An opportunity to help an adopting family!

Ds Fact:  Not ALL children with Ds are "happy all of the time".  I've heard that often. It's a myth. People from church may not believe me, but it's true. Oh ya, there was the one day Elijah cried in the middle of Children's sermon b/c he couldn't go up on stage. That would be the first (and only so far) time he's cried in the middle of church. But....at home....he is NOT happy all of the time. In fact, on any given morning during school, he can be found plopped down in the middle of the floor crying because he didn't get his way. Yep.  Guess what?!? He's just a typical kid!!!

I'm not sure about Jonathan's personality yet. Maybe he will be the stereotypical "happy all of the time" kid. He's pretty laid back. We'll see...

Ds Blog:  http://addingbranchestoourtree.blogspot.com/  This is the blog of my friend Juli that lives just a few miles from me. :-) She and her husband, Ben, are in process to adopt a little boy from China with Ds!  The process for China takes a bit longer than Ukraine, so they are patiently waiting for their Letter of Acceptance. I posted about their family HERE. (The folks on other half of that Ripple Effect post will have some VERY excited news in a day or two. I'll be sure to share!)



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Ok, that leads me to the title of this post.  Our church is hosting a craft and bake sale on Saturday where ALL proceeds benefit the Prevost family! Plus, a spaghetti dinner w/ some awesome raffles is being held that night! (Hey, it's only $5/person or $15/family. What a bargain for us! LOL)



Juli is also hosting a Scentsy fundraiser. HERE are the details.



So if you are local, I really do hope you can stop by and help this awesome family bring home their son!

Here's the details:


Craft & Bake Sale
Sat., Oct. 8th
At the American Legion in our town
10am-4pm
All sorts of wonderful items will be available for sale, including items from these special young ladies. Sarah posted about the French memo boards they helped make HERE.

Spaghetti Dinner
Sat., Oct. 8th
Serving from 5pm to 8pm
$5/plate
$15/family
Amazing Basket Raffles including an iPod Touch and Kindle!
Winners drawn at 7:45pm

Hope to see you there!!!

(Hopefully our night won't end with Elijah or Rachel like this!)

A little medical info and some adoption history

Wow...I made it 3 days in a row. Amazing! :-)

Ds Fact:  The most common type of Down syndrome is Trisomy 21. (There are 3 types.) It accounts for about 95% cases of Ds. Trisomy 21 means a 3rd copy of the 21st chromosome is present.  I have 46 chromosomes, 23 pairs. People with Ds have 47 chromosomes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_origins_of_Down_syndrome if you would like to read about translocation Ds and Mosaic Ds.


Blog about Ds:  http://www.zoromski.blogspot.com/  I've known Michelle since at least 2005 I think - long before I really even knew what a blog was. After Ruby and Lydia were born w/ Ds in 2007, she started a blog chronicling their journey. She posted TODAY about her story where she now has 3 daughters with Ds. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait. :-)  Little did Michelle or I know at the time, but she was educating me about Down syndrome - taking the "fear" away. Much of what I learned about Ds came through her 31 for 21 blogging challenges over the years.

I very strongly believe that Elijah and Jonathan would not be here right now if it weren't for Michelle's blogging. I'm forever deeply grateful for her dedication to sharing about her life, Ruby's life, and now Lilya's life. See, she educated me about Ds, and then opened my eyes to the plight of orphans in EE that have Ds. NEVER EVER did I picture myself adopting a child with Ds. Never. Until one night I was looking at the RR site and God....God said "Go."  And we obeyed. God gets ALL of the glory for that. He worked it out through His perfect timing. HE IS AMAZING!  If you want the really long version of that story, you can read part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE. Wow, what a trip down memory lane rereading those posts. Seems like an eternity ago, but really only just over a year.

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Our local Ds Awareness Walk was this past Saturday. Photos coming soon. Here's the link to the news coverage of the event.

http://wearegreenbay.com/fulltext?nxd_id=93517&watch=1 

Bath Time Fun! (?)

 Ok, Day 2 of the 31 for 21 Challenge. My friend, Shelly,  (Carrington's Mama) is sharing a fact about Ds everyday, as well as a blog that supporting and loving Ds. (She put our link on there today. Thanks Shelly! :-)) Anyway, I might follow suit.

So here is your first blog - http://carringtonscourage.blogspot.com/ Shelly and her hubby, Brian, have 8 children - 5 of whom are adopted, 4 with Ds!  Shelly has an amazing heart and I hope I can be more like her when I grow up. LOL They are in process to bring home another little boy, hopefully very soon! I'm sure I'll be posting more about them soon. http://atorchforteagan.blogspot.com/

Fact about Ds: (Michelle is actually the first one that told me this shortly after Ruby and Lydia were born.) 80% of the children born are born to mothers UNDER the age of 35. This is consistent with higher birthrate of this age group. Interesting, huh? Even though as a woman ages, her probability of having a child with Ds increases, but most children with Ds are NOT born to mothers of "advanced maternal age".  Both Elijah's and Jonathan's mothers were well under 35 when they were born.

Ok, bath time fun! (Or maybe not!) So, last night (Sat.) Pat is working back shift (6pm -6am) and Sarah decides to take these cute photos of the boys before bath time. Bath time is usually Daddy's job.

LOVE J's expression here!

Elijah clapping with glee

Bath time progresses as normal with these 2 and Rachel in the tub together. (Our tub is an extra foot longer than standard tubs so they all fit just fine.) I get Jonathan done first so Sarah can give him a bottle before bed as he is very tired. Elijah stands up (big no-no) and starts to squat. (You now know where I'm going with this, don't you?) I ask him if he has to go potty. He does tell me sometimes...sometimes. He says no. I have him sit back down. He stands up again and squats. KERPLUNK!  Yep, he just pooped in the tub! EWWWW!

I pull Rachel out ASAP, and of course she has a cup of water in her hands I neglected to see and it dumps on the floor. I get Elijah out and wiped up a bit and set him on the potty seat. I'm getting Rachel dried off and now she is signing "potty" and saying it very loudly!  She often does this, but nothing happens when I set her on the potty seat.  I don't want to pull Elijah off the toilet yet, as I'm not sure he's finished.

She still insists and Anna offers to take her to the other bathroom. (If you know Rachel, you know that once she has her mind set on something, she does NOT change it.) But no, she won't go. Instead, she pees on the floor! (Do ya think I should start potty training her soon? Yep, probably...)

Ok, Elijah comes off the potty, she goes on. I get Elijah wiped and dried off, dressed, and the floor cleaned up while she sits. Elijah is "released" out of the bathroom in hopes a sibling will play with him and keep him outta trouble. Rachel comes off the potty and 30 seconds later pees on the floor again!!! Ugh! 

Wipe child, wipe floor, trim Rebekah's big toe nail that has ripped off way off goofing around with a sibling or 2 or 3, chase down escapee child still not diapered, try to diaper stubborn child, comfort stubborn child after she throws a fit about getting diapered in the hallway and now has a scrape on her forehead from the plaster walls as she once again tried to escape. Sigh...yep, bath time fun! Or NOT! :-) Yes, I am a very blessed mother of many. 

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All this bath time fun reminded me of Elijah's very first bath. Not just his first bath with me, but his first one ever. I believe he was just given sponge baths in the orphanage. He DID NOT like his first bath, or many to come after that. But now, he LOVES the water - absolutely LOVES it.

So, here are a couple of never before posted photos of Elijah's first bath in a Kiev apt. One thing to notice is his ribs. Scroll back up and look at his ribs now...can't see them can you? :-) Amazing what 9 months and 10# can do for a child! He is even getting some "pudge" under his arms like his little brother. Yep, Jonathan has lots of fun, squishy "pudge".

Thanks for reading my little story. I promise not all of my posts this month will be this long. I'll never get any sleep! Type at you tomorrow. :-)

Ok, I'm in...31 for 21!!!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness month! So, I have joined the "31 for 21 Challenge" to help raise awareness about Down syndrome. (Sarah just kind of looked at me strangely when I told her I was going to do this...we'll see how I do! It certainly won't be for lack of material to post, but merely a matter of time.)



Grab This Button

The challenge is to post everyday in the month of October about Ds. Well, it just so happens that I have 2 VERY special boys here blessed with that extra chromosome, so I shouldn't run out of ideas or photos, right? :-)  This will hopefully give me the incentive I need to get caught up on all the posts rattling around in my head, as well as FINALLY post photos from Jonathan's Gotcha Day....ya I know, like anyone cares anymore, but to be fair to him, I still want to do it.

If you want to see all of the bloggers signed up for this challenge, click HERE or on the button above. I was #98! I'm sure it will be over 100 tomorrow. So if you have any questions about the boys you want answered, please let me know.

Happy October!!!!

Sleepy Baby!

I think this is possibly the funniest video ever recorded at the Birschbach house! :) Rachel was a little tired at lunch time yesterday (after waking up at 6am!). :)



What do you think? Should we submit it to AFV (America's Funniest Home Videos)? :)

For those of you receiving this in email, you'll need to click the 'My God is Lord' down at the bottom of the email, and watch the video on the blog. For those of you who are viewing it on the blog, be sure to turn the playlist off at the bottom.

Just a few hours left to register!

PRE-REGISTRATION CLOSES ON WEDNESDAY AT NOON!

You can still register at the walk, but will not be guaranteed a t-shirt.

The 2nd Annual Down Syndrome Awareness Walk will be held in Neenah on Saturday, Oct 1st!  

You can register online -- registration is $5 per person and you get a t-shirt.  New this year -- you can prepay for lunch online, too ($2.00 per person).  I hope you'll join us!!

GO HERE TO REGISTER AS PART OF OUR TEAM!!  :)

For more about the walk and the events that day, read HERE - Rachel Coleman of Signing Time will be returning, we'll have a lot of other entertainment (bouncy houses, clowns, petting zoo, craft table & more!)

If you'd like to donate to our team, you can do so here:  DONATIONS (or through the Firstgiving button in the upper right corner).  

All funds raised stay in our local community.

I hope you'll join us!  We had such a wonderful (if cold) day last year, celebrating those in our community with that little something extra :)

What does the DSAW-Fox Cities do anyway? Well, let me tell you. I think it' AMAZING!

 (Sorry for the formatting...that happens will I steal stuff from Michelle Z's blog. :-))

Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin-Fox Cities (DSAW-Fox Cities) became a new chapter of DSAW in February 2010. DSAW-Fox Cities has many ways in which it reaches out into the community to promote Down syndrome awareness. It is a nonprofit parent run organization that relies on volunteers and donations. The money raised from the walks is used for many beneficial programs, educational resources and scholarships. The following is some of the ways in which DSAW-Fox Cities is working hard to bring both awareness to the community and improve the lives of those with Down syndrome and there loved ones. Your support is instrumental in providing these services.  Please visit dsaw-foxcities.org for further information but the following are some of the things that you have helped make possible.

 Between January-September 2011, DSAW-Fox Cities accomplished the following:

• Served 85+ member families via private Google group
• Reached 150+ individuals or organizations via the monthly email newsletter, website and blog
• Held 30+ social events or educational workshops
• Distributed 35+ Down syndrome information packets for new & expectant families to hospitals, OB & pediatric clinics, genetic counselors, and Birth to 3 programs
• Created 5 new scholarship or grant opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome 
• Funded participation of individuals with Down syndrome in local sports opportunities and the Lose the Training Wheels camp in Milwaukee 
• Funded participation of parents in two national Down syndrome conferences
• Provided $100 gas/grocery gift cards to families experiencing major hospitalization of a child with Down syndrome
• Frequently submitted New Materials Suggestions to local public libraries to update resources
• Donated 180 books to be included in the Down syndrome information packets
• Donated 7 Signing Time school sets to local school districts
• Participated in Building for Kids' Children's Parade in downtown Appleton 
• Funded the Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign in local schools

Family Photo Shoot!!!

After we rescheduled 3 times, we finally accomplished our family photo shoot!!! Thanks SOOO much to Ashley and Jake for gifting us with this great photography session!  (By the way...Jake and Ashley will be traveling in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS TO MEET THEIR SON, CARTER!!!!  SOOO excited for them! Please be praying for them too!)

I had been totally stressing thinking about this session since the middle of July when they gave us this certificate. My biggest stressor - what to WEAR! (Story about our shirts at the end as well as a plug for "Handiwork for Lilly".) The "what to wear" stress has prevented me from having photos taken of the kids since Rebekah was a baby...Ya, I know, I get the "Mother of the Year" award for that one. So, without further ado...here's most of the photos from the night. Ashley did a FANTASTIC job!  We are SOOO blessed! Thanks Ash! Enjoy!

Rebekah (almost 5)

Isaac (7)

Anna (9)

Sarah (13)

Elijah (4)
(Have I mentioned that Elijah has gained 10# since he came home in January?  :-) I think some of it went to his belly.)

Rachel (almost 2)

Jonathan (1)

Trying to distract Rachel with a feather...

She still has the feather in her hand. :-)

Sarah and her Ukrainian brothers

And last but not least...Lil' Miss Personality's "Funny Face" Photo!

Ok, the little story about our shirts. How in the world to I find something for the 5 of us girls to wear?  I finally got a divine inspiration while shopping at our favorite fabric store last month. Sarah has made lots of blouses like we are wearing, and they sew up very quick. So we got 6 yds of fabric, several different patterns and away we went.  Each shirt is a little different with either decorative stitching or the rick-rack. 

For any of you "Suzy Homemaker" types that are curious about what patterns we used, here is the list. * Rachel - Simplicity 5695, view D leaving the bottom ruffle off. 

* Rebekah and Anna -  Simplicity 4206 view A, sizes 5 & 10, but they are too short and barely cover their tummies. We should have added at least 2-4" to the bottom. 

* Sarah - McCall's M5451. This pattern is several years old and we couldn't find a new one in any stores to use for me. But as I was just looking up the link, it is listed as out of print on the McCall's website, but it can still be ordered. Also, we added about 2" on the pattern to the top of the front, back and sleeves to make the shirt more modest. 

*Finally, for me - McCall's M5050. I also added 2" to the top of each piece as well. I probably wouldn't have needed to, but the pattern drawings showed it to be much lower than it sewed up to be. This pattern must have replaced Sarah's pattern as they are very, very similar. 

Sarah wanted to me to tell you all that if you are interested in a shirt for a special girl in your life, you can custom order them through "Handiwork for Lilly". Sarah and "Big Rachel" have been working VERY hard to make items to sell to raise Lilly's ransom. I think everything on their blog is crocheted right now, but Sarah will sew for you too. :-) Just email them if you are interested. 

Finally, I got the little boys' shirts at Target.com. They don't sell the white polos in the stores, but the shipping was reasonable and they were only $7 each. 

Day on the Farm!

Sarah here... here are pictures from last Saturday at Day on the Farm and Elijah's birthday!

The look on his face says it all! He LOVED riding the horse! (Sign for horse! :))

Rebekah

Maggie, Anna's friend and next door neighbor who joined us for the day.

Isaac

Elijah was fascinated by all the animals!

He got mad when I wouldn't let him touch the pig though! :)

Rebekah the sheep!

Hand Prints
Every year, the hand prints are done on a different design. The helpers than label the hand prints with the child's name and city. Then they are displayed throughout the farm. Above, Anna and Maggie found theirs from last year. Below, Rebekah is just about ready to put hers on. It is a very fun tradition! We've gone 10 out of the last 11 years, so if we looked long enough, we'd be able to find Sarah's hand prints from when she was 2. :-)

Our Family Picture! Thankfully the ones with Ashley last night turned out much better (we hope anyway! Haven't seen them yet!)! :)

Rachel did an awesome job shaking the cream to make butter!

Elijah's birthday cake!

Jonathan didn't care for the cake!

Elijah didn't really care for it wither.. until we started filming him, then he ate it just perfect!! That's Elijah for you!