Little Punkins!

Jackson and Kira went to After Dark in the Park with their Aunties Beeka and Karen. I had to share this pic Beeka took!




(That police officer in the background is Aunt Karen.)



Thank you Beeka and Karen for always entertaining our Perdueligans in such fine fashion!

wordless wednesday - me and my girl

(way blurry, but look at her sweet face!)

we're dang fancy, y'all

Derek rigged up a makeshift swing for the kids. Garden hose, two holes drilled in a piece of wood, and some kind of metal thingy securing it around the pine tree.

I wish I could swing on it. It goes all crazy in huge, swirly circles. The kids LOVE it. (And I'm a worrier, so believe me, it's very safe and secure.)

Jackson - a couple of weeks ago:

J & K - today:

made

This week's tally:

1 tutu

1 superhero cape

1 pair of scrappy clown pants

1 scrappy twirly clown skirt

1 teeny-tiny amigurumi yoda

Today is devoted to repairing the destruction of my house that occurred during all that crafting!

The clown pants and skirt were for the kids to wear to Vin's 2nd bday party, yesterday. I had the honor of attending my very first late night girls' sewing bee to help Kam sew the clown vests that each child received for a party favor. We had the best time sewing, chatting, and drinking margaritas (it was cinco de mayo after all). Derek had the next morning off, so my Mother's Day gift was getting to spend the night after the sewing bee and have a leisurely morning enjoying Teri's breakfast burritos and coffee before heading home. Sew lovely, I tell ya.

I took the leftover scraps from the vest making and made Jackson's pants and Kira's twirly skirt. Pretty dang cute and perfect for some clownin' around:

Yoda was a gift for my BIL. He said he either wanted Derek to make him a batch of pale ale or me to make him one of these. I've been wanting to try amigurumi, but have been kind of intimidated. So, I was happy to have the chance to try it. I didn't use doll eyes, but instead stitched embroidery floss for the eyes. I was going to harvest eyes from one of the kids' million stuffed animals. Those things are so anthropomorphic that I couldn't bring myself to cut into them! So, here's cutie little 2.5" Yoda:

And here's what Derek's IOU pale ale card looked like:

The best part of this crafting week was my kids showing me how much they pay attention to things. Vin's gifts were the superhero cape and the tutu (real men can rock a tutu. trust.).

I had the tulle spread across my bed while making the tutu. Kira walked in, took a look at the bed, and said, "tutu?". Yep, mommy's making another tutu. Cutie girl.

When I told Jackson that we had to run to Joann's to buy fabric for the cape, he said, "Don't forget to get the velcro.". And when I was cutting out the pattern pieces, he gave me a huge hug and said, "You're the best present maker ever! Anyone can buy a gift, but you like Vin enough to make him one!". I know someday Momma-made will probably embarrass him, but it's so lovely to know that he gets it, now.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

sibs

I've had these pics trapped in my camera for about two months, I think. The kids were outside playing and Jackson was trying to teach Kira how to ride the tricycle. I was able to get some shots without them seeing me, a little blurry with all of the trying to hide while doing it. Such a sweet moment between them. And at 5 and 3, it's nice to catch a sweet moment between the squabbles!

A note on the "outfits": This was one of those days when they steadily added to their jammies all morning. Stuff from the dress-up box? check. Random shoes pulled from the closet? check. Hand-me-downs from Bubba? check. Shirt on backwards? check. (And Jackson has had a major haircut since then, too.)

Just makes my heart fill up and pour out all over.

Wordless Wednesday - Springtime in Texas

good morning!

I'm almost scared to say anything about it, but I'm happy to report a fever-free, back-to-as-normal-as-we-can-ever-get household! And, it's supposed to reach the 50s sometime today!! I know we didn't get anywhere close to the yucky cold that the rest of the country got, but I am so done with this weather. Hopefully, the kids and I can get outside for some sunshine this afternoon.

A couple of quick pics:

Kira looked like such a big girl before school this morning, I had to take her picture. It's not a great shot, but you can see her new purple frames. This is our second pair of frames from specs4us. They are made especially for kids with Down syndrome. The bridge is set lower, the glasses are a little wider, and the arms are a little shorter. Kira is slightly far-sighted and her left eye muscles are a little bit weaker than her right. She's been seeing a pediatric opthamologist since she was about 6 months old (I think).

And, of course, one of the most popular "new toys" around here has been this box:

Kids.

Hug your babies, y'all!

Love, Wendy

cute pic

"Mom, would you like to see the cute picture I took of Kira and me? Kira looks so cute in it!"

(I think the photographer looks pretty cute, too.)

the best part

Down syndrome New Mama had a lovely post sharing her feelings about "the best part of Down syndrome." I've been thinking about it and kept ending up with a three way tie. I love our kiddos' eyes. I adore our kiddos' feet. And the flexibility because of lower tone amazes me.

So today, Kira put on a demo of why I love two of them.

She LOVES her toes. I mean loves them like a baby doll or a blankie or something. She talks to them all the time and likes for us to talk to them, too.

Today, she was eating an apple and apparently her toes were also a bit hungry.

Kira: "Toes? Bapple? es...bapple"

She pulled her foot up even with her chest and gave her toes a nibble on the apple. Then she pulled her foot up to her mouth for a quick "tiss" on the toes followed by a hug that looked a lot like she was rocking a baby, only instead of a baby, her leg and foot were completely tucked up next to her chest. I wish I had been close to my camera. AND the nice part about it is I don't have to worry about having a back-up lovey replacement for her toes!

So, definitely LOVE the feet LOVE the flexibility.

But, oh how I love her eyes.

wordless wednesday

weekend pics and a Ds observation

We had such a wonderful time this weekend. We try to do a get together with my Mom's side of the family at least once a year, twice if we're lucky. My aunt found an awesome cabin near Lake Whitney this year. The cabin was perfect - lots of room for everyone and well stocked with anything you might need - dishes, movies, games, toiletries, etc. The surroundings were rustic and beautiful.

4 generations were represented - my grandmother, my mom and aunt and their husbands, my siblings and I and our spouses, and our kids.

My grandmother brings me to my Ds observation. I know that this isn't true of all individuals with Ds, but I do think that the chance to have a greater capacity for empathy resides in the bonus chromosome. Kira will make her grandparents crawl through fire for a smile. The second a GREAT grandparent walks into the room? She runs over for a hug. Even though she rarely sees her great-grandmothers and I know she doesn't recognize them, she knows that now is the time for a great big hug.

warning: the rest of this post is very pic heavy and probably only of interest to my family.

Mountain Man Derek

This pic cracks me up.
The guys couldn't get TV reception in the house.

This was the only spot where they could get reception for this particular game.

When the next game came on, they had to move the tv to another spot!

um...you might be a redneck if...

I'm not sure what Jackson was doing,

but based on my face he was about 2 seconds from getting in trouble.

Heading out for a walk in the woods

Our view on the walk

This pic makes me think of those shots where you see all of the paparazzi behind a star.

Jackson making rolls with my aunt

My cousin carving a pumpkin

Kira protecting her pumpkins from my cousin

She carried those pumpkins around all weekend - so cute.

cutie girl

cutie boy

Jackson learning chess from my cousin.

My sweet cousin spent about an hour and half teaching him.

Flashback Friday

Flashing all the way back to last Friday! State Fair pics! It was a cold drizzly day and we had so much fun.

What should we do first Kira?

Me eating

(fried butter - FIL bought an order and made me try a bite - gross but good)

Me eating

(shrimp corn dog with spicy sweet jalapeno sauce)

Me letting Derek know I'm tired of him taking pictures of me eating

Jackson eating

Faux eating

Cute shot of the kids while we were trying to get a pic of all the Perdue grandbabies

Jackson taking a break in the butterfly garden. We didn't see many butterflies, but we saw LOTS of different caterpillars. We were the only ones there, so we had the luxury of a tour from one of the docents.

Kira spent the day riding in style

Jackson and me.

I'm pushing the bag lady cart.

We looked like a caravan - two strollers, one wagon, and the cart.

Ridiculous.

Cotton candy and the starlight parade to end our day

Not one single shot of Derek, though. I'll have to steal some pics from the in-laws.

Flashback Friday - State Fair of Texas 07

We were at the State Fair all day today. We had a fabulous time! I'll post pics from today, tomorrow. Until then, a couple of shots from Kira's first trip to the fair two years ago. Jackson was 2 1/2 and Kira was 10 months.

people first language

Yet another thing I didn't know prior to Kira.

What is people first language? People first language is recognizing that a person is a person not a diagnosis.

So, it's "child with Down syndrome" not "Down's kid" or "Down's baby". It can seem like a bit of a mouthful, especially when I'm telling a story related to Ds. "Kids who have Down syndrome may have blah blah blah. Sometimes kids with Down syndrome might blah blah blah." But, at least to me, those extra words do make a difference. A subtle but definite difference.

Kira HAS Down syndrome she's not Down syndrome.

Similarly, Kira doesn't suffer from Down syndrome. She isn't afflicted with Down syndrome. She isn't succeeding despite Down syndrome.

She has brown eyes, blonde hair, a stubborn streak, an awesome sense of humor, and Down syndrome. And she's doing just fine.

Check out Kim's post for a great explanation of people first language.

November 06

A little birth story preview. I went into labor on Thanksgiving. Kira was born early the next morning.

Jackson - before he went back home (lil' punkin' boy)

Derek and I saying hello to our new baby girl

Sweet Baby Kira

And then we went to sleep for the night and woke up in an alternate universe.