Falmouth Road Race

Well, I did it. I raised almost $3000 for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, made a little speech at their luncheon on Saturday before the race, and completed the 7.1 mile run. Yippee!! Thank you to EVERYONE who donated to this important organization. It's truly appreciated.

The Triple Pelvic Osteotomy

As most of you know, Jack is having hip surgery on Monday, August 30th. Both his hips have been popping out for over 8 months and we're having them repaired before they cause him great pain. Unfortunately, they can only repair one at a time, so he will have this surgery twice within a year. We're holding our hats and hoping for the best. He'll be spending 4-7 days at Children's Hospital in Boston and in a Spica cast for about a month. The hospital provides a sort of blog where you can keep family and friends updated about your child's surgery. Please feel free to sign up and get updates from me as everything happens. Wish us luck. ;)

**Make sure to search "JackChristianson" without the space.***

www.carepages.com

A Day at the Farm

So, we went to Friendly Farm in Dubin, NH a few weeks ago. What a great place! After paying your fee and grabbing a bag or two of feed, you can wander around the completely enclosed farm and be at one with animals. If you like sheep, goats, chickens, etc . . . that is. Both Jack and Haley had a blast and would have been happy to camp there. Jack couldn't get enough of the chickens, and Haley was butted by a sheep, but a good time was had by all. ;)

Running for Jack

On August 15, 2010, I will be running the Falmouth Road Race to celebrate and promote the acceptance and inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome, like our little Jack. I am hoping to raise over $1500 for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress (MDSC). As of today, I've raised over $1300. So close . . .

With the money raised, the MDSC can continue to fund important programs and services in the areas of education, research, and advocacy for those individuals with Down syndrome.

Although I am a resident of New Hampshire, I have deep-rooted ties in Massachusetts and feel the MDSC is very active in promoting awareness of people with Down syndrome.

Would love to see you come out to the beautiful race course on Cape Cod to cheer on the over 10,000 runners. Look for me . . . I'll be the one sweating.

I appreciate any support you can give me. Just contact me and I will provide you the link. I thank you . . . Jack thanks you.

She love the Wiggles

Just thought I would share a few of Haley's dance moves. :)

Thank you IKEA!

Every winter is long . . . and every winter seems to be getting longer. Like everyone else on Earth, I love spring. Not just the return of the warmer weather, or the budding trees or singing birds, but the expected federal and state of Massachusetts tax refund. Oh the spending. IKEA did benefit greatly from this year's refunds.

I decided that we needed to use our breezeway more efficiently. Every winter we just pile our coats, boots, mitten, hats (you get the picture) on the furniture or just strewn on the floor. That just doesn't work for me and my need for organization. After much research and checking out of Google images for "mudroom", I decided on IKEA cabinets and baskets to keep everything in it's place. Now we all have our own little cubbies! Tom now calls it the locker room.

While we lay in bed at night, we can hear Jack banging into his little fire truck bed. We came to the conclusion that he had just outgrown it. After much research, as always, I decided on the "reversible" bed at IKEA. I think what sold me on it was the tent you could buy for it. Jack loves to be undercover, so how could I not?!? What's neat about this bed is that you can just flip it around and you now have a short bunk bed with a great reading area underneath. He's really not ready for that change just yet, but it's there when he is. So, he's now graduated from his Barnyard theme to splashings of cars, truck, airplanes, and motorcycles. Real boy stuff!

And finally, we just updated our bedding to give our bedroom a spring lift. A new comforter, duvet cover and shams. Now it really feels like spring.

Thank you IKEA. Now that I think of it . . . you should be thanking us. :)

We miss you Nala Girl

As most of you know, our beloved golden lab, Nala, is no longer with us. We made the difficult decision last week, but it was the right one.

She'd been a witness to my life for 15 years, and no one else can claim that distinction. She was the kind of dog that people enjoyed being around; she didn't jump on you, lick your face off, bark at all hours of the night. She kept to herself mostly, enjoyed a good ear rub, and always met you at the door with something in her mouth.

She was no dummy either. One of her favorite things to do was to lay on the couch. But she knew it wasn't allowed and I could always hear her jump off when she heard my footsteps. She knew others were pushovers, but I toed the line. :) Or the time I came back to the car to find the pizza box still on the dash, but all the pizza gone. And the box of cookies, the kind that is stacked in little paper sleeves, every single one eaten and not one paper sleeve out of it's place.

I'll always be sorry that she was put on the back burner since we had kids. I guess that is to be expected, but it doesn't make it okay. But she's on my mind all the time. Every time the kids drop food on the floor, I think of her. When I come through the door, I think of her. When I see the yellow spots on the lawn, I think of her. She'll never really be gone; we'll be finding her hair under the furniture for years. :)

We miss you Nala girl. You were my best friend on four legs.

Sunday Swim

Jack's Down syndrome playgroup, Morning Travelers, organized a Sunday swim for the kids. The Chelmsford High School Boy's Swim Team donated their time and someone generous donated time at the YMCA's swimming pool. Jack and Haley both had a one-on-one swimmer for the hour they spent in the pool.

Haley had no problem going in and came out about half hour later due to the fact her lips were blue and she was shivering.

Jack was overwhelmed from the get go. He had his hands over his ears and it was difficult to even make him sit at the edge of the pool. Soon there after we just pushed him in with Neil waiting to catch him. Of course he was having a ball after that. Anyone who got in his way was splashed! Needless to say, it was nearly impossible to pull him out. And the best part: neither Tom or I had to put a foot in the pool! :)

Thank you so much to the Chelmsford Boy's Swim Team and especially Derek and Neil for taking care of our little ones.

Jumping Fools

Jack loves to use the trampolines at his therapy sessions, so I thought it might be a good idea to have one at home . . . maybe he'll stay off his sister with this distraction. Well, that didn't work, but they do like to bounce!

Christmas 2009

We had a very nice Christmas this year. Spent Christmas Eve at the Christianson's famous Christmas Eve party with lots of food and a spirited Yankee (sorry, Red Sox) swap. It was nice to have Eric and Sarah make it as well.

Christmas Day was surprisingly relaxing as we were all over the place. Stayed at our house till about noon where the kids unwrapped their treasures from Santa. Headed over to Auntie's house in Lowell for a lovely brunch where they unwrapped even more presents. We headed down to Plymouth to my grandparent's house about 3pm. We had dessert and another spirited Yankee Swap with about 25 of us before we headed home around 8pm. Busy day, but fulfilling. :)