Happy New Year and

Happy New Decade! I wish you all good health, happiness and love!

Merry Christmas and Check It Out!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Check out a new blog. I think you may like it......or not.

Happy Holidays!

Stories of Stanford

Snnnnooooowwww Day!

I am really, really bummed as I sit here in my jammies, wishing I could be AT work instead of working from home!!!

Yeah right!!!

Stanford is Transitioning into School

We'll see how it goes. Daddy is taking him up a few times a week to work with the school and daycare. The school is adament that Alex have full control of the dog and Alex doesn't have full control of himself!! ha! So Stanford may get expelled sooner rather than later.......

Wish us luck!

I really haven't been MIA....

Ok maybe I have. Just haven't had much to say I guess.

The school has agreed to let Stanford come to school with Alex, but and it's a big but...we have to sign an agreement they wrote up. Currently looking for a lawyer to review it for us. No way are we signing something so one sided! As much as we want Stanford at school, we'd prefer to not have the pants sued off of us! So more $$$ to spend yet! It's never easy.

The cold weather has hit. We're hearing talk of snow for the weekend. Did I mention how much I hate winter?? We need to move somewhere warmer.

H1N1 has hit Omaha as well. The school called today and said that Alex threw up. So I leave work and go get him and guess what? He's fine. I swear they panic at every wet burp!!!!

Why a Service Dog????

Why a service dog for Alex?

The placement of a dog with the child enables the child and family to increase their mobility and socialization as a family, and the child individually. In most cases the dog accompanies the child at all times when the child leaves home. The dog goes to school with the child and the presence of the dog calms the child, reduces emotional outbursts and serves as a positive social link for the child to their home, school and community.

Above is a quote from a service dog website and it explains really well what we hope Stanford will do for Alex. In addition to Alex, at school Stanford can help the other kids and he can help with OT and PT ! He is trained both as a service dog and a therapy dog! Alex’s diagnosis of T21 and ADHD were the qualifying factors.

We’ve already noticed a difference in Alex. Going out to eat was a nightmare, but now with Stanford, Alex behaves so much better and eats and remains calm. Stanford provides good exercise since we need to walk him and he loves to play too! Another benefit I never anticipated was that now when we go out, people don’t stare at Alex….they stare at Stanford! If you have encountered “the stares” what a relief to have them watch the dog and also for them to think that Alex is “cool” because he has the dog!

You can have other pets home as well!!! We have two cats and while they're not friends it, it's getting better!

We used CARES (www.caresks.com) in Concordia, KS. They are a wonderful group and work so well with both the dogs and person who is receiving the dog. Their application process is listed on their website if you’re interested! Your ped will need to fill out a form as well. They do offer some scholarships based on need and you can even start making payments or have donations go directly to them (in your child’s name) once you’ve been accepted. It took us about 1 ½ yrs from application to receiving Stanford.

I would highly recommend a service dog!

Introducing.... Stanford!

Taaaa-daaaaa! It's Stanford! Alex's new service dog! Stanford is a 15 month old Golden Retriever. He was puppy raised at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility in Ellsworth, KS.

We spent a week training with Stanford in Concordia, KS. He is a wonderful dog, but since we've been home, he's needed to be reminded that he is a TRAINED dog! LOL Alex is going to love him!

We will be working on the dog going to school with Alex. Since school starts Wednesday, we may not get him right to school the first day or even the first week!

If you are interested in a service dog, the organization we used is CARES. They are a wonderful group of people and truly care about the dogs and the people! Check out their website. Also, if you're looking for some place for donations, they would love to receive donations and give scholarships to those who cannot afford the entire cost of a service dog!

Ice Cream Contest

Entering the contest which you can see here

Updated this post to add: This picture was taken at Give Kids the World, during Alex's Make A Wish trip. He loved the free ice cream shop and we visited it often! The workers in there started making Alex's favorite as soon as they saw them heading towards their shop! It was chocolate chip ice cream in a cone!

Maui was a blast!!!

It was hard to come back home! This was one vacation where I actually wanted to stay! What a great way to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

We had fun parasailing and snorkeling. The water is so clear and blue! We did some shopping and hanging out at the beach. I'd definitely consider going back some time!

Here are some pics for your enjoyment:


A room with a view


snorkeling pic


Sunset


Gorgeous flowers!


Our Anniversary dessert plate at the luau


The happy couple!


Creature from the black lagoon!

Visiting the Puppy People

We had a wonderful time visiting CARES in Concordia, KS. Alex loved the dogs, especially the Great Dane and the St Bernard! Yikes! I'm thinking a tad bit smaller than those!

Alex should be getting his dog in August. These dogs are amazing! I know that Alex is going to benefit from having a dog like this. I can't wait for our training class!

Prayers Please!

My cousin just had a biopsy done on her lymph nodes and it came back cancerous. There wasn't enough tissue to determine which type, but he didn't feel it was a lymphoma. They will be removing her tonsils next week, as they may be the culprit.

She is a survivor of breast cancer too. So she's been thru this hell once already and really doesn't deserve a second round!

She would appreciate your prayers and good thoughts as she starts this journey. I would appreciate your prayers for her as well! We are all scared right now. She is like the sister I never had, we tell each other everything. I am heartbroken right now.

I hate cancer!

I'm so excited!!

We're going to Kansas. Ok I know to most of you...big whoop huh? LOL We're going to the place that is training Alex's therapy dog!!! We get to watch them train and they get to evaluate Alex with the dogs. He'll be in 7th heaven (no not the TV show).

June 3rd! Can't wait!!!

Here's a link if you wanna go visit them: CARES

Hippity Hoppity Happy Easter Day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter day!

Dear Mr President

You let us down yesterday. Yes you're hip and you're cool. The nation waited with baited breath for you to appear on Jay Leno.

All that charm, all that charisma, so witty. Dazzling smile, so confident. Until...

The dreaded slur againt Special Olympics....all that charisma and charm gone in a split second....and in it's place....Ugliness. Yes Mr President you were ugly.

It's time to take off the shiney armor, put the white steed in the barn and plant your butt in the Oval office. Open your mouth only when you can tell us you've cleaned up the banking system, created new jobs,the auto industry is solvent and the trillions of dollars of debt has been reduced. Otherwise....less is more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!

For the life of me, I cannot believe I have a child who is 26 yrs old!! Of course I had him when I was 8......I was precocious.....

He is a good kid, always has been. Today he's in Chicago, touring around. They went to Notre Dame to watch UNO play hockey.

A couple of my friends had lunch yesterday, one just had a baby 6 months ago and the other is 3 months pregnant and they were asking me about finding out if my first two were boys or girls. I was like ummm...they didn't do ultra sounds back then unless they were sure you were having problems. I never had an U/S until Alex. I was never offered an amnio (which I wouldn't have done and I'm not even sure they did those either)or any other type of testing. So my first two were suprises. It was fun that way....I guess Alex was a surprise too..only not with sex, just with number of chromosomes!

I don't need to worry about Matt getting all crazy on his birthday in Chicago, getting stupid drunk and not finding his way home. He'll enjoy the sites and go back to the hotel, sober and knowing where he is. It's nice to have one kid that isn't a worry!!!

Updates on Emma Sage and Elliot

Emma Sage is home and the docs believe it's all viral...no cancer! Praise the Lord! Emma's family is grateful for your thoughts and prayers!

Elliot was sent home, but is not doing well. He may be headed to Children's hospital in Omaha. So the family could use your continued prayers!

Prayers Needed!

For two very dear friends of ours.

The first one is Emma Sage. She is in the hospital and they are still running tests. They have used the nasty "C" word, but we are all just very sure it's not that at all!!

The second is sweet Elliot. He is also in the hospital with pneumonia. He was scheduled for surgery on Friday to have his gallbladder removed, but this illness has postponed it.

Thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts! I know their mommies and daddies are very worried and would appreciate it!

A Lazy Saturday

Boy that sounds like I'm laying around, eating bon bons and watching re-runs of Oprah.....but in my reality it means I'm doing laundry at my own pace and filling in the gaps with Facebook!

Not much going on around here. Last week I had the stomach flu and Alex managed a sinus/eye infection combo. We're both on the mend now. My dad also landed in the hospital and required two stents! He's doing fine now, btw.

Next week we meet with a psychologist regarding Alex's behavior (we have to meet with him first, before we see a psychiatrist). It has gone downhill again and has become a PITA for us. As much as I don't want to medicate him anymore, it's obvious he cannot be without something. He is so impulsive, distruptive and down right defiant. School complains, daycare complains and we complain. We can't go anywhere as a family because his behavior is so bad, it's not worth the aggrevation and nasty stares we get. I'm tired of being a prisoner of my own home, where Alex's behavior isn't much better, but at least we can put him to bed without strangers staring at us with distain.

Tonight is Parent's Night Out with our DS Parent's group. Looking forward to it. They provide sitting so we can enjoy adult time. We sure need it! I do pity the sitters though (see above paragraph) but if they keep him playing, he'll be fine.

I'm so excited!

Alex may be getting his service dog in June or Aug. We need to send a video of him, doing everyday things, so they can get a feel of his personality and match a dog to him.

It will be fun times. The two cats will panic and remain panicked for days! LOL I hope I'm ready for a dog.......but I am re-assured that the dog will be will trained which helps!

Alex LOVES dogs. He's going to be so excited!!!

What Internet Symbol Are You?

I Am LOL

The internet is always cracking you up. You could waste the day away finding things to laugh at. You're usually the first one to find a new funny video, picture, or website. You're always up for wasting time online, even if (especially if) you're at work. You also tend to spend a lot of time chatting, especially with people who make you laugh out loud.

What Internet Slang Are You?