While You Were Out.....

We had a great trip. We spent time on the beach and in the ocean with friends.



We celebrated two birthdays.





We were without children. We were grateful for our alone time. We appreciated the warm weather. We relaxed.


We enjoyed the game - The Buccaneers beat the Packers.








We were relieved there were no flight delays. We made it home to our babies just in time for dinner.


Cameron tried to jump out of his chair when he saw me. I couldn't put him down for about an hour and couldn't be out of his sight for more than 5 minutes for the rest of the night. At least I know I was missed!

Before we left I had a talk with Mitchell about how he had to wait to start walking until mommy & daddy came back from their trip. He just grinned. The same grin he gave me when I asked him to stop getting bigger and stay this age forever.

Last night Mitchell took 15 steps!

I can't tell you how excited I was that I was there to see that! (Oh, and I don't want to know whether he did this for anyone else who watched him over the weekend).

Thank you to everyone who helped out - we REALLY appreciate it.

The Big Game

Our flight leaves tomorrow morning for Tampa. Sunday is the big game.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers v. The Green Bay Packers.



It will be so nice - Flordia's palm trees, beaches and warm weather!

Our friends flew to Florida earlier this week and are going to to the game with us. They will be cheering for the Packers and we will be cheering for the Bucs.

It's a friendly rivalry.



The four of us drove down for a Packer/Buccaneer game back in 2003. Here are the boys building sand castles on the beach.



While us girls basked in the sun/shade.



Aaahh! To get away, even just for a long weekend. I can smell the salt water now.

Wordless Wednesday

Discovery

I was getting ready to put on Cameron's pajamas when Mitchell discovered his belly button (he has an outie). It was way too cute! He kept trying to poke and pull it and Cameron was getting irritated and kept pushing his hand away.

Road Trip

December, 2006 I was searching online for more information about Nutrivene and stumbled upon an online forum of amazing people who all have something in common - they all love someone with an extra chromosome, and for that reason they have become an extra family.

Since becoming part of this extra family, I have smiled, cried, laughed, shared and learned with so many others who have had the same thoughts, feelings, challenges and eventually acceptance as I have - all online.

A group of us from this extra family met in Peoria, Illinois for an amazing weekend. Thank you Amy for planning it!

There were 15 families, 2 countries, and 5 states (Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri).

Day at the Beach

It's Memorial Day. We packed up the house, loaded the boys full of sunscreen and went to the beach.




Cameron enjoyed the sand.



Mitchell enjoyed the water




Until we were kicked out that is! Yeah, the park ranger came and said the water is off limits on Memorial Day! We can stay on the beach but can't go in the water. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

People First Language

John McCain has chosen Sarah Pallin as his choice for Vice President. Sarah Pallin has a 5 month old son, Trig, who happens to have have Down syndrome. For this reason, the words Down syndrome have been said quite frequently lately. However, they have not always been used corretly.



Although I was extremely happy to see baby Trig's picture on the front of US Weekly, I cringed at the caption "Pallin and newborn Trig afflicted with Down syndrome"

People “have” Down syndrome, they do not “suffer from” it and are not “afflicted by” it.

Below are tips for the proper use of language for ‘Down syndrome’. The National Down Syndrome Society and the National Down Syndrome Congress has encouraged all media to use the below language:

Down vs. Down’s. NDSS and NDSC use the preferred spelling, Down syndrome, rather than Down’s syndrome. While Down syndrome is listed in many dictionaries with both popular spellings (with or without an apostrophe s), the preferred usage in the United States is Down syndrome. This is because an “apostrophe s” connotes ownership or possession. Down syndrome is named for the English physician John Langdon Down, who characterized the condition, but did not have it. The AP Stylebook recommends using “Down syndrome” as well.

People with Down syndrome should always be referred to as people first. Instead of “a Down syndrome child,” it should be “a child with Down syndrome.” Also avoid “Down’s child” and describing the condition as “Down’s,” as in, “He has Down’s.”

It is clinically acceptable to say “mental retardation,” but you may want to use the more socially acceptable “cognitive disability” or “cognitive impairment.”

Down syndrome is a condition or a syndrome, not a disease.