Down Syndrome Awareness Month
9/30/2007
This month, hopefully, you will be reading and hearing more about Down syndrome. October is Ds awareness month. I am going to play my part in spreading the word about Down syndrome by participating in Get it Down: 31 for 21, in which many bloggers with ties to the Ds community will be logging in and writing. I am also going to do my best to get some of my fellow bloggers links up in the next few days so that if interested you can check them out too.So, that's my goal. To share about our lives with Wil over the course of the next (okay, let me stop right here and tell you that my 'x' key does not work too well because a certain 2.5 year old removed it from the computer last week! so if in my haste to type you find I have missed an 'x' where there should be one you will know why) month - how he entered the world, his first weeks and months, his impact, his siblings, and more. Stay tuned. . . One down, 30 to go.
Labels:
Off and Running
9/09/2007
We - Columbia Crossroads Downtown Church - have officially launched! 
Tonight at 5pm we met for our first service followed by a meal together. It was a great time of celebration after many months of prayer and work in reaching this day.
Though we could not meet there tonight we also have a facility downtown that we will begin meeting in next week. It is a great location just blocks from the capital building, the University, some of the more popular retail and dining areas in town, as well as residential areas - both low income and upper/middle income. Our desire is to impact our city for Christ; this location puts us within arms reach of so many and will allow us greater opportunity to get involved with those
Tonight at 5pm we met for our first service followed by a meal together. It was a great time of celebration after many months of prayer and work in reaching this day. Though we could not meet there tonight we also have a facility downtown that we will begin meeting in next week. It is a great location just blocks from the capital building, the University, some of the more popular retail and dining areas in town, as well as residential areas - both low income and upper/middle income. Our desire is to impact our city for Christ; this location puts us within arms reach of so many and will allow us greater opportunity to get involved with those around us. We covet your prayers as we seek to honor God in this calling.
new things
9/01/2007
New climbing apparatus. After a couple of months in our home our built-in bookshelves are now in place and James can unload the boxes and boxes of books that have been stacked in our guest room. He will also find out how many received water damage from being stored in the garage of the rental house during the great plumbing disaster. But before any books go on the shelves the boys must test out their strength and experiment with the sound of their own voices in this particular spot.
New appreciation. Luke is evolving in his role as big brother and developing in his understand-ing of Down syndrome and how that impacts Wil and makes him special. Luke had "show and tell" at school last week and said he wanted to take a picture of his brothers and tell his classmates all about them and about how Wil is going to do everything other kids do - that it will just take him a little longer. I was so proud.
And Wil has a new sign - "cold". His whole body gets into this one!
New appreciation. Luke is evolving in his role as big brother and developing in his understand-ing of Down syndrome and how that impacts Wil and makes him special. Luke had "show and tell" at school last week and said he wanted to take a picture of his brothers and tell his classmates all about them and about how Wil is going to do everything other kids do - that it will just take him a little longer. I was so proud. And then the four year old emerged with a loud belch and an explanation of the various flavors that accompany his burps. In the end he decided a plastic elephant would be more interesting for "show and tell". :)
Is everything okay in there? . . .
8/28/2007
a police officer was calling out as he was knocking harshly on our door yesterday afternoon. I was sitting on the floor with Luke, Wil and Timothy - enjoying their ability to make one another laugh - when the officer arrived. I open the door. He asks if I am alone. "My kids are here with me." He is looking at me suspiciously and asking if there are any other adults in the house, if I am sure etc. He checks behind my door, asks about the sound coming from upstairs (it is the washing machine), and asks me if I would tell him if I was in trouble. "Uh, yes, what's going on." We received a 911 call from this address and heard a child screaming in the background, he says, and couldn't get through when trying to call back. I'm not sure how this could have happened since I have been with all three and Luke is the only one capable of using the phone anyway. Once the officer leaves I take a look around and find that the phone in our office is in an old porcelain cane holder in there and is on. I remember that Wil shut himself in the room earlier, a common occurrence, and was fussing to get out. Evidently he got the phone off the cradle, turned it on and managed to punch in the very numbers he should not before tossing it in the cane holder where his cries sounded distant and muffled to the operator.
Troublemaker!!
Troublemaker!!
I love it!
8/26/2007
It makes me so happy to see a baby with Down syndrome on the cover of a parenting magazine. It is even nicer to find such a positive article written about the joys of parenting these amazing kids. If you can get your hands on a copy. . . check it out!
Food and Fun
8/20/2007
Timothy is following in his brothers footsteps in many ways, his love of eating being at the top of the list! At the rate the three of them are eating our grocery bill will soon match our mortgage.And, as sometimes happens with the third child, we are finding that we are less concerned with certain things - like where Timothy finds his food. This is a common scene. . . (occasionally the floor is even clean)
Timothy scavenging for food beneath Wil's chair.Wil has also taught Timothy how to become an expert at one of his favorite activities. . .
emptying the toilet paper roll. It is evidently great fun because we cannot keep these two away from the toilet paper - and for some reason we cannot remember to keep the bathroom door shut. As a result this is an almost daily occurance. Timothy one-up'ed Wil today by emptying the roll on the wall and then pulling a roll from under the cabinet to shred. As you can see he is quite pleased with himself.
Mountain Getaway
8/18/2007
After a solid week of triple digit temps we packed our bags and headed for the hills. Though we did not find the traditional kind of solitude one often seeks in the mountains (we woke each morning to Luke's voice bouncing off the quiet, cool mountains, and no doubt waking the neighbors) we did enjoy time together as a family. We found a little something for everyone (James even got to do some trail running with a friend in Boone) and were able to keep a nice balance of enjoying the outdoors and not pushing the boys beyond their breaking points. Here are a some captured moments. 
Views from the parkway, always spectacular!
Some friends from Florida graciously allowed us to stay in their vacation home for the week. It was such a nice gift to us. One of the fun perks was the location - just outside of Boone with fabulous views all around, including Grandfather Mountain. The house is located in a community full of Christmas tree farms. We walked by this farm each day as we trekked up the mountain.
We made the short hike to see Linville Falls. Luke found all sorts of things to explore along the way.
"Wow, this just keeps getting better and better!" Luke declared with each new adventure. He thoroughly enjoyed hiking and playing in the cool mountain streams.
Timothy just enjoyed the action. He laughed his way through the whole trip.
Wil is proving to be quite the explorer. If there is anything around worth climbing he will attempt it. This is a new development for him so we are really happy with this new found strength, balance and confidence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
