Holy Double Digits, Batman!

Today is a very special day! It's not just the day after Halloween. It's not just the beginning of November. It's not just All Saints Day. It's not even just Gabi's birthday.

It's Gabi's 10th birthday!!!

She's entered the double digits! There is no turning back, but we can reminisce to those earlier days.

Happy Birthday to Mommy's precious girl!



Gabi sang Happy Birthday to herself this morning only she was still calling herself Stephanie (from Lazy Town) because that's what she was for Halloween:



We're headed to Build-a-Bear today to celebrate!

And how about a little bit of yesterday's fun:

Gabi and Preston dressed as Stephanie and Sportacus from Lazy Town!

Thank you Ms. Elise for making Gabi's Stephanie dress! If it wasn't for you, she couldn't have been Stephanie since the costumes didn't come in her size. And you made it PERFECT!



Trick or Treating was a bit chilly so we had to wear jackets.


Preston was thrilled with the Halloween decorations with motion sensors in this lady's yard.

2009 Capabilities Walk & Talent Show (formerly called the Buddy Walk) benefiting Down syndrome

We had fun at our walk this year. Thanks to all who were able to contribute and/or come out to help raise awareness for Down syndrome. Here are some pics and video from our day.

As soon as Flash The Firedog walked up, Gabi immediately said, "Hi Anthony!" Yep! Her brother Anthony was inside, but not sure how she knew it unless she used the process of elimination.

Gabi was thrilled to see Shrek & Fiona!

Posing with Buddy the dog and Elmo
(who was working with American Red Cross at this event.)

Uh oh! DOG FIGHT!!!

Christopher and Ryan waiting to help teach families about fire safety!

Preston loved seeing "Spiner-nan" (Spiderman)
and even showed him his "Spiner-nan" shoes!

Starting out the door for the walk. Cool temps and light sprinkle at this point.

During the walk: Ms. Elise (Gabi's teacher) and Gabi in front, our niece, Jordan and her boyfriend in the back left side and Kami (Christopher and Anthony's mom) to the back left. We turned back right after this as it began to rain a little harder. No use risking illness.

This was taken just before the kids from the Speech/Music
Therapy class began their performance for the talent show.


Videos of both performances:



This video below cracked me up! I had trouble keeping
the camera still because I was laughing so hard:



Posing with Mark after his Elvis performance.

Gabi getting her participation award for the talent show.

And receiving her participation medallion also.

Showing off her goodies at the end of the festivities.

Does MENSA Need a New Member?

I am finding it harder and harder to get anytime at all on the computer lately. Preston has become a computer junkie and a computer whiz, but we will get to that in a second. If it weren't for being able to get on Facebook and Twitter via my iPhone, I'd have no updates at all. I just wish Blogger would come up with an app that would be easy enough to post to this blog via iPhone. So, if your looking for more frequent updates, you'll have to add me on Facebook or Twitter.

This Saturday is our local walk to benefit Down syndrome. And like a true procrastinator, I just completed Gabi's poster that will be displayed at the walk:

click image to enlarge

When the walk is over, I will display it on Gabi's closet door. She loves to look at pictures. So this should keep her entertained for quite a while. Check out our fundraising page if you are interested in donating to our local Down syndrome association.

Now back to the computer whiz... Today, Preston wanted to go on YouTube to watch Lazytown videos, only he changed his mind as soon as I got onto the site. He decided he wanted to watch, "Preston." Naturally, I thought maybe he was talking about the videos of him and Gabi in the pool this summer. So, I logged into my YouTube account and discovered that a certain 2 yr old has not only been creating videos on YouTube, but publishing them as well under my account. No one has showed him how to do this. He just figured it out on his own. There were like 10 different videos on there that Preston did. So, of course, I posted some here for you to see just what he does.




Preston shows off his dance moves while Gabi
waves a Wii-mote cover in front of the camera.

So who has the number to MENSA?

Gabi Goes Bowling!

I got an email this week informing me that our local Down syndrome association was going to start a bowling league. Usually we aren't able to go to a lot of the events because of me working nights every weekend. This time was different. It was going to be held on a Sunday! While the time meant I would only get 2 hours of sleep, it was worth it to see Gabi's excitement as she bowled!

Look at the nervous fingers behind her back.


She becomes airborne celebrating knocking down some pins!


She was great a rooting on the whole team!


My favorite part of the day was when Gabi said to me,
"Mommy, that says, 'Way to go!'" She actually read the board!!!


While Gabi never got a strike at least she got a spare!


Look at that bowler's form!


And look who won Game 3!!!

Special Exposure Wednesday ~ Terrible Twos

Preston has a very serious case of the terrible twos! This kid is NONSTOP!! Yikes! I know it's a cliche' but I really, REALLY wish I could bottle his energy! Of course, last week, he did cause a plumbing mishap (which is totally worth reading... it's short and funny at our expense!) Real quick, I'll give you the update regarding that. Daddy removed the toilet gagging and puking the whole time with Preston standing in the doorway saying "Daddy wud you dewwing?" Then, Anthony, comes around the corner asking, "Dad, what are you doing?" To which Preston decided to answer for him by saying, "He doing (insert wretching sounds)!" It was hilarious! But a moment later, I heard Preston exclaim, "Daddy! You founda da phone!"

Okay so back to today! Preston's halloween costume came in a couple weeks back and I tried it on him today. Preston immediately transformed into Sportacus in looks, but less in acrobatic skills although he did try:



Of course, it was bound to happen and little Sportacus eventually fell flat on his face and bloodied his little nose:



But that still didn't stop him. After a good cry and a wiping of his nose he was back to his acrobatic stunts. Only a couple hours later, now out of costume, Preston tried his hand at artistry while Mommy went potty:



Did I mention there is a toddler for sale real cheap?