First Rice Cereal!!

When the speech therapist came out last time, she wanted to test out how well Joshua did with some solid food and a spoon. He did fairly well, but did poke some out. As I remember, pretty much all of my kids did that at this age (6 months) a bit, too, so I am not that worried. The pediatrician wants me to keep at it with the solids, especially since Joshua has not been gaining weight as quickly as they think he should. Our whole family just got over a 3 week bout of sickness that circulated through all of us, so no wonder why the poor kid didn't want to eat very much! He was so snuffly that he could not drink his bottle very well because he couldn't breathe and eat with his nose blocked up! He is doing much better now, so I broke out some more wall paper paste rice cereal for him.

Even though the cereal was "eh" to Joshua, he always has time to smile at his friends on the swing mobile! :)

This last photo says it all, "No more, please, mama!"

Card Sharks

The boys really love to cart Joshua around and make him a part of everything. The other day, they decided to deal him in on a game of Monopoly Deal:

Joshua sweetly waiting his turn...

Heh, heh... I've got your number!

Hmmm...Which card shall I take?



All good games (and card sharks) must have an end, though. You gotta know when to just...fold 'em sometimes...

Angels on the Tree

Yesterday I got a wonderful package in the mail-my Angel Tree ornaments from Reece's Rainbow! This is an adoption grant ministry. It helps get the word out and raise grant money for the international adoption of children with special needs, mainly Down syndrome. It was founded by Andrea Roberts, a woman who has a young son with Down syndrome.

Everyone knows that there are orphans in the world, but it is really eye-opening to actually see video of the conditions in these mental institutions! If you have a moment, please watch all the sections of this video. NBC's Ann Curry actually went inside some of the mental institutions in Serbia to document what goes on in there. It is horrific.

Mothers and fathers are often encouraged to give their children with disabilities up. They are told that the children will have a better life in these places. The governments of these countries do not offer much support, if any, in the way of people with mental disabilities, so the parents often feel stuck and give in.

The one thing everyone is forgetting is that nothing takes the place of a mother or father. Nothing. These kids need love and, often times, when they are adopted and brought into a loving home, they truly blossom! Children that were on the brink of death with dehydration or starvation gain weight and have shiny hair and bright eyes again. Those that were thought to not be able to talk, suddenly start speaking words, even sentences. There is a culture in many countries that wants to relegate these people to these places, never to be seen again. Sadly, there is simply no place for these people in their society. With the recent development of a test that can detect Down syndrome early in pregnancy, America isn't much better. :(

If I could shout from the mountaintops, I would tell the world that giving birth to Joshua has been the biggest blessing in our lives. Truly, if I could speak to women that are pregnant with a child that has a disability, I would say do not worry. It is really ok. The fear and sadness one might first have is replaced with a deep, fierce love. All these children want and need is love and acceptance. I can't imagine our lives without this little guy. To know that the world shoves people like my son into dark mental institutions for the rest of their lives, or kills them off in the womb is excruciatingly sad to me. People don't understand they are missing out on a huge blessing. They simply don't give these children a chance.

If you are able, please consider giving some money to help one or more of these children get adopted.

How to Get Warm on a Chilly Morning

This is how the kids like to get warm when they come downstairs in the morning and it is cold:

A giant pod!

Sarah discovering Rachel under her air tent. :)

Stephen eating breakfast in his air tent. Thank goodness we have quite a few air vents downstairs!!

A Busy Week

There have been lots of appointments and running around for us this week. The whole family recently got over colds, but for some of us, including Joshua, the coughing has lingered. I finally set up an appointment at the pediatrician to bring him in "just to see". I am more concerned for him when things like this happen due to his heart.

The pediatrician agreed that it was good to bring him in. She said he was doing some chest retractions, but I mentioned that he often does that. I don't know if that is really good or bad... She had them check for RSV, which was negative, and also ordered a chest x-ray at the local hospital. She said she'd call if there was a reason for concern, and I haven't heard from her so hopefully that means no news is good news.

His weight has also started to level off and he has gone back to taking upwards of an hour to finish a 6-6.5 ounce bottle. Sometimes, he doesn't even finish it. I think to myself, well, if I am all stuffed up, I wouldn't want to drink a whole bottle full of thickened milk, either! She wants me to bring him in Friday for a weight check and if he doesn't gain weight, then they will try to boost the calories of his formula. She mentioned vegetable oil, blah! If *that* doesn't work, then we're looking at the NG tube again. :(

When I bring him in to be weighed this Friday, I am going to make sure that they are plotting the weight on his Down syndrome chart, not the typical child one. He may still be well within the normal limits on the DS chart. However, his weight dropping off on any chart still isn't very good. :(

Please pray that he will start drinking more, and soon!!

Physical Therapy

We have a physical therapist who comes to our house regularly to work with Joshua. She evaluates how well he is doing with his head and neck control, reaching for things, grasping, smiling, etc, and gives us any needed tips.

"Hello, there!"

A lot of the work also included redirecting our 2 yr. old! "Why don't you go play with your babydoll, S?"

"Let's move your head this way..."

"Hey, I'm over here!"

S can't be left out of the photo opportunity!

Shake, shake...

A lot of the physical therapy appointments so far have us working on J keep his head in line with his body when lifted. He works really hard to do it, but...

He is doing a great job! :)

Fresh and Tasty

Joshua fresh after a bath...

Our New Addition :)

Meet the new addition to our family!

This is Pepper. This is Pepper before we let her come inside. She (well, I am pretty sure the cat is a she!) showed up on our back porch early in November. The kids would pet her and give her attention and she did incredibly well with that. She also didn't leave! We began to notice that she would curl up on our back porch and be there in the morning, waiting to greet us. Finally, one day Dave(!!) said let's feed her some milk. Forget it. The cat said, "You had me at milk..." (Jerry Maguire, anyone?) and really never left. One night, some beast came on the back porch and we heard a terrible howling. I persuaded Dave to let us put her in our garage overnight, so we set up a large cardboard peach box on the floor of the garage with an old towel in it and a bowl of the beloved milk beside. After a few days of that (and Pepper being really great and not going to the bathroom anywhere in the garage) we decided to let her actually come in. Before we did that, we made sure to call our neighbor who is the information hub of our street and beyond and ask if this cat belonged to anyone. She said no, that she thought we'd gotten a new pet. ;)

She has done G.R.E.A.T. with the kids. I can't believe she puts up with as much as she does. She did have quite a bit of dandruff, but that has gone away with her getting more food to eat and fat in her diet.

We bring her to the vet this coming Monday to make sure she is healthy, but I haven't found any fleas or any other nasty things on her.

2011 Year in Review (Almost)

We're not quite to the end of 2011 yet, but I thought I'd post a sampling of photos from our year so far (minus the ones of Joshua that are on his blog).

Sarah likes to use her play kitchen to store her toast in, among other things. I never know what I will find when I open those doors!

Sweet Rachel

Sarah has now graduated to the bottom bunk. I miss the crib. It held her in there so nicely...

School time! Sarah "helping" Matti with school. :)

Timothy enjoying a swing at our local park.

A bunch of snuggly kids.

Stephen having fun at a local lake.

Rachel and Dave at the lake.

Sarah and Mama toes at the lake. :)

A Flower from Stephen. :)

Snow Cute, without the snow!

Sarah drinking from the sprinkler...oh boy!

Rachel the mermaid

Matthew with Joshua, July 2011

Stephen and Joshua, July 2011

Baby Joshua in his crib, August 2011

Joshua, August 2011

Physical therapy is hard, mama!

Timothy and Joshua, September 2011

Joshua and Stephen watching a movie with the family, September 2011

Sweet Joshua, October 2011

The kids! October 2011

Sarah's 2nd birthday

Lego Stephen :)

Rachel in her play clothes. Yes, this is pretty much what we use our winter clothes for now, except for maybe a month in winter!

Timothy up in one of our pecan trees

Matthew, tree climber

Tree Stephen