Quite the Weekend!

We had quite the weekend last week and are now compliling all of our pictures! Friday was Halloween, Saturday was Kenz's birthday, and Sunday was Em's blessing. It was a busy weekend full of family, fun, and frenzy!



McKenzi was Cinderella for preschool. They had a parade and a party and she looked so cute. She even had the glass slippers from Disneyworld last year!

That night they all went as characters from their favorite movie, Peter Pan. They looked darling! I think Porter's new favorite holiday is going to be Halloween. He was so funny when we went to our first house and he caught on that you got candy... a bit of a monster by the end of the night!





McKenzi was Wendy,









Porter was Peter Pan,













Emmalee was Tinker Bell...


the three of them were so cute! I was so pleased the costumes worked out as cute as they did too!


HAPPY FOUR YEARS!


It is crazy to think our little princess is already four years old. It seems like not long ago we were just bringing her home from the hospital. She loves the Disney Princesses, so we had a big family Princess Pizza Party.

BLESSING DAY

It was a fun day, and a good way to end such a good weekend. Brady gave such a beautiful blessing and we were able to have family and friends join us.

Emmalee is getting so big and is such a fun addition to our little family. Porter and McKenzi are becoming such good helpers and loving siblings. I am amazed at the days that seem to fly by and then when you turn around, they are getting so big and you wonder where the days have gone. Wow, what fun memories!

Welcome to Holland!

Many posts today, and Brady tells me to stop, but my heart is so full.

When Brady and I found out McKenzi had Down syndrome, so many thoughts went through our heads. It has truly been one of the hardest and most rewarding opportunties we have been blessed with. One of our nurses gave us a poem the day we left the hospital called, "Welcome to Holland." It talks about the reality of raising a child with special needs and compares it to a person preparing to visit Italy.

Welcome to Holland"
By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. All rights reserved.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

McKenzi had her first Primary Program! She was the opening line after signing "I am a Child of God". She said in her cute babble, "I am a child of God. I am created in His image." I had to translate for all to hear, but I learned so much from this experience. While all of the other three year olds and primary children sat on the stand well, I had to hold McKenzi on my lap and help her to sit reverently. (We actually had to leave the stand half-way through when he shoe velcro caught my nylons and made a hole. She was trying to fix it and I was trying to have her be quiet!) While the others had their lines and paragraphs memorized and done so well, we smiled at McKenzi's babble, but could understand none of it. I felt like I was sitting watching "Italy" rush before my eyes and feeling sorry for myself because I did not have the most learned child, when McKenzi reached up, wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a huge kiss.

That is when I was reminded I was blessed to live in Holland! She taught all of us with her babble. She is such a sweet spirit who is truly created in His image. What a great blessing she has been in out home. She teaches me so much about patience and love everyday. There are hard days and days when I feel sorry for myself, but It is truly an honor to have her our home and feel and learn so many things I know not all have the opportunity. I am especially grateful for a patient Heavenly Father who allows me to be a mother to one of His most blessed spirits. So many wonderful people have come into our lives and we have had the chance to do and participate in many experiences we would not have had otherwise. It has been a great four years (almost!) living in Holland and I would not trade any of it for the world.

Helping Out

Yesterday while I was out running errands, Grandma and Grandpa let the kids come over and play. McKenzi and Porter loved helping in the yard raking, picking up, and playing in the leaves. Here are the pictures I came home to. So cute... they love to help!

Emmalee's still to little to help, but here is how she stayed warm inside with Grandma.

She is getting so big and doing so well. I cannot believe how fast you forget. She is starting to smile and recognize more voices. And, trying to hold up her little head. It is so amazing to watch them grow and develop and discover their new world. I am constantly in awe of the great perseverance they have to even so small. What a blessing she is. Having a family is so fun!

AND... SILLY GIRL!

We didn't hear anything for a bit, and then when I called, and went to see where she was, this is what I saw.

A little "umpa lumpa" coming down the stairs. She had gone in to help Brindi clean her room, and decided to get all of the clothes off the floor by putting them on. She was HUGE!!!! And, had the funniest wobble.

I could do nothing but laugh, and I still giggle just thinking about it.

FINAL COUNT:

17 Shirts

5 Underwears

3 Tank Tops

SHE WAS HUGE!

The Return of the Mullet

I was in the kitchen, when I heard McKenzi calling for Porter. I went around the corner to see her walking over to him holding a pair of scissors. I walked over to her, took the scissors away, moved the chair she had moved to the desk to climb and get the scissors, then watched as she walked away. Her pony tail fell...


She has cut her hair, we had it halp way up and the pony was gone. She has the mullet. Billy Ray Cirus!!! It has been interesting trying to do her hair since. We have to pull all of the hair on her left side over to try and cover it, but you can still see how lovely it is. Thankfully, though, most people gather she gave the "do" to herself!

Six Weeks Without Dad

For those of you do not know, Brady was sent to Salt Lake for training after Emmalee was born. At 4 days old, I was released from the hospital and went to live at my parents' house so I could recover. My inlaws were kind enough to take Kenz and Porter for the first week, while I stayed at my parents.

My parents were kind enough to take Emmalee at night and I slept and then had her in the day. My scar was starting to hurt less, so I was able to start helping later, but it quite interesting. I am blessed to have the parents and in the inlaws I have. We would not have made it without them. And, Brady would have had a really hard time leaving us all in such a crazy state. What a blessing...

Here is a picture we sent to dad to say hi. Trying to get three to work for the picture was hard, but here is what you get. So glad he is home now...

She's Here!

Well, she is here! It has been five weeks actually, but quite the interesting couple of weeks! First, before our update, we are excited to introduce...

Emmalee Dawn Orchard

02 September 2008
7:58am
6 lbs. 10 oz.

She is really fun and we love the new addition to our family. Emmalee came early Tuesday morning

after they sent me home Monday. My scheduled c-section was for Tuesday, but I was starting to contract and start labor. Because Monday was Labor Day, they told me to wait because it was a holiday and our insurance would not the extra fee. I was not pleased, but did as told and showed up at 5:30 the next morning. Scheduled cesarians are wonderful...so much easier and less stressful that emergency ones! She was born just before 8:00am and was having a hard time breathing. They think she inhaled liquid as they pulled her out, so she had to spend the first 24 hours in the NICU. I was able to meet her in the evening of the 2nd and then feed her the next morning... It brought back many emotions from McKenzi and the adventures we had with her. Luckily, the stay was not as long and she is now healthy and doing well. She is getting so big and has not had any other further problems since!

Sunday Update...

Do not feel bad or left out if you did not know about us expecting! She is quite the surprise for us! I was not feeling good and was throwing up all of the time because I was so sick with something. Brady and I thought it was my gall-bladder acting up again and were thinking that was making me sick. We went to the doctor to have check my infection level and see what was wrong. Tests came back and said I was fine, and I should start to feel better within at least nine months. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We called my doctor and went in to see how far along I was and what was going on. We were almost done with the first trimester!!!! This pregnancy has gone by much quicker than our other two, but it has taken some adjusting and getting used to as well. We are getting excited for our new addition and are slowly starting to get things ready. I feel like I still have five months or so, and we will be done within the next three.

Life still continues to be busy for our little family. Summer is here and we are enjoying the free time, but sick of the temper mental weather. Oh well, we will just take advantage of the nice weather when it is here...

McKenzi is playing t-ball this year! There is a special needs league that was started last year with some of the families we know, but she was too young to play. This year we begged to allow her to play and they said yes if Brady would coach. Well, that was not a hard agreement to make. We start tomorrow and have been practicing all week. We even went so she could pick out her own bat, bright pink! They have been so cute practicing hitting and running from one end of the yard to the other...we will just have to see how tomorrow goes when everyone is there and we really play.

Porter's Announcement...

When we found out we were expecting Porter, McKenzi wore a shirt that said "I'm the BIG SISTER!" We decided it was only fair to have Porter make the announcement this time.

Yes, we are expecting and if you can't tell from our Little Guy's shirt, it is another girl! She will be joining us sometime around September 6th and we are getting excited (and a bit nervous to be outnumbered!!!).

Do You Hear That?

So, Brady and I walk outside the other day and start to put the kids in the car. All of a sudden, Brady looks and me and asks, "Do you hear that?" No, I am thinking. I did not hear anything. Then, he gets this grin on his face like he is two and about to get into something... Needless to say, he hurried us into the car and we drove off, with me still wondering what is was he could hear.

THE ICE CREAM MAN!!!!!

I am not kidding! It was around the corner on a different street. Who can hear that far? I am sure his ears to do not always work that good when I am calling from the other room!

Carnival

This week we also had the yearly Fox Hollow Carnival for a fundraiser. Since McKenzi is going there for pre-school, we decided we would take advantage of a reason to just go play and be silly! It was so fun... We had Fishing, Bean Bags, Plinko, Skee Ball, and Carnival Food! Kenz and Porter were so funny running up and down the halls playing game after game.

At the end we traded in our winning tokens for prizes. It is so great to think we paid so much for the tickets and won a purse and car. All goes for a good cause, that makes it easier!!!!

To the Batmobile!

This week was the Pinewood Derby for our scouts. Then, as is Sageview Ward tradition, we had the ward derby! Brady and his Batmobile won second place!!!! Not bad being that he lost to a car built by the engineer of our ward with an engine, seriously! They take the derby very seriously in this ward!