The Christmas Program

I do not know why, today, I feel so compelled to write a blog because I have a million and ten things to do as I'm sure everyone else does too!!!  It's just that crazy time of year.  BUT, it's also a time of year to reflect and be grateful for the things you are blessed with.  Right?  Today, I'm feeling grateful and blessed.

This morning, Logan and Maddie had their annual Christmas pageant at preschool.  This is Logan's last one before he goes to kindergarten.  Logan's had a tough couple of practices the past few weeks and I was debating even letting him be in the program.  However, he promised me that he would not tackle anyone during the program and he would not touch anyone.  He promised!!!! so I let him go through with it.

I'm sure you can imagine, after I had this talk with my precious little rough and tumble 5 year old,  I didn't have super high expectations for this performance.  I mean, I was just hoping and praying that he wouldn't knock anyone off the altar, you know?

However, as always, as he always freakin' does, Logan FAR surpassed my expectations.  He was AMAZING.  It was the greatest performance I've ever seen.  Greater than U2 in Dublin ;)  Logan was a rockstar.  So sweet and awesome and wonderful.  He sang his little heart out, every word to every song.  He did all the hand movements and did not tackle anyone.  Hooray!!!

I was barely containing floods and floods of tears as I watched my little man.  He's amazing!!!  He's the most amazing person I know.  How did we get here?  How did WE get to be HIS parents?

Soon, OBGYN's across the county are going to be testing pregnant women to see if their unborn fetus' have DS.  The test is done very early in the pregnancy given women more time to process or, if decided, to abort the fetus.  Currently, 85% of parents who find out their unborn fetus MAY have DS decide to abort.

I am not going to offer an opinion on this one way or the other.  I did not have the oppurtunity of knowing that Logan would have DS before he was born so it feels wrong to pass judegement on people who do know.  However, I do want to say that, with days like today I just thank God a million times over for giving me this little boy.  He is such a joy to us!!!

Logan brings more joy and happiness to our lives than I ever, ever would have dreamed possible.  I'm the first to acknowledge that often things are a bit different with Logan, and definitely a bit tougher but, I'm telling you I would NOT trade any of it for anything in the world.

Watching that little munchkin parade down the aisle at Hunt' Church, high-fiving and waving at people he didn't even know, like he owned the place, watching him ROCK out on stage, then, when it was over, watching him say "thank you, thank you, thank you" like the applause was all for him, made my heart swell so much I thought it would burst.  I'll say it again, he amazes me.  Every single child I have met with Down syndrome, EVERY ONE!!!!!!! Is amazing.  I'm 5 years into this world and I am happy to report, I'm thrilled to be a part of this special community.  I'm truly thankful and grateful this year that my little boy has a little something extra ;)

The Plunge (What else could I possibly write about this week?!?!?)

Ugh, first, I have to start off by saying that I have sooo many thoughts running through my head and soooooo little time to organize and write them (WHY do schools have to close for such a tiny amount of snow?  I'm just kidding...it's not the snows fault that I'm a procrastinator).  Anyway, I have a good 10 minutes to get all my deepest thoughts out, at which point Sid The Science Kid ends and chaos returns to the Hudson household.

Anyway, The Plunge.  So, background info, every year for the past 4 years we've done the Polar Bear Plunge which benefits Special Olympics Maryland.  It's an amazing cause and the first year that we did it, it completely changed my life.  See the following blog posts: Cels, Super Plungers and What's In a Team? for more info. 

But, actually, this isn't about the plunge, per say, it's really about what the plunge means to us.  It's about what the people who plunge and donate mean to us.  The first year we did the plunge, Logan was about 8 months old.  It had been a tough couple of months, as I'm sure you can imagine.  However, we got a phone call from a good friend who suggessted we do the Plunge.  Sam and Bobby came up with the name, "Logan's Heroes" and we set our goal at 10 plungers and $1000.  Wow, were we amazed when we FAR surpassed those goals.

That day, 4 years ago, we were surrounded by our family and friends who were so ready and willing to support us.  We were also welcomed into a community, one that we wouldn't necessarily have wanted to join, with open arms and felt so blessed and supported that it completely erased all fears and apprehensions we had for our son.  At least for a  while :)  It was a truly magical day.  And, what's even more magical is that you continue to support us, year after year, and, truthfully, day after day.

So, it's not just the plunge that I'm talking about.  Believe me, I KNOW that it takes a special type of person to pledge to plunge into the absolutely freezing cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay.  I did it one year, and, honest to God, prefer child birth to plunging.  So, please don't ever feel bad about NOT plunging, I'm never doing it again either :)  And,  please don't ever, EVER feel bad about not donating to our cause, or, actually, causes.  Those aren't the most important things to us.

We love you plungers and we love you donators, and we appreciate every single day how much you do for us.  But, we also appriciate all the really great people in the world who support us every day.  By teaching your child love and acceptance of all people, you support us.  By listening to a friend who's going through a tough time, you support us.  By just saying "Hi" to Logan in the supermarket, you're supporting us.

We so often hear about all the negativity in the world.  But, there's so much good in people, that I wish we heard more about them.  Look at Jimmy and Theresa Z who've started the Baltimore Saints Hockey program for special needs kids.  They've impacted hundreds of families.  They've given kids the opportunity of a lifetime!!!!  Look at Kate Lepley and the Miracle for Meghan Foundation, they've raised thousands of dollars for research into genetic disorders which will impact hundreds, maybe thousands of families and hopefully provide kids like Logan and Meghan a much better quality of life.

So many people are so wonderful!!!!  So, plungers, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I mean that more than you'll ever know.  And, thank you to everyone else who just loves and supports and accepts kids, and adults, with special needs.  That's all we've ever really wanted for Logan and that, to us, is what the plunge is all about!!!

You know, I'm not sure I ever would have been involved with these organizations if we didn't have Logan in our lives, so, again, one of the gazillion reasons I'm so eternally grateful to have him as our son.  He's a true, amazing blessing to all of us.

Okay, and also, I just read this and it's totally not written well so I apologize for that, but it actually took me 3 hours to bang this thing out.  Of COURSE, Sid the Science Kid didn't keep anyone's interest. Sooo, we had to make cookies, then pizza for lunch.  Then, we had to make hot chocolate to dip the cookies in, the Georgia spit up because someone shoved a cookie (a FULL cookie) in her mouth so she needed to be changed, then Maddie wanted to dress up like a princess, then Logan wanted to be Spiderman, THEN Spiderman ATTACKED the fairy princess, and so on and so on and so on......

Anyway, good luck Plungers!!  We love you all :)

Ummmmm....

I just want to say that, while it really is super fun to just blow off ALL household chores to play with the kids, it's actually not that great of an idea. 

First of all, people get hungry when you don't make them meals, which makes them cranky and kind of annoying and not fun to play with.  Also, the kitchen sink is only so big, therefore, you have to actually clean the dishes, put them in the dishwasher or let them pile up around the counter (which doesn't look very nice)

Also, these kids get frustrated when they can't find a toy that they want, which they can't when thousands of toys are scattered haphazardly around the house.  Someone (me) needs to organize these toys.

Furthermore, laundry absolutely HAS to be done.  People need clean underwear :)  You know?

So, I'm going to amend my resolution to saying that I'll make an effort to spend more quality time with the munchkins.   No longer am I going to spend ALL my time with them :) 

And, to tell you the truth, I think I was getting on their nerves anyway, so I'm sure they're just as happy about this amendment as I am.

Time Flies

So, today I finally got around to taking our Christmas cards down.  Every year, as they come in, I hang them around the kitchen because they're all so beautiful and my kids love to look at their friends.  However, having already packed away all other Christmas stuff, I felt this was next on the list.  And, I'm also majorly purging all "junk" we have in our house because I can no longer stand the clutter!! Ugh, it drives me crazy.

Anyway, I'm taking down the Christmas cards, and it occurs to me that most of our cards have picture of KIDS on them, not babies.  Our wall used to be filled with babies, not kids.  The first one that struck me was Carter and Brooks, oh my word!!!!, they're pretty much all grown up (at the ages of 4 and 2), and Colin, he looks like a teenager to me (even though he just turned 4) and Declan and Mac!!!  Weren't Logan and Declan JUST born?!?!?!  What the hell?  I'm looking at the Nicholas clan and it occurs to me that Jen and Brian just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary....how can that be?  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was laying in bed, totally hung over, from having the time of my life from one of the best weddings ever?!?!?!?

Then I see the cards of people who have kids my kids ages, Danny and Natalie, Graham and Jane, Patrick and Ryan...if these kids look big and grown up to me that can only mean one thing....MY kids are growing up.  THAT I do not like.

I love this snuggly stage where everyone loves everyone else (particularly ME) and we all get along and we're happy and there's no friend drama.

I realized today, I need to cherish these days, they are certainly limited.  I don't want to spend my time cleaning out closets and making homemade, gourmet, super healthy meals anymore.  (Actually that was a bit of a lie, I don't make gourmet meals, nor are they actually super healthy, but I ALWAYS think about making those types of meals.)  I'm going to try and stop pressuring myself to have the perfectly clean house, with the perfectly organized closets and try and spend more time with these little monsters who seem to be growing up right in front of my eyes.

When we came home from school today, it was freezing in my house.  The reason being I was sweating this morning trying to get all 3 kids out the door so I hastily turned off the heat, cursing it under my breath for making my house so darn hot...lol.  Anyway, it was so cold, that instead of rushing in to have lunch we all piled on the couch and snuggled under a blanket until the heat kicked in.  And I heard some GREAT stories about school that day.  Awesome, hysterical, probably totally made up stories about school.  I loved every minute of it.

It finally hit me, this was going to be my New Years Resolution, which I don't usually have, but how much longer are my kids going to want to snuggle with me on the couch and giggle with each other.  Screw the closets (for now), I'm going outside to play with my kids!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!