Just RK

Recently, I've been visiting the DS Forum on iVillage . The other day there was a post from someone that I thought was especially impressive. I asked for permission to share it here. Take a minute to read it and please be praying for safe arrival of the little one. ___________________________________________ Here's our story: Part I Young couple elopes to Vegas in Oct 2005...what happens in Vegas dosen't't always stay in Vegas as we conceived little Emily Grace there. Super excited about our new little girl soon to join us. Find out after quad screening we have elevated risk for downs. Shocked-we're only mid 20's (big misconception that it only happens when you're over 35) Hold out hopes and stay positive. Have level II found several soft markers. Still hold out hope and have amino. Found out week later Emily does in fact have Downs. Mourned the loss of our typical child dreams for about one day and then look at the blessing that we've been presented. Ou

This morning we packed up our stuff (6 trips up and down the stairs to the car...ugh), vacuumed the carpet to look spiffy for when Rachel returns, and headed out. Well, not out exactly. I took Braska to get her glasses adjusted, amazing what such a little person can do when yanking off her glasses with one hand. Then I decided to go down to my in-laws' place to pick up a few things we forgot when we left Tuesday. And since I was down that way, I went by a hair place I found when we were there last weekend. They had time to get me in, so I dropped Braska at her grandma's and went back to get all fixed up. Here's the goofiest face ever, I think...mid-foil processing. Here's a few afters...it didn't really work to take one straight on, in order to get the full effect of the color outcome. There's a bright red and blonde going on in there. An interesting thing about the stylist who did my hair...she asked about if I had kids, etc. I chatted about Braska and her st

This was my view this morning as I stepped out onto the balcony. I will most likely never have a real vacation home, and that's ok. But when the stars align just right (or my sister goes out of town), I have access to the next best thing...a super sweet condo with high ceilings, comfy sofa, wireless internet, a little granite and steel, garden tub, laundry room, and plenty of very large TVs. Sound like a decent resort, right? And the cost... can't beat it, no way, no how. Little sis has come a long way. So why vacation at this time? Well, we were here (St. Louis metro) for Christmas, went home that night, and then turned around and came back, just Braska and me, the next morning. Braska's g-button stoma site was looking a little concerning to me, having changed some in the last few days, so I called her GI and they agreed they needed to take a look. So on the road again we went. Since I'm back again and Rachel's gone till the middle of next week, why not h

It was a fun weekend of family frivolity. We have a picture to prove it. If you need further proof, check out what Braska or Muncher had to say about it.

Hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends!!

I don't live in St. Louis. I used to, and I hope to again someday. But I do receive email newsletters and such from the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis as a resource and to familiarize with what they have going on. Today I got the Friday Blast email, and it had a note about St. Louis Life . St. Louis Life is a new residential facility and program for young adults (18 -30) with developmental disabilities in O'Fallon, MO. I just finished looking through their website and watching the video tour of the site. It's beautiful! What an awesome place and program! I have no earthly idea or way to know where we will be, where Braska will want to be, or what will be happening in our lives when Braska gets to this stage in her life, but I just love that something like this is out there, providing a great place for people to spread their wings a little. That's encouraging to me. Check it out. ALSO, in the info from DSAGSL was a link to some pics from their Youn

There have been so many times in the last couple weeks when I've thought of things I want to talk about or just throw out there for fun. I need to start carrying a little notebook around with me in order to jot them down. I could put them in my PDA/phone, but I'm not so good with the texting even if it is full keyboard. So here's a few semi-random things that I meant to give some time to... aren't you lucky you stopped by today?? ______________________ December 14, 2006, the day we brought Braska home from the hospital...finally. Then and now. I hope to try to recreate this pic every year. It's the first one after the day of her birth with she and I together. We've come a LOOOOOOOOOONG way, baby....you and me both. _____________________________ I watched a show last week--I won't mention it or link it because I don't want to even accidentally be blamed for endorsing it--that I normally purposefully avoid even though it's watched in the other l

When we travel back and forth to St. Louis, we like to listen to audio books on CD. Through our Thanksgiving "tour" and a little time listening in town and some in the house while I'm cleaning the kitchen or something, we've covered four books. Here's the list... King of Torts by John Grisham It Ain't All About the Cookin' by Paula Deen Vanishing Point by Marcia Muller Fingerprints of God by Greg Iles That's impressive for me, as I don't read fiction at all...but in the car it's good. We generally forget to pick up the books before we leave, so we swing by the library on the way out of town and I run in to grab 4 or 5 options that look interesting in some fashion. I did pretty well this time. King of Torts was interesting to follow, and we kind of "called it," figuring out the order of events at the end, but that's ok. Paula Deen's book was one I listened to while M was sleeping...he wouldn't be going for that in his w

Finally we got some actual snow, the kind that comes down all day and night and is so darn pretty to watch! Granted, we had to drive in it last night, and that was no fun. Even in town it was pretty hard to see and navigate with the heavy snow and the wind, but we made it back home. A funny thing about this snow storm...my husband and I discussed last night how our church would notify the 1200+ people who would normally be there on a Sunday that there would be no church if they chose to cancel services. We weren't sure. Maybe a cancellation list on a local radio or TV station? We found out this morning...I got an email. (The wind is bad at our church, as it sits in a wide open plain in the middle of corn fields outside of town, so when it snows, it's always way worse at the church. But this is the first time they've cancelled in the 6 years we've been going there.) And to add to that, I also got a text message from our old church, where I occasionally still show u

The one-day trip that was supposed to fill last Thursday spilled into Friday. When we came out of the doctor's office to the choo-choo bridge (That's what we call the big glass walkway from Children's to Barnes Hospital and the parking garage...it has a train running all around it way up high.) it was snowing and already getting dark. I called my dad for an up-to-the-minute weather report to see how things were looking on the route toward home, and it was quickly determined to be more risky than I care for when attempting the trip. Instead we headed south a bit to the in-laws' place. (Have I mentioned how handy it is that they're just right there?) It turned out good that we stayed til the next daylight, as the road home was littered with cars, semi trucks, and a few toppled SUVs in the medians and ditches. It wasn't that there was so much snow, but there was a layer of ice on everything except the main road itself. I can imagine that in the dark and drizzle

Saturday I was at Wal-Mart shopping for a few items, more than one of which was in the baby section. I've always thought that when people are actually shopping in the baby section, they seem to slip into a friendlier mode, talking to others who are also in their world, discussing ages, genders, and latest milestones of their kids. As I was standing in front of the shelves full of baby foods, cereals, and juices, there was a lady who came up from my right side. She was talking to the man a few steps behind her who was dutifully pushing the shopping cart piled high with their coats and scarves. There was no kid in sight. I should specify that she was talking LOUDLY. It was almost as if she was unabashedly inviting people to stop and listen to the earth-shattering things she had to say. As she walked up to where I was looking through the Graduates items for Lil' Crunchies , she stood about 12 inches from me and sighed very loudly. She said, apparently to the man, although she didn

On Thursday I received an email from a senior editor at Consumer's Digest. He said he had been Googling for a story about people who have used a cleaning service, and apparently he happened upon this one . How weird is that? He asked if I'd be interested in talking to a reporter. I was in St. Louis, so when I checked my email that evening, I replied that I would be happy to chat with a reporter. He wrote back to tell me who would be contacting me. So the reporter called today. She was super nice, and we talked for almost half an hour. I just talked about my experience with Merry Maids and why I stopped using them. The bottom line on that is this...Since you have to have the clutter put away for them to clean, it wasn't worth the price to have them come and basically just wipe down the shower walls, kitchen sink and counters, dust, and vacuum. I'm not trying to be derogatory toward them, but in my situation, it wasn't what I needed. I need someone to come in who know

I try not to repeat post titles, but this one is destined to be a fave. I can't believe I've circumvented it for all this time already. We are headed for St. Louis again today. We're going to aim to do a one-day trip which means 3 hours down, get glasses at St. John's, then to Children's for swallow study and visit with Dr. R to check on the g-button. Then we'll race home to try to catch the Bears/Redskins game tonight. (Yep, that's right, we get NFL Network. Sorry to those of you who don't.) God give us travel safety, good visits, great people to work with, and help Braska be in good spirits. Amen.

I love snow. When M got home from Tuesday night MTG with the guys late tonight, he came and said it was snowing. I got all silly and did a few jigs after he opened the blinds and I could see. This is my view...I could watch it all night. We probably won't get much more than 1/2 inch, but it still counts in my book.

I didn't accomplish nearly as much today. This is a peek from my perspective for a slice of my day. That's Braska on the left side, Cede (say-dee, as in Mercedes, her full name) on the right side, Belle on the foot of the recliner snoozing on my leg, and my computer, obviously. And yes, I'm still in my PJs in the middle of the day. Perk of working at home. Funny as it is, this is not really a rare occurence in a typical day for me, except we don't always get to have Cede for a visit. Believe it or not, I did get some work-work done during this time. Yeah, I'm that good.

Just finished making dinner. Like with ingredients combined to create parts of a meal, all together making what most people might call "dinner" or "supper." Here's the thing. I don't cook. Now, mind you, it's not that I *can't* cook, it's that I just simply don't. Why? Because I'm married to man who doesn't eat real food, and I have a daughter who also doesn't eat. And I got tired of cooking for one (me), usually after I had "cooked" for one (him) in the form of mac n' cheese or some such boxed item. SO...therefore, I don't cook. I would be happy to live on Raisin Bran, even a generic. Yeah, that's how far I've fallen. When M is busy or it's just me and Braska, I practically do live on it. Throw in a Slim Fast shake here or there, and I'm good for a long time. I used to cook. Even when I lived alone after college, then when I had a roommate, and even at the very beginning of our marriage, I did ac