Imagine the PossABILITIES

Tomorrow we travel to Philadelphia (as long as Cameran is feeling better) to attend a self-advocacy Down syndrome conference.  Karen Gaffney, Sujeet Desai, and two other self-advocates will be keynote speakers and then the day will be spent cycling through mini workshops to get to know these individuals and their successes and advocacy goals.  I am excited to learn first hand from individuals with Down syndrome.  Ryan and I are driving up either tonight or early tomorrow.  I hope to take pictures!  Anything to help advocate for this little sweetie is right up my alley, and I am thankful to our local Down syndrome group for sponsoring our ability to attend for free.

An Honest Look at Stereotypes

If you do not have a family member or a close friend connecting you to the world of Down sydrome or any other special need for that matter, then it is difficult to imagine what life for an individual with Ds or his/her family is like.  Stereotypes are human nature.  Most of us who are now parents of a child with special needs would be lying if we said we were totally comfortable around people with special needs/disabilities prior to being catapulted into our new normal.  Some of us got here knowing ahead of time that our child may or would have special needs while others (myself included) did not learn until after our journey began.

This blog post is a candid look at one "outsiders" learning experience as he encounters a young woman with Down syndrome at his local Starbucks.

Please click here to experience this man's outside look in.

She crawls

I am taking the liberty to finally announce that Cameran is crawling finally. 

A little bit.

When she wants to.

Okay, only when she wants to.

Which is almost never.

But, I have now seen her in action. Ryan has seen her in action. Her SI has seen her in action.  Her daycare has seen her in action.

And so it counts. 

I am talking only like 3-5 paces forward, but they are consecutive and purposeful and uninterrupted by her obsession with standing.

Yay Cami!

Love

One thing I love the most about my husband is his spontaneity.  I know that not a days passes where I can expect what witty banter or sarcasm will come flying from his mouth.  I also love the fact that he can dupe me quite easily which makes holidays, Hallmark and legit alike, more surprising on my end. 

This Valentine's Day is no exception.  Our building administrative assistant came into the copy room with a large rectangular box.  I figured it was for the machine or something, but I was wrong; it was a box for me! 

Not to be disappointed, I looked inside and found...

These are the most scrumptious chocolate covered strawberries I have ever tasted. 

A few years ago we decided that eating out on Valentine's Day was too much of a hassle, and we decided to start the tradition of ordering in.  Some years it is Red Lobster, sometimes a steakhouse, and this year it was Olive Garden's turn.  I only wish I could have eaten more than my salad and a few bites of calamari before getting full.  At least it will make for an awesome lunch tomorrow.  Seafood Portifino is amazing. 

I love you Ryan :)

PS Say a little prayer for Cami.  She still can't shake this nasty cough and on and off fever.  She is uncontrollably fussy and is pulling at her ears despite just recently finishing a 10 day antibiotic.  Hopefully it is just that other molar popping through, but little miss is miserable. 

Gerber Baby #2 Update

This week has been a morning sickness/cranky teething toddler nightmare. Seriously, I felt/feel like I barely have enough energy to eat, let alone blog.
So for all of you waiting for this baby update, I am sorry, and I will do better once he/she stops making me feel like death ;)
Here's a run-down of this past week...
Tuesday was our initial appointment. I was hoping since we didn't have a clue (aka December was nuts and I lost track of counting 28day increments) as to when this child was conceived or my last p's date that they would do an ultrasound same day. No such luck. Using my records we counted forward until we reached what should have been December's special friend, Dec. 4, and thus arrived at the conclusion of my due date of 9/9/11 (kinda creepy).
We weren't pressured into any testing, which I was kind of dreading since we are well aware of statistics since having Cameran. The appointment was pretty uneventful, other than determining we should go to maternal/fetal medicine for the 20 week ultrasound since their equipment is more sophisticated. Left with date of the first ultrasound which turned out to be the next day.
Ryan was unable to make it to this appointment, but it was no big deal; i think I was in and out in 15 minutes. On Wednesday, little Gerber baby#2 was an inch long and measuring 9 weeks 5 days, thus confirming the due date of September 9, 2011.

(For the ultrasound-challenged, the head is the bottom right and baby is looking up. He/she kinda looks like he/she's wearing a golfer cap at this point.)
Happy almost-Valentine's Day.

Plus 15 Campaign

Please take a second a watch this minute long video clip. Its aspiration is to be proactive and help Cameran and the 400,000 other individuals with Down syndrome. If you like it, then please consider sharing it on Facebook or embedding it to your own page.

Plus 15 from WebEnertia on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday to...

BLOG!
Yes, my blog, you are one year old today. Oh how time flies.  It seems like only yesterday I began clicking away to track memories of little Peanut who is soon going to be, dare I say it, 2 in March. 
I have to tell you blog, since I did such a crappy job documenting Peanut's first 11 months, I better make up for it with baby number 2.  We should have about 7 1/2 months to document this new little Pea's journey before he/she makes the grand entrance.  For now, guesstimates have Pea's arrival around the beginning of September, but experts won't weigh in until this Tuesday, when I am going to badger them for an ultrasound to date this little dude/ette.  Seriously?! Who woulda thunk (great English teacher I am) that Ryan's boys would break and enter a second time after being told there wasn't a snowball's chance in H-E double hockey sticks that it would happen without $22,000 up front for in vitro. Psh-shaw on you Dr. @*&!%.  I'll bet one 22 month old and raise you a 2011 knock up that YOU WERE WRONG.....TWICE.  How's that for two surprise pregnancies ;)
Seriously though, Ryan is almost out of denial, and I am trying to calm my nerves about any possible malfunctions of this round's sperm and egg meeting.  There is a reason this happened, and just like with Peanut, we will love this child regardless, but oh, not to have to worry for the rest of the pregnancy would be glorious.  Prayers. 
And.................madre's potential donor is a MATCH!  There are a few last health tests and a meet-up with the surgeon by the donor and her family for a date can be arranged.  Thank you for all the prayers.

Yay for...

...taxes being done!  Serious refundage is on its way (by the end of the month, of course)!!!
But on a more serious note, my madre finds out this Friday (if all goes well) whether or not the woman who has been undergoing testing (a high school friend) will be a kidney match for her!  All has gone well so far in the potential donor's own health screenings, and the blood typing is a match.  Now comes the fun part of which I imagine occurs in a petri dish where the blood of my mom (which she has to give monthly to keep fresh for instances such as this) will be meshed with the blood of the potential donor. 
Praying that this is the match we have been praying for.  Up to this point everything has occured rapidly.  The potential donor came forward around Christmas time stating that she would like to donate.  After Christmas and holding a family meeting, her family was totally on board with her selfless decision, and the month of January has been a whirlwind!

So, if you have a second, pray for my mama and that this match has the potential to be a success!

(I'll save requests for prayers that morning sickness goes away ASAP for another post ;) , and thank you to all who have sent us well-wishes for our unexpected future addition...More to come on Baby #2 soon...