School Days, Parties, Pregnancy, and the Buddy Walk (Whew!)

Hello again,
I am yet again creating a gigantic post of the many events of the past month. I am sorry not to be able to devote more time to each event, but a three year old + an eight and a half month pregnancy = exhaustion. I will begin with the first day of school at one of Sarah's preschools. I volunteered on this day and was able to get some "behind the scenes" photos of the goings on in class. Unfortunately, due to road construction, we were too late to get a first day of school photo of just Sarah at school, so these will have to do.

During discovery class, students learned about their various body parts.

During free play, Maura spotted a sliding toy that kept her attention throughout the rest of the class.

Sarah spent most of her time building castles.

This was Sarah's favorite class...PLAYGROUND!

Maura and her friends chose the more stationary playground activity of playing in the sand.

The kids had a great time in Bible class. I was so pleased to see Sarah raise her hand to answer a question. We have been working on the idea of taking turns talking and having the teacher call on you. I am proud of my girl for listening to me (at least this once) :)

I know this is a scary photo, but it does capture the busy natures of these two three year olds.

At the end of school, we walked Sarah and Maura out front to take a first day of school photo. It was a bit distracting with all of the cars whizzing by, but we managed a pretty good photo.



On Saturday, Sarah geared up for class number 2 of her pee wee league sports class. Chris takes her (it is their special daddy/daughter time). He said she did a great job of listening to directions here as well. I must admit, I thought this class would not go well for Sarah, but she surprises me on a daily basis. She is now a sports fan. She even sat down to watch football with Daddy this weekend!

This day was the kickball introduction.

Chris said Sarah did a good job of kicking and running bases.

This turned out to be a pretty busy weekend. We were invited to not one, but two birthday parties in one weekend! Sarah was ecstatic to attend Caden's pirate party. She even hand drew and painted his birthday card.

Brandy had her best school teacher voice poised to direct the kids in the party games. Ashley was the pirate mascot for the party.

Although you can't see it so well, this was the hit of the party. Brandy created an outdoor scavenger hunt for pirate treasure. The kids were following her like little duckies. Too fun!

The highlight of Caden's night seemed to be the presents. Look at his cool new bike and helmet!

Brandy has become very proficient at cake decoration. Check out the pirate ship and pirates!

Here is the small boat as well.

Now for party number 2. We went from pirates to princesses! Although Sarah loves Caden so much, I think she was a little more in her element with the pink tiaras and the princess games and food. She is such a girl!

Many of the attendees got really dressed up for the party. I did not let Sarah wear her Snow White costume, because she is wearing it as her Halloween costume and we need to keep it in one piece!

Emma was the birthday girl and boy, did she rack up on toys and clothes!

Sarah had a blast trying to pop open the princess pinata.

Our next photo might be shocking for those of you who have not seen me in person lately. No, this is not a photo of a beached whale, this is me in my 8 and 1/2 month glory. I hate taking pregnancy photos of myself (which is why you see so few on this blog), but I know baby #2 will want to see these in the coming years. At least I am smiling, right?

Side view

Front view. This baby can't stay in much longer...can it?

Sarah got into the photo taking fun as well. Check out Daddy's spiky hair. He must not have been pleased with the look, because he got it cut pretty short the next day.

Now for the last event of the past month, the Buddy Walk. We are privileged to have a beautiful cousin Ava, who happens to have Downs Syndrome. Each year, the family walks in the Buddy Walk on Keeneland's campus to raise money to support those who have DS and need financial help. We absolutely love to help support this good work and Sarah has a blast each year, so we have made this an annual event.

Although I didn't go this year (walking long distances is out of my ability at this point). Chris, Aunt Amy, and Sarah went to represent Michael's side of the family. Amy is technically not related to Ava, but was more than happy to join in the fun. I really wish I could have attended.

I can't believe Sarah agreed to ride in the stroller during the walk. Usually she balks at the very mention of it. But I think since she saw cousin Ava doing the same, she was a little more willing.

Here is Ava's parade, over 50 strong!

Ava and Sarah sharing some "cousin time"

Isn't she cute? I am sure she was so happy to have her family and friends surrounding her.

After the walk, let the games begin! There are slides, bouncy castles, music, and food. Four of Sarah's favorite things!

The highlight of Sarah's day (I am sure of this), was chicken dancing with her daddy.
Michelle (Ava's mom) sent us an e-mail stating that Ava's parade raised over $2,000 for the cause. There were more participants this year than ever. This is awesome! I just wanted to add a couple of paragraphs from Michelle's e-mail to the blog, to encourage any of you who would like to get involved in this great day to see the results of the effort.

Michelle writes:
"In just the last 3 months, there have been about 10 babies(maybe more!) born in Central KY with Down syndrome. We are able to provide new families with a tote bag full of educational, medical and inspirational information and books. We follow-up with phone calls, emails and visits. This past year, we have been able to provide assistance to many DSACK families in crisis. Some examples include several infants having heart surgery,a family involved in a serious car accident, a mother of 2 young children (one with DS) undergoing chemotherapy and the death of 2 precious, much-loved babies. DSACK has a fund for these situations and is able to provide catered meals, gift cards, cash, hotel rooms, memorial gifts, etc., depending on what the individual situation calls for. We have also been able to expand our programs and now have monthly educational meetings for new parents (child care included),and monthly social groups for elementary aged children with Ds and teens/young adults with Ds. We have a fabulous bimonthly newsletter, scholarships for camps and conferences, quarterly social events for our entire DSACK community (which is named for Central Ky.but reaches all the way to Pike Co.), and a lending library. We reach out to educate the community about Down syndrome (specifically, medical professionals, educational professionals and school-age students). We currently have 3 graduate students working on their disability practicums with us. We have established a strategic plan, revised our bylaws and established roles and responsibilities for board members. We are a non-profit 501C3 organization with no paid staff. Most of the board officers volunteer atleast 20 hours/week to DSACK……..usually even more than that. All donations go to support the above programs, as well as some I have likely left out. We would love to have our own space, and that is something we will look at in the future. We will be able to offer so much more to DSACK families and the community when we have a space!! "

If anyone is interested in joining us next year, please let me know!

Now, the drums are rolling, the fat lady is beginning to sing, we are officially on "Baby Watch" 2009. I will keep you posted. Please keep our family in your prayers.

Bye!