Walking and update on the give away

I have been trying for DAYS to upload video and have not been very successful.. I think I have a couple up now, so we will try it!  Claudia is getting closer and closer to being able to walk.  She can make it all the way across a room now, if she wants to.  I hope the videos work:

 

 

 

Since I have been unable to post in a while, here are a bunch of pics of my sweet girl... as she took my cell phone!  You will notice that she stood up, sat back down, spun around a few times and then decided to lay on it...

 

I wanted to let you all know that the fundraiser for the Braithwaite family has been put on hold as per their request. This is because they may be fully funded already! So... we are putting the give-away on hold in order to give another family the chance at some fundraising. Details to come soon, but don't worry everyone who has put in entries, they will still count!

 

A different kind of busy.,.

It has been so nice to be out of school, to not have to worry about homework or deadlines, to be able to relax a bit...  I don't get to sleep in since I have to get Claudia ready for school in the mornings, but then I have the rest of the morning to myself... somewhat.  Even though I am not in school right now I have been busy!  

Much of my time lately has been spent in my gardens, getting them ready and planting new things.  I still have a lot more to plant and fix up nicely but it is kind of fun and relaxing although it is hard work. I really hope that the gardens look good this year and grow well.  I have a bad habit of killing plants... I'm working on it!  Unfortunately it always seems to be the more expensive plants that I kill. 

This weekend I officially became a graduate nurse.   First I had the nursing graduation ceremony.  a bunch of my family and friends were there to support me, it was so great to see so many people there.  Jason and Claudia were there too and she was pretty well behaved for having to sit still for so long.  Jason did a great job with her.  I was humbled that my classmates would nominate me for an award.  I was the recipient of the Marilyn Hurlbutt award for clinical ability, compassion, perseverance and dedication to the profession of nursing.  I was so surprised and even got a bit teary eyed... it takes a lot to bring me to tears in public but my classmates almost did it! I feel so honored and blessed.  I cannot believe that nursing school is over, it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life.  I never imagined that nursing school would be so hard, or so rewarding.  I look forward to a rewarding career in nursing, I have no idea where it will take me, but I am excited to find out. 

After the nursing graduation, Jason and I went out to brunch with the other nursing graduates, it was a nice time.  I had to get back to the school for the college graduation after brunch.  The nurses get their own graduation ceremony but we still get to walk at the college's ceremony as well.  It was a good ceremony and I was glad to have gone.  Several nursing students attended the second ceremony and we were by far the loudest and most enthusiastic group of graduates there!  The nursing students are a pretty tight knit group of people since we have been through so much together.

After all of the graduation stuff was done Jason and I went home and met up with our friends Ike and Rebecca.  There came over to watch Claudia for us while we went out to dinner with Jason's parents.  We are blessed to have such great friends!  Jason and I had a nice dinner and Claudia was well behaved for our friends, she was even asleep in bed when we got home!  How awesome is that!?!  It was a very long but rewarding day.  I felt so loved!

This week Claudia has her first cardiology appointment so we can get a better idea of how well her heart functions and if she will need any interventions in the future.  She may have to miss the whole day of school because the appointment is an hour away and i have no idea how long it will take. Claudia has a long weekend this weekend having Friday and Monday off from school, I really hope we get some nice weather and can do something fun!  Jason will be working on the roof of the main house this weekend and has recruited a lot of help.  Hopefully this part goes a lot faster than the last!

Things have been pretty busy around here but I can't complain.  Things are going pretty well and will be even better once Jason finishes our roof.

Here are some pics from graduation:



Pinning ceremony

Jason being silly and shorter than me

 

The front of the necklace Jason got for me

The back of the necklace Jason got for me.

Dolls for Downs Fundraiser for the Braithwaite Family!!!

Have you seen Dolls for Downs yet?  It was started by a mother of a daughter who has Down syndrome.  The daughter asked her mom "why don't any dolls look like me?"  Her mom then set out on a journey to create dolls that have Down syndrome.  It has been a work in progress for some time now and the dolls are almost ready for production.  The dolls are the same size and quality of American Girl dolls.  You can order them to look like your child.  There are many hair colors and eye colors to choose from.  You can even choose to have your doll have a scar for heart surgery if you would like.  Down the road there will be more clothing options and accessories.  Please visit the website for more information and pictures: http://www.dollsfordowns.org/

 

I am hosting an online give away of one of these dolls for the Braithwaite family.  A family adopting a precious little boy from Eastern Europe who happens to have Down syndrome.  Visit the family's blog here: http://lightingoursteps.blogspot.com/

 

Here are the prizes:

The First place prize is the winners choice of one of the Dolls for Downs dolls.  They winner will get to choose the doll they would like. (Visit www.dollsfordowns.org to see the choices)

 

There is also a second place!  The second place winner will receive a beautiful handmade afghan.  See the pics below!

Here are the rules:

For every $5 donated to the Braithwaite family's FSP here: http://reecesrainbow.org/51441/sponsorbraithwaite you will get 2 entries to win!  In order for your donation to count, please Forward the Paypal receipt to: simplyvintagefun@gmail.com This way we will know how many entries you have.

 

You can also get 1 entry by posting a link to the fundraiser on your Facebook page or blog but you must remember to come back here and leave a comment that you shared the giveaway.

 

At the end of the give away a winner will be drawn through random.org.  The winner will be notified through this blog and/or through Facebook or through email if they left an email address.

3 Months Home

It is hard to believe that Claudia has already been home for three months.  Sometimes it feels like it has been a lot longer, other times it feels like we just got home with her.  It is encouraging to see how far she has come in such a short period of time but she still has a long way to go.  We are encouraged by her progress and know that she is capable of so much more.

Claudia has been doing a lot more standing on her own and is walking a little farther.  She has learned how to slow her walking down some so that she does not go flying forward all of the time... unless she wants to that is. 

We feel that she is using her sign language more appropriately lately, using the words in the appropriate contexts.  She still has a lot more to learn but we are encouraged by her progress so far.  She still gets frustrated easily and can lash out so we are hoping that this is mostly a communication barrier and once she gets better at communicating she won't have to yell/bite/pull hair/pinch/hit...  Thankfully these incidences do not occur often but they are frustrating when they do happen. 

Claudia is doing very well with her English comprehension.  She can follow several commands and will usually do what is asked of her, as long as you have her attention.  She picks up on new commands very quickly. 

Claudia is a people watcher.  She loves to just sit back and watch what is going on around her.  This is especially true when there is a lot of commotion.  She is still not interacting much with other children, but that will come with time.  Claudia has recently been showing a much greater preference for Jason and I over everyone else.  She has been less friendly to others lately and gets especially upset when Jason leaves.  I think this is a good sign of attachment though.

Here are some fun, random pics or the last few weeks.  Enjoy!

Windy day!

Happy Mothers Day

I know it has been a while since I have posted. Things have been quite busy around here lately.

Jason has spent what seems like every last waking moment (when he is not at work) doing the roof on our house.  There was 5 layers of shingles on the roof so it has been a long, tough job.  Especially since he has been doing it by himself.  He is almost done with the first section and will start the main roof of the house sometime soon.  I can't wait for this HUGE job to be done so i can have my husband back!

 

Claudia, Jason and I all have had some sort of upper respiratory infection.  Claudia has not been super happy because of this and is tired all of the time.  She has been taking very long naps. She is on medication and seems to be getting better but she had to miss 2 days of school last week. 

 

Claudia has been working hard at school and seems to be slightly more interested in the other children.  I hope that she will soon learn to play nicely with other kids.  She has been getting better petting the cat instead of pulling her fur/tail/ears every time she touches her, so maybe it will happen with the kids too!  One thing is for sure though, she charms all of the adults she meets, until she pulls their hair that is ;) 

 

This week at school, Claudia "made" me a sweet Mothers Day gift :) 

 



I feel blessed to be her mommy and I hope that she loves me too!  She has come so far in the 4 months that I have known her.  She is super smart and I can't wait to see all of the things she is going to accomplish.  Last night we were working on some sign language.  It started because I asked her if she wanted more Cheerio's and she signed "yes" without any prompting or sign on my part!  I was so proud of her so we continued to work on her sign language.  She was standing against a wall and signing to me when I asked her to.  When Claudia decided she had had enough she tucked her hands behind her back and laughed because she would not bring them in front of her... such a smart little stinker!

This morning we "slept in" a little, as much as Claudia would allow us to.  Jason made some yummy stuffed french toast and then mowed the lawn for me (that is what I wanted for Mother's day).  We went to Church in the late morning and came back home and put Claudia down for her nap.  This afternoon I got some yard work done and had a nice lunch with Jason.  My mother stopped over for a little while as well.  Tonight we are going over to Jason's parents to have dinner with them.  A very busy but nice day.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mother's and soon-to-be Mother's!