Christmas luncheon with Daddy!

Well sad to say I totally forgot to take a picture, but today was William's Christmas luncheon at the armory. He had drill today so I got the girls all dressed in one of their Chrismtas outfits and off we headed to see Daddy. Boy were they excited to go eat at Daddy's work. They all did very good. Giovanna never ceases to amaze me....She is not one to try new foods and is VERY picky...she doesnt like too many sweets either but today was the day for new things....

She ate: pulled pork, pickles (and wanted more might i add), baked beans and CAKE! These are ALL things she would NEVER eat.............but today she ate them all and wanted MORE PLEASE! Im so glad she is finally seeing that there is other good things to eat out there other thatn just BREAD! LOL

When we got home, the girls played and Bella took her nap. When William got home, I took the 3 older girls outside for a quick walk, the day was gorgeous. Lyndsey walked with us too! They all love their big sister....and Brother!

Tomorrow is preschool for them all so we are all off to bed!

Everyone please take a look!

Help make a family become whole.....help a child come home to a family that has dreamed of them for a lifetime.......help them.....feel the love that they so deserve.....help give a child the chance to a real life...........wont it be you??

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=453fcd99eeddaf3630d3f2&skin_id=1704&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

This is a video put together to help raise awareness for the many WAITING children around the world with Down Syndrome. I pray that one of them catches your heart and you too will become the proud parent of a child with the extra special T21!!! If you want more information please leave me a comment and I will get back to you right away!

Below is just one example of how a WAITING child can blossom........

Our little Giovanna Grace from Guatmela was 1yr old in the first picute and was only 11 pounds....she is now a active thriving 5 yr old FULL of life and happiness! She puts a smile on EVERYONE's FACE!

Much to be thankful for.....

Sorry its taken me awhile to post but its been busy around here....here is a recap of our Thaksgiving holiday.


Thanksgiving Day we went to Troy to see family...My son Michael had to work so we missed seeing him dearly...My parents were there and 2 of my brothers. Gabby and Lily hadnt met them yet so that was neat for them. The girls had fun running around the house and playing with the few toys mom had brought. We had a nice lunch (thanks Mom) and enjoyed the time together... Black Friday was a day of rest!!! This is the FIRST year I had not gotten up at 3 AM to hit the stores...I just didnt see alot in the papers that were worth me jumping up for...WE already got the girls large items, a Trampoline and a Train/lego table. I know they WILL LOVE these. I have been slowly buying little things and some toys on Ebay for them so not alot to get out and get...Now the big kids, well thats another story...(sorry Mike Im not leaving hints!)



On Saturday, Michael was able to come home for a long weekend, he just left early this morning to get back to work. My birth father and his wife come down from Atlanta and we had our family Thanksgiving on Saturday...The big Alabama/Auburn game was on that night so we were all glued to the TV for the game. Sunday afternoon, Michael and his friend helped William hang the lights up outside and boy did they do it up. The girls love all the lights... Monday I woke up to Michael putting up the Christmas Tree set up in the living room (I will have to decorate it)..That was a nice surprise!!! I cant wait to see the girls faces this year...I dont know how much Gabby and Lily got to see as far as Christmas decorations in Colombia so this will be fun!!!



A nice surprise!!!! Remember in a previous post, I mentioned the girls friend Nicole from Colombia in their orphanage...well thanks to the help of my Colombian connections group online I found the wonderful family in Connecticut that adopted her. We spoke this morning on the phone. I pray that we will be able to stay in contact with them, so the girls one day can see one another again!




Here are some pictures of us from the DS Buddy walk this year....sorry its taken me a while to post it...and then one of the 8 little feet that keep me RUNNING all day!!! I took this the other day while they were sitting on the kitchen floor having their snack....Gosh, Im one lucky Momma!!!

The Princess Team




Isabella Faith (holding her hands up high) Gabriella Joy(sporitng her glasses)

Giovanna Grace (showing off her face painting)

Lilyanna Hope (showing her purple flower off) This is how awesome it looks to have changed the course of 4 little lives!! Priceless!

These are the faces of 4 lucky little girls!

well tomorrow is Thanksgiving

Today was a crazy but good day. Gabriella has lost her glasses and we finally broke down (after searching for almost 3 weeks) to go buy another pair. So off I went with all 4 little ones in tow to the eye glass place almost 30 miles away. They did very well.....PTL! So Gabby now is sporting the same Disney style glasses just in the pretty light pink color. She looks so darn cute in them!

I doubt I will have a chance to blog tomorrow since we are traveling down to Troy for Thanksgiving but I hope and pray you all have a blessed day and are in rememberance of all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for....our family, our jobs, our FREEDOM(Thanks America and to all our Soliders fighting for us) and living in a place we can celebrate our Lord and not be punished for it.

Help save a life!!

As many of you know William and I have so joyfully adopted 4 girls in the last 4 years....all international adoptions (Guatemala, Colombia and Trinidad/India....just born here in the states) and 3 of which have Down Syndrome.....just a little something extra special..... I was looking at different friends blog's and come across this....I am so passionate about adoption...so passionate about Down Syndrome....and I think that she did a fabulous job at putting this to words. October is Down Syndrome awareness month and then November is National Adoption Month....wont you help make Oct and Nov 2008 a very special year for a lucky family celebrating their new little DS angel????? Any amount will help that happen......read below. This may be disturbing to some, but it is reality!!!! I am so thankful we heard the Lord's calling and forever changed the course of their life for our 3 little angels with DS.

Imagine for a moment that you lived in a foreign country, perhaps somewhere in Eastern Europe, or Asia or Africa. You found out that you were expecting a child. The day of your baby's birth was finally here but instead of smiles of joy, a solemn and grim silence filled the delivery room. The doctor's words- "Your baby has Down syndrome (or cerebral palsy or spina bifida). There is no hope for this child, he will be a burden to your family. The best thing would be to release him to an institution. " You do not have a lot of money and there is not much of a support system in place to help, so you do as was recommended and send your new baby away.

He is taken to an orphanage where little if anything is done to assist him to develop to his full potential. When he reaches the age of 4, he is sent to an institution.

Recent reports have come out about the realities of some of these institutions in Serbia. A life spent living in conditions like these is basically a death sentence and most certainly torture. Many of these children spend the rest of their lives restrained to the same crib they slept in as a baby, even as adults.

Many turn to self-destructive behavior due to the lack of stimulus (they would rather feel pain than nothing at all).

You can read a full report on this heart-breaking situation in Serbia herehttp://www.mdri.org/projects/serbia/Serbia-rep-english.pdf

As well as a article in the New York Times and watch a video on MSNBC

Some of these images are graphic but unfortunately this is the reality of life for many innocent souls who did nothing wrong but have a condition that ANYBODY (including us and our children) could have been born with.

Being the typical kind of person living here in America without a ton of money or influence as I am, it is really hard to know what to do to help or even if it is possible for me to do anything that could improve this situation.

But there is something..................

Reece's Rainbow is an organization that brings hope to the hopeless and joy to a family that has been searching for their forever son or daughter....I am a part of this group online and are very proud to spread the word!!! Their purpose is to facilitate overseas adoptions of children with Down syndrome and give these kids the priceless gifts of family, love and opportunity the all so deserve!

Spend a minute looking at the faces of these children waiting for a home to call their own, waiting for a chance at life.

I realize that most of us are not in a position to adopt a child from a foreign country with special needs but there are families who are! There are good people who want to make the world a better place for a child and are willing to put their actions where their heart is. We can help these families bring the children of Reece's Rainbow home by giving any amount of donation to sponsor. Unfortunately adoptions are expensive and the cost is a limiting factor in what many families can do.

Go to http://www.reecesrainbow.com/waitingchristmasangels.htm to see some of these kids and donate via pay pal to their accounts. Every dollar helps! You can also give gift donations, a great Christmas present for the person on your list who doesn't really need anything.

Many of them are approaching the age in which they will be sent to an institution (and will loose the chance of having a family of their own) if they are not adopted soon. A few are from Serbia.

Helping these children by donating or even just spreading the word can truly save lives.

just look at this face!!!

This is a picture of our Lily (on the left) and her best friend Nicole in the orphanage in Bogota Colombia. They were such good friends. When we got to Bogota we found out that Nicole had just gotten her clearance for adoption. WE would have taken her in a instant to keep them all together as they had been raised just like sisters, but we didnt have approval for 3. BUT the great news is she did get a family right after we left and I do believe she is in the USA now with her forever family. Isnt adoption GREAT??!! Thanks so much Shaydia for this picture.... I so love to get photos of our girls when they were younger and love getting ones with friends so they will have them one day when they have questions....

When I showed this picture to Lily, she light up and smiled...I know she misses her dear friend!

Weekend in review.......

Well Friday William took off from work and we prepared for our garage sale on Saturday while the girls were in school. We did get alot done....Friday night after they were in bed we finished up pricing and hanging up clothes on racks.

Saturday was the big day......Garage cleaning day...yard sale........I love going to these sales and this is what gets me into trouble....I buy way too much stuff for my girls....but hey my moto is....even if they play with it a short time, the had a good time and I DIDNT pay full retail for it.........but then its time to clean it all out and get ready for Christmas...so we did accomplish alot. we made a nice amount and took a nice amount to the goodwill. NOW HERE COMES THE BEST PART..................................

Lyndsey and Michael bought William and I a couple's massage last Christmas..........we are just using it!!!!! We went to for the massage at 2:00 and it was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! Either one of us had had one before so this was a TREAT! WE were there for 1 hour and i was in heaven!!! My favorite part was the neck, face and shoulders....she spent alot of time and I thought I had dyed and gone to heaven...LOL. We vowed to one another we would HAVE to do this again very soon!!! WE told the kids we wanted another massage for Christmas and we promised NOT to take a year to use it....so we will see!

Sunday we decided to do something FUN in the afternoon...so we loaded the girls up and went to the mall. They loved running around, throwing change in the water fountains, riding the caroseal, riding all the fun little .50 rides, eating, watching the ice skaters, and finally the day ended with a cookie in the food court and a ride home. They were wiped out!!! I was so glad they had fun.

Monday was a lazy day for us....the girls played around the house, I cleaned, william went to Birmingham looking for a new car for himself, and the bath, dinner and bed! The night ended with the good ol time cartoon...Tom and Jerry. The girls are in love with this cartoon...everyday the ask for the cat and mouse!!! Funny to hear them.

I hope you all had a great weekend as well. Pictures in the AM.

Happy Veterans Day!

To all who serve in our military...God Bless you and Thanks so much for helping to defend our freedom!!! We love you all and wish a safe and blessed return to your loved ones!

Faith is believing

Here are some things i did want to share with several of my online friends. Faith is an awesome thing we as christian's have.....we just all need to be reminded every now and then!!!

Faith is BELIEVING the Word of God and acting on it no matter how I feel, believing that God will bring a good result.

Faith is not a belief that everything will turn out to please us; rather it is the confidence that no matter how things turn out, God will somehow use the events in our days for His glory and for our good.

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.

Faith is being willing to trust God - turning your hopes and problems over to Him and trusting in His wisdom - and knowing that somehow everything will turn out for the best. No matter how difficult or dark things become, there is always a light.

Have a blessed Sunday!!!

Well today our DS group hosted a conference titled: How children with Down Syndrome learn". I loved it...taught me several new things... My babysitter called late last night to say she was sick and unable to keep the girls this morning so i missed the first 2 sessions. Lyndsey got off from work and home around 12:15 and I shot right out the door. afternoon session started at 1. so i was able to make it.....

TRICK OR TREAT!

I was so BUSY yesterday. WE had things to do at preschool yesterday then had to take Giovanna to the dentist, then come home dressed them all up in costumes and headed to downtown prattville on main st for trick or treat, then ran to eat and went to our friends neighborhood for trick or treating. We were suppose to make it to our church for the fall festival but my girls were WIPED OUT! So was Mommy and daddy!!!! So my little, french pink poodle, Wonder woman, and 2 unicorns had a busy day saving the world yesterday....LOL I will post a photo later on.


The girls are slowly getting over their sickness, upper respitory infections and the asthma is so yukky!! WE cancelled speech yesterday with MRS. Amy and Giovanna was so mad!!! She kept saying Ms Amy....Ms Amy....I just knew she would not sit still for an hour with the snotty nose and head cold.

I hope everyone had a great trick or treat night at what ever you did!! My girls had fun!!! So neat watching them....Isabella finally got the hang of it and was so overly thrilled when she would walk up to the house and they would drop her in a treat.........Gabby....oh Gabby she would stand at the door and want MORE MORE MORE treats.....everyone thought she made a perfect WONDER WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAve a blessed day

AWAY WE WENT TO THE DR TODAY!!!

Well can you say I braved it and took all 4 of the little ones to the DR. Gabby, Giovanna and Bella needed to be seen. They ALL are on antibiotics and cough meds.....Gabby on more albutural for the nebulizer and hopefully we will kick this soon. Im tired of the snotty noses and all the hacking they are doing...LOL

Anyways, i hope that everyone has a blessed night...............

I have a prayer request for everyone that reads my blog.....My online friend from Reeces Rainbow, Meredith and her husband Mike Cornish are adopting a sweet little 4.5 yr old from Ukraine with DS. They jsut got word this morning that they have moved her from the baby house to a mental instituion. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray that their paperwork will get translated and an appointment given to them really QUICKLY! Our God is in the miracle business so i know if its HIS will it will be done. Pray for Aleska while she is in Ukraine that she will be safe and loved for....Meredith and Mike will be ever so thankful for all whom lift their family up and their new angel to our Heavenly Father!!!!

Thanks

Praise report!

The Endocronologist(sp) called me today to give me Gabby's report....she said her thyroid was within the normal limits with her being on the right dosage of Synthroid, she tested NEG for celiac, BUT her growth hormone is 1 point away from being in the low. She did say that she would qualify for growth hormone therapy but did tell us to research it and then decide. She said it has been noted that females with DS have a larger chance of getting Lukemia.

So anyone out there have any suggestions for us and or have been through growth hormone with their daughter with DS???

Have a blessed day

ALL my girls

This isnt the best picture but one of the FEW pictures of all my girls in one photo. This was on Lily's birthday in Sept. Some of her presents are in the pic and she is proud of her stroller and talking baby! So cute.

Well I just wanted to do a quick post tonight and say hello out there to all my blog junkies...LOL Im glad to share a little about our lives with you all. We are very proud of our crew of 6 kiddos!!!!

I totally failed my mission of my everyday posts for Oct

Picture is one my son took at work. He works at Rose Mary Beach, FL as a security person. He loves the ocean.

Hi all! This is going to be a quick update as I am waiting for hubby to come home and we are going on a DATE! Jim Brickman and Lonestar's leadsinger are in town doing a concert and we are going. This will be so much fun but so cold, as it is outdoors!!! BRRR!

Anyway the marriage retreat was wonderful! WE are so blessed to be able to go! WE had a pleasant time together and a much needed time alone with no interruptions. The kids did survive, well i should say our friends did survive with the kids for the 30 hours we were gone. They were all peacfull and asleep when we got home Sat night around 8pm.

Michael come home on Sunday and left on Tuesday morning. This was a nice visit. On Tuesday I took Gabby to Birmingham to the endo DR and they run alll kind of tests! We should get results back by Monday. She is now gaining so much weight. Idont know if it just means she is now feeling safe and secure and eating EVERYTHING in sight or if her Thyroid is off or celiac disease. Pray for good results!

Gotta run I will post more pics soon.

Rita

My handsome son

Well today i wanted to just make a quick blog about my son. My one and only baby boy! It is so hard to believe that he is 18 yrs old (as his twin sister) They both are such a joy, however they both do have their 18yr old attitude sometime. But he is a good guy! He is living with my parents in Panama City Bch and working security at Rose Mary Beach resort community. He likes his job but I think he gets homesick. I do miss him but he is doing a good job and we are both very proud of him.....so here is a BIG HIGH FIVE to my big guy...(Well he will always be my baby boy)!!

He loves to hang out with his friends, go to church, shop and play raquetball. He has a new love to riding bikes as well for long distances. He wants to start college of some sort in the fall.

Each day I will focus a blog on all 6 of my pride and joys!

I love you son!!!

William and I will be out of pocket at the marriage conference so i will not be posting until Sunday so you all have a great weekend.