More Parties

Jaymi was invited to another birthday party last weekend.  This time for our cute friend Taylor.  I was out of town so she went with our friends Holly and Mia.  Everyone said she had a great time, sad I missed being there.

Mia, *Anya, *Hazel (*Both Russian born too, now sisters forever), Jaymi and Birthday girl Taylor

Jaymi and Anya.  Anya was adopted from Russia about a year before we started the process to bring Jaymi home.  Reading through her blog helped us know what the process would entail and helped us take that initial leap of faith.

Apparently she had a death grip on Taylors Minnie mouse camera the whole party.  She loves having something in her hands at all times :)

Who I Am

To go along with the mission of the International Down Syndrome's Coalition we would like to tell you who our girls with Down syndrome are.  We couldn't leave out little Bryn.  Although she doesn't have Down syndrome, her life will always be blessed by her sisters and this beautiful world of special needs that she will grow up in.  We are so blessed to be their parents!

Kaelyn Ruth Bonner -

I Am...

Feisty

Sweet

Small

Calm

Mischievous

A Tease

Loving

Cuddly

Flexible

Pure

Cautious

Beautiful

Healthy

Fragile

Daddy's Girl

Musical

Stubborn

A Teacher

A Sister

A Daughter 

A Child of God

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaymi Viktoria Bonner-

I Am...

Bright

Capable

Curious

Smart

Strong

Athletic

Russian-American

Independent

Healthy

Funny

Beautiful

Tidy

Helpful

Loving

Sweet

An Example

Joyful

Adventurous

Adjusting

Outgoing

Friendly

Kind

Brave

A Sister

A Daughter

A Child of God

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryn Lois Bonner -

I Am...

Sweet

Compassionate

Learning

Clumsy

Adventurous

Loving

Happy

A Tease

Silly

Stubborn

Independent

A Mama's Girl

Friendly

Determined

Playful

Inquisitive

Shy

A Sister

A Daughter

A Child of God

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are SISTERS and we are LOVED.

And me? I'm their mom.  Best. Job. Ever!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day

Today is a very special day in our family.  Here is our recap from last year.We had some fun things planned to show Jaymi how we celebrate her and Kaelyn's extra chromosome!  (Sadly I forgot to take pictures of most of it, lets just say my hands were definitely full all day)  We enjoyed some free ice cream from Cold Stone creamery with our friends Holly, Mia and Lily.  Mia is a cutie with Ds and is Jaymi's age, hopefully they will be in the same kindergarten class next year.  Ice cream is Jaymi's favorite treat, she knows how to sign it and asks for it pretty much every day.  Definitely fits into our family!

Next Kaelyn and Bryn got to go hangout with Grandma Amy while Jaymi and I did a little shopping.  She helped me pick out spring outfits for her and her sisters for Easter.  She was pretty scared when she saw the mannequins without heads in one of the stores.  After showing her they were not real and she could touch them she was okay.  She kept tapping their neck, obviously wondering why they didn't have heads.  Its funny the things she notices, she is a smart little girl.

Then we got to hangout with Grandma Amy for a bit while Bryn finished up her nap.  Jaymi loves Grandmas house and her big piano.

This evening the girls and I went with "friend Sarah" to watch a few of our neighborhood friend's dance performance while Wayne played in his volleyball league.  When the lights went down and the music started, all three girls perked up and loved it!  Jaymi cheered her little heart out at the end of each performance.  Bryn got so excited she started giving Kaelyn, Sarah and I hugs and kisses.  Kaelyn's little face light up and she even imitated some of the moves.  I know our dance parties are going to have a few new moves next time and I can't wait.  It was a great moment sitting in the theater with my three happy girls, seeing the pure joy on their faces.

We had a great day and are excited to celebrate again next year!  Wayne and I are so thankful to be parents to children with Ds.  When Kaelyn was born our lives were changed for the better.  She has taught us more in her 3 1/2 years of life, than we have learned in the many years prior.  We say it all the time, having a child with Down syndrome isn't that big of a deal for us.  People think that it would be so hard, but its not a lot a whole lot different.  For two years it was all we knew and we loved it.  Yes it comes with some extra challenges, but it also comes with lots of extra blessings!

This year we are part of the International Down Syndrome's Coalition to show the world who our children are, their beauty and worth.  Enjoy the awesome video they made to help advocate for people with Ds.

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One Month Home

It's hard to believe that Jaymi has been home with us for a month already!  Time sure flies when you are having fun :)  Things are going well and the adjustment period seems to get a bit better each day.  It has helped so much that the weather has gotten warmer and we have been able to get out for walks and trips to the park almost every day.  All the girls love getting out and about and it helps to break up our days when we are all missing dad while he's away at work.  I'm slowly figuring out this mom of three business.  I'm always happy when we have a successful outing without tears :)

Enjoying our PB&J on the front lawn, soaking up some much needed vitamin D.

This is the life :)  Spring has sprung and we are all feeling the hope and joy it brings with it.

I took the girls and met our friends the Gees at the library for play time.  The alphabet board was a hit with my girls.

Helping mama spell out her name.  She LOVES her new name.  She always gets so proud when we ask her what her name is and she says "Jaym"  

This girl LOVES climbing, sliding and swinging.  Its going to be a fun summer!

A very sweet woman sent Jaymi this cute treehouse toy and some money after reading her story.  I am still amazed at the love we have received from perfect strangers.  A reminder that there is good in this world.

Enjoying some sidewalk chalk with our friends.  We love having so many friends so close.  

More park time.  Jaymi is a great example to her little sisters of how to navigate around a playground.

This girl LOVES primary, especially singing time.  This was taken while they were singing "If you're happy and you know it", pretty sure she's happy, pretty sure she knows it :)

Jaymi got to go on a daddy daughter date with Wayne to the Utah Basketball game.  She looked so cute in the cheerleading outfit I bought for her last year.  So glad she got to wear it!  Wayne said she was in absolute Heaven at the game, clapping and cheering.

Reading stories with mommy.  She loves books.

Waiting in the doctors office.  Our pediatrician is so sweet with her and so enamored by how amazing she is.  He just can't get over it.  

Jaymi and our good friend "Mrs. Sarah".  She is a kindergarden teacher and has been/will be a huge help to us as we get Jaymi ready for school next year.

Loving on little sister Kaelyn.  I love moments like this.  Jaymi is so sweet with her younger sisters.  Always so excited to see them and give them hugs and kisses.  

Working on some dribbling skills with daddy.  These special moments make it all worth it.

Birthday Time

Friday was Jaymi's sixth birthday.  We decided to have a simple, fun day and are hoping to do a bigger party for friends and cousins in the coming weeks, once life calms down a bit.  We had a few of our neighborhood friends over for a breakfast party to celebrate.  I introduced everyone to my favorite birthday breakfast, waffles with Ice Cream, mint chocolate chip is my personal favorite for this meal/treat.  

To prepare for the big day, Jaymi helped me make cupcakes on Thursday before nap time. As you can see she was a great helper. 

We started the day off looking at a birthday card that came all the way from her old Children's Home in Russia wishing her a Happy Birthday.  There were also some pictures of her friends playing on the blankets we made for them.  She gave hugs and kisses to the children in the pictures.  It was so sweet.  Oh how I wish I could find them all families.

Opening Grandma Bonners gift to her

It was a cute Minny Mouse tea set that she loves.

She's not sure what to think about this messy eat with your hands business, but she's figuring it out.

Eating cupcakes

Bryn was thankful for her sisters birthday and all the fun and treats that came with it

My friend Mckell brought over some clothes for the girls and these cute snow pants
were among them.  Jaymi wanted to put them on so of course Bryn did too. 

Bryn's were a couple sizes too big, but she didn't mind.  She wanted to be just like sister.

Didn't want them to be all dressed up with no where to go, so we headed out for our first walk of the season.

Jaymi helped me push the girls the whole way, such a great helper.

Playing with the computer she picked out with her birthday money.  She can already find the J and 6.  She has a hard time remembering not to play with mama and papa's computer, so hopefully having one of her own will be a good distraction.  It will also help her learn her letters and numbers in English so thats great too!

We finished out the night with a birthday dinner at the family favorite Chick-fila

Kaelyn and Bryn cozied right in and got comfortable while we waited for our food.

 Love these chicken nuggets.  Yum Yum

We just about had the play place to ourselves.  The cute little guy in the turtle shirt was so nice to Jaymi and showed her how to climb up to the slide and go down all by herself. 

Bryn needed a little assistance figuring it out so I got to join in on the fun.

I love this place!

It was a wonderful day.  I sure hope she understood it was her special day and that her life is one we will celebrate and cherish forever and ever.