Getting Rid of My Brother in South Carolina.

Hi there Blogger people.

This is Meagan, posting on Mom's blog about our road trip from Texas to South Carolina, to leave Grady there for college. :P

Well, it started with everything being packed in the van by 7:15 this morning. I guess you could say things were going pretty smoothly.. Until the van wouldn't start. D:

But thankfully we got it up and running within five minutes. Apparently there was something wrong with the battery, and Dad just had to hook it to his car.

Anyways.. Enough of the boring stuff.

The ride into Louisiana was good, Ruby didn't cry or anything the whole ride there. And neither did Aaron, my sixteen year old brother, so that was a relief. ;P

Ruby, Grady, Aaron and I underneath the Louisiana sign.

On the ride through Louisiana, the boys and I watched "Reign of Fire" to pass the time. So there really isn't much to say about that ride. Except about Ruby..

After we watched our movie, Ruby was a bit tired of sitting in her seat, so I got her out and buckled her in next to me. She was holding her Sesame Street "Shake a Leg" book, and she threw it at me so I figured that meant she wanted me to read it to her. Then we watched a bit of "Finding Nemo".

But it turns out letting her watch that wasn't too good of an idea. I now know, that makes her car sick. I found out the hard way. -_-

Just as we were driving into Mississippi, she threw up all over me. I was wearing my favorite Owl City shirt, too! :[ So obviously I had to change my shirt. It's all good, though. Hah.

So out in Mississippi we were.

Mom, Ruby, Aaron, Grady and me underneath the Mississippi sign.

Mom standing next to one of the cannons.

Dad being silly.

Dad and Grady trying to stuff Aaron into the cannon. Hah.[:

Me sitting on the cannon.

Us kids.

Aaron and Grady letting everyone know they are men.

So yeah, Mississippi was a fun state to go through. And the scenery wasn't too bad.

Next stop, Alabama.

The sun was so bright!

Ruby got to join us.

Aaron's C3PO stance.

Aaron's pretend phone conversation pose.

Speed limit 15, Aaron. Slow down!

 Aaron's injured look.                         

Grady, Aaron and me.

Dad and the bros trying to figure out the "directions on the pole". *Scoff* ...Men.

Me in the shades Dad bought me, and with the Batman shurikan necklace Grady bought me.[:

Yeah, Alabama was probably my favorite state to have gone through. Just cause it was so much fun with Aaron's craziness and all. Plus Grady surprising me by buying the Batman thing was amazing! Batman is my biggest obsession. :P And the shades are cool too.[:

But anyways, while we were at the welcoming area for Alabama, the boys and I did a "pine cone punting" video. I won't be posting it on here, but it was fun making it.[:

And obviously Aaron is the funniest one out of all of us.

The trees were so tall! I'd never stood next to such tall trees. Hahaah. It felt good out there, too. Especially getting to stretch out legs out a bit.

When we came into Georgia it was too dark to take a picture underneath the sign. :[

Plus I was asleep. hehe.

Man.. I tell you.. When we finally got to the hotel, it was amazing. This room is pretty nice. A huge TV, a nice couch for me to crash on, a computer desk, a good little kitchen area, and I'm really enjoying the peep hole. :P

This is a picture I just took of us this very minute...

So yeah, we're pretty comfortable, and Mom and Dad are already asleep. So this should be a good night.[:

Tomorrow morning we're heading for South Carolina, where Mom, Aaron, Ruby and I are going to chill at another hotel while Dad takes Grady to get signed in at Bob Jones.

It should be a fun day.[:
But when we leave on Monday, I know we're all going to miss Grady. Especially Aaron and me, because we do everything together.

Well, I think it's time to get a little shut eye.

I hope this didn't bore any of you to sleep! D:

Thanks for reading.

  -MeaganS.<3[:

LEADER OF THE BAND: A young man with Down syndrome never misses his chance to be a modern-day Music Man

Dressed in a red Badger shirt with a baton in his back pocket, Ben De Young headed to the park early on Tuesday.


He had a concert to conduct.

But first, chairs needed to be set out and music stands in place before a few hundred people showed up to hear music and eat pie.

Ben's been making this trip from his parent's home on Waupun Street to the town square in Friesland for most of his life. His mother, Martha, would say before he could even walk.


LEADER OF THE BAND: A young man with Down syndrome never misses his chance to be a modern-day Music Man

Buddies at Work Day showcases disabled employee - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

By Theresa Schmidt -

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - It can be hard enough to find a job, but imagine if you have a disability that discourages some employers from even considering you.

At one local restaurant, a special young woman is proving those with disabilities can still be successful employees.

Twenty six-year-old Josie Hazelwood has Down syndrome, but it hasn't stopped her from becoming what they call a crew member at a local fast food restaurant where she helps keep tables clean and ready for the next customer. "I clean the tables. I got a job. I got money. I got tips," she says.



Buddies at Work Day showcases disabled employee - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

School-to-work program to begin for special-needs workers - The York Daily Record

School-to-work program to begin for special-needs workers - The York Daily Record

A Decade Cleaning Tables at the Bowling Alley

Arthur Fortaliza cleans tables and chairs three mornings a week at Mira Mesa Lanes. The 43-year-old with Down syndrome is a mainstay there.
Here's the link to the article:
A Decade Cleaning Tables at the Bowling Alley


I like to find and read articles about adults who have Down syndrome,to find out what type of life they have.I have a fear of dying and not being here to care for Ruby when she is an older adult.The article above mentions that this man's parents have died and that he lives with his brother.I hope that someday if Ruby needs them her siblings will be willing to care for her.My children and I have discussed this a little and have talked about how Ruby has enough siblings to help divide up her care if my husband and I die or unable to care for her.The siblings could take turns and each have her for a month.Just a thought.
I know that ultimately God is in control.

Two years ago

Two years ago today on my birthday I got to bring my Ruby home from the hospital.I don't think I will ever have a more wonderful birthday present than that.We all love her so much.

Here is my post from last year on this date

Littlest Heroes Project

Ruby had a photo session last Saturday,(two days after her second birthday) with ,Christina Esselman, a photographer who donates her time and talent to Inspiration Through Art (formerly The Littlest Heroes Project) . Christina did a terrific job! She was also very sweet and brought Ruby a birthday present,one of the books that Christina gave Ruby is in the photo of Ruby looking at a book.Thank you Christina you are an amazing person!

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Ruby's big brother

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Ruby and Daddy

Blogger was messing up and wouldn't let me remove the duplicate pictures.

Girl with Down syndrome Tap Dancing

More Crawling

I'm so excited about Ruby crawling.After working on it for so long I just thought she probably never would crawl and just go straight to walking.She has been army crawling on her belly for a long time, and has even bear crawled a few steps lately,but one day a couple of weeks ago she just decided she would crawl on hands and knees!
It's just so wonderful to see her getting around everywhere and not scrubbing the floor with her belly.A couple of nights after she started crawling I was sitting in our living room, and Ruby had scooted on her belly into our kitchen and then she got up on her hands and knees to crawl and I just started crying.I was so happy!See Ruby can!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Crawling

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Eye check and other updates

My husband and I took Ruby today to see an opthamologist at our local children's hospital ,her eyesight is fine and she wont have to have her eye's checked again until she turns four.Yeah!While she was having her eyes checked she kept saying,"Hi!" to the opthamologist and saying "see it?" at the different lenses and lights the Dr. was using.The Dr's were very good with Ruby.

Ruby has started cruising along our furniture so I'm hoping to see her start trying to walk on her own soon.Although I'm sure as soon as she is walking she will be getting into even more than she does already!  She is really starting to pick up on using more sign language and speaking new words.She's so cute and will sign and say "bath" when I change her diaper,thinking that I'm getting her undressed for a bath.  :) She is saying "bite" when she sees any of us with food and loves to try and eat what we are eating, but usually she just chews on the food for a bit then spits it out because she has difficulty swallowing food with much texture without gagging.

We had a great time on our visit to the Zoo on Memorial day,which I posted pictures from on my Wordless Wednesday.A couple of commenter's from that post asked if Ruby liked the Zoo and I wanted to answer that ,yes, Ruby was very good at the zoo even though it was an extremely hot day.My husband and I were exhausted by the end of the day and my husband spent $22.00  and a 20 minute wait,just so we could all ride the train back to the front of the zoo, so we wouldn't have to walk all that way to leave.
Ruby enjoyed all the animals and would wave and say ,"Hi!" to them and she also made growling sounds at them.
While we were there I noticed an older couple and their grown children , one of the young women had Down syndrome.I didn't say anything to them and just observed how sweetly the family members all were to this young woman.I saw them several times while we were walking through the zoo,then while we were sitting down to rest, near the giraffes,this same family came over to look at the giraffes and the mother,who was in a wheelchair,noticed Ruby sitting  in her stroller."Look," she said to her daughter who had Ds,that little girl is just like you! At first it didn't appear that the daughter noticed Ruby but then after her mother started asking me questions about Ruby she turned and looked at her and her face just looked so sweet and she said,"Look! She like me ,she like me! I just wanted to hug her! We found out her name was Juliette and she was 39 years old,she looked great by the way ,her mother told me that Ruby would return much love back to us as long as we showed much love to her and that she would be a great blessing to our family.She also told me the best advice that she could give me was to not let Ruby do things now while she's 2 that I don't want her to do when she is 21.I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture of Ruby and Juliette together.I could just kick myself.sigh.Their hair was even the same color!

Thank you for all the well wishes to my son Grady on his college acceptance!

College

I found out today that my son Grady was accepted into the college that he wants to go to!He is going for a graphic arts major.Grady I'm so proud of you!

Wordless Wednesday-The Zoo

Don't laugh at me.