Gulf Shores

Here are some pictures of our vacation to Gulf Shores, AL.  We had a fun and relaxing week with family by the beach.  We played in the sand and splashed in the pool.  Will and his cousins kept the whole bunch laughing!

Buddy Walk 2011

The 2011 Buddy Walk was a huge success and a great time!  We raised $2734 with the generous support of all our family and friends and we can not thank you enough!  We really appreciate all the amazing donations to Team Will's Way and all the words of support.  A big thank you to all those that came and walked with us.  It is an amazing day!  The love and comfort we felt that day from being surrounded by not only our own friends and family, but also our DSACO family is overwhelming.  To see all the amazing families there that are 'walking the walk' with us is so inspiring!  Just being there among all the other families that also have been blessed with a loved one with an extra chromosome, reminds us that we are not alone and gives me a lot of strength to go on.  We hope that next year even more of our friends and family will come walk with us and experience what it means to take a Buddy Walk:)
Thank you again for all of the support we recieved for the walk and always.  It lifts us up!

Time for School!

Will's first day of school went very well.  Ron and I both stayed the whole time and watched him play.  Typical days will start with play time, then some gym and therapy time, followed by story time and snack time and then more play time.  Usually he will get his therapies while he is playing but occasionally he will be taken out of the room to work on things one-on-one with the therapist.  He is there for just 3 hours and is in a room with 3 other special kiddos and 4 typical peers all ranging from ages 18 months to 3 years.  He has a teacher, an assistant teacher, a classroom volunteer and the 3 therapists (speech, physical and occupational) that come in and out of the classroom working with kids.  There are also social workers, family therapists and nurses in and out of the classroom working and playing with the kiddos.  The adult to kid ratio is great but there is a lot of movement in and out of the room.  We really like all the teachers and therapists that we have met and are really excited for Will to be there!  It is a really great organization with a lot of really great people that definately have Will and the other children's best interest in mind!  http://www.childhoodleague.org/ .

Day two, however, did not go as well:(  I dropped him off and left although I stayed and watched from the observation room.  Poor Will cried on and off most of the time.  At times he was a sympathy crier when others got upset but more often he was the one that started the crying:(  It was hard to watch.  I know it will get easier and I know this is the best thing for him.  The down side to him staying with me 3 days and week and with Aunt Mere the other 2 days is that he has some attachment issues.  He played a little bit but mostly had to be held and comforted by one of the teachers.  Hopefully next week will go better!

Honeycrisp!

We headed to the orchard on Sunday to get our favorite apples.  Afterall we had to get an apple for all of Will's teachers since he starts school tomorrow:)  Will has been enjoying lots of fresh fruit this week and is eating his way through all the peaches, pears and apples we got.  Now I will never get him to eat the canned stuff!

Hey this looks like a ball...

Snoozin

Taking a little snooze while watching ESPN with my godfather Uncle Ricky!