RAISING JOEY

5 Minutes For Mom Mother’s Day Giveaways!

I just love the ladies over at 5 Minutes For Mom! They’re always having awesome giveaways and this year to honor Mother’s Day is no exception!

HP Mini 1000- PLEASE!!!
Kodak EASYSHARE W1020 Wireless Digital Frame with Home Decor Kit- I’ve been wanting one of these for some time now!
Stop and Shop/Giant Grocery Gift Card- I shop at Stop & Shop every week!
Charming new jewelry from Things Remembered- too cute!
WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook - Every woman needs another cookbook!
$50 Giftcard to Macy’s- Macy’s is my mother’s favorite store!
Hearts and Berries Arrangement From Edible Arrangements- YUMMY!
A sleek, ultraportable Toshiba Protégé- I absolutely LOVE the pink one! I could really use another computer just for my CDSC work!
Elliot Lucca Ellene Satchel- I can ALWAYS use ANOTHER purse!
Coach Parker Hippie Purse - again I could always use another purse!
iHosa Chunei Baby Carrier- I have a baby wrap I used with Leah & LOVED it! I would love to try this one with Aiden!
Kodak EASYSHARE M380 Digital Camera- I love taking pictures!!

Daffodil Festival 2009

Last weekend, my mother, Leah and I took a girls only outing to the Daffodil Festival. I try to go every year, not only for the good food but to take beautiful pictures of all the daffodils!

Lou-Lou and Mommy!

Leah with her Grandma!

18 weeks tummy shot of Aiden

Can’t forget the pretty daffodils!

Tummy Diagnosis

Joey’s GI doctor just called and the diagnosis is Lymphocytic Colitis.

Thankfully, there’s no need to change his diet, no surgery needed, just daily medication. I was hoping and praying for no food allergies or celiac!

It’s always hard to hear that there’s something medically wrong with your child but to know that it’s something that can be treated with medication.

Meet Aiden Phillip

Well, it’s a boy! Aiden Phillip! I’m sooo excited!

Joey update

Sorry I never posted an update on Joey’s procedures last Thursday, my parents are in town and I’ve been so busy having fun with them!

Anyways, the colonscopy, endoscopy and tummy biopsies went very well. His GI doctor didn’t see anything abnormal during them but she wasn’t expecting to. She said the things she’s looking for are microscopic like food allergies and celiac. We’ll get those results on Tuesday.

Right after the procedures, I had the whole recovery unit laughing… I brought Joey’s toothbrush and fingernail clippers along and not only clipped his finger and toe nails but also brushed his teeth THEN borrowed the nurse’s scissors and trimmed his hair while he was still asleep. Am I sneaky or what?!

Let the poo begin!

So I just mixed up Joe-Joe’s colonoscopy prep. A whole small bottle of Miralax (119 g) mixed with 32 oz of Gatorade. Let’s hope he’ll drink it all this morning…

BTW, I bought plastic diaper covers to try to help keep the mess down.

Wish me luck! Let the festivities begin!!!!

Spring break week!

Well this week is Joey’s first official Spring break from school. We’re spending it at home relaxing the first part of the week then on Thursday, poor Joe-Joe has his colonoscopy, endoscopy and stomach biopsy which means Wednesday/ tomorrow is going to be rough with the colonscopy prep. Anyone wanna come over and help me have Joey drink 32 oz of gatorade mixed with Miralax?????

Thankfully my parents are driving up tomorrow so my Dad is going to the hospital with me Thursday for Joey’s procedures.

I’ve been feeling pretty good minus my crazy allergies. Thankfully we got a good rain last night so hopefully it helped to get rid of some of the dust and pollen outside!

As for Baby Bean, he/ she is hanging out. I had an OB checkup yesterday and it has a nice strong heartbeat and I can feel it moving now! We actually go Monday to see if it’s a boy or girl! I can’t wait! I kinda want another boy but will be just as happy with another girl!

Leah is doing just fine. She’s starting to talk. She has about 10 words and cracks me up all the time gabbering away. Except when she tries to say “shoe” it sounds like “sh!t”. And she is quite the drama queen already at 19 months!

And the name for our new fish is Vinny! After counting all the votes on here, Facebook, and from family members, Vinny came out on top! So Vinny it is!

Well I guess that’s it for now!

Our newest family member!

Last month I bought the kids a 1 1/2 gallon fish tank for a goldfish, unfortunatly after 4 goldfish, today Leah and I headed back to the petstore to see what we were doing wrong. Apparently goldfish can be hard to keep alive so after talking to the girl in the fish department, I decided to try a Betta. They’re very low maintence so let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Anyways, our new fish needs a name and I’m asking you guys to help us decide!

Please comment on which of the following names you like, just click on the little icon in the top right corner of this post!

1. Hairy
2. Vinny
3. Bert
4. George

Easter pics

Geez, I’ve really been slacking on posts lately! Sorry about that!

We had a wonderful Easter! Melissa and Dillon joined in on the festivites, unfortunatly, I didn’t get any pictures of them on my camera. Fun was had by all and I think I ate enough food to last me weeks, LOL!

Anyways, here are some pictures from Easter!!!

Coloring Easter Eggs!!

Last night over at my in-laws house we decorated our Easter with the kids Aunties Eileen, Maureen, and Margaret. Joey really didn’t have much interest in helping out but Leah on the other hand, LOVED it! And you can tell by the last picture, she didn’t want to quit!

Auntie Maureen!!!

Pure joy!

My crafty little girl (check out the yellow hands)

Me, bad picture…

Joey even gave it a try (for like 2 seconds)!

Auntie Eileen!!!

Auntie Margaret!!!

All good things must come to an end…

My beautiful friend!!

My dear friend Melissa was recently nominated by Dillon’s babysitter for Fox 61’s Monday Makeover and she was picked! My already beautiful friend has been transformed into an even more beautiful woman! I can’t think of a more deserving person than Melissa to be treated to such a wonderful surprise as a professional makeover!

Shame, shame, shame…

So, already today I’ve gotten 2 comments on 2 different posts using the word ret@rd. And to the two commenters, sorry, I’m not posting your comments! They’re already gone!

It’s people like you who parents like me are reaching out to, to try to make the world an better place for Joey and his friends.

Shame on you for making fun of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Your parents would be so ashamed of you if they only knew the way you talk….