Mmmmmmmmuuuhhh!

 Erin loves to kiss her brother!  And he's a good sport, blowing her kisses right back!

 

Goodbye Little Snowman!

In mid-February, Aidan made this cute little fella.  It is now completely melted of course, which is an indication of how far behind I am on blogging :)

More Pictures of Father Daughter Dance

Cousin Margaret and Molly Grace

Friend, Sarah with Moira

Senior dance

Bridget dancing with another dad, our friend Bill

Eileen

Father-Daughter Valentine's Dance

 This year,  Erin went to the dance for the first time, which means Mike was able to bring all six of his daughters!

 
 Erin received all the "treatments" in preparation for the event.  I'm pretty sure she would have opted out of the hair curling had she known what that was all about, but it sure looked cute :)

 Erin's idea of a nice smile......ha ha.

 Molly Grace was so excited for Erin to go!

 

 Eleven year old Teresa

  14 year old Bridget

 

 

  Seven year old Molly Grace

 16 year old Eileen

 

  17 year old Moira

  Mike with his gang of girls

Seamus {21 Months}

Erin's Birthday Photos

Teresa, Aidan and Molly Grace made two banners for Erin's birthday.  (The other hung between the kitchen and family room). 

Here she is, excited to open presents.  Teresa, Aidan and Molly Grace were also in charge of wrapping the presents.   Note...we DID have cute pink and purple wrapping paper, but they chose to use a variety, including left over Christmas paper. Ha ha.

A princess tea set!  Her favorite!

Seamus took a likin' to the harmonica instantly.

Who wouldn't want a family of pigs for their birthday??!!

Ahhhh...Mary Poppins.  She's gonna LOVE it!

Birthdays are so much fun!  Happy Birthday Erin!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Erin!

Our sweet Erin is four years old today!

Whenever one of our kids has a birthday, my mind always goes reeling back to his or her birth.  I am always amazed at how the years have flown by, and yet I can hardly remember what life was like before that child arrived. I fondly remember Erin's birth. In many ways, her birth was typical....and yet as I reflect on the memories in the delivery room and the emotions we felt that day, her birth was also very different.

Whenever your child is given a diagnosis that will have a significant impact on her life, you have concerns....worries.

From Erin's birth story...

On the first day of March, 2007, our seventh baby came into the world. Erin Camille was a beautiful baby. As we met her for the first time, I noticed, at first glance, that Erin had slightly slanted eyes and a very small button nose. As I held her for the first time she seemed a bit floppy. I was pretty sure that she had Down syndrome. I remember putting that little bit of information into the back of my mind, even in that split second, because I wanted to enjoy her first, and deal with the Down syndrome second. I remember being amazed at how calm I was, even when Erin was not breathing. The doctors and nurses quickly took her over to the warming bed to try to get her breathing. With some vigorous stimulation, she was soon breathing fine, but still not crying. In fact, the room was eerily quite. Mike kept glancing at me, wondering why the room was so silent. The doctors and nurses were whispering and there was not a single smile in the room. This was not at all how we remembered our other six joyful births. Finally, after several minutes, my OB doctor kindly explained to us what I already knew. Erin had characteristics of Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and he asked our permission to do the genetic testing which would confirm the diagnosis.

As we took in this new and unexpected information, we had many questions. I remember being most concerned with how my other children would handle the news. I wondered how difficult it would be for them, if they would feel disappointed, and how a new sibling with a disability would affect our family. My husband worked through his emotions with lightning speed; in the course of about 10 seconds he felt sad, then guilty for feeling sad, and then incredibly blessed. He felt Jesus was in the room. As these thoughts raced through our minds, it became clear to us how much we did not know about Trisomy 21. One thing we knew for certain, however, was that God was speaking directly to us through the gift of our beautiful daughter. We knew the odds of conceiving a child with Ds was only about 1 out of 100; even in my “advanced maternal age” (I was 39). With those odds we knew we had won some sort of lottery. While we didn’t know what it all meant at the time, we did know that God had planned for Erin to join our family.

The first of my worries...how my other children would react to a sibling with a disability...now makes me literally laugh out loud.  There is no way her siblings could be more enamored, more smitten or more in love with their sister Erin!

Erin was baptized on Divine Mercy Sunday, one of my favorite feast days.

Do what You will with me, O Jesus; I will adore You in everything. May Your will be done in me, O my Lord and my God, and I will praise Your infinite mercy. - Saint Faustina

From Erin's birth story...

We believe that God does not make mistakes. When you believe this from the bottom of your hearts, you can then celebrate your child, Down syndrome and all, as you would any of your other children. And that is exactly what we did.

I also cannot think about Erin's birth without also thinking about that other little something extra....the hole that came in her heart.

From Erin's birth story...

As Erin neared three months of age, we discovered that her heart came with a little extra something too - a hole. At least we finally had an answer for her feeding difficulties. It was a very intense summer, with many heart medications and doctor visits. As Erin lost all energy to nurse and then take a bottle, we learned how to feed her with an ng tube, which is a temporary tube that goes through the nose and into the stomach. At one point, I was spending six hours a day trying to get enough calories into her. In our difficulties we once again relied on, and took comfort in, our Catholic faith. We prayed countless memoraries, I sang the rosary to Erin as I attempted to feed her with the bottle, and we became friends with the late Dr. Jerome Legeune, the Catholic geneticists who discovered Trisomy 21, and whose cause for canonization was started by his friend, Pope John Paul II. 

On September 19th, at six months of age, Erin went off to open-heart surgery, while we, her parents, went on a powerful spiritual retreat. Both were located at Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee. Once again, God was good. While He was leading the surgeon’s hand, He was also leading my husband and me closer to Him. Our first meditation took place in the waiting room of the OR, and the remaining meditations took place on the PICU floor. It was not our favorite retreat but it was certainly the most powerful and the most rewarding. The main spiritual exercise for this retreat consisted of handing our six month old baby over to a complete stranger who would hold her heart in his hands. Through it all, we relied on these words: "Jesus, I trust in you." (again..Saint Faustina and Divine Mercy!) Erin came through the surgery with flying colors.

When I think of Erin today, there is a single word that instantly comes to my mind....Gratitude.  I am so very thankful that God gave us this little girl that we didn't even know we needed.  He knew.

There are fringe benefits that come with parenting a child with special needs.  It is so underrated. In fact, all children come with special blessings and special needs, of course. However, I have come to understand that parents who are blessed with an extra-ordinary child do not take this fact for granted. We marvel at every milestone.

I believe Erin has allowed us to see things more closely to the way God sees things, which can be very different from the way the world sees things.  She helps us to sift through the muck and cloudiness of the world.  She forces us to get right to the heart of the matter....what really matters in this world.  Her little soul is so pure and real.  She is 100% genuine in all things.  Her yes means yes and her no means no.  I have not noticed even a hint of pride in this little girl.   Her sense of empathy can be off the chart. She cries when her siblings are sad. She loves unconditionally.  She radiates such joy, at the simplest of things.  For example, she becomes giddy when her dad plays one of her favorite songs in the car, shouting, "ank you Daddy!" after every single song. While the world places value on productivity, monetary success and intellectual achievement (which can all be good things, if in proper perspective), Erin reminds us of the value and dignity of each person, even with their imperfections and struggles, every moment of every day.  Her little soul is like a little glimpse of heaven to me, and that is a gift I am very thankful for!

March for Life

Mike and the girls attended the March for Life in Washington DC this past January!  It was such a great experience for them all!  Patrick, Anna and Tim traveled with them.  They will hold these memories for many years to come!


Other families members wished they could have gone along.  Here's Stow-Away Number One....

And Stow-Away Number Two...

They flew out of Milwaukee to Pittsburgh, where Tim met up with them.  Of course they had to stop at the Hofbrauhaus!

Once in DC, they went to Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  Beautiful!

I'm not sure what the final numbers were at the March, but estimates were between 100,000 and 200,000.  At least.

I'm pretty sure the girls have more pictures which I will try to put on soon....

This is sometimes what happens...

.....when you leave to answer the phone while folding a load of clothes.  When the house gets way too quiet and the dynamic duo are nowhere to be found, you know you're in for nothin' but trouble!

Updates...

I have so many photos, just sitting there on my computer, waiting for a blog post! Let's see, I think I missed Eileen and Bridget's birthdays on the 13th and 22nd of January. Then there was the March for Life that Mike, Moira and Eileen attended. The Superbowl. The Father-Daughter dance was in early February. I am so far behind with this blog! I really do hope to catch up when I get a moment.

Of course we have been busy nonetheless. What have the kids been up to? Here's just a small little sampling (Bridget is our film editor)...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And this....

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And this....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And even this....

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Do you think those activities are indicative of our great desire for spring and warmer weather?! I think we need to get outside more!