Out For Ice Cream

Fall may be here, but the kids still love to go out for ice cream. I took Claire and Bethany out for ice cream after Claire's speech therapy and they had quite a good time choosing from all the different flavors. Claire chose something pretty bland while Bethany chose something that would definitely stain her dress and lips and tongue. They had a lot of fun. I have noticed lately how much closer these two seem to be. 

 

Sarah's DVT...Be Careful, I'm Listening

Today, Sarah had a cardiologist appointment and ever since her DVT she is always concerned when she has a doctor appointment. I think she is scared of being back in the hospital. A couple of her experiences there in August were pretty scary.

I think the scariest part for Sarah took place the evening before her surgery and the morning of surgery. Sunday evening the surgeon came into Sarah's room and was pretty somber. He was describing Sarah's clots and the dangers involved. He was a serious guy and I know that I was feeling pretty worried about what could happen to Sarah if the larger clot was not taken care of quickly. After about 10 minutes or so of talking about options, he told us that the best plan at this point was to try to remove the 12 inch clot in the upper thigh and abdomen -- that was the most dangerous one at the moment. He proceeded to tell us how he would go in and remove the clot from her leg and I think he actually said "pull out" the clot. As he was talking about the procedure, his demeanor was very grave. He mentioned several times that he would try to "pull out" the clot in her leg and try to make sure none of it broke off and went to her lungs. 

After he explained the procedure, he left the room and we noticed Sarah was a little anxious. She started asking us if the doctor was going to "pull off" her leg. We told her, of course not -- that he was going to take out her clot and make her leg better. That did not seem to satisfy her, as she asked again and again if he was going to "pull off" her leg. We realized she had heard the doctor say "pull out" and thought he said "pull off" and she thought he was talking about her leg. We told her that she would be ok and that he was just going to fix her leg so she could walk and run and play again.

She finally went to sleep and very early the next morning they came to get her. She asked us again if the doctor was going to "pull off" her leg. We kept assuring her that he wasn't. I was already very stressed and worried, and to see her so concerned only made it worse. I knew that I had not totally convinced her that her leg would still be there when she woke up. It was heartbreaking. 

Hours later the surgery was finished, and we sat with her. As soon as she was oriented, she asked if her leg was still there and moved the blanket to look. She was quite relieved to see she still had her leg!

We realized that even though Sarah did not appear to be listening to the doctor and even though she was on a lot of pain medication and seemed kind of out of it  -- she WAS listening and formed her own conclusion from what the surgeon was saying. Lesson learned. 

The Email

Since tomorrow is Saturday, I won't wake up thinking -- maybe I'll have "The Email." The one saying we got our signature from the MOJ. 

Every morning I get up around 6:00a.m. or a little after and as soon as I'm dressed and have my coffee, I look to see if maybe I have "The Email." Only on Saturday and Sunday do I figure that I have no chance of getting it. So, I guess I'll just relax and enjoy the weekend and hope that on Monday morning I'll have "The Email." 

As I wait, I've been going through the pictures I took when I visited the girls  -- just remembering our time together and dreaming of when they will finally be here. I thought I would post a few pictures of Bella and Allysen that I don't think I have posted before. 

I Know It's Autumn

I know it's autumn when the morning light comes late, when there's a pumpkin muffin on my breakfast plate.
                                                   
                                                                                                          Eileen Spinelli


On the first day of autumn we always celebrate by having pumpkin muffins. Sarah and Caroline usually start asking several weeks in advance if it is autumn yet. Today we had pumpkin muffins.

The Dreaded Boom Box

Everyone at our house enjoys music, and quite a few play instruments, so it is not unusual to hear music throughout the day. But there is one thing we have come to dread  -- the Boom Box! 

This past summer the kids went to Bible School and, as usual, really enjoyed it. Our music director knows how much our girls with Down syndrome love music and she gave us a CD of all the Bible School music for the girls to play at home -- and play it they do -- over and over and over! The same CD, day after day after day, and they want to turn it up sooo loud! It has gotten to the point we want to hide the Boom Box -- really - or maybe hide the CD. 

I like the VBS CD just fine, but after hearing it incessantly, I'm ready for something new, but Sarah, Caroline and Claire NEVER seem to tire of it. Not a day goes by that they aren't dancing and doing hand signs to the CD. I don't understand why it still plays  -- I've seen Claire rubbing it together with another CD and I actually saw her scratch it with an ink pen one day  -- and I thought "YES" -- it won't play anymore! But, NO  -- it just keeps on playing and playing! I have actually had to take the CD and limit the time they play it, as otherwise, it would actually play ALL DAY LONG! I don't think the rest of us could stand it. 

I'm not sure I should be thanking our music director for being so kind. 

Here are a few random pictures from this past week. 

The kids enjoying their new drawing tablets.

Another visit to the Farmer's Market

Face Painting

So, we really haven't been up to much lately -- getting school supplies, backpacks, and school books and doing a little shopping before we start school. I'm not really ready for school to start but most of the kids are. I'm trying to get everything organized and ready for the first day. I only have Bethany left to get books for and I am considering using Calvert for her as it provides everything we will need for the whole year in a box -- even down to the pencils and glue. I think she would love getting the big box in the mail with so much stuff in it. We have used Calvert before and the kids seem to enjoy it. 

Sarah has been restricted in her activities since her surgery. She is not suppose to climb trees, ride her bike or play on the rope swing. Of course, these are the things she likes best. I don't think the restriction is related much to the existing blood clot but more due to her blood thinner medication. So, I have been trying to think of projects and activities for her and the other kids to do so she won't be so bored. She just wants to go out and climb a tree but I just can't let her. So, we have made the fairy jars, then we painted plates and mugs  -- actually drew on them with Sharpie pens then baked them, and today Zola painted some of the kids' faces. They actually looked kind of cute and Zola enjoyed painting and the others enjoyed being painted. 

I have no idea what to do next -- I am not really into crafts but I am trying to learn to enjoy them a little more since Sarah spends so much time inside now  -- we do take her for walks and she plays a little but so misses the tree climbing and her rope swing. 

Article 5 Letter and Fairy Jars

Good news on Friday  -- we got our Article 5 letter. Now we just have to wait for a signature from the MOJ and then wait for a court date. It finally feels like it is really going to happen. I am so excited! It would be so wonderful if the girls were here before Thanksgiving but I really have no idea how long it will take to get a court date. 

The other night we decided to make "fairy jars". My daughter, Emily, found this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun project for the kids. So we got the jars, glow sticks, and glitter and made them right before dark on Monday evening. It was actually a lot of fun and they turned out pretty nice. I had read some articles on different sites that said it would not work and that it was really just altered images in Photoshop. Ours worked quite well. They were not magical or anything like that, but cute and they did glow for quite awhile. The yellow one was still glowing a little the next morning. They definitely need to be made in the evening to get the full effect  -- a bright glow. The darker it got the better they looked. The kids really enjoyed holding their jars in a dark room. I think we are going to make them again soon since this was a hit. 

The glowing in these pictures is exactly what they looked like -- no Photoshop done.