Update...

Some friends on one of the homeschooling forums I'm part of asked about me/us the other day and I realized (GUILT) that I've neglected this blog once again. 

"How are we doing?"  Hmmmm.....loaded question and depending on the day you ask (or hour) you'll get a 'Fabulous!' or 'ACK!' response.  That's just how we're swingin' these days. 

I'm copying my response here as I really should be homeschooling some kiddos or thinking about what to make for supper instead of re-writing the whole thing.  So - here you go.  If you have any great ideas about what to make for supper, let me know....

There are some really great days and then there are some other ones. :/ Life, it is. I have honestly had to put some blinders on (like an ostrich sticking it's head in the sand???) as to what our life looks like now.

99% of the time, we are enjoying the heck out of Charlotte and all her baby-ness and then...the wind gets knocked out of the sails when I realize that only NOW, at 7 1/2 months, is she finding her toes. Or she doesn't do something that the younger set is already mastering. Or she makes a face and suddenly I see more Down Syndrome than I see Charlotte. @*&&^%!  That makes me sad and entirely annoyed with myself...but honestly, some of that happens when my son, who is almost 15 and 'typical', does something completely inane and I look at his taller-than-me-growing-up-'I-know-mom' ness and I think, "Holy Cow - he acted like than when he was 2!!! STILL????? REALLY???". Parenting in general has it's great moments and then those other ones....

Charlotte's heart health and vascular issues are doing very well. She's growing like crazy (40-50th percentile on a REGULAR growth chart, neener neener). Blows rasberries instead of screaming. Sucks her thumb like there is no tomorrow. Eats great. Loves solid foods. Has a hard time (PUN!) pooping. Entertains her siblings all the while being stimulated continually by THEIR antics. Sleeps through the night. Rolls over, albeit only from back to tummy and to the right.

She does have some hearing loss which will require a sedated ABR (audiotory brain stem response) which should be coming up in the near future and may need some vision help. Therapy is hit and miss. She tolerates more than they expected but is doing some wonky things which leave me in a mode of panic at random moments that I'm not being proactive enough in her 'workouts'.

We need to get more connected with families in the area who have children with or themselves have Down Syndrome. It will help with some of the 'scary future' kind of junk. Or not.  Stink. I feel like a wimp though in that I only have energy for the nitty gritty of livin' and homeschooling (HA! Basically we're doing Character Training, Math and Science - and those last two mostly because I outsource those suckers) right now but that's the truth of it.

I feel as though this season of life is going to give me ADD if that's possible, which is why I post more on FB than I do here. I can hide be in the bathroom and post from my phone on there....

And for now...that's all she wrote, folks. 

Shift Work

We're shifting.  Again.  Rooms that is.  One of my sweet friends thinks I have a disease.  It's called 'Rearrange-itis'.  I move furniture for a hobby.  It helps with cleaning, decluttering, and is cheaper than therapy so I'm good with it.  I feel very much like 'if you give a mouse a cookie...' only in our case it's 'if you think how to make this space work....' then suddenly, everyone is sleeping in a new place that night. 

We have a daylight basement that serves as a great place to keep school (although, really, we school everywhere....)  It's nice to have a place for all the books, desks, and a big plus we discovered on the ONE warm day we had - it's quite a bit cooler than the upstairs so we have a great excuse to school and hang out down there during warm afternoons.  Yesterday the girls and I were trying to think through how to have a cozy reading space here and suddenly, we were swapping rooms. When we first moved in we had lumped some play stuff into this room and honestly, it was quite jumbly, two halves making a strange and awkward whole. 

The girls are now sharing a bedroom again and THRILLED about it.  The upstairs room has the play things (kitchen, dress-up) and is set up for Charlotte's needs and someday, her crib.  We have yet to get that reading nook set up...but we're close.  Today's home ec project and a little weight lifting for Riley will include making that space ready. 

Pictures may follow...

Homes have a flow and feel.  We're working on ours still.  Honestly, our house is bigger than I ever wanted again but so many other things were perfect (or had the potential to be a great fit) that we bought it.  We're also back into the 'life changes more quickly than it used to' stage with our Charlotte.  We're on our third change out of clothing sizes for her and also adjusting some things from the brand new baby status to the happy infant stage.  I didn't remember it being this consuming before.  I know it is, and it's AWESOME, but I'm having to hone a few skills that got rusty. 

The bigger kids are oohing and aaahhhing over the change out of itty bitty babyness and as I help them change over their needs for growing bodies and changing seasons along with adjusting school for growing minds...they understand a bit more when I say, "See...this is why mama gets excited and wistful at the same time as change happens." 

Context is a beautiful thing.