Sneak Peak

Here is a link to a sneak peak at the photos we captured last week at the photo shoot. I am soo excited to see the rest! But just wish I could print them on my own, booo.

If you leave a comment on her blog about my pictures I can get a free print. Please? Pretty Please? I love free stuff ;)

http://eydienelsonphotography.com/blog/

Wedding Day!

The little girl I used to french braid hair as a toddler is now MARRIED! What a wonderful person she has grown up to be and we are so lucky to be gaining such an amazing brother.  

It was a beautiful day. Things went smoothly. The kids did great. Everyone was there.

7 bridesmaids, 7 groomsmen, 4 ushers, 2 flower girls, 1 ring bearer.

It brought back many memories of 10 years ago when Jason and I got married. Same church, same deacon, same service. We were honored to be a part of it.

Rehersal went well. Olivia was hard to contain, Owen was a little crabby. But we learned our to dos and places and had a lovely dinner afterwards. Home we went with our pearls, shawls and tonka trucks to get us ready for the big day. Up early to get hair done and the rest of it was a bit of a blur.

Two lovely kiddos were VERY well behaved for the service.

Owen walked down the aisle in between Mallory and Mykaela. He made it half way down before slipping and slidding down a few feet. But he jumped up like nothing happened and finished his duty. I hope to get pictures of this once we see the professional photos of the day. I was standing at the alter and Jason was in back sending him down so no photos of the event.

Olivia was lucky enough to have a matching flower girl dress made so she would match. And she let me french braid her hair for the first time. She looked AMAZINGLY adorable!

After the service the wedding party hopped on a bus to take more pictures and to stop at a few local establishments. Jason and Kirk had the fun of handling all the kids on their own. Note to self: next time get Jason help :)

By the time we got to the reception hall (at the state fair) Olivia was exhausted and wanted nothing but to be held by mommy. She took a little cat nap untl she woke up crying and from then on wanted  to do nothing but lay her head on my shoulder and wimper. She was really not feeling well and started getting a barky cough so unfortunately we had to leave the party early. Wishing we could have stayed but I could not carry that girl around for hours on end in an uncomfortable dress and a very tired body from a long day.

 But before we left, Owen got to do a little dancing. Mostly standing on the dance floor, staring into the lights, bobbing his head up and down with his hands over his ears.

And a few pictures of the beautiful bride...

Love this picture. (my little-big brother Nick and Erin)

What a magical day it was. So happy for you Erin and Matt! Love you guys.

What a week

It was a whirlwind of activity last week. All leading up to a beautiful wedding (that post will have to wait a bit). So many to dos I lost track by the end of the week and just kept feeling like I had forgotten something.
It was just one of those weeks.
However, some major accomplishments were that Owen had another sleep study done so we spent Thursday night at Children's hospital watching him sleep. He did fairly well with it. We will get the results in a few weeks to see if there have been any changes. I don't really know what they would do either way but I just hope for good news.
We also had a successful photo shoot done with the kids at Como park. I am bummed that this place won't give you a CD of the pics so we need to spend a boat load of money to get prints. boooo. So I probably won't be ordering many. BUT it was for charity as I won the session through a silent auction and if anything I can get some new wall art of my cute kiddos.
And I must say how impressed I am with how much Owen put up with on Friday. What kind of mother schedules all these things at once? (We took the day off so we had to take advantage) Sleep study - home at 5:30 am, 8:00am PT session, 10:00 trip to mall to get fitted for tux, 10:30 trip to doctors office to get blood draw for thyroid check, lunch, nap, rehearsal at the church and grooms dinner.

I think it helped to have Uncle Ryan in town.

Back to school

Here we go with another year of preschool. New teachers, same program. Two days in the preschool room, two days in the special ed room. I like this program because it gives Owen the best of both worlds. We didn't end up getting any of our previous teachers (I was a bit bummed about this). So we start the adventure with a new team. But Owen still gets high fives and hugs from his past favorites in the halls and we will continue to bring more supporters into our circle.
The meet the teacher session didn't go very well so I hope it isn't a view into what the year will be like. None of the teachers talked with Owen, introduced themselves or made any sort of contact. The format was funky and not a good use of time. But I will keep an open mind. I did meet with his special ed teacher individually and I felt better with her the second time we met. I am going to plan some "observation sessions" to see how things are going.

One of the reasons I was happy we didn't move was I would lose my height tracker for Owen! I have him stand in front of this door on each of his first days of school...

2008

2009

2010



So far both his teachers have been in contact with me after just 3 days. I appreciate that and I hope to see that continue. Owen seems happy when I ask him about school but that is all I can go on at this point.

The first week is mostly introductory to get them used to the routine and try to get to know each other but they sent this note home on his first day.

"Owen had a great first day. He was so happy and participated nicely in circle time activities and table time. During play time he joined two others in housekeeping and played together."



Wisconsin Getaway

Labor day weekend (well one night) we went up to Kirk's parents cabin. I wasn't sure how well Owen would do with the lake. I think it helped that it was a bit chilly so we didn't hang out at the lake as much. It was a relaxing time with wonderful company.

We made our way to a local ice cream shop. A few things happened here....
Owen refused to eat any ice cream. He would have loved it if he would have just taken one bite.
He escaped into the "play room" while I was ordering ice cream and it took me a few seconds to find him. Man I hate it when he does that!
We found a silly horse to give the kids a ride on.
The kids were entertained by a broken pool table for a majority of the time. Not too broken that they couldn't put the cue ball in the pockets over and over and wait for it to come out the end. Fun times.

A quick boat ride for the kiddos all bundled up. Brrr it was chilly. Too chilly for Jason to smile I guess.

But because he was sitting with an adorable little girl I had to share this pic!

Everyone got a chance to drive.

Good thing there were only a few boats on the lake!

A rare moment when my kids are getting along and looking out for each other. Simply nothing better.

Somehow Jesse made it onto the boat with us. Olivia was sure to give her lots of hugs on the ride.

Day 2 we headed out for a nature walk. Next time remind me to ask for the netting to stick around my head. The bugs were TERRIBLE. And it wasn't a short walk. But it did lend itself to a few photo ops. And that my friends is what makes it all worth it.

Memories of bugs, crabby kids, cute kids in wagons and worth every step.

Weather in the 60s and the water was freezing but they wouldn't be kids if they didn't go swimming. I was surprised that Olivia even took 2 steps in the water but she actually stayed in for quite a while.

And a final shot of Owen sitting at the end of the dock waiting for Jason and Kirk to return from fishing.

This trip will be hard to forget. We were there when we got the news that Jana had passed away. But it was nice to be surrounded by family. The kids had a great time. We had some time away from responsibilities and could just hang out. And we found the long lost donkey that went missing a few years ago. Luckily it stood up pretty well to an argument with the lawn mower and it is back with it's other animals, especially it's friend the cow.

Parenting a Child With a Disability

What I love about these articles is they put into words what we deal with on a day to day basis. Feelings expressed in such an eloquent way that I know I never could get that point across.
So I pass it on to you, to share our experience...

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/parenting-child-disability-00000000010773/index.html

It brought a tear to my eye as it feels so real. Such a similar path in life, for just an extra chromosome.

In memory of

Jana Dennison

3/20/1952 - 9/5/2010

My aunt Jana lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer on Sunday. She fought an inspiring fight. Never complained. Never said it wasn't fair. Never said "why me". Never showed anyone how bad it really was. She is now in heaven smiling down on us as we rejoice her. She is no longer in pain. She is no longer suffering. She is still inspiring many.

A true testament to the kind of person she was has been shown all week. Her visitation had over 1200 people. The largest the town has ever seen. The wait to get in was 2 hours as the line wrapped around the funeral home for blocks. If the time was extended I think the line may not have ended as the people just kept coming and coming.

The funeral was amazing. It was held at the corn maze, true to Jana and what she would have wanted. It was perfect weather, a perfect service and surrounded by so much love and support from all the people that have been touched by Jana.

A little story from today and a little example of what kind of impact Jana had on people. This one is special to my heart....
Since Owen was born she has always talked to me about one of her friends that has a daughter who has Down Syndrome and how well she is doing. I finally met them today. I introduced myself to her mom and she told me she has heard stories of Owen as I have heard stories of her daughter through Jana. She shared with me that the day Marissa was born, they were scared and just didn't know who to turn to but they thought to call 1 couple. My Aunt Jana and Uncle Dan. Immediately my Uncle Dan went to see them and my Aunt Jana talked for a long time with her. And the key message she will never forget Jana saying to her, not that she was sorry, not that it was sad, but she is no different than any other kids. Just treat her like your other kids.  She just knew how to be there for her friend.
Countless stories like this were shared all day. About how inspiring she has been to others diagnosed with cancer. About how she had a way with people to make them smile when the needed it and to joke around when you would least expect it.
Her creative ideas, her humor, her wit, her love will be missed beyond words.

Rest in peace Jana, love you.