Growing Up Wenzler: January 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

January 2011- Random

Most months I have a few pictures that never make it to the blog. Usually, I just didn't find time to blog them, or they were just one or two random photos that didn't seem like they needed their own blog post. So, I thought that this year I would create a post each month of those randoms...

This first one is a picture of Etta that I took after I tried the raincoat on her that my mom gave her for Christmas. I was worried it was too big, but I think it works.

Keith's parents came down one Sunday to spend the morning with us.

Mama riding Etta's new tricycle

Playing "Peekaboo Barn" on the ipod. She LOVES that thing! This game is great for her. She taps the barn doors and they open and there will be a farm animal, it makes a sound, and a child's voice says what the animal is called. Then, she taps the screen again and the doors close. When she taps the doors, a new animal is there. Etta usually signs along (cow, dog, cat, sheep...).

Having a snack with Ferris. I know it's blurry, but I think it's a great shot! Ferris HATES to be photographed, so I don't have many (good) pictures of her. Seriously. As soon as she sees the camera she runs away/hides her face. I think it's the flash she doesn't like. Anyway, what's great about this is that it shows Ferris right where she ALWAYS is when Etta is eating and Etta is always HAPPY to share. She's constatly feeding that dog (and the dog is getting larger because of it). *sigh*

Both Keith and Etta were sick this week. It started with Etta last Sunday morning and Keith started showing symptoms on Wednesday. They're both on the mend, though E is still a little snotty. Here are a couple cute shots of my sickies on Wednesday night.

And this last one is just a quick shot I got after dinner tonight. :)

Friday, January 28, 2011

Sandra

It is no secret that I ~~obsessively~~ follow what's going on with Reece's Rainbow. I know all of the little faces waiting for families and I follow MANY of the adoption blogs of those families committed to a child (or two or three). I love to see those sweet orphans walk out of those orphanages, never to return. And the ones left behind? I continue to scroll through their photos, memorizing their faces. Praying for a family to commit to them before it's too late. Before they are transferred to an institution where they are left to die. Literally. Drugged and tied to cribs. Most die in the first year. I know this is heavy and I know it feels bigger than you. I feels bigger than me, but I do what I can by donating money to a waiting child's grant fund and by spreading the word about Reece's Rainbow and what's going on in Russia and other Eastern European counties (Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc..)

This afternoon, when I logged on to Facebook for the first time all day, I learned that a sweet orphan, Sandra, who had been waiting for a family to commit to her, had died. This was a face that I had memorized and, truthfully, she was one of my favorites. I wept for her. My heart is heavy tonight. I lit a candle for Sandra this evening and she will be remembered.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Lori Visits

This is Lori

She and her girls came for a visit last week (Wed-Sun). In case you don't know how special my relationship with Lori is, let me recap. When I was pregnant with Etta, I was a part of an online community that had a bunch of other women due with June babies. Lori was pregnant with her daughter Alyssa, while I was pregnant with Etta. We sort of "knew" each other through posts made on this message board. Every time Lori posted, there was a picture of her first daughter, Natalie at the bottom of her post (in her signature). Natalie has Down syndrome. I always thought she was cute. So, when Etta was born and basically surprised us with her extra chromosome, Lori and her little Natalie were the very first people I thought of. I thought that there was this cute little girl and that everything would be okay. At the time, I didn't know ANYONE with Ds. I wrote in my notebook while I was still in the hospital that I wanted to contact "that girl from FF". She got to me first. ;)

Lori was my first real contact in the Ds community. Before my local Ds friends, she was the one I emailed with and chatted online with. She has been an invaluable resource. We met for the first time when Etta and Alyssa were 5 months old in the Atlanta airport during a layover on my way to Panama. Since then, I have gone to her house a couple of times for a visit and she had been here once before this trip. She's one of my best friends and I lova her!

Meeting for the first time in the ATL airport. Etta and Alyssa are 5 months and Natalie is 2.5 yrs

Our visit to Atlanta. Etta and Alyssa are 9 months. Natalie is nearly 3

Lori and the girls visit us in June 2009. Little girls had JUST turned one and Natalie was 3

So, she came to visit us. Well, REALLY she came to visit some other friends and that requires another story...

While Lori was pregnant with Natalie (her first daughter), she was on that same website with other moms who were due in April and she met another mom there, Ashli. Through Lori, Ashli learned about Reece's Rainbow and all of the children in Russia and Eastern Europe who are orphans and have Down syndrome. She and her husband, Eric, decided to adopt one of those precious angels and just brought Everlyn home to St. Louis in October. Their other four children are "typical" (and she's pregnant again). In December, Ashli and her family made a big move from St. Louis to Nashville to be closer to family.

When Lori called to say that she was coming to Nashville to attend Everlyn's 3rd birthday party, she let me know that she wanted to come stay with us one night before going to stay with Ashli. I asked where Ashli lived and, well, she lives IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD! Like two streets over! So, Lori decided to just stay with us the whole time and go over to spend time with Ashli and her family during the days.

My house was overrun with kids and it was awesome! The girls got along really well. We played and we had picnics and we danced and we applied pretend make-up and we took baths and we had a playdate with a couple of other Ds friends and we went to Target and we attended a birthday party and we watched Yo Gabba Gabba. It was all so natural and seamless. Well, except when one of Lori's girls cried. When one of them cried, Etta did too... *sigh*