The Harnisch Family

All Things McKenzie!!

2012-01-27T21:27:00.003-06:00

Since the last few posts have been a bit "Macy" heavy. I thought I would, in an effort to keep my blog well-balanced, change up the pace a bit.
So this post, is about all things McKenzie. While, yes, Down Syndrome plays a major role in our life, it is only one small ingredient to our story. If nothing else, this blog is eclectic & random at best. Some days (well most days thankfully) are UP, some days are down, some days are silly, some are serious. But at the end of the day, this blog represents a special mix of what makes our family tick.
That teeny-tiny extra copy of her her baby sisters' third-chromosome is MICROSCOPIC. So, proportionately, it would most certainly be our goal to keep that "minor chromosomal difference" element as microscopic in our daily dynamic as possible. So far, that's working out quite well for us.
Thank you blog friends for keeping up with our craziness. :-)

Sooo. okay.
Back to McKenzie, the precocious one.
While, it's true she has developed a bit of a pre-teen attitude, I still love and cherish her to pieces. She can be the sweetest thing (when she wants to be).

As you may recall a few months ago, we were having major "clothing issues". read about her clothing intervention here
I am happy to report that after about three months of "tough clothing love" we were able to bring her clothes back in her room - she earned them back with good behavior. I'd say she most certainly learned from this experience. She now understands that a person only needs to wear ONE set of clothes a day (not 20! and it is not okay to change every 10 minutes). She now picks out her own clothes in the morning, is quite picky, and does not have (in my opinion) the most keen fashion sense, but hey, she's dressed and she's NOT throwing a fit about it. So it works for me - whatever!
We still have a ways to go and most certainly experience daily "behavior struggles", so we're getting some advice & learning unique tactics at "Love & Logic" class we're taking at church. hehe
---------
She loves preschool (especially show & tell days) and holds her teacher, Mrs. Shipe on QUITE the pedestal. Which makes sense I suppose because she rocks.
The other day McKenzie said something really creative, smart & witty (I forget what it was exactly).
I asked her "Why are you so smart McKenzie?....Is it because your daddy is so smart?"...
"No" She responds.
I tried again, "hmm, oh, it's because your momma is super smart huh"...
"Nope". She replies with a precarious smile.
"Well, how is it then that you are SOOO smart".
It's cuz my teacher is SOOO smart!"

I thought that was really sweet. I couldn't wait to share that bit of info. with Mrs. Shipe the next day. hehe
She also mentions her teachers daily in her prayers at the dinner table.
---------
In other news, she still LOVES ballet, enjoys her time spent with friends at Joy's daycare, McKenzie very much looks forward to Oasis & Bethany Buddies every Thursday and Sunday school, she likes going to Kids Camp on Thursdays. She also has a lot of fun participating during Macy's Special Olympics YAP sessions.
She most definitely loves all the special time she gets to spend with her cousins, which includes lots of parties, sleepovers, movie dates, etc...
----------
McKenzie also LOVES playing her iPod touch (but it's usually missing, so mommy's iPhone is generally the fall back) She is a whiz on those apps. Of course, we download child/age appropriate games and such, but I must say, she can hold her own on adult games too! A lot of thought, strategy & hand-eye coordination are required for these games, so I am super impressed with her skills...Her most recent conquests have been "Cut the Rope", "Angry Birds" & "Egg Punch".
----------
below are some recent adventures - pics taken with the iPhone :)

yay Instragram iPhone app :-)

2 Year IFSP - a teeny reminder of how our girl is different

2012-01-26T15:35:00.005-06:00

We met with our AWESOME Early Intervention team last week to go over and make adjustments to our IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) - a mere 25 page report on everything MACY.

Sharon (Speech Path), Shelli (Serives Coordinator,) Penny (PT), Renae (Special Education teacher) Valerie Jensen (School District Rep). not pictured: Lucy (OT)

I Love how Kenzie & Macy are blurred in the above pic...getting them to sit still for a nano-second is seriously impossible...oh well, this pic wasn't about them anyway. hehe

Click on the following links for a quick look back at our first few official meetings. a few weeks old 6 month IFSP 1 yr IFSP 18 month IFSP
---------------------
It's funny how most kids go through life, they grow up, develop, they learn skills, etc... Most milestones are noted, but are for the most part over-looked (taken for granted even). This, I'd say is the norm.

It's funny to think that with our Little Miss Macy NOTHING GOES UNNOTICED and most certainly not unappreciated! Especially with Miss Sharon (her Speech pathologist documenting her EVERY move - she is a very thorough note-taker during our weekly sessions). I have always liked to think that Down Syndrome slows things down just enough to truly appreciate each and every milestone, big & small. Allowing us (not always observant parents) ample time to take notice, savor the moment and celebrate it appropriately before the child moves on and conquers that next challenge/obstacle.
I'm not saying that Macy is slow...she just likes to take her time! (As the wise Ferris Bueller once said "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it".) hehe

I have been told, warned rather, that, for us parents, it is in this season of a child with a disabilities life that could perhaps be the most difficult. It is during these years (1-4 years) that all the typical children begin taking off and developing various skills & abilities so rapidly, effortlessly even. While Macy rocks & is doing super well, I am certainly not blind to small differences in Macy's preschool class...of which most of her sweet classmates are POTTY-TRAINING even! (but that's another blog). It is not that in my mind I feel as though Macy may be "falling behind". Sure, according to her IFSP, she's right on track & doing well. Yes, I get it. But I am still human and can wallow around in my own self pity at times. I'm not gonna lie, it's somewhat frustrating...Wondering how much wider this ability gap will continue to grow. (right now, at two, hers luckily is super subtle, especially to those unsuspecting friends around us. I think her outgoing & vivacious personality makes up for any other possible short-comings).
I know she will continue to improve, I have confidence that on the scale of most intellectually disabled individuals she will rank high and be high-functioning. But I also know that she will never really CATCH UP to her "typical" friends & cousins, she will always be "behind" or "delayed". This saddens me yes, but I think eventually I will be more at peace with the idea and accept these differences as no big deal. She IS going to grow into that person God has specifically created her to be - no matter what. Having this faith and TRULY believing in it day in & day out is just hard some days.
Perhaps when that day comes when there are no questions, this twisted-knotted feeling in my gut (am.i.doing.enough-are.we.exposing.her.to.right.things/people.the appropriate.amount.of.stimuli, etc...) will just go away and we can breathe easier again...
------------------
okay - enough with that - so now, if you're really bored (and looking to kill time)...here are some EXCITING IFSP details derived from our meeting last week.
Without getting into the nitty-gritty here, we addressed and documented (in a 25+ page report no less) EVERY development in the areas of Macy's VISION, HEARING, HEALTH STATUS, COGNITIVE/THINKING SKILLS, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, SOCIAL SKILLS, BEHAVIORAL SKILLS, SELF-HELP/ADAPTIVE SKILLS, FINE MOTOR SKILLS, GROSS MOTOR SKILLS, etc. It's quite fascinating actually to see it ALL spelled out on paper and graphed even. Seeing where and exactly how much (on a bar chart) she has grown since last time. Who has this much time?? Our IE team apparently. hehe Love them & and very much appreciate the time and attention to detail they put into Macy's future of being the best and most productive person she has the potential to be.

So now that we have addressed where she is...what does this mean? Where do we go from here? well...here are some simple goals we have set for her: and YOU CAN HELP!!

Gross Motor Goals - work to improve Macy's ability to interact and move safely within her environment by mastering the objectives below:
a) develop a true run on flat surfaces, with a brief single stance moment.
b) step up and down from a few steps safely with minimal support
c) kick a ball from standing still position (balancing on one leg to kick with the other)
d) throw a ball overhand forward 3 feet from a standing position while maintaining balance.
e) jump up, clearing her feet from the floor
f) maintain a sitting position when sliding down a short (8 foot or so) slide.
g) propel a ride on a toy forward, backward, and turning it independently.

Fine Motor Goals - Macy will participate in activities to facilitate self help/fine motor skills by mastering the objectives below:
a) Drink from a cup and/or glass with little (to eventually no) spillage
b) Bring food to her mouth using a utensil with minimal to NO spillage
c) unfasten the zipper and remove her coat
d) undress herself removing all articles of clothing.
e) Turn the pages of a book one page at a time.
f) imitate circular, horizontal and vertical lines with a model.
g) Fit at least 5 shapes into their corresponding places without prompting.

Cognitive Thinking & Social Skills - Macy will be able to play independently with materials in constructive play, imitate daily routines, and participate in interpersonal games. During play and routines she will be able to demonstrate understanding of verbal requests and next step language.
a) use a variety of toys in constructive play (stacking blocks, connecting large legos etc)
b) sequence several actions during functional play with objects independently.
c) follow familiar one and two step verbal directions with fewer prompts or environmental ques from family and familiar adults.
e) when adults are not near by, use gestures or verbalizes to gain the attention of another to share, show, get help or request an item.
f) engage in parallel play (mimicking the action of others)
g) find 5-7 body parts during play, finger plays or during dressing routines.
h) imitate gestures for a wider variety of interpersonal games.
i) use pictures/gestures or signs to request or initiate familiar games.

Communication Skills - Continue to expand Macy's expressive communication skills by using words/signs/pictures to effectively communicate her wants and needs and to interact with people across her natural environments.
a) engage in vocal play imitating both her sounds and novel sounds when adults initiate them.
b) use sounds (animal-environmental-exclamations), approximated/true words, and signs with/without prompting.
c) Be exposed to picture choices as an additional method to make her wants/needs known (e.g. food items, toy items, routine sequences, availability of objects/activities).
d) Put her sounds/words/signs/pictures together to form combinations.
e) Use words/signs/pictures for early social functions (greet, get help, terminate, initiate, more, etc).
f) Monitor oral sensory motor skills, speech sound production skills.
g) Other things to work on...pausing, turn-taking, making choices, determining adequate portions, etc).

--------------
So there, that's it in a nutshell (it really is helpful for me to type it all out - this "sharing" exercise actually puts it more into perspective for me).
Next time, you want to productively "play/interact" with Macy, perhaps you could keep a few of these goals in mind. But really at the end of the day, this is pretty basic and common sense stuff. Perhaps we're just over-thinking it...but HEY, at least we're thinking about it right!? :)
That said, it's important to remember that the IFSP is not about predicting Macy's progress. It's about taking steps towards what we believe she can achieve. And we believe her possibilities are endless!

--------------
The plan? We will continue our weekly Early Intervention Home visits - with Sharon (Speech Pathologist) as her primary service provider and rotating OT, PT & Special Ed into the mix too :-)

A win-win for all!

so here's to all of us working together - to helping our Little Miss Macy

explore the world around her

Magnify all possibilities - Take it ALL in!

Effortlessly climb that ladder towards success

bring those feet forward...one step at a time...you can do it!

It's not scary, you just have to try. TRUST ME!

go Macy go!

Such a big girl! We will most certainly improve on this slide stuff once Spring rolls around :-)

"How old is Macy??"

2012-01-19T10:28:00.002-06:00

When you ask Macy this...she'll flash you her million dollar smile, fling her hand in the air, crossing two fingers and say "tszzzzzz". (That's two in macy lingo).
Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Big sis gives her a bit of "encouragement".

Macy's uneventful 2-yr well-baby check

2012-01-18T21:28:00.001-06:00

I am happy to report that her 2-yr check up with the pediatrician was uneventful - meaning there were no special issues or concerns that we felt we needed to address. Which was very nice. :-)
Her doc was super impressed and just as blown-away as we are with her development, skills & abilities. She was a spit-fire on the examination table and would most certainly NOT let that ear-checker-thinga-ma-bobber come within a 2 foot radius of her head. She is one strong cookie. Doc was impressed with her "anticipation" skills & overall competence. His remark came as no surprise to me. She's smart. She is fully aware and competent of the awkardness that having this device poking in your ear causes. He had to work a little harder and use more effective negotiation tactics with little Miss Macy than I think he anticipated.

HA! "Do you see what I'm dealing with here"? I said. It's all good :)

So here are her stats (well kinda - I seem to have misplaced the report - surprise, surprise).
Weight - 22'9", which is in the 75th percentile on Down Syndrome Growth Chart.

Height - heavens I have NO idea! Besides she was squirming something fierce so there's no way they got an accurate measurement anyway. I do know she is in 10th percentile on the DS growth chart.
translation - she's a shorty...
-------
Okay - so I don't have any "new pics" to share...but here is collage of some "somewhat" recent faves.

Oh and below is a sweet video of us waiting at the doc office. Funny how they put you in an 8x8 room, alone for 15+ minutes and expect the little ones to behave. Once she finally got bored with the UNCHILDPROOFED (I might add) outlets, she moved on to the curtain. The kid had a blast twirling and peek-a-booking. I was thinking about being a good mom (for a second) and telling her no...but she was having SOOO much fun...and I'd rather she pull down the curtain, than electrocute herself, so here ya go! :-)
Just listen to that laugh!!! ha.

As the background music says - she's having "THE TIME OF HER LIFE". yes I added music, thought it would make the 1min & 35sec video a tad more entertaining. :-)

A note to Macy on her 2nd Birthday

2012-01-06T17:09:00.000-06:00

Macy, today (okay, I'm a little behind on my posts, 5 days ago) we gathered at our home to celebrate your 2nd Birthday.
Just 40 of your closest family members came over to show their love.

It is impossible for you to understand just how lucky we all are to have a front row seat to the greatest show on earth. YOU! You are a riot. An absolute comedy show at times - sure you're fiesty, but you're YOU. As Dr. Suess would probably say - You are the you-est you, you could be. Loaded with character. Full of energy, insatiable charisma and endless charm. Seriously. What's NOT to love about every inch (centimeter actually) of you? We just thank God every day for allowing us to wake up and know that the funniest & sweetest little kiddo is waiting right down the hall. Waiting for us to open the door to her bright pink room. Every morning, NEVER FAILS, the moment we open that door, you bounce up, and throw out the world's biggest smile...bullseye. You're a sharp shooter kid. Those giggles & smiles always hit us square in the heart - I'm sure that's right where you were aiming too. What an awesome thing to wake up to every day. Thank. You. For. THAT!

Every day we get to spend with you brings us joy. Joy to the trillionth degree. Being able to watch you grow and develop into the person you were meant to be is so rewarding on too many levels to mention. Each and every one of God's creations are amazing, but you my friend, YOU are the most amazing creation (at least to little ole me) OF ALL. Every day you blow me away with new skills, abilities, milestones, expressions, signs, smiles, gestures, the list goes on and on. I'm proud and elated, because I know these accomplishments don't come easy. Sure, it takes you a little longer to learn how to do most things, and perhaps you have to work a little harder than "typical" kids, but you sure wouldn't know that by looking at you. You handle every challenge and obstable with grace, confidence and poise. When you want something, you just go GET IT! Period. You never whine or complain. You just DO IT. You always prevail. You continue to be little miss social butterfly, the life of the party. So sweet and welcoming of everyone - always looking to make friends. :-)

You leave your daddy and I wondering. Who are we? Who are we to have been brought this far. To have been trusted this much? Who are we to have been given this awesome opportunity of being your parents? We will thank the good Lord above for you always. Our heavenly creator, with his very own hands, most certainly opted for the most delicate, illustrious and brilliant thread when he so intricately wove you together inside my womb. A custom creation, a marvel from up above, for us all to enjoy & adore.

We are truly blessed to call you OURS. We strive to make you proud.
And we genuinely hope that someday you too will feel blessed to call us YOURS.

I'd like to think that every day we teach you something new...but that would be inaccurate...every day YOU TEACH US SOMETHING NEW!

So, okay, sorry for the ramble, I guess I tend to do that sometimes (especially when you are napping and big sister is crafting quietly simultaneously). Below are some snapshots taken at your little B-Day party.
-------------------

Aunt Jessica, Aunt Shelly & cousins Autumn & Ashlynn having a great time at the party.

Cousins Sam & Mason lookin' busy...Mason's on the phone and can not be bothered.

Macy arrived to the party ready to nap! After a long weekend of partying at the lake and at the Witt's house. :-)

Anna & Brook check out the caterpillar cake.

McKenzie & Cousin Ally playing with their Lallaloopsie dolls.

reading Harrison a book :-)

Macy starting to make her rounds...from one plate to another...it looks like Keri is her current victim.

Love those lips...her cheekies are FULL of food too. ha!

hmmmm, where should I go next?

Grandma Harnisch brave enough to sit with the kids at the kids table :-)

from left to right - Lisa, Dylan, Jim, Danielle, Dan, Grandma Lee & Grandpa Lee

Macy spots the next sucker who will share her food. Aunt Heather!

Macy watches her big girl cousins play house.

Mason & Sam come on over and play along too.

But Ally can't be bothered. deep in thought & imagination.

Macy decides to come back to the family room and join in the party.

Maybe there's some food to steal over here.

I think she may have stolen this juice box from Uncle Jim....RUUUN!

Dylan reading one of our newest blog books :-) This blog has produced 4 "6 month increment" books, all totaling about 300 or so pages. All a good read when we want to revisit some recent memories - I LOVE OUR BLOG BOOKS!! :-)

Girls Club

Macy sure does love it when cousin Danielle comes around :-)

Present time! The grandpa's helped facilitate the craziness.

It was crazy because all of Macy's cousins wanted to be right in on the excitement as well.

Macy showing Aunt Jessica how to rock the sock money to sleep.

The big kids hogging Macy's new toys, while she reads the instructions off to the side.

Macy sneaks away and digs some old toys out of her toy box since the bog kids are all playing with her new ones. hehe

Caterpillar Cupcakes (supposed to be from the "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" theme, but I requested that they be more "girly" in color). :-)

blow out the candles time!

She had quite an audience.

Make a Wish!

getting satisfyingly messy.

mmmmm

Heather, Grandma, Keri & Eirka being goofs

Macy tries on one of her new adorable little dresses she got for her Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Little Miss Macy...we all love you so VERY much!!!!

2-yr Party decor & new photo wall

2012-01-03T20:20:00.000-06:00

We just got home from church (I had to run the media booth during both services - turns out it's difficult to find volunteers on New Year's morning :-), the girls are at the lake with G&G Lee. 3 hours till Macy's 2 yr B-Day party...some major house cleaning needs to happen before our 40 closest family members arrive.
I put up some decorations...

Due to the fact that a large portion of our invited guests are under 6, it made sense to cater heavily to their snacking needs.

Okay, decorations? check. So now perhaps we should be dusting, vaccuming, folding laundry, preparing the party food, getting out the beverages or at least getting dressed??? naaa, looks like I'd much rather "unnecessarily" rearrange our picture frames.
This has been something I've wanted to do for quite some time. Round up all the random frames we have hung on various walls throughout the house and bring them together, creating one cohesive unit. Not sure why I got the itch to do it at this most inopportune time? But I did, so my husband happily (at least he pretended to happily) help. It was definitely a two person job! We used a level and tried to follow the rules associated with a photo wall collage of this kind...
Here's the final product!

This is the front room...the area on the main level that we have allowed the girls to takeover.

Aside from the cheap 3M velcro-adhesives thingies we purchased to hang them, there were no other costs associated with our little project, being that we already had the frames hanging in other areas of the house :-) NICE!
I even made my first Pinterest.com posting...check it out...http://pinterest.com/pin/6614730672401706/...I have two "likes. ha!

-----
We started at 1:00pm, it was 2:59 when we attached the final frame. 2 hours?! yikes. I guess we underestimated the time component a bit. But we finished in the nick of time, just as our first guests were arrving. hehe

Christmas Day

2012-01-02T14:05:00.002-06:00

After a busy and "on-the-go" Pre-Christmas season, we were more than pleased to have NO CALENDAR ENTRIES on Christmas Day. We arose slowly, enjoyed a yummy bacon, eggs, hash browns & toast breakfast. G&G Lee stopped over bright & early to witness the excitement on our littles faces when they walked down stairs to find that Santa had come. Due to our lack of agenda for the day, we allowed the girls to take their time & stretch the gift opening portion of the morning out - nearly two hours.

As the late & wise Andy Rooney once said:

"One of the most glorious messes in the world is created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don't clean it up too quickly."

We didn't.
-------
here's the progression of our day in photographs.

Sooo, interestingly enough...the girls came down stairs...one would think they would b-line over to the tree to check out the goods. But, nope, not my girls. They got distracted in the front room and had to play with baby Jesus first. Thanks Leonard for the very thoughtful gift last week. How'd you know the girls would love it!? :)
After about 10 minutes of Nativity time, they finally decided they were ready to open some present.

Rise & Shine sweet baby Jesus! It's morning and Santa Claus came to visit!

"Here Grandma, you rock baby Jesus"...."like this"

The lonely presents patiently waiting for their turn.

"Okay we can start Christmas morning now...but the three wise men & Joseph want to come too."

'Here Grandma, you hold him, keep him safe and be careful."

Let's get this party started!

oooo, big sis got some new kicks. NICE!

hmmmm, open a present, or beg for Grandpa's bacon? She chose the latter.

McKenzie helping Toby open his stocking stuffer.

ah haha! a gormet meal for the dog. Don't you go falling in love with this stuff, cuz it's back to your "big bag" diet tomorrow!

Funny, how Toby, a Westie, looks nothing like this dog (also a Westie) featured in those Cesar commercials. hmmm.

"telephone call for YOU Grandma"

The gifts have all been opened, and now we (okay, Joe) spent the rest of the day assembling the big kid stuff.

"some" assembly required for Kenzie's new doll house

movin' onto Macy's new car. - make note of Macy playing with the Nativity scene in the background. ha!

Macy decides she should come over and supervise..."too tight daddy!"

"Careful, don't screw that front wheel on too tight". a little to the left (ha, now Kenzie is playing with baby Jesus again)

What a great day of Christmas Day we had. Very low key and relaxing. A nice change of pace :-)

Macy is 2 years old TODAY

2011-12-28T14:56:00.001-06:00

THE BIG TWO!!!
It seems everything prior to her existence is a blur...
And I suppose it wasn't until she was born that I began truly appreciating, soaking in & savoring each and every moment of life. Big things, small things, every thing. I wasn't journaling or keeping the same amount of documentation before, so I suppose that contributes to the "blurred effect".

First thing this morning (before breakfast even), the girls and I had a fun little photoshoot. It lasted all but 10 minutes before Macy got bored (and hungry) - but I still managed to get a few fun shots in. Most of which were fuzzy, but I think that appropriately defines just how HARD it is to keep up with this FAST MOVING little peanut.

In case you're bored, feel free to re-read Macy's "birth story" that I wrote last year on her birthday. It makes me smile to think how FAR we have ALL come. Life is good :-)
------------------------------
Here are the pics I was telling you about...I think I'll just let them all speak for themselves. Enjoy!

And yes, in case you were wondering...Macy is wearing big sister's hand-me-down "Birthday Princess" dress. The one Kenzie wore when she turned 1. It didn't quite fit Little Miss last year, but is perfect a year later :-) I LOVE IT!!

Christmas Eve!!! (& our "Lee" family Christmas party)

2011-12-27T21:46:00.000-06:00

Okay...so the house is still a MESS (mainly the upstairs & basement), the laundry mountain still has yet to be tackled...I had PLENTY of time to get some chores done today, but naaaa, blogging sounded like MUCH more fun. And hey I'm JUST about caught up on my Christmas blog posts. hehe :-)
I feel like today is the deadline to "put Christmas 2011 to bed" as tomorrow is Little Miss Macy's Birthday!!! I'm sure my heart will be driven to write a little post perhaps & God forbid I post things out of chronoglical order. So, I MUST finish these last couple Christmas posts BEFORE tomorrow. ha!

Oh & between posts today I took down the Christmas decorations. Not because I'm a grinch or a scrooge (or whatever), but because I've got to start getting this house in order for Macy's BIG two-year B-Day party this weekend. And besides, contrary to popular belief, Christmas isn't JUST about home decor...it's about waaay much more than that. Any 4 year old could tell you. It's quite simply really. It's about celebrating the birth of baby Jesus. period.

Soooo. without further adue. The Christmas Eve post!

After a low-key, bum around the house kind of day...it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve Service at Bethany. I have been anticipating and looking forward to this for quite some time now! As you know, The Christmas season is kind of a big deal in this "religion" industry I am now employed in. These last few weeks have been quite eventful as you could imagine. Who'd a thunk? hehe

me and my girls are dressed and ready to go!

You must now, there were a few "outtakes prior to this above "money shot". Sure the girls aren't smiling, but they're not exactly UNhappy, & hey they're looking AT the camera (that in itself is quite the feat these days) So thanks daddy for snapping this fun pic. I have trained you well :-)

Joe trying to get Macy to hold still for a quick pic...NOT happening. She had WAAAAY to many ants in her pants.

So she wouldn't stand against the wall with big sis like I envisioned...but we did get some fun "on the run", "not gonna stand still for nothin'" shots.

here Kenzie and I are giving her a sort of pep talk. "Come on Macy, if ya just stand still and smile for 1 second, mommy will be SOOO happy"...."You're gonna have to come up with a better bribery tool than that", she responds.

okay, so maybe grabbing her bootie, pulling her down into my lap and bending over makes for a decent shot too. I'll take it!

After a VERY nice church service, we have arrived at the Mallory house for the Lee Family Christmas Eve celebration.

family pic attempt #1

family pic attempt #2. Macy spots cookies across the way and is OUTTA HERE.

The kid polished off a whole tray of cookies all by herself. Maybe if her uncles weren't such "pushover's" there would have been a few left for the rest of the family. But no, she bats her eyes, flashes a cheesy grin, swipes her hand across her chest (her sign for please) and they hand over a cookie just like that. sheeesh. one after another...all night long.

I snapped this impromptu pic of Heather when just testing out my flash real quick...she was messing around, but I think this is a beautiful shot of her!!

oh my goodness...it's the Mallory's posing for a family picture. What?? What is going here??

silly Colton :-)

Great-Grandma Salisbury, G&G Lee and ALL ten grandbabies

I didn't take any more pics that night, as I was just toooo comfortable. We all changed into our Christmas cozies, ate a fabulous dinner and exchanged gifts. It was a wonderful night spent with my amazing family!! Believe me when I tell you that most of the evening was about as crazy as the above pic :-)

--------
I felt bad not taking/posting more pics, so I stole the ones below from Keri's FB page...she posted some mobile uploads that night & here they are :-)

Keri went all out and even decorated the kids tables. complete with games & stickers & more. hehe

McKenzie may have lost her new princess chair to Little Miss Macy.

and the gift opening chaos ensues.

Anna, McKenzie and Ally were all SOOO excited about their matching Lallaloopsie dolls.

McKenzie was in rare form & extremely excited all night long. Once her name got called to open a gift, she would giggle and laugh ecstatically. Any time she would open something that may have been the same or similar to what Anna or Ally got, she would get even more CRAZY-HAPPY. What a nut. :-)
Oh and the whole drive home, McKenzie kept saying, we gotta hurry up and get home, I gotta rush up stairs and go straight to bed. FAST. Santa's coming!! So we set out some milk & cookies & she rushed up the stairs and closed her eyes. Why can't every night be "Christmas Eve"?
hehe
Joe & I, didn't get to go right to however, we had some last minute "elf" work to do. It was ALL worth it the next morning seeing our girlies eyes light up at the sight of what they found under the tree and in their stockings.
The Christmas Day post to come later. Maybe a lot later, I'm going to bed now.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a GOOD NIGHT!!
HO HO HO.

The BIG Lee Christmas party post 2011

2011-12-27T15:12:00.002-06:00

The much anticipated, always exciting Big Lee Christmas Party has come and gone. As usual, we had a big crowd. Since we keep growing, we finally outgrew our houses and had to rent out a Community Center. It worked out perfectly. Plenty of room for everyone to spread out. There was even a gymnasium next door for the big boys to shoot some hoops and play soccer. A good time was had by all. :-)
Some of our Texas Lee's (the Dave Lee family) was able to come home this year.

Here are 7 of the 8 original "Lee" kids - Dave, Karen, Kevin, Garry (my dad), Mary Beth, Ron & Tom.

So...being that he was sorely missed, and the above photo just ISN'T complete without him...how about we have Uncle Dan (who was home in Houston) make a surprise appearance. Nothin' a little Photoshop can't make happen :-)

ALMOST all the grandkids...missing about 8 of us I think...take 1

take 2

take 3

and...take 4.

The two prettiest girls at the party...Madison & Erika

Macy didn't waste much time helping herself to the food. I think she had five or six plate fulls, accompanied by a few juice boxes, as is evident by the wet mess on her dress. Thanks Grandpa! :-)

and if he tries to deny it...I'd say the "proof is in the pudding"

Uncle Dan, entertaining everyone with his wonderful stories...looks like he's got Ron believing his every word!

Nickie, Megan & Jackie - a twin sandwich

Uncle Kevin & his newest grandbaby Graci

The girls were playing ring-around-the-rosie, but of course, I was a day late & a dollar short in snapping this pic.

some out-takes of the Big Lee Kids picture...I swear, they are WORSE than the little ones when trying to get them all to hold still and look forward. uuugggh. :-)

Danielle was trying to get Macy settled for the gift opening...but all she wanted to do was RUN

Heather playing Santa's helper

All the kids watch closely as McKenzie opens her special gift.

almost time for the "never boring-usually intense & dramatic" women's gift exchange. brutal!

hmmm. What's Erika opening, that I might want to STEAL next?

The gift I got was AWESOME!

I didn't get a close up photo of it...but picture this. A mason jar attached to the stem of a wine glass. The words "Redneck wineglass" engraved into it. LOVE IT!

oh so classy & PERFECT!!

Santa Clause made an appearance and he called every kid up one by one to sit on his lap.

Macy was once again super excited & fearless.

I think she's teaching him how to sign "thank you" here

Sweet Skyla gets a turn

Now big sis Kenzie...she is once again telling him all about this "dolly-doll".

Anna & Santa

some of the Santa after-math

I stole some pics from Heather's FB page...

a good picture of a smiling Colton...too bad that ugly momma had to crash it.

There goes Macy getting her paws on yet another person's gift. She was making her rounds testing them ALL out. Her favorite was cousin Steve's oatmeal box, that tied a string around and made into a purse. No seriously, this WAS her favorite thing! It was hilarious. :-)

cute pic of Danielle

DOG-PILE on cousin Jackie!

aaaawwwww. Such a sweetie.

Danielle& Santa

Looks like Madison's giving Santa an earful. She deserves EVERYTHING that came her way this Christmas.

Little Brook was very patient and quietly waiting for his name to be called. It was last. He still gave Santa this special cookie for his return trip home.

Santa & Dylan

Juan

Dalton

Angel Ally

--------------------------
After a wonderful Lee Family Christmas Celebration, the presence of one VERY special member of our family was sorely missed. Aunt Kim was not (and understably so) in the partying mood. Her sweet face, gentle spirit and warm smile was noticeably absent. She is still grieving the loss of her precious son, Richie, who passed away the week prior. His loss is still weighing heavily on all who were at our Christmas gathering, perhaps making the event a bit more somber than in years' past.
We decided as a family that we still wanted to convey the message to her that we are thinking of her and love her dearly. We wanted to make a small gesture and share a small amount of Christmas spirit. We cleaned the party up, cleared out and caravaned over to her home. Where we gathered quietly in her front yard. Once we all arrived, Jan went in and asked her to please come outside. She was surprised to see her entire "Lee" family standing in silence having a candle-light vigil in Richie's honor. There may have been over 60 of us. We also sang a Christmas carol. We were genuinely hoping that this would be recieved well as our intention was to brighten her day, if only for that short moment. We didn't stay long, we didn't even go inside (she has been through A LOT this last week & her home has played host to hundreds of people, I can only imagine how emotionally and physically exhausted she was). But I do know, by her warm hugs, sweet smile, this.time.happy tears & kind words to all, that she very much appreciated our gesture and outreach.

-----------------------------

This is the exact thing that makes our "big Lee family" so great. We truly do love and care for each so very much. Our Grandma & Grandpa Lee instilled some amazing values into their eight children. Although they are no longer with us, here on Earth, Phil & Bob's core value's, family principles and life lessons are still being passed down through the generations.

------------------------------
I want to leave you with a few beautiful photos of Kim & Richie. May he rest in peace and may Kim find a small amount of comfort and solace in knowing that Richie is in a good place up in heaven and is looking after and watching over her, his sister & nieces & nephew daily.

Richie with just a few of his favorite people.

2011 Christmas Cards!

2011-12-27T12:05:00.000-06:00

front

back

One of the best parts of Christmas is taking the time to look back at our photos taken throughout the year and determine which ones are Christmas card "worthy". After an exhaustive search, these are the ones that made the cut :-) They tell the story of where we've been and what we've been up to.
While getting them created & printed, tweaking the mailing list, labeling, stuffing and stamping may seem laborous. And it is. Once it's all said & done, it's totally worth it! A true labor of love. McKenzie enjoyed helping me out this year. So if you received a card, with a crooked label or an upside down stamp, you'll know who's fault it was. hehe!

The other best part is receiving cards & letters from several family & friends. I LOVE walking down to the end of the driveway for a peek in the mailbox this time of year. The coolest part about this year, was that there were about 15 or so families who created their cards with photos that I "Sherri Harnisch Picture Taker" had taken. SOOOOO FUUUNNNNN!!

Speaking of Sherri Harnisch Picture Taker - my new little hobby turned side-gig - check out my new facebook page (and "like" it if you haven't already done so). This is where I have been posting some of my more recent shoots. I really enjoy being able to share their sneak peeks, usually within 24 hours of their sesssion. I especially love that their FB family & friends can view them and enjoy them as well. It's fun to see their "comments" & "likes". Makes all the time I put into taking & editing them totally worth it. :-)
October, November & December have been VERY busy. I seriously had 28 shoots in the last three months. whew. Maybe a little busier than I would have preferred, but I had a great time with each family and loved having the opportunity to capture this moment in time for them! It is truly an honor.

below are just a few of the families of which we were actually on the mailing list for this year, who used my pics for their cards :-)

I enjoyed being on the receiving end and being able to see how they all turned out!

A Very Harnisch Christmas

2011-12-27T11:12:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas (errr, excuse me, I mean as McKenzie would correct me, the Birthday of baby Jesus) last weekend.
It was a fun, busy and relaxing day. Started out with a delicious lunch, followed by the wild gift exchange, Ashlynn & Autumn's Piano recital, then Autumn & Mason's Christmas program at church. Then back to the house for dessert and some card games. whew, all that is one day! Never a dull moment, It was a wonderful way to spend 11 hours (seriously we arrived at 11:00am & got home at 10:00pm). Harnisch gatherings are never a short two-hour affair, and I would not want it ANY other way :-)

Attempting to get the annual Grandparents/grandbabies shot - Mason, McKenzie, Macy, Grandpa, Harrison, Sam, Autumn, Grandma, Grady, Ashlynn & Neely.

Neely & Grady were not exactly thrilled about the idea.

I assure you, there was no harming of children during the creation of this photograph

I asked for pretty smiles & this is what I got. About what I expected I guess.

Mason & his favorite person...AUNT GAYLE!!

Sam, Neely & Ja

Macy must have been telling Aunt Bethany something very interesting.

uh oh. BUSTED! Someone broke into their present early. NICE. Might as well get the gift opening portion of the day started.

In case you couldn't already tell, Mason was a little excited!

Dave shares a pretty gold bow with Macy. aawwww. The kids really love this guy :-)

G&G Harnisch & the newest grand-dogs. oh wait, that's one of the neighbor dogs with Molly...

The Masin's - Big bro Sam, Tod, Harrison & Jessica

Ashlynn opening the gifts that Toby got for Kirby & Molly.

All of these special dog Holiday packages were made by individuals employed by Angel Guardians. Based right here in Omaha. The mission of Angel Guardians, Inc. is to improve the quality of life for special-needs teens and adults in the areas of housing, employment, fitness, socialization and recreation. check out their website here. http://www.angelguardians.org

And next, McKenzie opened the BEST gift of all. A whoopie cushion from Aunt Gayle & Dave. She didn't know what to think at first.

But once Uncle Dave explained how it worked, it was a HUGE hit.

Wow, Imagine all the people I can trick with this. ha!

Mason & McKenzie take turns making the "magic" happen. It just never gets old really.

McKenzie explains it's function to a curious Macy & Grady

Bah Hum Bug. Kirby is DONE.

Macy really loved this fun puppet she got from Gayle & Dave.

We made it home with a truck-load of goods (thanks especially to Aunt Gayle who spoils all her nieces & nephews immensely)...now to decide where to put it all. Time to start reorganizing the toy collection again. I already to know where I'm going to take those old clothes & toys that the girls are no longer in need of/outgrown...to the "Hand Me Up's" thrift store we go...

McKenzie's Christmas program at preschool

2011-12-24T09:35:00.000-06:00

McKenzie had her preschool Christmas program last Wednesday. I was sad to not be able to attend and watch it in person as this was the day my dear cousin Richie was laid to his final resting place. Our whole family is just so sad and misses him dearly. I made a memorial video to celebrate his 29 years with us. Perhaps I will share it soon if his family is okay with that. He was a great guy and was loved by many, which was evident by the hundreds of family & friends who showed up to grieve his loss.
------------
Since I was unable to got the program, my friend Anna so kindly offered to video-tape her performance for me. Which was SOOO nice, I was extremely touched that she offered to do this for us! :-)
I will post some of the video at a later date when I have more time...but for now I wanted to share a few pics of me & Kenzie taken on the way to school that day. :-)

McKenzie felt like such a big girl in her "Holiday coat".

It's not every day she wants to pose (and smile) like this for me, so I took full advantage of the opportunity.

I LOVE THIS GIRL!!!

She has really grown up and matured fast these couple months.

One of my MOST favorite things in the whole world is when she'll say just out of the blue (at least a couple times a week)..."Mom?". "Yes dear", I ask - with a usually annoyed tone. "I love you".

aaaawwww!

Sometimes she'll even change it up and say "Mom"...."I like you". I think I like it when she says THIS the most. oh to be liked by your kids, when sometimes it seems like all you do is yell & correct them. It's nice to know, that through all that, they STILL LIKE YOU too. hehe

Santa at Seim

2011-12-24T09:18:00.000-06:00

Good old Jolly St. Nick came to visit daddy's work again this year!!! The girls have really come to look forward to this visit when they can get up close & personal. :-)

He has arrived!

Santa telling stories and sharing some of his magic tricks with the kids.

Macy growing impatient. "Get to the good part already". She would say if she could. hehe

Notice ALL the other kids sitting nicely and waiting patiently. Why was this concept so difficult for Macy to grasp that morning? hehe

She was getting ancy and Joe was trying to restrain her to his lap, but finally we decided to just go ahead and give her some freedom. How much trouble could she get into in this large CPA conference room afterall? So long as she's not loud or disruptive who cares right? Well Little Miss Macy decided she needed to entertain the kids who were circled around Santa for a couple minutes. She got about 8 feet away from him, leaned forward, made firece eye contact with him, flashed her KILLER smile and waved at him silently for a good 20 seconds. It was super sweet!!! She then proceeded to work her way around the circle of kids. Waving and playing/singing itsy bitsy spider at each kid one by one. Once she got that smiles or wave back she would move on to the next one. SOOO FUNNY! Wish I had captured this 2-minute moment on camera.

Sorry that Santa got slightly upstaged for a moment, but it didn't take long for him to regain everyone's attention.

Oh, and then, just like that. She was done. She came and re-claimed her seat next to mommy & daddy. I guess she just needed to "get that out of her system". LOL

Big sis smiling pretty. She really liked Santa this year. Asking consistently for a "dolly-doll". So if anyone happens to know what the heck a "dolly-doll" is, please share. I've googled it and have come up with nothing. hmmmm

They had matching Rosy Red cheeks.

Macy's turn!! She approached him slowly and dramatically

she never cried, but it did take her a moment or two to warm up to the idea of sitting on this "dudes" lap.

grilling him

Not sure what he was saying here, but it must have been interesting - Macy's giving him her "you're nuts" look.

PRESENT!

attempting a group shot...this is as good as it was gonna get. Macy would NOT take her eyes off him for a second. It was neat to see the look of wonder in her eyes :-)

"What, you're leaving already"...."You just got here"..."now sit back down!

"no seriously, I don't think you heard me....sit....back...down"

FUN TIMES!!

PS - if you think you're experiencing Deja-Vu, you are...yes...the girls DID wear those exact same dresses last year when Santa came to Seim. hehe oops. Kenzie calls them "Santa Dresses", so it only seems appropriate to still wear them, as they still FIT! :-)

--------------------------

The girls were lucky enough to see Santa four times this Holiday season. First at the Bounce U Holiday Party (put on by D.A.D.S.), then again at the grocery store & again at the big Lee family Christmas Party. They loved him each time - more pics of those to come later. :-)

Slugs and Bugs Christmas Concert

2011-12-24T08:38:00.001-06:00

McKenzie and her Sunday school friends have been preparing for this exciting, energetic and super fun Christmas concert/drama for weeks.

Randall Goodgame, a talented songwriter/musician came to Bethany once again to put on a great, interactive and super fun show. He is really good with the kids.
Read more about Slugs & Bugs here. :-)

I wasn't quite sure how interested my shy girl was going to be about getting up on stage in front of a crowd of 500 people. But once we got there she was super excited and once it was her turn, she marched right up on stage and performed her little Holiday #'s flawlessly (well as flawless as any performing 4-yr old can be).

I'm not gonna lie, I always get a kick out of seeing these "not-so-polished" preschools up there on stage. You just never know what's gonna happen.

Pay no attention the sweet little boy laying down on the stage throughout the entire performance. He refused to leave when their portion was over. Needless to say his little "drama" received quite the applause. hehe

She didn't take her eyes off Mrs. M (who was demonstrating the words and actions up front) for a second. She was a very focused performer. :-) She appeared to know all the lyrics & actions, or at least, faked her way through it rather convincingly. :-)

After the show we enjoyed some yummy cookies and made lots of awesome arts & crafts!

Here's Macy looking up to her good buddy Randall.

She says "you're cool, but you're not gettin' my cookies!". she had a kung-fu grip on those babies. HA

These friends go way back...he played with her through the glass for about ten minutes during this morning's church service. I can tell he has young kids of his own.

Cousin Dalton putting the final touches on his cool CD ornament

Pastor John and his son Ethan creating a caterpillar clip/magnet.

She was excited about her "I spy" ornament.

Dad & daughter crafting :)

I appreciate all the children's ministry opportunities that are offered at our church. We will take advantage of just about anything they make available. Always well run and always a good time had by the kiddos.
It just melts my heart to see how McKenzie is really "GETTING IT" this year. Her dinner time prayers are genuine and sincere. Best of all, she TRULY understands the true meaning of Christmas.

She has not been counting down the days to gift opening or Santa, rather, she has been counting down the days until it's Jesus' Birthday. :-)

Last week we were visiting my Uncle Kevin & Aunt Kim. Their house is very festive (they're like the Griswold's of their block). As we were approaching their house what do you think McKenzie got excited and worked up about? The lit up Santa, reindeer, Charlie Brown, big bright Frosty, or all the colorful lights? nope. She paused. Took a deep breathe. Had a HUGE smile on her face. squeeled in her high-pitched 4yr old voice. pointed. And said "Mom, LOOK, it's baby Jesus!".
She asked if she could get a closer look. Of course!
That moment melted my heart and will be forever engrained in my mind. My mom & dad were also there to see and hear her excitement.

I want to thank her Pre-school teachers, Sunday school teachers and helpers at her Wednesday evening "Bethany Buddies" program who helped educate and reinforce the true meaning of Christmas.

A cute hat arrived in the mail one day

2011-12-08T21:26:00.000-06:00

The other day we received a package from my Aunt Patty in Texas. Apparently, as she stated in her sweet note..."she knits without direction". She said that this yarn and hat pattern appealed to her so she made it...but wasn't quite sure who it would fit. So we were MORE than happy to try it on for size. Turns out, it's quite versatile. It looked good on both Kenzie & Macy. I love the colors & pattern...and the yarn is super soft!!

The hat was so adorable I just HAD to snap a few pics...hehe...cuz...well...that's what I do. :-)
Macy, as usual, was happy to play along! As you will see below, we "made it our own" and dressed, this already adorable hat, up with a few flower bows...LOVE IT!!

and she's done...Macy's new favorite thing to do is pull her hats off and put them back on...over & over & over & over! She is fascinated with socks too...on & off, on & off, on & off. AAALLLLL DAAYY LONG!

Big sis wanted a picture too. A. picture. not two. just one. I'll TAKE IT! Good thing my camera has a fast shutter speed, because she literally lasted .06 seconds - whew :-)

----

Thanks Patty for the super cute hat...if there's anyone else who has a knitting hobby and wants to send over a sample or two, go right ahead. hehe

First Snow of the season!

2011-12-08T20:58:00.000-06:00

We finally got our first snow fall of the season last Saturday! I'm no meteorologist, but it was significantly measurable, about 6 inches or so. Not bad. Wish we didn't have to be so "out & about" in it, the road conditions were LESS than favorable. We had both a funeral and a wedding to venture to that day. uggh. This was the kind of weather that makes you want to just bunker down, light a fire, sip hot cocoa and watch a whole days' worth of Lifetime movies.
Glad we got out though...the celebration of my H.S. friend Steve's life was nice. And Angie & Chantz had a BEAUTIFUL wedding reception!! The snow did not scare anyone away that night!
------
Being that we did not have too many plans the following day, the girls had some fun playing outside for a bit. Sure, I snapped a few pics...cuz...well...that's what I do :-)
hehe

Cousin Anna & McKenzie makin' snow angels

Snow princess Anna :-)

I asked for a smile...this is what I get. surprise, surprise!

Macy was "kind of" joining in the fun. She is still questioning what all the hoopl

I know different

2011-12-05T09:45:00.000-06:00

This poem had been circulating between a few moms in my DSSM group (Down Syndrome Super Mom's). It was found online so I'm not sure where it originated exactly (otherwise I would source it properly -let me know if you know).
These words were running through my mind during my dreams last night...I know we are not "there" yet... much of what is covered in this poem most certainly does not so much as cross Macy's mind, but perhaps someday it will...the thoughts and worries still flood my mind at times.

It conveys a beautiful message and I wanted to share!!

I Know Different

Dear Mommy,

I have felt your tears, falling on my face.

Someone else might think they are tears of sadness,

because of what I can't do.

I KNOW DIFFERENT

I know those tears pour from your heart

out of gratitude for me, because of what

I CAN do:  I can love everyone in the purest form possible.

Unconditionally.

I can be judged, but will never judge in return.

I know different because I feel, in your hugs and kisses,

that I'm perfect just the way I am.

I have seen you hang your head down in shame,

when we go out on adventures.

Someone might think you are ashamed of having a child like me.

I KNOW DIFFERENT.

I know you are ashamed of the grown-ups who ignore me, 

yet talk happily to all the other children.  The grown-ups who

won't look you in the eye, but stare at me, when they think you don't see.

I know different because I've seen the many, many more times you

have raised your head up high, with pride, because I'm yours.  :)

I have heard you whispering desperate prayers at night.

Someone else might think you are asking God to make me a typical kid.

I KNOW DIFFERENT 

I know you are thanking Him that I got to be here, with you,

for another day - exactly how I am.  I know different because I have heard you ask me never to leave you.

And I have heard you cheer for me, every single day of my life - 

you tell me I don't need to be typical to be amazing.

I just need to be here.

I know you have a big job, taking care of me.

I know that more than anything, you want to hear me say your name.

And I know you worry that you aren't good enough, and that you will fail me.  

BUT I KNOW DIFFERENT MOMMY...

I know that even on your worst days, you will always be enough for me, and I will always love you more than you know. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-04T22:36:00.002-06:00

The Harvest decorations have made their way back down into storage, the fluffy white stuff has finally fallen to the ground, Christmas music has taken over local radio stations, and the Harnisches finally brought up the good old Christmas Tree.

McKenzie & dad (I think this is the 3rd consecutive year now...looks like we may have a new family "tradition" on our hands) decorated a gingerbread house. This year it was houses...a whole village baby. :-)

McKenzie watched intently as her dad attempts a risky, tedious, roof-top icicle design.

wala - HE DID IT! Impressive, old man...impressive.

McKenzie pretending to sleep on the job.

putting on some finishing touches

I'd say this is a satisfied look. :-) Good job daddy!

This is the fourth Christmas we will have spent in this particular house...and this is the FOURTH location/room that the Christmas tree has resided in (the first year it was the dining room, the next year it was the front living room, last year it was the front office, this year it found a home (maybe permanent) in the family room. hehe.)

McKenzie decorating the tree

She very strategically placed the breakable & hook ornaments up high outside of Macy's reach...and placed several others as low as they could go. Not exactly the most fundamental "court-balance" as coach Wald would say...but it did the trick. It was her vision, who was I to step in and judge/change it.

oh the wander of a child's expression on Christmas. To know what they are really thinking would be priceless.

I was playing around with my manual settings, and messed this shot up good. The super slow shutter speed made McKenzie look creepy, yet WHIMSICAL, so I kept it & now found it to be rather "blog-worthy". :-)

Macy was sleeping by the time I drug the camera out...so here's a shot from last year's Harnisch Tree Decorating Ceremony.

She was SOOO excited to see a Christmas Tree for the first time. :)

Getting herself into a bit of trouble.

*******

I would like to leave you with a few pull-out quotes from my friend Kelle Hampton's recent blog post - over at "Enjoying the Small Things". About the holidays. The girl has a way with words and a way of saying things just as I THINK THEM, but can't quite manage to put down on paper in quite the same way. She is gifted. So here are some that resonated with me :-)

In reference to her kids - "I am writing their books. And while they might not remember the pink walls of their nursery or the framed art that hangs across from the crib, I will make sure they'll remember the magic and wonder of traditions that draw us closer--a time of year that finishes the common stitches of our everyday memories with fine handiwork and colorful thread that won't be forgotten."

"Having kids now, I realize just how much work it must have been for them (in reference to her parents). Hauling gifts and kids to the car, driving through blizzards to meet up with family, making gifts, hiding gifts, and the deliberate effort of creating what they wanted us to feel--that it was special. That our little minds and memories were worth the work."

"they carved deep grooves in my character. They etched the great worth of tradition, imagination and the wonder of childhood." ... "I have big shoes to fill; my parents set the bar high."

and finally...

"You are the author of their storybook, writing memories and elements of their character every day. Make it meaningful. Give them wonder."

Beautifully put Kelle - couldn't have said it better myself. :-)

My Family - Just one of many things to be thankful for.

2011-12-04T21:52:00.001-06:00

We posed for a few rare "Lee" family shots on Thanksgiving Day 2011. We are usually pretty good about rounding up the rug-rats (aka grand-kids) and getting a fairly decent kiddo pic with the grandparents...but it has been waaay too long since we attempted a daughter/parent shot. The weather was nice, dinner had been eaten, the sun was setting & we were due :-)

My dad with his four "not-so-baby" girls


Lisa, dad, Heather, Keri & me (Sherri)

They say there's a special place in heaven for the father's to multiple girls. I've gotta believe this is true. An especially special place for those who grew up in a house with ONE bathroom. hehe How DID we/he survive? seriously. ha

my dad is famous for never looking at the camera, rather whomever he is posing with (which is usually his daughter's)...so we turned the tables on him here. hehe

We also attempted a nice shot with our mom...nice face Keri :-) we were having just a little bit of fun!

At least until Erika jumped in and ruined (I mean made better) the picture. hehe

learning to crash pics just like her aunt. Hey, I get it. You gotta do what you gotta go to prove you existed in the world. ha

me & my poppa

Lisa & Dad

Grandpa Garry with two of his grand-babies - the oldest and the youngest.

nephew Dylan snapped a pic before dinner. love his 4foot-8inch vantage point. :-)

check out how Macy is not smiling nice for the camera like everyone else...she decides to DIG IN instead. typical :-)

The "girl" kid table...minus Erika, as she has successfully graduated to the "adult" table.

I never did get a "boy" kid table shot...'

****

Now to end with a guest blog entry from Macy (via Grandpa Lee) :-)

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!
I can't quite text yet
So I'll channel this through Grandpa
at Thanksgiving Dinner Thursday
I tuned into my uncles
Chad, Dan, and Jim

I am Thankful
For the way they smile when I walk in
I am Thankful
For the way they invite me to their laps
I am Thankful
For the way they talk to me

They encourage me and I captivate them
With my smile and my charm
I Love those guys!!!
 
****** 
Thanks Dad.  
Macy sure does have a way of melting those big boys' hearts - they are QUITE smitten with her.  :-) 

Kaya Children International Video

2011-12-04T21:26:00.002-06:00

Between Sherri Harnisch Picture Taker, Video Maker & working part time at my church (doing really fun, meaning and creative things), I have been keeping productively busy :-)

Check out this video I had the absolute pleasure of creating the other day. It was played at a fundraiser dinner last night, and again at church this morning - as they work to generate awareness, raise funds and recruit people to go on this summer's "Kaya Children International Vision Trip".

The video has now gone viral (as Christina has posted it to Youtube & Facebook).

All the photos were taken by Christina and Pastor John, who went to La Pas, Bolivia a few months ago...amazing, impactful images I must say! The faces on those children say it all.
please watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5MzNasq64U&feature=share

.....
Here's a bit more information from Christina directly (as she puts it best) :-)

Kaya Children International is a young and growing organization that is committed to serving children on the streets around the world. We work to meet the immediate needs of children living on the streets, while working toward a future in which no child needs to call the streets home. To accomplish this mission, we engage in direct service, research and advocacy.

A worldwide network of partners and individuals makes Kaya's work possible. While our direct services are currently focused on Bolivia, our other activities are expanding around the globe, paving the way for future programmatic expansion. Our long term goal is to develop viable program models, based on best practice and sound research, which can be implemented on a broad scale to make a lasting difference in the lives of marginalized children.

Contact www.kayachildren.org or www.bethanyelkhorn.org for additional information.

10th Annual MLC Girls Christmas Party

2011-12-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

The Holiday season officially kicked off with our annual MLC (now MU I guess) girls Christmas Party a couple weeks ago. These girls were like sisters to me in college - we have been through a LOT together...with some I was roommies, sorority sisters, teammates on the Basketball team, etc...

Although we do not see as much of each other as we'd like, work, families, moving far away...we still make it a point to get together and do Christmas UP BIG. Rotating our location each year. I'd say this year's party downtown (and getting a hotel room at the Embassy) gave good old Nashville & Council-tucky, even hard to beat Howells, a run for it's money :-) I just LOVE getting together reminiscing the old stories and sharing the new ones too. A little bit of gossip doesn't hurt anyone either and is somewhat good for the soul. hehe

And...to top it off, it was AWESOME to have our wonderful friend Heather able to join us all the way from Ohio.

It was our usual, fun time had by all :-)

Below are some pics I stole from everyone else's facebook pages (I FORGOT MY CAMERA! uggh). LOL

we stopped for an impromptu Nikki & Sherri "bad girl" shot while strolling around the old market. hehe

yummy lunch at Crave @ Midtown Crossing

Getting the party started" down at the hotel bar. Al, Heather, Nikki, Heather & Tiffany

Jill, me, & Jenny

in the elevator...why not? hehe

the weather was uncharacteristically nice this November Nebraska weekend.

These momma's still got the moves. ha!

One thing that added to the reason why this year was so fun, was no one was pregnant. Which has NOT been the case the last several years...There were four brand new momma's, but no one with an actual "bun in the oven" so to say...so we could all party it up "real". hehe. Or at least as "real" as old momma's could do it. ha We are in our 30's after-all. yikes!

I love these girls and am already looking forward to what next year has in store.

Mason's Adoption Day!

2011-12-04T20:35:00.000-06:00

November 19th, 2011 was National Adoption Day...and the wonderful Rogert family invited me to come along and accompany them to the courthouse ...It was on this day that they officially made Mason a part of their clan. Making them a "more complete" family of FIVE! What an absolute blessing it was to be in there presence that day.
They wanted me to capture the moments that day in still frame, snap some pics to document the day's events. I was MORE than happy to do this as a gift for them :-)

The courthouse was a buzz, with over 20 adoptions that day. It was more of a carnival atmosphere than the norm...clowns, face painters, magicians, storm troopers, spiderman, etc. What a wonderful atmosphere!

Here are just a few pics I snapped to capture the days events....

On the way to the courthouse...it was a COLD and drizzly day - but that sure didn't damper any spirits.


Camera's are usually not permitted in the courtroom but due to the nature of the day's events it was allowed (encouraged in fact) on this day :-)

despite the weather conditions, we still managed to swing a few outdoor shots :-)


A snapped a cute pic of Mason at my friend's wedding last night. What a charmer!

Here's Mason and his DADDY at this years' Buddy Walk :-)

I also took lots of pics at their HUGE party that evening.

Mason is one loved and VERY lucky young man :-)

-----

Congratulations and God Bless the Rogert Family on this wonderful blessing!!

Special Olympics Young Athletes Program, etc...

2011-12-03T09:02:00.002-06:00

Macy participated in her first Special Olympics events a few weeks back...The Special Olympics Young Athletes program is for kids between 2 and 8 years old. Our Macy is not quite two yet, but since she is so mobile and gets around as well as she does, they welcome her with open arms!
These classes take place on Sunday evenings and are instructed by Emily, who is a PT major at UNO. There are also several instructors who are current PT students at UNMC. They are all wonderful with our kiddos, and I am thankful for their service and genuine enthusiasm. The program is very well run..each child is matched with their own student. They have all sorts structured activities, exercises and new skills each week.

getting started with stretching and song

Macy, Janessa and Francesca playing with the colorful scarf thingys. Not sure which skill or ability they are working with here, maybe it's a sensory thing...but it didn't matter to Macy, this may have been her favorite event. After she discovered the HUGE wall mirrors of course. hehe

Big sister McKenzie was invited to come and help out. She was a great assistant :-)

climb up...climb down. She loves any and all obstacle course type stuff.

They were trying to encourage her to jump from them, but this is just not an ability she has achieved just yet. She sure does put forth a valiant effort though. You can see (in her face) the fierce determination and strong desire to imitate a jump as she raises herself up. Her eyes light up, mouth opens, her teeny heels leave the ground, but those toes remain glued to the surface, she just can't seem to "take flight". It is super cute. :-) In time sweetie, in time.

Every once in a while she'll spot me over in the corner (watching from afar) and run over to me. MOOOOM! It doesn't take much to round her up and distract her back into playing though.

Little Francesca's turn!

It warms my heart to have Macy participating in this Special Olympics program. To know that there are so many awesome opportunities and wonderful individuals willing to volunteer their time, step up, reach out and help our little people recognize their potential is amazing.

The special Olympics motto:
Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.

Macy you are absolutely nothing short of brave...we will encourage and support you in anything you decide you want to do - the sky's the limit babe :-) We WILL be your BIGGEST fans!

We feel bless to be a part of our Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midland's group. There are SOOO many wonderful opportunties provided through this organization. I still REALLY enjoy our Mom's coffees. I get SOO much out of our gatherings each month. Always good topics, speakers, conversation, and most of all support.

A couple weeks ago, UNO's "Student Council for Exceptional Chidren", reached out to the DSA and wanted to form a partnership. They offered up a free evening of childcare, while us parents were able to have a night out on the town. Of course, we took them up on this offer. Free childcare? Who are we to pass this up? We dropped our kiddos off at the childcare location...I loved seeing all the other kids trickle in. Many, you can tell are great friends. I enjoyed seeing their reunions, the hugs & high fives they had for each other. I still have a strange craving to interact and be around older ones with Down Syndrome. I guess it just provides me with a sense of comfort to get a visual of what's to come for Macy. :-)
It warmed my heart to meet sweet Mary (8). She walked over to Macy, who was pulling books off the book shelf. Mary was following her around, looked over to me and said "I'll watch and take good care of her".

After getting the girls all checked-in and squared away, We met up with some friends at Jaipur. mmmmm gooood. We had great conversation. Mostly about our kiddos. hehe
here are a few pics I stole from Casie's blog from that night...

Jose & Jamie

me and the hubby - we never have our pic taken together so I had to steal it. ha!

Vernon & Casie

School Pictures

2011-12-03T08:27:00.001-06:00

I know this is a little late...but better late than never right??

Little Miss Macy's first every preschool picture. This girl is growing up WAAAY to fast :) Her teacher's Miss Linda, Miss Paula & Miss Lynn are wonderful!

McKenzie's second year of preschool. 2011-2012 school year. She sure loves Mrs. Shipe.

Kenzie's school photo from last year (that I forgot to share). Her teachers were Mrs. Seigh & Mrs. Hueffle.

McKenzie Gymnastics class pic from last year...Don't ya just love her enthusiastic (?) expression in the group shot? hehe nice Kenzie. :-)

A beautiful November afternoon in NE

2011-11-17T08:57:00.000-06:00

After a busy morning of work, photo editing, pre-school , speech & OT - the girls and I decided to have a low-key lazy afternoon in the backyard. Mother Nature blessed us with some uncommonly warm November temps, so we took FULL advantage.

Plus, McKenzie (my "stubborn.I.hate.photos.4.yr.old") had a wild hair idea. She picked out special outfits for her and Macy and told me that I should go get my camera. OKAY! Sounds like fun to me :-)

So this little impromptu mini-shoot was ALL her idea!

I clearly did not get the "silly-face" memo.

awww. she's smiling for A camera.

"I had a Little Turtle - his name was Tiny Tim - I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim"

"He ate up all the water - he ate up all the soap"

"He tried to eat the bathtub - but it wouldn't fit down his throat!"

Bubble Bubble Bubble - Bubble Bubble Bubble - Bubble Bubble Bubble....

POPPPP! he fave part

POP

She always applauds her impressive performances :-)

Love those tosies.

what a goof!

next she wanted to try for a more serious, grown-up pose.

SLOW DOWN GIRL! You're growing up too fast for me :-)

McKenzie blocking Macy..."Okay momma, it's my turn"

These girls ARE my whole world.

chillin' in big sister's club house

Kenzie took this one and I didn't even know it. FUNNY.

Kids with magnifying glasses crack me UP!

goin' down the big slide.

weeee

my bue-eyed beauty

Macy climbing up her "big girl" slide.

big sis watches and cheers her on from above.

such my brave little girl

GO!

Halloween...Finally!

2011-11-10T22:30:00.001-06:00

Sheesh. Things have been a little crazy at the Harnisch house...lots going on, between not being home, school/church stuff, Husker FB games, having several cousin sleepovers, being sick (diarrhea included) - hence would explain why this Halloween "night" post is a wee-bit delayed.

Anywho - "LIFE" is good. We're "blessed to be busy". :-)

Here are some "fabulous" (?) pics from Halloween night.

The party was at our house. My mom, dad, sisters and all their kids crashed our hood, as we have lots of young families. I estimate we had around 200 or so trick or treaters visit our house in all :-) Awesome!

To top it off the weather was phenomenal! You never know in Nebraska after all. It could be blizzarding by now.

The evening started off with a yummy Pizza/Soup dinner

Ha - Who's idea was it to try and gather the "CRAZY/EXCITED" kids up for a group shot anyway? Hey - mouse...look over here won't ya?

Hello? over hear...stop staring at that cute little lady-bug.

"what? You? You Mom? You want us all to look your direction at the same time?" "Good luck with that" :-)

"JOKE is on you"..."Not gonna happen"

Geesh - Thanks Macy.

And they're d.o.n.e.

wait...one more. almost good. Missing Dalton back there somewhere.

Ally & Macy Mouse

My Mom made this costume...35+ years ago. All four of us "Lee" girls wore it and I think all ten grandbabies have worn it too. Macy was still a little small for it, but I was excited and wanted her to wear it this year...can you blame me? It's freaking adorable! And yes, my mom used to sew. hehe

I would love to have dug up all the old photos of each of us wearing the mouse costume and made some sort of collage...but seriously...who has that much time? not me! bummer :(

Pebbles & Bam-Bam stopped by for a visit. How cute! There mom is (much like my mom WAS) very talented and made these herself as well. Hang on to these guys, maybe your kids' kids will wear them some day!! The Flinstone's are a timeless classic. :-)

I LOVE my Macy Mouse

"For real mom?" "You want another picture...I'm trying to tell Grandpa something...can you just give me a minute?"

"So you see old man, if you just cross your eyes and twinkle your nose "like this", then all the kids will laugh at your silly jokes".

"got it?"..."you just gotta get more animated". Like me!

"And look...over there...it's the MOON".

We are candy-corn. Can't ya tell?

minus our bright orange wigs that is. You may think this looks familiar? yes, it's because we wore these last year too. Not too original. McKenzie and I picked out an adorable bright pink Supergirl costume, complete with a cape & boots...but NOOO, she wanted to be the candy-corn, yet again. oh well. whatever you want kid!

Ally (I mean Jessie) and the Mr. Potato Head Punkin.

trying to get our annual Halloween pic with the neighbors...big sis is missing...

As you can probably tell by her kicking, flailing and screaming in the background, Kenzie is not too jazzed about the idea of another photo request.

well. almost a good shot. Pay no attention to the whiny 4-yr old candy corn in the background...oh and the ladybug who managed to get herself in a quite the predicament back there. LOL nice.

All the kids LOVED pushing "Dylan" the Robots buttons.

YAY a group shot that everyone is in! Now if only Jessie wasn't crying. ha! Make note of my "prodigy picture taker" at front & center...I don't like to brag, but Little Miss Macy Mouse is the ONLY kid looking AT the camera. HA. LOVE IT!

And they're off!

Time to get a bunch of teeth-rotting candy from every house in the neighborhood (which, mind you, WILL be "accidentally misplaced" in 3 days tops!). The big kids ran ahead and sadly Macy & Joe (the pokie little puppies) were not able to keep up. They just hit the homes on our block.

Speaking of which...hmmm..."Pokie Little Puppies" just might be a really fun & unique costume ideas for the girls (and their daddy) next year :-)

Preschool Halloween Parade

2011-11-04T14:42:00.000-05:00

Halloween Parade at Pre-school!!

sitting in the prayer garden right before the parade - Macy wore her sister's old puppy dog costume for the pre-school parade.

It's about to begin, everyone take your places!

Macy had the best seat in the house

HI!

Here they come...loved all the adorable and super creative costumes

can you see her crazy orange hair yet?

there she is!

She and I picked out a really cute pink super girl costume (complete with a cape & boots), but she insisted on being the candy-corn again this year. okay kid. whatever keeps you happy :-)

she had the wave down...now she's trying to keep her hair on.

what a cute little princess.

Mrs. Shipe getting the kids situation for a class photo. Macy is pointing us out to her.

impressive that they all stood still for so long staring into the bright sunshine.

ooops. She is wearing sisters puppy gloves. oh well...I really didn't care.

stinker butt!

singing a halloween song before heading inside

We had a few minutes before Macy's Speech therapist was due to arrive...so why not pose for a few pics before her "look" falls apart!

whope. That didn't take long...here she is taking off the ears for the nineteenth time of the morning. Oh & it's only 9am I might add.

there it goes..."all-done" she signed after throwing her hat off.

Itsy bitsy spider distracted her and got her mind off the hat for a few seconds so momma can attempt another shot.

yay!

I guess it's "eat time" now.

ha, the little daredevil stood up in the adirondack chair, but now she's stuck. Whatchya gonna do about it?

----
After the preschool parade & speech therapy...the girls and I visited daddy's office & had a little parade. Followed by a visit to Grandma Lee over at Boystown. And since we were out & about, all dressed up and in the neighborhood, we stopped over to Aunt Keri's work too. Fun, busy day!

Now, home for a nap before the REAL Halloween festivities are to begin :)

Trunk or Treat 2011

2011-11-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, the girls participated in their first "Trunk or Treat" up at Bethany. What a fun time and great turnout. There were nearly 50 trunks. Not bad for the church's first annual event :-)
It was a little chilly, but what else do you expect for late October Nebraska weather?

Macy with the Witt kids (Dylan, Dalton &Danielle) - she was waaay more interested in checking out the pirate than looking at the camera.

kitty-cat on the run!

That's just might be one of the best McKenzie shots I got of the night.

Macy checking herself kitty-cat self in the mirror

I think she likes what she sees. :-)

ooooooo face.

meow

kind of blurry, but a really sweet sister moment none-the-less. McKenzie was saying to her "Macy, you are a cat, your big sis Kenzie wore this when she was a baby just like you.". awww. :)

Macy chit-chattin' with her pre-school teacher...Pirate Paula.

One of the favorite "Trunk or treat" attractions that Macy kept going back to...I think she really liked that dog!

Macy was really trying to figure out that mummy on the bike. She waving to it, dancing and trying to get her to smile.

Kenzie in the foreground....starting to get colder.

The spider grabbing a handful of candy from the Witt "trunk".

In case you're wondering what's taking place here...Macy HAD stop to check her reflection out in ALL the dark shiny vehicles.

These purple streamers were also a big hit for her.


The neighbor kids (Lauren, Hannah & Dylan) check out the kitty-cat. Dylan won for best kid costume kid. His homemade robot get-up was AWESOME!

22 Months ago...We were worried...how wrong were we?! :)

2011-10-28T23:30:00.004-05:00

Warning...long rant...this is my "Down Syndrome Awareness Month" contribution. :-)
-------------
22 months ago when our Little Miss Macy was born, our minds were consumed with thoughts & preconceived notions, hearts flooded with emotions, our spirit mixed with feelings . We couldn't quite pinpoint the exact feelings we were experiencing. Were we sad, mad, glad, excited, scared, confused, overwhelmed, intimidated? We weren't sure...but in hind-sight, I think now looking back, I can honestly say we were simply worried. Sure, we felt all those above emotions, but mostly, the one that overpowered the rest...worry.
I recall conversations with Joe during the night, after all the excitement winded down, the docs were gone, our visitors had left. We were alone. Just the three of us. Alone with our thoughts. Finally, we could talk and try to make sense of what was going on!
We were entitled to our emotions back in that moment of time, but I WISH we would have known then what we know (or are at least starting to figure out) now...just how WRONG WE WERE.
--------

You see, we felt that the vision of our "perfect" baby girl we had been dreaming about the previous nine months was lost.

We were, from the moment we laid eyes on her, understanding and accepting of our little angel, and loved her for who she was. We knew we should adjust our expectations and accept this new "imperfect" person... Little did we know, she is PERFECTLY imperfect! BETTER than we could have ever imagined in all our wildest dreams. MORE than we thought we deserved. Down Syndrome does NOT define her, she is her very own unique individual, as is the case for us all :)

---------
Here are some of the things we worried about.
Some are just plain silly...but they were our honest worries none-the-less.

I was worried that she wouldn't look like her sister.

They look like practically the same person to me...how wrong were we?

----------

I was worried that I wouldn't be enough.

This new world of Down Syndrome brought on a trove of knowledge that we knew nothing about. Talk about information overload...but...

Just hours after her birth, despite the doctor's warnings that she may not take to nursing (at least not at first due to her low tone & weak suck, etc), Macy proved her wrong and she was a rockstar right out of the gate! Right then and there she communicated acceptance to me. She accepted me as her momma. At that moment, I was enough. One. step. at. a. time.

here's Macy "accepting" me a few months later during an EEG. whew, I was "enough".

How wrong were we!

-------

I was worried that she wouldn't look like US.

She's definitely OURS...50.5% mom 50.5% dad. Boy were we wrong.

---------

I was worried that her big sis wouldn't be proud of her.

This is the girls at last years' buddy walk...If this isn't the "face of pride", I'm not sure what is! I think next year I am going to have a shirt made for McKenzie that reads the following: "my sister got an EXTRA chromosome and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

And I think we should put a bumper sticker on our car that reads: "My kid has more chromosomes than your kid!"

---------

I was worried that she wouldn't be able to attend "regular" school.

First day at "typical" pre-school"...big girl climbed into that chair ALL by herself!

She continues to do amazing at Bethany Preschool and is getting along just perfectly...She has way less melt downs and separation anxiety issues than the other kids it seems...She also participates in Sunday School and gets along well at Bethany Buddies during Wednesday's Church Night activities...Can I get a Hallelujah?! How wrong were we!

-------

We were worried that "it" might always be awkward. Her Down Syndrome that is.

Nope, little miss SOCIAL BUTTERFLY couldn't let that happen. She commands attention in ANY room she enters. Waving her hand fiercely, locking you in with her eyes, making everyone around her smile, walking with a swagger like she "owns the place". Her charming personality kills any ounce of awkwardness that may have previously existed. She's the life of the party & impossible not to love. Besides, I really do not think that people (strangers that is) see it, the fact that she has Down Syndrome, it's just not that obvious. I think they just see a sweet girl.

How many smiles have you brought to a strangers face today? Macy averages ten a day I'd say.

--------

I was worried that she would be sick all the time.

From the very beginning they bombarded us with information, statistics & high likelihoods..."people with DS are more prone to this-that-and the other"....it was a LOT to absorb...Despite the doctor's warnings, a few "scares" and concerns, Macy continues to be (knock on wood) the picture of (pretty much) perfect health!

her big sis during her latest "illness"

McKenzie seems to have had more "issues" than her baby sis thus far. Kenzie has the not so smooth skin, was more prone to ear infections & diaper rashes, Kenzie had the blocked tear ducts, etc...

-----

I was worried that she would never back down & drink from the bottle.

After lots of frustration, therapy sessions, feeding clinic visits, Grandpa feeding "techniques" and a hundred bottle styles later...Macy never did LOVE the bottle. In fact, per the advice of our OT, we basically skipped over the bottle all together and went straight to the sippy cup. She does awesome with it!! ha :-) I guess the little turd just didn't want to use a stinkin' BABY bottle.

Oh and she's little Miss Piggy...while it took until about 11 months old or so to finally eat solids (that tongue thrust was a struggle for a bit), she has turned the corner and has not looked back. The kid will eat anything & all day long if you let her! She signs eat, more, please, milk, drink constantly. I am usually responding with the "all-done" sign.

-------

I was worried that she would be "different" than her cousins & that they might not "connect" the way cousins are supposed to.

Kenzie's B-Day party

Looks like they are all getting along just fine! Well, all but McKenzie that is, but that's a WHOLE other story. hehe. Boy was I wrong! She is blessed with a gigantically close family, many cousins right around her same age...and they are blessed to have her, she adds to the dynamic and makes our group more diverse and over-all accepting.
I new from the beginning that this was the biggest and most advantageous thing Macy had going for her. We wondering (never questioned), just wondered why God chose us. Joe and I of all people to care for this sweet, going to need a lot of extra love and tender-care individual. Surely there are more equipped & qualified people in the world. But I figured it out. It wasn't just US he chose...Our Heavenly Father hand selected OUR FAMILY. It truly takes a village and our family feels blessed and honored to step up and ensure that she (and all the kids in it) live out the highest & happiest quality of life possible. That is all. Simple. I will be eternally grateful to have been given this awesome responsibility. I hope hope to make Him proud.

------------

I was worried for a second that Macy might need special care and would not be able to attend Joy's daycare, the place where Kenzie had been going & LOVING her whole life.

Macy's first week at daycare

Yup...you guessed it, everyone's getting along just fine here too...Joy tells me that all the other kids get excited on the days that Macy is coming. awwww. Melt my heart! The other day, it was the CUTEST thing...Macy was sitting on Tyler's lap (he's 8) in a little recliner watching and commentating as he played the wii. She was REALLY into it. And then, he did not know I was there or watching, I saw him kiss her on her little head. tear. :-)

Again, How wrong were we?

----------

I was worried that other people would not love her as much as I do

...but, seriously? How does one NOT fall instantly in love with this face! There is nothing better than sitting back and just watching other people LOVE ON your children. No better compliment in the world.

--------
I was worried that she wouldn't walk til after her 2nd birthday. Due to her extremely low tone, our PT & OT predicted that she may be able to start walking around 22 months or so...

Oh yeah girlfriend! She has been a full fledged walker since she was 19 months old. I don't generally like to brag, but that was pretty exciting stuff!!!

Not only does she walk, but as you can see in the above video, she dances, twists, twirls, runs and shakes her bootie :-)

---------
I was worried that I'd feel alone in this new DS world.
Boy were we WRONG! First of all, did you know that DS is the most common genetic disorder? There are over 400,000 individuals world wide who are effected by Down Syndrome.
We have met soo many wonderful people right here in Omaha as a result of Little Miss Macy's extra chromosome. People we are lucky to call friends! The Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midland's has been an invaluable resource.

Casie & Vernon came over to meet Macy when she was a couple weeks old...they were the first of many who shared this common thread to enter and enhance our lives. Our DS Supermom's group meets regularly, we share, laugh & cry, but mostly we empower each other. Together - We will move mountains.

---------
I was worried that she would overshadow her big sis with her special needs.
I'd like to say she doesn't and we try VERY hard every day not to make Down Syndrome a focus. I'd say it's maybe 20% of our lives...But with Macy's special teachers coming to the house regularly, extra doc appointments and extra "cuteness", what can I say? hehe Oh, and I suppose it is tough to compete with "Times Square".

Remember this little picture that was featured in a national video on the big screen in New York City just recently & she was featured on the local news because of it...ha! I can't even compete with that. And she's a calendar girl.

But seriously, our family & friends understand the importance of recognizing McKenzie and all of her good and amazing qualities, and how important it is to love on her JUST the same. Afterall - THEY ARE MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT!

McKenzie did very much enjoy the spotlight and, I'd say, slightly overshadowed Macy this summer when she was a flower girl in my cousin Terry's wedding down in Texas.

-------
I was worried that I'd never be able to utter the words "Down syndrome" out loud without crying.
Those first few weeks were difficult. It was still all so surreal. This world was so foriegn to us. The words could not form with out the accompaniment of tears in the eyes and lumps in the throat.

But, all that has changed. Now I can say it, DOWN SYNDROME, with no problem, no hesitation or hint of a quiver, confidently & with a huge sense of pride as matter of fact. I am proud to talk with anyone about the challenges, struggles and fulfillment that comes along with our new life journey. If anyone has any questions...ask away! I do not pretend to know everything (who does anyway), but I am no longer intimidated or scared. I now know that we are not alone, that there are many others riding on this same roller-coaster ride and have similar fears, worries and concerns that we do. We are all going to be okay. just fine. I have even been brave enough to speak in front of a few groups and on the local News about Down Syndrome. Even shared our story and experiences with the medical community...Never thought that could have been possible.

-------

I was worried that she & her sister would not be able to truly bond.

How wrong was I about this worry as well!

--------

I worried that our lives were forever changed.
Yes, at that moment we were rocked to the core and we thought all we knew would never be the same. But, again, we were wrong. Nothing has changed, our perspectives, rather, have simply been reassessed and, I'd like to think, improved. My relationship with God has deepened. My appreciation for all that is good in life has been strengthened. My relationships with family and friends have been enriched. I mistakenly thought I'd have to give up some things that I found "self-serving" joy in. But, no. I still play Volleyball on Mondays. I still have my monthly Bunco group & Cook Club gatherings. I still go to my same "typical" mom's group functions. I still enjoy GNO's on a regular basis with good friends, new & old. We still have our crazy families of whom we see ALL THE TIME. So, my life is still my life :)

---------

I was worried that she may not be able to communicate.
While, yes, she is (and always will be) developmentally delayed, both physically and cognitivitely and she is not technically speaking words just yet...she has NO problem communicating (in her way) all of her wants, needs and desires. She makes exceptional eye contact, is exceptionally visually expressive and persistent. She signs, points, babbles, etc...THE GIRL KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS AND SHE GETS IT.

--------

I worried that another typical family vacation seemed like a FAR off (if ever) dream.

I was wrong! We have taken a few trips, several weekends out at the lake, she even went on her first plane ride & saw the ocean this summer.

Nothing is holding this girl back :-)

------------

So, in conclusion, I will end with a quote that Joe often falls back on...
"We've got a lot to think about, but nothing to worry about".
So very true. It's all good! :)

Other words I live by these days..."Don't let your fears of tomorrow, rob you from the joys of today"

Our Buddy Walk team pic!

2011-10-24T07:29:00.001-05:00

This is our 2011 "Movin' with Macy" Buddy Walk team...minus about 30 or so who were off wandering. It would have been impossible to get everyone in the same place at exactly the same time, especially with the loud music and many fun distractions all around

I actually think it was quite miraculous that this group of 90 was able to "pull it together"...especially considering the kids outnumbered the adults...no joke! :)

----

A big thanks to Russ Lindemann of Regal Photography for snapping this pic for us!!

----
The other "outakes".

Preschool Picture Day!

2011-10-19T16:36:00.001-05:00

It's Picture day...& what does that mean? oh nothing really, just a reason to get pretty & brush the girls' hair :-)
Since we had a few extra moments to spare before running out the door this AM, I decided to snap a few fun pics of my own. hehe

posing on the pink circle chair...not exactly a smile from McKenzie, but hey, she's looking AT the camera and she's NOT not smiling. hehe

Now if only I could get them to look my direction at the same time...hmmm. Again, not a real smile by Miss Macy...but, hey, it works for this momma!

This just about sums up their "relationship" I guess you could say. ha!

We moved outside for a quick "shoot" on the hay bail. why not right?

so at least I got one really great shot from our morning "mini-session".

"hey sis, get over here...if I've gotta get my butt poked by these hay thingy's, then YOU DO TOO"

"There are you happy yet?"

"Okay, you got one, now let's go to school already!"

Does Kenzie look pleased back there or what?

Now I'm excited to see how the pro at school was able to "capture" their beauty :-) I sure hope they behaved a little better for him!