Can you believe...

this little boy turned ONE?!  

Oh, I love him SO much!!

With Frankie still being little, it hasn't felt like he is one.  My babies are usually walking at this age.

Frankie is still working on sitting.  We're almost there.  

But hey, I'm not complaining.

Not one bit.

He is an absolute joy to have around!

I can't get enough of him.  He is my little lap baby.  I love this stage and thankfully, he'll be here for a while. 

He loves faces.  

Frankie has brought our family so much joy this last year.  

I needed this little boy in my life.  I'm so attached to him and I'm forever grateful for the blessing he is to me!

Thanks to my friend Caitlin for capturing a few pics for me!

Mia Kareen

Lately I have been obsessed with this darling family's story!

Kecia is the first mom I met at the Down syndrome Playgroup I'm in.

They have a cute little girl with Down syndrome named Bree who is 4.  They are in Russia right now adopting a little girl who is the same age and has Down syndrome also.

It was sad for me to learn that kids with Down syndrome are not accepted in Russia.  Parents give their children with Down syndrome to orphanages because their society won't accepted them, allow them to have jobs and their family will shun them.  It's heartbreaking for some of these parents that have to give their children up but they couldn't provide for them if they keep their child with special needs.  

After a child with special needs reaches the age of 4-6 and are not adopted, they have to leave what they call home (the orphanage), leave their caretakers and orphan friends and they are sent to Mental Institutions.  A world of nothingness, left in cribs to be malnourished and die.  Their society does not see that these sweet little children are deserving of a life and to be loved.

Reese's Rainbow is an amazing foundation that helps these sweet little ones with Down syndrome find families. 

The Cox family found Mia through Reese's Rainbow.  Their journey to her has been SO inspiring!  I wish I blogged about it sooner!  They have been there for a month and every day she has posted all their meetings with Mia.  Every day I have popped out of bead early in the morning to read the latest.  I find myself grinning from ear to ear with tears rolling off my checks!    

It has been so beautiful to watch Mia blossom before my eyes as she experiences the affect of LOVE.

This picture (above) is the first day they met her.

Today is the day that the Cox's family gets to take her out of the orphanage.  It is called Gotcha Day.

Today, this little girls LIFE will begin.  If you know that song from the movie Tangled, it is perfect for Mia's story.

Mia is 4 and to think that if the Cox family hadn't followed their hearts to her she would be leaving the orphanage on a different journey, to the mental institution.  I can't even bare the thought.

THANK YOU COX FAMILY FOR SAVING THIS ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!

I am so thrilled for them today and I wanted to share their journey with you!

Here is their blog.  You must go back and read it from the beginning!  What a moving story!

Welcome to a family Mia!!!!!!

The Fillmores are another great family that just went through a similar experience to adopt Anya.  They are now helping a family who are trying to bring home Anya's friend Ian.  Click here to help save another sweet angel.

Mash-Up: Happenings

I'm so behind that I'm just going to mash-up a bunch of posts into one to simplify.

Pine Wood Derby

Daddy and Cole making the car.

We didn't place but it was sure fun to watch Cole's excitement at his first Pine Wood Derby.

They raced the cars in twos, twice down the track.  Cole's car was faster both of those times.  So in his mind, he won.  :)  Works for me!

I took MaryJane to see one of my young women's art exhibit at the High School.  

MaryJane LOVED Sharpay's pink lockers!

She asks to see them every time we go to the High School, where they filmed High School Musical.

This spring we had a lot of rain, rain, rain.  So out of boredom I challenged Cole to run to the tree and back to see how wet he'd get.  He loved it! 

Meanwhile, Sadie was working up a storm inside painting.

It's official, Sadie has graduated from Kindergarten! :(  I love this age!

*******

My sister Jill was just here visiting for and week.  We had such a great time!  My kids just love her!

We felt so lucky that we got a lot of Jill-time this trip!  

The first night she was here she introduced us to the Perfect Brownie Pan and the Perfect recipe.  A post all in it's own.  

I think we made it a total of three times while she was here.  Yum!

She has got my kids hooked on the music of Wicked.  My girls know the song Popular word for word.  Here she is showing them the video on YouTube.  MaryJane is so darn cute singing this song!

  

Aunt Jill brought some yummy recipes to try.  

This Feta Dip and these delicious Mini Lasagna Cups.  Yum, yum yummy!

For my Mom's birthday, she treated the whole family to the fun Provo Beach Resort.

Perfect way to spend a rainy Memorial Day!

We had a lot of fun with Aunt Jill!  We are always so sad when she leaves.  

MaryJane is her newest fan!  Aunt Jill won her over with her very own pillow pet.  It's ties in 1st place with her binky and lovey.  Obsession!

Pictures I'll have to add later when I get them form my sister,

Girls night out with my mom, A trip to the candy factory and a fun convertible ride.

I'm lovin' the mash-up post!

Cole is 8!

Holy Cow!  I feel like life is at warp speed sometimes!  How is it that Cole is 8?  

His birthday was on a Sunday this year so he awoke to a quick present opening and then off to church.

He was so cute to his sisters.  He loved what they got him.  

Cole's friend party was scheduled on another day so we had the family over for a Brownie Ice Cream Sunday bar.

So pleased to be 8!

Cole's main present form us was his "dream set".  

A Ninjago set.

When this boy is on to something, he does not rest.  He is totally into this ninja Lego thing.

Naturally, he wanted a Ninjago party.

Since Ninjago is such a new series to Lego, I had to make up all the ninja stuff.  

I made this invite in photoshop.

Keegan, Nalu, Peter, Cole, Charlie, Frankie, Jonny. 

 Thankfully the week of Cole's party Target had a Ninjago sale and I bought the Ninja Cole set at $2.50 each for the party favors.  I love the sushi idea I found online.  Rice Crispy treats, Swedish fish and a fruit roll up.  All the boys devoured the treats and water.

Thanks to Fresh Market, they always do the BEST cakes for me for the best deal!  Remember this one? I tell them what I want and this is what I get.  For $20, an awesome ninja cake!  Cole LOVED it!  Jay (blue guy) is Cole's favorite ninja.  

Kevin as Sensi Wu had a fun Ninja training course.  Which lead them on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood.  The boys loved it!  They each had to earn their Ninja mask.   

To make Lord Garmadon, I bought a smiley face pinata and spray painted it.

Their last stop on the scavenger hunt was to fight Lord Garmadon.  

It was a really fun party.  One I think Cole will always remember.  

Happy Birthday Cole!

We love you! 

A Club

Last fall I joined a local group for mothers of children with Down syndrome.  I have loved getting to know these mothers and feel an instant connection to them because our children share the designer gene-T21.  We have monthly play groups which usually take place while Cole and Sadie are at school.  

I haven't told my kids that Frankie has Down syndrome.  I didn't want them to worry or put a label on him.  I just wanted my children to know him and love him first.  I didn't want them to be afraid of Down syndrome.  I wanted them to experience it first and learn the joy of loving someone with Down syndrome.  As questions arise, I answer them honestly.  They have been so accepting of Frankie as he is.  Even with his "stuck together" fingers.  

Not knowing I was creating my own label for Frankie,  Cole asked me one day why Frankie was needing Physical Therapy.  I explained that since Frankie is a little bit special, he will be a little weak and slower at some things and PT will help him become stronger.  Well, "little bit special" seemed to stick with Cole and that's what he refers to Frankie as.  

During Spring Break I was able to take all my kids to the play group.  I was curious to see how they would interact.  Beforehand I explained to them that this is a play group for Frankie and his friends. 

Cole says, "Oh, you mean a little-bit-special kids like Frankie?"

Yes Cole. :)

We went to the play group and the kids had a great time playing with the other siblings who were also off for spring break.  After we left, Cole asked me if we would be able to see those friends again.  I was so happy they had a good time.  I told him, "Aren't we lucky Cole to have those friends?  If it weren't for Frankie I would never have met these nice Moms and their children.  How lucky are we to be apart of this fun group?"    

Cole thought for a moment and then said...

"Like a club, right mom?"

That's exactly right Cole!  How did you know?

I have felt part of a club since the very first play group I went to

"We often think that having a child with Down syndrome is like gaining membership to a secret club, a club you never knew you wanted to be in or even existed, but once you are in, you are so thankful that you were chosen."
Nicole Maher 

I'm so grateful that I get to experience this kind of joy and love.  

*****

Here is a play date I had at my home with Henry, who also has Down Syndrome and is 4 weeks younger than Frankie.

Henry lives just a few blocks away.  

He is such a happy and smiley baby!

So cute!

Henry also had Syndactyly like Frankie but on all fingers.  He has already had his surgeries on his hands and is doing well.  I'm so grateful to have made this connection with Henry and his Mom!    

Meeting smiley Henry made me realize that Frankie's seriousness is just his personality.  Cole was just the same.  We would have to do head stands to get him to crack.  He was as serious as a judge.

Friends.

Easter 2011

I know, I'm way behind.  

Better late than never right?

We had Easter at my SIL parents beautiful home.  

Cole, Luke, Austin, Kate, Sadie, Zach and MaryJane.

I love watching the kids hunt for eggs in their Easter clothes.

Nice crocs Cole.  There is always something, right?

Getting Frankie to look at the camera is quite the challenge.

Grandpa and Nana

Frankie is not quite sitting up on his own. 

Some how I managed to snap this while Kevin's hand was out view.  

Video: Frankie

Can you believe that this little boy is almost one?!  

I love all the faces he makes!

Here is proof that Frankie is not always so serious.  

He loves the changing table and I love trying to get him to smile.  

Highchair Redo

Finally, I got around to replacing our old Peg Perego Highchair Cover.

As you can tell after 3 kids, it was major yucko!

The replacement covers are $60, so my options were to either by a new highchair for that same amount or make one.  Since I love how this highchair reclines and has a 5 point harness I decided to make a new one.  I found a tutorial online here that inspired me to cut up the old one a create myself a pattern.

I found this darling laminated alphabet fabric at Piper's Quilts for $20 a yard. 

I love the idea of the laminated fabric because the covers I found on Etsy were made out of cotton fabric. I wanted something more wipeable.

I had some of the materials on hand so the total I spent on this was $30.   

I loved the way it turned out!

Not having a true pattern to follow was a little tricky but it was also fun to figure out.

It took me three tries to get the binding right.  But once I figured it out the rest went pretty smoothly.

Some parts would look a lot better if I had an industiral sewing machine.

But all in all it's suits the purpose well and it's cute.  

Frankie enjoys it too.

I know he's wearing a girl bib.  But when its your fourth, anything will do.  At least he's wearing a bib.