The Phamily Blog

Yeah yeah yeah...so I was supposed to upload these on his actual birthday but we were having way too much fun that day and then my camera battery died so I just now got around to it-oops!
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Cameron had school on his actual birthday so we showed up armed with goodies- "Vanilla cupcakes with m&m's on top," as requested by Cameron. Later that day, Gabby and I went to pick up our big five year old and found him captivated by "Pinkalicious" at story time.
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Once we got in the car I told him we had a surprise...we were going to pick up daddy for lunch at Cheesecake Factory! He thought that was pretty exciting but what he didn't know was that after lunch, we were taking him to Build-a-Bear.
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sidenote: Cameron loves any and all stuffed animals and carrys them around the house and anywhere we go, constantly. I knew he would love build-a-bear...and he did!
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I hate winter you guys...seriously, I hate it! Once Christmas is over with, I'm like "bring on July!" So for the past couple of days the sun has been shining and the sky has been so blue. I'm loving it and so are the kids! We picked up Cam from school today and decided a trip to the park was in order. There was a new park near our house I had my eye on so we decided to check it out. I am so glad we did because it is super fun and in the summer time, aka "my favorite time of year," they have fountains spouting off everywhere so the kids can cool off. I cannot WAIT for that!
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Gabby took her first swing ride (I think it was her first?) and she decided swings are pretty awesome in small doses. After about a minute she was signing "all done" but it didn't stop her from wanting to take another five rides later on after she explored a bit...

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Cameron was all over the place. He gets a bit nervous in big parks like this, especially when there are other kids around. When we were getting out of the car to go play he said to me, "but there are kids here." I reassured him that no one was going to push him or boss him around (which is what he was most worried about...my timid guy) :(
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He got pretty comfortable with the place after a few minutes and was running around like a mad man!
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I set Gabby down to see where she would take off to first. She just kinda sat around smiling. She was just happy to be outside!
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The very first mother of a child with Down syndrome I ever met was Jennifer Sanchez (Joaquin's mom.) I am forever grateful for having met her and her wonderful family. She has been a tremendous support system for me and has proven to be a wealth of knowledge and information. Last week Jenn informed our "sisterhood," as we like to call it, that she and her husband had made the decision to adopt sweet Sofia from an orphanage in Eastern Europe! I cannot express how happy my heart is for her, for her husband, and for the three sweet boys Sofia will soon be able to call her brothers.

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Sofia is one year old and needs to get home to her forever family SOON so she can get started with early intervention and be guaranteed the best life possible! Because of this, we are needing to fund raise our little hearts out to help cover adoption costs that will likely add up to $25,000. In honor of Sofia, the sisterhood is planning a crab feed and silent auction on March 19th. Please save this date and help be a part of something amazing (and get your grub on too!) You can follow Sofia's adoption journey here: http://savingsofia.blogspot.com/

Spread the word! $25,000 is a lot of money but we know we can do this! Gabby can't wait for her new friend to arrive...the SOONER the better!

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In the meantime, if you have ANYTHING you can donate, either monetary or something for the silent auction, we would love to hear your ideas and would appreciate anything you could spare! And don't forget- anything you donate is a tax write-off... WOOT!

Email me: shereerenee@msn.com