Last night, Riley and I went to the funeral home for a visitation for a family friend who passed away due to cancer. As we walked in I saw a lady just gravitate towards my child. I am getting pretty bad about remembering names and faces and hoped I was not supposed to know her. She walked up and said. Your daughter is beautiful! My grandson is 19 months old and he has DS. The mom and grandbaby had just left(Bummer, I would have loved to meet them!) But I talked with the woman and her husband for quite a while. She asked about milestones, and when Riley reached them. I told her whenever I'm out and see a child who has Downs I just want to give em a big hug. They are so precious and I somehow feel like we are all connected. Like we're in an exclusive club and WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES!! I feel like we are all kindred spirits blessed with more love than we could have imagined. And though each story is different, they all share common threads. Through events like Buddy Walk, local DS groups, and even this blog, I have been blessed to meet so many wonderful families who are living each day to the fullest and loving every minute with their special children. I feel so blessed to be a part of this loving and supportive community! As we left, in typical Riley fashion, she hugged and waved and blew kisses to everyone. To her we are all the same, she doesn't see race, economic status, abilities, etc. She just sees a world of friends, and if we were all a little more like that, this world would be a better place.

Queen Riley

It has been a very memorable couple of days for Little Miss Riley. Yesterday there was a golf tournament to benefit her wonderful daycare. The daycare director asked if I would bring Riley to the Press event for some pictures. They local news interviewed me and Riley and we were TV stars last night. We recorded it and watched our 30 second clip several times. She was amazed to see herself on TV. As if being a "Television star" weren't enough, today is Fat Tuesday(MARDI GRAS, for those of you not familiar with Louisiana)and there was a parade at daycare. Riley was Queen of her class, she even had a court with Prince and Princess and a handsome little King. Here are some pictures from her reign as Queen.

Riley's First Date

I want to start this post by saying Riley and I are both very lucky to have such great friends. On Monday, Riley got devoured by ants at while playing on the playground at daycare. It was so severe that she had to go to the doctor and get a shot and some prescription cream. So, needless to say she was feeling yucky. Every day this week, family and a few special friends checked on her. my friend Rachel texted me throughout the day checking on her, and my friend Emily emailed me for updates on her. I really appreciate you guys' concern and uplifting words. Thank you, you are TERRIFIC friends. Emily's son Frankie goes to school with Riley, and they are good friends(if you ask Riley, "who is your boyfriend? she says Frankie")Frankie was missing Riley at school, so Emily and I got together and set up a dinner date at McDonald's on Thursday night.(Don't worry, both mommies were there, no unsupervised dates til she's at least 40!) I think the company and the ice cream helped Riley make a full recovery. She was back at school on Friday and happy as can be. I am including pictures from the "date".

Squeaky Shoes

I have done it, I have found the greatest invention for kids(and parents). They are called Squeak Me Shoes, and they are wonderful. I got Riley a LSU pair for her birthday and yesterday we put em to work. Not only are these shoes absolutely adorable,(they match her LSU tutu!!)but they work wonderful at burning off some of that unbridled childhood energy. Oh, If only I had her energy! During the game, I let Riley wear her new LSU tutu and her new shoes. They squeak when your child steps. Once on, Riley figured out that they shoes made noise and she was off. She squeaked up, she squeaked down, she ran in circles. It was a little annoying after awhile, I must admit, and her daddy was looking for earplugs but it wore her little but out! I sent her to her playroom, closed the door and let her squeak away. She was exhausted before long and we put the shoes away. The squeakers can easily be removed from the shoes, which I'm sure we will do, but today, they were magic for my little Tiger, and seeing her joy and hearing her laughter lifted my spirit and made me smile more than the squeaks irritated me.I tried to add a video but can't get it to work, so a picture will have to do. You can see the pure joy on her face. You can find the shoes in many styles and colors and even other teams(although LSU is the greatest, even if they didn't play so hot Sat. They did win!)at squeakmeshoes.com

So I forgot to take my camera to Spaghetti Supper, but never fear, I have equally if not more cute pictures. After a her birthday party, we cleaned out and redid Riley's playroom so we could add all the new toys. I wanted it to be more functional and educational, as well as fun. I labeled everything so she could begin to learn to read words and so she would learn where everything goes. We revealed the newly redesigned room tonight. Punky loved it! Here are the pics of the room! And Here are pics of her playing with some of her birthday gifts!

Birthday Extravaganza

We had a fun filled birthday weekend(and I'm exhasuted). It begin on Thursday with a school party, followed by a big night out Friday with Momma and Daddy, and wrapped up Sunday with a party at Sciport. I've already posted slideshows from the other events. Here is the Birthday Blast at Sciport. It was awesome. Riley had such a good time. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Birthday Girl

Tomorrow my baby will be 4 years old. It's hard to believe how fast the years have gone by. And it is amazing to see how far we've come since her birth. On her birthday I always think about how shocked we were when she was born and the Dr. said she had Down Syndrome. Its funny to look back now and wonder why we were sad and scared and upset. We morned the child we did not have and had so many fears and concerns about the baby we did have.How would she grow and learn and do? All the unknowns felt like a heavy burden. Then, it seemed so tragic. Now, I Thank GOD everyday that he blessed us with such a special child. Riley is an active, kind, funny, sassy, and smart preschooler and in many ways is no different from any kid her age. She does learn a little slower, but she lives life fully and sees the world with through the eyes of love. She has no fear or judgements and never meets a stranger, everyone is her friend. In her 4 short years she has already made such a huge impact not only in our lives but in the life of everyone she knows. Riley has made this world such a wonderful place.I wish that every person in the world could be blessed to know a child like Riley and to see the world through her eyes. I made a slideshow from her birthday party at school("cool", as she says) I hope it brings a smile to your face!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

SOMETHING NEW

Hey everyone, I'm starting something new tomorrow. Taking the idea from several of the wonderful blogs I follow, tomorrow will be my first Wordless Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will create a blog post with pictures from the day, no words. So check back each week to see new pics of Riley. I hope everyone enjoys these pics of everyday life with our incredible little girl.

Tender moments with Riley are my favorite. Last night, after bath time, Riley and I sat in the living room together. We watched Wonder Pets while I braided her hair.(Sometimes she sleeps in braids so her hair will be wavy the next day). She hates when I do her hair for school in the morning, but sat perfectly still watching the Wonder Pets save a baby sea lion. We snuggled together singing the Wonder Pets song. "whats gonna work,..TEAMWORK, whats gonna work...TEAMWORK. And when I finished her hair she hugged me and said, "Thank you mama, I look cute!" And she did!

Vote for Riley... Friday morning, we were blessed to be involved in a wonderful reception. Congressman Jim McCrery has established the Jim McCrery scholarship fund for Riley's daycare center, the Goldman School. As many of you know, Goldman is based on the inclusion model, where students with disabilities are taught along side their typical peers. This leads to enhanced learning, for all the children and furthers the idea that we are all more alike than different. Daycare for any family is a large expense, and due to government cutbacks, all families at Goldman school are required to pay. In years past families with children with special needs were helped with child care costs, but those days are long gone. Caring for a child with disabilities as with any child is expensive. Mr. McCrery believes strongly in the Goldman School and wanted to help offset cost for families. So he endowed the school with over $25,000 to set up the scholarship. Friday morning, there was a reception at the school to honor this. Gerard and I were excited to attend. Riley had been chosen to be in the "parade" for the event. After several speakers, while Mr. McCrery was talking, I saw the parade forming at the back of the room. There was our girl, in front helping to hold a Thank You banner. "Hi Mama, Hi Daddy" we could here her say. A few children(both typical and special needs) from the center paraded in. Of course Riley headed straight for us. I had to hold her in the pictures but then she turned on the charm. As the children were leaving to go back to class, Riley ran up and gave Mr. McCrery the biggest hug, which earned her a standing ovation. Then she waved and said "bye" to everyone, blowing kisses. She was so cute, they asked us to bring her back in for more photos with the Congressman. My little ham made such and impression one lady told me she should run for public office... VOTE FOR RILEY!

My little thief. Riley loves to play with my cell phone. I try to keep it out of her reach, but sometimes she outsmarts me and gets it. Tonight while I was cooking dinner, she snuck my phone into her playroom. She dialed a few random digits, then managed to call her Nonna and Papaw. I noticed my phone was missing and immediately went to the playroom, My mom filled me in that Riley had called them. I set her up with a movie so I could complete dinner and put my phone high up on a counter. Obviously not high enough. I started looking for my phone but could only find the pink cover. I looked everywhere and Riley "helped" me. 2 hours later, I found her hiding spot. In my living room window. I found not only my phone, but a handful of dollars. I'm not sure if it was my purse or her daddy's wallet she robbed, but Little miss had $9 hidden away. I couldn't help but laugh, I think I'll take her shopping.

Back to school time is here. Although Riley has been attending daycare since she was 9 months old, this year is different. The daycare director approached me about moving her into her age group(because she isn't far behind). So she skipped a class at daycare and was promoted to preschool. I couldn't be prouder of her! So on Monday Aug. 17th, my baby started preschool. This class like the rest at Goldman School is based on the inclusion model where children with disabilities are taught along side their typically abled peers, so children learn from teachers as well as each other. However, the preschool class is much more structured. We even got to buy school supplies. I had a blast!Riley picked out what color scissors, yarn, pencil box, etc. she wanted, it was fun. Riley is doing great!. She is speaking in complete sentences now. She can say her first and last name, count to ten, and knows almost the whole alphabet. I know preschool is going to be so good for her. She's doing great even after only one week. Her teachers are very impressed with how well she's doing. So am I. I'm sure I will have lots of preschool stories, I'll keep posting. Thanks for reading.

Kids say the cutest things. Just the other night, my husband(Gerard) was cooking dinner, Riley being a Daddy's girl, wanted to be right next to him. I kept getting her out of the kitchen, distracting her with games, toys, movies, etc. But she kept managing to end right back next to Daddy. We told her over and over, "stay out of the kitchen baby, Daddy is cooking it's hot", Its hot Riley, Daddy is cooking", etc. Finally she looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and said. "Mama, Daddy's hot cookie". I happen to agree wholeheartedly.

Oh the joys of potty training. We've been at this process for awhile. Riley is doing pretty well, it is taking a long time. However, I'm not entirely sure if that has anything to do with the fact that she has Down Syndrome, I think it probably has more to do with the fact that she's extremely stubborn.(She gets it honest). I first realized she had the concept of potty training down some time ago, putting it in to practice has not come as easy. How I came to this realization....Riley was playing in her octagon shaped play yard, we lovingly referred to it as the cage, while I was doing some spring cleaning. The play yard was big enough for her toy box, a chair and tons of toys, plus we set it up in front of the TV, what more could she ask for. I noticed she was emptying her toy box, throwing bears, bunnies, and other stuffed toys, blocks, balls, etc. out of the cage. This was not unusual so I went on with my sweeping and mopping. Then I noticed a tale tale odor coming from my living room. My darling daughter had emptied her toy box, taken off her diaper climbed in the box and pooped. then she climbed out and went on playing as if nothing had happened. The toy box and my entire living room got a good scrubbing with Clorox. It wasn't on the potty, but it was a start.

When Riley was younger, I had her playing in her baby walker while I cooked her favorite dinner(Chicken nuggets and fries) As I got the nuggets out of the freezer I noticed that the chocolate ice cream had gotten freezer burnt, so I threw the tub of ice cream away. I finished cooking and was setting up the high chair for dinner time. I heard her wheel into the kitchen and knock over the trash can, this was not unusual, as she loved to get into stuff. I knew it was a brand new bag with nothing but a tub of ice cream so I continued setting up her food. I looked up and my beautiful child came rolling in smiling the biggest smile. All I could do was laugh, and run for the camera. Definitely a Kodak moment. Oh, how she makes me smile.

When my daughter was born(almost 4 years ago) she was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. After the shock wore off, I immersed myself in finding all the information I could on Downs. Books and the Internet provided a lot of valuable, scientific, clinical, and medical information. There was however, a lack of real world info. To help fill this void, I am BLOGGING. This will be a light hearted, irreverent, and true account of raising a child who is beautiful, smart, funny, sassy, sweet, loving, kind, and who happens to have Down Syndrome. I hope that this blog will bring smiles and laughter and show UPSIDE of DOWNS!