Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Today my sweet little baby turned 2. I have so much I would like to say, but I'll keep it short....

Ella Grace,
I am SO blessed to be your mommy. You are incredible and amaze me everyday! You have the best personality, equal parts sweetness and sass, you are independent, persistent, and so very strong!!! Your smile lights up the world. You have achieved so much this past year, I could not be more proud of you!! I love you so very much!
Love Always, Mommy

So, as you can imagine I have literally hundreds of pictures, BUT we are exhausted and so I will just post this video of Hunter singing to Ella. This is a little song that Ella's class sings at her school, but Hunter (all on his own!!!) changed the end of it, special for today!! He is so stinking sweet!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

AK, DS and VP

I wasn't going to post about this but after reading some posts on a forum I belong to I thought I would put in my 2 cents too : )

I awoke this morning to a message on my answering machine from my wonderful sister-in-law Tami. She was saying that she was so excited because it had been announced that Sarah Palin is John McCain's running mate, that now FINALLY Down syndrome would be in the news, people would be educated about Ds, and maybe we would receive some extra funding. I have to admit I was a excited too!!!

For those of you who don't know, Sarah Palin is currently the Governor of Alaska (which is my home state) and has a baby boy with Down syndrome. We turned on Headline News and I was half expecting there to be a story about Down syndrome (wishful thinking I know.) or at the very minimum a picture or some mention of her baby boy. There was not. I have to say that I didn't watch for too terribly long so there could have been earlier or later in the day.

Anyhow, back to my 2 cents!!! I would have to consider myself a liberal conservative, or a conservative liberal I don't automatically vote for either side. So my opinion has nothing to do with being a republican or not, and I will not vote republican just because the potential VP has a kid with Down syndrome. My issue is this, on the forum there was talk of her being a bad mom because she went back to work so soon and now is running for Vice President. One post I read said "obviously she is not nursing her baby." REALLY???? (I won't get into to the whole nursing debate, I nursed Hunter for 13 months and did not nurse Ella. Nuff said.)
Are people who do not know Sarah Palin judging her???? Isn't that what we as parents of children with disabilities strive to get the general public to stop doing to our children???? Do NOT assume that she is not a good parent and does not care about her baby because she is working. We do not know her, do not judge her.

A day at the park!!

This past Sunday we went to our favorite park, which just happens to be about a 1/4 mile from our apartment!! It is a really nice park and has some beautiful scenery!!! There just happened to be a car show going on there too, an added bonus for Hunter!












My grandmom with the kids.


A "shiney rock!!!"














Cool dude! Hunter LOVES old cars and LOVES flames!!!

Grandmom and Hunter down by the Spokane River.
He said he is fishing.












This Saturday is my baby's 2nd birthday, I CANNOT believe it, I don't want to believe it!!! We are not planning an exciting party or anything like that, just hanging out, opening presents and of course having some cake!!! Ella starts back to school on Wednesday after her summer break (just 2 weeks.) Hunter will be starting preschool on Thursday, we are so excited!!! He is going to be going to a Montessori school, thanks to my Dad and Debbie for paying the tuition!!! I am really happy with their curriculum and teaching style and think it's going to be a great fit for Hunter. So, with that said there will be a lot of pics to come!!!

Rollers

OK, I'm sure some of you will think that I find joy in torturing my poor daughter. I don't know what possess me to do these things. Boredom? Perhaps. After Ella's bath the other night I decided that I would try putting rollers in her hair. So, I turned on Backyardigans OnDemand and she sat still, most of the time, and I set to work. As someone that has naturally curly hair I of course have NO experience using rollers, except one other pathetic attempt when Ella was younger, so my mom had to show me how. Anyhow, here are the pics.













































What the heck is in my hair?













































































I am DONE!!!

The after.

















Wooo, her hair has body.














It's hard work being
this beautiful!!

Apparently you are supposed to let the hair dry when it is in the rollers before you take them out. Oops. I'll remember next time : )

SAND

A couple of weeks ago we went out to some friends house on a lake close by. The kids had a blast!!! I was pretty concerned that it would not be a fun day for me because I figured Ella would want to be held all day. Earlier this summer Ella really did not care for the grass at all, and did not like being in it. I assumed that she would feel the same way about the sand. Not the case. She LOVED it and even walked really good in it!!! I was pretty amazed so of course I took a ton of pics....

My baby....

AHHHHH!! In less than two weeks my baby girl will be 2!! How is that possible??


Ella has been changing so much lately, growing up so fast. Her signs now include... more, dog, cat, eat, drink, hat, baby, up, please, shoes, ball, train, book, music, cracker, fish, blocks, all done, car, and that's all I can think of for now : ) She has started combining signs, she on a very regular basis uses more and please and has used more, cracker, please. She is just doing so good!! Ella also enjoys shaking her said no, and saying "no". She says yeah a lot too. She is constantly imitating words. Her receptive language is great!! She is following directions, and we are now working on two step directions.

Ella is also quite the copy cat these days! While at the park last weekend Hunter said "watch this" and belly flopped onto the grass and said "OH" like he was hurt. Well, little Miss Ella dropped down to her knees, flopped onto her belly and said "OH." It was so funny. So, of course she did it over and over, cause she will do anything for a laugh! Also, we have had the Olympics on this past week. I was watching gymnastics and Ella layed down on the floor, rolled around, then stood up and raised her hands up in the air with a big ol smile on her face. When swimming was on she layed down on her stomach and kicked her feet. She is one smart cookie!


As far as her physical skills go she is doing really well there too! She is a walking pro now, even in her Sure Steps (which she had a really hard time using to begin with.) She is doing really well with stairs, trying really hard to run (which happens to look just like walking but she swings her arms really hard and laughs) and dancing up a storm!!!


We are working on Ella being able to feed herself with a spoon and fork. One thing I have noticed is there are not a lot of good foods to practice poking a fork into!!! Ella really enjoys going in her room and pulling out clean clothes from her drawers and attempting to put them on. She has also become very capable of sticking up for herself, sometimes bordering on being a bully. It is quite hilarious to watch her fight with Hunter!!


I am way behind on pictures, have a ton I want to post, so for now enjoy these.

Eating yogurt.

Hanging out with Bubba in his bed.

Nevermind the crazy hair.

Being squashed.

Revenge!! Stealing bubba's spot.

Notice the shorts? These would be some that she put on herself, over her one piece outfit.

My WILD CHILD!!!

Will it ever end?

So, if you are part of the blogging community or belong to a Down syndrome forum you already know what I am going to say. I am writing this for my friends and family or anyone else who hasn't heard about the movie Tropic Thunder. I'm not going to go into details of the movie, all I know is that in this movie the word RETARD is said several times. There are even t-shirts being made that say "Full Retard" which is apparently a line from the movie.

Let me just tell you that I hate the word retard. I hate to think of it in the slang form and I hate to think of it in the medical form. Technically my Ella Grace is mentally retarded. Tears come to my eyes even typing those words. My daughter works hard for every little thing she does. So hard. Things that you and I take for granted or that "typical" kids instinctually know how to do she has to be taught and has to fight her own body and mind to learn it. Why is that funny?

I don't even know what else to say. There are many groups and individuals calling for a boycott of this movie, I too am asking everyone to not go see Tropic Thunder. It is not funny. Please do not laugh at the expense of my sweet, smart, beautiful baby girl.

My Little Beauty - Final Edition

Okay, here is my last post of this series of pics. Ella has become very girly lately. She is obsessed with shoes, has to put everyone's on and attempt to walk around in them, which is quite funny to watch! She also enjoys pulling all of hers and Hunter's clothes out of their drawers. She will hold them up to herself, tuck it under her chin and come out and show us. She pats on the article of clothing and laughs, that is our cue to say "Awwww, you are so pretty!" She enjoys playing with and wearing beaded necklaces and bracelets! Her newest favorite is her purse. She puts her arm through the strap and holds it in the fold of her elbow, it is SO stinking cute. Today Ella went into the bathroom, closed the door behind her, opened the drawer and had my mom's makeup. When my mom went in, Ella started yelling and growling at her while turning her back so my mom wouldn't take the makeup from her. Anyhow here are some pics of her and her purse.


Oh yeah, I wanted to share an email I got the other day.....


Dear Kacey-

I found your blog and started reading about your family and your beautiful daughter Ella Grace - she is gorgeous! So is Hunter!

Anyway, a couple hours later and I feel compelled to write you. I am completely drawn to babies and people with Down Syndrome. I guess it's because in this imperfect world, I believe God created them absolutely perfectly. They don't have an extra chromosome - we are lacking one. They don't make judgements about people - they just love unconditionally and with their whole heart and soul.

I have been lucky enough to know children and adults with Down Syndrome and I believe the reason some people act the way they do is because they are afraid of the unknown. You are doing a wonderful thing on your blog by educating people about what a precious gift your little "ballerina dancer" is! Thank you.

Maryann


Very cool! I love receiving emails and comments like this! It makes me feel like I am doing a good thing!