tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59026144898943356302024-03-18T20:55:44.001-07:00Ethans EndeavorsAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-2459752684052146192010-11-06T09:29:00.001-07:002010-11-06T09:29:53.726-07:00Things that make me smile<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkua7jBnRe06NH8Mm16UVKkm8sYM8eEEIhurFNfqtMjhptMu-rCaZ6X9bKVuyhC5JpSm5Mk8AnmUu3RuHAreC8PNX2aVmU-Uy918OE9HSqkP_rE3qyqKm4CRs9cOxEUcAQjtDBMVyHlP5/s1600/alexmustash.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkua7jBnRe06NH8Mm16UVKkm8sYM8eEEIhurFNfqtMjhptMu-rCaZ6X9bKVuyhC5JpSm5Mk8AnmUu3RuHAreC8PNX2aVmU-Uy918OE9HSqkP_rE3qyqKm4CRs9cOxEUcAQjtDBMVyHlP5/s320/alexmustash.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536474785972365282" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-26311153029844038552010-11-05T07:19:00.000-07:002010-11-05T07:24:57.346-07:00When I first found out...The day I found out that my son was going to be born with Down syndrome is the day that I thought my life was over. I found out over the phone when I was about 17 weeks pregnant. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember waking up and going about my day not expecting anything to go wrong. Then I got the call that changed my life. It was August 10, 2007. The phone rang, it was the perinatologist. I remember that my kids were being exceptionally loud that day and it was hard to hear. But her words were crystal clear. "Amanda, I got the results of your amnio and unfortunately it shows that your little boy does have Down syndrome, of course you do have the option to terminate. Do you have any questions?" Immediately my world went still, I could no longer hear my children in the back round all I heard in my head were the words Down syndrome, Down syndrome, Down syndrome. The room started to spin and I felt sick. This had to be a mistake. I was only 25 years old. The only thing I could manage to mutter to the perinatoligest was "how accurate are the results?" She then said "it is 100 percent accurate." I hung up the phone and the tears came. I had never cried so hard in my life. I knew I couldn't be home alone with the kids so I called my husband at work and told him the news. I don't know how I got the words out clearly enough for him to understand me. He kept reassuring me that it would be okay and that we could handle this. No I told him, it would not be okay. I did not want a child with Down syndrome. I hung up the phone and through my tears, managed to make a few other calls. I went to my bed and cried. I cried until I had no tears left. I cried until I passed out. When I woke up a short time later, I started to research Down syndrome on the Internet. I was at least relieved to find out that people with Down syndrome can live a lot longer than I had expected. But there was a lot of scary information out there. I couldn't bear to look at all of this information. I went into survival mode.<br /><br /> I wish I could say that I immediately accepted it and that the rest of my pregnancy was a piece of cake. That just isn't true. Although eventually, I just couldn't cry anymore, I still hurt and I still grieved. I put on the best happy face I could manage but deep down I was hurting. I could not buy anything for this baby because I wasn't sure that I could even love him. I could not put my hand to my belly because I was sure that I was going to give birth to a monster. I briefly thought about the thought of termination but it just was not the right decision for me. <br /><br /> Luckily, I had an amazing doctor who put me in touch with FEDS. I don't know what I would have done without them. I also met another young pregnant mother and we quickly became friends. She was a great support for me. Everything I was going through she had also gone through. I started to realize that my feelings were normal and I started to feel a little less guilty. Before I knew it, it was time for my son to come. I had another good cry still scared about whether I really could love him.<br /><br /> Everyone goes through a certain amount of grieving but eventually they come to terms with the diagnosis. Everyone accepts it at their own pace. For me it was the moment I laid eyes on my beautiful son. I knew then that everything was going to be okay. I stared at that little fuzzy haired boy and instead of wondering if I could ever love him I instead wondered how it was possible to love someone so much.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2RoC7SoFpgh7Ek-n4CHfVFQcvdzB-Q2ImTQqnHaD7iPyIRO-S7v3wYF8toGvRIWLgwOjVahGAuBk0py2wJIbeclpTLbb6sZeY35WKMIhCUXgU5tSQDRnUdcICU1GerhaZQSqetmnlA1z/s1600/e.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2RoC7SoFpgh7Ek-n4CHfVFQcvdzB-Q2ImTQqnHaD7iPyIRO-S7v3wYF8toGvRIWLgwOjVahGAuBk0py2wJIbeclpTLbb6sZeY35WKMIhCUXgU5tSQDRnUdcICU1GerhaZQSqetmnlA1z/s320/e.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536071347971541842" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-67363129534145777782010-11-04T21:27:00.000-07:002010-11-04T21:57:15.320-07:00Out of the mouths of babes...I swear, I could write a book about the things that my kids say and do...<br /><br />Today, I picked Ethan up from therapy and his therapist said that she had a really funny story to tell me. She had Ethan in the sensory room and she had attached clothes pins to a baby doll to work on Ethan's fine motor. After doing that for a little while she picked up the baby doll and started to feed the baby a bottle. Ethan looked at the therapist, looked at the baby and then snatched the baby out of the therapists hand, gave her a dirty look, lifted up his shirt and started to "breastfeed" his baby! Yep, that's my boy!<br /><br />The other day, my daughter Emma informed me that I scared the "creep" out of her.<br /><br />My son Dax is an excellent reader which isn't always a good thing. My wonderful husband had a funny picture of a penguin on his computer and the headline under it said F*** it. Today, I was finding a recipe for cookies to make with the kids. Well Dax came up behind me as I was turning the computer on and said F*** it. I looked at him and before I could tell him that it was a bad word, my daughter pipes up with "what's F*** it mean?" Lets just say that the picture is no longer there!<br /><br />Emma was playing with Alex getting really close to his face when he leaned forward and started sucking on her cheek. She pipes up with "Alex, why are you sucking on my cheek? Does my face look like a boob?"<br /><br />My mother in law bought some kits for the kids to tye dye t-shirts with. I was telling the kids about them and Dax was very excited. He said "mommy, I can't wait to tye dye!" My daughter Emma was looking a little worried so I asked her what was wrong. She said "mommy, I do NOT want to tye dye." I asked why not and if she knew what it meant. She responded with a very serious "yes, jump out of the airplane with a parachute." I had to laugh about that one. "no Emma, that is sky dive, not tye dye!"<br /><br />A few weeks ago, I was switching the laundry and Emma was helping me. Dax came in and said "mommy, what's a wedge? Before I could respond, Emma says "oh Dax. thats when yer underware gets stuck in yer pee pee and yer butt!" Dax blinked twice and said, "no EMMA thats a WEDGIE. I just wanted to know what a WEDGE was!"<br /><br />Okay, I seriously could go on and on with these stories but its getting late and I have to go to bed. So I will post a few pictures instead.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7aoQ8W4g1mbR5twUrbsoKtmE1KQ5PKXPMCjmBhOkCaU4vlAAgP02lsVWYRpEJJRWqtsSZu3v7N3ubFWsRHaPcMMLQTQa4QkRGgVmGqMqzT9DSNY9DMtKIyimzb24kO231-rA2gUxM7Xj/s1600/fall+2010+040.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7aoQ8W4g1mbR5twUrbsoKtmE1KQ5PKXPMCjmBhOkCaU4vlAAgP02lsVWYRpEJJRWqtsSZu3v7N3ubFWsRHaPcMMLQTQa4QkRGgVmGqMqzT9DSNY9DMtKIyimzb24kO231-rA2gUxM7Xj/s320/fall+2010+040.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535924605651884226" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvAUV9MeQTK8l9iSpVlxRAjNSbK5Y8Vcj7yY6QDS4kLs-TW5PynK5kaL1Qa-BpJ8wuB-_JxqtMUhz-cfoXxp7vraHnAbU-hUKY6OXAYc9CEi9aQd0UVVYASPC8S5ve5XPBbJHBTNKZ0j_/s1600/fall+2010+023.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvAUV9MeQTK8l9iSpVlxRAjNSbK5Y8Vcj7yY6QDS4kLs-TW5PynK5kaL1Qa-BpJ8wuB-_JxqtMUhz-cfoXxp7vraHnAbU-hUKY6OXAYc9CEi9aQd0UVVYASPC8S5ve5XPBbJHBTNKZ0j_/s320/fall+2010+023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535924596947353042" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFSFzM3FYePmlS-DPULH-ApCj6InJBnhzltOPbAsz4Oo1vW6xH0xXi71gNYlZjkpSVTlhbI0D4ZOZ0OEZgIDQgsxLnvU4Lyy00rELy7iqX6qeu9-d_6OV7Z7MaEMkZazJp1YSvKET2REw/s1600/fall+2010+017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFSFzM3FYePmlS-DPULH-ApCj6InJBnhzltOPbAsz4Oo1vW6xH0xXi71gNYlZjkpSVTlhbI0D4ZOZ0OEZgIDQgsxLnvU4Lyy00rELy7iqX6qeu9-d_6OV7Z7MaEMkZazJp1YSvKET2REw/s320/fall+2010+017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535924590797675458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIryLCyK-EURkm0BYgp89XHIZBZBKNaw7kWlnDp32ctl4PMs38NuItFfdvxCm7eVzStntJFY8JGAYS1zBBBAE2oryua1RCN9nk768__F8klCw-gav6WEuhZfDiKm78Pdq-4vHDKrbgWm6h/s1600/fall+2010+020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIryLCyK-EURkm0BYgp89XHIZBZBKNaw7kWlnDp32ctl4PMs38NuItFfdvxCm7eVzStntJFY8JGAYS1zBBBAE2oryua1RCN9nk768__F8klCw-gav6WEuhZfDiKm78Pdq-4vHDKrbgWm6h/s320/fall+2010+020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535924582036757746" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcfQPS5Ro6XiBsKhXHoBwCDjbQxDJdl9DjinrAcRtcmIN_aWprNWsuc2PVnLvvWo2BrmQLjcjy9FPW1LN9dC0lY1gYkVlwRqaBn81mmMEKru1VkDCEjawJ87tSUo6AqEfWqzN_z5ptaOC/s1600/fall+2010+018.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcfQPS5Ro6XiBsKhXHoBwCDjbQxDJdl9DjinrAcRtcmIN_aWprNWsuc2PVnLvvWo2BrmQLjcjy9FPW1LN9dC0lY1gYkVlwRqaBn81mmMEKru1VkDCEjawJ87tSUo6AqEfWqzN_z5ptaOC/s320/fall+2010+018.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535924573449064962" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-49471881221447533662010-08-29T21:22:00.000-07:002010-08-29T21:59:19.582-07:00Much needed updateThings are finally starting to look up :) I have to admit it was a pretty stressful 8 weeks. In May we bought a house for our growing family. We had already sold our old place and had to be out by the end of May, but our new house would not be ready until June 22nd. So at 8 months pregnant, I had the task of packing up our old house. We had to put everything in storage and we moved into a two bedroom apartment for a month. I was sooooo excited to finally get the keys to our new house. It was 1000 square feet bigger than what we were living in. So at 9 months pregnant we moved into our new house. <br /><br />I did have a lot of help getting the new house ready for the new baby to come. My mom and sister helped paint. My friends were helping us unpack. About 10 days before my scheduled c-section, I fell down the stairs of my new house and broke my tailbone and had a very small hairline fracture in my right wrist. (broken tailbones DO NOT feel good!) LOL! <br /><br />On July 9, 2010 we welcomed our newest and lastest addition to our family via c-section (I had my tubes tied.) He was born healthy at 7lbs 14oz. We named him Alex. He is a sweet little guy who loves to eat and hates his carseat!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWagZTn7lGq2kRuWCdHq4cy-rX9EpBaon89ncYEl34yEr40pLUR_LSZlZ1w3j0tp1DWm6TpNONosAgmNaPiUuht4j9nPF_NsHNwNT8Ty6D6IdzYj_K13QsZksRvZyvnrUzJXPusvzo3whe/s1600/new+baby+005.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWagZTn7lGq2kRuWCdHq4cy-rX9EpBaon89ncYEl34yEr40pLUR_LSZlZ1w3j0tp1DWm6TpNONosAgmNaPiUuht4j9nPF_NsHNwNT8Ty6D6IdzYj_K13QsZksRvZyvnrUzJXPusvzo3whe/s320/new+baby+005.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511057532216920098" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIuhrRdD0TEI8ccHszbRQe3qKtfbMUe3xFbYGQOMOZCuc5S5iBnMqE0xpTUOob0GnE-JjDIzqzukBSlQyUki4TdlQhkWAkmruuTM3nr8kF2gY74j7yg5I-KaRnUPMVMzwjisCM6eE1fd0/s1600/new+baby+007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIuhrRdD0TEI8ccHszbRQe3qKtfbMUe3xFbYGQOMOZCuc5S5iBnMqE0xpTUOob0GnE-JjDIzqzukBSlQyUki4TdlQhkWAkmruuTM3nr8kF2gY74j7yg5I-KaRnUPMVMzwjisCM6eE1fd0/s320/new+baby+007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511057991993623650" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4HXln_unsyzFrSyDFsKE1VCmSOIraoxTfpFblMNNnotZlEP_EnlgEYprUJJWnFoUi41MQQ79Q_RGg-gmBsOiMUV0fbFIU_UiUB9d98b4OQaZesVcxAuVT4fUpc20Idjp8A7KDtsYtvjb/s1600/new+baby+030.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4HXln_unsyzFrSyDFsKE1VCmSOIraoxTfpFblMNNnotZlEP_EnlgEYprUJJWnFoUi41MQQ79Q_RGg-gmBsOiMUV0fbFIU_UiUB9d98b4OQaZesVcxAuVT4fUpc20Idjp8A7KDtsYtvjb/s320/new+baby+030.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511058301791985442" /></a><br /><br />Alex is now 7 weeks old....<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmMvIElhv_Heh7KPjbjQooX9BiXQrEzDYC_dMo5YUZOtwdk4ZacCKchhAP5FdMnhm_-jlNfkjXdFT-JpY8leUV0a_YMPffEWDHXZz2yhv3TENIHXYT3vyQ4bs4KM3IHPjRx3WUSYYzj05/s1600/new+baby+066.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmMvIElhv_Heh7KPjbjQooX9BiXQrEzDYC_dMo5YUZOtwdk4ZacCKchhAP5FdMnhm_-jlNfkjXdFT-JpY8leUV0a_YMPffEWDHXZz2yhv3TENIHXYT3vyQ4bs4KM3IHPjRx3WUSYYzj05/s320/new+baby+066.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511058651656650386" /></a><br /><br />5 weeks after I had the baby, I started having horrible stomache pains. turns out it was my gallbladder. I had to have that removed. I will admit I was a little bit down after the surgery. It hurt to even hold Alex for about a week afterwards. Thank God, I am feeling back to normal now. Now for some updates and pictures of the kids.<br /><br />Dax is getting ready to start first grade. (where did my baby go?) He is so smart and is already reading past a 3rd grade level. While I really do enjoy his company, I am very excited for him to start school!<br /><br />Emma will be going to preschool this year and maybe doing a dance class or two... She is my sassy girl but I love her to pieces. Everyone keeps saying that Emma has her work cut out for her having 3 brothers. I just tell them that I feel sorry for the boys because Emma can hold her own!<br /><br />Ethan is AMAZING! I don't even know what to say about that boy. He keeps me on my toes but boy is he a character. I couldn't imagine life without that kid. Since I could go on and on and on about that boy, I am just going to post some pictures instead.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-hDffgxoTAzAsmz6M1tm5ZjqXZ5wlEsAarRvnhXGv4G3rTNUwWI52t-NUlCEfK62qRlt1ffbSIv7xEXL077YfUF0FV6LJFOK0gFOpIDf3FRf0qtyjoWdS_rFzkvdl7fllbdU_faj195j/s1600/new+baby+090.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-hDffgxoTAzAsmz6M1tm5ZjqXZ5wlEsAarRvnhXGv4G3rTNUwWI52t-NUlCEfK62qRlt1ffbSIv7xEXL077YfUF0FV6LJFOK0gFOpIDf3FRf0qtyjoWdS_rFzkvdl7fllbdU_faj195j/s320/new+baby+090.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511062003029016658" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJKgK5iDbUflENhImMT0lpdBLOe1exObXP-2VotcCXSi5ffKKfewttlTxW2wbMr2x7KxBozOUSb2MoWjqARKSbS767D3coTVcch2BhsC03VkTu0SMNLvbNlwrO7eHRN0wSvp3YBWueRvc/s1600/new+baby+099.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJKgK5iDbUflENhImMT0lpdBLOe1exObXP-2VotcCXSi5ffKKfewttlTxW2wbMr2x7KxBozOUSb2MoWjqARKSbS767D3coTVcch2BhsC03VkTu0SMNLvbNlwrO7eHRN0wSvp3YBWueRvc/s320/new+baby+099.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511061880565514898" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuQM8aHsiP8QlGeVKPjdQSLhX48eM9DIkmtpHZtnfZpeFOGS8QWMWmtCTB2NKgY4-Sk4inB5h5G779tP0eOrA-qfd0jDHDD011Yag2K4O_J9Kr8GzHEAYYbB1XKvQOkV30vVWE7Pqka5J/s1600/new+baby+088.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuQM8aHsiP8QlGeVKPjdQSLhX48eM9DIkmtpHZtnfZpeFOGS8QWMWmtCTB2NKgY4-Sk4inB5h5G779tP0eOrA-qfd0jDHDD011Yag2K4O_J9Kr8GzHEAYYbB1XKvQOkV30vVWE7Pqka5J/s320/new+baby+088.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511061706535821186" /></a><br />And this one is my FAVORITE!!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWQH9BelJ-4rNpexIrWS9b9qHme6MSUEnlDdjvF7cWCX1PlsamwTRzqS72BltGfXOHETn47s2_e-gvOHLj6fPTnlZHfIbiPPOG_6-_GjYOopX43wHfZuLdEPRMiochWBgZDeI7qkax01d/s1600/DSC04532.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWQH9BelJ-4rNpexIrWS9b9qHme6MSUEnlDdjvF7cWCX1PlsamwTRzqS72BltGfXOHETn47s2_e-gvOHLj6fPTnlZHfIbiPPOG_6-_GjYOopX43wHfZuLdEPRMiochWBgZDeI7qkax01d/s320/DSC04532.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511062533796891282" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-39614915735319566082010-08-15T19:43:00.000-07:002010-08-15T19:49:46.455-07:00Feeling sorry for myselfYes, thats right. I am starting to feel a little sorry for myself. In the last 6 weeks I have fallen down the stairs, broke my tailbone, fractured my wrist, had my 4th c-section had a tubal ligation and had my gallbladder removed. I am taking care of 4 kids, one of which has Down syndrome and one of which is a newborn. I am tired and I am sore and I am tired of being sore. 3 of my kids are too big to be picked up. Everytime I try and breastfeed, the baby presses against my stomach and its sore. I can't take a deep breath. The house is a mess and laundry is piling up. My husband is crabby with me, I just feel like crying.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-26509199619433692002010-07-26T11:40:00.000-07:002010-07-26T11:40:00.221-07:00I'm spinning in 12 different directionsYou know its going to be a bad day when you wake up and the first thing you smell is poop. <br /><br />I walk into Ethan's room and he is covered in poop, his crib is covered in poop and his crib tent is covered in poop.<br /><br />SIGH!!<br /><br />I put Ethan in the tub, the baby starts screaming, my son Dax dropped a doll shoe in the toilet, the doorbell starts ringing, Emma starts to freak out because the baby is screaming.....<br /><br />Welcome to my morning!<br /><br />I finish the bath, change the baby, start feeding the baby.<br /><br />The kids are thirsty...<br /><br />(Good thing I got their drinks ready before I sat down.)<br /><br />Now they are fighting over the color of cup that they want.<br /><br />I tell them what color cup they are getting, I finish feeding the baby, Now where is Ethan?<br /><br />He is sitting in a puddle, he spilled a cup of water, the kids start fighting over play food, Dax starts tatteling on Emma, Emma starts screaming, I am trying to clean up the puddle, the baby starts screaming again, Now Emma is yelling that she is "all done" in the bathroom. I need to go wipe her butt. I feel like crying.... The baby is still screaming.<br /><br />Its now 11am and I am just now getting around to giving the kids breakfast. First they fight over what color chair they sit in. I take care of that problem. Now Dax starts crying because he dosen't want to sit newt to Emma, Emma starts crying because her feelings are hurt. I lose it and send them both to their rooms until they can get along. <br /><br />Ethan dumps a bowl of cereal.<br /><br />Now I REALLY feel like crying.<br /><br />The kids come down, Dax starts crying about his color of bowl. I make a mental note to buy all of the same color bowls and cups....<br /><br />I put in a load of laundry and load the dishwasher really quick. The kids are still in their pajamas, the baby is still screaming. I haven't showered or eaten. I have to go feed the baby again. <br /><br />Its only 1130am and I am already exhausted.<br /><br />But at the end of the day, when my kids look at me with those big sleepy eyes, I know it is all worth it.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-89915015904993901672010-03-04T07:36:00.000-08:002010-03-04T07:45:19.593-08:00A cute storyMy son Dax was reading a book and then put it down. Naturally when he put it down my daughter Emma picked it up. This of course set my son off and he said, "I had that book first and I wasn't done with it and Emma took it from me." So I said "well Dax, you did put it down, but if you really want it back maybe you could go upstairs and get Emma another book to read and she might give that one back to you."<br /><br />Dax stomped upstairs and a few minutes later he comes down with the biggest book he could find (a childrens bible) He tosses it on Emma's lap and says, "here Emma, you can read the bible."<br /><br />Emma, not to be outdone opens it up and says excititly "LOOK, A SHARK" (Jonah and the whale)<br /><br />Dax throws his book aside and runs over to see. Emma slams the book closed in his face and says "No Dax, you have your own book"<br /><br /><br />I love my kids.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-78274503103654120802010-03-03T15:32:00.000-08:002010-03-03T15:46:56.255-08:00No rest for the wearyI am feeling very tired these days. Thank you pregnancy! It is a rare occurrence at my house to actually be able to snag a quick little nap. Usually if I can I try to take a quick little snooze on the couch. It never fails though, someone is always hungry or thirsty. So today, I thought I would be smart and I gave them a snack and a drink before I layed down. Then I sent them to their own rooms to play. I was happily drifting off to sleep when I hear all the way from upstairs "MOM, I"M DONE!" In case your wondering, in our house that means a certain little girl has gone number 2 and needs some assistance. In my fog I think I actually yelled up for her to do it herself. And then I started drifting of again but instead of peaceful dreams I had visions of cleaning up a bigger mess (if you know what I mean.) So at that point I figured it would be better to abandon all hopes for a nap. Sigh! I will be be able to sleep again someday.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-18822070764758897192010-03-01T20:52:00.000-08:002010-03-01T21:17:44.278-08:00Conversations with a 5 year oldToday, I picked my 5-year-old up from kindergarten and he had very exciting news to share with me. As soon as he got into the car he said:<br /><br />Dax: "mom, open up my backpack and get out that blue piece of paper"<br /><br />Me: "Okay" I open up the paper and it is a beautiful rainbow surrounded by hearts. "wow that is very nice." I say<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlepH8lvOfuMIqHeL1DFjRLvsG23R6vw66-xxiXJmc8qLbB5O7m6wndJEJPNWLrzSgRBxSe5X8SKUinMmTnuJHzoNAui087514fP5rWZ6E1bnWkVj46zUgG9OnFAVdFVS8qL5na5ak-4k/s1600-h/DSC04489.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlepH8lvOfuMIqHeL1DFjRLvsG23R6vw66-xxiXJmc8qLbB5O7m6wndJEJPNWLrzSgRBxSe5X8SKUinMmTnuJHzoNAui087514fP5rWZ6E1bnWkVj46zUgG9OnFAVdFVS8qL5na5ak-4k/s320/DSC04489.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443900982963804610" /></a><br /><br />Dax: "Yeah, Avery made it for me" (a little girl in his class)<br /><br />Me: "wow, she must really like you"<br /><br />End of conversation, until 20 minutes later....<br /><br />Dax: "hey mom"<br /><br />Me:"yes"<br /><br />Dax: "You know that paper in my backpack?"<br /><br />Me: "yes, what about it?"<br /><br />Dax: "Well, I made it for myself..."<br /><br />Me: confused "wait Dax, did you make it for yourself or did Avery make it for you?"<br /><br />Dax: Pauses, sighs and then says "well, Avery really made it for me, but she wanted me to tell you that I made it for myself so that you wouldn't know that she loves me"<br /><br />Me: Chuckles to myself. Thinks oh great here we go!<br /><br />Dax: "yeah mom, Avery used to like me but she doesn't like me anymore. She LOVES me." "Isn't that crazy mom"<br /><br />And I end the conversation with, What about Sofie and Isabel? (two other little girls in his class that he likes.<br /><br />Dax: "well, I still like Isabel the best."Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-940076104185367862010-02-25T13:11:00.000-08:002010-02-25T13:41:22.365-08:00So much joyYesterday, I went to a moms night out with our FEDS group. A few of us got into a discussion about having testing done after you have had a child with Down syndrome. I am one of those people who usually need to know. I was one of those kids who opened their Christmas presents before Christmas, I have always found out the sex of my children before they were born, and when my triple screen came back showing a higher-than-normal chance that my son would have Down syndrome, I did the amnio so that I could know for sure. I just don't usually like surprises. Even after I did find out that Ethan would have Down syndrome I was still terrified because of the unknown.<br /><br />But my little boy has changed me for the better.<br /><br />I no longer, have to know.<br /><br />I am pregnant with my 4th child, due in early July. At first, I was going to do the CVS to know the earliest that I could. Then I was going to do the amnio, but that deadline came and went and I never had it done. I do not need to know because I realized that it doesn't matter.<br /><br />I love my son and I will love this new little boy just the same. We will not know until he is born weather he will have that extra chromosome. I had never pictured my life having a child with Down syndrome in it, but now I have a hard time picturing it without. Thank you Ethan!<br /><br /><br />And now for some much needed updates on Ethan.<br /><br />He is doing very well. He is a very active 2 year old little boy and sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with him. He can climb anything and has even climbed out of his crib already. I am so glad he is so active but WHEW! Slow down little man!! Ethan is doing extremely well at signing and has even started signing 3 words together. ( I will try to post some video later) He is also saying about 15-20 words. He can say, ma-ma, da-da, Emma, up, ball, bath, all done, Abeula (bay-la) cookie, more, drink, Granny (na-nee), uh-oh, what's that, this. He is starting to repeat words back to me. Nothing huge, just some small words and I can't even put down all of the words that he is signing. He is just one amazing little boy. <br /><br />So far we have had a healthy winter. Ethan was hospitalized overnight because he caught the stomache flu from his older brother and became dehydrated. Other than that we have just had the occasional runny nose (so common during Michigan winters.) The thickened liquids have helped so much. Now if we could just get the thick-it covered by insurance. HMMM.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-65467648711021297072009-09-16T19:17:00.000-07:002009-09-16T19:22:34.426-07:00Lung issuesWell, it seems that Ethan's lung issues are finally behind us. He has been healthy for almost 2 months now. We did his swallow study and found that his liquids need to be thickened to a milkshake consistincy. We were previously only thickening them to a nectar consistincy. He has also been taking zantac for acid reflux. I am praying for a healthy winter! <br /><br />Yesterday me and another mom from our local support group did a live web radio interview about abortion and Down syndrome. Here is the link. http://www.issuesetc.org/podcast/317091509H1S1.mp3 Check it out if you get the chance.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-72312732454992427722009-07-14T20:47:00.000-07:002009-07-14T21:27:01.101-07:00Feeling a lot better....Ethan saw the Pediatric pulmonologist on Thursday July 9th. He did some blood work to check his immune system and also did a CBC. He looked at Ethan's most recent 2 chest x-rays and said that the x-rays didn't look like true pneumonia but more like atalectisis. He wanted me to schedule a bronchoscopy to look down into his throat and lungs. He said we can stop the breathing treatments and contine the Zyrtec. We left feeling pretty confident that we would have some answers soon. That evening I got a phone call around 6:30pm and it was the doctor. He had gotten back some of Ethan's bloodwork and wanted to admit him into the hospital for further testing. My heart dropped into my stomache. My first thought was that it was cancer or something really serious. Come to find out Ethan did not have a white blood cell count. The doctor felt that since he had been running fevers and his white count was depleted that if he were to come down with an infection then he might not be able to fight it off. So off to the hospital we went. He saw quite a few doctors and a few nurse Ratchetts. They were concerned that it was either chronic Neutrapenia (not good) a virus or the beginnings of leukemia (not good either) They were able to rule out chronic neutrapenia We go for bloodwork at the end of this week. If his counts are up then they can pass this off as a virus that depleted his neutraphils. If they are still low then it could be what is called autoimmune neutrapenia. They also are watching him closely for leukemia. We have to have a swallow study done and then pending the results of that we will go for the bronchoscopy. From now on if Ethan gets sick we have to take him right away to get his neutraphils checked.<br /><br />Even with all that Ethan has been through he still has a smile plastered on that sweet little face. I have a lot to learn from my little boy. When my instinct tells me that I can do this all on my own I have to trust in God. It is hard for me to do. It is hard for me to not be in control of all of this. I know that it is all in his hands though. He put that sweet little boy into my home for a very good reason. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-15205331564411121912009-07-07T09:50:00.000-07:002009-07-07T10:15:22.563-07:00frustrationI am so horrible at updating my blog. It has been a very frustrating 6 months. Ethan has constantly been sick since January. I have switched doctors and we are trying to get to the bottom of all of this. Ethan has been hospitalized 3 times with Pneumonia. He has had several bouts ot bronchiolitis, bronchitis, sinus infections, colds and strep throat. Currently we are trying to take care of the Pneumonia. He was diagnosed with pneumonia for the sixth time on June 10, 2009. His new doctor is the only one who ever ordered a follow up x-ray to make sure that the pneumonia actually went away. We went on vacation to Myrtle Beach and while we were there Ethan developed a high fever and would not eat and was so crabby. He had huge sores on his mouth. I actually got angry with him. I know he can't help it. It turns out he got Herpangina. He has sores in his mouth and throat which is why he wouldn't eat. I feel horrible for getting mad at him. Since he caught the virus it of course brought out the pneumonia symptoms. He had his follow up x-ray yesterday and no suprise there the pneumonia was not gone. So now instead of him having pneumonia 6 times it probably was there the whole time. I am so worried that his lungs are going to be scarred. Now we are looking into reflux. The doctor put him on zantac twice a day to reduce the acid. I had to take him this morning to get a TB test to rule out tuberculosis. He has already seen an ENT and Thursday he sees the pediatric pulmonologist. I am just beside myself. I am so tired of dealing with doctors and I want my little boy to be healthy and strong. I want him to have a normal life and not have to deal with medicine and breathing treatments and fevers. I love him so much that it hurts. I hate to see him sick. I hate it even more that I get frustrated with him. I want to know when this will end. When will my little boy be healthy? How can people have 8 kids or 18 kids and every one of them have the correct number of chromosomes. I somehow feel like it is all my fault. I do everything I can to prevent him from getting sick and yet it still happens. I am so thankful for that little boy and he has opened my eyes to a whole new world. One that I never knew I wanted to be part of until I had Ethan. Please don't leave any negative comments. I am not looking for sympathy. I just needed to get things off my chest and this post only refelcts how I am feeling at the moment. I will try to keep this updated more often.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-14417582614538011142009-02-11T20:31:00.000-08:002009-02-11T21:35:17.773-08:00PicturesHere are pictures of Ethan from the womb to his 1rst birthday!<br />Ultrasound<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25Tq483clEjj7wsIpGP-eL7IxFXfWhtER3rQs6S4UYDb91Em7fX68bsbzAXS1qrjQ9CPtRPqOBoa8PX-BRxn7F2zGB3O6AWkpYhIIKCrwrcOgEhKiD3inx28DDUxE8GlbpuStJEjkq4Q3/s1600-h/ethan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25Tq483clEjj7wsIpGP-eL7IxFXfWhtER3rQs6S4UYDb91Em7fX68bsbzAXS1qrjQ9CPtRPqOBoa8PX-BRxn7F2zGB3O6AWkpYhIIKCrwrcOgEhKiD3inx28DDUxE8GlbpuStJEjkq4Q3/s320/ethan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301777542251616194" /></a><br />Welcome to the world baby boy!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXS-do9Jk9OwRGjizVyv_MEhypcwa44IBPeukODklXhLAqCkHwfL3AwgdBbccMYK3f_Jqv0a6jK0uhBFqNlyA9bJmb1UcTiHigvt3TXv1bxqHlaqc3f3C1fp0N8Nr9-Hk_sc-XvLygRXDa/s1600-h/l_c2902c5f1f746431fc73d9e467574bd9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXS-do9Jk9OwRGjizVyv_MEhypcwa44IBPeukODklXhLAqCkHwfL3AwgdBbccMYK3f_Jqv0a6jK0uhBFqNlyA9bJmb1UcTiHigvt3TXv1bxqHlaqc3f3C1fp0N8Nr9-Hk_sc-XvLygRXDa/s320/l_c2902c5f1f746431fc73d9e467574bd9.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301777840235263586" /></a><br />1 month<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHry09WsUaxWCRae1h3H73V7UszSvxYMtHiUHlnKd_Ro2adzERRkTlh13u-ZABVIz-7DD8PeHB2p5RM5Z5HyC1mEps29DWpKceIZGNP73bHfTOiJTlfZ0nTG8wIJLgyE7-cMiOo4afIkd4/s1600-h/l_3ff057e4ec89c7e30949e469fa731619.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHry09WsUaxWCRae1h3H73V7UszSvxYMtHiUHlnKd_Ro2adzERRkTlh13u-ZABVIz-7DD8PeHB2p5RM5Z5HyC1mEps29DWpKceIZGNP73bHfTOiJTlfZ0nTG8wIJLgyE7-cMiOo4afIkd4/s320/l_3ff057e4ec89c7e30949e469fa731619.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301776942227614306" /></a><br />2 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEill_f3Jj5GV1IB_17wmGqtn3gqLJoAuwf10df_HAu1fAKxhvF4TRzJb-nnXcYrP_nJEXaBdgjiWqGkkgvX9eWwQWlI7jcxmCr6oTk48XGswEIND6e6A2EXGQowF68nThYfSHUUKa6jFcr7/s1600-h/l_5fa2a88f70c35cd8d4da0d41b601dc96.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEill_f3Jj5GV1IB_17wmGqtn3gqLJoAuwf10df_HAu1fAKxhvF4TRzJb-nnXcYrP_nJEXaBdgjiWqGkkgvX9eWwQWlI7jcxmCr6oTk48XGswEIND6e6A2EXGQowF68nThYfSHUUKa6jFcr7/s320/l_5fa2a88f70c35cd8d4da0d41b601dc96.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301776941325671458" /></a><br />3 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjIokhOXpubVHVcrsWOaw-VGzvcKKbUWrNDPYBYQHW4wfF0rW2w2y-04tmTMbHpcOpKIHVvb0cN8nkdIK8KYulpu7Tc7L5WmN5TlVbXaoL7Bb9VKVpX4VPPhABLEaDlnnyBlLmWU9HhdZ/s1600-h/0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjIokhOXpubVHVcrsWOaw-VGzvcKKbUWrNDPYBYQHW4wfF0rW2w2y-04tmTMbHpcOpKIHVvb0cN8nkdIK8KYulpu7Tc7L5WmN5TlVbXaoL7Bb9VKVpX4VPPhABLEaDlnnyBlLmWU9HhdZ/s320/0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301776935475879010" /></a><br />4 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PpqwJc767GBRuQbXbYAtAcr8UtaMp4v1kb9pPdtCqr-XeY8qgvr54tBUoGChTCVqzkK73cY4rlIJHkygsQG8YGy2sXEsryL9fcO6_0TX7yvFBnmfXhKG1C_KSsy_QKLO8uaVYw3oMjQI/s1600-h/00.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 236px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PpqwJc767GBRuQbXbYAtAcr8UtaMp4v1kb9pPdtCqr-XeY8qgvr54tBUoGChTCVqzkK73cY4rlIJHkygsQG8YGy2sXEsryL9fcO6_0TX7yvFBnmfXhKG1C_KSsy_QKLO8uaVYw3oMjQI/s320/00.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301776935985782754" /></a><br />5 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtCClB3pqVhoERhIreIUjqSFobCCEJPD-Qph3iqkYBoc32ETIy9url0w68_YzRNDo5VjxDzi6toTsSTUZaNgTH2x6y4ZsncwbE1IfhxpqqjgTJjmeb8AirG-qkY5fOrFiwK6Wje71Gb-U/s1600-h/l_2a2507fa81035e03cbdf3e7f4a2f60e8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtCClB3pqVhoERhIreIUjqSFobCCEJPD-Qph3iqkYBoc32ETIy9url0w68_YzRNDo5VjxDzi6toTsSTUZaNgTH2x6y4ZsncwbE1IfhxpqqjgTJjmeb8AirG-qkY5fOrFiwK6Wje71Gb-U/s320/l_2a2507fa81035e03cbdf3e7f4a2f60e8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301776936980650322" /></a><br />6 Months halfway there<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMBStKmol9dNUGeiQqyUpJ8EpV_pM6DFZc-NM3t5c7azSg6GiWAgXGAUZBaaRUd8aJk2TlTRO23sRq6x4yu74U4upDigv5dtI9VnkR_JB5n0y0tYSdKgUNgP4ZsBVlxZHd-inzQEfYdNC/s1600-h/0000.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMBStKmol9dNUGeiQqyUpJ8EpV_pM6DFZc-NM3t5c7azSg6GiWAgXGAUZBaaRUd8aJk2TlTRO23sRq6x4yu74U4upDigv5dtI9VnkR_JB5n0y0tYSdKgUNgP4ZsBVlxZHd-inzQEfYdNC/s320/0000.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301775441959354178" /></a><br />7 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwUYbcGDI-ReH1EGrD9vEP2vQFz5u2OXWX7oEZUHgns8oyAhmLP0Ru-zlbli_0LeB6LazzmFetrGnI_V5HSIhkP49aBISWoNyn-9Ej4dX0qITshB-XuY3n32Ay9g4t78H7FswacxlKgbm/s1600-h/01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwUYbcGDI-ReH1EGrD9vEP2vQFz5u2OXWX7oEZUHgns8oyAhmLP0Ru-zlbli_0LeB6LazzmFetrGnI_V5HSIhkP49aBISWoNyn-9Ej4dX0qITshB-XuY3n32Ay9g4t78H7FswacxlKgbm/s320/01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301775438101827394" /></a><br />8 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPAxsgApAHeVxd9sdmI6n_FL1nX3WmTbxw9mt5p35FWbVUC9V8cuUL8SrH2IZIJD8k6FRHWEDQnw6wqgpM45aImQtGDjLjh86InYSZbbLYaipLtPPTcJFV5b4xp2ptoiPbFCBn7oeRaRUo/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPAxsgApAHeVxd9sdmI6n_FL1nX3WmTbxw9mt5p35FWbVUC9V8cuUL8SrH2IZIJD8k6FRHWEDQnw6wqgpM45aImQtGDjLjh86InYSZbbLYaipLtPPTcJFV5b4xp2ptoiPbFCBn7oeRaRUo/s320/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301775437325053490" /></a><br />9 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZqzD1CbDJPDM1QQNH9JjmDbb5CgsJUDZB0mqiNJarT83c4ufIRMjeIagY4FRZ_fi41FrKz60UofNeQ0d1u5IcWnoBFz6PneG0BLkj7koR4apo1USxbKbVYMP4jXIZOQPBBCAZ_bmX6GT/s1600-h/11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZqzD1CbDJPDM1QQNH9JjmDbb5CgsJUDZB0mqiNJarT83c4ufIRMjeIagY4FRZ_fi41FrKz60UofNeQ0d1u5IcWnoBFz6PneG0BLkj7koR4apo1USxbKbVYMP4jXIZOQPBBCAZ_bmX6GT/s320/11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301776031974077538" /></a><br />10 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1Pyv0sl2ywPxz5bNtDFfPk_-NNVhyVQDAFaa0q63npCJayijG6H-zbzYm7cIfwPLwkSWBjJxgXA9dG5v9resNPoC2HG3fY_8rZMKNIIzaXPHDzUIfEEyuPG35fhANDXQhk-g_-5YKjsg/s1600-h/l_b20a4b0be0214feeb4da3db2d733ba9f.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1Pyv0sl2ywPxz5bNtDFfPk_-NNVhyVQDAFaa0q63npCJayijG6H-zbzYm7cIfwPLwkSWBjJxgXA9dG5v9resNPoC2HG3fY_8rZMKNIIzaXPHDzUIfEEyuPG35fhANDXQhk-g_-5YKjsg/s320/l_b20a4b0be0214feeb4da3db2d733ba9f.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301771408722076482" /></a><br />11 months<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDbOO_E4cMD3a7OM4ZqFuPyOnUwxkjJt3L4zza6wDOa1X3Qm7KR5jMy47T1OrGeJnKLPv1p7Kj0w7V0x0NzlxrayYOX0xuzGVHUVNXDQdTFTrwhjagjldwLn8XjpLjJS_mb-d_CIetZm6/s1600-h/l_334b48c3cfeb4160bd30157eabaaaa70.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDbOO_E4cMD3a7OM4ZqFuPyOnUwxkjJt3L4zza6wDOa1X3Qm7KR5jMy47T1OrGeJnKLPv1p7Kj0w7V0x0NzlxrayYOX0xuzGVHUVNXDQdTFTrwhjagjldwLn8XjpLjJS_mb-d_CIetZm6/s320/l_334b48c3cfeb4160bd30157eabaaaa70.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301771404812580722" /></a><br />HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdu_WLDoQyeeyI6ebcxYktVlJ9hQPON4Ysn4EAqE7IVldwzWWttY0REzIqGsDtGj6VPjSpgVhwa-ZBRoDTiiIucGRp9trkluxbgcofQpndyybK5r9FBUfIpHAzvcHfIobJ0FhS5iaJkzwP/s1600-h/l_103f82d214194f5696e01cdeedbff725.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdu_WLDoQyeeyI6ebcxYktVlJ9hQPON4Ysn4EAqE7IVldwzWWttY0REzIqGsDtGj6VPjSpgVhwa-ZBRoDTiiIucGRp9trkluxbgcofQpndyybK5r9FBUfIpHAzvcHfIobJ0FhS5iaJkzwP/s320/l_103f82d214194f5696e01cdeedbff725.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301771402162373330" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-58536719248902941532009-02-02T21:50:00.000-08:002009-02-02T22:10:45.478-08:00An updateHaven't been on here in a while, here is the latest info. Things have been going really well. *knock on wood* At the beginning of January we had a birthday party for Ethan. I can't believe he is a year old. The time went by so fast. He loves to be around people and so of course he LOVED all of the attention he got at his party. He gobbled up his cupcake and liked playing with the paper that his presents were wrapped in. A few days after his birthday party, Ethan started to get very congested. He started running a high fever. I took him to the doctor the next day and she diagnosed him with pneumonia. The doctor was comfortable treating him at home and sent us home with antibiotics and instucted me on what would warrent a hospital admission. Later that evening, Ethan just kept gettin worse. I couldn't keep his fevers under control and he was having a hard time breathing. He was so listless. I was past the point of being comfortable treating him at home. I took him into the ER and they gave him a breathing treatment right away. They did chest x-rays which confirmed pneumonia along with bronchitis. They also tested for RSV which of course came back positive. So Ethan spent a few nights in the hospital. We were sent home with a nebulizer and more antibiotics. Then of course Dax and Emma got sick. This is all happening right in the midst of me stating back at college. So Dax and Emma went to the doctor and Emma had a double ear infection and a sinus infection and Dax had bronchitis and a sinus infection. Then 3 days after that the flu bug decided to visit our house. YUCK!!! So Everyone is finally healthy and classes are going well. My sister in law had her baby a little over a week ago (4 weeks early) and he is doing really well. He was 5lbs 12oz. I am an Aunt for the fourth time! <br /> Ethan starts more therapy tomorrow. He is getting two extra sessions a week in addition to the MISD. He will start at developing connections for private therapy. Honestly I am fine with where he is at right now but the therapy is free and I figured it couldn't hurt. He is doing so well in so many areas. He is my little social butterfly. He loves attention from anybody (except now the stranger anxiety is starting to kick in.) Anyway, not much else has been going on. I will post some pictures of Ethan's party another time but now it is late and I have to try and get some sleep.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-41449703825138263472009-01-08T09:54:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:02:05.714-08:001 Year check upEthan had his 1 year well baby visit and he is doing so well. He weighed almost 22 lbs and was 30 inches long. He had to have a few shots today and then I had to take him to get some bloodwork done. They are checking his cbc his lead level and his thyroid. I really was inpressed with his new doctor. I went in thinking that I was going to have to explain to her about the thyroid. She had already looked it all up and had printed out the growth charts for boys with Down syndrome. She also said that since he is starting to mimic the sounds that I make to start using real words and see where he goes from there. I know he is probably a long way from talking but hey, maybe it is a start. Ethan is also jusr recently pushing up on all fours and rocking. Maybe he will be crawling soon? Here are a few new pictures of my sweet boy!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6k_y6yIEBsOHnYprR5lzBIujO5sYX64x33DttzI2tMW0LxO2nmXtDCI57RwVFd_XnCd5_9KPFc-ta2GVOVIV5rnxc0ao6esL-DFg4oEB90sY52fq4loJjhRZ9zLL68qBHbOqGtNtraQf/s1600-h/winter+2008-2009+013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6k_y6yIEBsOHnYprR5lzBIujO5sYX64x33DttzI2tMW0LxO2nmXtDCI57RwVFd_XnCd5_9KPFc-ta2GVOVIV5rnxc0ao6esL-DFg4oEB90sY52fq4loJjhRZ9zLL68qBHbOqGtNtraQf/s320/winter+2008-2009+013.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288984635148619954" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRm8hIROIYOPII6PlEbsUUQ9SZptl3IoTBJ_y2lheHWXhM7arTdvjVEnTeFU-nXUk-wsH4RW7zxF8T0t3XKr1eDeOO8GXe0lAGDmm0L8jOBS0Z8RfjgkScGzORf3KuVyPXikEpgFF64vl7/s1600-h/winter+2008-2009+053.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRm8hIROIYOPII6PlEbsUUQ9SZptl3IoTBJ_y2lheHWXhM7arTdvjVEnTeFU-nXUk-wsH4RW7zxF8T0t3XKr1eDeOO8GXe0lAGDmm0L8jOBS0Z8RfjgkScGzORf3KuVyPXikEpgFF64vl7/s320/winter+2008-2009+053.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288984623483297442" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshw6YgWHCBJ7ne7mcvPLSQ7ZU22MaJ7EmFW3bugBwtAKvH-KHy1C577U0D43g2E01Ub_keDnHGb-bCmS5A09LcRTyz54TVyMlEINvkx19zM3VtSndRNvi5V1Wa3eWJXa-bZiu4qZCddRO/s1600-h/winter+2008-2009+060.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshw6YgWHCBJ7ne7mcvPLSQ7ZU22MaJ7EmFW3bugBwtAKvH-KHy1C577U0D43g2E01Ub_keDnHGb-bCmS5A09LcRTyz54TVyMlEINvkx19zM3VtSndRNvi5V1Wa3eWJXa-bZiu4qZCddRO/s320/winter+2008-2009+060.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288984614660227602" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-28939300884599557212009-01-04T21:30:00.000-08:002009-01-04T21:39:13.225-08:00Ethan's favorite new game<OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-3a5ba2b6877a10ef height=266 width=320 contentId="3a5ba2b6877a10ef"></OBJECT><br /><br />Sorry it is sideways. I can't figure out how to turn it around.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-89380343752129519002009-01-04T21:22:00.000-08:002009-01-04T21:29:14.384-08:00Ethan's favorite new game<OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-FAILED height=266 width=320 contentId="FAILED"></OBJECT>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-56256705754246591252008-12-31T11:17:00.000-08:002008-12-31T11:44:43.435-08:00Happy New Year!!!What an interesting and exciting year for our family. We have had lots of good memories and like any family, some not so good ones. Last year at excatly this time, I was sitting at the hospital after having Ethan, waiting to be discharged. We got home about 6:30 that evening and went to bed shortly after. I slept right through the new year.<br /><br />Ethan's first month went pretty smoothly. About a two weeks after he was born he started to get congested. I took him to the doctor who assured me that he just had a little cold and some clogged tear ducts. I got in contact with the MISD and started getting therapy set up for him. He was still very congested a few weeks later and I kept taking him back to the doctor. They kept assuring me that he just had a cold. Finally after another week of this I took him to my doctor who diagnosed him with having bronchiolitis. She said if he gets any worse to take him to the ER. The next night Ethan started to have very labored breathing and I took him to the ER. They took a chest x-ray and diagnosed Ethan with bronchiolitis and pneumonia. He was in the hospital for a full week. They were very close to moving him to the PICU and putting a breathing tube in. Thank God that Ethan held his own and we were able to avoid this.<br /><br />A week after Ethan was realeased from the hospital we headed to Florida for our annual family vacation. It was wonderful and very realaxing. Exactly what we needed after being in the hospital for a week.<br /><br />In march, Ethan started therapy with the macomb intermediate school district. He recieves physical therapy and occupational therapy. <br /><br />The next few months passed and nothing worth mentioning happened. Ethan stayed stuffy and congested off and on for the next few months.<br /><br />In May, my Grandma passed away. She had been batteling colan cancer for quite some time. While it was hard to lose my Grandma, I was glad that she no longer had to suffer. Also I was very glad that she was able to meet Ethan and hold him before she passed. The saddest part of everything is that she had a shirt that had been made for her years ago with the names of all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was buried in that shirt.<br /><br />Also in May were Dax and Emma's birthdays. We had a joint party for them. Emma turned two and Dax turned four.<br /><br />We were able to travel a bit over the summer. In June we attended our annual family reunion in Tennasee. After that we went to Myrtle Beach for a family vacation. My Grandma lives there along with my Aunt and cousin. We brought Grandma back home with us to work with Ethan and provide some respite services. She has been a huge help.<br /><br />The next few months has kept us busy with therapy and kids. We have stayed fairly healthy. Ethan contines to do great. He is an amazing little boy with a personality that just draws people in. He has come so far in just a year. I am amazed at that little boy.<br /><br />In December Ethan celebrated his first Christmas and three days later his first birthday. He made out like a bandit for Christmas. Of course he didn't care about the toys. He just liked the paper! We will be celebrating his first birthday on January 10, 2009. <br /><br />So anyway, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful Happy and healthy New Year!!!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-20559160006978168742008-12-03T09:22:00.000-08:002008-12-03T09:32:39.689-08:00ChristmasWell Christmas is only three weeks away. I have not even started my Christmas shopping. I had better get my butt in gear! <br /><br />We are all feeling a little better. Ethan is still a little congested. I ordered the nose freida for him. We got it a few days ago. I have used it a few times but I am not sure if I like it or not. The whole concept for using it is kind of gross. You pretty much stick one end in the nose and the other end in your mouth and suck the boogers out. Gross right? I have heard good things about it so I will give it a chance. I have noticed that he dosen't cry and fight me when I use this as opposed to the bulb syringe. I do have to add that it has a filter so the boogers do not actually make it to your mouth.<br /><br />Well, I hate to cut it short. I will try to add more later. Ethan has woken up from his nap.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-22155292842676497712008-12-01T16:33:00.000-08:002008-12-01T16:45:30.863-08:00another boring dayToday was pretty uneventful. I woke up not feeling well. My head hurts, my neck is stiff, my throat hurts, my ears hurt and my nose is stuffy. Sometimes it sucks being in such close quarters with little kids. Ethan just got over being sick and the week before that Emma was sick. It just never ends. Next week it will either be my son ar my husband that gets sick. I cancelled therapy for Ethan today. It gave me a chance to just relax. Sometimes keeping up with therapy gets so tiring. It is only two days a week but I swear when I take him there he either cries or lays there with his mouth hanging open and acts like he dosen't know how to do anything. It is kind of annoying because at home he is such a different kid. He is vocal and will sit up and army crawl. Sometimes I think that his therapist don't really believe me when I say that he can do stuff. <br /><br />I did get to take a wonderful 3 hour nap this afternoon. It is something that rarely happens but I LOVE it when it does. I still feel tired though. One of the joys of being sick I guess. I had a chance to run errands and pay some bills earlier. It was nice to get out of the house without lugging around three kids. Well, I really hate to cut this short but Emma just spilled water all over the place. AHHHHHHH!!!!!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-37687598836115055462008-11-30T12:58:00.000-08:002008-11-30T13:29:39.397-08:00Ayla is one!Today Ethan's Girlfriend Ayla is a year old. I can not believe that it has been a year since she was born. Where has the time gone? For those of you who don't know, Kadi and I met at a support group meeting when we were both pregnant. Kadi was due about a month before me. I remember so clearly when she walked into the room crying. I had never even met her before but I had this strong urge just to hug her. I felt so bad for her yet I knew exactly how she was feeling. We exchanged e-mail addresses and discovered that we had a lot in common. We both even had the same doctor. We were exactly what each other needed. At the time we met, I was still struggling with the diagnosis but had already cried my tears. I was starting to accept it. I think Kadi needed someone who knew how she was feeling. I was struggling with knowing if I would be able to do this. Since Kadi was due a month before me I saw everything that she was going through and I knew that we both would be okay in the end. Sometimes I think God puts people in your life for a reason. Really what are the chances that everything would happen the way it did? Anyway, I remember the day she called me and told me that she had the baby. I had so many questions for her. I wanted to rush over to the hospital and see Ayla. I swear I could have kept Kadi on the phone for hours. But you know what, the most important thing for me at the time was just seeing that she could do it. She made it through the delivery and did love her daughter. Knowing all that made it bearable for me. I remember the first time I saw that sweet little girl. She was sooooo adorable. I just felt so much love for her. I just can't believe it has been a year. I can't believe how far me and Kadi and our little ones have come. I look forward to many more years of having that sweet girl in my life and her mommy too! So Happy Birthday Ayla!!!! Ethan and I love you very much and look forward to watching you grow into an amazing young women.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PJc3j_V_3kxc4zCw39Z2TfhYX5pZ2xIYt-XdErGtbnRtsfeOA3F7R5PhUSwd4gysjnLksBVwT3h9jLnKFKBkNWZizA1_3OsseE-49WyEk5w51IL7Q_AYqV1yZfCHufAQ56VKWcKSDS0H/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+072.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PJc3j_V_3kxc4zCw39Z2TfhYX5pZ2xIYt-XdErGtbnRtsfeOA3F7R5PhUSwd4gysjnLksBVwT3h9jLnKFKBkNWZizA1_3OsseE-49WyEk5w51IL7Q_AYqV1yZfCHufAQ56VKWcKSDS0H/s320/ethan+and+ayla+072.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274565787127938914" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeajnf_bi2189fcFM4iaj9idshtoaUPjz2XOF1j71bx1UKS_npUxzJSN-JxMum2qoGmiWWRNR3E-zaD8ZXKXkSSlLcNLxRauMa3fEgf_0-EerpIttwBIJ7urt9y5DOE0taZTAKoMWUyih/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+082.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeajnf_bi2189fcFM4iaj9idshtoaUPjz2XOF1j71bx1UKS_npUxzJSN-JxMum2qoGmiWWRNR3E-zaD8ZXKXkSSlLcNLxRauMa3fEgf_0-EerpIttwBIJ7urt9y5DOE0taZTAKoMWUyih/s320/ethan+and+ayla+082.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274565781073930162" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-56159686937146690542008-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:002008-11-08T10:14:45.982-08:00Okay, I have been horrible at keeping this blog up to date. Things have been going really well lately. Ethan is still doing pretty much the same things as before and is still NOT sitting on his own yet. I know he can do it, he just refuses to do it. His therapists have been working extra hard to accomplish this goal. I hope to have him sitting by Christmas. To him it is much less work to lay on the floor with a toy than to actually use his stomache muscles. He is a little lazy poop :) Just kidding. He really is such a joy in my life. He the the sweetest baby, the cutest too! I couldn't imagine my life without my little guy. <br /><br />Yesterday Ethan had a little playdate with his girlfriend Ayla. It was so cute. I just love seeing them together. Ethan rolled all over the floor and tried to take off Ayla's socks a few times. Ayla just sat staring at Ethan. I guess she was mesmorized by his good looks. My friend Kadi and I sat them together on the floor to get some pictures. Ayla beat up on Ethan a little bit and he just sat there and took it until she turned her head and then he got a fistful of her hair. I took some cute pictures of them.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_aFtrCg5Mc3LbJZLDQNj-LwtQZd4JkMLVcPnSto2Z7yiFXkx8euFRvpXX6pzCZbw-swzKXVbWF5a8kpq4XaOrOKlPopbxlzHfB5cE_0qw-CQLijU6xXrhly0fyUN8aPDFs-s1p-XrXyM/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+035.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_aFtrCg5Mc3LbJZLDQNj-LwtQZd4JkMLVcPnSto2Z7yiFXkx8euFRvpXX6pzCZbw-swzKXVbWF5a8kpq4XaOrOKlPopbxlzHfB5cE_0qw-CQLijU6xXrhly0fyUN8aPDFs-s1p-XrXyM/s320/ethan+and+ayla+035.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266351708413929634" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWI7N18Vj7CcYx4scZTqvVzZ9dXfoby7yuSOsQ7QG6Wnc0oc2_KdKTP_7OjYL1ADIAiU5-WaIFM-3gDvM9DjjYQCq7-lEMorHNtUtd2STUX9WSgaPBnjU6Fs2QKHXUJ_EjCaqNh7NITnm/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+032.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWI7N18Vj7CcYx4scZTqvVzZ9dXfoby7yuSOsQ7QG6Wnc0oc2_KdKTP_7OjYL1ADIAiU5-WaIFM-3gDvM9DjjYQCq7-lEMorHNtUtd2STUX9WSgaPBnjU6Fs2QKHXUJ_EjCaqNh7NITnm/s320/ethan+and+ayla+032.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266351702207382066" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzvDvgjHNvwCE4NkFs4qMVpiCAJ8yzLDdRFGzlHJXkrIuVtRdmtAg6Nzl3ISSYmrNBdj5toX9eYO1s5HiFTOBOSTXo1vDqFEOP9p3G5XkmGyD8JkUClnWMD-L8DKC8WHLIRLwIFmId_wh/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+031.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzvDvgjHNvwCE4NkFs4qMVpiCAJ8yzLDdRFGzlHJXkrIuVtRdmtAg6Nzl3ISSYmrNBdj5toX9eYO1s5HiFTOBOSTXo1vDqFEOP9p3G5XkmGyD8JkUClnWMD-L8DKC8WHLIRLwIFmId_wh/s320/ethan+and+ayla+031.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266351698285524994" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP7LRr1DHxKXaneetKGfpHjPN5BdqNbIzTCkuGtu9n-GNyTzzm_aY0zAZ_nFECRtvc9pedRBFLgOs-hywW4N1AjBg9my2X6ixbSgMz89aMFtvfQf7PJRiXCNQWv8sjiLQvFfFGSyIguAnA/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+029.jpg"><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWmtJRJC7KCBfAZ4D1JnbuA_hfgE-VIhh4bUndpUu3n0IXGwXvMgOiOCk7CtHWWnhn9GNRfC4qAy6KxeVyCwlFQM-otht_851lxE-Ie5v7PFfpxSuNu0wxzg918I4ed9m4OMPj3NayLkV/s320/ethan+and+ayla+014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266351004464075746" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQpF29pRIFe2h3-NpuvlWohx68q0QEgpM5JX25W0NUdsNTtiJQ7c1Is4dyKZGlIoLdXyZjJa1DBzk0gtxK1GcBJxLXhzM_kbBAr3NmAReqV0lB4LFfEm07GM3uDQP5Q923GoWWWkHUQy4/s1600-h/ethan+and+ayla+021.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQpF29pRIFe2h3-NpuvlWohx68q0QEgpM5JX25W0NUdsNTtiJQ7c1Is4dyKZGlIoLdXyZjJa1DBzk0gtxK1GcBJxLXhzM_kbBAr3NmAReqV0lB4LFfEm07GM3uDQP5Q923GoWWWkHUQy4/s320/ethan+and+ayla+021.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266350997307898226" /></a>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-36612505537243592962008-10-18T18:21:00.000-07:002008-10-18T19:27:38.515-07:00Videos of Ethan<OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-34f3e44e601a7ae3 height=266 width=320 contentId="34f3e44e601a7ae3"></OBJECT>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5902614489894335630.post-62902613138362858382008-10-17T20:02:00.000-07:002008-10-17T20:13:11.359-07:00ready to enlist!!!Ethan is army crawling!!!!!!! Tonight we had some friends over and we were playing video games. Ethan kept tugging on the cords and getting tangled in them. So I moved Ethan to the other side of the living room away from the cords. A few minutes later I see Ethan rolling to one side and pushing with his opposite leg. Then he rolls to the other side and pushed with his other foot. He made it all the way across the living room. I almost burst with pride. He still is not sitting up yet but he sure knows how to get what he wants. I made him do it several times just to make sure it was real. When he got tired of doing it he took over the attitude, "I'm done, just give me what I want." It just goes to show that kids are capable of much more than they let on. <br /><br />Also, My friend Kadi and I were interviewed a few weeks back by CNS news here is a link to our stories.<br /><br />Kadi<br />http://www.cnsnews.com/public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=37599<br /><br />Mine<br />http://www.cnsnews.com/public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=37509Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559895499141350071noreply@blogger.com0