June 10, 2012

Ellie is doing soo well.  We are adding speech to her interventions just to offset anything unseen yet.  She is currently waving hello and bye to everyone and she is sooo close to walking independently.  She can take at least 5 steps without holding on to anything before she falls.  She is soo darn cute...I am a little bias...lol  She is very curious about her world and how things work.  She likes to make people laugh. 

 All my gifts from God!!

 Playing in the sprinkler.

Fast asleep after a long day at the zoo.

SHE LOVES THE WATER!!!

 Sooo BIG!!

 Trying to walk on her own!!

 She is more confident walking while holding on.

Have you noticed she has a different bathing suit on in each picture playing in the water.  This girl has more bathing suits then I have ever had in my entire life...LOL (All gifts from people who love her)

She is blowing a kiss...lol

Ellie goes on July 3, 2012 back to the hospital for a heart cauterization.  This is normal procedure 1 year following surgery but it still make me a little anxious because they have to put her to sleep and insert a tube into her heart to take pictures and try to coil up her PDA valve that reopened after surgery.  Nothing major the doctors say - the worse case is if they can't coil it because her valve may be too small she may have blood pressure issues when she is older which could be controlled with medication.

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant and working for the summer at the Down Syndrome of Louisville as their kindergarten/1st grade summer program teacher.  I am learning soo much from the other parents and the children in my classroom.  Things that will help me help Ellie reach her potential.  It is unbelievable how Down Syndrome affects each person differently.  It is just like typically developing children...not one is the same.  This is a stereotype that many people think - before Ellie I was one of them.  I heard Down Syndrome and I saw 1 thing in my head...when in reality it is not a single duplicated category.  Amazing.  God is soo wonderful, he has made each and everyone of us different.  We all have special tasks we have to complete while we are on this Earth no matter our characteristics.  I can not WAIT to see where my children's paths are headed and what wonderful things they will do while on this Earth.  I can not tell you how lucky we are to have these experiences we have had the same ones I was terrified for a little over a year ago.  We are coming up on the 1 year anniversary of her surgery...what an experience that was.  On June 18, we go to have an ultrasound of the new baby.  This is the same ultrasound that discovered Ellie's heart condition when I was pregnant with her.  We are a little nervous about the results but I will finally relax once it is over.  All of our prenatal tests have come back normal up to this point but we are still a little anxious about this appointment.  I know everything will be okay...God is with us no matter the what the out come is.  The only thing that will upset me during this appointment will be if the doctors say the new baby will need a surgery...everything else will be a blessing...I do not think I could handle going through another surgery like Ellie's again...