Nashville Buddy Walk - Help Katie's Crew!

The Nashville Buddy Walk is a one mile walk taking place on Saturday, October 20, 2012 at Centennial Park.  This is the first walk we will participate in.  You're not familiar with the Buddy Walk?  The Buddy Walk was started in 1995 by the Down Syndrome Society to celebrate Down syndrome awareness month in October and to help promote inclusion, awareness, and acceptance of people with Down syndrome.  You know, people like Katie.

When I think about what I want for Katie, it is above all inclusion, awareness, and acceptance.  We have been so incredibly fortunate to have an amazingly supportive group of friends and family.  Katie is  surrounded by people who have automatically accepted her and loved her unconditionally.  We chose Katie because she has Down syndrome, and this Buddy Walk is such an incredible opportunity for us to support other friends like Katie.  Obviously fundraising is fantastic, but more than that I would love to have a team of people who love Katie walking on our team, Katie's Crew. 

The walk is one mile.  Can't make the walk but would like to help support this fantastic cause?  Please consider donating through our team page.  I've set a very modest fundraising goal of $500.  We raised almost $35,000 to bring Katie home - that's amazing!  Remember Coins for Katie?  We raised over $6,000 by people saving their spare change.  Surely we can raise $500?!  

Please join us either in person (which I would love!) or by donating what you can.  As we saw with our Coins for Katie, literally every little bit helps.  

Before and After Photos Needed!

I need your help!  

Have you adopted a Reece's Rainbow child with Down syndrome?  

I would love to share before and after photos of your child.  

If you don't know how to make a side by side shot, that's OK!  

I will do it for you!  

I am co-hosting the Reece's Rainbow table at the Nashville Buddy Walk in October.  

Please help Katie and me reach lots of Nashvillians and show them what a huge difference a family can make to a child.  

What other proof could people need?

Please help me fill a poster (or more than one!) with photos like this of our amazing children.  Comment if you're willing to help, or email me at ksimp6577 {at} bellsouth {dot} net.

Wilson County Fair

Yesterday we went to the Wilson County Fair.  We've been once before, in 2009, and I swear to you that David remembered where every single ride was and what he went on last time.  Particularly the "Hall of Mirrors" as he called it, which he looked for all. day. long.  (Thankfully we found it.)  Last time we went, Jack was a baby and I don't remember him riding anything.  This time he was at Chris' parents house for the weekend.

2009

2012

The comparison between those two pictures makes me want to cry.  

We were so lucky to participate in Special Needs day at the fair, which allowed us to get into the fair three hours before it opened, park for free, have free admission and all day rides for Katie plus two additional people.  We had so much fun!

David and Henry had no fear and wanted to ride everything.

They were very sweet about riding some things with Katie as well.

Henry said, "Katie's rides are boring."

We checked out the other fair things too, like the old village buildings, the huge 400 pound pumpkins, the gardens, the honeybees, and the flowers.  David found a new love for country ham and entered a contest to win a huge ham.  With my luck he'll actually win it.

I think they rode every ride.

Some of them two and three times.

Katie LOVED the rides.  

Really, there's not much she does not love.

She really loved to go down the huge slide.

We stayed for six hours!

After the fair, we went to Gigi and Grampy's house for a quick swim.

Henry and "Goldy", the fish he won at the fair, fell asleep in the car on the way home!

We had a fantastic day.  We all came home a little sunburned, with bellies full of fair food.  I hope we don't wait three more years to go back.

Three Months Home!

Today marks three months that our sweet Katie has been home with us.

She's continuing to do so well - better than we ever could have hoped.

When she first came home she was very guarded around the boys.  I think she was unsure of how they would treat her, and that made her nervous.  You would never know now that she hasn't been here forever.  She climbs all over them, wants to hug and kiss them, doesn't hesitate to yell at them if they make her mad, and is constantly right with them playing.  To watch this little person emerge has been magical.

Katie is so smart - she can now speak over 40 words and signs around 80.  Her speech therapist is thrilled with her progress, as are we.  She understands everything we say to her, which still amazes me. She signs and speaks spontaneously, although the speaking sometimes needs some prompting.  I cannot wait to see how her speech has progressed a year from now.  Remember, she had NO words when I brought her home, in either Russian or English.  None!  And now she's got a combined verbal/ASL vocabulary of over 100 words in just twelve weeks.  

She's started her screenings and evaluations for preschool, and she will start in September.  She did very well at her initial screenings, and the teacher was shocked to find out that she had been here for such a short time.  We're very hopeful that next year we will be able to place her in a typical class for Kindergarten.  That's not an option this year because of her communication skills, but we're working hard toward that goal.

She got her orthotic inserts this week, along with a snazzy new pair of New Balance shoes.  She put them right on and acted like she's worn them for her whole life.  Katie has flat feet and some mild pronation because of hypotonia, which is very common in people with Down syndrome.  A good article about orthotics and young children that I've found is this one - it explains the importance and benefits of orthotics and talks a little bit about the UCBL insert, which is what Katie has.  As KR's feet grow, we will have new inserts made.  She will likely need inserts forever.  Don't worry - they fit in her cute shoes.  I've already checked.

Katie is such a happy girl, so vibrant and full of life.  She has opened up so much in the short time she's been here.  And though it's been short, it feels like she's always been here.  I cannot imagine our family without her.  How did we live for so long without her and without knowing she was missing?  She has a fabulous sense of humor, is silly, loves to snuggle (especially at bedtime), and particularly loves sweet Henry.  She and Jack are a hot mess together, getting into everything, chasing each other or the dogs around the house, dumping out legos, jumping on the beds, and dressing each other up in costumes and dress up clothes.  

Some things we are working on with Katie now are using the potty (which she is doing a FABULOUS job with!), listening to directions (using the 1-2-3 method if we need to), and not hugging everyone she meets.  The not hugging is important for several reasons, namely for attachment purposes and for an awareness of strangers.  Katie has very firmly bonded to us, but she is going to start school soon and will be with teachers and caregivers for a large part of the day.  We want to make sure she understands that we are her parents and not the people at school.  This seems silly to people who have not adopted - of course the teachers aren't her parents.  However, we need to remember that for almost 5 years Katie was cared for by people in a school-ish setting.  She will not have forgotten that in three months, no matter how much we love her.  I want her to bond to her teachers in an appropriate way, not a parental way.  Also, because she is so friendly and people are excited to see her, there are often lots of hugs.  I love that everyone likes Katie so much and is so excited to see her, but she has zero concept of a stranger.  None.  She would hug and go to everyone she meets.  We need to start teaching her now that this is not appropriate for lots of reasons, but one huge one is obviously that she is far more vulnerable based on her inability to speak clearly for herself.  I think this will be a long lesson for Lady K.  She's just a people person!

I am thrilled with Katie's progress since she's been home.  She is an absolute joy, and we are so, so lucky to be her family!

Getting Juicy

I've decided I hate the word juicy.  

It's ridiculous, I know.  

But it sounds so gross.  

Juicy.

You may remember that last week I did a sort of juice fast.  I stopped drinking caffeine, juiced fresh fruits and vegetables every morning and drank one juice for breakfast, ate a small lunch of fruits and vegetables, and drank a juice in the afternoon.  Then I ate a small dinner of vegetables.  I also tried to drink at least 80 ounces of water daily.  

I expected the week to be really difficult.  I don't even really like juice.  Prior to last week, I may have had juice to drink (and by juice, I mean out of a bottle that is purchased at the store) approximately two times a year.  I'm just not a juice drinker.  I also, while drastically changing the way I was eating, stopped drinking any caffeine.  At all.  My two main sources of liquid before last week?

I pretty much drank a caffeinated beverage all day long.  I was probably more nervous about not drinking diet coke and coffee than I was about essentially not eating!  Monday was rough - I had a killer headache all day long.  Tuesday was better and I had a headache only in the morning.  By Wednesday, my headache was gone entirely!  I replaced the diet coke and coffee throughout the day with bottled water, either plain, with fresh squeezed lemon, or fruit splash water.  I did have a couple of Crystal Light single serve packets mixed in water, but I tried to avoid artificial sweeteners.  

The bad parts about juicing for a week?  There really weren't any "bad" parts.  Cleaning the juicer is a pain, but I had to do it once a day.  It took me about 15 minutes in the morning to make my juices for the day.  I would take one to work in a cup with lots of ice, and I would take the other in a blender bottle like this:

However, that 15 minutes of juicing and ten minutes of cleaning up was essentially all of my food prep for the day.  I would have a few minutes of steaming some veggies or cutting them up in the evening, but that was it!  Obviously I still had to pack lunches for the kids, make breakfast for them, cook dinner, etc., but I would have to do that anyway.  Juicing did not add anything in terms of "work" to my day.  

The worst part - the absolute worst - was Sunday.  We had Chris' birthday party on Sunday, and I make everyone a special birthday dinner for their party.  The birthday person gets to pick whatever he or she wants for dinner.  Chris' selection?

Turkey dinner.  I had not eaten anything other than fruits and vegetables in a week.  I had some butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and a small (like, 1/4 cup) serving of cornbread stuffing.  And I paid for it dearly.  My stomach was a wreck.  And by a wreck, I mean every single person in our house was probably wishing we had more than one bathroom.  And by wishing we had more than one bathroom, I mean I forced my four year old to leave the bathroom while he was brushing his teeth because "Mama has to go potty, and I have to go NOW."  The way I felt on Sunday was enough to make me realize that I need to continue juicing, if I had any doubts.  I. felt. horrid.

The positives, for me, of the week of juicing FAR outweighed anything else.  I never - not one time - felt hungry during the week.  In fact, I felt far more full than I do eating "normally".  I felt absolutely fantastic. I had more energy than I have had in a long, long time.  I slept really well and, more importantly for me, woke up feeling very rested.  That is something I have not felt in a LONG time.  And I got up at 4:00 a.m. and had no coffee all day long!  I noticed a difference in my skin by the end of the week.  Chris and all of the kids were drinking some juice in the morning by the end of the week.  David wants it every morning now, and Jack wants to help make them.  

And by the end of the week I had lost 9.2 pounds.  

In one week.  

Yes, I'm serious.  

So I told myself that I would juice for a week and see how it went.  Guess what I brought to work yesterday morning?  Two juices and some squash for lunch.  And Chris started his first week of juicing yesterday! 

Sipping on. . . Just Juice

Since Monday, I've had nothing to eat or drink but fruits, vegetables, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, and water.  It's sort of a modified juice fast.  Modified in that I'm also eating fruits and vegetables.  I'm not going to lie, I was apprehensive about this.  I was very excited to try it, but was also very apprehensive.  I thought I would be so hungry.  I was so wrong.  I haven't been hungry at all.  A typical day has been a juice for breakfast, a juice and some vegetables for lunch, and either a juice or some more vegetables for dinner.  I am also drinking lots of water throughout the day, and I feel great!

In the morning I've been having fruit juices.  The two I liked the best were grapefruit-pineapple and grapefruit-orange-strawberry.  Why am I not hungry?  Uh, do you have any idea how much fruit goes into making a juice?  For the grapefruit-orange-strawberry, I used one grapefruit, two oranges, and 24 strawberries.  That's a lot of fruit!!  I wouldn't ever sit down and just eat that.  I put it in my cup and add tons of ice, and it's delicious.

I bring a mixer bottle with me to work with my lunch juice.  Yesterday I had my favorite of the veggie juices.  It was spinach-apple-pear.  I used about 2 or 3 cups of spinach, three apples, and two pears.  You cannot taste the spinach at all.  Travis, my juicing partner in crime, swears that he loves it with beets added.  I am so hesitant about that, but I'm going to take his word for it and juice up a beet.  (Despite wanting to vomit as I say that.)  For lunch yesterday I had a sliced up orange bell pepper and a sliced kiwi with my spinach juice.  For dinner I had steamed edamame with some salt and pepper.  

Doing this has not been nearly as difficult as I thought it would.  The hardest part was no coffee or caffeine.  I am a serious Diet Coke drinker.  I haven't had any caffeine at all this week, and I have survived!  Please read that laced with some sarcasm.  Monday I had a raging headache that I can only attribute to not having any caffeine at all.  I would typically drink at least two cups of coffee at home before going to work, then drink several Diet Cokes throughout the day.  I stopped that cold turkey and started drinking freaking spinach juice.  And I feel great!  Tuesday I had a little headache, but nothing significant.  Yesterday, no headache at all.  I would still love to have a coffee, but I'm going to get through this seven days without it and then maybe switch to half decaf. 

Yesterday was Chris' 40th birthday.  We are celebrating this weekend with our family, but he loves chocolate chess pie, so I picked one up for him on my way home last night.  (And yes, he's blowing out tea light candles on his chocolate chess pie.  I had no other candles.  Don't judge.)

Not having some of the pie took some restraint, but it was really more because I wanted to share it with my family than it was that I wanted to eat it.  Although if I could have figured out a way to juice a piece of pie. . . 

I'll let you know how the rest of the week goes, but so far, so good!

Weekend Business

I cannot believe this was our last weekend before school started!  We had what felt like a million last minute things to do.

Saturday I got up early to hit the half price day at a local consignment sale.  I got some great things, including a Robin costume for Jack for $1.50.  He love, love, loves a costume, and he is particularly fond of Robin.  He doesn't care that the pants are capris because it's a little small.....

Later that morning we went to a picnic for our local group of the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee.  It was nice to meet a few friends who live close who also have children with Ds.  Katie was the only girl, and the only adopted child.  And she was w.i.l.d.  There were some sweet babies there and one big boy who was nine.  I chatted with his mama about some school stuff for a little while.  I met the executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee and he was surprised that Katie had been home for such a short period of time.  He and his wife were very sweet, and it was nice to meet them.  

After the picnic we headed to Opry Mills Mall.  And drove right on past it when we saw the line of cars on the road waiting to get off at the exit.  It was ridiculous.  It was tax free weekend in Tennessee, and apparently everyone in the mid-state decided that Opry Mills was where they would spend their tax free dollars.  No thank you.  We turned around and came back to get our things at a store closer to home.  It was a bit of a wasted trip, but Jack and Katie both napped in the car so it was really worth it.

We went to the Avenue and got David and Jack some shoes at Stride Rite.  Both needed new school shoes.  Henry did too, but they had nothing in his size.  And yes, Jack wore his Robin costume to go shoe shopping.  

Sunday, after a last minute run to find Henry some new {huge} school shoes, we loaded up the car with big boys and school supplies and went to our school's open house to meet their teachers.  (I should add, we got Henry's shoes in Murfreesboro at Children's Shoe Company.  They are phenomenal.  If you are in this area, you need to go there for your shoes.  They are comparably priced to Stride Rite, and the customer service is fantastic.  And Mr. Joey taught Jack to tie his shoes in about three and a half minutes.

There are a lot of supplies on the second and third grade lists!

We met the teachers, dropped off supplies, and hightailed it back home for some dinner and baths.

I had my dinner sitting on a stool in the bathroom while Katie and Jack took a bath. . . sometimes you have to do what it takes to have 10 minutes to eat in peace!

After baths, Katie and Jack did their best Jabba the Hutt impressions.

I might be biased, but my little Jabbas are much cuter.

We had a great weekend, and I'm sad it was the last one of the summer for us!