midnight rambling

I sit here at midnight, Kaelyn's been asleep since before I got home and Aria just went down after a quality snuggle/nurse session. I realize the girls are growing so fast! There will come a time when Aria wont be sleeping in a crib. Heck, she's already outgrown the bassinet sized crib in our room and migrated her way into the "big girl room"! There will come a day when she wont need to nurse and snuggle up before snoozing the night away. I wont get to see her milk-drunk smiles first thing in the morning. It makes me sad, but at the same time, both girls are learning and growing and its so much fun to see how they develop into their own amazing little people. Aria is more and more mobile every day and is beginning to show a little temper and independence too! And Kaelyn? She is an amazing and caring little girl. Just last week us girls were all cuddled up for a pre-lunch nap since I was fighting off a migraine and i wake up to the foot rest pulled up and a blanket pulled up over us. Kaelyn figured out that she could pull up the foot rest by pulling up on it and she didn't need to have the strength to use the arm-lever. She is always doing things to be kind and sweet. Coming up and giving a quick hug or rubbing your back. She'll catch me on a bad day and tell me "Momma's pretty." Or telling me my hair is soft. or yelling out "Love you Momma!" as I leave for work. Or the fact that no matter how sleepy she is, when I come in to lay Aria in her crib, she makes a smooch sound and waits for a goodnight kiss. So, as much as I am so sad that they are growing up, that one day they wont fit into my lap for a story or a hug, I am so happy to watch them learn and grow and I can't wait to see what they become! I can't wait to see the friends they surround themselves with, all of the ways they will grow and learn and further develop their personalities and quirks, likes and dislikes. Most of all, I can't wait till they wake up tomorrow for another day of cuddles and smooches and fun times and "hold still" from yo gabba gabba.

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring, and thanks for letting me share my family with you. For hearing my struggles and triumphs and bearing witness to them all. All our love, Mommy and the Girls.

another belated post.

I truly do mean to update more, really I do. But life with 2 little girls and a busy family tends to get in the way and the next thing I know its been a couple months!

I never mentioned in my last post that I had Kaelyn's thyroid results before we even got home! (*Reminder, we WALKED home due to my car being in the shop. yeah. LOADS of fun. Both girls got poked in some fashion and there was much screaming on the way. Thank goodness its less than half a mile.) But I digress. Her thyroid levels are NORMAL.  Yep. Just like all of the other tests they do because of her partial duplication, this one was also normal. But not knowing exactly what on the chromosome affects what in a duplication, they can't really tell us what to expect. Also mentioned her 2nd bday being lady bug themed but never mentioned that her 3rd bday was ELMO themed. Elmo invites, Elmo cake (I made it) and an Elmo shirt for the party girl!

Kaelyn is now in Tumbling for Toddlers classes on Thursday nights. It's been great for her confidence and her balance, although she still doesn't jump. I'll be honest when I say it's been hard. lol. She's never been in a structured style class and the "wait your turn" concept is something we are working on. We are improving though. She also needs to learn fear. You cannot simply go up to a class mate and hug them. Especially when they are on the rope swing. And headed in your direction. lol. We have gained some skills and I swear i saw her jump (with both feet off of the floor) the other day but have not been able to get her to duplicate it.

In other news, the girls very much enjoyed going down to the lake for fireworks. Aria did well considering she is only 8 months and never heard fire works before. Little sweetie slept right through them! We had friends over during the day to grill out food, play some games and then we all met up for fireworks. Had a LOT of fun and Kaelyn even got to go in a bouncy house. I strongly suggest against it if your toddler isn't bold and sassy cuz she ended up getting bounced all over the house on her butt by the older kids. But she still had fun and didn't want to get out when they were closing them down.

Aria is an army crawler now, much to Kaelyn and Odin's dismay. She crawls after Kaelyn's toys and Odin's tail. Loads of fun watching her chase them. She is so very close to regular crawling. She is also a big fan of cheerios. LOVES cheerios. You shake the box and smiles. I wish I could hug the person who invented cheerios. Big time lifesaver at this house sometimes.

In other news last night I had a friend request on facebook from someone that i assumed was some sort of relation due to the last name but she actually had read this blog and has a daughter with the same diagnosis! I'm now up to 2 other people besides Kaelyn with a partial trisomy of the 21st chromosome! And all girls. It's amazing that technology and being able to connect so immediately online with people has allowed me to talk to these 2 mommies. So HELLO to Erica and Lisa!! (And both of your little girls!!!) Kaelyn sends some "mooches" to her new-found buddies! Hope everyone has a great day.

Hug your babies!!

Lara and the girls.

Where has the spring/winter gone?

Time is flying. No..... REALLY!  Aria is almost 8 months old. She's scootching (is that even a word) and all she needs is to get up on her knees and we'll have a crawler! Kaelyn starts her Toddler Tumbling class next thursday and i'm DEVASTATED that my bosses didn't get my change of availability in time so I will miss her first class! But holey smokes, she looks adorable in her "tu-toot". lol.

I think we are all a little stir crazy. The weather has been raining and storming off and on. Living across the street from a park.... I think we can ALL imagine the whining. "See?! SLIDES! SLIDES! SWINGING!!!!"

Allergies be damned, It's been a pretty good last few weeks. Despite going home for the funeral of a friend who died too young (33 years old! From complications due to pneumonia? What kind of world is this?), and not being able to medicate my allergies/sinuses while breast feeding Aria, I'm finding myself locked into all of these little moments. An early morning cuddle with Kaelyn. She loves to run into our room and hop up into our bed and cuddle. "Cudd-oh momma!".She loves to give affection lately. Hugs and kisses are handed out liberally and happily. Watching Kaelyn with Aria, playing on the floor. Kaelyn "reading" books to her or sharing her hot wheels with her sister. And the moment tonight was playing on the floor with Aria and watching her wobble her way up to my face and smiling each time she looks up. It was almost as if she was saying "SEE!!! Look what I can do! I'm proud of myself! Are you proud of me too?". I can't help but crack up because the smiles she gives you are from ear to ear and all the way up to her eyes.  Her happiness is contagious and you cant fight it if you try!

Guess I better run off to bed. Aria is sleeping in the "big girl" room now and she gets up at 4am to eat and then go back to bed. Lets hope she sleeps later tonight since i have tomorrow off!

All our love from my family to yours!

Lara

Everyday minutia

The weather here in Wisconsin has been quite... bipolar.  Yesterday it was gorgeous, sunny and warm. Today it is cold, cloudy and rainy.  Just no good.  But we are just enjoying the little things. The minute details. Yesterday we enjoyed the afternoon outside, listening to music and drawing on the chalkboard side of Kaelyn's beloved easel.  Today, it is snuggling up on the love seat, reading stories, and watching Aria roll around the floor. She's been able to roll for quite some time, but just lately she's beginning to use it for traveling. She's good but watch out once she hits something that stops movement. Aria has QUITE the temper. I have no idea where she got it from, but she sure is a feisty little booger.  yep she is!

We had hoped to go to the children's museum today but we looked at their calendar of events and they had 2 large field trips. No way would you get me taking TWO kids there by myself.

Aria has slept for the last week in her crib, transitioning from the bassinet in our room. Kaelyn handles it fairly well, but if Ari wakes her up, she needs to say prayers EVERY TIME to go back to sleep. It's cute and endearing. the first few times. But by the end of the week, i find myself telling her "now i lay me down to sleep.... AMEN!" :D

Anyways, naptime is in full progress and my favorite littlest lady is in some need of quality mommy time. One of my favorite times of the day, since it is one of the only times that I am able to spend time just with Ari.

Later folks,  Hug your babies and call and tell your momma you love them! Because one never knows!

Lara and the girls

3 year check up and drama

Well, We have had quite the busy last few weeks. Between the freak snow storm that took out a tree in our back yard, yet another break down in my car (towed to the shop TWICE in one month) and 3 year check up for Kaelyn and 6 month for Aria (both on the same day, might I add.) and this mommy is exhausted.
Both girls, I am happy to report are healthy and happy. It took some stickers and chocolate milk, but I think Kaelyn is over the blood draw.  The St. Paul Childrens' hospital recommended getting a thyroid test done yearly since other children with full, traditional Trisomy 21 often struggle with thyroid issues. It was a DISASTER.  It took two tries and so many tears just to get the first one and she was too strong! So we had to call the pediatrician's nurse back in for a little extra muscle. And of course, since my car broke down, I walked the 7 blocks to the hospital. It wasn't the worst walk since it hadn't heated up. We walked home at NOON, in the heat, with two ANGRY children. She screamed the whole while. I can't say as I blame her. But if we thought the blood draw pissed her off, 3 shots in her little sister truly took the cake. She cried the whole way home, muttering "It's okay Ari. It's okay. It's okay!" sweet and endearing but man. two girls, 7 blocks, too many degrees on the thermometer, it was most DEFINITELY a day for a nap. As anybody with 2 kids knows, if you can time the naps just the right time, its AMAZING! More updates later. Today's naptime has come and gone. and now the fun starts.

HOLY SMOKES! It's been over a year since I updated! (and yes, for the mommas in my WTE GROUP, this IS in fact an UPDATE!)
A lot  has happened since February 2012. Miss Kaelyn turned 2 at her neato ladybug party! We had a fun and lazy summer as I felt like poop most of the summer because....

........We have added another member to our family! On November 2, 2012 (do the math if you want. lol. explains a lot of my absence) We welcomed Miss Aria Faith to the family!

We had her blood drawn at birth and were pleased to find out that she doesn't have the partial trisomy 21 like Kaelyn.  She has a balanced relocation like me! So her sister Kaelyn will be a great help and insight for when she decides to have children of her own. She will know, much more than we did, What to expect and a better lot of into to weigh her options and make informed decisions. This is not to say that we would go back and NOT have children, had we known, but she will have grown up with Kaelyn whereas any man might need to see the facts when they reach that point in their lives! But let me say this, Kaelyn and Aria are already great friends! Kaelyn loves to check on her first thing in the morning and Aria gives the biggest smiles ONLY to Kaelyn.

    Kaelyn has adapted very well to being a big sister. If anything, she thinks SHE is in charge! It was a very nice holiday season. The perfect time to have maternity leave! I had Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years off. Even allowed the hubby to go hunting! YAY! Aria and Kaelyn thoroughly enjoyed all of the family time and cuddles and Kaelyn could have cared LESS about presents after she got a few of her favorites.Since Being back from maternity leave, We've celebrated Kaelyn's 3rd birthday and made many many memories.           

    Kaelyn has aged out of her birth-to-3 program and had extensive IEP testing and we've come to the conclusion that she doesn't have enough of a delay to qualify for Early Childhood Special Education 3k program. She was a bit let down since she got to come to the school with us for the IEP meeting and played in the class room and saw school busses and then we had to tell her she didn't get to go to school. Couple that with her beloved Miss Mary and Miss "Bicky" (Vicky) and Miss Natalie not coming to play anymore and the first few weeks of April were rough. Hubby carpools and one of his co-workers vehicle is a black car, just like one of her b-to-3 ladies so every morning she'd ask "Miss Bicky playing? Miss Mary playing?" to which i'd have to say "no i'm sorry honey. You are a big girl and you don't get to have them come over and play. but when they are at the park (as they often do for field trips and picnics for the parents) we can go over and say hi. they are special ladies and need to help other kids be strong and smart too!" and she'd be okay with it, until the next morning the car was there again and she'd hope that the car was one of her ladies coming to play.  

Kaelyn's special Miss Mary!

    Aria turned 6 months old yesterday to a SNOW STORM! Yes, you read me right. In western wisconsin we got 12 inches of snow on the 2nd day of MAY! We lost some branches and had a tree fall right over in our back yard. We woke up to no power, (which means no heat, no oatmeal or toast (much to kaelyn's dismay) and no electric breast pump!)  It was such a crazy and hard time cuz kaelyn wanted oatmeal or toast, and a big cup of milk! I wasn't going to open the fridge and break the seal! We had peanut butter bread for breakfast with a side of dry cereal and bananas and thank GOD by lunch time the power was back on. but who knew it would be such a big deal to not have HEAT in May? I was unable to to make it to work because I wasn't going to go outside and leave my kiddos unsupervised while i shoveled the heavy wet snow! Kaelyn didn't nap very long because the whole day was just WRONG! lol. SO shoveling didn't happen until my hubby got home to be the many muscles. Thank goodness it was a weather related absence and wasn't held against me or i'd have found a way to hook Odie up to the sled and PULL me to work. lol.

This is the damage to the ash tree in our backyard! That is my porch on the left hand side!

I guess I will sign off for now. It's as much updating as I can fit in with a toddler who must go potty and an infant who needs to nurse. Or have her butt changed. I'm not sure which. 

Thanks