What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas. Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Click on the link to discover what Movie your Chritmas is like. Oh, and Renee thanks for this post and my favorite Christmas movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas.

What type of blogger are you?

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

I AM A SENSOR/FEELER? WHAT?!?!?!?!

Click on the title of this post to get your blog analyzed.

More to report

I know you have all been holding your breath and are on the edge of your seats for this late breaking news. Penny's thyroid tests came back normal and there is no indication of Celiac disease. That is a big relief.

Now I want to leave you all with something I found really inspirational. Especially since I am new in Cub Scouting myself. Please take the time to watch this video. You will be glad you did.

Update on Dr.'s appt.

Penny had her 18 month check up:

weight: 23 lbs 6.5 oz - 40% on the typical chart
height: 33" - 60% on the typical chart
and her head circumfrence is still in the 4th percentile.

But, she now has an ear infection. I knew something was brewing by the way she always was rubbing her ear, but when she was checked last Wednesday, Dr. S said that her ears looked great. I was so happy that she made it to 18 months without one single ear infection. I should have knocked on some wood! So I was wondering how one has an ear infection on day 6 of antibiotics. hmmmm. She is getting changed over to oral ancef (whatever that is called these days) and she will be on that for 7 days. She just can't catch a break. At least she hasn't had a fever since Saturday. Ok, I need to find a forest to knock on now!

Day 2

Well, today we go to Penny's 18-month well baby check up. I will update later on how that goes. I just feel so bad for her because she is certainly not well. She hasn't had a bowel movement since Saturday (and that was a little one), and she still has a crackel in her chest. POOR BABY!!! I hope she gets back to her normal soon.

Day 1

To start off on my new blogging adventure for the month, I am going to try to post some Down syndrome stories that I come across. I know, I am just tryng to make up for October to stifle the guilt! But humor me.

This story will be aired on the Discovery Channel's Mystery Diagnosis in February of 2009. This litle girl ended up being diagnosed with translocated mosaic Down syndrome. Penny's boyfriend, Dillon, has mosiac Down syndrome. However, she was not diagnosed until almost age 3 due to her very mild symptoms. You can read all about her and see pictures here. This post is very imformative about the different types of Down syndrome.

"Hannah was born April 11, 2000 weighing in at 9 lb and 20 1/2 inches long. She developed and hit all milestones at a typical level. She did have projectile vomiting along with constipation issues however these were addressed as allergies and add more fiber or water less iron less lactose etc….. she started getting ill with every virus cold flu and cough around December ‘02′/ January ‘03′ and I noticed a Cobalt Blue color bruise on her right shin, when I questioned that I was told wait a month and watch it… when I questioned her illnesses–well it could be this or that…. while she was ill she complained of severe leg pains and cried to walk or play stumbling at times, she was pale and so on…
March 27, 2003 she was diagnosed with Leukemia a rare form (Myelodysplastic Syndrome) and admitted to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. During her initial high dosed chemotherapy it was discovered she had a chromosome translocation ( small parts of her #1 and #19 switched places) as well as trisomy 21 with monosomy 7. At the time we had no clue she had these abnormalities or extra cells. Further testing showed she had a mosaic Down syndrome, this was effecting about 5-10% of her cells, she was never diagnosed before or after her birth with any of these until her leukemia diagnosis in 2003."

Again, please click here to read the rest of Hannah's amazing story. And she is so cute!

Thanksgiving video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL7ksbaEzvw

Until they use Penny as the thumbnail and not myself, please get to this video by using the link above. lol

Thanksgiving photos

Here are the Thanksgiving pictures finally:

The four of us sitting down for dinner.

My GQ man before we left. He got into a lot of trouble for wearing that hat in Massachusetts!

Again, before we left, this is Penny calling her Dada on the phone.

A couple of other pictures of the 2 kids before we left.

Notice to the right

Ok, I know I really wanted to do Tricia's 31 for 21 Getting it Down posting extravaganza, (but failed miserably) but I wasn't, you know, into my blog yet, and I feel that I have really come around and out of my shell for this month. So, here it goes, I am going to take the monthly themes as advise and see if I can't blog every day next month. It is December, how can I not have things to write about, right?

21 things that are not about Down Syndrome

I admit, sometimes I need some inspiration for blog posts (don't we all). So I thought I would post 21 things about Penny that don't have to do with Down syndrome. I tag Mel and Dillon and anyone else can consider themselves tagged.

1. She still has cradle cap and she is 18 months old. When will she get rid of this??
2. Penny loves to play peek-a-boo.
3. She loves it when she gets attention from her older brother Nathaniel, but. . .
4. Does not like it when he tries to pick her up or hold her, she prefers his attention while she is in mommy or daddy's arms.
5. Penny will eat anything if it is in tomato sauce. Including vegetables!
6. She likes to hit us in the face. Scott and I are trying to get her to stop, but she likes to see us in pain I guess.
7. She loves music and likes to dance along to along.
8. Penny thinks it is funny when she throws food on the floor. It is her way to defy us or something.
9. She likes going "bye-bye in the car."
10. Her feet stink all the time and we have no idea why.
11. She likes to share her food and drink by putting things to my mouth or her daddy's mouth - even when the food is soggy with her saliva.
12. She can say "dog!" when she sees one in a book or on TV; in person, she is afraid of them.
13. Penny has been pretty much sleeping through the night since she was 3 months old (with a few exceptions when she is sick or after her 2ND surgery), but. . .
14. She wakes up a 6 am and we cannot get her to shift her schedule even when we put her to bet later and later.
15. Penny loves Spongebob Squarepants, who doesn't???
16. She hates it when I rub her hair, she is probably afraid I am going to pick at her cradle cap or something! lol.
17. Penny likes to play with tea set and then put the cups and such back in her container.
18. She LOVES her daddy and he will win every time.
19. She has a babysitter that comes over 3 days a week and her grandmother watches Penny 1 day a week.
20. Her favorite word is "Dada!"
21. Her mommy and daddy think she is the cutest little girl in the world!

My Dearest 18 month old

Dear Penny, today, you are 18 months old. I look at you sitting on the living room floor sick and miserable, and I wonder when you will be feeling better. I love you and it breaks my heart that you are so under the weather. I am thankful that you are interested in drinking some apple juice this morning. Last night you wanted nothing to do with anything that had to go into your mouth.

You have changed so much in the last 6 months, and 18 months seems such a lifetime ago for me.

Let's see, since May you have begun to put yourself in a sitting position on your own. I was so happy when you learned that trick. You seem to cruise all over the place, so I like to set up the chairs around the room for you. Although I bet you will not be in the mood for it this weekend. *update, I just had to take a break from this post because you wanted me to help you walk from the coffee table to the dining table.* I guess you are feeling a little bit better today.

You say a couple of worlds like Dada and dog. And Sara the speech therapist seems to believe you say "all done" and "what's this." It does sound like you could be saying these things, but when are you going to say "mama?!" I would think that is more important then these other worlds. That's OK though, in time, you will say mama.

You started to crawl on your hands and knees, abandoning the military crawl you were so good at. Sometimes you even move on you hands and feet! Daddy said he saw you go into a standing position from the inverted "V," but I haven't seen it yet. Someday in the near future you will be walking, but I can wait. You just take your time for the walking piece. Yvette, your physical therapist, is very proud of the progress you have made and I feel the same way!!

You are no longer the fragile baby from last year, you are a big baby that makes her opinions known. It was such a quick change from baby to toddler, even though you are not toddling yet. You are very vocal and quick to let us know if we are doing something you don't like/want, like going to bed, or changing your diaper.

Bath time is probably one of your favorite times of because you love to play and splash the water so much. You also like to play with your doll house and tea set. For some reason, you love to hit me on the belly s hard as possible and wait for my painful reaction. I don't know why this is so funny for you, you must like to see me in pain or something.

Feeding time has gotten more interesting. You really try to so hard to use your fork even though the food just won't stay there. But you sure get an A for effort. You have also been drinking a lot out of your straw-cups. Good for you!

I know your first 18 months of life brought a few painful experiences and a couple of close calls, but I thank God we were able to keep you alive through technology so that we could get to know you and love you.

I can't wait to see what kind of person you will turn out to be. I love you!!

did I mention

I took her to the doctor Wed afternoon because of a fever on that day and she was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. She has been on antibiotics since Wednesday evening so I hope she will start to feel better soon.

And not so I sound like a horrible mother, I did ask the Dr. if it would be ok to take her to OSV on Thanksgiving, because if he said no, I would have stayed home for sure. He said that the fresh air might do her good and that it really is up to how miserable she is.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Nathaniel told me he is thankful for God, because if it wasn't for God, none of us would exist! lol.

We were able to make it to Old Sturbride Village for a Thanksgiving banquet. We got there early since we wanted to look around the living museum, but Penny was just so miserable. I felt so bad but we paid a lot for these dinner tickets so we tried it out and Penny made it through dinner ok with the help of some Tylenol. Then I took Penny back to the car so Scott and Nathaniel could enjoy another hour or so of the museum and she slept the entire hour and a half as well as the 45 minute ride back home. Then she slept until 5 or 6 when we realized that she was burning up. Scott took her temp and it was 104.1!!! I called the pediatrician's office first and left a message with the answering service to make sure that a 104 temp doesn't mean she should go the hospital. 40 minutes and a 2nd phone call to the answering service to make sure I had given them the right number for the doctor to call, and we just gave her more Tylenol. By the time we did get a call back at about 8 pm, she was feeling well enough to have dinner and terrorize our living room as usual. Since she was playing the dr. wasn't too concerned.

But we did have a lovely dinner. There was ham, turkey, apricot glazed carrots, broccoli and cheese Au gratin, mashed potatoes, a crudites table with home made pounded cheese, mac and cheese, and homemade cranberry sauce that was out of this world. Not to mention butternut squash bisque and salad fixin's. The desert table was wonderful too. There was this Indian bread pudding that was delicious. Their coffee was so wonderful too that I swear I thought there was alcohol in it. lol. I just wish Penny could have enjoyed it more.

Well, good night!!! I will post pix this weekend when I have more time I am sure.

Thanksgiving is in 2 days

I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here. This has been some kind of crazy fast year. I am thankful for all the friends and family that I have that continue to support me and be there for me. Thanks guys!

Penny is well!

Penny woke up today at 7am. Without a tantrum! Oh, she was still a little phlemghy, but she is a much happier baby. Yay!

Prayerss for Dillon

My friend Mel is having her heart broken tonight because Dillon is not feeling well. Please pray that he had a mild bug and that he will be getting better soon.

My Penny was doing better during the day, but I am very concerned what tomorrow morning is going to be like. I hope that it is not worse or as bad as this morning. I don't like to see her so upset!

Poor Penelope!

Yesterday morning Penny was up at 6:30 screaming because she couldn't breathe comforatbly. She had stridor (Does your child make a harsh, high-pitched sound when he or she breathes in (stridor)? and had that croupy cough that makes you worried. She seemed to calm down quickly so I went to work and left her with Scott.

Well, this morning, she woke up alarmed about at 5 am. Not only was she breathing funny due to the stidor and the croup, but she got her self so upset she would go into these fits where she made herself really stiff and with her clenched hands she would rub and hit herself all over her ear-temple region on the head. This was accompanied by an even more shrill scream. Her poor throat must have been on fire. She wouldn't take liquids and there was nothing we could do to calm her down. She didn't seem to be turning blue and because she was crying loudly we knew she was breathing somewhat, but no parent wants to see their child in so much pain. At 5:40, yes, forty minutes, I was starting to think we should take her to the ED because I was so concerned that she was not going to be able to calm herself and breathe right. Instead I called the pediatrician and was told by the answering service that I would be getting a call back from a nurse first. Now, I have a lot of respect for nurses, but if I wanted to talk to a nurse I could have called my insurance company's 24-hour helpline. I told the answering service about her heart defect and that I would really rather have the doctor call me, but she said that this is how it is done now. Does this seem wrong to anyone else or am I over reacting? I don't know. The nurse called back within 5 minutes and suggested we run the shower. The steam did help and after the 15 minutes or so Penny seemed happier. She stopped crying and even smiled a bit when I played our "Peeyew stinkie feet!" game. We were called back by the nurse and she listened to Penny's breathing over the phone to tell us that we could bring her in during office hours if we wanted to. (Our pediatrician has 9am to 12 pm hours on Saturday.) I decided not to because, they aren't going to be able to do anything for her. Croup just has to run its course. I just feel bad because it is clear she isn't moving that phlemgh that she is trying to hard to get out.

Does anyone else have any suggestions out there? She has been playing fine since we got back up at 8am (yes! she went back to sleep thank God), and she ate a pretty hefty lunch, but I am worried for tomorrow morning.

Go Aledo!

sorry if my linking abilities didn't work earlier.

You can purchase this through the website at www.newfamilymusic.com. Enjoy!

An Early Christmas Gifl

One of my co-workers brought in a CD for me and Penny for Christmas. I have never heard of this before but it is "God Doesn't Make Mistakes." I of course had to listen to it at work and now I can't stop crying! I didn't have a prenatal diagnosis, but my feelings are not far off. You can visit their website to purchase a copy for yourself here.

Here are the lyrics:

Lying in the dark, staring at the ultrasound.
The doctor shakes his head, says "I'm sorry but this baby has Down syndrome.
And I know it's hard to decide,
But she's so fragile that she'll probably die,
And it might be a blessing if she did"
Little did he know we're all the more blessed 'cause she lived.

Chorus:
And no, she's never gonna look like the other kids
And she may not learn to talk like the other ones did
And I guess she's always gonna walk just a little behind, But I don't mind.
'Cause she lives her whole life without one trace of guile
And she lights up the world with that crooked little smile
and she loves you with a love so pure it just makes you heart break.
And I'd like to tell that doctor,
God Doesn't Make Mistakes.

Sittin' in the park, watchin' all the children play.
My daugher walks up, they get quiet and little afraid.
But pretty soon the smiles come over their face
And they slow their game down just a pace
And I watch as a spirit of kindness abounds
And thank God for that girl who showed me what life's really about.

(Chorus)

. . . And she helped me to discover
God Doesn't Make Mistakes

They said something went wrong
But I think something went right
And I'll fight for my baby with all of my might.
'Cause I love her with a love so pure it just makes my heart break
And I want to tell the world,
GOD DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES

written by Steve Moser

And of course there is a cute picture of a beautiful girl with Down syndrome on the cover. I love this gift!!!