She turned 2! Try and resist the cuteness.....

It is going to take everything I have in me not to turn this into a blog simply about Grace. I realize that I do have three other kids, but she is just so fun and sweet and changing every day. I can't help it. She is also the only one that doesn't sass back yet, I doubt that is a coincidence.

P.S. We often forget that she is "different" than our other kids. But in other ways, I just chalk up some of her physical stuff up to the extra chromosome. In these pictures she looks EXACTLY like Lu did at this age. The sausage roll arms, the patchy, mullet white hair, the little button nose..... I have to remember that genetics plays a larger role than the Down Syndrome. You would absolutely pick the two of them out as sisters.

Weekend Review

You never know what is going to happen at our house on the weekend. Take for example this weekend, we managed do quite a few things that we have been trying to check off our list for a long time.....

Make armor to protect from marauding raiders:

CHECK

Extort money from neighborhood children by charging

enormous amounts of money for shaved ice and sugar water:

CHECK

Get Gracie started on her future caffeine addiction.

Look at that face...Drinky McDrunkerson!

CHECK

Stage a Kabuki play.

CHECK! (What? You don't do Kabuki at your house?)

Get the kids started working off their indentured servitude:

CHECK

Start their performance art training.

CHECK (we call this one "Crazy boy on Blanca Amiga)

It feels really good to get those things finally taken care of. Stuff like that can eat at you if you don't get right on top of it. SOMEONE is going to sleep well tonight.

Wheee...

Thanks for leaving all those comments folks. It was the best adult interaction I have had all week.

Since it is has been more than a year since we had a post and closer to two since I posted anything really substantial, I better do the dreaded catch up. The short versions is : had a baby, therapy, therapy, therapy, laundry, therapy, therapy, sleep, laundry, dishes, church, therapy, birthday party, therapy, therapy, new therapy, new diagnosis, therapy, school, got a dog, therapy, therapy, therapy, get kicked out of school, therapy, therapist quits, therapy. :-) While it might seem like all of that therapy was for me (don't kid yourself, some of it was), it was mostly for the kids. We have the basic cocktail of therapist for each of them. Norah gets Speech, Occupational and Physical therapy twice a week,as well as Early Intervention classes and evaluations. Gracie got the same thing. Jacob gets sensory therapy, behavior modification and social skills classes and talking therapy.

I also have therapy (I eat a good restaurants with my friends and occasionally buy a new book for the Kindle and lock myself in my car to read........best therapy ever. That and my prescription drug addiction...... HA! got you! That would mean more therapy and I am afraid that there is just not enough time for that kind of an addiction). To top it all off, my nine year old has recently started showing some signs of stress and frustration being the oldest of all these kids and (in her words) "It is so hard to be the different one in the family". I guess if you are the only "typical" kid in a family of "special" kids, you feel left out if you don't also have a therapist. So we got her one (ssh, don't tell her, it is really an art teacher who is studying to get a degree in art therapy -- so they do one on one art classes and talk about how to manage the things that stress her out). Only in my family right?

We have't yet told the kids that all this therapy is coming out of their college funds, so they better REALLY listen to all these therapist and figure out how to get a scholarship to college (well, after they figure out how to do things like walk and draw a line that crosses the mid-line--therapy mom's...AM I RIGHT? Is it the freaking midline that is stumping anyone elses kids???.......)

I bet you forgot how much I like to write in parenthesis. I kind of did too, so I will try and cut it out. I am afraid that this blog is going to become even more stream of consciousness than before. There isn't a whole lot of time to craft a post and reread things (and this new fangled spell check? That is for sissys). At this point, as long as my unedited typing doesn't contain any swear words, we are good.

That is it for me today. I am off to take Cubby to................... ice skating lessons. I bet you thought I was going to say therapy, huh? Well, sometimes our 5 year olds just really want to ice skate. Keeping you on your toes. That is how we roll around here.

I'll do an update on the kids over the next few days. I love to see who is reading so leave a comment if you haven't already. I need to get some new blogs on my "must read" list. You know, for all the times I lock myself in the car (thank you iPhone). Its therapy.

Also, admit it, that picture of Gracie at the top kind of makes you believe in Santa. Just a little bit.

So, if a post is written on a dead blog....

and no one reads it, is it really a post or just an elaborate conversation with myself?

I am testing the waters out here in blog land. I am thinking about writing again. Mostly because there is a huge chunk missing in the amount of proof that we will have to show the kids about how much we recorded their early years. And also because I want to post one million pictures of Gracie. EVERY DAY. She is the cutest and best child in the world and I cannot seem to stop talking about her..........

Anyway, I am going to give this thing a shot again. I kind of miss my friends out there.

Anyone with me?