Having a blast at meal time

Just a short video of Berkeley...always making us smile!

One of My Favorite Pictures

Nothing new has happened, really...but this is just one of my favorite pictures of Berkeley, so I thought I would post it. She is a constant smile-maker at our house. She smiles, and we do, too.
For those of you who have wondered, Berkeley is still working on trying to crawl. She learned how to sit up, and was having so much fun with that for a few weeks, that she stopped working on getting onto hands and knees. We have to discourage her from getting up into that sitting position, and keep her on her belly so she will try to crawl.
She has, however, made some great strides in playing the piano. She bangs out a very beautiful little tune (at least it's beautiful to us!).
Wondering what the possibilities are, I searched the internet to see about kids with Down Syndrome playing instruments. A site came up about a young man named Sujeet who plays 6 instruments. Here is a clip of him playing piano.
http://www.vimeo.com/1070140

Girls meet grandpa Kevin

Brighton and Berkeley enjoyed meeting "Grandpa Kevin" this week. Sean's dad came to visit from Phoenix, Arizona, for a few days. Unfortunately, Sean's grandma "Meme" (Kevin's mom) had to go to the hospital with pneumonia only minutes after he arrived. She is doing much better, but still in the hospital. Meanwhile, the girls are enjoying a little extra time with him.

Just HAD to put up these pictures. Hat: courtesy of Sandra Popham, Shirt: Courtesy of Tanya Henry

Half Birthday Party

December 19th, 2009, marked the halfway point between age 3 and age 4 for little miss Brighton. She is now officially three and a half. We had a special tea party to celebrate. We wore our finest hats (Brighton - Strawberry Shortcake, Mom - gray elephant)and had our finest drinks (cranberry juice with cream, and even some eggnog!). Brighton has been very sweet lately, possibly exiting the sassy stage that kicked in at the beginning of age 3. I know all you parents of teenagers are laughing at the thought of a child "exiting" the sassy stage...but a mom can dream, right?

Berkeley's First Pigtails!

Berkeley is growing up! This is a picture of her with her first pigtails! The back of her head still barely has hair, but the top has enough to squeeze it into pigtails.
This week I saw some definite use of sign language to tell me she wanted to eat, and that she wanted more. We are so proud of our sweet little girl.
Many people have asked about Berkeley's health. We are happy to say that she has been doing wonderfully! The cardiologist gave her a great report this month - he doesn't foresee any future problems or need for any more surgeries. Praise God for all the wonderful care she has received, and for keeping her healthy!
Thank you to everyone who keeps up with the blog. It means a lot to us to know that so many people care about our little gals.

Say it into the air!

Disturbed that she had forgotten her offering for church, Brighton was making plans for saving up her money to take to church next week. She was very adament about "giving her money to God."
I told her, "That's great! The bible says that God loves a cheerful giver!"
She said, "I love God!" I told her that He loves her, too. Then Brighton asked, "Can God hear the stuff we're saying?"
I said yes.
With that information, she quickly said, "Then I'll just say it into the air...I love you, God!"