Two out of Three.....

All the kids went to see Santa....I only have two loaded onto the computer, I still have to scan Little J's photo and upload it, but in the meantime, here are the other two......

Even too Much for Me...

Princess J and I headed out to do some Merry Christmas shopping today. Usually, I am done with my shopping by now and I head out to laugh at all the last minute shoppers in a frenzy to get all their stuff done. This year......hanging my head.....I was one of them. Ugh!

Princess J and I got a lot done, we headed to Baby's R Us, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target and then the mall. The mall is where I had to draw the line and make a plan to head back another day. I just couldn't deal with the weekend crowd. It was wall to wall people....it's been a long time since I've seen the mall that way! Princess J and I had a nice lunch together and just hung out having a good time. She is so much fun to be with and just cracks me up all the time.

Here is a conversation we had this morning....

Moose and Zee announce on Nickolodeon, that Miss Spider's Sunny Patch is next.....Princess J hates this show....

Princess J: No!

Me: You want me to change the channel?

Princess J: Yeah!

Me: Okay, let me finish Baby J's bottle and then I'll change the channel and find you something else.

Princess J: Pouty face with a sigh...

Me: What do you think this is the Princess J show?

Princess J: YEAH!!!!!


Sigh........

Fashion Diva

Princess J is making her mark on the fashion world! This little girl has a sense of style all her own! This is her favorite home ensemble. Nice comfy feety jammies, Hello Kitty Wellies, Winnie the Pooh scarf and to finish off the look a jeweled princess crown! Everyday we get some version of this. The crown is interchangable with a Hello Kitty knit cap. Sometimes, she'll find the keys to the car and head for the door wanting to go out like this....

While this little girl has a style all her own....mommy is still lucky enough that Princess J likes to get dressed for the day most of the time as well. Sometimes she puts her 2 cents in and tells me that she's not going to wear something I've picked out, but most of the time she's compliant and happy. Once she if fully dressed and hair done, she must make the final inspection in the mirror before we can leave the house. She's finding a true liking for shoes and purses already too! We're in BIG trouble, I've created a monster (I've had a little help though...from Grandma who not only taught me my shoe and clothing love, but has assisted in the training of the princess) <3

Mommy's Christmas List!

Just as daddy requested....mommy's wish list!

In no particular order:

1. Glee Soundtrack Volume 2

2.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

3. Cannon 50mm 1.4 lens

4.Nook eBook Reader I'm a little on the fence about this....can I really give up the holding of the traditional book? I never really fell in love with listening to books....this eBook seems to do all the things I'd like in an eBook though....hmmm....

5. Car charger for the iPhone!

6. A Wii!!!! I don't know what games to go with it, but would love to have Wii Fit and Guitar Hero! :D

7. A new laptop??? LOL!

Christmas lists are hard for me...I am already so blessed and don't really want for anything....so....well..there it is....still thinking if there is anything to add.

What's on your list?

Birthday Extension!

What a week this has been! I'm not even sure where the entire thing went, I just know I've been running like crazy!

Poor G has been sick for which I think he feels is like forever! He is never one to sit still for a millisecond...so making him sit and rest has been next to impossible! He's been quarantined from Baby J! He's also had limited contact with the other two, just trying to keep everyone healthy! I know he misses his time with the littles and I KNOW they miss daddy time.

Princess J only has a few words right now, but in the last two weeks she's gone crazy using them consistently! Mommy is super excited about that! Everything has to be on her terms...she definately is a stubborn one (I have no idea where she got that from)!

Little J is having his class birthday party tomorrow! We're taking pizza and cupcakes to school for him! I'll try very hard to post the photos I take tomorrow!

Baby J had his 4 month check up this week.....he's a whopping 13 lbs! His weight has dropped off a bit from the rapid spurt he took from birth. He's such a mover! He's actually trying to pull himself up to a sit in his bouncy chair! I'm sure he's got abs of steel from trying so hard too! He's such a sweet little patient one too! His brother and especially his sister are super demanding and he's so patient waiting for their needs to be met. He's such a snuggle bug!

That's all I got for now! Trying to put together plans for Christmas......so much to think about!

Five? Really?

I cannot even believe that my Little J is actually a five year old! It just does not seem possible that he could really be 5! G and I were talking yesterday about how much our lives have changed since Little J came along. The day Little J arrived, we were so overjoyed and could not wait to embark on our adventure as a family of 3 knowing that we wanted to add more little ones. We could not have even begun to imagine what was in store for us. We had on huge pairs of rose colored glasses when we decided to join the ranks of parenthood....little did we know just how joyful the joys would be and just how heartbreaking some of the lows could be.

Little J's diagnosis of Angelman Syndrome is still such a pivotal moment in our lives. One that both G and I can replay over and over in our heads. I remember exactly what the doctors office looked like and the look on her face when she had to break the news to us. It's been a hard road to come to terms with and sometimes the road is very smooth and sometimes it is extremely bumpy! I have to say though, that every milestone Little J reaches, I am just beyond joyful. What a true and honest blessing Little J is to us. He is the epitome of unconditional love. He makes us so proud with every new step he takes and every new skill he learns.

Some of the most amazing joys in this journey have come from Princess J. She is so caring and loving to Little J. She brings him toys when he drops them, helps alert us when she knows he's about to do something he shouldn't (such a tattle tale) or when she knows he needs us. The first time he walked a short distance independently she clapped for him....she knew just how amazing it was! They go after eachother in typical sibling fashion as well. When she wants to be the diva, even Little J can't sway her. For his birthday today, she tried to convince me he wanted a Hello Kitty cake too! I cannot wait to see Baby J follow her lead in caring about Little J. I know that because of Little J, aside from mommy and daddy, they will both really know unconditional love, they will both have caring and compassionate hearts and what amazing people Little J's influence will help them become. In turn, their milestones and example will influence Little J to keep working and to strive to do the things he wants to do. While I'm not a "pie in the sky" type of person, I know for Little J ANYTHING is possible!

Five years ago today, I was taking my first peek into they eyes of my beautiful baby boy, my beautiful angel from God. Five years ago today, I was looking into the eyes of a baby with a pure and good loving heart and I know that his heart will always remain that way. It will never be jaded. Today, I wish my Little J a very Happy 5th Birthday! Mommy and Daddy love you so very much!

More photos to come after Friday! We're having a little party in his classroom! I still had to get photos to day for his actual birthday though! <3

Happy Turkey Day!

Wow! So much to be thankful for this year! All those smiles from the other day are just the beginning! I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family! Not only my wonderful husband and beautiful children, but our extended family as well. We sure missed all of them this Thanksgiving. It was just the 5 of us, but we didn't skimp on the trimmings! So thankful for all that we have.

This was only the second time I've made a turkey, but it turned out nice and juicy! Yummo! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole and we still have pumpkin and apple pie to devour! My poor hubby is a bit under the weather, so pretty much today was a jammie day for the kiddos. I did get Princess J dressed later in the day to play with the camera a little. She's a wild little diva, so she definatley gave me a run!

It's a tough balance to get Princess J to look at the camera, get it to focus, get the white balance right, get the focus right and everything else we learned at Krista's workshop. It was fun playing around though! Maybe tomorrow after a little early morning Black Friday fun, I'll play some more in the afternoon!

We hope you all had a beautiful and happy Thanksgiving!

{Smiles and Frowns}

So I picked up this idea from Krista quite awhile ago and thought it was a cute idea. I never implemented it, but I think now is a good time to do it! There is quite a bit going on around here....some good and some....not so good....

Smiles:
The care and concern that Princess J is showing for both her big brother and her little brother. Today, she wanted to play ball with both of them. She actively tried to engage Little J in a game of catch...Little J is good at catching, but not so good at throwing and then wanted to include Baby J....needless to say, the ball just whacked him in the head (it was a very soft ball..so no injury occured). She was very sad when I told her that Baby J was just too little to play ball with. Then tonight, she was laying in bed with me while I was feeding Baby J and she wanted to help hold the bottle while he ate.

Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Theraputics (FAST). All the work that they are doing to find a cure and treatments for AS! A Gala is being held to raise money for all the great work they are doing!


Grocery deliver by Safeway...1 hour early too!

Excited to pick up and borrow a new lens to try out on my camera! I see a little photo shoot with the kiddos in the VERY near future!

Gingerbread Lattes and Carmel Brulee Lattes!

Got a nice "tweet" from Jacqueline Laurita. I know I'm such a dork, but it's my brush with reality TV and she seems so sweet and genuine. :D

A few minutes in the day to read a good book!

Frowns:

Not enough hours in the day!

Trying to find time to pack up the scrap room to move it...not successful.

Missing my creative time with paper, scissors and glue.

Little J's teacher has been sick and was briefly in the hospital.

A couple of people I've been praying for have passed away in the last week.I didn't know either of them, but their stories and their courageous battles touched my heart. One was a young boy with a rare disease and the other a young mother of 2 young boys who battled Leukemia. Sending continued prayers to their families for comfort and peace. Hug your families tight and make sure you tell them you love them as often as you can!

Little J's continuous mischeiviousness is making life a little difficult lately. He doesn't understand danger and has no fear, so this mama is a little on edge lately.

That we are not able to attend the event in Chicago in December by FAST to raise money and awareness for Angelman Syndrome and research to find a CURE!

----------------------------------The next blog entry will have photos....I Promise!-----------

{Crazy Random}

See....I told you I was back!



This week has been crazy busy, with tons of appointments! Thankfully, we made it through without too much trouble.

Monday was the craziest of all! Little J had his clinic appointment with CCS, Little J had to go to school, Princess J had her speech appointment and then we were off to meet with the school district. Craziness that all those appointments and running around occured btween 8:30am and 10:45am!

Tuesday Princess J had a hearing test appointment. Originally she was supposed to go on July 30th, but Baby J made his appearance on the 29th, soooo needless to say we didn't make it. Everything went fine with her hearing test except that she didn't want to put anything on her head or in her ears! Talk about DRAMA! This girl can scream and throw and tantrum with the best of them. They got enough information to say that hearing does not appear to be affecting her ability for expressive speech, so that's a good thing. I think it's good old fashioned stubborness at play....wonder where she gets that from? She'll return in 6mos for a follow up visit to try and get more detailed information on each ear, but for now all is good.

Wednesday, we heard that Little J's teacher was in the hospital with pneumonia! We've since heard that he's at home recovering now, but keep him in your prayers! He is such a great teacher and so genuinely concerned for his students. They've all been in and out sick over the last month...including Little J, so it's definately going around and this cold/flu season is starting out with a bang! My pet peeve has always been that some parents send their kids to school knowing they are sick! Often times I know it's a daycare issue, but please!

Saturday, I was so lucky to take a photography workshop by Krista! You can see the photo shoot she did for us this summer here! She is an awesome photographer and friend! She gave us tons of information and I'm actually beginning to understand a little bit about how to get the photos I want! It's going to take some practice and a different lens than what I have......insert Christmas wish here....LOL! I'm actually going to borrow the lens I think I want and test it out a little bit and see what I can come up with before I put it on the official wish list. My goal is to become a better photographer so I can capture all those moments with my littles.....time is going by so quickly and I don't want to forget a minute of it! I'm looking forward to her future workshops! Need to get a better understanding of photoshop as well....to fix all my bloopers! LOL! For now, I think Krista gave me just enough information to work my brain for a little while and give me something to play around with....just in time to try and get photos of the kiddos for our Christmas card! Hopefully, with Josh out of school for the week I'll be able to find some time to play around with the kiddos and the camera.....

So much to do and not enough time to do it! G got the Christmas lights up outside and they are just about ready to go for Thursday. Still gotta get the tree up and the Christmas dishes out too! I love Christmas and all the fun, but it's a lot of work! I liked it better when I wasn't the adult who had to do it! LOL! G is better at getting it done than I, but I'm going to be better this year! LOL! I also need to pack up my scraproom and move it! Oy! I need to make a dent in it this week! Otherwise Baby J may be 18 before he gets his own room! We're moving my scraproom downstairs again, Princess J is moving to my scraproom and Baby J is taking her room.

So much random rambling! If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me and thanks for coming back after my hiatus! <3

Let's Start Over....Please?

This poor blog has been overly neglected this year. First it was neglected, because sleep seemed to be the most important thing while Little Peanut was in control of my body. Now that he's here, it's been neglected while we try to get used to being outnumbered by the littles in the house, overcome illness' (nothing serious) and keep our daily routine going. I love this blog and really want to get back to it, but I think I was over pressuring myself to have pictures everytime and really have something overwhelmingly wonderful to say.....

Let's catch up, shall we?

Little J- He's been a bit of a challenge lately, but overall is doing amazingly well. He's settled into his kindergarten class and seems to really love it and love his teacher and the aide that primarily works with him. He's making lots of friends and we're so thankful that he's got another "angel" buddy at school with him! He's still not a functional walker, but he's walking further and further independently all the time....so it's a matter of time! He's also discovering things that I had hoped would remain a secret or of non-interest for years to come....I'll leave it at that.

Princess J- She is still the sassy little diva she's always been. She is such a riot to be around! This is the first year she really "got" Halloween and she had a blast! Sadly, Josh was sick, so Halloween wasn't everything we had planned, but she had a great time. She can't say "Trick or Treat" yet, so when we took her door to door, we had her say "BOO!" when anyone opened the door. She thinks she was scary! She still runs around the house screaming "BOO!" to scare us! It's too funny!

Little Peanut-Is going to be a linebacker! He was born the smallest, yet he is growing the fastest! He is my little super chub! Currently he likes sleeping in a seated position....so thank goodness for baby swings and bouncy chairs, otherwise this family would be awake 24/7! He has (knock on wood) stayed healthy while Little J and Princess J have battled some colds and Little J a flu of some sort that is going around his classroom.

Everyone here has thankfully had an easy time getting our seasonal flu vaccines and our H1N1 vaccine. Little Peanut is too young to vaccinate, so it was important we all got the shots to do our best to protect him from what I fear is going to be a very crazy winter for colds and flus.

I will do my best to play catch up from past photos, but am not making any promises. I'm going to try and start fresh here and try to give you lots of photo love going forward!

The photo above is just before my parents left to go home. Little Peanut is only 1 month old and I just love the smile on Little J's face! My poor Little Diva was not happy about being contained for a photo opportunity....

CHEEZ-IT THEIF!

After a stock up trip to Costco, Princess J showed off her expert skill at opening doors. She took a quick peek into the pantry and stole her new favorite item. She was initially very stealthy and hauled this huge

box all the way to her room without anyone noticing. It was when she became giddy with excitment that we figured her out. Perfect opportunity for a photo shoot and to catch her little cheezer smile!

Heart Attack at the Zoo!

Today, Grandma, Grandpa, Little J, Princess J, Baby J and I headed for a day at the zoo. Since Baby J arrived, the kids have been pretty cooped up in the house as we settle into a new normal. Today, we had to get the kiddos out of the house and test the waters out in the world.

What a great day we had! We got to see lots of animals and we were pretty impressed with the Oakland Zoo. I can't even remember the last time I was there, but I'm sure I probably paid the kids admission fee! LOL!

Princess J loved the River Dog, the Giraffes and the Elephants. Baby J was a trooper and was soooo good! He made it so easy for mommy! He enjoyed the fresh air and snoozed as we strolled around and entertained Little J and Princess J. He even slept through their lunch and woke wanting to be fed just as we were all finishing up our lunches! What a perfect baby!

You'll notice the extra photo of Princess J and she doesn't look happy!


We tried giving her a few opportunities to be out of the stroller and check things out. I really was trying to get a photo of her with the Giraffes, but as I've posted before, she has one speed......FAST! She took off running down the path so fast! We had to reign her in and put her back in the stroller. This did not make her happy in the least. She got over it pretty quick and when we gave her freedom again to check out the lions she was pretty good about sticking close to Grandma or mommy. So good about holding hands and everything!

As we were preparing to leave, Grandma decided to get the kiddos some shirts for their visit at the zoo. We left Little J and Baby J out in the strollers in the shade with Grandpa and too Princess J inside to the gift shop. She was having a great time checking out all the stuffed animals, the books and the animal figures. She was being soooo good about staying put and holding hands and just being a good little princess in general. Then, something caught her eye and she took off running faster than a speeding bullet! I followed in the direction she went calling out her FULL name and by that I mean First, Middle and Last! The only problem is she was no where to be seen! Thankfully, Grandma caught her coming around another corner! She pretty much did a circle around me from the direction she initially went. I was sooooo SUPER FREAKED OUT! Needless to say, she got into big trouble and her freedom was over. From now on, I can guarantee that my kid will be one of those kiddos with the "backpack leash" attached to her!

In case you are wondering about the second photo of Princess J, she is imitating the elephants! It is soooo stinkin' cute!

Happy 4th Birthday ol' Blog!

Who knew! Life has changed so much since I started this ol' blog! Little J was almost a year old when I started this and who knew all the life changing things we would go through just eight months later! Since I started this blog, Little J was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, he's started and finished pre-school and will soon start kindergarten. I'm glad I had this blog when our family went through that very difficult period after Little J was diagnosed. It's been very helpful to be able to talk about everything from his amazing accomplishments, the diagnosis, the difficulties that Little J faces and just his smiling little face. We also welcomed Princess J to our family and she has just been an amazing gem! She is so stinkin' cute and so stinkin' smart and just one little pistol of a drama queen little girl. We also welcomed Baby J just a couple of weeks ago!

I'm so happy with my sweet little family of 5 and hope you will continue to follow our adventures in this joyful life of ours....with a little drama on the side sometimes! LOL!

Uh-Uh

So, we spent a lot of time telling Princess J about her new little brother. She spent many nights laying in bed with mommy and checking out the baby belly. She was so sweet and gentle and would give it kisses.

She was a little upset the day of the delivery, because mommy and daddy had to rush out of the house to head for the hospital. She and Little J stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa said that Princess J kept grabbing his hand and taking him to the door wanting to go too. The kiddos were a little out of sorts that night and didn't get to sleep until late.....not that they were not in bed, they just wouldn't go to sleep! Daddy came home pretty late, as peanut and I didn't get to a room until almost midnight after the delivery.

The next day Grandma brought Princess J over to the hospital to see me and to meet Little Peanut. We asked her where her little brother was and she pointed (as usual) to mommy's belly. When we told her no and showed her Little Peanut, she just said uh-uh and turned her head away. Even after bringing him home, she's still not completely sold on the whole little brother deal. She's been a little mad at mommy lately for bringing Little Peanut home! LOL! She's slowly....very slowly warming up to him though. I give her another month and she'll be just as smitten with him as the rest of us! LOL!

I just had to get these cute little photos of Princess J the other day. It's so hard to snap her photo though, because she only operates in one speed......FAST! Can't wait to sit down and order photos and get back to some scrapping!

It's a PEANUT!

Have you wondered at all where I've been? This last pregnancy kicked my bootay and some things had to go by the wayside. As much as I wanted to and tried, I just couldn't keep up with Little J, Princess J and the blog along with numerous other things. Craziness!

Our newest addition arrived nice and early, just like his brother and sister. His due date was August 8. His planned eviction date was August 4. He arrived on July 29th at 7:43 pm weighing in at 6lbs, 15oz and measuring 21 inches long. I spent most of the pregnancy begging him to stay put until his eviction date, but as you can see, he didn't listen. The day started out pretty typical....lots on the "to do" list, lots of plans and a few appointments. I had a plan to go to Ikea, but had some crazy nightmare about breaking my water and going into labor in Ikea, so I decided not to go. We stuck pretty close to home and G was on his last 2 days at work before his family leave started. My stepmom and I headed to take Little J to his OT/PT appointment, while Little J was busy working out, we went and got a yummy Jamba Juice. After we picked him up, we stopped at Target for a few things and headed home to get some of the "to do" list done. The plan was to have a snack (of some yummy home made salsa and chips) along with the yummy Jamba Juice, and clean out an over stuffed closet and take the contents we no longer wanted along with some other stuff in the garage to a local charity for donation. Lofty dreams I know. We get home, and first things first, one must go to the rest room. As I'm in there, I realize I am now bleeding....YIKES! Nothing serious, but this means......gotta head to the hospital as we didn't want me in full blown labor since I was a repeat c-section patient. Poor G had to race home from work....good thing he works really close! We headed to the hospital...which is less than a mile away to get checked out.

As they are checking things out and hooking me up to monitors and playing the wait and see game....I spent my time letting my Facebook friends know what was going on. It really made the time pass very quickly! After awhile, the doc came in and said that they were going to watch things and decide what they were going to do. The nurse however told us that the chances of us leaving the hospital without delivering the baby were in the neighborhood of zero! LOL! I knew that when I walked in the front door!

So, as this story continues and I get back into the blogity blog the adventures of this Joyful Life will now include not only our fabulous angel Little J, and the Royal Princess J, but now we have sweet little Peanut J! Collectively, they will lovingly be referred to as the three J's! LOL!

Lots to catch up on, including the ever so adorable reaction of Princess J to Peanut J! You won't want to miss that!

Her Royal Highness gets her royal bed.....

THE CRIB IS GONE! It's been dismantled and removed from service (sniff....sniff) . We found the perfect bed for our little royal princess as well. She is doing great sleeping in her new bed at night. Still (knock on wood) sleeping through the night as before. She does love the new freedom she has in her room in the morning though. She loves to take all her books out, a couple of toys and then get into her drawer of hats. The first morning she woke up in her new bed, she was running all over her room like the cartoon character The Tazmanian Devil and doing dances on her rug. It was so stinking cute!

Nap time has not been quite as easy as bed time. The first day, it took mommy over an hour of laying in her room on the floor and putting her back in bed over and over again before she finally settled down for her nap. We've made great progress in 24 hours though, as it only took 15 minutes today to get her down.

Next up for the little princess is her "Royal Throne" as we start potty training in a little over a week. While I won't be sharing photos of our princess on her throne, I will post a photo of the "Royal Throne" when it arrives, as it is soooo stinkin' cute! LOL! My goal is to get her out of diapers before this new little peanut arrives! Keeping my fingers crossed that it works!

I am so proud of this little girl and am sooo lucky to be her mommy! Since we moved her to her big girl bed, she is acting like a big girl. She helps clean up her mess (most of the time) without drama. She is doing what she is told about 90% of the time....eventhough sometimes she's shaking her head no as she does it. LOL! She's still being a really really picky eater. I'm hoping she's gained a little bit of weight for her visit tomorrow, but I'm not too worried about it if she hasn't. She's just taking after her mommy. She is definately my "payback" for all the things I did when I was little. I don't know why my parents thought I needed payback though....she's just perfect! LOL!

Angelman Syndrome Walk-a-thon

We had such a fabulous day at the Angelman Syndrome Walk-a-thon in Sacramento! It's always so much fun to catch up with other families as well as meet new ones. This year there were over 550 walkers at the Sacramento site!

Joshua raised so far a total of $1205! We have amazing friends and family! Joshua's donation page is open until the end of September if you would still like to donate. The Angelman Syndrome Foundation is trying to meet their fundraising goal of $1 million dollars this year!

Angelman Syndrome Walk-a-thon update!

Wow! Our friends and family really rock! With less than 24 hours to go, we are only $250 away from reaching our fundraising goal for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation! Yay Little J!! Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day walking with all the other angels and their families! We are so excited! We've got the minivan packed, the video camera ready as well as the camera! Josh has been working so hard on his walking skills, that this last Wednesday, he walked about 30 feet unassisted! AMAZING! Praise God for all my Little J's progress! He has really given us very knowlegable and caring professionals to help Little J meet all of his potential!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who love and support Little J! If you would still like to make a donation to help us reach our fundraising goal, you can go to his fundraising page here:

http://www.angelman.org/JoshuaSchmeckTeamPunkypants

There is also a button on the side of the ol' blog here as well!

Thanks again!

Angelman Syndrome Awareness!

Dear Family and Friends,
In just a few days, we will be attending out second Angelman Syndrome Foundation walk-a-thon. We are so excited to see all the other angels and their families and for a beautiful day! There is so much going on in the research area of Angelman Syndrome and there are some exciting things in the pipeline. There have been many developments that bring us hope for theraputic treatments and hopefully someday a cure! Josh recently finished his supplement study at UC San Diego, we hope to participate in more studies as they become available. He is still enrolled in the Natural History study, which basically tracks and studies the growth and development of those with Angelman Syndrome. While there is much on the horizon, none of this can be accomplished without your help! Every year, we come together to raise awareness and money about Angelman Syndrome and for The Angelman Syndrome Foundation. They are currently the primary funders of research grants and studies. They also provide many services to families of those with Angelman Syndrome.I know with the economy in the state it is, that times are tight for everyone, but anything you could donate to Josh's fundraising team would be greatly appreciate.

We are also excited to share with you some of Joshua's many accomplishments in the last year. Josh has been working very hard at many things over the last year! We have been so fortunate to have so many professionals in his corner assisting him and rooting for him all the way. I think one of his biggest accomplishments this year has been learning to walk unassisted! While he still can't walk by himself 100%, he has really made huge progress in this area, especially in the last couple of weeks. Last week at therapy, he walked 11 steps unassisted! His physical therapist Sheri Tom has been working with him since just before he turned 3 years old! She has worked so hard with him and it's paying off!

This is also Josh's second year in preschool. He LOVES school so much! Last year, he was the baby in the class and all the other kiddos really took the time to make him feel good and to always help him. This year, he's the big boy in class! His teachers and aides have been working with him on many directive skills, art skills, and self help skills. He is doing so remarkable! I love watching him in the morning hold someones hand and carry his lunch to the refrigerator and put it in! It is so cute! I think his favorite is circle time, his teachers say he likes to be in the thick of things. Doesn't want to miss out on any fun! He is sitting unassisted in a toddler chair at school now too! He's just growing up so fast! He is eligible to transition to Kindergarten next year. I'm still on the fence about that, since school starts in September and he doesn't turn 5 until December, but we'll see. His new teacher if he does transition is great and I think he'll have a great time. I know he will miss the kids remaining in preschool and I know he will miss his preschool teachers and aides!

Josh and Jocelyn are very close. Jocelyn takes really good care to help her big brother when he needs it. They are both very empathetic to one another as well. When one is upset, they both are upset. They love to entertain eachother as well. While Josh never tires of his little sister, there are times when our drama queen is done with him though....he just laughs though!

I know this email is late getting to you, we've had our hands full this year with our new little peanut on the way and time just slipped away from us. This is still an endeavor of great importance to us. We would be overjoyed to see in our lifetime theraputic treatments to make our sweet Joshua's life and the life of other angels better and easier. Ultimately, we would love to see a cure for this disorder! Please help in anyway you can! If you would like to attend the walk with us, we would love to have you! Josh would be overjoyed at the support!

Donations can be made at: http://www.angelman.org/JoshuaSchmeckTeamPunkypants or by making a check to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation and getting it to either Greg or myself by Friday. The online donation is a safe and secure site set up by the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. This is the easiest way and you can print a copy for your tax records!

If you are interested in walking with us in Sacramento, please email me and I will get the details out to you!

Love,
Laurie, Greg, Josh and Jocelyn

You can also click on the link on the side of my blog as well!

Support Josh in raising awareness and money for Angelman Syndrome!http://www.angelman.org/JoshuaSchmeckTeamPunkypants/Sacramento Walk-a-thon May 16th 2009Join the Fun!

Princess J turns 2! (yep...more catch up!)

Seriously, I cannot believe this little girl turned 2 last month! She is just so much fun to have around....drama and all!

She is really becoming quite the character and she is so stinkin' smart too! She's silly, she's independent and she's super caring towards Little J. She does not like it one bit if you raise your voice and Little J and she more often than not makes sure he has a toy to play with. He's about the only kid she will share with at this point. She loves to dance! Oh my gosh! Anywhere she hears music, she will start shaking her booty....even in the pediatricians waiting room! Too funny! A few weeks ago, I asked her where her groove thing was and she pointed at her little bottom and started shaking it! I was absolutely hysterical! She also knows she's the princess too. We were watching some show with a princess on it and I asked her where the princess was and she pointed to herself....way too funny!

Her favorite things right now are balloons, Yo Gabba Gabba, Dora, The Backyardigans, Ni Hao Kai Lan, and Jack's Big Music Show. She loves to sit and color and she loves to look at books! She's still an extremely picky eater. At her last check-up she still weighed the same as when she was 18 months old. She grew taller, but didn't gain any weight. So now, we're trying to get her to eat a little more. She's not all that interested though. She does not like to try new things, but we keep putting them in front of her!

She loves to run free and explore everything everywhere! She's such a sweet and good little girl. I just love spending time with her and cherish everything about her....including all the drama! LOL!

March of Dimes (more catch up!)

Recently, the CHP had a Tip a Cop event at a local eatery to raise money for the March of Dimes. Princess J and I dropped Little J off at school and headed over to meet up with Verna and Jayda and Lizz and Little Max. It was fun having a yummy breakfast and catching up with good friends. G even stopped by for a cup of coffee! Fun times!

Catching Up...

I had so many good intentions for catching up with this blog and keeping some momentum going. Unfortunately, life threw a few curveballs in the way....and is still trying to throw some still! We had a beautiful Easter Day, just the family enjoying some simple traditions. We stayed home and had a little Easter Egg hunt out on our front lawn, enjoyed a day of fun with Easter Basket goodies and a yummy ham dinner.

Unfortunately, later that evening Little J got sick. He was running a 102 temperature for most of the night and was up and down not getting much sleep. As Monday progressed he seemed to get worse, even to the point of gagging whenever we put something in his mouth, whether it was food or drink. I ended up taking him to the pediatrician, who confirmed it was just a virus and to just give him small amounts of liquid at a time and build up until he could tolerate it. I ended up calling her back at 4pm, because by now, even the sight of his motrin or tylenol was making him gag. I kept trying to give liquids, but by now we couldn't keep his temperature down, because he wouldn't take in the medication and we were getting close to the time he needed his seizure medication. By Monday evening, he hadn't slept much since he woke up Easter Sunday. He started to exhibit some of the signs of his drop seizures (temperature and lack of sleep are huge in bringing on his activity). At 5:30pm, Little J and I headed off the the local ER. That place was jam packed! CRAZY! Everyone was so nice though...even most of the other patients waiting to be seen! It took almost 3 hours before we got back to be seen and Little J was a champ in the waiting room! Once we were finally seen, the nurse and the doctor who cared for him, were AMAZING! They were so nice and sweet with Little J. I knew he wasn't feeling well, because he wasn't flirting with the cute nurse either! LOL! Anyway, they were able to give him something to stop the gagging and vomiting...Yay! They had me give him fluids for a little while, then had me give him his seizure medication and kept us there to make sure he kept it all down and that his drop seizures subsided. Finally, they gave him some benedryl to help him get to sleep, since he was sooooo exhausted. Once they felt confident and knew that I was comfortable, they released us with a prescription for more "anti gag" medication and we were on our way at 11:30pm. I put Little J in the car and he was out like a light before I even backed out of the parking spot...Yay! He slept like a log! I even headed to the drive-thru pharmacy to pick up his prescription and finally hit a drive thru to eat something and he slept so peacefully! Yay!

After a week of spring break recovery, on Monday he was ready to go back to school. He was super excited and Princess J was happy to get rid of him for awhile and get out of the house! LOL! While he was in the car and I was getting his stuff ready to get out, he saw one of the aides from his classroom Aaron, and went completely out of control excited! Yay! He's been back in school for two weeks and now over the weekend, his fever and cough have returned. OY! We were off to the pediatrician again yesterday, and while everything is clear we decided to give him an antibiotic, just to be safe, since this is his third bout with fever and this cough keeps coming back.

As of right now, 3 out of the 4 of us are coughing, but only Little J is has gotten the fever. We had Princess J checked out at the pediatrician yesterday as well.

Thankfully, no one has Swine Flu! LOL!

Enjoy the photos from our Easter fun...before all the sicky drama! LOL!