Friday, May 24, 2013

You are trapped in an elevator....

I am sure most people don't want to be trapped in an elevator, but if you were, and you could chose who'd be trapped with you, who would it be?

You can pick three people. One must be a friend, and someone from your past that you haven't seen in years, and someone famous.

My choices -
I am going to go out on a limb here and chose a 'friend' that is in my online list of friends. His name is Justin and just talking to him I can tell we'd somehow get along in a trapped elevator. Plus, we have never met in person. We've been chatting for numerous years through the magic of Internet, and it would be cool just to hang out and to actually see who I've been talking to.

Let's see there are a lot of people from my past, but who would be the one to be lucky enough to be stuck in the lift with me? I have one friend that I lost touch with from junior high/high school that I'd like to catch up with. Her name was Jen, and sitting on the floor of an elevator bringing each other up to date on our lives.

For a famous person, I'm going to have to pick Johnny Depp. While his characters can seem so odd and out there, and sometimes a bit goofy, I highly doubt he is. I'd like to see how he'd react to the scenario of being stuck in an elevator with three people.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Anthony's Smile

Sometimes I wake up with a bit on the grumpy side. Then upon seeing Anthony's smiling face makes me smile and instantly I am transformed.


I'm not saying my other children don't provide the same response when they smile, but they don't have those cute chubby cheeks and an instantaneous laugh to go along with it.
I've seen my lil' Ant make the most unlikely people smile. How can you not when you see this face?
There is something so amazing about seeing an Oscar the Grouch change into an Elmo.

That upside down frown of my baby is a dose of medicine we can all use no matter what the day brings us.  Anthony's smile is infectious, beautiful, contagious... Now there's something that is good to catch...

Anthony's Smile...  : )



Friday, May 10, 2013

Running(a writing prompt) vs. a slight jog

I come from a family of walkers. Running only happens when trying to get out of the rain, or a giant wind or sand storm is heading our way.
Running is something my son, Anthony, with Down Syndrome doesn't do. He will someday, but for now a slight job will suffice. I m not even sure how to get him to move from slight jog to run. That may require some help from  a physical therapist. Or maybe if I put a giant vat of ice cream about ten feet away from him he may run to it?

He Will run. I will slightly jog....

Friday, May 3, 2013

An amateur artist, some tasty snacks, and a lil' sangria...

Once you are married and have a few sons, daughters, hellions, whatever you chose to call them, the idea of a night out seems pretty awesome. Sometimes an hour off from life is a great escape. So, when I got to spend an entire evening (last night) , with my mom friends, it was like I'd been deserted on an island with Buffalo chicken dip and sangria.

My friend also the hostess for the evening is an artist. She brought out her latest yard sale find, a exorbinent about of wine glasses, and a variety of paints and brushes.
So we all had one glass with sangria and the other glass was our soon to be a piece of art. Suffice to say that a few of my friends are very good artists, then there's me. However, it was more about having fun and catching up on what was going on in our worlds. I actually did have a lot of fun with the paint brush in hand.
To think I did three glasses(shh...the second one is a mother's day gift for the wine connissour of my family whose also my mom), is a feat itself. As the night wore on, with only minimal alcohol consumption, I decided just to have fun and that it wasn't my 7th grade art class.


Sometimes it's the most simple nights that make the best ones! Especially when you are with your friends. :)


This is me with my 'Monet' inspired work. It's supposed to be a tree, but I made the branches way too thick.





This is the first -- Originally I was trying to get it to match my kitchen(yellow, green, and a lil' read) but somehow ended up doing this swirly Charlie Brownish sort of line thing. - I am sure there is some sort of art term, but I'm just making this all up as I go along.
One of my friends thought it seemed sort of Mexican themed...It will be on display on Cinco De Mayo!
Cheers everyone!!!



















Thursday, May 2, 2013

Part 2 - Anthony's homecoming... My Awesome Anthony!!

Needless to say, I could write about Anthony all day. From those chubby cheeks to the way he climbs my bed as if it's a tower of comfort to which he wants to park himself with a book or two. Hey, that isn't such a bad idea!
Like my other children, bringing him home, brought a certain craziness back to our world as lovely as it had gotten. My husband and myself  both started doing a lot of research and educating ourselves about what Down Syndrome is. It's different. It's a slower life.

Between the internet, books, and meeting other families who had a child with DS, we started learning a lot about it. Also, we were meeting new people who were in that same slower boat as we were.
I have learned so much about what DS since Anthony was born. I'm actually grateful for this amazing life -- the little life, Anthony.
He can make anyone smile, and hams it up a lot.
He's a Rock Star!

He's a budding artist!

He's awesome!! I love you Anthony!! Thank you for being YOU and what you bring into the world.
:)
 

Coming home - A better Place

After almost two weeks in two different hospitals, Anthony was finally able to join his family at their modest yet humble abode.
Born with a low body temperature and slow heart rate, there was some concern and he was kept in his incubator more than he hung out with his mama. My heart sunk, things were not like this with my other “male” deliveries. The staff at the hospital did everything they could do to help him thrive.
I was discharged without him thinking what else could possibly happen? Seeing my other two little dudes with their signs and excited faces just about broke my heart.  After not being able to stabilize his temperature and heart rate, Anthony was being transferred to a pediatric hospital.

All I wanted was for my baby boy to be home and it was so hard to have to go to the NICU and see him hooked up to all these machines. Every day there were updates of his good health and great progress.
The day he was discharged, my husband and I met with Dr. Sig Pueschel, who was the doctor in charge of the Down Syndrome Program at Rhode Island Hospital. He gave the official diagnosis of Anthony having Down Syndrome and did it in such a quiet, upbeat way that I felt immediately relieved and happily relaxed about what the future would bring.

After three days at Sturdy Hospital and 5 at Women & Infants' Hospital,  he was finally able to come home. I was so happy to have him be with us and begin his life outside the walls of the hospital. His coming home brought us into a new world. It’s a beautiful, amazing, colorful, place where we have grown as a family and our world became a better place.