Thanks to our parents

The past few weeks have been crazy amazing. I don't think we could have gotten thru without our parents. 

My parents watched Penny & Porter while we were at the hospital. They brought the proud big sister and big brother to the hospital as soon as Paxton was born so Penny could announce his arrival. They played Legos, sang Elmo's song, cooked pancakes, colored and gave the older two the attention they needed the day their brother came home. 

They also helped us get through RCs last week of swim season. Nana took Penny to cheer camp. 

Things we couldn't have done without help.

Grammy & Pa swooped in just in time to help me survive the final swim meet of the season. They took the kids outside and played them hard! 

I loved hearing Penny and Grammy play Legos. And hearing all about Grammys magic lotion that helped her boo boo feel better. Pa introduced the kids to Elvis and the Beetles. He took them out to play catch. These older kids have been showered with much needed attention and we are so thankful! 

The Story of One Hungry Boy

One upon a time, there was a very hungry boy. He wanted to eat all day and all night. 

The only thing that made him happy was a full belly. 

Because he was generally a sweet boy, his mommy complied. He rewarded her by holding her fingers while he ate. 

And then, he slept happily ever after, until it was time to eat again :) 

Paxton's Here!!!!

At 7:08pm on 7/16, we welcomed Paxton Earl to our family. He was 8 lbs 7 oz and 20.75 inches. 

Thanks to Nana and Papa, big sister and big brother met him soon after birth. 

Penny got to announce his arrival via video that we shared with family and friends. 

We are home, adjusting to life as a family  of five. Thanks to all for the well wishes!  

Gearing Up for Buddy Walk 2015!

As always, CHOP Buddy Walk 2015 will be held on the first Sunday in October at Villanova University Stadium. We hope you'll come out and join Porter's Peeps on October 4th as we spend our morning celebrating with our local Down syndrome community. 

Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from the CHOP ENT Nurse that Porter's thyroid bloodwork came back abnormal. His ear tubes are not functioning and he's scheduled for surgery on August 11th. He is showing hearing loss without the tubes and we'd really like him to hear well! I put a call & email into Dr. Pipan from the CHOP Trisomy 21 Program to determine the next course of action and she emailed me back at midnight...this woman loves our kids and will do anything for them. The breadth and depth of her knowledge and understanding of what it means to have Down syndrome continue to amaze me. We're so lucky to have this program so close to home. But, we have big dreams and hopes for the program. We'd love to see the program offer more for adolescents and adults. We'd love to fund additional clinical research. So, we're kicking off our fundraising efforts for this year's Buddy Walk. We're hoping to do a fundraiser with Kona Ice King of Prussia later this summer and another Dine & Donate at Brother Paul's. 

If you'd like to join our team or donate, you can do so through Porter's Page  My blueberry boy thanks everyone in advance for their continued support!

This girl...

This girl has big opinions these days. 

She knows change is coming. She's an amazing big sister, but the change is still hard for her.

She's into legos...the tiny ones that are hard for me to put together. She's let go of fear in the swimming pool and is becoming our little fishy. She's reading books to her brother at bed time. She's constantly  making us laugh. She had Porter's Physical Therapist in tears on Monday morning...she bounded into the room and announced to Miss Ellen that she had a wiggly tooth. Miss Ellen said that was just another exciting thing that was going to happen here and without skipping a beat Penny said, "Yeah! Maybe my wiggly tooth and the baby will fall out on the same day!"

She loves her new baby cousins. She wants to learn to ride her bike. She's having a blast on field trips at school. She proudly announces to everyone she meets that she's almost in kindergarten. She loves the playground and tends to make playground friends easily, which is so fun to see.

She's into dress up and dancing and constantly wants to put on shows for us. 

She craves independence in all areas- from wanting to pick her own meals to wanting to put on her own sunscreen. She's been a huge help at bedtime most nights while daddy is coaching and has been extra snugly lately. She's also had her fair share of meltdowns over silly things. And, she hates having her hair brushed. She's my girl...I love her imagination and the way she's exploring her world. I love her!

37 week ramblings

Thoughts at the 37 week mark...

My son uses the treadmill way more often than I do these days. We've added incline and are increasing speed a tiny bit each week. He makes me so proud. And, his sister is his biggest cheerleader. Sure, she gets to watch the iPad with him while he walks, which is a treat, but she also plays and dresses up, every once in awhile throwing out a "good job Porter" or "look at you go Bubs!" Makes this mamma smile. There are moments when I feel like all I do lately is reprimand, over correct and worry about how they'll want to run wild when the baby arrives...I question my own parenting abilities and wonder what I'm doing wrong- why don't they just listen? Luckily, those moments are followed by moments where they make up silly games together and laugh with each other and teach me that I should just give them space to

figure it out. 

Foam bath soap has been my saviing grace lately. With daddy at swim practice or meets each week night, bath time cam be tough. But again, I'm learning that if I make it fun and stress less, then everyone is happier. So we blow bubbles and draw pictures in foam soap while they wash their stinky feet. 

Life will change for them very soon.  I'm equally excited and terrified. This pregnancy has been different, harder. I'm big. I'm out of shape. I'm tired and my back hurts. But I'm still in awe of the fact that we're being given another amazing gift of a baby. A wish I didn't believe would necessarily come true. I'm thankful for every part of this experience, especially the hard parts, because they make the good parts better. I'm hoping that I can quickly figure out schedule and balance, be less neurotic about baby rules and really let Penny and Porter love the baby on their terms...I know I've got a lot to learn over the next few weeks. I'm going to try to remind myself to be thankful and to make the time of change as fun as possible...I'll need reminding. In the midst of the tired, I need to do more tickling and less yelling. More guiding and less directing. More paying attention and less "in a minute"ing. I need to remember to build up all three of these little lives. I'm excited to see what they become.