Crawling like Crazy!

There is no stopping her now! Edie is crawling EVERYWHERE and is in to EVERYTHING!! I have to search the floors over everyday making sure there is nothing that Edie can put in her mouth and eat. Thus far she has tried eating dust/fuzz balls, dog food, paper, leaves, grass, dirt, carpet, the plastic thing off of the door stop, jewelry, hair bows, etc., etc., etc. Every time I turn around she has something else in her mouth. Thankfully she has not swallowed anything out of the ordinary "yet" or so we think.

We took a trip today to Clanton to see Aunt Kelli, Wyatt and Wesley and baby on the way. BTW Kelli is having a baby girl! She is due to arrive in July and Edie will no longer be the runt of the bunch. We are excited to have another girl, not so sure Wyatt is though. I think he would rather a little boy.......maybe one day soon. Kelli has also started a blog! It looks like she started it back in October and never shared with me. It is the "Homeschool Adventures" blog so if you like you can now catch up on my big sis and her two & 1/2 munchkins.

Our mom has had an embroidery machine for a few years and we have recently purchased the pretty fonts, appliques and monogramming cd's to go along with it. So Kelli and I tried it out today, doing it the Chastain way (learn as you go). I made a cute monogrammed shirt for Edie, ruined a pair of Edie's shorts trying to make a matching - smaller monogram, almost ruined my beach bag doing my initials and did o.k. on (a) pillow case (now I have to do the same on the other one). So all in all it was a good day of monogramming. Edie played with Wyatt and Wesley all day. She was pooped once we got home. She ate, had a bath and went straight to sleep.

Speaking of sleep.....we have had some weird nights lately. Edie has been waking up several times during the night crying. We are not sure if she is having nightmares, having a growth spurt, still has fluid in her ears or it is because she is getting a new tooth. One of her back molars is coming in. I have given her baby orijel a few times - but I try to use it only when necessary (I read it is not good for babies). I am excited for the new tooth, I just hate they have to hurt so much. Hopefully the pain has passed and Edie will soon be back to sleeping through the night again.

Saturday we stayed around the house trying to get Edie's new playroom in order. We have a few more things to do yet. But once complete I will share some photos. Sunday Scott played golf and Edie and I went to Pratville after church. (By the way, I decided to put Edie in the nursery at church as opposed to taking her in the service as we normally do. This is usually her nap time so I thought she would just sleep. The ladies said she wanted nothing to do with sleeping or eating. All she wanted to do was play with the other babies. When I went to get her she was in the floor still playing. So sweet. She misses her buddies at MDO.) Back to Pratville - we met Nan and Pawpaw and had lunch then Nan, Edie and I went to see Uncle Zach's new house. It was a short visit - but we had fun getting out and just enjoying the pretty weather.

Growing Up

It seems like forever since I last posted. We have been so busy it has been hard to find the time to sit still long enough. I had a video of Edie I intended to share but for some reason the card is not working. So as I was looking though the old photos this one caught my eye. Scott took this picture of Edie when she was about 3 1/2 months old. He sent it to me while I was on a trip, my first trip, after being back to work. She looks so cute, tiny and peaceful. I can not believe how fast time goes by.

We celebrated Scott's 34th birthday this past week. Edie and I got him (us) tickets to Cold Play who is coming in May. Scott was very surprised and excited not only to get the tickets but to learn we will be having double the fun... we will also be going with some of our dear friends - Jimmy, Vanessa, Russell and Stacey. It should be a good time especially since we have not been to a concert in years.

Edie has also been grandparent hopping for the past few weeks. Edie and I went to Nan and PawPaw's for a visit a couple of weekends ago. We both spent the night Friday night. Edie stayed on with Nan Saturday night and went to church on Sunday. Then this past weekend Edie spent the night with Gigi and Giddo and went to church with them on Sunday. Scott and I played both weekends having dinner with friends and doing things around the house. Speaking of.....we are now in the process of turning our kitchen table area into a playroom for Edie. We are going to replace the chandelier with a ceiling fan and we have removed the kitchen table and have replaced it with a small sofa. We are going to add a small chair, a rug, some toy baskets. Don't get me wrong. We LOVE Edie and her 100's of toys, but it will be nice to have an area for her toys so that our company is not tripping over them as they walk through the front door. It will also be a lot easier to watch her play while I cook (whenever that is). So I am excited!

Another FANTASTIC thing that happened recently. Allie's mom Sandy was kind enough to lend us a copy of Allie's My Baby Can Read video. It is a learning video which includes flash cards and a book. Each flash card has a word on the front. When you pull the tab on the card an actual "real life" photo of the word pops out. Edie was so fascinated by these flash cards and book. I believe I went over them three times in a row while she studied each photo and word. When I would get to the Tongue flash card and pull on the tab to show the picture of the girls Tongue, Edie would stick out her tongue and wiggled it around! Se is AMAZING!!! Scott and I were so proud of her! Edie loves to read books. I have been reading about 4-5 books to her each night. She loves to turn the pages, say "ooo oooo" and sit in my lap while I rock and read to her. My dear friend Kristie form Florida mailed Edie a book about LuLu the Ladybug last week. Edie loves the illustrations in the book but she also LOVES the black and red dots on the back cover of the book. Every time we are in her room she will immediately crawl over to her book basket and pull out the Ladybug book. She will then sit and tap it saying "ooo, ooh, ooo". She is too cute!

Scott said Sunday night that "God could not have given us a more perfect, precious baby...we are blessed" and it could not be more true.

She's Back!

Edie has had a rough month being sick from a cold and two double ear infections practically just a few weeks apart. We have kept her out of MDO for the past few weeks until she is completely over everything. I can not help but think that all of these sicknesses has come from being in MDO. Edie was literally sick once until she turned one, which is when we started her in MDO. I know we can not keep our children in a bubble and eventually they will get sick - but I do hate seeing her feel bad. It is the most helpless feeling when your child is sick and you can not fix it.

One other thing Scott and learned from all of this is you must refrigerate your babies antibiotic. There is a tiny label on the bottle which we did not discover until Sunday night that reads "must refrigerate". Aha! This must be why the medicine is getting darker and darker each day! And to tell the truth - her medicine for her last ear infection I am sure was supposed to be refrigerated as well. Which we did not do. Anyway we panicked and called the pharmacy right away. We learned that 1. It will not hurt Edie and 2. Without being refrigerated it is not effective after 72 hrs!! Poor Edie......no wonder she got another ear infection. The first one probably never completely cleared because the medicine we were giving her was useless.

So we had a follow up visit with her ENT yesterday. He wrote her ANOTHER perscription which we will refrigerate!! And he advised us that Edie would need tubes. I have to say I am torn. On one hand I do not want to jeopardize Edie's hearing, speech and balance in any way. But I can not help but wonder....did the fact that we did not refrigerate the medicine have anything to do with the 2nd round of ear infection? Should we finish this perscription and see what happens? She may do great and never have another one. I know that over 90% of typical and non-typical children have tubes but the thought of making a hole in Edie's eardrum scares me. Dr. Davis's daughter also has DS so we do feel totally comfortable with his decisions because he is so aware of Edie's needs. So I know I just have to trust that this is the best thing for Edie and tell myself tubes are no big deal anyway. Right?

I got a new gadget last week - a mini camera. We have been wanting a smaller, more compact camera that we could just carry in our pocket when necessary. Although it does not take as great of photos as our big one I love the video option. We look forward to showing you a lot of Edie in "action"!

Chili Cookoff

Edie was feeling better so we decided to take advantage of a gorgeous day Saturday. We went the the Chili Cookoff in Homewood benefiting the Exceptional Foundation. I do not know a whole lot about this program but I do know it serves teenagers to adults with Special Needs. They offer everything from educational courses, to art classes, to physical education. They had a great turnout for the event. Edie turned lots of heads - it could have been the cool wagon with the canopy she was riding in that caught their eye. But we are convinced it was just because she looks so darn cute!!! She had a great day being outdoors!

Bell Center "Kids Marathon"

I would like for you to meet some of the kids you have made such a tremendous impact on. This is a slide show of The Bell Center "Kids Marathon". It was held at Samford University kicking off the Mercedes Marathon weekend. Unfortunately Edie was not able to enjoy this day with her friends as we were in the Dr. office being treated for a double ear infection (which she has again!). Even though Edie was not there - we were with them in spirit watching the event live on T.V. Laughing, crying and thanking God for Edie, the other children of TBC and you for making it all possible. Thank you.

If this does not melt your heart I am not sure what will.

http://byshea.com/bellcenter09/ And as with any slide show full of beautiful children, music is important. So turn your speakers on!

Snowy Day

Sunday we had the miracle of about 2"+ of snow fall to the ground. I was very sceptical of the predictions of snow for Sunday, but it really did happen! We put Edie's snow boots on and took her out to play before it melted. She looked so cute. We wanted to make a snow angel with her - but we were too afraid she would get sick from the wet snow.

I know our family in Arvada, Colorado are laughing at us right about now. Aunt Shirley, Uncle Jim, Kelly and Jolie see way more than 2" of snow every winter. They even continue to drive their cars - while we on the other hand stay indoors, buy milk and bread (before the snow comes of course) cancel church, school and other activities due to a couple of inches of snow. Really even just the threat of snow will close Birmingham down! Although it did snow heavily for about 30-45 minutes it was melting by noon and every ones lives were getting back to normal.

Hello Denver!

This is as close as we come to our family's snow days in Denver. Although not as heavy and linger some - it was still fun while it lasted.

"Team Ladybug" Won!!

With the help of our wonderful family and friends our team won 1st place for the Relay Team who raised the most money. We ended with $10,532.00 in total amount raised. As the first place winners our team won ipod shuffles. We will be using these as door prizes and auction items for the fundraiser we will have again in November. Our team also won a nice Bell Center duffel bag filled with goodies for being one of the first 30 teams to raise their goal.

When we began this journey our goal was to raise at least $5000 for The Bell Center. I am still so humbled and speechless by the love and generosity everyone showed. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of people surrounding and supporting our family, our Edie and so many other special babies attending The Bell Center.

Thursday night The Bell Center held a party at an downtown art gallery for all of the PIT members who ran in the Mercedes Marathon and raised money for TBC. There were several speakers, one of which was one of the running coaches. He said something that was so special to me and I wanted to share with all of you who helped us in this "Marathon of Love".

"These babies of TBC are all Angles sent from Heaven above. A gift from God. But like all Angles they must have wings to fly. And that is what you are. You are their wings. Lifting them up and helping them to fly"

So thank you. From the bottom of our hearts for helping our babies to fly. We love you!

Edie Stands All By Herself!!

It may not be all that easy to see b/c it was recorded with Scott's cell phone -

but hopefully you can make out the important parts! Edie is still learning how to sit.

So Big!

Edie is crawling!! Both hands and both knees!! She is also pulling up!! We are so proud of her. She started last week when we neglected to put her hip pants on. I believe this gives her more freedom to move and to feel her body when moving. Therefore our therapist advised we could discontinue using the hip pants for now unless we see Edie pulling up between her legs. Which means doing the splits to lay on her tummy instead of going to her side to lie down.
Edie is also pulling up on her toys and on us. She stands so easily now it is incredible. She is up and then down all day long. She is so proud of what she is doing....just as are we. Last week when I met with her ARC OT and her Bell Center PT - they both commented on how well Edie is doing. The ARC OT said she and the ARC PT joke all of the time saying "did someone forget to tell Edie she has DS" and The Bell Center PT commented on how well she was doing for just being 13months. It feels so good when a professional on the outside says such wonderful things about Edie. It confirms our feelings of accomplishment and it keeps us motivated so that Edie may continue to prove the statistics wrong. But to tell the truth, it is not us, it is Edie who is so wonderfully motivated and determined to overcome the text book stats. We continue to be in awe of her. Edie has honestly had maybe only 2 bad days in her 13 months. She is too perfect to be true, her love is never ending and her outlook is so impressive. We are truly in love and truly blessed.

P.S. Edie is also saying "iggy" or "gigi" or "mindy". We have not figured out which yet...but we know it is a word. She is also signing "all done" we hope to download some video of all of the great things she is doing soon!

We Did It!

Sunday was the finale of the 2009 Mercedes Marathon. "Team Ladybug" did great in the relay running in just over 4 hours! It was a beautiful day - to share with our friends and family. Edie, Charlie and Carter were all bundled up as they watched the runners and played with their red balloons . Although were were unable to see everyone run we did catch Scott on his last mile of the run. We are so proud of Scott, Mindy, Jimmy, Matt and Eric for what they accomplished. I was inspired by all of the PIT runners who passed by and thankful to them for supporting our babies. We are now looking forward to the 2010 race where we are planning to have several "Team Ladybug" relay teams and 1/2 marathon teams! So get your running shoes on!

My Friend Bergen

Bergen invited all of her friends to her birthday party a few weeks ago at Kindermusak. The babies had a lot of fun playing music on the drums, singing, eating cake and playing together. I have been very interested in Kindermusak (not sure of spelling) for a while. This is a service they offer to all children in various locations around town. The children and parents join others and play instruments and sing songs a few days a week. I know Edie would love this. The group that is closest to our home does not offer groups until age of 18 months. So we have a little while longer. It was nice of Bergen's parents to host Bergen's party at one of the locations and give us a taste of what it is all about. Bergen is in the top left photo with Edie beating on the drums - she is too precious. Happy 2nd Birthday Bergen!!

A Marathon for Love

Please visit http://www.mercedesmarathon.com/about.php. This link tells the stroy from the beginning of when and why the Mercedes Marathon was created. It is closer to home than I ever even knew and it sums up why we are a part of this Marathon for Love.

Special Friends

Scott, Edie and I are very fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives. One in particular is Stacey Day. I met Stacey a few years ago through some mutual friends and she has quickly become so special to me. She spent countless hours designing the invitation to the fundraiser and most recently, countless hours designing our "Team Ladybug" shirt. Which could not have turned out to be more perfect and I am thrilled to wear. The final phase of our fundraiser will take place this Sunday February 15th. Scott, Mindy, Jimmy, Eric and Matt will join thousands of other runners at 7:00 am for the Mercedes Marathon. Edie and I along with many other family and friends will join our team (later in the day) and cheer them on to the finish line. We will be sporting our team shirts as proud supporters of "Team Ladybug" and The Bell Center.

For those of you who have inquired - this race is not just for The Bell Center alone. Many of the runners are involved through other charities, reasons and some doing it just for fun. There will be runners from all over the world. The Bell Center, where Edie attends, uses this event as part of their fundraisers for the center. So it is a shared marathon for people of all interest.

After the race has taken place there will be a post party for all runners, family and friends. They will have food and entertainment as well as announce the winners of the race. I am not sure if this is just for The Bell Center runners or if it is for every single runner in the Marathon. We will see. None the less it will be very exciting and a lot of fun. I have never been involved in anything like this so I really do not know what to expect.

In a few more weeks The Bell Center will host a post party for all of the runners of The Bell Center. At this time the top fundraising teams will be announced. I can not thank everyone enough for all of their love and support. We have had family and friends from AL, CO, MI and TX support our cause. It has been a wonderful, rewarding experience and I look forward to next years race. Thank you everyone for everything. You have already made such an impact on not only our family, but the other 100's of families who are associated with The Bell Center as well. We love you and thank you with all of our hearts.

P.S. It is not too late to sponsor our team. We will be accepting donations through February 23rd. So if you can please sponsor our team and the 26 miles they will be running by making a donation of $26 - just $1 per mile. Please pass on Edie's link to someone who you feel would like to contribute to this special cause.

Grethel Van Epps

We had a wonderful photographer come to our home on Sunday to take Edie's 1 year photos, Grethel Van Epps. I still can not believe Edie is 1!! We had a great time and I would recommend Grethel to anyone. She spent about an hour with us, we did not feel rushed and she had the proofs online the NEXT DAY!! She was even kind enough to give me this photo for Edie's blog header. Don't you love it! She has also worked with some of our friends in our same neighborhood and she will also be photographing our next door neighbors in a few weeks.

Edie was so fun and did such a great job smiling and posing. I think having Grethel to our home made all the difference. Edie was so comfortable and had a blast eating her cupcake! These will be online until February 9th. We hope you enjoy them! http://www.gvephotography.com/ enter site, click clients, password is edie.

Edie and Allie

Edie had a special visitor this Sunday - Allie Lovell. We met Allie and her parents while in the NICU. We had dinner and visited while Edie and Allie played. As you can see they are both very attached to their pink shakers. It is funny that they both have the exact same one. Tim and Sandy commented that Allie has a lot of the same toys too. Not only do our girls share the same toys but they also share the same pediatrician, cardiologist and ENT. Both Allie and Edie were discharged from the NICU on the same day. Afterwards we would run into them at almost every Dr. visit. I know God had a hand in it all. He made the connection and he knew we would develop a really wonderful friendship. And the Lovell's could not be more wonderful.

It was fun to get together with them and share experiences as well as insights and compare notes. Sometimes as new parents it is hard to know if you are doing the right things or not. But it seems as though we are all on the right track. Our babies are doing really great things and making great progress. Allie is 14 months old, you can see more of Allie on her blog which is linked to Edie's. I look forward to watching these two grow up together and knowing that we are all in this together is comforting. It is great to have friends who know and feel exactly some of the same things we do. Sandy is planning to get together a "Mom's Club" to meet every so often just to get together and let our children play with one another. Which I know Edie would love just as much as I would!

Vogue

I am not sure how I got Edie to make this pose - but it is precious.

Edie's First day of Mothers Day Out

I have been so busy with so many things that I neglected to tell everyone that Edie has started MDO at First Baptist Alabaster. This is a photo of Edie all dressed up and ready for her first day of school. She attends Mondays and Fridays from 9-2. She has 4 teachers and around 12 kids in her class. The first day was a little tough. She started to cry once I was leaving the room and I wanted so badly to go back in and get her but I knew I couldn't. She did not eat very well for the teachers and cried a good bit. The past few days have been a lot better. When I picked her up today she was scooting around the floor playing with a toy and smiling at the other kids. The teachers said that she had been all over the room all day meeting everyone. They also said that she plays very well with others and seems to really enjoy being with the other children. I am so glad that she is making new friends. I am not sure if it is the MDO or what, but Edie has been talking up a storm lately! Her therapist at The Bell Center was so impressed with her sounds today. Fridays also make for a verylong day for Edie now that she goes to MDO from 9-1 (I have to pick her up early on Fridays) and then to The Bell Center from 2-3. So far she has been a real trooper. I know I say this a lot - but I am so proud of her. She has accomplished so much this past year.

Our Baby is ONE!

It is amazing what has taken place since this same day last year. I can remember so well how nervous Scott and I were going to bed the night before Edie's birth. We spent the night doing some last minute things in Edie's room and enjoying our last night alone. With little sleep during the night we woke early to leave for the hospital around 10:00 am. I was starving, scared, excited and anxious all at the same time.

We had literally just put our bags down and I was told to change into my gown. I said "right now? Already!" I thought we would have a little more time to settle in. Well we did later among all of the cahos of the prep work. I was wheeled into the very cold, very white delivery room. The epidural was terrifying for me. All I wanted was to hold Scott's hand and see his face. I could feel sweat on my face. I asked Scott if I was sweating terribly and he just replied "you are beautiful".

While the nurse talked us through the procedure being preformed I just layed there saying over and over "please God, please God, please God let her be ok, let her cry so I can hear her". After what felt like an eternity I heard my baby cry and it was the most beautiful sound ever. I thanked God for his blessing and for giving us this wonderful opportunity. Scott brought Edie over to me, I touched her face, kissed her on her cheek and then she was gone.

I am not sure how long it was before I saw Edie again. It seemed like days. Scott would come in the room to check on me, give us reports on Edie and back to the NICU he went. He assured me everything was ok, Edie was fine and she was resting. I remember holding Edie for the first time in the NICU. I remember how beautiful she was even with all of those tubes and wires attached to her tiny body. I remember the first time we were able to bring her to our room to nurse her. It was early in the morning and it was snowing outside. It was perfect because we were all together as a family, finally.

The next few hours, days, weeks are now such a blur. I remember the heart ache I felt once Edie was diagnosed with DS, how the news was given to us. I felt like I had failed everyone and most of all I thought I had failed Edie. I was sad, confused, angry at God, wondering why did he choose our little baby, why did he choose us? How are we going to do this? I felt this way for several days until the night Scott and I went home without our little girl in our arms. As we were laying there in our bed - alone again- a calmness came over me. I felt this weight leaving my body and I knew right then and there that we were ok. God was going to show us his plan and was there with us. I also knew at that moment that Scott would take care of me and we - together - would love Edie with everything we had.

Edie quickly became the love of our life from the moment we laid eyes on her. She has given us much more this past year than we could have ever imagined. She has further developed our relationships with God, family, friends, and strangers. She has made life in general so much better because we appreciate the little things more. We are grateful to Edie for everything she has taught us and for everything we have experienced because of her. Edie's smile will melt your heart. Her eyes will light up a room. And her hair will make you look twice! I have never laughed so much in my life as I have this past year. I love being Edie's mom and I am so proud to say she is all ours!

Edie has made being parents so easy for us. She has always slept through the night since the day she came home. She greets us with a smile each morning. She leaves us with a smile each night. She is strong. She is determined. She is smart. She has a great personality. She is the best little girl we could have ever dreamed of having. I am so grateful to God for trusting me to assist him in the miracle of Edie's birth and I am grateful to God for trusting Scott and I to assist him in raising her. Thank you God for our miracle.

Thank you God for our special ladybug.