LOVE

Parker LOVES getting to bang the TV stand doors.

I LOVE that Parker is sitting up so well.  

Wired + Worried = Wasted!

I do not drink caffeinated drinks.  I haven't for years.  I found that too much caffeine gave me headaches and made it hard to sleep.  So I'm not sure what I was thinking when I took migraine medicine last night before bed that has as much caffeine in it as three cans of Dr. Pepper.

That was not smart.  I was WIRED!

Add that to the feeling of WORRY I had last night when I completely messed up the format of my blog by mistake.  I had intended to just "fix" a couple of things that had been bugging me for awhile.  It should've been no big deal and taken very little time to complete.  But instead, I accidentally deleted my header completely and screwed with the spacing big time.  I thought my blog was going to be messed up forever and I was going to lose it all.   Which is possible considering I've never taken the time to back it up.  Whoops.

So, nine hours later I had completely redone my blog.  Oh, and I forgot to go to sleep.  Actually...I had tried a couple of times but with the overdose of caffeine in my system as well as the inability to get the spacing concerns out of my head, it was pointless.   I did learn that I could definitely use a class in photo shop and/or html coding.

So that's why you see a new look here on the blog and I look like I was run over by a truck today.  I don't think I'll be taking those migraine pills again anytime soon.  Especially not right before bed.

Zoo Day

We bought a zoo membership at the beginning of the year but it's been so hot that we really haven't been able to go.  But, we lucked out today because it was Paul's day off and it was cooler than it's been in weeks so we took advantage of the weather and took the whole family to the zoo.    

Alexa got to ride on a pony

Parker got to pet (and get licked by) a goat

Alexa and Daddy enjoyed watching the penguins swim

Alexa pretended to be a spider

We took a photo op

And Alexa got to take a train ride.  Paul captured the funniest picture of the day in the train tunnel!

Transformation is Fun to See

So first it was baby birds, then bunnies, and now worms.  I'm starting to think I need a pet other than our goldfish, Dorothy.

A few weeks ago, Alexa and I found two gigantic tomato horn worms on my tomato plants.

.

I didn't think to take a picture of the naughty worms myself.  Click here for Photo Source.

In one day, those two monsters ate through the entire top third of my container tomato.  Needless to say, I wasn't pleased.  But, I figured we'd make the best of it and turn it into an educational experience.   So, we stuck the little guys in glass jars with a few inches of dirt on the bottom and plenty of tomato leaves for them to chew on.  They ate through all those leaves and were about the size of my ring finger before burying themselves in the dirt to form a chrysalis.

The Chrysalis' after the Moth's emerged

Two weeks later, they emerged as five-spotted hawk moths.  After their wings dried, we let them go outside.

Most likely, they're out making babies that will ruin my tomato plants next year.  Anything for educational opportunities, right?

Pinterest Project #2

This project was relatively simple...in theory.  I took a 12X12 canvas and painted it with two coats of acrylic paint.  This took me two days to get accomplished even though each coat of paint only took about one minute to apply. Next I cut out all sorts of leaf shapes from scrapbook paper.  Then I spent Parker's entire nap time one afternoon fidgeting with those leaves and cutting out different sizes to try and come up with a flower design that I liked.  Eventually I just got tired of doing that and reminded myself that I am too much of a perfectionist so I took a break.  Then when Paul got home from work, I forgot about the perfectionist part and started fidgeting with the leaves again.  At some point, I decided I should probably feed my family dinner because it was 7:30 pm.  After my family had eaten, I decided enough was enough and went with the design I had.  I used a paint brush to cover the back of the leaves with Mod Podge (starting with the inner circle) and stuck each leaf down on the canvas.  After those dried, I put a coat of Mod Podge on the whole thing.  Then for good measure, the next day I put on a second coat of Mod Podge over the whole thing and four days after I started this project, it was done!!

I would definitely use a different background color, scrapbook paper with smaller designs, and different sized leaves if I were to do this again.  Other than changing the whole thing if I could, I guess I kinda like it.

A Poem that Means A Lot

A fellow Chromosome 6 Mom posted this poem on her Facebook page today.  I love it so I thought I'd share.

My chromosomes may be different
But my feelings the same.
I laugh and I cry;
I take pride in my gains.

I was sent here among you
To teach you to love.
As God in the Heavens,
Looks down from above.

To Him I’m no different;
His love knows no bounds
It’s those here among you
In cities and towns
 

That judge me by standards
That man has imparted.
But the family
He’s chosen will help me get started.

 
For I’m one of His children
So special and few
That came here to learn
The same lessons as you.

That love is acceptance;
It must come from the heart.
We all have the same purpose
Though not the same start.

The Lord gave me life to live and embrace
And I’ll do it as you do - just at my own pace.

The poem I saw on Facebook didn't have a source/author.  I did some google searching and believe this was written by Emma Jane Rae and entitled the Down Syndrome Creed. It had been adapted slightly at the beginning to say "My Chromosomes may be Different" instead of "My Face May be Different." 

Ever Felt Like This?

Or this?

Yeah, that's what I felt like today.

Movin' and Groovin'

I'm so proud of my kiddos.  They're learning to move in new ways and are both doing so well.

We got Alexa a little bicycle with training wheels off of Craigslist.  Her and Paul went and picked it up and it was quite the exciting trip for her.  She did really well with it right away.  I love her self confidence and wish I had some of it.  She says, "I'm doing GREAT!"  She does get a little nervous if there's a bit of a slope and she starts going too fast.  Instead of using the breaks, she just wants to jump off.  I'm sure she'll have it all figured out in no time though and before I know it she'll be learning to drive...a car!

Parker's also on the move lately.  We've been trialing different therapeutic walkers for him and haven't been too thrilled until this one came along.  He's taking steps on his own and is doing great with it.  It makes me smile so big it hurts.

I'm looking forward to how much and in what ways they'll be moving in a year from now.

Splish Splash

The Bunny Lady

Last week, I discovered that a bunny had made a nest in my strawberry bed.  Part of me was excited because I think baby bunnies are the cutest things ever but the other part of me was perturbed because Paul had rigged up my strawberry bed with chicken wire and netting and critters weren't supposed to get in.  This was one smart bunny though and she found a way.

The strawberry plants in the area she built her nest in weren't looking too hot but I didn't feel like I could water them or interfere with them so I left them alone.  Paul thought I was crazy but there was no way I could harm the cute little furballs even if that meant by beloved strawberry bed  would suffer.

A couple days later when I went out to check on my strawberries and peek at the nest from afar, I saw that the nest had been disturbed a bit and one of the baby bunnies had been killed - and in a pretty terrible way.  There were two other baby bunnies still in the strawberry bed hiding under the leaves.  They looked scared too death.  I pondered for a bit on what I should do but then decided I couldn't bare to see the other two killed as well so I picked them up, made them a little nest in a shoebox, and brought them inside.

I spent the next hour googling on how to care for wild baby bunnies and found out it was very difficult.  The survival rate is pretty grim.  I gave it a try but no matter what I did those little guys wouldn't eat or drink for me.  I thought maybe they needed a little love and Alexa was happy to help with that.

Still no luck though.  So...then I googled who could care for wild baby bunnies.  I got in touch with a Wildlife Rehab group out of Omaha and they put me in touch with the Wildlife Rescue Team in Lincoln.  Prior to this, I had no idea such organizations even existed.  The on-call person I spoke with (yes, these wonderful people even work after hours) gave me the address for "The Bunny Lady".  She said this woman has a bunny crate on her front porch and I could drop the bunnies off anytime and she checks the crate many times a day.  She then cares for the bunnies until they get big enough to be released back into the wild.  

So, Alexa and I drove across town and dropped the bunnies off on on the porch of the "Bunny Lady".  I rang the doorbell because it's not every day you get to meet the "Bunny Lady" but she didn't answer.  I left a sticky note with my name and phone number asking that she call with an update if she wouldn't mind.  Before I even got home, the "Bunny Lady" had called our home number and left a message saying the bunnies were in great shape, I didn't need to worry and they should be just fine.  She said she thought they were about 8 or 9 days old.  She was going to start them off on some formula and she had four other bunnies about their same age that they could learn from.

Wow!  I was astounded that a group like this exists in our city and I think it's pretty wonderful.  The little guys are being well cared for and aren't ruining my strawberry bed.  Sounds pretty good to me!

By the way, Paul still thinks I'm completely crazy and tonight he fixed up my strawberry bed again to further "critter proof" it.  Gotta love him!

More Than You'd Probably Like To Know

WARNING:  This post may contain more information about Parker's bodily functions than you'd like to know about.  Do not keep reading if you don't like hearing about poo.

So, let me start off by saying this isn't something I'd normally post about or talk about or want anyone to know about.  But...I'm going a little crazy and I could use some help from the prayer warriors out there.   The issue is that Parker has been pooping and doing lots of it for over two months now.  He has an infection called C. Difficile and it causes nasty diarrhea.  It usually occurs following treatment with antibiotics and goodness knows Parker's been on and is on a lot of antibiotics. One of the antibiotics Parkers is on is a preventative med to help prevent urinary tract infections due to his kidney issues.  So...he's been on this since birth and will continue to need it as long as he has the kidney issues or until he gets surgery to correct all of that.  In other words, the need for that antibiotic isn't going away anytime soon.

He had an episode of C. Diff last summer that lasted 6 weeks or so but he did get over it.  This time around, we haven't been so lucky.  C. Diff is treated with antibiotics (ironic, huh) and the first two rounds didn't help.  So....a couple weeks ago he was prescribed a stronger antibiotic and he hasn't responded to it at all.  No improvement.  The little guy hasn't gained any weight in several months, he's pretty tired of pooing all day long, and I've never done so much laundry in my life.  We are ready for this infection to GO AWAY!

I'm waiting to hear back from the GI Doctor to see what their next plan is going to be.  I just hope and pray that whatever we do next will work this time because

I AM SICK OF POO

AND PARKER IS TOO!

Thanks for listening.  I'm sure you are glad you read this post.  Sorry about that.

Backyard Camping

Last night, I took Alexa on her first camping adventure.  We picked out the optimum spot which just so happened to be in our backyard.  I managed to get the tent up all by myself (round of applause please) with a little help from Alexa when it was time to pound in the stakes.  

Since we were camping, we couldn't leave out the essential camping-related snacks.  With a bit of help from Paul, we pretended our grill was a campfire...  

and made SMORES!!

For her first experience camping, I thought it would be best to show her what a true camping experience is all about.  You know, complete with a mattress, electric fan, and the lamp from her room...just the absolute basics.

I'm sure the neighbors think we're crazy but that's all right.  When Alexa turned to me last night and said "Mommy, camping is really great" it was all worth it!!  

I love my outdoorsy little girl!!

A Summer Poem

This summer we've had lot's to do

Like being silly at the zoo.

We went on a search for a sport that's fantastic

Which led us to the world of gymnastics.

Instead of staying cool inside,

We tried out the slip and slide.

While holding the sparkler made us proud

We thought the fireworks were a bit too loud.

When the weather just kept getting hotter

We decided to cool off in some lake water.

And finally we mastered the perfect pout

Which caused us to get all tuckered out.

THE END