Wordless Wednesday: 1 year

Fundraiser Time!!!

I am lucky to be party of a huge family. My DS family has gotten me through a lot in the past year... Worries, struggles with feeding and schedules, etc. Even more important than that, my family is held together by the support of the strongest hands I know. These women will do anything for their family, and for others who are in desperate need of help. Will you help them?

I have jumped on the bandwagon to help fundraising for Max's adoption with Debbie Marks. The average cost for international adoption is $30,000. I know a lot of families are being hit hard by the economy right now, myself included, but if we can rise up together and give in this desperate time of need, we could not only save a life, but help deliver another orphan to his Family. 

Please visit my website if you would like to purchase and help the cause. I will be donating 25% of sales now through April 16th. Use code RRMAX when checking out.

If you would like to donate directly or are interested in other products, please check out Debbie's site for her list of fundraisers. (I especially love THIS fundraiser.)

“We are all pencils in the hand of God.” - Mother Teresa

Faith

I am a stay at home mom. While this is the best job I could have ever asked for, I'm starting to feel it may be a good idea for me to go back to earning some money. I would like to be able to support my family in the event of a crisis, and not to mention the fact that it would be nice to have extra money to spend on Amelia/donate to my passions/live comfortably and not paycheck to paycheck.

All big steps take a lot of courage. This leap is going to be based solely on Faith. I am very scared to make the investment I am about to make. So nervous that I am unable to sleep. After laying here praying to god to help me do what is right, I believe that this is the right choice. I want to be sure that whatever I do in life is not just to benefit myself but many others.

So now I ask myself, isn't this what life is all about? God leads you into a new direction, unable to see the road ahead clearly, but knowing in your heart it is the right choice, you step ahead. When you make a decision to go with His plan it seems every choice you make can reflect right back to this plan, whether intended or not. We are always being watched, whether we realize or not.. It is when we let go of these fears that we enjoy the most precious gifts we have been given.

Amelia's first smiles were my first signs of true happiness.

For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:16

Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation - +15 Campaign - Tell 15 Friends

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!!!! What better day to spread the word!!!

Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation - +15 Campaign - Tell 15 Friends

Preview

To be finished. ;)

Hearts and Stars.

L is for Love

Tonight I read sad stories about Down Syndrome. Harsh words from a harsh society.... Crimes of sexual assault.. All of these things make me want to scoop up Amelia and squeeze her until her eyes pop out (I will love you and squeeze you forever and ever).. Quickly though, I catch myself and stumble over to Kelle Hampton's blog. Her post about feeding Nella in her car seat during a random road trip brings me back to reality. This very act makes me realize I am NOT alone. It makes me realize that I am not raising a "Down's baby" but just MY baby. Just like everyone else out there with a child will agree, she is perfect to me. It doesn't matter what hardships we may have to endure in our life, I will always love her unconditionally. It is this moment of realization that opens my eyes to the fact that God put me here to do just this, be her mother. It is my job to not only protect her, but to help her grow into a strong smart individual who will change the world one smile at a time.

I love you Amelia.

Sublime

I always knew when I had a child I would have to paste their naked booty everywhere.

In other news. Amelia is officially pulling up to stand on everything. She started last month, but has mastered this new skill enough to freak me out when I walk in the room and see her trying to escape her crib! I will post pics of this awesome feat soon.

Stressful times.

I know not a lot of people follow my blog.. or twitter.. or anything really. I still figure I will try to get the word out any way possible. There are a lot of children waiting to find their forever homes, and a lot of momma's trying to help get the job done. I am grateful to know many of these amazing women. Especially Lily's Momma who is donating even though she will not be able to adopt. This is what Christmas is all about. I would give up every single present I may ever receive to see these children find a home. What's 20 dollar's when we spend hundreds on toys alone?

Holiday Cheer.

Let me start off by telling you that my family is not the type to have any sort of tradition, let alone a Christmas one. Last year I was blessed to marry my amazing husband, and to be welcomed into his amazing family.
We attended Vikki's annual cookie exchange last night. I LOVE this party. I look forward to it for weeks!
I don't think the ladies realize how much this event means to me. When you walk into Vikki's it just feels like Home. There are snacks, laughing, people oohing and aahing at Amelia. I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about it!!! I don't care if I receive any sort of gift for Christmas. To me, this party was better than any gift. This party was what Christmas is all about. Sharing, laughing and loving.
It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

This is a terrible picture, but I wanted to give you the idea of how amazing these cookies really are.

Made with love.

Going Green?

I am taking the journey into cloth diapers. Yes, that is what I said. Cloth diapers. I am new and have no idea what I'm doing. Thank goodness I have friends like Nicole who will inform me what has worked best for them. So far I have 4 prefolds, 2 covers, 1 pocket diaper and I'm awaiting my GroVia starter kit! I also have to get detergent, a wetbag and wipes. Even with buying all this up front, it will still be cheaper than buying disposables for the next 2-3 years. Not only that, but GroVia has biosoaker inserts for when we are out on the go!!
Nicole also introduced me to the crazy world of online diaper websites and parties. I am going to be joining a Twitter party (even though I hardly know how to use twitter) in hopes to win an all in three.. I don't even know what an all in three is!!! SO EXCITED! I will post pics of Amelia in her fluff soon!

Big Day.

Amelia waved bye-bye to her pediatrician today. I'm SO proud of my big girl.

October was a good month.

Let me catch you up on the last month.

Wordless Wednesday

Flight of The Bumblebee

We moved into our apartment when I was 7 months pregnant. We were eager and excited, ready to be on our own. It was a decent size apartment, and we definitely did not have a lot of cool stuff. Our family helped a lot though, and donated a lot of furniture.

Everything about this place seemed great. It was a nice neighborhood. We are close to the elementary school that our Early On services are located at. The neighbors are nice, etc..

Fast forward to summer. We walk onto our patio to find this..

There are thousands of dead bees popping up all summer long. So many that I often find body parts in our carpet. We spoke to the woman in the office, who informed us that this is an endangered honeybee (WHAT?) and they would send a bee keeper to cut a hole in our ceiling and remove them. That was well over two months ago.

Justin decided it would be a good idea to spray the bees, and then leave the can out for evidence. Mr. Bee Keeper himself knocks on my door and informs me that he is going on vacation. I am told when he returns the bee issue will be cleared up. I am then asked to stop spraying them, and the next day the can disappears. That was over two weeks ago.

Yesterday was our therapy day with Vanessa, and since it was so nice we decided to open the door for some fresh air. While playing with my daughter I am pleased to find Mr. Bee Keeper visiting me through the screen door while smoking. He tells Justin (who was nice enough to go outside and talk to him) that he really wants to wait until after winter since there are probably about 100,000 of the little guys in there flying around..... Seriously???? There are 100,000 of them and we are going to let them live there until our lease is up??? Is this even legal??

This just goes to show, you get what you pay for.

One year closer..

In just 18 days Justin and I will have been married one full year. 

A lot can happen in one year. Lives can change completely in just 365 days..

It only took 9 months 

 to create the most beautiful person I've ever seen.

Exactly halfway through that year we were blessed with a gift.

Things were a little scary at first... But how can you be scared when you see this face every day?

I can hardly remember life before this.

But something gives me the feeling I won't ever miss it.