Hello Janie!

Janie loves talking on the phone.  Anything that resembles a phone (including remote controls) will go to her ear to mimic talking on the phone.  When Janie is asked to say hello, in the absence of a phone, she quickly places her hand on her ear to say hello.  Upon realizing that Jennifer is on the phone, she assumes daddy is on the other end of the phone and starts saying "daa-dee, daa-dee, daa-dee" in a low, husky voice.

While shopping with Jacob and Jensen, I had to call home to Jennifer to ask her a question.  I was surprised when the first sounds I heard on the other end of the phone were Janie's babbles.  Naturally, I assumed that Jennifer had answered the phone and immediately put the phone on JG's ear, so I talked to Janie and then waited...and waited for Jennifer to take back the phone.  It got to the point where I was getting frustrated (wanting to get my question answered so we could finish shopping) while Jacob and Jensen found Janie's sounds more and more amusing (by then I had turned on the speaker phone).

In the end, Jennifer hadn't answered the phone at all...Janie had.  One of the phones was right near where Janie was playing while Jennifer was in the bathroom.  Janie grabbed the phone, happened to press the correct button and proceeded to talk to the three of us at the store.  Of course, Janie didn't turn the phone off and Jennifer had no idea she was on phone.  Therefore, I was getting nothing but busy signals during my attempts to call Jennifer back.  Finally, I had to call Jennifer's cell phone over and over again until she finally answered it!  We all got a good laugh.  Hopefully, Janie doesn't have a future in telemarketing!

Fun in the Rain

Jensen doesn't usually need rain for an excuse to wear her rain boots, but her excitement level is always elevated by the chance to play in the rain.

Jacob didn't let a little drizzle slow down an afternoon football game against himself.

Janie Found a Friend

She loves that mirror!

Flag Football Begins

Jacob had his first football game last Saturday.  Jennifer caught some snapshots of the action.

Jacob lines up at QB

Back to pass (apparently, he's been watching too much Jay Cutler...throwing off of his back foot!)

I love this picture because it captures Jacob in the midst of a moment that regularly occurs while he participates in an activity.  There are times he forgets he's a part of the action and becomes part spectator/part cheerleader and jumps in place calling out encouragement/instruction.  We'll always remember these moments from his first days in organized sports.  In this case, I vividly remember loudly reminding him, "Jacob, you're the blitzer!"

 Anticipating the play call

Helping a teammate get into place.

Fun on the Lake

We had some end-of-summer fun on a lake near Greensboro with friends Brian, Krista, Cole & Julia.  It was a beautiful September afternoon.

Jennifer dominated getting up on single ski like an old pro. 

JG watching football with Jacob

I suppose that since Janie couldn't get Jacob to play with her while he was watching football...she decided to join him.

Cowgirls

Jensen had fun at Landry's "cowgirl" party.

Baby Cabinet

We had these cabinets and shelves built a couple years ago to store toys, games, books...and Janie!

A Visit from Great Grandparents

G&G Huitsing came to Greensboro from Tucson for a visit over the weekend.  We had a great time spending time together.  G&G got to meet Janie Grace face-to-face for the first time.

Buddy Walk Details

Friends & Family:

We want to invite you all to the annual Down Syndrome Buddy Walk to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month and those who have Down Syndrome, like our sweet Janie Grace. :)  First, let us say, we do not want anyone to feel pressure to participate in the walk or to donate, but we will pass along the following information in case you desire to attend or give. Our family will be making this an annual tradition so that we can celebrate Janie Grace's life and others who have Down Syndrome, and also because it is just so much fun. :) There are games and crafts and free food and activities and raffles and a super cool park and fun people all around! It is truly a super great time.  Our kids have been looking forward to it since last October.

The activities start at 11:00.  The walk is at 1:00 and it is 1 mile in length.  All activites end at 3:00.  It is located at Triad Park in Colfax, NC, Shelter #6.  Our family will arrive around 11:00 to enjoy the festivities, people, and food :). We would love for you to join Team Janie Grace!

High Fives!!! You are also invited to give Janie Grace High Five(s) ($5 donations)! If you want to donate in honor of Janie Grace, you will need to click on one of the bubbles at the bottom of the webpage's home page http://www.buddywalkgreensboro.org/ and follow the directions from there. You can search for Janie Grace by name or by Team Name - Team Janie Grace, then click on Team Janie Grace, click Please visit Team Janie Grace's pledge page, then click Donate Now, and fill in the necessary info. on screen.  You can pay through PayPal or do as I did by using my credit card and using PayPal as a guest since I don't have a Paypal account.

Janie Grace is on the Buddy Walk brochure and on the top of the Buddy Walk website with two other sweet kiddos - Jack and Macon Mae - because of your donations last year. Thank you!  If you plan to join this celebration and walk with us, click Registration along the left hand side.  Read the important info. on that page and then click Proceed to Join a Team - Team Janie Grace, click adult/child, Join a Team, Select Team Janie Grace, fill in information, and proceed to checkout paying through PayPal or as a guest of PayPal as I did.  Your user name and password can be whatever you would like it to be.  I think it is best for your Personal Web Link to simply be your name.  Each person who registers gets a Buddy Walk t-shirt.  Register by SEPTEMBER 25th to guarantee your shirt size.  We realize that the registration price is not cheap, so please do not feel under any obligation to register to walk.

You may also send checks for donations by mail.  Please contact us for that information on where best to send those checks (or you can give them to us and we can pass them along).  Checks should be made out to the Down Syndrome Network of Greater Greensboro with Janie Grace's name on the memo line. 

We are so thankful for each of you and we feel so blessed to have (had) you by our side (whether near or far away) as we have traveled this new road of a having a child with Down Syndrome.  God is good and has taught us so much through these last couple of years.  Some things haven't been and aren't easy, I won't lie :), but Janie Grace is a joy and a blessing to our family.

Go Team Janie Grace!

Cousin #8

Jason's sister gave birth to our kids' 8th cousin on Tuesday evening.  Jessie and Aaron were pleased to introduce Regan Rosalee to us by picture.  Jennifer and I agreed that this is one of the better moments-after-birth pictures we'd ever seen.  Welcome to the family Regan!

Hi Ben, Hi Jerry!

The Toddler in the Mirror



Janie, don't be getting any ideas!

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

We celebrated Jennifer's birthday in a few ways over the weekend.  First, we joined some friends on a local lake Friday evening.  Turned out to be a magnificent end-of-summer night.  Jennifer memorialized turning 34 by proving her prowess on a water ski yet again.  After sand-bagging for a few minutes, she managed to get up on a single ski like an old pro.  At some point, you should ask her about the sweet picture that was captured of her as she danced around the wake.

Saturday marked the final day at the pool for Summer 2012.  Jennifer dropped the curtain on the season by flipping off the low-dive and doing her best cheerleader impression on the high dive (over and over again!).

Sunday was full of family time both at home and church.  After the kindergarten class sang happy birthday to her, we made our way to a local restaurant Jennifer had selected.  (I'm sure we'll be heading back before #35!).  After a game of Rack-O and the presentation of gifts and cards, we dug into a homemade pie Jennifer requested using apples she and the kids had picked a couple weeks back.

It seems she had a fun weekend celebrating her "Walter Payton" birthday.  (Janie Grace didn't have much of a nap on Sunday so she was counting sheep by the time we got to the apple pie on Sunday evening.)

Jensen shouting the happy birthday song...



BuddyWalk

Thanks to the efforts of Janie's friends and family last year, there's a familiar face on the top of this year's website for the event.  Check it out...

http://www.buddywalkgreensboro.org/

Jensen's PJs

Jensen had us smiling last night after coming out to say goodnight wearing this ensemble (shorts on top of pants and a wide variety of colors).  When she was younger, Jensen called them her "p-ways". 

Football is Back!

Sunday afternoons have returned to equilibrium!

Adios MJ Poster

My brother Jeff and I have had this poster since we were about Jacob's age.  Well, it fell off of the garage wall for the last time and is headed to the poster board graveyard.  I cannot tell you how many nights I fell asleep with my final thought tied to dunking a basketball like MJ.  Remarkably, the poster was still in pretty good condition.

Gymnastics with Friends

A thrill for Jensen each week is going to gymnastics again now that school has started back up.  An added bonus is that several of her close friends are in the same class.

Janie and Charlotte

Janie and Charlotte got to hang out while their siblings were all at school.  It's fun to see them interacting with each other.

Jensen's 1st day of Kindergarten

Jensen's education career kicked off this morning.  She hopped right out of the van and walked into her first day without looking back.  We're all so excited for her!