Weekly Update

It has been quite a busy week. Since Abby has made the softball team, she has been having practice five days a week. She is absolutely loving all of it. The exercise is always a big plus and she loves the time with her friends.

Caroline has been busy with her school work and hanging out with her friends. Her teacher has commented on how well she is doing in school. She has been working on a powerpoint presentation of China. It amazes me how much these little kids can do.

Mattie has been into everything and keeps her mama and daddy on their toes. She loves the outdoors and tries to escape every chance she gets. She is doing well with her speech therapy and is a quick learner. Her speech teacher has some great things planned for the future. We are also looking into adding play therapy into her schedule. I think this will also help her communication skills. She really doesn't play much with her toys. Her favorite activity involves the t.v. remote control, a cell phone, the computer, and emptying drawers. She rarely plays with any of her toys for more than 2 minutes. She has picked up a stomach bug so we are home today. The week before last, she had pink eye and the start of her first ear infection. The joys of having a child in daycare.

I've been quite busy myself too and it is getting ready to get even busier. I am starting choir practice again this Sunday. We have also started a sewing group at church called Joyful Stitchers. Last night, we started with the basics on how to use a sewing machine. We are looking into a future project for charity. It is called Conkerr Cancer: A Case for Smiles. We will be making bright cheerful pillowcases for children who are in the hospital with cancer. I am really looking forward to this project.

Making the Team

This is the first year that Abby gets to try out for softball at the middle school level. She has been playing fastpitch softball since she was eight for our local community teams. She has been waiting until she was old enough to try out for the school team. This past week they had try outs for the girls' softball team. She has been so nervous about whether she would make the team. Well, she found out yesterday that she made the team! Hooray Abby! Now the fun begins. She has already brought the form home letting us know of all the expenses involved with uniform accessories and lots of afternoon practices. But that's OK. It's all a part of the experience. She actually let me take a picture of her in her issued uniform. She is so excited!

Victory

Do you recall my post about Caroline's Awards Day? Click here for details. Basically, I share how upset I was to be turned away from Caroline's Awards Day just because I had Mattie with me. Well, I wrote the Superintendent of schools and she stated that she would look into the matter. My husband and I decided to wait after the holidays before looking back into this matter. The 2nd nine weeks was coming to an end and we knew another Awards Day would soon follow. Here is the letter that we received from her school.

Yes! A victory! At least, parents with small children have the option of attending the program and will not be turned away at the doors of their child's school. Some things are just worth fighting for!

Special Exposure/Wordless Wednesday

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!