Field Trip

Zach went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch with his class. They also have a small petting zoo and hay rides and all that good stuff.

After picking him up, I was asking him about his field trip. Here is how the conversation went....

Me: Zach, tell me about your field trip
Z: Mole's
Me: Huh?
Z: Mole's
Me: OH, you saw animals?
Zach nods yes, very excited that I figured out what he said
Me: What kind of animals did you see?
Z: SHEEP!
Me: Oh ya? Was there any cows there?
Z: Ya! MOOOOOOOOOOO
Me: Did Jen ride on the bus with you? Zach nods yes Who else rode on the bus with you?
Z: KAY!
Me: Did you have fun? Do you want to go back there again some time?
Z: Yes! With baby. Mom, stay home, me and baby go
Me: I can't go?
Z: No
Me: How are you going to get there?
Z: PAM!!!!!!!

I guess I have been outranked by his favorite bus driver Pam. At least he wants Hannah to go with him.

Creepy Encounters...

We live in a fairly small community. We see a lot of the same people around town. Sometimes it is nice, other times, not so much. There is this lady. We see her at Farmers Market, and most recently Target. The first time we saw her was probably close to 2 years ago.

Every time we see her, she asks if Zach likes horses. Then she asks "Does he have Down syndrome? I can tell because I am a doctor. He would love my horses." Then she will talk to him and ask if he likes horses. She says that she has 7 or 8 Clydesdale horses and that he would just love them. She always says over and over that she is a doctor. She always swoons over Zach, yet never remembers us or his name, even though she always asks his name.

The first time we met her, we actually were kicking ourselves for not getting her card, and that horse therapy might be a good thing. But every time after that, she got creepier and creepier. The 2nd or 3rd time we saw her, she told us she wanted to open up a $100K trust fund for him and if I remember right, she said something about adopting him. One morning at Farmers they were also having a art/wine thing so we were wandering. She would not leave us alone. The kicker was... she asked me "Was he born with it?" (referring to Down syndrome)... I felt like saying "No, he caught it from another kid", I mean come on, if she was really a doctor, she would know what Down syndrome is and that of course he was born with it!

Anyway, today we run into her at Target. She saw my kids (but didnt really see Zach's face yet) and says "Do they like horses" and then she started talking to Zach. That is when she said "Does he have Down syndrome? I can tell because I am a doctor" ... then she starts asking him if he likes horses and home made chocolate chip cookies. He totally shut down and would not talk at her. Hardly made eye contact with her. Which is not at all like Zach.

Whenever we try to walk away from her, she will follow us and just keep going on and on.

Today it just really got to me. I am not the kind of person to just be rude to her, but I don't know how to get her to leave us alone. She really annoyed me today. On so many levels. I have never hid Zach or anything like that, but for her to make such a big deal about him having DS bugged me. Everyone in the aisle totally turned and looked at him.

If only I could be mean and just tell her to go away. The hard part is, I don't know that she would remember the next time we saw her.

Photo Shoot

This past weekend Hannah participated in a photo shoot. We had so much fun and I am glad we were able to be a part of it.

Lauren of Freeze Frame Studios was the photographer, so I knew I had to sign up. She does fabulous work and has done all of our family portraits since we met. Aside from being a great friend of ours, she is so easy to work with.

The photo shoot was for the products sold at Little Fortune Cookie. She sells beautiful handmade products that looked great on Hannah, if I say so myself.

Here are some of my favorites of Hannah.

Cousins!!

I adore this picture.

This is Zachary with his cousin Luke. Chris had taken them out to a bigger field at the birthday party, to kick the soccer ball around, and this was them walking back. They were actually quite a good distance from where I was taking the picture. I am so happy with how it came out and love that I captured this moment between them.

I wonder what they were talking about?

Here they are even further across the park walking back:

Wordless Wednesday

The Celebration

We celebrated Hannah's birthday with our family and friends. It was so great to see everyone and we had a wonderful day!!

Having fun coloring before everyone arrived:


"What? These crayons aren't for me to eat??"


"Ha Ha! I am SO eating these Mom!"


Slides are fun:


Presents!!


Cake Time


Zach and Hannah with their cousin Chelsea:


After a long day with no nap, Hannah finally fell asleep on her Auntie Dani.



I am hoping our guests got some better pictures than we did, so I may add more pictures later.

Happy Birthday Hannah Rose!!!!

It is hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since you came into our lives. You are an amazing little person. I don't remember what life was like before you made our family of three, a family of 4. You have an amazing spirit and you do everything whole heartedly.

I love you my little princess.

Rest In Peace Remi

July 1999 - September 10, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

First Soccer Practice!

Zach had his first soccer practice on Friday. It was pretty low key and was more signing up and getting things going, then actual practice. We found a really cool special needs soccer league. It was so cute to see Zach all dressed and kicking the ball around. Of course dad was right by his side showing him the ropes.



Here Dad, this is where you kick it: