hours of pure playtime with Brendan and Jack this morning.
2.  I am even more grateful for the 2 hour nap they took after!
3.  I am grateful for the gift of patience..
4.  I am grateful for the wonderful conversation with 2 pretty cool ladies today

Being Grateful

So it's November 2nd and we're almost at the 3 month mark of this deployment.  The holidays are right around the corner, and things are getting busy in the house.  I think now is the time to reset myself a little bit. 

Being a single mom for the time being isn't easy, it is challenging, but it should be.  Being a parent is a privilege,  although some days I wonder what exactly that is!  I have realized after a very long weekend of everyone battling the stomach bug that I need to stop for a moment and take stock of my life, at the moment.

Having Bryan deployed is awful, there is no other way to put it.  We have been so luck to have had him home for a little over 2 years, and that is a really long time for us.  We found our groove as a family, we settled into the role and we love it!  We did fun outings, we had our things special things that Mommy or Daddy did, and now it's gone....but just for a little bit.  So with these changes of Mommy taking care of everything, and the big changes of Rory being in Kindergarten and Brendan recently starting preschool, I've decided that instead of dwelling everyday on the long of list of things to do, or worrying about the things that didn't get done I have to stop and think about the things that I am grateful for at the end of everyday.

My challenge to myself for this month of Thanksgiving, is to be grateful for at least one thing everyday.  Yesterday I was thankful for 3 healthy children that were able to go to school, and I was very thankful that I was healthy as well and able to get a few things done around the house to get us back to the way we were before our pre-illness weekend!

Let's see if I can actually keep this going....you should try to!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

What better way to celebrate people who have Down Syndrome and those who love and support them, than the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk!  For the third year team Brendan's Bears participated, and for one day Disney World was not the happiest place on earth, the parking lot at Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City was....

The day our world changed...

I still remember that day, I remember the words, and I remember the sinking feeling in my stomach that brought me to my knees..

"I have the results of your amnio, and indeed your baby has down syndrome.  Do you have any questions?......Have a nice weekend."

With the click of the phone back on it's cradle, I fell to the floor.  With those words, delivered so coldly, our world had been rocked, and as much as we had prepared ourselves for the possibility that this was the answer that we were going to get, the wind was knocked out my sail.  Bryan was a work preparing for a month long training session in California and I was home alone with Rory.  Alone.  How was I going to tell Bryan this?  How was he going to understand one word that I was trying to get out?  I had to do it, I couldn't be alone in knowing this about our baby.  I collected myself, got up off the floor, and grabbed the phone and dialed.

The only words I got out were "The genetic counselor just called..." and then the tears started and I couldn't saying anything else.  I remember hearing Bryan say "It's all going to be OK, this baby is ours and we are going to love it, and that's all that matters."  With those words, I wasn't alone anymore.

Brendan was meant for us, for our family.  I have never had doubt about that, and I know he was given to us for a reason and that everything was going to be OK.  I had prayed a few months before when I was having complications early on in the pregnancy that this baby not be taken from us, I couldn't go through losing another baby.  Once we got through the critical first 12 weeks of the pregnancy, and we heard the baby's heart beat in the midwife's office, I knew that this baby was ours for a special reason.

That was how our journey into the Down Syndrome family began, and what a journey it has been, and continues to be.

An Update from Iraq

Well, it's not like Bryan was actually going to make a blog entry, but here are some pictures that he sent..

Bryan in front of his office...a former Saddam palace

 

Entrance 

A death defying feat

I did it.  I conquered the fear that had building inside of me since the day I found out that Bryan was deploying again.  That fear......going out with 3 kids and just me.  Now, that seems rather odd, right?  Even when Bryan was home I was still the primary caregiver, which meant that I had to get 3 kids in and out of the car, and in out of this place and that, and I did it, no fanfare no nothing, no huge fear.  Now, I have 3 rather mobile kids, not 1 walking kid, one who will engage and sit in the stroller and the other who is strapped into his car seat and carted around without it being a big deal.

Friday I decided was going to be the day that I did a fun outing with the kids all by myself.  Rory had a half day at school, so we picked her up at 12:20 on the dot.  I should mention here that this pick up time falls smack in the middle of the boys normal napping time, so now you're thinking that I am insane and setting myself up for failure.  I thought so too, but on we went!!  Sure enough, 5 minutes after picking Rory up, Brendan and Jack were sound asleep in the back, Rory and I were chatting about her school day (which already consists of "I don't remember what I did at school" or "We did BORING Kindergarten work").  Off we were on our surprise adventure...and when we arrived, we had 3 awake and very happy kids!  Here we go!

Our surprise destination was.....

All the kids LOVE this place, and Rory has been asking to go for quite a long time, so why not!  Wonderscope is a fabulous childrens museum with lots to do, and in a not so huge space, perfect for my attempted outing!  Another bonus was that this museum participated in the Blue Star Museum Project which allowed us free admission to the museum because we are a military family...you can't beat free!!!

We were off, into all of the different rooms, and everyone was having a grand time, from the golf ball race track room, to the Space room, the other ball race track room, the submarine area and the farm room...

After 2 hours of non-stop fun and minimal breakdowns, it was on to part 2 of this monumental day....dinner at a restaurant!!  Now this is where the sweaty palms started..

We piled back in the car, and went down the road to a place I knew would be a hit with the kids...Fritz's!

No way I could go wrong with a place that is all about trains and even has your food brought out to you by one!!  And really, aren't the hats worth the trip alone?

 

The boys had hats too, but they were far more interested in eating, not posing...oh well!

All in all, it was a great day, and I did it all with the best kids in the world, with the support of my wonderful husband from afar, and just one diaper in the diaper bag!!  Maybe I should consider being WonderWoman for Halloween???