Happy 17th Anniversary, Honey!

Ds Fact:  Studies in the 1990s indicated that children with DS are at a higher risk to develop Celiac Disease than the general population. The reasons for that aren't entirely clear, but since children with DS are at a greater risk from auto-immune diseases, that Celiac Disease represents another one of these type of diseases. Source: http://www.ds-health.com/celiac.htm  (More on this tomorrow and how it relates to Elijah.)

Ds Blog: http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/  Another WONDERFUL family that has adopted several beautiful children and are in process to adopt a second child with Down syndrome (4th adoption!!!)!!! I had the awesome privilege of first meeting Dave and Summer last December on the streets of Simferopol, Ukraine. :-)  Yes, they were adopting from the same orphanage as us! What fun we had together as navigated the "marshukas" and laughed and cried about this roller coaster journey that international adoption is. They arrived shortly before we left, so we only overlapped about a week I think. Once you got through this process with someone, you have made life-long friends. I am so blessed to call Summer (and Dave) good friends!

Here are some photos I don't think I ever posted.

Elijah and Isabelle hangin' out in their strollers
Reminds me of the old "Look Who's Talking" movie!

Summer, Bellie and Dave spending their visit on the infamous black couch

Love at first sight!

Please pray for them as they have not heard about their travel date yet...it's been TOO long and their new son Gavin has been waiting TOO long. They've had such a long, tough road for both of their international adoptions. Also, please pray about helping them out financially too. Thanks! Be sure to stop by their blog to see how INCREDIBLE Bellie looks now. AMAZING!

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Happy 17th Anniversary to my most wonderful, awesome, patient husband!

I love you, Pat! I am honored and privileged to be your wife. Thank you for being the godly husband and father the Lord has called you to be. I'm so blessed! I deeply appreciate how hard you work to provide for our family, but yet still balance work and family time so well. And thank you for putting up with me too. It takes a very special man to do that. :-)

I love you Honey!

Don't forget - Prevost Benefit tomorrow!

Just a reminder!!!


If you are local, please stop by tomorrow to help bring a precious little one from China home to his forever family!!  (If you are not local, you can donate to their account HERE.) Thanks for your help!

Caleb's new family!

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

Carter met his Mama and Papa Today!!!

Ds Fact:  Babies born with Ds in Eastern Europe, Russia and several other countries are often given up for adoption. (Bet none of you knew that, did you? Sorry, it's late and my brain is fried.) At least in Ukraine, it is considered a curse. :-(

Ds Blog: http://www.homeiswhereitsat.blogspot.com/  I've been waiting ALL week for this one! WooHoo!!! Jake and Ashley met their son today for the first time! What an absolutely precious meeting! God has answered their prayers! I'm just in awe...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (I posted about Jake and Ashley HERE.)










What a doll!!!  Please continue to pray for them. They may have a long in-country stay due to where the orphanage is. Please pray for Carter's bonding and a smooth process from here on out.

One Thing I Know For Sure:  I'm in awe of God's Goodness for so many reasons!

Skipped school today!

Ds Fact: The history of Down syndrome from HERE:  In 1959 Professor Jerome Lejeune, a geneticist in Paris, discovered that Down Syndrome occurred as a result of a trisomy of chromosome 21. This means that instead of the usual 46 chromosomes in the cells of the body, there is an extra chromosome 21, making 47 chromosomes in all. Since then, other forms of the condition, which are much rarer, have been discovered, such as Translocation and Mosaicism. However, it was not until 1866 that the English doctor, John Langdon Down, first described the condition, which subsequently took his name.


So, Down syndrome is named after John Langdon Down.  The correct term is "Down syndrome", not "Down's syndrome", or "Downs". I remember reading somewhere that the syndrome is not to be capitalized. Really, that doesn't matter to me, but that's why I use "Ds" instead of "DS". For any of you on forums, you know that "DS" usually represents "Dear Son", not Down syndrome. :-)


Ds Blog:  http://lifeandtimesofalayna.blogspot.com/  Pat and I met Jason and Rochelle in Kiev when we arrived for Jonathan's adoption. We hit it off right away.  Jason is from the UK and Pat has spent well over a year of his life in UK for work, so he enjoyed his accent, as did I. :-) Rochelle has become a great friend to me and it was fun to meet up again at the end our journeys as when we both had our new children with us. It was a true blessing to be able to meet Dariya on her Gotcha Day no less. We hope to meet up with them again sometime and meet their other two children!

Rochelle has a great post about the history of Ds HERE. Much more fun than mine above. LOL

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It was a BEAUTIFUL AND WARM day here! High in the low 80's is usually unheard of here this time of year. So, I decided it was time to play hooky from school have a field trip! We went to the "Little Farmer". Love that place! It's an apple orchard and pumpkin patch, but it also catered for the kids too. We had a GREAT day!!!

Traditional photo opp

Picnic lunch

J hangin' out while we ate

Elijah didn't like the straw bales...can't blame him...a bit too much texture for him.

Anna and Rachel at the top!

Rebekah the sunflower

Sarah is such a HUGE help to me!

Jonathan didn't like the swing AT ALL!
It was a deep swing, so he couldn't have fallen out, but I'm sure he didn't like the freedom of movement.  Very scary for him. :-(

Tractor swings made from tractor tires

Ended the day with caramel apples! YUM!!
Elijah didn't like the texture of the caramel and sprinkles.
Rachel just picked at the caramel.
I was very sad to have extra for me. :-)

The other kids loved theirs!

I LOVE FALL!!!!

Day 5 - The "R" Word

Ds Blog:  http://matthew18vs14.blogspot.com/  One of my daughter Sarah's blogs...she has 4 I think. :-)  She has done a tremendous job of advocating for special needs orphans here, many of which have Ds, as well as sharing her heart on occasion. On her blog background you will find a very sweet boy that she met last summer on her mission trip. She is SO EXCITED he has a family coming for him! Praise God! Please visit her and say "Hi!"

Ds fact: Use of the "R" word hurts. (Ok, I guess this opinion, not fact.) The use of this word is no longer acceptable. I liken it to the use of the "N" word. Yes, it is that offensive - in my opinion. I have heard friends say it. I've heard friends' kids say it. It really just needs to stop as well as references to "Special Olympic" anything. The goal of this blogging challenge is to educate. Hopefully this will help.

I cut and pasted the following from my blog post back on 3/2/11, which is Spread the Word to End the Word Day.  http://www.r-word.org/


In honor of Elijah, please pledge to never use the r-word again. It hurts! Replace it with the new R-word - Respect!

From the r-word website:

“Everyone has a gift and the world would be better off if we recognized it.” – Timothy Shriver, Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics.

The R-word is the word 'retard(ed)'. Why does it hurt? The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It’s offensive. It’s derogatory. The R-word is hate speech.

How "retardation" went from a clinical description to a word of derision

When they were originally introduced, the terms “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, “retard” and “retarded” have been used widely in today’s society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when “retard” and “retarded” are used as synonyms for “dumb” or “stupid” by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity.

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.