HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY TO MY BEST FRIEND, MY SWEET HUSBAND... HERE IS TO 20 MORE BABY. I LOVE YOU!

Just a quick note to let everyone know Lyndsey is home. She is going crazy after only her first full day of being home. She thinks she needs to be on the go. When I took the girls to school she went with me. She wanted to go to Target and look at "clothes". She is doing good...just gonna be bored out of her mind..Mommy Bootcamp is going to be no fun. I wont let her drive, go with friends, walk without crutches, walk far, must be in wheelchair when we go anywhere...etc... This is no fun...but for her own good! Please pray for our girl...she is gonna need it!

William now has Lyndsey with him and they are heading back to AL as I type! I will be glad to have her home where I can hear all her stories and help her heal. Please say a prayer for my girl....she will need it! She wants to head back to SC to finish her training so she can get off to her schooling.

I pray that a new class date will start with the next 2 months so she will be ready for it.

More to come later with a fresh new pic of lyndsey!!!

Go check this out, Amanda's fundraiser...

http://joneseeadoption.blogspot.com/2009/03/ergobaby-carrier-backpack-and-front.html

Lets celebrate a wonderful day together today. Celebrating our loved ones with Down Syndrome!!!

Its amazing how someone in such a small package could change your life....Mine is FOREVER changed! Thank you Lord for giving us the opportunity to add these beautiful girls to our family through the miracle of adoption. It is through you that we have a changed life forever...and helped change the lives of 4 beautiful little girls!

Lyndsey called us last night...u know she hurt herself a few weeks ago... she actually fractured her pelvis and fibula . She went back to the Dr yesterday and they said she MUST come home for 30 days and REST!! They said if she stayed there her pelvis would totally break! PLEASE pray for her!!!

IF all goes well and she come home to Mommy boot camp....I wont let her move...that she can return and only have 2 weeks left of boot camp... PLEASE lift her up in prayer..

Does anyone have any idea of how to treat a severely fractured pelvis??

William is leaving Sunday afternoon to go to SC to pick her up...They were gonna put her on a greyhound but I dont want her to do that and carry her gear and on crutches...she will be in PAIN!

REMEMBER to turn off the music so you can hear the video. He is being sworn in by his father, my husband!! Here are the two guys in my life that make me so proud!!!

The United States Army has gained another member of my family. My son, Michael, left on Tuesday for basic training. He will be at Basic for 10 weeks and then on to his school training. He is excited but also very nervous. Lyndsey has sent him letters trying to explain things that he will do. She is at the same basic training camp, FT JACKSON, as he will be.

Please pray for my son as he encounters things he has never done. He is very much a home body so this is really a huge step for him. I will post his mailing address later if you would like to send him some encouragement.

We are very proud of you son!!!!

Isabella disappeared the other morning and I looked all around the house...GUESS where I found her???

In her favorite place...the bathroom. She has learned how to put the toothpaste on her toothbrush and she thinks she must brush her teeth all day. Here she is....doing one of her favorite things.



When I went in there, she had gotten
a pair of Giovanna's blue jeans and put them on backwards ....she is such a funny girl!


Way to go Bella.....your growing up so fast!

Ok this post is so gonna keep it real!!!!

Today is Tuesday, the day my only son ships out to Army Basic Training. We havent heard from Lyndsey yet as too how she is feeling/healing and IF she will even get to graduate on time. My 4 little ones are driving me up the wall. Everything they are doing is making me nuts, the whining voice, the aggravating of one another, the I dont want too's.... you name it!

I know with me being worried sick about not one BUT TWO of my kids is making my hormones NUTS! PLEASE pray for me...pray for Michael as he starts a new journery to his life, pray for Lyndsey as she is facing the uncertainty of her bootcamp graduation, pray for her healing and the ability to accept whatever comes her way as far as news on graduation, possible heldover etc....

Thanks so much....now since I cant find a babysitter to relieve me and sit with the girls for a few hours, I am packing them up to take them with me...oh this is gonna just make my day!!! They will have to spend alot of time in their carseats sitting. I will take a few movies, some toys, etc. We are going to eat lunch with Michael and then go back to the MEPS to watch him ship out... I pray I will get to take some pictures like I did of Lyndsey on her ship day. This is a once in a lifetime day. PRAY that I can handle it well.

Thanks

This is just way too funny NOT to post... Thanks Leigh for a good laugh to start a already stressful day..

Yesterday we were buying 2 large bags of Purina
 dog chow at Wal-Mart in Lauderdale Lakes, for our dogs
 Jake and Callie. I was about to check out when a woman
 behind me asked if I had a dog.  Did she think that I
 had an elephant?
 
 Since I had little else to do, on impulse, I told her that
 no, I didn't have  a dog, and that I was starting the
 Purina Diet again, although I probably  shouldn't
 because I ended up in the hospital last time. On the bright
 side though, I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an
 intensive care ward with tubes coming out of every hole in
 my body and IVs in both arms.
 
 I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that
 the way that it works is to load your pockets with Purina
 nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry
 and that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going
 to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically
 everyone in the line was enthralled with my story by now.)
 
 Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care
 because the dog food had poisoned me.   I told her no; I
 had stopped in the middle of the parking lot to lick my
 rear end and a car hit me.


OH my goodness....Does anyone else have a sense of humor such as this....
I justlove quick come backs such as this....makes for a lighter day! 
Some people just need to loosen up sometimes!  I always say "smiling
isnt gonna break your face, if 
anything it will make you feel better!"

Student of the week and therapy

Giovanna was the Student of the week last week of her class. On Tuesday, Isabella has her therapy at the school G & G attend. One of the fun duties that the student of the week gets to do is pick a friend and carry the "snack bucket" to the snack shack and give them the order for the classes snack for the day. They get to do this all 5 days. Well Giovanna just adores a handful of her classmates and talks about them ALL THE TIME! Here she is with "her Carsen" as she calls him. Carsen is such a sweet boy...he plays so well with her and is thrilled to sit by her at lunch and go with her to the snack shack and to chase her around on the playground...On Tuesday we waited for Giovanna to come do her snack shack duties...Here is a picture of Isabella (on left) and Lily (on right) as we waited.... Giovanna and Carsen brought their class bucket up and Mrs. Siri (Giovanna's Aide) was there to make sure she handed it off to the worker just fine... Well she knew exactly what to do and had fun doing it...It is so much fun watching her in action. She takes pride in her school duties and loves her class. I pray that oue 1st grade year goes this smooth!!

When we were done with watching Giovanna, we headed to Isabella's therapy sessions down the hall. She sees all her therapists on Tuesdays...This works so well for me, as Im not running around daily making sure we get to everyone. Here Bella is dumping out the coins of play money and putting it in the container with her pointy finger grasp. She loves doing this. I cant believe our baby girl is 4 years old! She will not go to kindergarten in the fall because she turns 5 in Dec....so we wait another year...she loves learning!

Handicap parking permit

Are your children with Down Syndrome handicapped? I dont think of my girls as having a disability but many do. I see them as our precious daughters that we would do anything for no matter what.....

The difficult part is this...
When I am alone and in a parking lot such as Walmart...they do not understand the danger of all the fast cars and trucks. They think it is fun and exciting to walk across the parking lot and NOT hold hands..however that is a major no no for us! If there is not a buggie anywhere near where i am parked i will hold Bella and make all the other girls hold hands and then ALSO hold a piece of my clothing, shirt tail, pocket or something...

We have a handicap parking permit to use now when i go out. I have had snide looks and comments said about my girls right basically as I walk by...I think its so sad! Why dont people see people with a disABILITY as the wonderful loving person they are? Growing up I didnt have many people around me with any type of disability...i didnt see them in school, church, in town or at any community functions....WHY???? Why not???? My girls go everywhere with us...the go out to eat, have playdates, go to church, the movies and anywhere else i go...

So I pray that having this handicap parking permit will help me out when I am alone (which is the majority of the time) Now my girls will be safer as we can now park closer to the store....

Anyone else out there have one for their children??

Surgery

Hello we are at the hospital waiting for lily to go back for her surgery.
I will update when done

Help spread the news....

This is a huge project......LEts all work together and STOP using the R word.....the new way to say it is RESPECT! Remember to turn off the music on the right!

I now have a new license in hand...

Here's my crazy picture with my new license!!

After a long drive to FL and back I am the new owner of a updated "mug shot". It was a nice drive to Marianna.... I had the car radio all to myself....I was able to have my quiet time, sing, eat lunch wherever I wanted too, talk on the cell phone to Shelley without interruption...LOL and stop and even buy myself some new Yellow Box flipflops!!!

It was a nice day to drive and as much as i didnt want to do it....it was a nice time. For the many of you who have asked why I dont just get a AL driver's license...here is the reason.... We are a military family who choose to keep FL as our state of residency and therefore we are able to keep our license. Its funny to see a FL license with a AL address. I get asked alot why and how i can do that....

TO top off the day, I called my friend Stephanie that I havent got to see in years, she lives in Dothan- a town I had to go through- and we were able to spend just a few minutes together...but it was nice.. THANKS STEPHANIE for joining me for the few minutes we were able to share. I tried calling another friend, but she was at work....maybe next time!!! I miss you both and we must get together soon...maybe at the Montgomery zoo before it gets too hot!!!

Well last night Lyndsey called, we had 1 minute! She was calling to tell us that they were leaving this morning for their 10 mile hike to do their 7 day trip to the woods. We tried to listen to her but then tried getting in our questions...kinda hard when you have like 1 min!!! Anyway, she said she was still hurting really bad, and had a profile that said she could DO NOTHING! She was angry about that, but knew she was hurting too bad right now to do anything....she said she was worth nothing. OH i hate this! After her starting to cry and had to hang up the phone, Im about in tears!!!

I grabbed the phone numbers that we had for the Drill Sergants (We have never used them!) and handed William the phone. I needed him to call and get ahold of someone to let us know about our girl. He did get someone and they talked for about 15 min...he was not her direct DS but did know of Lyndsey and her injury. He didnt speak of her injury but told William to call in the morning (today) to speak with someone in charge of her....so today we wait!!!! Im on the verge of a total cry, because i know lyndsey...I know she is strong, she is a perfectionist, she will not give up even if she is hurt, she will complete a task even if its hard, just to prove to you that she CAN do it....these are all strong qualities for her....BUT do cause a problem.....

PLEASE continue to pray for her...and thank you from the bottum of my heart to all of those of you who have emailed me to send your wishes and let me know your praying. We were told by the DS last night that worst case senerio she would be put in another group and graduate like a week or two later. She needs to graduate no later than April 2 so she can get to her AIT schooling in TX. Her class starts April 6th. Since they dont start this particular class every other week or so, she really needs to be there!!!!

Thanks,
One nervous Momma

WE have not heard from Lyndsey.....WE are so worried!!!! PLEASE continue to keep her in your prayers. She is suppose to leave today for her 7 day hike to the field and camp....she is going to need all the prayers she can get with sleeping on the hard ground with her back...

I will update again later...

Im heading out the door ....I have to go back to FL to get a new driver's license and its gonna be a 6.5 hr round trip affair...that I am totally not looking forward to!

Thanks to everyone keeping our girl in your prayers!!!

Urgent prayer request!!

Hey tonight we had our Down Syndrome play date and we missed a call from lyndsey. Her very short message on the answering machine was this...

Hey Mom and Dad I love you! I have hurt my back and leg and when i went to the Dr they did Xray and its not broken but Im in major pain and go for a MRI in the morning. We had our final PT test yesterday and I didnt pass it this time because of my pain...Im sending you a letter tomorrow..I love you and miss you so much"

This is killing me...I know she is a strong cookie and if she is in major pain, this is hard for her, because she is such a perfectionist! She needs ALL prayers going up for her, PLEASE Pray for her, for her body, for her mental health, for her strength...she is 2 weeks away from graduation....she has already met her goals for her PT test, however they use her last one and she wasnt able to complete it...THat in itself is MAJOR for her....

With us not being able to talk to her, makes it even worse for me....I am so very worried for her!!!

ALL prayers for our girl would be greatly appreciated!! I will update on her as soon as I know something!

What a week its been.....SORRY I havent posted and had many of you emailing me about the girls.


All of the girls went back to school this week and did well. Bella didnt do therapy services this week because she was still really congested at the beginning of the week.
This week the girls celebrated Dr. Seuss at school. On Friday they got to dress up in their favorite character... And we were Thing 1 thing 2 and another Thing 2...Bella's was messed up before we left for school so she didnt get to dress up. I will upload pictures later today....

Saturday was beautiful day here in Alabama. We got up and got dressed and all headed outside to play. The girls loved it!!! They played outside for about 1.5 hrs then come in and ate lunch and headed back outside for about another 2.5 hours. The jumped on the trampoline, played on the jungle gym, and loved picking leaves off the tree and grass and making their version of a "PIE"...my weeds quickly became a flower bouquet for mommy......and their faces and hands were covered in dirt...oh boy...are little girls suppose to look like that??? LOL They loved it!!!

Today is Sunday and William is once again at drill. I am unable to take all the girls to church on theses Sunday's because all the children stay in the service for the whole praise and worship time....and keeping 4 little ones still for 45 min is tough...They love love love the music, but always someone has to go potty, even AFTEr we have taken them all before service...so this really limits me doing it alone right now...

Michael is home until he ships out for basic training on the 17th. He is enjoying spending time with his buddies and hanging out....he is so ready for this adventure to begin. Lyndsey just sent him a letter to give him as many "heads up" things as she could...hopefully it will give him alittle help.. He says Yes Sir and yes Mam to everyone and so did lyndsey...this is going to be a hard good habit to break for the time of basic/ and in the military life.....SHE said she has made the "mistake" of calling the Drill sergants Yes Sir and she wants to fore warn him!!! PLEAse continue to pray for my "babies" as they are entering the new adult life of the military.

LYNDSEY update: She has hurt her back and shoulder..PLEASE pray for healing for her...she is very sore and said she has a hard time walking without a bad limp. She is always in pain. She has gone to sick call 3x's and all they have given her is 800mg motrin and some muscle relaxers. She hurts everyday and is just ready for this hard and regirous time to be over. WE will leave on March 25th (OUR 20th anniversary) to head to SC for her graduation. The 26th is family day, we are all looking forward to seeing her and spending some time with her....however you cant leave post so I have no clue what we will get to do without having to wait forever in lines of people...she will have to be back in her barracks by 8pm and get ready for graduation the next day. On Friday after her graduation, she gets to leave post with us and spend the night....unfortunatley she has to be back at post at 6am. They will be shipping her off sometime on Sat for TExas. She doesnt have to be there until April 6th but they have to get her off of the FT JACKSON post before then because new recruites are coming in. Im hoping that her down time will be somewhat of just that...down time so her body can relax.

I am gonna make an outfit for the girls to wear for her graduation, and then again for Michael's graduation....so stay tuned.

Blessings to you all..... be on the lookout for the pics later today.