Here we go...

Hold on tight...I've got more pics of what we have been up to, than I know what to do with!! I'll start with Gracie's birthday party! My sweet little girl turned 5 on June 22nd. We had her birthday "Garden Tea Party" on June 19th before we left on vacation. Here are a few pics!!

Gracie's beautiful Garden Tea Party Tent! The pictures don't do it justice! All of the poms sparkled, the butterflies & dragonflies added the perfect touch.

Each place setting had a personalized tea cup and saucer, a beautiful headband, and a pretty little napkin!

The "goodie pots" were my favorite! Each pot had a packet of flower seeds in it, a few treats, some flower bracelets, little note pads, and a flower garden marker! They were so cute & the kids loved them!

The food was amazing too. We had flower shaped PB&J, rainbow goldfish crackers, and fruit kabobs with the fruit cut out into flower shapes. We finished it off with strawberry lemonade!

Ms Gracie wanted cupcakes for her birthday...what the birthday girls wants, the birthday girl gets!! I made these cute little lolly pop looking things that say "Gracie is 5" So cute!

She felt so special, on her special day...

And she had lots of fun!

Thank you so much Kendall, Lexi, Roman, Anna, & Mia for making Gracie's birthday so special! She was so happy you all came to share the day with her!!

We are back...

And as soon as I get back in the right time zone, I'll post some pics!! Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Vacation...

Here we come!! We are driving to Seattle this afternoon to jump on a flight (or two) to Florida tomorrow!! We will be gone for 10 days, so there won't be much any blogging for this momma for the next week or two! UNLESS something super cool happens that I just can't hold in! LOL! Have a great next few weeks everyone!

Oh ya...and Jake is standing on his own and taking about 5 really good steps by himself!! Whoo Hoo!!! I'll get video up when we get home!

Sleep study

Results are in...they were worse than the last time! LOL. All I can do is laugh. It's laugh or cry...I choose laugh. We are a little surprised that they were worse. We knew that he wouldn't pass the study, but thought for sure he would at least do a little better. Not the case. I asked the doctor why they would be worse when he is getting bigger and stronger. She said that in his case (having Down Syndrome) getting bigger actually works against him. The bigger he gets, the bigger his adenoids and tonsils get, which blocks his small airway even more. Makes sense. We have not heard from the ENT, but we are assuming that the surgery will stay on the books for August 30th & he will start oxygen at night asap. Now to figure out what to do about the oxygen situation & vacation! We leave in 4 days!! Whoo hoo!!

Oh, and Jake wanted to say "Cheese"...while eating his Mac & Cheese!

Game on!

It's me vs. tulle vs. hot glue vs. the pop up tent...we'll see who wins!

Here is the start...

My heart

Is all warm and fuzzy...because I got this in the mail today...

The 3 lines represent the extra chromosome on the 21st set. There are a total of 47 instead of the usual 46...47 dots!

And just to make it special to me...Jake's initials & birthday!

I love it so much & wear it with pride!

If you LOVE it and want one...you can find them here...
http://be-jewelryandcrafts.com/dspendant.html

Really?

Our normal June weather in the Tri Cities ( 80's & 90's by now), has been nonexistent. Nothing but rain & wind, with a partly sunny day here and there...that ends with rain. So we (the sun lovers that we are) have been cooped up inside, left to our own devices...movies & old toys. I'm usually pretty good about breaking into a craft at this point but I'm so consumed with doing stuff for Gracie's birthday party that...well if I have time to craft, I'm working on the party. And NO the kids can not help me. They will mess it up! LOL. And yes, I do realize that it is for 6 five year olds, so everything I am doing...well is more for my own enjoyment, they probably won't care and will head straight for the swing set. But that's ok. So, on Friday I decided we all needed to get out of the house and we went to gymnastics (open playground at a place that teaches gymnastics). The kids LOVE it! An hour and a half of running around like wild little people, as many "friends" as 5 year old can soak up, and more toys than any one kid could possibly ever play with. Here is where the Really? comes in...I'm letting Jake scoot around on the floor amongst all the other little ones with the baby toys. He stops to play with a ball, & a little girl (probably about 1ish) comes over and sits with him and stats to play with him. I'm thinking to myself, "Ahh, Jakey found a friend", and before I could even finish my thought the little girls mom came over, grabbed her hand and walked her away to go play with another little girl. REALLY? The sad thing is, it happened again not long after that with another little kid. It really blew me away because most people oogle over Jake. That was the first time that I've ever seen the oh no, not with that little boy look from a parent. Zach told me the other day that I am too sensitive to peoples reactions to Jake. Really? I don't know, maybe I am, but how could you not be? Guess it's one of those life lessons I'm going to have to learn. Find the happy medium between wanting people to see Jake for who he is and how magical he is, & letting people believe what they want to believe. I can't make everyone love and accept him, but I can put him out there and hope that people will try. How could you not?