It's Beginning to Look a lot Like...

I hate being stressed over the holidays so this year I have set-up a holiday timeline. I wanted to have the house decorated by the end of Thanksgiving break. Check! I also want to have my shopping done by December 1st...hmmm..I am close but may not make that deadline. I will keep you posted.

AnnaKate's cute little tree in her room!
















AnnaKate investigating the tree. Also the first night for holiday pajamas.

















Our tree. I absolutely love decorating the tree. The more ornaments the better.
(What do you think about the half dying plant in the background?)
























The most exciting part!! I have been working on AnnaKate's stocking for quite a while. I wanted to make her one like mine. I am so happy about how it turned out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel so thankful today.

Thankful for a wonderful husband who loves me.
Thankful for a family that I love and love being with (in-laws and all!).
Thankful for a career that I truly love.
Thankful for a daughter that is very special.
Thankful for good friends who love me no matter what.
Thankful for my health.

I wish you a very special Thanksgiving!

*I know lots of children make this precious turkey art at some point in their life. It makes me so happy every time I look at it. Don't you think RTS thumbs make the cutest turkey?! :)

Small Steps

Lots of things going on in our house! Getting ready for the holidays and trying to meet my goal of having all of my shopping done by December 1st. AnnaKate is doing new things everyday. It is really exciting.

I got a long awaited email from AnnaKate's physical therapist yesterday. She said that AnnaKate was ready for walking shoes. Yippee!! Literally, I was at the Stride Rite store in less than 30 minutes. AnnaKate has taken a few steps with her therapist and is walking great with one hand held so some sturdy shoes were definitely in order. I am so excited for AnnaKate's small steps! I also had a milestone of sorts at the shoe store. The sweet sales clerk asked if AnnaKate was about 1. I have blogged about how to answer this question. You want to be honest but sometimes it opens up a whole can of worms that you may not want to discuss with strangers. Anyway, I kindly told the sales clerk that AnnaKate was actually 2 and a half and we were really excited to be buying walking shoes. She kindly smiled and praised AnnaKate for such great progress. I have become so much more confident and adept at answering these types of questions. So I am also making progress! :)

By the way, aren't the walking shoes so cute!

My Journey

When I started this blog I said that I really did not know what type of blog it would be. A sharing blog, an inspirational blog or a combination. Mostly I share about AnnaKate and our daily life. Cindy's post reminded me that I need to share about my journey being AnnaKate's mom.

I am relatively new at blogging. This blog started in April of 2008. I read blogs and thought about starting a blog but I was not ready. I knew AnnaKate had RTS and I knew the ramifications that went along with it but I was not ready to share my feelings. The first year of AnnaKate's life I think I pretended that her RTS was not as "bad" as others. AnnaKate was different. I did not want to seek out information because it would not apply to AnnaKate. I told our geneticist that I was only on a "need to know" basis with information regarding RTS. I think he thought I was in denial, I really wasn't but I just could not handle hearing all of the information. I knew myself well enough that I needed to take it slow. I could only take baby steps. After AnnaKate turned one it was really obvious how developmentally delayed she was. That year I slowly investigated RTS and wrapped my brain around the big picture. Right after AnnaKate turned 2 her speech therapist emailed me a link to a blog that she had found of a little boy with RTS. I will never forget what it felt like to read Jessica's writing on her blog. Her written words were my thoughts. I just sat and cried. I could not believe how connected I felt to her when I read her words. I emailed her immediately and the journey to acceptance had begun. I knew I could not face RTS until I was ready. Once I began blogging and getting to know our RTS sweeties and their families I could not believe how my fears subsided. Knowing that there are others that are on the same journey with you makes you feel so safe. Each day with AnnaKate is such a pleasure. I am so glad I have you to share it with!

Cutie Patootie!

What a cutie pie! I was able to steal some time this weekend and sew this cute little top for AnnaKate. I love the fabric...it is even reversible! Thanks to Melody for the inspiration. I just wish I had more time to do more fun things like this...don't we all! :)

Wordless Wednesday