It's that time again!

Ok...well first let me start by saying I drafted this entry like three weeks ago and I never posted...we have had such a busy summer and the past few weeks have gotten away from me.  I can VERY, VERY, VERY happily say that all of Emily's doctors visits are pretty much done for a while (except for endocrine which is next week) and we will actually have some time to catch our breath and enjoy the kids without shuffling them all over town.

Over the past few weeks, we've spent some glorious time at the Mehlinger beach house for the second time this summer.  It was really sad to leave this time because we're not returning until October (such a hard life, right!?).  The trips with our families this summer have been some of the best of our lives.  So. much. fun.  My waist line and liver can attest to that.   Sometimes, I regret when I stopped pumping.  I was literally pumping away the pounds.  I got nice and skinny for about one month.  I could eat and drink whatever I wanted and it didn't matter.  Oh, the days.  Now, it's back to watching what I'm eating (kinda if I'm gonna be truthful) and drinking (unless I succumb to peer pressure, which usually happens).

Lilly actually learned to swim this summer, with the help of a life vest, but hey...it's a start and she had a blast doing it!!  I am going to get her to my mom's pool everyday next week after nap to wear her out!  Emily is also a water-lover which is why we are really eager to get her into aquatic therapy.  Hopefully, once we get Medicaid, we can get her into that.  Our primary insurance doesn't cover it and we are not in any position to pay for it out of pocket at this point in time.  Both girls had a blast swimming with their cousin, Maggie and of course, all their grandmas and grandpas.

Lilly and Emily splashing around :)

Maggie and Lilly "sharing".  This basically consisted of Lilly giving Maggie toys and then taking them away.

PLEASE ignore my toenails.  This was the only bad part of our trip...I broke my pinki toe and then dropped a beer bottle on my big toe :(

Having a blast!!

Catching a few ZZZZZ's on the beach.

Lilly is gearing up for school is September and I think we're all pretty excited about it.  She has had a lot of fun lately reading books and I've actually channeled my inner Pinterest mom and gotten some arts and crafts ideas from there for Lilly to do.  I've said it a million times, but she really does thrive on structure and there hasn't been too much of that around here in the last four months.  Her behavior, as most of you have read, has kinda gotta out of control and we are totally to blame.  She has had a ton of adjustment in the last four months with moving, Emily's surgery, constant doctor appointments, a new house, no school and being shuffled around town when Emily's needs must be met.  I've started making her sit again in the high chair and put the timer on her to eat dinner.  She would drag it out for 30 minutes with only one chicken nugget eaten.  I've put her to bed many times without dinner and she hasn't died yet from starvation, so I guess I'll keep at it.  She hasn't been allowed snacks anymore either (except at the designated times of 10am and 3:30pm).  Her behavior has improved and she's learning to go to  her room on her own when she's about to have a meltdown or doesn't like my answer to something she wants.  Ohhh, the joys of (almost) three year olds. 

In the month of June, we also visited Lilly's BFF, Elloree and they had the best time ever.  I literally had a smile plastered on my face the entire time because they played so hard together.

Emily is continuing to make great progress in her physical therapy, and really, every other aspect of life.   She definitely doesn't like it when she's given a challenge, but one day, she'll realize that challenges will be thrown her way on a daily basis and she must work to overcome them.  Her biggest accomplishment this week was ROLLING OVER from back to front.  When she got done and we all shouted and praised her, she gave us the biggest smile in return.  We did it over and over until she got, well, pissed!  We're also working on getting her to sit up and she's doing quite well.  She actually does better without the assistance of the Boppy because it allows her to scoot down and lay back for a little R&R.  Our therapist also said not to allow too much time in the Bumbo because it doesn't really promote good posture.  It allows her to slump down.  We still use it and she actually has gotten much better in just the past week about not slumping forward.  She's really using her core to attempt to sit up.

In the past few weeks, Emily has seen the ENT for her ears and as expected, she has fluid in her ears.  She also did not do well on her hearing test, so we will go back in 6 weeks for a reevaluation and determine if she needs tubes.  We also went to the eye doctor and she checked out perfectly for her vision.  She does have clogged tear ducts which makes her eyes constantly water.  Sometimes, if she gets really, really mad she cries tears of blood, literally.  It's all part of those clogged ducts.  We also go back there in 2 months to see if they are any better.  If not, she will have to have surgery on them to repair the ducts.  This is all very common for those with DS.  Emily also got her 6 month shots  and DID NOT like those.  She cried as soon as she saw the nurse tear open the rubbing alcohol.  It was only temporary and she cried so hard she knocked herself out in a matter of minutes.  The best part of this visit was that she has indeed gotten bigger, which was already evident from her growing out of 3 month clothing.  She weighed in at a porky 13.6 pounds!  She's actually in the 25% percentile for her weight (on the DS scale).  Yay! 

Speaking of Emily, we are ASTOUNDED at the amount of money raised already for the Buddy Walk!  I cannot believe how generous you all have been thus far.  Please don't forget to also walk with us.  We want everyone to actually come to the park and walk.  We have designed our t-shirts and I'll have them posted next month for you all to order if you're walking, or if you just simply want one.  This walk will be a family and friends event from now on since the proceeds go to help educate, advocate, and promote awareness of Down syndrome.

We are also working diligently of completing her Katie Beckett application and it's driving me crazy!  I cannot believe how much paperwork it entails.   They literally need every single financial statement and medical record in the history of Earth for her to be approved.  We have worked for several hours on a daily basis and as soon as we get our medical records, we can put it all together and submit it.  Hopefully, we will get accepted the first time and we won't have to resubmit.  By getting this, we will not have the enormous medical bills to pay anymore.  It really sucks because we have to fight so hard for something that Emily never had a choice about.  She was born with this disability and there was nothing we could have done to prevent it.  It just sucks that we have to go through all this.

Alrighty-for now, I'm signing off.  Time for dinner!  Until later...