Saturday, December 27, 2014

Twenty Four Years Ago Today

It was 24 years ago today I had my third and final C-section. Our beautiful baby girl was born, in the midst of a major snow storm she arrived right on time! Hasn't been on time since, but hey, what can ya do, right?! (Love you Diana!)


 
Part way through my pregnancy we had to switch insurances which meant we had to change doctors and hospitals. Instead of traveling 10 minutes to appointments, it now took us 30 minutes. And to top it off, Seattle had a major snow and ice storm the week she was born.
 
My dad flew up from San Diego to be here for her birth and Chuck had to go back and forth to the airport in the snow to get him. It was a crazy week!
 
But we had our baby girl. She slept through the night, even in the hospital. She was such a good baby, ate well, adjusted to life at home and just fit right in with the family.
 
 
 
She was our strong-willed child; was very determined and confident. She's grown up to be a focused young woman who, once she figures out what she wants, will stop at nothing to get it! She's very disciplined and works hard to reach her goals.

 
 
 
She loves fashion and traveling and adventure!

 
 
She also loves her niece! She's such a good aunt, exposing Allie to new adventures almost every time she's with her!
 
 

 
 
We love you Diana and hope you have an amazing birthday!

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

It's Here!!

 
It's time to celebrate the birth of our Lord!
We hope you all have a very blessed Christmas!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, December 21, 2014

It's Forgotten

Beth LOVES gift cards. For her birthday, for Christmas, that's all she asks for. Gift cards to every store you can imagine.

It drives her sisters crazy, "No Beth, we wanna buy you a real gift. Something you can hold and really use."

"I want gift cards."

"Grrrr!!"

Personally, I like buying gift cards. It's a lot easier, you don't have to face the crowds, it's quick. Now, if someone asks for certain gifts, I don't mind shopping but if all you want is gift cards, I'm okay with that! Maybe it's my age. :)

Plus, then Beth and I can plan a day or two of shopping.


(I wrote that a few days ago and had completely forgotten about it. And to be honest, I don't know where I was going with it.)

My mind lately, I think I'm losing it. You might think I'm kidding, but I'm really not.

Lately I'm forgetting so many things; making stupid mistakes. Like tonight, Beth needed some cash for the week so her and I ran up to Bartells. She was gonna buy some markers and I picked up a couple more stocking stuffers. We head up to the cashier and I pull out my wallet to get her card and it wasn't there. I checked my front pockets but it wasn't there. Checked my back pocket, nope. We set our purses down on a counter and went through each compartment but her card wasn't anywhere!

I ended up paying for hers, got some cash for her and we'll just transfer the money through the bank. We get home and are pulling all her stuff out of the bag and I reach into my back pockets to grab my card when... I pull her card from my other pocket! What?!? I guess I just never checked THAT pocket while we were in the store. Aarrgg.

I told a friend last week that I'd call her on Wednesday. Never did. Just completely forgot.

I forgot to send a gift with Beth last night to give to her job coach.

I've been buying Christmas gifts and realized yesterday that more than one of them is wrong!! Completely the wrong thing. Ugh. I now have to go back out and exchange them. I am thankful though that I realized it before Christmas. :)

I forgot to get out some critical Christmas decorations. Okay, so they aren't really critical, but they're important photo albums that we look forward to all year! Just pulled 'em out today and only because I happened to see them while I was looking in that cupboard for something else!

This is so frustrating. I'm having to write everything down, my computer at work is covered in sticky notes! Without them, I don't know what I'd do.

I've tried playing Tetris and different games to try and improve my memory and the speed at which I think. I'm not that old so I'm nervous to go to the doctor to see if maybe... well, I don't even want to go there.

So before it gets much later, I'm going to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I either do it today, or next week!! :)

Friday, December 12, 2014

What a Pair!

For a while Allie didn't really want anything to do with Beth. Beth would come up to give her a hug and Allie would push her away. Beth would put her hand on her shoulder and Allie would pull away and say, "Stop Beth."

I would often see her just watching Beth, as we'd play board games or at dinner, Allie would just watch her. I talked to her once about Beth and Down Syndrome and how Beth can do things, it just takes her longer. I told her how the Down Syndrome happened before Beth was born and that it wasn't her fault, it wasn't anything she did wrong, it was just the way God made her.

You may have seen my last post of Allie's 5th birthday party. She's 5 already!! And... she's warming up to Beth. She'll run up to her now, "Bethy!" and give her a big hug. Granted, she does that with everyone but now she's including Beth. I'm so glad. For both of them. I'm glad Allie is seeing Beth as someone she can hang out with and I'm glad Beth is able to experience that love you feel when someone greets you like that!

They were playing with Allie's flash cards the other day. Allie would hold it up and Beth would read it to her. They worked on letter sounds and reading. It's been fun to watch them together!


 

Sunday, December 7, 2014

I Didn't Even Think About Beth's Reaction

Hey! Remember me? I thought it was time to post another update.

Chuck is still looking for a full time job. The difficult part is trying to find one that pays around the same that he was making at his former job. He is even making more on unemployment than many jobs he's applied for. We keep praying and trusting the Lord.

Special Connections is growing and changing. We'll be moving into a different room after the first of the year. It's much bigger than our current room, plus it's close to the bathrooms and the elevator. One of our students has a difficult time walking so being close to the elevator will help. Plus, I'll be starting a group  for kids and young adults with special needs on Tuesday evenings during our prayer meetings. The parents will be able to drop their kids off in our class and attend the meetings each week. I'm a little nervous about all the changes, but also excited about everything that the Lord wants to do for people in our congregation who have special needs.

A family member was recently arrested and is now in jail. They regret their part in the situation and seem very repentant. There are kids involved and they're now in foster care. It's hard living so far away while the family goes through this.

Allison turned 5 last week. Sharaya threw an amazing party for her this weekend. We got there early to help set up and I was so impressed with everything Sharaya did for this party. Allie and her friends made crowns, had pillow fights and had a big surprise from a special visitor! Sharaya really outdid herself!


 
 


 
 
 
 
 
Sharaya painted this specifically for the party!
 
 
 

 
 
 


 
 
I was so focused on Allison, I didn't even THINK about watching Beth as Aurora walked in! Near the end of the party, Beth came up to me and excitedly said, "I have her movie!" So we asked Aurora if she would take a picture with Beth and she was happy to oblige. :)