My photo
I am the Momma of 8 children. Seven here on earth and 1 precious little Angel in Heaven. My children range in age from 2 months to 25 years. My 6 year old was born with a laundry list of complex medical conditions. He has Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), a rare brain malformation, which resulted from a mutation of the PAX-6 gene, bilateral anophthalmia, which means that he was born without any eyes, so he is totally blind. At the age of 2 1/2 months old he had to have a tracheostomy to help aid in his breathing. He is hearing impaired, with normal hearing in his left ear and has profound deafness in his right. At 3 1/2 years he had surgery to have a Mic-Key button placed in his stomach (feeding Tube), which is mainly used to give him his medications. He also has insulin dependant diabetes and wears an insulin pump, which gives him a continuous dose of insulin. Even with his many dis"abilities," including being globally developmentally delayed, he has accomplished more than anyone would have ever believed that he could. Join us in our journey living with a Dis"Abled" child....

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Sunday's School Podcast - December 2011

Yeah I realize that this video is being posted early. Being that tomorrow is New Years Day and later this afternoon we will be departing Grandma's and heading home, I wanted to get the video posted before the New Year begins.

I hope that everyone has a Fun and Safe New Years Eve celebration......

Enjoy viewing all of the happenings in Timmy's class for the month of December.....

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas!

This year we are celebrating our Christmas with Grandma in Chicago! We arrived in Chicago on December 21st. via Amtrek. We spent 4 wonderfully exciting days visiting some of the museums, going to Winter Wonderland sponsored by Bank of America and window shopping.

I'll post more pictures and our Christmas video from home later.

Have a Happy Holiday Everyone and stay safe!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Timmy's 8th Birthday Party


It's hard to believe that Timmy is EIGHT!!! We had his birthday party at school again this year so that all of his friends could attend. The party theme this year was "Pirates." Even the cake had pirate ships and dragons on it! We brought in Timmy's sailboat swing, a big Giga ball This is a huge ball in which kids/adults can get into and roll around. And a treasure chest pinata, filled with chocolate gold coins and skittles.. All of the kids including the adult kids had sooo much fun. They all found the Giga ball to be the most fun!

I believe this was Timmy's most favorite of all of his birthday parties. Why do I say this? Because Timmy actually ate a entire piece of birthday cake! Yes, it was a small piece. But in past years he only would accept a couple of bites before he had had enough.

Enjoy the slideshow of his birthday party pictures!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sunday's School Podcast - First Week of School

WooHoo, School Is Back In Session! Below is the very first Podcast of this school year. With the dreaded school budget cuts, which lead to the transfer of one of the Teacher's Assistant in Timmy's classroom, being placed in another school. The two Special Education classes have had to combined their webpages. With one person less to help in the classrooms, taking pictures for a weekly poddcast is less of a priority this year. But hopefully once the chaios of the start of school smooths itself out. Time will be found to take pictures for if not weekly, maybe bi-weekly podcasts.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Two spoken words....

After a semi-sleepless night, being up with Nate who is teething and running a temp of 102+- from a possible ear infection. A long, stressful day from a trip out of town to Duke Eye Center for an eye appointment for myself. There couldn't have been a better end to my day. Or a better way to ease the stress, but the two spoken words from Timmy said so clearly and with excitement in his voice upon our walking into the house, "Home, MaMa!" This alone was enough to ease all of my stress and bring a big smile to my face. And prepare my mind and body to deal with Emily's hyperactivity long enough to get us through her homework for the day.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Happy 1st Birthday Nathaniel!!!

                HAPP1st BIRTHDAY!!!

It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone. We have had a lot of laughter. And shared a few tears. You have come a long way physically, cognitively, and socially.

*You have learned how to play Pat-A-Cake and Peek-A-BOO.
*You love music and dancing.
*Your two favorite games are placing objects into a container and taking them out. And crawling after a ball that you roll across the floor.
*Your favorite foods are steak, baked potato with sour cream, applesauce, cheese sandwiches, squash, carrots and ANYTHING that brother Timmy is eating or anyone else for that matter.
*You absolutely LOVE bath time and swimming in the pool. But I have to say, you are the first and only baby that I know who insists on taking their washcloth into the swimming pool.
*You can pull yourself to stand and stand without holding onto something for a short period of time.
*You have learned how to climb onto the furniture and find climbing onto and getting down from a fun game.
*At your WIC appointment on Friday (July 22nd) you weighed 20lbs 1oz and you were 28 1/2in. tall.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Happy 6th Birthday Emily!!!


                HAPP6th  BIRTHDAY!!!


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sunday - School Podcast - (Emily)

The title of this weeks podcast is "Rabbit Guy and Chicks."
Enjoy...!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Sunday - School Podcast - (Emily)

This weeks Podcast is (Penguin Polito).

Thursday, July 7, 2011

2011 Chicago Trip


From June 29th - July 7th, Floyd and I went to Chicago alone for a little Rest and Relaxation. Floyd grew up in the Chicago area. So he took me around to see some of the sites. We toured Navy Pier, Saw the stained glass museum at Navy Pier, Saw buckinham Fountain, walked down to the lake front for awhile and did some shopping for the kids.

It was nice for a chnge not to have to stress over the daily tasks of the home, kids, Doc appointments. We had sooo much fun we have started to plan our next get away alone.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sunday - School Podcast - (Emily)

This is the 2nd week of Emily's class podcasts. This weeks podcast is titled "Best Part Of Me."

Enjoy....!

Monday, June 27, 2011

24th Annual Family Teacher Deaf-Blind Conference

We attended the 24th Annual Family - Teacher Deaf-Blind Conference in Greensboro N.C. June 24th - 27th. While Floyd and I were attending the conference meetings, Timmy on the other hand had fun, Fun, FUN with his old and new friends.

Here are a few pictures that I took at the conference. More are to come later. We should be receiving a CD of pictures that were taken during the day of all of the children enjoying the daily activities.



















Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday - School Podcast - (Emily)

Last week while downloading Timmy's final podcast of the year, I realized that Emily's teacher had posted 4 short podcasts of her class. So for the next 4 weeks, I will be adding the podcasts from Emily's class.

This weeks podcast is "Snowkids On The Farm" (Hence Mrs. Snow was Emily's teacher's name.)

Enjoy...!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

You're 11 Months Old Today!

Yet another month is behind us. Today Nate is 11 months old. It is hard to believe that in just 11 months Nate has grown so big! Your physical and cognitive development is right on target for your age, which is a blessing, being that Nate has a visual impairment.




Nate loves long car rides. This is a very good thing, being that there are always several out of town appointments a month with specialists for myself, Nate or Timmy.


 Nate is a curious and adventurous boy. He loves to explore and has started to climb. If something that he wants is out of his reach, he will come up with creative ways to gain access to whatever it is that he desires.

On ocassion Nate will have Timmy to assist him in gaining access to whatever it is that he desires at the present time.
For brief periods of time, Nate is able to stand with little or no assistance. He has even started using his Chicco Activity Walker to help him walk independantly around the house.


Nate loves to eat. He has completely given up on eating baby foods. He prefers to eat Timmy's homemade puree dishes that Daddy makes special for Timmy. Nate's favorite foods are baked potatoes (white or sweet), cheese sandwiches and any kind of fruit or veggie. He dislikes scrambled eggs and tuna.



Nate enjoys hanging out with his big bro. Nate gets upset in the morning if I or someone else doesn't let him say "hi" to Timmy. And Nate's face lights up with a big smile in the afternoons when Timmy arrives home after school. Like us all, Nate dislikes the fact that Timmy keeps his hands in his mouth. Nate refuses to touch Timmy's drooly hands. So if Timmy has his hands in his mouth when Nate wants to interact with him, Nate will touch Timmy's arm and Timmy will immediately take his hands out of his mouth. Hmmm, maybe, wishful thinking I know, but just maybe Nate will be the cure all of Timmy's hands obsession. Yeah right!

You have the sweetest personality. But yet you are very opinionated. Everything with the world is just grand as long as everyone in your life stay on tract with your strict schedule. You have the cuties smile. And infectious laugh. You love to cuddle and give kisses.

Your favorite play things are balls, drums or any other item which you can hit on, a large stuffed kitty and Fisher-Price Bubble Gum machine, in which a ball is placed into machine and rolls out from the bottom. You also enjoy placing small items into a container and dumping them out.

Aside from spending time with siblings, playing with toys and eating, your all time favorite part of the day, be it nap time or just before bedtime, is to cuddle in Momma's arms and fall sound asleep. This is Momma's favorite time of the say as well. If it wouldn't be selfish of me, I would make a wish that you would never get any older or bigger. That you will stay Momma's baby boy forever. So I will cherish and treasure the gift of watching you grow into a curious, intelligent, energetic, funny, happy, Momma's boy!

Momma LOVES you Natie Cakes!


Blog Archive