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Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Kiddie Pool


Hello Everyone! Happy Holidays to you:) We decided to put together a page for Sam at Adaptivemall.com for some things he is in need of. Sam is too tall for his current stroller and we are in need of a new one for him that will grow with him a bit more. Sam needs transportation via stroller when we are on long outings as he tires easily and just wants to sit down or be held. We thought this would be perfect for our friends and family who want to give to Sam for his birthday, holiday or any event.

Here is the link to Sam's Page:
www.adaptivemall.com/sams.html

We hope everyone has a very merry holiday season!
xo Peter, Holly, Cole, Jack and Sam

Monday, December 06, 2010

Happy Holidays from www.mymonkeydoodles.blogspot.com


Hello Everyone!

Yes, I know. I have been really bad about posting on my blog since we attended the annual conference.

Well..lets see, what is new? Mr.Sam is a pretty happy 4 1/2 yr old little boy. Lately he has had a bout of coughing and croup but is on the mend.
Sam just had his first Augmentive Communication Evaluation at the school. It is looking like the IPAD is the way to go for him. We will have the formal evaluation on paper in the beginning of the year.

Sam has really made some milestones. WE ARE POTTY TRAINING! Sam is doing great on the potty. We are still in our cloth nappies at night but do great throughout the day. He singed "potty" to me for the very first time...well...initiating it for the first time the other day! SO exciting:)

Sam is coming out with more and more words too! Just amazing! We are super excited about this. I will try to post a video here but you can always go on my facebook page to see it too.

We are thinking one more year of pre-school is the way to go for him. We are hoping to keep him at CT College for another good year of a foundation year for him. He is really making milestones and this is a really important time. EVERYTHING is in place there.

As for Sammy's brothers, Cole and Jack. Cole is very busy with his running. He is doing fun runs on Sundays to stay in shape for the track season in the spring. He is looking forward to Ski Club early next year. 7th grade has been good for Cole. Big changes.

Jack is JACK! Oh..my little 8yr old. I think he is realizing it is VERY important to brush your teeth for more than a second when he found out he has to have FILLINGS!
Why doesn't that kids like to wear a winter coat?? LOL OH..my:)

I had to close my natural maternity and baby store for economic reasons. The economy is not very nice to small brick and mortor stores:(
I have however, opened up my NEW SALON! WAAHOOOO PINK cut & color studio! Come check it out. Would love to see you if you are local.

I promise 2011 will be a better year for posting:)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

NDSC Conference was awesome!





Hello Everyone,

We had a fantastic time in Florida for the NDSC Conference. It was just AMAZING to see all parents networking and making a stronger community for all of us with kids with Ds. Cole attended the sibling conference. On the first day he learned more about people first language and the 2nd day they went on an outing. He made some great friends and connections. I spent all day on Friday at the affiliate conference representing Connecticut. We networked on how to make our local non-profit stronger and how to gain more volunteers,etc. So great to see other organizations in the same boat...don't feel alone!

Saturday and Sunday our Jena came from N.Carolina to watch Sam and Jack while Peter, Cole and I went to the conference. Peter really enjoyed the D.A.D.S session. We learned SOO much and will be bringing many of the ideas and thoughts to our own local convention this November. It will be a great!!

You will see here a picture of Cole who made a great friend Tim. Tim is a college graduate and is opening his own restaurant "Tim's Place"! Oh....he also has Down syndrome!

Of course, with the convention in Florida, we had to see MICKEY! What a great way to tie in a learning experience and a little family fun.

Thank you to all of you who made this possible for us. xoxo

Holly

Friday, June 25, 2010

We are going to the National Down Syndrome Conference


Well...it's only been a months since I posted. Bad mommy. I have to get better at this. With Facebook and everything else this blog gets left behind. Good thing is I have a way to post from my phone super easy now! Love the iphone!

So we did some amazing fundraisers to help us get to Florida next month (July) to get us to Convention. Cans for Sam is still bringing in the change which is great seeing this convention is located at Disney. Spaghetti for Sam was a success. WOW...I just don't know how to thank everyone for all they have done to pull that event together for us. The leclair family and his boy scouts rocked and of course my sister Tammy and her family are always at hand. We had many donations for our raffle drawing including a bike (pics of raffle item on this post)! THANK YOU TO ALL!

Overall, we were able to raise enough funds to pay for everything and even to get a sitter for a few days so Peter and I can enjoy the conference and Jack and Sam can stay back at the resort to splash in the pool. Cole will be at the sibling convention. So excited for him!

I PROMISE to post lots of pictures when we are away.

On another note. I am lucky to have won a scholarship to the National Apraxia Conference in Pittsburg the beginning of July. Yes, I am a busy mama but somehow seem to fit it all in!

xo for now!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

My Monkey Doodle Sam is 4 today!



Here we are, May 4, 2010. I can not believe my baby is already 4. Time does certainly fly by. We are so lucky that Sam is in our family. Today Sam will celebrate with his classmates by sharing his wheat and Gluten free corn bread muffins we made. Tonight we will celebrate with family after brother Jacks LAX practice. We will have Sammy's favorite...ICE CREAM CAKE of course!

Sam will have a few friends over to celebrate his turning 4. We are going to have a "Sock Monkey" theme! I can't wait to post those pictures. It will be super fun! I got the idea to get back into the theme party from one of my dear customers Suzanne! Thank you Suzanne! No reason to not do it up right?

This year Sam is getting a balance bike from us and his brothers got him some "hooked on phonics" books. Sam LOVES to read and is already reading! I will post more on that soon. I have some great video footage of that! More pics to come!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SAM SAM!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

July will be here soon!


The Salegna family is working really hard to collect every bottle and can possible for "Cans for Sam". We fundraising to attend the National Down Syndrome Convention in Florida this July! We have to go! There will be a siblings 2 day workshop for big brother Cole to attend and lots to do! Yes, Florida is HOT that time of year but thankfully there are pools and air conditioning!

Check out Cans for Sam!

We will keep you posted!

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Cans for Sam


Hello Everyone,

WOW, I can not believe it, I have not posted to this blog since January?? SO, SORRY!
I think I have just been a bit busy!

We are very anxious to attend the upcoming National Down Syndrome Congress Convention this July in Florida. Yes...hot July Florida! The best part about it all is it is at Disney World! Our life is always about Down syndrome and at times my older 2 boys get lost in it. We want to make this a very special trip for everyone.

Hmm.....how are we going to get there?? Conference fee, travel expenses, Disney tickets???? FUNDRAISER! You betcha! I am not shy to do a fundraiser that is going to benefit all of us! We all need to learn more and more at the convention on how we can give Sam the best opportunities. I want my children to understand (I do think they are getting it) how important it is that we have to be Sam's advocate.

We are doing a Can/bottle drive fundraiser to help us get to Florida in July. During these hard economic times we would not ask anyone for direct funds....if you are not using your bottles/cans to cash in yourself or would like to donate them...we will take them!

Check out the event CANS FOR SAM here!!!!!!!!!!!


Become a fan of CANS FOR SAM on FACEBOOK HERE!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Slide show of Sam from Stars of Hope

Here is the beautiful photo shoot from Nina Benjamin. Sam is the January Star of Hope for her blog.
Enjoy.

Stars of Hope


Sam was picked to be the "star" of the month at "Stars of Hope". We were honored to be choosen by Photographer Nina Benjamin to be the Star of January. Our photo shoot was so productive. She came to our home and utilized what we have here. She really likes the natural setting of what the child is doing. You will see that absolutely reflects in her work. She did bring in a backdrop for a different feeling as well. She is fantastic with children. Sam just adored her with smiles as you will see in the pictures! Thank you Nina!

View the Photo Gallery here

Saturday, January 09, 2010

diapers...diapers...diapers


All I can say is I am so glad I ENJOY cloth diapering as much as I do:) Really, I propably have saved over $5000.00 by now with all 3 kids in cloth and Sam who 3.5 and not potty trained. I am anticipating 5yrs old for that...so 2 more years or so of DIAPERS! OH..yes, so glad I am saving space at the landfill:) hehe!

So, this is what I do in my downtime at home:) Stack them, stuff them, sort them and get them ready for the diaper bag for Sammy's school day! I only have to send 4 or 5 depending on what day of the week it is (Friday is shorter day).

I am very excited to try out the Thristies all in ones! woop woop. Does not take much to make this mama happy!