Buddy Walk

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The first annual Buddy Walk for the Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks was a huge success! The goal was to have 200 participants. There were over 600!! This was the biggest parade of people to ever grace Hammons Fields, home of the Springfield Cardinals! We had a good time, however, it was the hottest day that we have had so far. Poor Addysen ended up pretty much with heat exhaustion/stroke, heat something! She kept falling asleep and was totally out of it. It didn't help that she had woken up from her nap with a congested nose and very watery eyes. We made it through the fourth inning, after my mom won a prize basket! She and I took Addy home and the boys stayed for the game. They got home around 11:30 p.m. and left during the 12th inning! Unfortunately our Cards lost in the 13th but it was a good game and it was for a great cause! I even ran into my first grade teacher, Ms. G, who happened to also be a participant in the walk. She was my favorite teacher and it was nice to see her. She kept telling Addy how lucky she was to be with our family. However, we all feel that we are definitely the lucky ones! I did get to the attorney yesterday and our Petition to Adopt is being filed!! Yeah!!! The three little ones also had check ups, Addy has a virus. She woke up covered in a rash, I figured due to the extreme heat, but no a bug! She is perking up and hopefully will be back to her old self soon!

Jarika Update :(

Well after being chewed out by the doc for wearing flip flops, Jarika is out of cheerleading for at least three weeks. Her ankle is resprained and is not good. He told us that if this continues she will need another surgery that will require her being cut from her knee all the way down to her ankle to use a tendon to do some sort of wrap procedure to fix the ankle. She will then pretty much be out of all sports from then on. Jarika is devastated to say the least. So she's now packing for cheerleading camp where she gets to sit and watch the fun for four days. She is extremely bummed. We're hoping that the next few weeks off will help and she'll be able to participate after that. We have to go to Sports Medicine after she returns and see if we can find a different brace since she sprained it this time with her brace on. I feel so bad for her, this is not going to be easy. She misses out on the competitions which is one of her favorite parts of camp and she has tried out for All-American every year since the age of 7 except one two years ago because her, yep, her ankle being sprained. No one ever knows if they'll get nominated but now she doesn't even get the chance to be looked at. Well, this way she knows it not because lack of ability, just lack of participation. So, please cover my girl in prayer that she will handle this well. There will be much talk that she's faking, it doesn't really hurt, she just wants attention, etc. Girls are a pain sometimes and hopefully she'll just let mean comments roll off of her. We can just pray.

From my RR Friend's Blog

This is from a friend from Reece's Rainbow, it has just about been a year since she brought her precious son home from Eastern Europe and she is celebrating! Check out her post and visit her blog!

http://chroniclesofhousehold6.blogspot.com/
From Shelley's Blog:

I am giving away my Blackberry Curve. It is in excellent condition....I've had it less than 6 months and always carried it in it's case. It works with a T-Mobile SIM card(and I'm sure it can be unlocked for other carriers). When we changed cell phone providers, I decided to downgrade to something cheaper. I sold my husband's identical phone on ebay in less than 5 minutes for $170. I decided to give mine away instead. So, here's the deal:

On July 27th, I will pick my Xander up out of his bed, kiss his chubby little cheek.....and thank the Lord for putting him in my arms one year ago. To honor that moment one year ago, I am auctioning off my Blackberry Curve with every penny of the money raised to go into the grant fund for Raina, who is waiting in Bulgaria. Raina, like Xander, has Down Syndrome and clubbed feet. She is destined to live her life confined to a crib unless a family takes a leap of faith and adopts her into their family.

So, here's how this is going to work. There is a Chip In widget over on the side of my blog. A $5 donation made through that account will enter your name in the drawing. You can enter as many times as you want....each entry requires $5. The auction will end on July 27th and Xander will draw the winner himself. Every penny of the money in the chip-in account will go to Raina.....and someone will get my Blackberry Curve. You can keep it, resell it yourself....whatever you want to do with it. My intention is to get some money in this little girl's grant fund.

Stress

Addy's First Football Game
September 2007

I'm just writing this down because I am stressed and it seems like a good way to vent. My darling Jarika is dealing with some not so great things right now and I am go crazy because of it. Jarika has been involved in cheerleading since she was five years old. She has been a gymnast and has been very successful. She hasn't done much tumbling in the past few years due to some anxiety issues and her right ankle. On January 23rd of last year she had a complete ankle reconstruction performed. She was in a cast and on crutches for eight weeks. It has been an ongoing issue. This week she has been at cheerleading practice to get prepared for camp next week. Her ankle has been throbbing, swelling and pretty much just giving out on her. If anyone has ever worked with a group of girls (not just cheerleaders mind you) girls don't always get along, they are very emotional, and they take things the wrong way. A LOT! This week has been full of some terrible incidences that I'm not getting into but things are not going well. I quit coaching this year and I do think it was the right decision, but things are frustrating me to no end. Jarika and a few other girls are really struggling and they really need prayer. They have not been totally innocent to wrong doings either, but they are dealing with things that they are just not prepared to deal with. So now, we are dealing with DRAMA and now our ankle is giving us fits. Us girls (me, Jarika and Addy, the boys are heading to WALL-E with their grandma and cousins) are heading to her Orthopedic Surgeon today to see what is wrong. I pray that she doesn't need another surgery and maybe new bracing or physical therapy can help her. My daughter is miserable and it is tearing me up. I know that people make fun of cheerleaders and things like the drama that is happening this week is why, but people need to understand that this is something Jarika is passionate about and has been for 11 years! She puts her heart and soul into this and now it is looking like her life is being sucked out of her because of it. Please pray for my girl and give her strength and healing and the right words to deal with what she is dealing with.

Eating Fries, Baseball and a new swing...

The other night Jarika came home from work with food from Sonic. Addy could not keep her eyes off of her food, so Jarika decided to share. Remember, Addy is completely tube fed and we are still working on just getting food past her lips most days! Addy loved Jarika's French Fries! I'm sure the ketchup had something to do with it because that is one thing Addy does like! It was so cute how she kept imitating her big sister!




This picture here shows the love on Addy's face for Jarika, it is so precious.

Last night at Avery's ballgame he got to be the catcher! He was so excited! I personally think he really just wanted to experience all of the gear! However, he did a great job and thought he was Yadier Molina, so good job buddy!



Addy's OT brought over a hammock swing last week for her. She did okay in it but really wasn't that thrilled. Today though she LOVED it and cried when we stopped! She prefers going back and forth over side to side (gotta love proprioception and vestibular senses!) and she doesn't mind going around and around.
She's all wound up!You gotta love those precious little piggies sticking out! Especially between toes one and two!

Sad little Addy... she still wants to swing!

18 month pic

This is one of the photos of Addy's 18 months pictures. It's pretty amazing I must say!

Piggy Tails

Is this pic not a hoot!?!?!?

I tried something different with Addy's hair. She has horrible cradle cap in the top of her head. I thought it was really clearing up but once I parted her hair in the middle I found that it's only a little bit better, oh well. She's still adorable!