{31 for 21} "The Farm"

Ellie had Parent-Teacher conference days on Thursday and Friday, meaning no school for kids.  On Friday, we had an early morning conference with her teacher and then went on a "Girls Only" adventure to the Leesburg Animal Park.

I wanted fall and pumpkins.  Ellie wanted petting zoo.  I wanted not crowded since I was taking both kids alone while Daddy worked.  Caroline didn't get an opinion.

I admit, I was not encouraged at first when all the disabled parking was blocked off for the season.  I asked a manager because I thought the employee directing parking just didn't know where to direct me, but she was correct - there was no disabled parking.  The manager was very responsive and fixed the situation with designated spaces by the time we left, so I got my advocacy done for the day.

The experience was great.  Along with feeding animals (slobbery sheep, slobbery goats, slobbery llamas) there were bounce houses and a giant slide.  I was shocked when Ellie wanted to do the slide, but she loved it!  The girls played together in a bounce house until I pulled Caroline out.  Despite it being a safety move as more big kids arrived, Caroline was not having it and had to be literally wrestled into the Ergo!

We went for a hayride that featured giant fake snakes and real zebras, we met some camels and took selfies with them (of course), and we saw lots of festive fall pumpkins!

I only took my phone for a camera.

This post isn't really about Down syndrome, but it's a good glimpse into life with Ellie!

Buddy Walk Announcement, Sister Update, Etc.

So I'm a crummy blogger.

Forgive me.

School gets out one week from today.  Caroline eats laptop cords, which makes blogging tough.  (And she eats iPhone chargers.  We have seriously gone through like 8 since she's been mobile.  She sucks on them and they get water damage.)

Ellie has been busy with end of school year activities, learning to ride a very small balance bike, and gymnastics.  Caroline has been busy getting super mobile - pushing a walking toy, crawling at high rates of speed, and climbing.  We've been at the spray park and using our water table and sand table.

In just over a week, Ellie will have her tonsils out.

We've had my mom and my brother in town at various points recently.

My photography schedule is filling up quickly.

Life is good.  We'll celebrate Matt on Sunday for Father's Day.

We're gearing up for our Buddy Walk in October.  You can sign up or give here.

In short, life is life with two little girls.  We laugh a lot.  Ellie's sleep has not improved, although we are hopeful surgery will take care of that.  She's also getting a twin bed tomorrow!

Caroline finally started sleeping five hour stretches at night, got her two front teeth, and since then, has slept five hours exactly one time.

And that's our life.  I clearly am not updating this blog as frequently as I once was, but I'll continue to share glimpses of life with a child with Down syndrome, and continue to direct new moms to the archives!

Here are some photos, since I obviously am just updating on random bits and pieces!

Ride to playground before gymnastics. Slowly gaining confidence. Some things that are fun take ellie so long to learn and enjoy. But watching on her the playground right now, I know she'll get there with the bike. I remember her terror on slides and she just slid down one. now she's playing teeter totter.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 16, 2016 at 12:05pm PDT

#sprayground

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 12, 2016 at 10:00am PDT

Catching Up: Baptism and Sleep.

When Ellie was a baby, I remember reading a criticism of the Down syndrome community somewhere.  It said something like "Those moms all blog about the cute little babies and their kids turn five and they stop blogging because their lives are so hard."

Um, no.

Our kids turn five and maybe we have another baby and then we blink and it's been two weeks since we blogged because we've been running around from school to sports to friends to church and we are BUSY!  Because we have school-age kids, and that's life.

So, no, my life doesn't suck, but yes, I've been neglecting my blog.  Ellie is still cute, by the way.

Two big recent events, in (semi)chronological order:

Caroline was baptized, for real this time!  You may recall that we planned Caroline's baptism for January, but instead, we got a blizzard.  Well, this time around, we made it to church, the weather was great, and Caroline slept through the service, barely opening her eyes when our Rector (that's the pastor in an Anglican church) poured water on her head.  She woke up for a small celebration at our house following the service.

Since we had people over, a couple days before the baptism I asked my dear friend/Caroline's godmother Christina to help me plant some of the planters in our backyard.  That project turned into a small renovation project, and our patio no longer features carpeting!

Both photos credit: Jessica Mellon.

We also got the results of Ellie's sleep study.  No big surprise, her ferritin is most likely still low causing restless sleep, and she has moderate apnea.  We've attempted to treat the ferritin in the past and will continue to do so, and we have an ENT added to our annual spring list of specialist visits.  

The sleep clinic wanted some updated labs from Ellie, which meant a blood draw.

She is so tough.  She watched and didn't even say "ow," just thanked the tech and asked me for a treat.  We went to meet friends for donuts because... well, when the five year old handles a blood draw better than mom, she gets a donut.  And when mom accidentally glances at the needle, she deserves a donut, too!

Vacation Wrap Up.

The beach.  The sun.  The water.

It was a good vacation.

A few final photo highlights:

Photo credit random lady on beach.

We're back to the grind today.  Ellie is at school.  Caroline has a cold and is asleep on the living room floor.  We have massive piles of clothing and kid supplies to unpack and put away and no food in the house.  But we're all a little sun kissed and salty haired.  (Don't think one or two showers can remove the amount of sand on my children.  They looked like churros.)

The next few weeks will be a return to routine with gymnastics and school and photo shoots.  But as the weather gets nicer, I hope the next few weeks will also feature some outdoor play!

Quite the Week.

I have been such a slacker lately, you may not have noticed my absence from this space.

The last week or so has been a whirlwind.

A few weeks ago, I received a call that my grandpa was going to be switching to hospice care.  As a family, we decided that we would make a trip to Chicago (to let Caroline meet my husband's family) and then Caroline and I would go on to California to see Pop.  Unfortunately, he passed away on Valentine's Day.  We kept our plans to visit and attended his memorial service instead.  Despite great sadness on the part of everyone he left behind, there was joy in being together and celebrating his life.  I don't have the energy right now to write all about my grandpa, but I am very, very lucky to be his granddaughter.

1998.

This little adventure also meant that Caroline and I flew with Matt and Ellie from DC to Chicago on Wednesday.  Then we flew to CA with a layover in Denver (and a delayed flight) on Friday.  We came home Monday through Denver again (on time!)

Needless to say, the trip left us worn out and me emotionally exhausted.  Caroline proved herself to be a pretty good traveler.  We also lucked out - flying Southwest, no one wanted to sit by the baby*, so we had an empty seat next to us each leg of the trip.

*One lady wanted to sit by the baby.  She was kind of over-reachy.  But she was a seat away.  The other people who sat a seat away were all dads or grandpas traveling alone who guessed that they would get an empty seat next to them if they shared a row with Caroline.  Smart guys.

Ellie has been very aware that something happened but unable to articulate her concerns fully.  She just keeps asking about her Pops (my dad) and needs a lot of reassurance that he is okay.  Many children with learning disabilities and cognitive disabilities have trouble generalizing information - either over- or under-generalizing.  In this case, Ellie is overgeneralizing her concerns to include her own grandfather, so we keep trying to provide chances to FaceTime and see that my dad is still around.  Because of these concerns for Ellie, we decided that attending the memorial service wouldn't be a great idea for her, so she and Daddy stayed a couple extra days in Chicago and then returned home.

In the meantime, on our trip, Caroline turned five months old and started rocking on hands and knees.  She also appears to be working on another tooth.  Time with her is flying by.  She's wearing 6-9 month clothing, she's sitting (if you put her in position) and she just discovered the ability to create a high-pitched shriek which she uses to express joy, anger, boredom, sadness, and any other emotion.  She just likes to be loud.

In other news, Ellie finally got a haircut after an awful haircut from last year grew out.  ("No layers."  "Okay" - Cuts layers that look awful.)  She now looks older and adorable.  Matt and his mom took Ellie for the haircut armed with a few pictures of what I had in mind, and I love it.  So does Ellie.

I'll try to post some photos of the girls meeting their cousin and Caroline meeting her second cousins soon.  The family time was a gift.  Today, Caroline and I are going to attempt to get over jet lag because I have a full photography schedule coming up, a meeting with Ellie's possible new school for Kindergarten, and a week's worth of laundry and mail to sort.

Some Video Fun.

A few videos from the last week or two...

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Feb 2, 2016 at 12:26pm PST

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Feb 2, 2016 at 12:23pm PST

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jan 30, 2016 at 10:23am PST

Caroline is teething.  Ellie is back in school, and so thankful for a routine to routine.  On Tuesday morning, she was running around singing, "WE GO TO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY!"

And me?  I'm just trying to catch up on life, and in shock realizing that Ellie turns FIVE a month from tomorrow.

Five.

Matt and I asked Ellie what we should get for her birthday.  She said a cake.  I asked what kind of present and she said a hippo.  We all laughed and I told her that we needed a real answer, because I'm not buying a hippo.

Totally deadpan, she looked at Matt and said, "Okay, you can get me a penguin."

Is this the girl whose birth I feared?  Who I worried wouldn't talk?  Who I feared wouldn't have personality?

Ha.

Ellie, I'm so glad my fears were so silly.  You are wonderful.

Routine? We miss you.

Tomorrow is snow day #7.

Not counting weekends.

Monday is a teacher work day.

Now let me be clear.  I strongly dislike snow and cold, but I am a teacher.  I love snow days.  I may be on leave this year, and that doesn't change my snow day opinions.

But I also have a kid who needs routines.

Ellie has always been really flexible.  She doesn't mind going out and about, traveling, or changes of plan as long as we explain.  But even Ellie is ready to go back to school.

Every friend I've talked to has stated that their kids are tired of being at home.

So we've been trying to find fun to fill our days.  Yesterday, Jess came over.

Big winner.  Jess and I edited photos and Ellie ran around with her little camera.  And Jess snapped a few photos of my girls.

Off tomorrow too?  You're kidding.

More Snowed in Fun.

First piece of news:

A plow arrived!

Whoohoo!

Monday was another day with streets covered with nearly two feet of snow, spent perfecting our gently sloped backyard sled run, and photographing Caroline in the dress intended for her baptism, which will not fit come April and the reschedule date.

Ellie coloring early Monday morning.

Blue eyed beauty in her baptism dress.

Sisters.

Sisters.

On Monday, Christina and I took a walk to make sure we could safely transport her to the other side of town, we sledded, we made pancakes, and we continued to make the best of the blizzard.  The girls were sad to see Christina go - they both took naps for over two hours!

Some phone photos:

Caroline fell asleep like this.

Sledding in the yard.

My big girl, so brave with shots and animals, is not usually brave with adventure-type activities.  (Which is weird, because as a baby she loved to swing high.  Those days are done.)  We loved seeing her sled!

#snowzilla #thestormnotthebrother #Jonas backyard sledding

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jan 25, 2016 at 9:23am PST

#Snowzilla Aftermath.

I posted on Saturday that I would get my real camera out, take pictures of my kids in the snow, all that good stuff.

Well, lesson learned.

A four year old who can't walk through the snow because it's up to her waist, a baby who requires being carried through snow, and a husband working really hard to shovel two feet of snow from our driveway meant that Christina and I were in charge of both kids in the snow, with no spare hands for a DSLR.

We did grab some iPhone pictures.

Christina took most of these - They span the weekend.

Friday:

Buying crafts.

Wheat bread and hot dog buns available.

Christina, Ellie and I are glad we drink dairy-free milk!

The snow begins, this is every few hours:

Saturday fun:

"I want to make a penguin craft and paint."

Another 10 inches or so fell on top of this.

Sunday fun:

Just pretend they're dressed up at church.

Must make french toast.

On our Saturday walk.

Christina and the girls in the driveway.
Matt got a good workout digging!

Caroline "sledding."  It was flat.

Playhouse.