October 21

This weekend has been so awesome and refreshing.  Friday started with MOPS, then we had a date with Lisa and Jordan on Friday night, which was great as usual.  Last night, we had a party with some AWESOME couple friends of ours.  We had friends over that we have not seen in a long time, and a friend from high school that we have reconnected with.  It was great and we need to do it more often.

TODAY was Buddy Walk!  Yay!  I was so excited to go, and we had some pretty awesome support from some of our friends from MOPS and church.  And of course my family.  Today, we had to cut it short and we left before the actual walk.  I was really sad to leave early, but Annabelle was feeling really crappy.  She has not been herself (again) the past two days.  I am almost positive that it is all just teething or allergies.  Poor girl.  She looked like she was going to just pass out the whole time we were at Buddy Walk, and we just came to the conclusion that she just needed to come home and rest rather than be out in the heat.  My sweet friends still stayed with their families and walked for THE ANNABELLE TEAM!  They have no idea how much it means to me that they came out to support DSACT and Annabelle.  Seriously, it means so much.

 Since we left so early, I only got a few pictures, but stay tuned for some videos at the end...

Some of our table...

 CARTER's first Buddy Walk

 Uncle Jordan cheering Annabelle up...

 Pops and cousing Justus

Even though it was short, we had a great time.

I got this video today during supper.  You can kind of tell that Annabelle is sort of a mess. But, happy- ish.  We have been working with her on animal sounds, and how she says MOOO is my favorite!  It sounds like, 'bmoooo'.  I'm so proud.

And Carter started trying to flip over yesterday.  He made it almost all the way to his belly.  So, I captured some pictures...

Annabelle is a peaceful sleeper.  Makes me tired just looking at her.  So, goodnight...

October 20

HAPPY SATURDAY! 

Tomorrow is Buddy Walk!  Can't wait to go.  And hoping it's not 100 degrees. 

October 17

It's been a week, and I think we are all back to mostly normal.  The sickness that ran through our little family last week threw me off big time.  In my mind this is how I picture it....  As I was walking forward, and enjoying life as it was, a HUGE foot kicked me right in the chest and knocked me on my butt, sending me sliding backwards down a rocky path.  Getting up and moving forward after the fall was like walking in sand against the wind.  I am laughing out loud for real right now as I just read over that.  HOW dramatic do I sound?!?  Geez.  It was only a week. It was rough, and now that we are all feeling pretty regular, I feel on top of the world.  This past weekend, I was thinking how I "missed"  Annabelle.  And I did.  She was just NOT herself.  For a long time.  I missed seeing her spark, and hearing her chatter.  She didn't want to play much and was just super mellow.  It broke my heart.  I wanted her loud spunk back!  SO BAD.  Today was the first day that I saw it back.  It made my heart smile.  I am so super thankful that Carter has done really well through all of the yuckiness.  He's so stinkin sweet.

So tonight is the last night to register for Buddy Walk online.  I think donation stays open for a while, but I'm not sure about that either.  SO, if you read this before midnight, and would like to walk with us or donate, please do so HERE.

Some of my favorites from the past couple days...

Our shadow on a walk.

 Carter fell asleep in his car seat with his arm up.  SO CUTE.

I caught Annabelle playing in the baby bath.  It looked like she was fishing.  I LOVE THIS GIRL!

Octoberwaitwhatdayisit?

I have totally lost track of what day it is. It's been kind of a long week, and I am still not feeling totally 100% yet. Bleh. 

On a positive note, we have a Buddy Walk team set up!  Our Buddy Walk is next Sunday, the 21st, and I am just now getting on top of this.  Better late than never I guess.  This year we are called The Annabelle Team.  WE would love love love it if you could come out and hang out with us during this wonderful event!  We have enjoyed this event so much the last two years, and always leave encouraged.  If you read about last year's walk, you know how blown away I was with the support we had from friends and family. We had a team of about 45 if I can remember right.   

I said a lot of this last year in my post about the Buddy Walk, but I'll just repeat myself a little.  It's always hard for me to ask people to for donations for things or to fundraisers, even if I know it is for a good cause.  I never want to make people feel obligated or anything.  But because I love my daughter to pieces, and I see how far our society has come when it comes to special needs and things like that, I feel the urge to break through that uncomfortable wall and ask.  If people are unable to make it to the walk this year and be a part of The Annabelle Team, then I want to ask for a small donation.  Even $5 would let us know you are thinking about not only us, but all of the individuals with Down Syndrome.  October is Down Syndrome Awareness month, and I appreciate anyone who participates in any way!   I also LOVE that there are people doing research and studies about Down Syndrome, so that we can help them to be a bigger part of our communities. After doing my own researches every now and then, I have found that we as a society have come SO SO SO far when it comes to special needs and disabilities. I am SO thankful for the parents that fought for our DS and special needs children to do something as simple as go to public school. Before having Annabelle, I knew nothing about DS, and I see that is the case for most people who don't know someone personally with DS. So, I will do my best, along with many others this month, to help others learn something NEW! :) 

If you would like to donate to The Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas in Annabelle's name, OR join us on her team, you can do so HERE.  You will never know how much it means to us, and to MANY others. 

DSACT BUDDY WALK

October 11

 My big boy was 2 months old yesterday!  We went to his well check and he is 14lbs. and 24in.  CRAZY!  He is growing up so fast.  Look at this solid guy....

  I SUPER love having a son. 

....and, this was our morning yesterday....  My grumpy kiddos.  They're so cute. 

 Even when grumpy.

 

Our family could use a bit of prayer right now.  After Annabelle's little stomach bug the other night, Craig and I caught it yesterday.  Terribly.  And that is on top of how I am feeling very frazzled and out of control, and am hoping life doesn't feel so heavy soon.   For the next few days, my home will probably smell like bleach as I try to get whatever this sickness has been OUT of my house.  FOREVER!

October 9th

Welp, missed a couple days.  :/  I have some videos of my cute kids to make up for not posting every day this month, like I was going to try to do. 

Today is a very good day to sit on the couch and allow Annabelle much more TV than is usually allowed.  We were up a lot last night.  Annabelle had her first ever stomach bug.  It seems to be gone this morning, and she is hungry and thirsty, which is a good sign.  But, she is pretty mellow and doesn't have her usual energy.  Poor kiddo. Since this was the first stomach bug that Craig and I have experienced with one of our children, we got to see yet another side of each other.  Y'all, Craig is an incredible daddy.  He is SO nurturing and took such amazing care of Annabelle.  He is so gentle, and I really think he made her feel safe and settled in the middle of the night.  This daddy/daughter relationship is amazing to watch. 

LOVE!!!!

CUTE Video!!