Baby Idol Results

This morning they announced the results of the Baby Idol competition. Unfortunately, Ben did not win. But we really had fun this week campaigning for him. Thanks to everyone who voted.

We have a busy day of painting ahead of us. My goal is to get at least 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom painted this weekend. If we can get more than that done, it would be a bonus.

Ben is a Baby Idol Finalist

A few weeks ago I heard about a Baby Idol contest on the radio where they were looking for pictures of cute babies. I thought to my self - "Hey.. I have a cute baby, maybe I should enter one of his picutres."
So I found one of my favorites and emailed it away. And then forgot completely about it.

Yesterday on the way home from John's game, I happened to be listing to the very same raido station, and they mentioned the Baby Idol contest. When I submitted the photo, they sent a confirmation email, but I had not heard anyhing else, so I figured he did not get picked. As soon as I got home, I got on line and was shocked to learn that Ben had indeed been chosen as one of the 12 Baby Idol finalists. The voting had already begun and will continue until Thurday May 21st at 5:00. Only one vote per person, per day is allowed.

To link to the B107.3 website click here

It is awesome that Ben was chosen. I don't think they have any idea that they have a baby with Down Syndrome in the top 12. In some pictures it is more obvious than in others, but not so much in the one I sent in. Of course we think he was cute in all the pictures. He has a smile that just melts your heart, and he gives it away so freely.

Ben has the best outlook on life. He is happy to be where ever he is (so long as Mom is pretty close) Here is an example. Last week when we were on vacation, it started to rain. At the time we were headed to the putt-putt golf course, and the bigger boys were really bummed. We popped the back hatch on the van, and sat under it, to wait it out. Ben was in his stroller and while he was out of the rain for the most part, he could stick his arm out and "catch" the rain. The bigger boys were whinning and complaining, but Ben was laughing and giggling and just having the best time. It was just such a great example of making the best of the situation and enjoying the gifts you have been given.
Ben is that gift for us.

Florida Vacation

It is good to be home! It seems so cold. Had to turn on the heat last night to warm up the house. I think it was supposed to get down into the 30's last night. It is a far cry from the 80 and 90's we had last week in Florida. I don't think we ever made it to the pool before 8:00 pm on any day, and it never seemed that cold.

We arrived on Saturday, and found the hotel, got some supper, then went swimming.
On Sunday and Monday we drove out to Kennedy Space Center. Monday was the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis that we watched from the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The boys got to meet and get an autograph from Astronaut Bob Springer. There were lots of people and it was very hot, but was a really awesome experience. Tuesday we all went to Aquatica, which is Sea World, water park. We went down some pretty scary slides. Very neat park, but we all got burned except Ben and Noah. Wednesday we went to Sea World. They have a new roller Coaster that hangs you face down. Randy and John went on it, and thought it was the best one of the whole trip. Thursday and Friday we went to Universal Studios. They had some very cool rides too!

Over all there sure were a lot of people at all the parks, and this is supposed to be their off season. Most of the time we only had to wait 20-30 minutes to get on a ride, so it wasn't too bad. I would hate to go when the wait times are 50-60 minutes for each ride.

Noah's baseball game for yesterday got rescheduled to today, so we are off to Syracuse. This will be the first game of the year for us.

Florida

The Good, the bad and the ugly.

Really good - The launch of the space shuttle Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center, the Marriott's Harbour Lake Resort, seeing friends from Elmwood amid thousands of people, traveling with a happy baby.

The bad - Toll booths, forgetting the cord to the camera so I can't down load any pictures of today's awesome sight, brothers who fight.

The Ugly - The Orlando Airport and waiting in very long lines, especially at Dollar Rent a car. Wow! what a nightmare! Very unfriendly, very poor customer service, barely spoke any English.

Looking forward to 5 more days of fun with the family.
Picture to follow.

Summer Vacation

It is going to be a long summer. School got out early this year due to the construction on the school building. The last day was Friday. The big boys started day-care at Son Shine Day-care at the Methodist church in town. The first day they were both up at 6:00 to take care of the dog and get ready. The last couple days it has been more of a chore to get them ready to go. It looks like the day-care has been doing a good job of coming up with fun things for them to do, but it really can't compete with going swimming and going on field trips like they used to do at their Lincoln day-care summer program.
Ben is still going to a home daycare in Lincoln for the summer. He has scared the heck out of us quite a few time lately, when he seems to choke when he eats. It is really strange in that he is crying, and obviously still breathing, but it is like he has something stuck in his throat, and is coughing and hacking. It usually ends with him throwing up a frothy version of what he ate, and then he seems fine. Yesterday it was peaches that were cut up very small. A couple weeks ago it was sweet potato. Not sure if it is just going down the wrong way, and just hurts, or what, but it is very scary. I am planning to ask the therapist today to look at the way he swallows, to see if there is an issue.
Getting ready to head to sunny Florida. Can't wait for vacation!