It's been a while...

Let me introduce myself...HI, I'M JULIE...I like to wait for a really long time to make blog posts and then post all the pictures I have (good & bad) all at one time. Just in case my readers are not annoyed enough with me!! Oh, and I got a hair cut...see...

Like my title says, It's been a while. Let me fill you in...

This is my handsome little man Jake. No reason for this picture, other than he's so stinking cute, how could I not post it!

Moving on...

September 25th (yes, I'm going that far back) was our local Buddy Walk! We had a huge turn out & it was a amazing showing of support in our community! This was Jake's sign on the walking path. It was last years picture, but still a cute one!

Two of my besties...Auntie Carrie & Auntie Patty.

This is how Jake chose to do the Buddy Walk.

Good thing he got all that rest, because the very next day we had his 2nd birthday party!

Jake's birthday cup cakes. He had a Mini Monsters birthday party!

Goodie bags...

Because he is one...Auntie Carrie thought he needed the shirt that said so!

He got is first birthday $!!

He LOVED his bouncy house!

Sweet little Lexi wouldn't miss her little boyfriend's birthday for anything!!

Two of my life long besties showed up too!! This is Tara & Shannon (both with baby boys on board), and little Ms. Chloe!

And the VERY next weekend after the Buddy Walk, and Jake's birthday...

GIRLS TRIP!

Seaside, Oregon may never be the same again!

So, my parents have a very close relationship with our kids. They spend a lot of time together & never say no, when asked to watch the kids...now I see why...

I guess child labor laws down apply at Grandma and Grandpa's house. And kids are cheap for their labor...Gold Fish Crackers on the kitchen floor!

Those pictures are too funny not to share. And last but not least...Last weekend we went (with our besties) to the Seahawks game in Seattle!

Here we are...cheeze'n from our seats...way up high!!

But before the game...we went bar shopping. Yes, you read that right, we went bar shopping!

The end! I'll try to post a little more often!

I'm having a moment...

Actually, what I am having, is a hard time fitting my head thru door ways!! I'm not sure exactly what this is all about, but I'm feeling pretty cool about it anyway! I was nominated for this award...

Yahh for me and my silly little blog!! Thanks Jenn!! So here is what I am supposed to do...Tell you all 7 things about myself that you may not know (lol, that may be a little tough...this is kind of a tell all blog), thank Jenn at 4ever Love for nominating me, and tell who I am going to nominate! Here we go...

7 things about me that you may not know...

1. Praying Mantis absolutely make me cringe. They paralyze me with their hungry little eyes and crazy little arms.

2. I like goofy movies. Super Trooper is one of my all time favorites!

3. I knew NOTHING about Down Syndrome before Jake. I never stopped to notice how many people with Down Syndrome there are leading typical lives, until Jake. I purposely "put Jake out there"...because I want people to notice what I never did. I missed out on a lot of life before Jake.

4. I do laundry...when I absolutely have to! Which isn't very often, because Zach picks up the slack in that department.

5. I talk/text my mom everyday. Usually many times a day.

6. I LOVE that I am the "crafty" friend.

7. I love liquid cheese. EZ Cheese, gas station nachos, you know..liquid cheese. EZ Cheese is a staple for our hospital stays. Zach stopped questioning it after the 2nd or 3rd time because he saw how happy it made me.

That was actually somewhat hard. There is a lot of useless knowledge on those 7 lines! Enjoy!! And again...THANKS Jenn at 4ever Love for nominating me!! Jenn also has a little boy Tyson who happens to have designer genes. He also happens to have a birth date very close to Jakes! He just turned 2 also! I fell in love with Jenn's blog because I thought Tyson looked like Jake! Funny ha?! Check it out for yourself!!

And my last little task...tell who I would nominate...Jenn at 4ever Love (of course...I love how similar our blogs are...and that she doesn't leave out the pictures of Tyson with poop all over himself)!! And House of Smiths! It's a super fun craft/home blog!!

Ok, probably one of my longer blogs...so I'm off to put sick kids to bed!! Have a good night everyone!!

Followers...

Do I really still have any? I can't believe I have not put a new post on in 12 days! That's just madness!

Our week has been crazy busy, but packed with lots of good things. For what ever reason it seems like Jake has had tons of therapy or classes in the last week. He is doing one of his little motor skills/ verbal skills switch ups right now. He's mastered this walking stuff and is even starting to run a little. We are working on getting him to kick a ball...sometimes it's done on purpose, sometimes it just looks that way! But his vocabulary is really starting to turn on! He's starting to sound a little less cavemanish and a little more todderish. He's starting to repeat words and sounds. Again, not so much on purpose, but they do come out every once in a while. The other day at feeding group he said APPLE plain as day! It was beautiful! And his range of sounds are really starting to broaden! Ahh, I'm a happy momma with this little monster lately. Oh, and speaking of monsters, we will be going on a hunt for DRAWER LOCKS today. Enough said.

Gracie has also made some big changes in her own little way. Her transformation from preschool last year to pre k this year is amazing. It's pretty incredible how much difference a year of maturity makes! Since I last posted I got to work in her class room for a day, then we went to the pumpkin patch with her class a few days later. Ahh, it's that time of year. We decorated for Halloween a little, and finally decided that she will be a Happy Witch for Halloween this year. It's just a witch...who is happy! She came up with that all on her own! LOL.

Last night, I met up with some fabulous ladies from our Down Syndrome group for a woman's group craft night. It was great. Hung out with some good friends, met some new friends, and chatted with friends I don't see too often. We had lots of tasty foods, wine, and the hot glue was flowing! That's my kind of night! I think I did at one point turn into a crafting drill sargent though. It just happens sometimes. Sorry.

Today we are off...TO FIND DRAWER LOCKS, get Zach a birthday present, and maybe finish up Gracie's Happy Witch costume. It's the first time all week the little box on our calender has nothing it! I'll take it! Then tomorrow we will go back to the pumpkin patch for family day with Grandma & Grandpa & maybe a few friends as well. Sunday we will celebrate Zach's b day, and Sunday evening he will leave for another long hunting trip! You may not hear from me for awhile again! I promise to surface every once in a while to let you all know my head is above water still!!
HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE~
Julie

Where to start

I have been running myself in 27 different directions for about the last 3 weeks with birthday parties, girlfriends weekend, everyday life...but then the flu jumped into my life and took over. Interesting when we can't tell ourselves, "you have too much on your plate", that your body does it for you! Guess we have to be told to stop somehow right?! I just wish mine didn't come with 104 degree temps, chills, and the lovely body aches!

Ok, so back to where my 27 directions have taken me. Well, maybe not 27, but a lot! I showed off some of Nicole's 18th birthday party decorations that I worked on. That was tons of fun! The very next day we went to our mini BFF's pirate birthday party. Happy 6th Birthday Roman! Then we had the Buddy Walk, & Jake's mini monster birthday party!! Two totally amazing events that make me so grateful to be part of this community, friendships, & family. Ahh the love we felt last weekend. It couldn't have been better!! I have no pictures to share right now (again, thank you Jake for pulling mom's camera off the counter)...I'm not bitter..., but Auntie has lots & as soon as I can get them from her...I'll post! We were just recovering from the birthday extravaganza, when BOOM, momma gets the flu! Knocked down, in bed for 3 days...dead to the world. Thank God, I got over it enough to travel to the Oregon coast with my girlfriends for our annual girls trip! Well, I was sort of over it. The first 2 days were a little rough, but my friends are not scared of a little flu bug! LOL, there were more antibiotics, antibacterial gels, soaps, & wipes, in that car than most hospitals keep on hand!! Not to mention the econo size bottles of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Mucinex & Delsym! And then you could always go with the good ol' theory of "enough hard alcohol will kill anything"...I didn't test that theory! But the Malibu Rum was flowing nicely in our room! I did manage to perk up about midway thru the weekend and got a little shopping, eating, and dancing in! Had a few walks on the beach & laughed so hard I might have pee'd my pants...a little. Really, just a little. I will soon post pictures of that too! Not of me peeing my pants, but of my friends weekend!