Revised Montage

Here is a link to view Ashtin's pics in a better format. Guess I should have tested before posting (I'm out of practice) :) http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=7ee2af928c91d9ab249839&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Ashtin's Montage 0 - 18 months

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Trick or Treat

Halloween 2008 What a great day we had on Friday. Unfortunately I did not get many pictures because it was so warm in the day the kids did not want to wear their costumes. I actually went trick or treating with everyone this year because it was so nice outside. I love their ages right now. After about 5 houses they were ready to head home! Spidey, Cinderella and the Oklahoma State cheerleader collected a lot of loot. I need to bring some to work to give away because it is way to much for these little pumpkins. Spidey, Cinderella and OSU Cheerleader

Go Pokes!

Let's go Cowboys

31 Reasons

Today is the last day for the 31 for 21 posts. I did not come close to posting 31 entries but who says that DS Awareness is only for the month of October. Therefore, I'm posting 31 reasons I love love love Ashtin.

1. Her great big hugs

2. Her generous smiles

3. Big blue eyes

4. watching her eye brows move when she wants something

5. when she waves

6. blows kisses

7. mimics sounds

8. puts everything in reach in the sink when fixing her hair

9. watching her "talk" to herself in the mirror

10. she sings herself to sleep

11. loves to cuddle

12. pats my back when I pat hers during a hug

13. she peeks under the crib bumper to see if I'm still in sight

14. feeds herself with the palm of her hand

15. when she shakes her head no

16. rolls and pivots to follow me from room to room

17. rests her head on my shoulder

18. the way she hold her bottle

19. belly laughs

20. brushes her babies hair

21. expresses her love of sweets when eating them

22. watching her peek around a corner

23. catch her smiling at me in the rear view mirror

24. the way she lifts her arms up to be held

25. watching her splash in the tub

26. her excitement when we read books

27. the way she plays peek a boo

28. the way she signs all done

29. watching her dance

30. her curiosity

31. her laugh

More Pics

First day home

Ashtin's Birth Story Part 4

So we arrived at the hospital at 12:30AM and my doctor arrived just in time. After 20 minutes of pushing Ashtin Kate was born at 2:21AM (4 hours earlier then I was to be induced). She was beautiful and crying. I was tired and very relieved to no longer be pregnant. The nurses took Ashtin to suction and examine her while the doctor stayed with me. Everything happened so quickly that we did not have our bags OR camera in the room with us. Kevin stayed with Ashtin as she was going under an oxygen hood because of difficulties breathing. I asked the doctor why my water never broke and he explained that she dropped so soon and her head served as a cork. When she was born, the water followed. Kevin came back into my room and told me the nurses asked him to come check on me (red flag). I was trying to relax so I told him to go get our bags and camera in the car. Dr. B returned to my room and asked about Kevin's whereabouts. He pulled up a chair and told me that Ashtin looked great, scored a 9 on the Apgar, and was showing physical traits of Down Syndrome. He explained that a neonatologist would examine her in the morning and a fish test would determine if she did have Trisomy 21. The Doctor continued to explain that there are 3 different types of DS, many different levels of severity, early intervention, and that she is first a baby and will do things on her own time. He explained that medically babies breathe opposite in utero and her oxygen level had nothing to do with her traits of DS. He also said that he had stopped counting the number of babies he delivered at 500 but new that he could be close to 800 and that this was his first to have DS. I heard everything he was saying but honestly my first thought was she will never be able to have children. When asked if I had any questions, I again asked if I could have any pain relievers! Kevin walked into the room and Dr. B had just told him out in the hallway. He was near tears and experienced more emotions towards the news. The week before Ashtin was born we finally put up a stencil saying in our bathroom, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Maybe not having any meds during the delivery and feeling all the pain strengthened me. I know my feelings and reactions were quite different from others who went through this experience. I also knew that God would only give me what I could handle and Ashtin was still loved. ***Ashtin was moved to another hospital the next day with a level 3 NICU. She only stayed 3 nights and boarded in our room the last night. We are very blessed that she did not have any heart defects or feeding issues.

Ashtin's Birth Story Part 3

I was scheduled to be induced on July 12th at 6:30 AM. I was dilated to a 3 for the past 2 weeks (I received my epidural with Caden at a 2). My parents were already in town to watch Caden and Finley and I remember sleeping quite a bit on the 11th. Around 10:00 PM 7/11 (Wednesday), I decided that I should take a shower and start packing in preparation for the next day. Since being induced with Caden and Finley, I really didn't know what a contraction felt like. After my shower I felt a lot of pain and took many trips to the bathroom. Kevin was already asleep. From 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM I attempted to "time" the contractions but couldn't remember for the life of me if it was start to stop or start to the next contraction. Around 11:30PM I decided that if I was timing the contractions correctly then they were 7 minutes apart. However, I really couldn't find a break from contraction to contraction. I woke Kevin up and told him to call the doctor (Yes, he did ask me for the number). Dr. B told us to meet him at the hospital and said "babies usually have a plan of their own." Drive to the hospital Doesn't every guy have a vision of racing to the hospital? We changed clothes and I went downstairs while holding my stomach hunched over during contractions. I waited and waited but Kevin was not coming. I opened the garage door and again hunched over during contractions started to get into the car. I honked the horn about 2 times at him and then he arrived. He told me that he woke my mom up to tell her that we were leaving so she would listen for the kids. I reminded him that my mom told us each night to not wake her up but just open up the door as a signal that we left. After voicing my frustration at him he had to go back into the house to get the keys. My bad mood of pregnancy was about to peak. During the drive he not only took the long route but also sat there at stop lights when it was after midnight and no cars in site. We checked in at the ER while I was still having active contractions. They asked so many questions and I couldn't understand why because I had completed all of the pre-registration paperwork. I was wheeled up to Labor and Delivery and my first announcement was that I wanted an epidural. The nurses worked quickly getting us to a room and changed. I knew that IF my water broke then I was really close to being in labor. I was in so much pain and knew from previous deliveries that I would need two bags of saline prior to receiving my epidural. After stating my knowledge of this several times one nurse was putting the Velcro baby monitor belt on me while the other was trying to get an IV started in between contractions. I was dilated to a 5. The nurse kept asking me questions again (example: birth weight of other kids, 1st date of last period - seriously was this necessary?) I refused to get the IV through my hand because it still ached from 2 years prior with Finley's delivery. I must have looked like a beached whale. I was on my right side with the bed up to high by my head and hanging on to the bed rail trying to get through the contractions. As irritated as could be I was yelling at the nurse about speeding up my epidural. She told me "mam, this is not a quick process as we have to get your blood work returned before I can receive an epidural." Kevin told me later that she was trying to hurry and put a blood pressure around the bag of saline to speed it along. I was offered Stadol which I do not like and got really loopy with Caden. I said to only give me half a dose. This was a mistake. Now I was dizzy, still having the contractions, and was vomiting. The room was about to get busy when I then announced that I felt like I had to push. I was now dilated to a 10 fully effaced baby crowned and NO EPIDURAL. I panicked. I asked for the other dose of Stadol, a spinal block, and gas. Another gal walked into the room in different color scrubs. I asked, "who are you." She was the OB on call as my doctor had not arrived. I pleaded with her to give me something which she said we can't because the baby may not tolerate the drugs. WHAT, I really did not care about the baby during the pain that I was feeling. They got me into a more comfortable position and told me that pushing would be the only way to end the pain. To be continued. . .

Tribute to DS Awareness Month

Check out this link

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/Baby/A-Special-Joy-20-Babies-With-Down-Syndrome

Do you see Ashtin on Gallery 20 picture 4?

Ashtin LOVES to Jump

Here are some pictures of Ashtin doing some cardio.

KC Buddy Walk 2008

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Get your own

Get it Down 31 for 21 We had a great time at the Buddy Walk on Saturday. A big THANK YOU to all of our family and friends for coming out and also to all those who donated. Team Ashtin's Power raised $1,910 this year. The entire KC Buddy Walk raised over $430k with 292 teams and 6653 walkers. Ashtin took a long nap during the majority of the morning but Caden and Finley really had a good time with the rock wall, games, inflatables, save a child identification, kettle corn and food. I was in charge of entertainment/vendor placement for the event and had to be there at 7am. Caden came along with me and it was freezing outside. I told him to stay in the car after his lips turned purple and locked the doors. I was so nervous about leaving him in the car but I was able to see the car (nice parking spot that early!) from where I was standing. Kevin and friends and family came about an hour later to set up our tent. It was so great to see other faces from the blogs that I follow. Thank you again for everyone that supported us!

Kids say the FuNniEst things 2

Caden was impatiently waiting for me so I said, "Caden where are your patience?" He replied, "I left them in the office." He ran to the office and back and then said, "Oh know, I grabbed my bad patients, hold on." Ran back and forth again and then pretended to eat them and put his patience on :) lol whatever works! Ashtin was riding in the cart at the store and spent most of the time turned around to see where we were going instead of where we had been. During the same shopping trip above she got tired and rested her head on her arms over the cart to take a nap! Where is my camera when I need it? Once again, Caden was asking if we could get donuts. When he realized he was not going to get any he said, "I have a good idea. Let's go to the bagel shop because bagels look like donuts. And Mom, you could get your coffee?" BTW- we did indeed go to the bagel shop. Finley received the the book "Pinkalicious" for her birthday and insists that we read it every night. At the end of the book the little brother turns pink and says pink a boo. Finley was playing with Ashtin and instead of saying peek a boo she said pink a boo! I took the girls to get their hair trimmed and Finley said she would go first so Ashtin would know what to do. As she climbed into the chair she stated that she wanted white hair and Ashtin wanted pink hair. Caden and Finley went to the lake last weekend with Kevin. Finley was explaining with motion everything they did on the boat. She was attempting to demonstrate Dad on the wake board and then said he went boom in the water so we went back to get him! - I had a good laugh as Kevin left out of his version of the story that he wiped out! I was drinking a Dr. Pepper and poured it over a cup of ice so much of the DP was still in the can. Finley came walking into the room and announced that she was drinking pop. She had it all over and around her mouth too. I went back into the kitchen and noticed the can was empty. I asked, "who was drinking my pop?" Finley proudly announced that she was drinking my pop. I started lecturing her that she needed to ask before taking it and that wasn't very nice. She stated in the same pose and manners that I was speaking to her and said, "You need to SHARE." She is going to be a fine teenager!

Ashtin's Birth Story - Part 2

My first OB visit with Ashtin was about 10 weeks gestation. I remember when the doctor had the doppler to hear her heartbeat and it was so slow. I just knew that the baby would be a boy. At 20 weeks I had my first ultra-sound. We were so excited to find out the sex (isn't that the reason we have ultra-sounds?) We didn't find out the sex with Finley until 6 weeks prior to her birth. During the ultra-sound everything looked great and the heartbeat was again slow. Also, the placenta was not down so this would have to be monitored. I was thrilled to find out she was a baby GIRL. How lucky for Finley and Ashtin to be so close in age. Hindsight I remember thinking that I was smaller throughout the entire pregnancy. I also remember that maternity clothes were still big on me at 20 weeks. The doctor did not even ask if I wanted the triple screen test since I denied it with Caden and Finley (and would have denied it too with Ashtin). At around 30 weeks the doc had another ultra-sound scheduled since I had concerns with the size of the baby and to check on the location of the placenta. That sonogram had me a little alarmed because the baby's heartbeat was once again very slow. The placenta had moved down and the baby was measuring to scale. They wanted me to have a stress test because of concerns of the slow heartbeat. For the next 45 minutes I was monitored with the heart rate velcro band in labor and delivery. Her heartbeat range was peaking and dropping which is what they wanted and it was determined that she just had a slow resting heart rate. I believe her numbers ranged from 129 beats to 108. That evening I sat at the computer and did some searches about low resting heart rate. I did come across a few sites about Down Syndrome but the majority was about placenta privia. My intuition was that something was not quite right but medically everything looked normal. . . . to be continued

Ashtin's Birth Story Part 1

Ashtin is always full of surprises. We were surprised to find out that we were expecting our third child. I wanted to have three but not so close together. Kevin told me that if it didn't happen as a surprise we would only have had two kids. I'm not a pleasant person pregnant. I get so sick and nauseous and vomit the first 19 weeks. I kept gladware in the car so I could just toss it. I usually have a couple of good weeks from week 20 to 24 and then I feel so uncomfortable and large the remainder of the pregnancy. I actually had a fractured rib from excessive vomiting with Ashtin. The doctor did not know for sure if it was broken because they didn't want to do an x-ray while pregnant. I'm convinced that I get post-pardum depression during pregnancy.

When I first took a pregnancy test and found out it was positive, I immediately said a prayer of thanksgiving and remember telling God that I trusted Him and I knew he would only give me what I could handle. I was really worried about Caden who was 3 1/2 and Finley at 15 months. Neither of them were potty trained and when I'm pregnant dirty diapers also makes me very sick! I have no idea how Kevin put up with me while changing ALL diapers for the next 9 months.

Here is a picture of Finley (14 months old) wearing I'm a Big Sister shirt.

To be continued. . .

Posing for Pictures

Ashtin sure knows how to work the camera. She is almost 15 months but whenever a camera is pointed at her she stops and smiles :) Ashtin is at that stage where she knows so much more than you think. At lunch today I asked her if she preferred carrots or green beans while holding out both for her to see. She shook her head no. I asked again and she chose the green beans. Also, when I put her down for a nap she often will lift the bumper up in her crib to see if I'm still in sight. Of course that warrents for just one more kiss and hug. Just remember, kids with DS are more alike then different!

Kids say the FuNniEst things

After picking Caden up from Sunday School he asked, "Mom, did God say if there was coffee and donuts today?" Caden fell when riding his bike and asked if he should have those sticks that go under your arms so he could walk easier. Caden announced last week that he was going to marry Lizzy from school. We went along and asked why. He said, "because she is so nice and pretty. And I only want to marry nice and pretty girls. But I'm not going to tell her I'm going to marry her that's a secret." Kevin and I agreed that would be a good secret. I curled my hair a couple of weeks ago (curling iron curly). Caden told me, "Mom, I like your hair like that. You look like one of the Cheetah Girls." If you don't watch Playhouse Disney then this is a very high complement coming from a 5 year old. I told Caden that made my week. He told me that my curly hair made his week too! :) We moved Ashtin into a forward facing car seat. Yesterday was her first ride facing forward and she was thrilled. She looked so small in the big seat but was kicking her legs, smiling, and doing her little giggle laugh. She was very concerned as to who was going to sit next to her and looking out the window. On the drive I would look at her through the rear view mirror and say, "Ashtin, I see you." She would eye me through the mirror and smile and wave. Oohhh so precious. Finley moved up a class at school from Savannah to American Flyers. Last night she was playing on the floor with me and Ashtin. She was talking to Ashtin and telling her that she went to American Flyers today. I said Yeah, Finley. She told me to be quiet that she was not talking to me she was only talking to Ashtin. This past weekend I walked into the family room to find torn paper all over the floor. I hollered at Finley to come clean it up. Caden was out with Kevin and Ashtin was napping. Finley denied having made the mess and said Ashtin did it. I told her unlikely since she is asleep and she started to pick up the mess and said sorry, mom, sorry. Do I get a special treat for picking up the mess? I said no. Finley then defended her statement with, I said sorry and I cleaned up Caden's mess! :) On the way home from school yesterday I asked what should we have for dinner tonight? Caden said "how about chick fillet?" I said no something at home. He replied with we could just have snacks or cookies or something? Finley was wearing a Hannah Montana shirt she got for her birthday. I told her that I was going to call her Hannah Montana. She said, I'm not Hannah Tanna I'm Penny Miller. I was tearing off the top of yogurt for a snack and Finley asked if she could tear it off because she never never never gets to do it. She also has used this never never never all through out the week.

My little model

Piggies and a new find

Ashtin discovered the door stoppoer the other day and could not have been prouder. She displayed her skill of flicking the door stopper for 10 minutes.

Blogging Debut

I have been reading blogs for close to a year now and became inspired to create my own. Therefore, I would like to start by sharing what I did this past Monday. I'm involved with my church in MOYC (mothers of young children) community service. Several moms visited the Grace Center which is a home for homeless teenage expecting and new mothers. There were about 10 girls present and we brought dinner and made those no sew blankets with the girls. I can't stop thinking about those ladies. There was a 4 day old baby to a 15 year old and a pregnant 16 year old who also has a 3 year old. Incredible. The gal who runs the center is amazing. She is saving babies by opening up the center (by word of mouth and Catholic Charities) should these young ladies have no place to live or care for their babies. The girls arrive with nothing and they provide clothes, school supplies, etc. . . for both mom and baby. I now want to clean out my basement of all the stuff I don't need that could be put to good use. The gal that runs the center explained that all the ladies had something in common and that is that they just want to be loved. Unfortunately having a baby is their cure for this low self esteem. I was so moved by the new moms and will keep them in my prayers.

Also, what a great message to this blog debut then to plug the KC Buddy Walk 2008! Please join our team Ashtin's Power (link on the right sidebar) by walking with our team or supporting by donating. The date is October 18th which is also Down Syndrome Awareness month! For $20 you will receive a Buddy Walk t-shirt with Ashtin's Power on the back, lunch, and over 25 vendors and entertainers for the kids. If you have never been it's truly a great family day and a way to show inclusion that our kiddo's with DS are more alike then different. Above, is a picture of Ashtin celebrating her first birthday!