Silliness

Without a doubt, one of Ellie's favorite activities right now is to have her picture taken...making a silly face. She loves it! She thinks of the funniest things to do and likes to get her sister involved. I can imagine this is only the beginning, as the girls keep getting more creative (well, Ellie, Nichole is not that creative at only 8 months old.)

Ellie loves Nichole's toys. Even more when you can play with them, bounce in them, and have your picture taken being silly.

No matter the day, no matter the time, it is always a perfect moment for...picture time!

"Mama, mama!" which is Ellie's choice of name for me now a days, "Look at Nichole with my glaces on! Take our picture!"

I am thankful she did not poke Nichole's eyes.

Nichole has a silliness of her own, not intentional, but she makes some pretty funny faces!


"Goodbye!!!!!"

She Can Sit!

Every parent knows how exciting it is when your baby starts reaching milestones. We smile, we clap, we say, "good job baby!" And we are so proud. We even hope that our child will rach those milestones earlier, somewhat, we take pride, maybe ownership, of their accomplishments. And maybe, it will be a building block for their future performance and ability in life. We want our children to be the best. Therefore, every little accomplishment is greatly celebrated.

I was that parent, beaming with pride as Ellie was able to do many things earlier than other babies. My super baby, sitting on her own at only five months old.

Well, today I can say, that the pride I felt for Ellie, had a lot to do with how it made me feel (yes, I know, selfishness...once again). Nichole has once again, taught me a precious lesson. She works so hard to reach those milestones, and finally, at eight months old, SHE CAN SIT! I am not only proud, I am amazed. Because the pride that I feel has nothing to do with me, and it is pure joy at the fact that my daughter has accomplished a milestone. This excitement is so much more than I thought was possible. My heart sings and cheers (as well as my mouth!) for my baby girl.

Some might say, what is the beauty of Down syndrome when Nichole's sitting was so delayed? The beauty is this...we have celebrated it, cheered it, applauded it, savored it, and tresure it like we never did before! And believe me, it is AWESOME!

Milestones are so much more...rich. So much more...MEANINFUL.

So today I get to brag about Nichole. I get to say, "Look at her!"

She loves to play sitting up. "No more laying down for me!"

"Just wait mom, soon I will be good at balance and I will get that camera from you!"

Flood

Who said life in Iowa is boring? Just the last couple of weeks we have had tornado watches, tornado warnings, and a tornado destroy the town of Parkersburg, IA. That same day, our family waited in the basement praying that the "toy-nado," "potatoe," or "tomatoe"--as Ellie calls it--would not come our way.

Along with the tornado, we have had flood warnings. AND THEY WERE NOT KIDDING! Our town is under water! We are thankful our house is not in the flood zone, and the amount of water we are getting in our basement is nothing compared to what some of our friends have experienced. One family from our church has lost their home, others are dealing with up to 3 feet of water in their basements.

I took the girls around town (as around as we could get) to take pictures. The Charles City hanging bridge is gone, and the other "car" bridges are closed.

Look at the boat...car.
Our main intersection in town (well, according to me).
The water was almost to the bridge.


This used to be a praking lot, and a street, and an appartment complex.
How would you like this to be your house?