Snowed In

Our first snow of the year! Living near the coast of NC means the chances of snow are pretty rare. We are usually lucky if we see it once a year. And when it does snow, well that means you're snowed in. Even if it means we gotten a whopping 3.5 inches. That is actually quite a bit for us. Most of our snow is covered by ice and is now an ice rink on top of the snow. The snow/ice came in Friday night and continued through Saturday. We have had very little melting and have another day off. I am just taking in all the beauty of the snow. I just love how the sun glistens on the snow creating a sparkling shine along with the ice encased trees. The girls have had fun exploring the neighborhood and Mattie keeps trying to escape outside. Not many hills here so Caroline has been pulling Mattie along our flat yard. Daddy did venture out one day and took the older girls sledding on one of our local man made hills along with some friends.

I've been trying to catch up on some of my quilting. Key word being "try". Mattie loves going into her sisters' rooms and you never know what she'll get into. She is getting into all the drawers and pulling everything out. She loves going in the bathroom and finding trouble too. The toilet is a problem. The older girls will sometimes forget to put the lid down. I am consistently asking did you put the lid down. And if its not the toilet, then its the toilet paper. We are definitely in the exploring stage. It's not like this 24/7 but we do have to be very mindful of where she is at all times. I'm always worried about what she is putting in her mouth. With older children, that means smaller stuff. With older children, that also means extra hands and for that, I am very thankful!

Caroline and Mattie

Abby is avoiding the camera, but I'll catch her one day!

Our Holly Bush


Abby decided it would be fun to tie the apron on Mattie. Little chef in the making!

New Quilt

Mattie's Nana has been working on making her a quilt for her bed. During our summer vacation, I was able to help out a little with the hand quilting part. It turned out beautiful and will be perfect for when she gets a big girl toddler bed. We aren't quite ready for that yet but one day not too far off maybe. My mom also made me a gift. We have that ugly metal fuse box in our dining room. I've really wanted to cover it in a way that we can have easy access to it when we need to get into it. My mom made a wall quilt that we can now hang over it. Thanks Mom!! You're the best!

Mattie's new quilt

pretty ribbon embellishment
Quilted Wall Covering

A Gold Star

Before the holidays, Mattie's EI coordinator came for a visit bringing along the speech therapist. Mattie has not had any therapy up to this point. She really has been doing very well with reaching her milestones. She has shown some delays with her gross motor compared to typical children her age. However, taking into consideration her development based on the Down syndrome model, she has actually been progressing nicely without the need for therapy. I am, by all means, not the type of person who stresses out about where and when Mattie will achieve her milestones. I've always had the attitude that she'll reach them when she reaches them. In the meantime, we just encourage her to develop just as we did with our other two children. As far as speech goes, I realize that Mattie is quite behind in comparison to a typical child. I know that speech is an area that develops much later so we were very excited to have a speech therapist evaluate her. After evaluating her, it was determined that she could benefit from therapy once a week. Mattie has officially had three therapy sessions so far. We really love her therapist and it has been quite helpful.

One of the main goals we are working on right now is to get Mattie to make choices between two items. For example, "What do you want? Would you like the apple or the orange? So for our homework, we were to find pictures of toys or people that Mattie is familiar with. I got a GOLD STAR for making flashcards for Mattie. I took pictures of her favorite things, mounted them on construction paper, and laminated them. That way she can handle them and they will last much longer.

Here are some of the cards.

Mattie loves these cards! We are also working on holding up two cards and finding the correct card. For example, we say "Look, Mattie, here is Elmo. Here is baby. Can you touch the baby? Again she is having to make a choice. Of course, we articulate the word as we say it. Before this activity, Mattie would never communicate her wants. I have seen a big difference in a short time. Now when I ask, "What do you want?" She has actually started pointing to the item. We are still working on signs and sounds. However, pointing is a big step for us!

Wordless Wednesday (Ready for School in one Popular Outfit)

I have to add just a few words. While reading Sweet Ella Grace and Banana Pants, I noticed that their little ones have the exact same outfit as Mattie's! These girls know fashion!

Cardboard Testimonies

Today our church celebrated its 10 years serving Christ! We had an awesome service that was quite emotional. Every person has a story. The road isn't always smooth. We hit bumps along the way and even sometimes feel like we are falling off a cliff. But one thing stands true. God will never leave us ~ We may walk away from Him but He is always there. Today our church had cardboard testimonials. I wish I had a video of ours. It was so touching. Here are a few pictures I took.....sorry they are not the best. I also included a video below of another church that did the same thing. I encourage you to take the time to watch it.

Matt's Testimony

It says...."Saved @ 12 ~ runaway @ 18........But He never ranaway from me!"

An Apple A Day...

If it is true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then Miss Mattie will have very few visits to the doctor. The other day I went into the fridge, when as usual Mattie was right there to see what she could get into. Her new fun is opening and closing drawers so it wasn't surprising to see her open the fruit drawer. As soon as she did, she grabbed the apple, took a bite, and ran off to her sister's room. She was giggling and grinning the whole way. She thought she was something eating that apple like a big girl. Well ever since that day, this girl loves an apple. She will eat the whole thing! I was quite surpised to see that she even eats the peel. I actually core the apple and have bought softer kinds of apples. I was worried she may choke if she bit off a big piece of a hard apple. Her therapist actually said it was a very good workout out for her oral muscles.

She looks like a little angel in this picture.

The Reason Why My Mommy Rarely Posts......

"Help! I'm stuck!" My mommy has to rescue me from tight spots quite often.

Don't leave the chair out~I love to climb!


"Don't worry~My mom and dad caught me doing this for the first time. Now that they've learned my new trick, I can't ever get on the table. That's ok. I keep them busy All the time~ I can always find a new adventure!"