Sweet Tweets from Reese!!!

My baby girl is going to be 1 year old on September 29, 2010! It's hard to believe that she has grown from this....




to this....in just one year!




She is so beautiful in so many ways. If you are able to be around her for a few minutes, all the cares and worries of the world melt away with just one smile from her. She is our angel and a blessing from God.



I had no idea just a little over a year ago that the Lord would choose me to be the mother to a 2nd child with special needs. We were just adjusting and getting use to learning all about Grace's needs and obstacles. I must say that when I found out that she may have Down Syndrome I thought "Why Me Lord?" And now I am still asking the same question but in a different way. "Why Lord have you chosen to bless me with such an amazing little human being? Why have you given me this easy, very happy, very healthy, bundle of joy?" I don't feel worthy of such a pure love. She is constant reminder that God is real and life is good. She is the perfect picture of unconditional love and compassion. I wish more people were born with an extra chromosome so that there weren't still the stereotypes out there associated with Down Syndrome. I wish there were more awareness and more education. I thank God everyday for the people in Reese's life. They love her and I believe are blessed by her.

Thanks to everyone who came out to her party! We had a great turn out. I think we counted about 57 people at one point! It will be a party I'm sure she will talk about for many years to come. It is already a memory engraved on my heart for the rest of time!

Potty Training Diaries....

We are now on day 15 of potty training Grace. I must say I didn't really know what to expect going into it. I had a lot of advice and suggestions from mom's who have been through the process successfully and for that I am very thankful.

Day 1

9:00 am- I hear "uh-oh" coming from Grace...guess telling her not to tee-tee on elmo didn't work. Guess we are going the bare butt route!

11:30 am- another "uh-oh" as she sits and watches sissy during her Physical therapy! That's pee #2 mommy has cleaned up....thinking potty training is for the birds by this point!

7:30 pm- Grace pees on potty for the first time!! We clap, jump up and down, she picks out as sticker to put on her elmo potty training chart, we dump, flush, wash our hands and Grace gets two M&M's. Then we call mom-mom and poppy to tell them the good news!!

Day 2

Almost exactly similar to Day #1. Guess she likes to wait till daddy gets home to use the potty!

Day 3

Vast difference from Day 1 & 2. Grace potties four times today on potty! The instant I knew she was getting it is when we were having our nightly snack and she says uh-oh mommy. I pick her up running her to the potty, thinking I'm leaving a trail behind me. Much to my surprise, Grace pee pee's on potty and we go back to the original scene and there is nothing..no puddle, no drops, nothing!! I see the light at the end of the tunnel!!

Day 4

Grace pee pees on the potty several times. Guess the stickers and M&M's are working

Day 5

No accidents and we have now made a game out of going potty. Her dolls have to go too!

Day 6

This is the first day we have to leave the house. We head over to Uncle Andy's and Aunt Bethany's so daddy can finish painting baby Adiya's room. We take the potty, the stickers and a sticker book, and can't forget the M&M's. We have now put on Pull-up's for the first time. She manages to keep it dry and even tells uncle Andy two times that she has to pee pee!! We are very very proud and glad to know we can leave the house with out messing up her schedule.

Day 7

We are on the last day of the first week of potty training so Grace decides to assure us that she is growing up and very ready to use the potty!! Today Grace pee pee'd and poo poo'd on the potty a the same time!!!!

Week 2

Some accidents but for the most part she does really well bare butt or with pull ups! When we put the panties on she must feel a false sense of security because she will pee on herself fast!!

We are now in week 3 and are very pleased with how quickly she has adjusted and grown. I am very happy as I am now down to two diapers a day for her. One for nap time and one for bed time. I have no idea how to break her of that habit when she is sleeping but I'm sure we will figure it out soon enough! Stay tuned for more entries from the potty training diaries!

Road Trip!!

I am super behind in my blogging these days but wanted to share about our road trip down south last month. We packed up the kids, two pack-n-plays, four suitcases, two bags of diapers & wipes, etc, etc. and drove south to Greenville, SC. We decided to break up our 12 hour trip to TN by stopping in SC to visit Chad, Chadd, and Sommer. This was officially our first real road trip as a family of four and had no idea what to expect. We left around 11:00 Sat. morning and got in around 6 pm. Not a bad trip at all! The kids slept, watched Elmo, and seemed almost as excited as mommy and daddy to be on vacation.

Our reunion with Chadd was an emotional one. We hadn't seen him in over three years so it was the first time he was meeting the girls! We had a good time in Greenville. Chadd and Chad met the girls for the first time and they fell in love!




We went to the most amazing park in downtown. I so wish we had a park like that here in VA Beach, because we would be there every day!










Our time was short but we enjoyed seeing them. Matt even got a free haircut out of it as Sommer is in hair school and needed a willing participant to volunteer. You did a great job Sommer! We love you guys and hope to see ya'll again soon!




Our next destination was Nashville, TN or as some like to call it Nashvegas!! Most of you know already that this is home of my alma mator, Trevecca Nazarene University. It had been over 3 years since we had been to TN and we were excited to see our friends. We stayed with Joy and Ethan in their beautiful new home. The only thing is they live about 20 miles outside of the city in a direction that I wasn't familiar with so we spent a good amount of time driving around lost! The GPS wasn't the best to rely on and by the end of the trip I was ready to throw it out the window! :) Gotta love modern technology!

We went to visit Kristen, Brant, Rylee, and Jackson.....



Trying to kiss the boys already....oh man!




We went to the park.....





We went to the zoo....






We played dress up......








and we all got sick.....that's right...we caught a stomach bug and on our way home Grace and Mommy were making daddy pull over every 30 minutes. Needless to say, we were happy to be headed home and glad we didn't get sick till the end but I will say that a sick toddler and mommy makes for a very LONG trip home!! By the next week I believe our friends we stayed with all caught it as well as Matt and my mom (she had to come over and take care of the baby because I was out of commission for at least 24 hours! However, at a recent Pediatrician visit our Dr told us it has been going around here as well!

Thankfully we made it home safely and it was a great 1st McClain southern Road Trip! We had so much fun and really had some quality time together and with friends!

The Big Move!!!

My parents are officially residents of VA Beach! We are exhausted but excited to have the entire family here! It's funny how life turns out sometimes. I NEVER thought we would end up all living here but it's good to have everyone within a 20 mile radius!

Currently their stuff is in storage and they are staying with Beth and Andy but we are hoping to find them a house in the next few weeks to a month. So we will be moving them again soon! hahahahaha!

This is mom's first day taking over care of the girls and so far so good! I'm so happy they are going to have a daily relationship!

Sitting on top of the world....

........is what my Reesie cup is doing. She is so proud of herself! Erin, her Physical Therapist (also Gracie's therapist) said on Monday during her session that she was really showing off and sitting up very well. She said she gives it one to two weeks until she is pretty steady. I believe her too because she has called it almost to the day with all of Grace's big milestones (pulling up, moving to sit, crawling, and walking)! We are sooo excited because we know what a new and wonderful world this will open up for Reese! That and her Gastrologist thinks her reflux will finally improve! (I go through a lot of laundry for her & I)!

So here's to my big girl who amazes me every day! You are my inspiration and my hero!!

Rock-n-Roll!

Reese is now 9 1/2 months old. She is growing and doing new fun things everyday! Here is a little peak at what her favorite past time has been these past few weeks! Is it possible she may be crawling before sitting up? We shall see......

Happy 234th Birthday America!!

We are having a wonderful 4th of July weekend. My husband actually took Friday and Monday off. We have been to the pool and the beach all weekend! Here are some pics of our weekend. Hope you and your family had a great day celebrating our country's 234th birthday!

Daddy and his girls! One of my favorites!



Grandma and Reese keeping cool in the shade



Mommy and her big girl!



Aunt Jenn and Reese...finally got her hair in a bow!



My girls and their first 4th of July together!!