Cute things in cabinets

In honor of the Annunciation, Ellie's Godparents sent her the cutest little Mary doll!  I couldn't really get a good picture of her holding it, but it's the perfect size for her little hand!  Love it!

A small victory for Ellie this week - she finally convinced her mother to let her play inside a cabinet that had a child lock on it.  She pulls and pulls at the doors daily - so when I unlocked it, our girl had a mission....

"See, I knew it would be the perfect size for me!"

Madness!!!

It's March Madness over here these days...it's in the air in our home! (what's so funny is that I knew of that website because of the statistician in the family who wanted to know all the winners of previous years!)

Anyway, during the days when there are no games to watch, the boys create their own games and elimination brackets using an indoor basketball goal we have.  Instead of colleges, they pretend with family member names.  And as you can see, Ellie finds a way to plop right down in the middle of the action and the boys are used to working around her!  Watch as "Sylvia" loses this round.

3/21

Greetings!

I'm slightly bending the "Sunday post" rule (although I'm sure you're all reading this on Sunday!).  Today is basically "Down syndrome" awareness day.  Can you guess why?  It's a tricky one...

Down syndrome is when a third copy of the 21st chromosome is present.  3rd copy.  21st chromosome.  3/21!  Get it?  As part of awareness, I'll present my own two little "teaching points":

1. I never knew this but it's actually Down syndrome versus what I thought it was - Down's syndrome.  The man's name that discovered it is not possessive.  It used to be possessive but was dropped to emphasize it was not actually he who had the condition.

2. There is something called "People First" language.  This movement is trying to encourage people to not say "Down's kids", "Down's babies" or "Down's families" - it's putting the emphasis on the condition before the person.  You wouldn't say "High Blood Pressure John".  The right way to think and speak about it would be "Ellie is a little girl who happens to have Down syndrome".   

The main question parents (including yours truly) want to know when given this diagnosis is "will we still be happy?" and "will my child be happy?".  Well, it will take me a lifetime to continue to learn the lesson of happiness versus joy but I think this video speaks for itself.  

Creating

It's been a super full week this week thanks to some creating going on over here!

I'll give you a small tease that will be fully revealed (hopefully!) at Easter.

Notice the sewing machine and material...to be continued!

Meanwhile, Ellie got to spend some time outside creating a mess!  She found herself a nice chunk of dried mud in the yard.  I sat there and watched her put it to her mouth and lick it, then rub it on her face!  Ancient Chinese beauty secret she must know.

Apparently Xavier knew the same secret at Ellie's age.

Good morning, Sunshine!

Our den/family room gets morning light thanks to the windows from the sun room.  Last year, Ellie's whole life was in this room.  When I opened the shades in the morning, the bright rays that had just crossed the Atlantic ocean came into our little home and landed on our little one.

This was Ellie last year. Still asleep, the sun beam would touch her bed to help her gently wake up.

Now in 2014, the space where Ellie lived for a little over a year is now occupied by...a basket of laundry. Not quite as precious and urgent as what was there a year ago. To illustrate the non-urgency, you can still find this basket in this spot this morning, days later :).

 Ellie joined us in the den and got some of the rays right on her face.

"Who's that little sunshine in the sunshine?"

"It 's me, Mommy!!"

Lent

Getting our ashes to remind us "remember you are dust and to dust you shall return".

Ellie loooooves to crawl into the bathroom and get in a semi-kneeling position to look in on all the action.  She doesn't even have to get in the bath - she just loves watching the other kids play and splash!

Ellie's day

Wake up, put on cute outfit, get milk. 

 Get to play with real golf balls in the house!

 Get to hold a balloon on a nice walk!

And end it all with a hot bath and a nice cup of hot cocoa.  

May you enjoy small pleasures today as well!

Need a fourth

A shout-out to all you bridge players - Ellie stepped up to be the fourth.  We call this hand "4 hearts".

A lot to celebrate

Ellie asks, "How are things in your world?"

She enjoyed putting some bread on her tongue.

She looks like she might eat it - but she keeps her distance :). 

A few birthdays at the beginning of the year have us celebrating often.  I like this picture with all the kids and Jesus at the center.