Megan's got 47

Christmas flies by so fast sometimes you forget why you celebrate to begin with.. I am Catholic, I have faith, but this year it was very hard for me to be in church. 1.) The girls were TERRIBLE....they won't sit still, they yell, they talk really loud and they want to eat and get crumbs all over the pews 2.) I feel guilty spending so much money on presents for the kids and then in turn only donate a small amount of money to the church 3.) My church is just so BLAH! They don't make you feel welcome, they stare at you if your kids are acting up and they do the same old Christmas Mass every year. I leave church still questioning if the kids get it....when they leave do they say "Happy Birthday Jesus" or "Man I want to open up presents"....I am so guilty with making my kids say the latter. I wish I was better at explaining and not getting so worked up myself.....but....

I actually never was able to get Joey the Wii, I so expected the worst of him. crying, complaining, not being happy with what he got....I was so wrong, he was the most proud of Jesus this year. He never once asked about the Wii and he was very grateful for what he got. He as usual checked the nativity scene first and said, "He's here mom, he's been born...can we open presents now"....We never put out the baby Jesus until Christmas mornning when we are sneaking out the presents and we always taught him to look for Jesus, and it never fails, he always wakes up remembering why we are here and why we celebrate....So enough of being sad and resentful of the church...I am goiing to be happy because my Joey is happy! And also be happy for the life of Jesus.

Merry Christmas EVERYONE and a HAPPY,HEALTHY,PROSPEROUS 2007!!!!

So tomorrow we go to our Evaluation for the IU! Seems to be a scary word for some. I have bittersweet feelings for the transition. I am excited for Megan to grow into a "BIG" girl but also sad to see her growing up so fast.
The other day we were at the hospital for an ENT appointment and Megan walked around the waiting room with a baggie full of fishies and pretzels and waved and said HI to all the passing kids. She climbed up onto one of the waiting room sofas and made herself comfortable. I asked her if she would share with her sister cause Livi wanted some too and so Megan climbed down, walked over to us, grabed a hand-full of snacks and put them on Livi's tray, turned around, walked back to the couch, saying HI to everyone again and climbing back up to eat some more (see, she can't say a ton, but she understands EVERY WORD ).
I watched her in amazement... for to me, that was my 1st glimpse at her independence. She was a "BIG" girl! I guess I just didn't notice when it happened. sniff sniff

Tonight...tonight was amazing... we had "Community Pride Day." WE were there in town all day, going on the moon bounce, running up and down hills, eatting funnel cake and watching the "Battle of the Bands"...well, this band called Disciples of Rock or something like that went up to play there music. Not too many were even paying attention to them playing...the crowd was sparce. Well, my Megan walked right up to the stage, plopped herself down and danced the night away. At the end of the bands set, they asked me her name and dedicated the last song to their number 1 fan. It was so cute. Megan's face did the OH when she heard her name. IT was so cool!!!!
There was also a group of teenagers near by...well MEgan walked over to one of them and she was very stand-offish...kind of grabbed her purse and flinched from her....well Megan kept going and Joe followed her. I sat and listened to the group of kids (like 4 or 5 boys and girls) say did you see that little girl (I thought by the reaction that they were gonna say something mean) she is soooo beautiful and cute....and one of the boys even agreed. I noticed the stand-offish girl relax a little and say yeah, she was a cutie....It melted my heart into a million tiny pieces!!!!

Well, I babbled alot here, I guess I just have a lot on my mind and wanted to share with you all! I will post once the meeting is over and I have the "official" suggestion on her placement. She will start the day after her birthday. So the time is coming close!

So we are home! It went better than hoped. Megan talked ALOT...of course! She doesn't always use her words but for some reason she gets a kick out of showing off for new people. So they were thrilled with her speech and signing. She also showed off that she knew her colors....she was able to put the button over top the appropriate colors.

As for OT and fine motor, they saw a good delay which is nice since she has only started OT in January and they will make sure she definetly gets that.

They got to see her pretend play skills as she poured them all tea and took care of the baby they gave her.

Hopefully she didn't do so well that she doesn't get enough services.
We are hoping that they place her in at least 3 --1/2 days a week.
She will start in which ever program they choose and I agree of course on Nov. 9th....not too far away.

Our IEP meeting will be on October 16.

So yesterday my son Joey got to meet the METS!  They gave him instruction on the field and then invited us to stay for the game.

It was such an awesome expereince and if nothing else, we got to see a lot of NYC.  We drove through Manhatten, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island and it was much nicer than I ever thought and not too far to drive...about an hour and 20 minutes.  I saw the statue of liberty for the 1st time too...pretty sad huh!

Well, here is a pic of Joey:

So today is just a lazy Saturday!!!!  I cannot seem to get my endless loads of laundry done and put away!  Anyone else have this problem?  I know Renee doesn't ;)  I just seem to spend way too much time online.

Well, our book is going to be published soon.

It is called Gifts....here is the link.

I will also share the link of how to buy once it is complete!

Thank you Kathryn for making this all possible.  You are fabulous!

For some reason I thought about this angel all day.  Her family are in my prayers as this is probably a truely emotional day for them.

I never go to the spa.  Last time I went it was 5 years ago.  So I went with my girlfriend Jen today....we had a blast chatting and relaxing.  But when I was laying on the table I just had this overwhelming sense that Kylee was watching over all of us and protecting us.  It is so hard to explain but I had to hold back the tears. 

Melissa, you are a strong woman.  I think Kylee was so lucky to have you for those 5 months.  May she watch her family from heaven as you continue down the road to the day you meet again.

God Bless!  She was truly loved by all her friends at Downsyn.

Here is Kylee's memorial page created by Renee Garcia

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/kyleerose/

So I guess I should write something here!

I have been married to Joe for 5 years and we have been together for 12.  We met in HS and went to PSU together.

We have 3 kids, Joey age 9, Megan almost 3 and Olivia 1.  I just recently decided to stay home with the kids after 5 years of working in the financial industry. 

I am so glad that I did cause I am enjoying every moment of them!

My internet life consists of a 3 sites, Downsyn.com, ebay.com and now of course myspace.com!

About 3 years ago after my daughter Megan was born I joined an online support group and have met my best friends!  It is an amazing place that brings families with similar situations together!  I would be lost w/o them! 

My girls are CRAZY today!  They have been eatting like banchees...LOL
But they are soooo cute!
I just love the way they interact and play together.
Their new thing is Ring-Around-The-Rosey and chasing each other while giggling.
I will have to figure out the Video so that I  can upload one to myspace.

Megan had PT this morning and is doing really well, she has been doing her squatting more frequently and she is starting to get  better control of her balance and directional movements!!!! 

On a side not, I searched and found a bunch of people from HS.  This place is so cool!!!!  I really look forward to hearing from Dutka and Shannon and the others I tried adding to myspace!  My DH and I have not heard from Dutka since our wedding, so we will be thrilled to hear from him!!!!

Tis the season...right? I should be all happy and excited since it is the season to be jolly. But for some reason I cannot get myself into the spirit. I listen to my Harry Connick, Jr. CD in the car all the time and he is usually all it takes to be Merry and Bright! I think it is the stress of buying presents that is taking away from the spirit of the season. It stinks when you have to hunt for things. Why do I do it to myself every year! Why don't I just do my shopping in the summer and be done with it! I think next year I will just have to start earlier.

Also, Joey is questioning "Santa". I was in 5th grade when I stopped believing so I think I am just sad about that too. I want him to stay little forever, I want him to remain innocent. He said the other day..."Mom, is Santa real" and I said, "Of course he is, why do you ask" and he said that all the kids on the bus were saying there is no such thing and he isn't sure how Santa could bring him so many presents. And I always tell him, I don't have enough money to give you all the presents that you want, so if you stopped believing in Santa then he wouldn't help me out getting presents....UGH! I hate lying.

Well, I guess, I will go now since I need to go get a Nintendo Wii....