Cruisin'

The girls are loving the plasma car from Grandma and Grandpa Harvey. We have a perfect little hill that's a dead end on our street for riding. The weight limit goes up to 200 so even I can ride it! Alaina does like riding it, however as you can see in the background of the 2nd picture she prefers housecleaning to anything else (she is helping Grandma Hopkins clean windows).

Olivia right before she crashes into the big pile of leaves at the bottom of the hill...

I love this picture...

Gotta run as Olivia is trying to go down the hill right now with no shoes on AHHH!

Christmas Pics

What did Santa bring?

Corinne eating what was left of Santa's cookies...

Santa's Presents...

Christmas Sweets

Brian's Mom used to always make sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles for Christmas. He is carrying on the tradition by making cookies late into the night with Olivia. Rolling out the dough and cutting the cookie shapes was a bit stressful, but Olivia was an excellent assistant. She supplied a pinch of extra flour when Daddy needed it.

Of course the best part was the frosting...

Yummy looking cookies!

And a gingerbread house too... those two were busy!

Santa!

Please ignore me, that was as close as Alaina felt like coming to the big guy...

You know Daddy is an engineer...

... When your child thinks writing binary code is something you do for fun.

Olivia's letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Christmas will be here soon. I have been good this year. Therefore, I am writing a list of presents I would like for you to bring...

1. Rapunzel's Mommy and Daddy (as far as I know this doesn't exist, but don't tell Olivia that)

2. A doggie that walks with fur

* My sister Alaina would like a baby that pees and poos

3. A big doll that looks like me

4. Glitter glue

5. A Santa Doll

6. Stickers

7. Lightning Mcqueen and Mater from Cars 2

8. A choo choo train with tracks and remote

9. A plastic lollipop (????)

10. a water table (in the winter?)

11. Thanksgiving read along stories (Olivia just likes audiobooks in general, when she wrote this list we were still in the Thanksgiving spirit!)

Love,
Olivia

Baby Jesus

All the animals came to see the baby Jesus, even the moose!

And we closed on the house. Woohoo!

Christmas List

I thought I would post gift ideas for the girls if anyone would like some ideas. I think the Jack in the Box is cute and we don't have one yet.

http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/21D8FGL16Y4IW/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o


I'll let Olivia make her own list for Santa. I'm curious to see what she writes.

Happy thanksgiving!

Peek-a-boo

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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Recent Pictures

An update on us: Olivia is back to school after her most recent "track-out". It's like a mini summer vacation and just when we start to get on each others nerves back to school she goes! I really think I'm liking this year round school thing.

Alaina is starting to imitate more sounds! This is so exciting for me after waiting so long. She has tons of signs, but was reluctant to try any speech. She is saying "O" for open, an "ah" sound, mmm, and bye bye with a prompt. I can't wait to hear all the things Alaina has to say!

Oh Corinne... this girl is sooo opinionated. She knows what she wants and doesn't want to hear any no's. LOL. She is saying bye bye, da da , and uh oh. So cute! I don't know why my kids never want to come out with Mama ;)

And our big news: We will be closing on our house any day now!!! It's been a lot of work (Just ask poor Brian who has been dealing with all the paperwork, negotiations, etc.) and it will be a relief to have it done. Please send good thoughts our way that everything goes smoothly!

Halloween 2011- The Witch, The Ladybug, and the Lion

Halloween, the much anticipated event, is over. All the girls dressed up, even if only briefly. Alaina and Corinne were sick and the weather was cold and rainy so they stayed in to help Daddy hand out candy. The little lion cub was not very excited about her hat :(

Olivia was very excited though! She had a great time trick or treating with her neighborhood buddies. Many of the houses were decorated really well, it was so much fun.

Pics from our spooky Halloween train ride:

The girls first train ride:

Olivia loved it, Alaina was a bit freaked out, and Corinne was squirming to get down. It was beautiful view of NC. There were ghosts, witches, etc. along the way. Very neat!

Happy Halloween!

Step Up for Down Syndrome 2011

We attended our 2nd Step Up for Down Syndrome walk (previously the Buddy Walk) a couple weeks ago. I'm not really the best at posting things right after they happen. Life is just so busy, as I know it is for most people. Anyways, the kiddos all had fun and it was neat to see all the kids with extra chromosomes and their families.

Mainly Brian and I just did lots of running around after Alaina and Corinne. They are both busy little girls who unfortunately are usually going in opposite directions. Thankfully my mom was there to supervise Olivia so she could do some fun activities.

I don't think Alaina wanted her picture taken! Either that or the sun was in her eyes...

Alaina rockin' it out on stage to the music... This girl loves to dance!

Can't wait til next year!

We got BOOED!

Messy

Learning to Feed yourself is messy!

Going for a walk

My little cuties going out for a walk while we wait for Olivia's bus.

Flowers

Tomorrow makes 6 years!

Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Gwen's blog has been hacked by her lovely husband Brian. I just wanted to let everyone know that October is DSAM. I love you Alaina and wanted to show that we support you in every way. Thanks Gwen for allowing me to do this post.

Last Day of Summer

The last day of summer and also Corinne's birthday!  Daddy captured these cuties on the porch.  Can't ever get
everyone all smiling together.  I mean you Alaina!  Trying to upload cake pictures, but having issues with the computer.  I'll try again later.

Morning

I will post pics of Corinne's birthday soon. For now a pic of our morning playing blocks.

Tomorrow is a big day!

My littlest girl is turning one! Happy Birthday Corinne!

PSA for those with Hardwood Floors and Kids

Yesterday morning I caught Alaina happily playing on Olivia's floor with a marker. She drew all over herself too. Mommy was not happy! To be fair there was a piece of paper on the floor with a drawing on it. Yay for drawing, boo for not keeping it on the paper =)

It wasn't the washable kind so I panicked thinking about how to get it off. Googled markers on hardwoods and found out that you can use toothpaste to get it off. Tried it this morning and it worked perfect! So relieved. Lesson learned, must keep markers locked up at all times!

Shortly after that incident I went to put Corinne for a nap. Heard some commotion, but didn't think much of it. It was Alaina dumping the Cheerios all over the kitchen. Darn it! I usually always put the cereal back in the pantry, but apparently forgot this morning.

This is Alaina giving herself a pat on the head. She does this when she knows she is in trouble!

Thanks for helping me clean up Alaina. I know you are a curious 2 year old so Mommy needs to be more vigilant!

P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandmpa and Grandma Harvey, Grandma Hopkins, and Stacy for donating to Step Up for Down Syndrome! We really appreciate your support!

FirstGiving - Your fundraising

FirstGiving - Your fundraising

The link to Alaina's fundraising page for Step Up for Down Syndrome. We would appreciate any donations made on her behalf!

Slacking

It's been forever since I could post. Most of that due to this little one ;) Corinne has taken over our bonus/ guest room/ computer room for now so no computer during naps or nighttime.
I am grateful though because she has been sleeping much better since moving! Add to that the fact that I've started back at school myself, and it will be a miracle if I blog again.

Thankfully Olivia starts back at school next week after being out for three weeks. She and I both have enjoyed her attending school. Alaina and Corinne will also attend a Mother's Morning Out program once a week to give me a free morning starting September. I won't even know what to do with myself. Probably school work or house cleaning :)

Happy Heart Day: Then and Now

Then:

Two years ago today Alaina had heart surgery to repair her AVSD. While heart surgery is a scary thought, for Alaina is was a truly wonderful thing. Not too long ago babies with this type of heart defect died in early childhood. Thanks to tremendous advances in surgical technology something like 99% of kids now survive. Before surgery she had a difficult time breathing and required a feeding tube to eat. Almost immediately afterward she turned around completely and has never looked back. Aside from yearly visits to the cardiologist it's not a topic I think about very often.

Now:

(performing some sort of surgery on Bitty Baby)

Congratulations on your Happy Heart Day Alaina!

Dancing in the Rain

We had some much needed rain here on Monday night. It has been so hot you could literally see steam rising off the pavement as it came down. At first Olivia and Alaina put hats on trying to keep their little heads dry, but soon it was clear they were going to get WET! They had so much fun splashing in puddles. The only thing Alaina doesn't like is when Olivia trys to pour buckets of water down her back. Yikes!

Olivia's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Right now Olivia is enjoying her 1st day of kindergarten. Yes, she is going to year round school. There are multiple tracks of times the kids are in, but most year round kids start in July. Olivia only goes today with a few others kids and then won't go again until next week. She has been super excited about it. I know she's going to do great!

Greeting her teacher, Mrs. Mackey. She seems really nice. Some girls who live down the street said that she was their kindergarten teacher and they really liked her. It makes me feel better to know she has a great teacher.

Finding her cubby hole:

and off to play with new friends...

and no I didn't even cry ;) Although they are having a "Tea and Tissues" gathering next week for kindergarten parents. Maybe I will let it out then. For now I'm feeling optimistic that this will be a great year for my big girl!