Where will you be Standing?

"...you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.  You've got to be your own man not a puppet on a string.  Never compromise what's right and uphold your family name.  You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything...Whatever you do today you'll have to sleep with tonight...But I still believe what makes a man really hasn't changed...You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything."-Aaron Tippin

November 8th will be here before we know it.  For those of you who aren't aware, this date is very significant.  It is the day we will be hosting the kick-off fundraiser for SUKI Foundation.  The event, Raise the Roof for Rett, will be held that Thursday night from 6-11 at Workplay.  Tickets to attend are $40.00 in advance and $50.00 at the door.  Corporate Tables sell for $500.00 and seat 8.  With that, you are guaranteed a table for the evening (tables/seating is limited), as well as a sign representing your company name on the table and on SUKI Foundation website.  It really is the way to go if you have a group of friends going together even if you aren't with a corporation.  Anyone and everyone over 21 is welcome to attend, so invite your friends, family and co-workers.  Dress is business casual.  Dinner by Slice & desserts by Full Moon will be provided, as well as an endless flow of beer and wine.  A cash bar will also be available.  Colorblind Harold will be performing for the first half of the event and we will close the night with Karaoke for a Kause.  We will also be holding a silent auction.  A few of the items featured are: 4 VIP passes to any concert in 2013 at Verizon Amphitheater, an autographed guitar by Miranda Lambert, an autographed football from the 2012 Alabama National Championship team, a Cottage in Michigan, a Condo in Colorado, photography packages, personal training packages, dog parks, car details, jewelry, 2 Iron Bowl Tickets, and so much more.  The items we have received and the support from companies has truly been overwhelming.  We will also be holding a restaurant raffle.  This is a fun way of giving back to our patrons.  Basically, the idea is this:  You purchase a raffle ticket for $20.00 and you are guaranteed to win at least a $25.00 gift card to a restaurant.  We have some gift cards that range even higher than $25.00, so you could get lucky :).  Our restaurants include, but aren't limited to: Zoe's, Naji's, Olive Branch, Yankee's Pizzeria, P. F. Chang's, The Cheesecake Factory, Tin Drum, Overtime, Egg & I, Cajan Steamer, & Pita Stop.  It will be a fun filled night, all for a great cause.  I am definitely looking forward to being there to support SUKI Foundation, not because my sister and brother-in-law started it, but because of what it stands for.  Spreading Unconditional Kindness Intentionally.

That is exactly what Marie and Brian are doing by starting SUKI Foundation.  They are Spreading Unconditional Kindness Intentionally.  How so?  Let's see.  They have 5 kids-girls (we all know how much more high maintenance girls are than boys) who they tote to and from school, to softball, gymnastics, dance, parties, church functions, etc.  Number 4, Sarah Katherine-Suki, has Rett Syndrome.  She is the genius behind the whole SUKI Foundation concept.  She is where all their dreams, ideas, and goals originated.  They devote more time than average to her and her needs.  She is non-verbal, requires therapy after therapy, 24 hour attention, and needs everything done for her.  Basically, what I'm trying to make you realize-their plate is FULL.  Yet, they still felt a calling to give back.  

In my eyes-SUKI Foundation is their way of not only raising awareness of what Rett Syndrome is, but of helping hundreds of other families who find themselves standing in the shoes they once filled.  They realize how Truly Blessed they are to have the support, both financially and emotionally, surrounding them 365 days a week/24 hours a day and I truly believe they understand not everyone is as fortunate as they are.  This is their way of Spreading Unconditional Kindness by Intentionally raising awareness to the millions who have never heard of Rett Syndrome.  By educating those who correct us with the term Tourette's.  By being a support system for those who a lot of times feel like they have no where to turn.  By setting goals to make long term impacts for hundreds of children with neurological disorders here in the state of Alabama.  By being a voice for their child.  

I am proud.  Not only to be a part of Raise the Roof and SUKI Foundation, but to be part of a family that is willing to go the extra mile even though it isn't necessary and time definitely doesn't allow it.  Instead of taking the easy road and simply playing the hand they've been dealt, they've decided to play the whole deck.  Its about Suki, but its also about so much more.  They are determined to make an impact in the world of Rett Syndrome.    

It has also taken a team of incredible people who have all given of their time to help make sure this event is a success.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about each of these individuals.  They have sacrificed family time and personal time and have come together to help SUKI Foundation get the start Marie and Brian know it deserves.  They are there EVERY TIME anything is asked of them (and trust me, here lately, thats been a lot :)) and they NEVER expect anything in return.  Truly Blessed. 

I ask this of each and every one of you.  I would love to see each of your smiling faces at the event, however; if for some good (and by good, I mean it better be great-like you're going to be out of the country) reason you can't make it, I ask you go to our resources and educate yourself on SUKI Foundation and Rett Syndrome.  If Marie and Brian can find time in their busy schedule with 5 kids to start up a foundation totally from scratch in just a few short months, I know without a doubt you can find 5 minutes in just 1 of your days to learn more about Rett Syndrome and the impact SUKI Foundation will have on so many lives here in Alabama.

The link below will take you directly to the site for our kick-off fundraiser on November 8, Raise the Roof for Rett.  It also provides you with a little information on SUKI Foundation.  Click on Event Details and you can purchase tickets directly from the site or make a donation.  

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/INVITE--Raise-the-Roof-for-Rett---Benefit-and-Launch-Party-for-SUKI-Foundation.html?soid=1111191717392&aid=GtqFo9g6oZo

This site below is the official website for SUKI Foundation.  Go here to learn more about SUKI Foundation and Rett Syndrome.  You can also purchase tickets from this site under the Events tab, or make a donation under the Donation tab.  This is a great way to keep up with what SUKI Foundation is up to.  Bookmark it!!!

www.sukifoundation.org

So again I ask you, Where Will You Be Standing November 8th (hopefully up on stage singing some Spice Girls or Bobby McGee with me!!!)???

Okay, I'm done.  But I will leave you with this.  (Seriously if this face doesn't touch your heart, I don't know what will.)

*Thank you cookwire photography for the use of your brilliant work :)

Sleep Tight My Sweet Child

Saturday night was our first "official" babysitting experience.  I had months to prepare for the day, but that didn't seem to help calm my nerves much.  I rarely leave Phoenix.  Not even with his Dad.  However, this was an occasion I didn't want to miss.  Two of my sweet nieces were going to be flower girls in a cousin's wedding.  I worked it out so that Jason would be home with Phoenix while I went to the church part (I wanted to see LuLu and Suki walk down the aisle) and then I would come home and pick Jason up and have the sitter meet us here around that time.  This allowed me a little peace of mind about not having to leave him quite as long (if you know anything about us, you know our wedding ceremonies are forever-literally like an hour and a half-long) and it gave Jason a little time to rest and spend some time with Phoenix.

I totally trust Marlene, the babysitter.  She is a cousin and has been begging for months to babysit.  She is wonderful.  Comes from a great family, in college, drives, and I love her.  She was not a concern for me at all.

And to be honest, I wasn't so much concerned with how Phoenix was going to do when we left.  He is such a social kid, I figured once we were out the door, he'd be just fine.  I was totally worried about bed time though.  I can honestly say, in his 15 1/2 months of life no one other than me or his Dad has ever put him to bed.  So I just wasn't sure how he was going to react to it.  The fact that we don't really have a "set bed time routine" or that he really doesn't fight bedtime tried to ease my worries a little.  However, I'm not so sure it worked.

Well, it happened.  There was a knock at the door.  I guess we were really going to do this.  I had spoken to Phoenix about it in the days leading up to it, but I still wasn't sure he fully understood what was happening.  We tried to make the good-bye as short and simple as possible, even though that about killed both Jason and myself.  The door closed and all 3 of us just about had tears running down our face.  Phoenix did for sure.

I at least waited until we had turned off our street until I texted Marlene and asked if he was still crying. This is what I got.

Nope.  All is well.  He is happy and we are playing.  My heart quickly settled.  I was finally able to turn my focus into enjoying the night out with Jason.  It was our first night out since before Phoenix was born.  We both knew it was LOOOONG over due, however; we both just wanted to be at home playing with our baby.

We got to the reception and as people asked how Phoenix was or who had him, etc., I couldn't help but tear up.  A drink was definitely in order.  I needed to calm something inside of me and Fast.  People seemed surprised that it was the first "official" time we'd left him.  I couldn't understand that.  He's just a baby.  Once he is older, I will leave him.  But right now, he needs his mama and his daddy.  

Anyways, about 7:30 or so, I texted Marlene again to see how things were going and to see if he was asleep yet.  We purposely let her put him to bed since she is also watching him the night of Raise the Roof and there is NO way I'll be able to leave that event to come home to him.  To my surprise, she texted back that he was asleep and only cried for about 5 minutes.  I swear, I have the BEST kid ever!!!!  Not to mention the best dog ever :)

Apparently, Dixie didn't miss us all that much either.  Marlene is good, good I tell ya :)  So, needless to say, we survived our first night out.  We came home to a great report.  Even better-she still wants to babysit the night of Raise the Roof!!!  Woo-hoo!!! I would consider this a very successful evening all the way around!!!  Phoenix wasn't even mad at us the next morning :)

The one and only regret I have from the evening is not getting a picture of Jason and myself all dressed up.  It doesn't happen often and I wish I had taken a picture to remember our first night out.  Oh well.  I have a feeling with or without a picture-I won't ever forget the first night we left Phoenix.

Piano Man

Performing at the St. George Got Talent Show 9.30.12

Our Church held a Talent Show last Sunday after Service.  We had a luncheon and then a performance.  It was such a fun afternoon!  I was soo looking forward to this day and I spent hours, literally, trying to think of a talent Phoenix could perform.  It was very important to me for him to participate for several reasons.  First, I want to start him at a young age feeling comfortable getting up in front of a group of people.  I never want him to fear this-never.  I know, mainly from the Food Festival, that he has ABSOLUTELY no problems getting on a dance floor full of people and dancing the night away, but I was curious to see how he'd react being up on stage by himself with a room full of people watching him.  Second, I think its important for him to participate in Church activities.  I don't think he's too young.  Sure he may not have a clue as to what he's really doing, but he's surrounded by his Church Family and that's what is important.  He is being an active participant whether he is fully aware or not.  That makes my heart happy.  Needless to say, I was very excited about this event.

I assumed Jason would either be working or at the hunting club, so I don't even think I mentioned it to him.  Well, it turns out he was going to be attending.  Once I found this out, I told him my desire and reasonings for wanting Phoenix to participate.  His response, "It isn't necessary."  Well, I guess its a good thing I hadn't officially put Phoenix in the show at that point.  Ironically enough-I didn't put him in it because I didn't want Jason to miss it (so if Jason wasn't going to be there, I wasn't going to put him in, regardless of how much it meant to me.)  Ha-Jokes on me.  Jason is going to be there, but it looks like Phoenix still isn't going to be in it after all :(  Well, Little Mrs. Optimistic decided to send an e-mail with a heads-up asking if there was room for Phoenix to play the piano (since he is constantly playing at home).  I figured he would love this and would feel comfortable doing it.  I also warned her that I might have to back out, seeing that I was still trying to convince Jason.

We went back and forth all night about it.  Sunday morning We were still on different pages.  Jason was trying to pacify me but I wasn't buying it.  I was getting frustrated with everything because I was soo excited about the show and I just wanted Jason to be excited too.  Not happening.  I had the video camera packed, the regular camera, both lenses, his piano, the perfect outfit & shoes, everything all ready to go that morning.  Something happened (the video camera card was almost full and I couldn't find another or something) and that was the final straw.  Jason won.  I left everything, the video, the camera, the lenses, the perfect outfit, the shoes, all of it-right there on my bed and we left for church.  I guess it just wasn't meant to be afterall.  That didn't stop me from crying the entire way to church that morning.

I'm not sure if they were tears of sadness because I felt like my child was missing out or if it was because I felt like I was letting my child down by not letting him participate.  Maybe it was just the fact that I had been looking forward to this day for soo long and it was finally here and now he wasn't going to a part of it.  It could have been the fact that I was frustrated because I just couldn't comprehend Jason's lack of enthusiasm about this.  Why was he not excited about seeing his son perform?  I knew it was going to be such a fun day and I knew he was going to love it, yet he wasn't going to be a part of it.  So sad.

After Church, we rushed downstairs so I could let them know Phoenix would not be participating and why.  Thankfully, they convinced me to let him still be in the show.  So although I had no video, no camera, no piano, no perfect outfit & shoes, I still had what was truly important.  And that was all that really mattered to me.

Showtime came and Phoenix and I took our seats in the front row.  We sat and watched the other acts.  He danced and clapped along, having the time of his life.  When his turn came, I sent him backstage with Jason, so I could get some pictures with my sisters camera while my brother in law video taped it.

Phoenix Lang
Budding Pianist

Even before the curtains opened, we could hear Phoenix warming up, as he practiced playing tunes on the keyboard.  Finally the time came.  My heart began pounding.  I was so stinking nervous.  I didn't want my baby to freak out once he saw everyone looking at him.  Ha-it was the complete opposite.  He sat bolting out tunes, smiling at the audience, turning back nodding to his Dada, like this it was something he does on a daily basis.  My fear quickly turned to pride.  He ended his performance by blowing kisses to the audience.

I was so very proud of him.  He was such a big boy participating in the Talent Show.  He was by far the youngest participant.  Not including him (at 15 months), the youngest performer was probably 6.  I won't even try to guesstimate how old the oldest was :)  Thank you Andrew and Sharon for convincing me to keep him in and for all your hard work.

His first ribbon.  I couldn't agree more :)

Not only does Phoenix enjoy the piano, he also loves to play the Tublah.  You Arabs will appreciate these last 2 pictures :)

Tricks at 15 Months

Our 15 Month Old Cowboy :)

Some of Phoenix's Tricks (so I'll remember) at 15 mths:

Language Development

• Mama
• Dada & Dad
• Hi
• Bye
• Ya Ya (nickname for my niece Julia)
• Tata (what he calls my mom)
• Doe Doe (what he calls my dad)
• Duck
• Taaak You (thank you)
• Aaahh (Amen) (while making the sign of the cross)
• I Did it
• Yea
• Car
• Truck
• Neh Neh (what we call food)
• Nih nee (when he's tired)
• Hot
• Jesus
• I Loo (I Love You) (while pointing to heart for I and Love then pointing to You for you
• Mooora

Parts of the Body

• Nose
• Tongue
• Head
• Teezo (his rear-end) (he won't do this one all the time)
• Feet
• Ears (sometimes)
• Eyes (sometimes he does it, sometimes he won't)

Animals

• Duck (attempts a quack)
• Dog (attempts a bark)
• Bear (claws at you and growls)
• Lion (claws at you and growls)
• Tiger (claws at you and growls)
• Monkey (makes a mm mm sound while turning his hands up under his armpits)
• Cat (makes a higher than normal pitched sound that sounds like an eeoow :))
• Pig (breaths hard through nose)
• Elephant (waves his hand in the air)

Following Directions

• Throws things in the trash 
• Picks up toys 
• Goes to our bedroom when told its time for a teezo change
• When asked if he has to go potty, goes to the bathroom (will only sit on potty if he has to go though) or shakes his head No if he doesn't
• What do you want (ask him in Arabic) (in reference to his snacks-he takes me to kitchen and the cabinet or fridge that has the snack he wants)
• Bath time (goes up the stairs)
• Put shirt on (puts his arms in)
• Put shoes on (attempts this on his own)
• Time to go bye-bye (goes to get Dixie a treat, gives it to her and then waits by the door to leave)
• Give this to.... (takes whatever to whomever)

Using his Signs

• Please
• More
• Thank-you
• All finished
• Shakes head for NO (probably his most popular sign!!!)

What he Enjoys

• Stacking blocks (4-5 without them falling)
• Sings (hums) to songs
• Dances
• Working with tools
• Being outside (riding his toys, climbing up the slide, sidewalk chalk)
• Coloring in his coloring books
• Smelling flowers
• Playing musical instruments
• Banging things
• Playing with Dixie
• Doing yard work with Dada
• Riding the 4-wheeler
• The McWane Center
• Swimming (Water in general)
• The Zoo
• Pasta
• Milk
• Cleaning
• Bouncy house
• Answering the telephone (normally answers with Hi Dad)
• Brushing his teeth and hair
• Taking baths
• His bedroom
• Sleeping
• Animals

What he Dislikes

• Ground beef (unless its discrete)
• Yams (loves sweet potatoes though)
• Bananas (likes the flavor)
• Being told No
• Mama kissing him ALL the time
• Having his diaper changed
• Bread
• Sleeping anywhere other than his own bed

What he Recognizes

• Letters (not specific ones, but always makes the Ah-Ah sound whenever he sees letters), he will repeat letters A, B, C and D 
• Doors aren't suppose to be left open (closes all doors that are open)
• Mama is more serious (strict) when we are at home
• Dada lets him get away with a lot more than Mama
• Stove & Oven are hot
• Crosses & Icons (says Ahh & makes sign of cross when he sees them) (kisses my necklace)
• Motrin makes him feel better (all medicine, actually)
• Pictures of his cousins
• Dada's truck coming down the street

I'm sure there is more to these lists that I've failed to mention, but I wanted to at least give myself an idea of where Buttah is at 15 mths.  Sorry if that information was completely boring to all of you, but I know in they years (most likely sooner than that), I know I'll be glad I have this to look back and reflect upon.  I LOVE that his list of Likes is soo much longer than his list of Dislikes :)

We had our 15 mth visit yesterday.  He weighed in over 24 lbs.  Not much of a difference from 3 months ago at a year.  He did grow 2" though, so he is standing tall at 31 1/2" now.  She says he looks great and is right where he should be in all categories, if not ahead.  I did speak to her about his speech and sleep, since I know that is a great concern for a particular person.  She seems to think his communication is fine.  He is speaking enough words for his age and his non-verbal and receptive skills are above average for his age that she sees no reason to worry.  Definitely put my mind at ease.  As far as sleep, yes-she agreed that most children his age do only nap once a day.  However, she does not recommend me forcing him to skip a nap simply "because."  She assured me that some kids need more sleep and its better to have a happy baby with sleep than an unhappy baby with no sleep.  Therefore, I am going to continue letting Phoenix sleep.  She said he would eventually start spacing them out more and napping longer himself, that it was not something I needed to worry about forcing on him.  Glad to have that resolved, even though I'm sure I'll still hear it-all out of love though :)  I also asked her about his left foot, which to me, leans inward.  She immediately noticed it.  He has very little arch.  She said it shouldn't cause any serious or long term problems, so I guess I'll let it go.  Apparently, I have the same issues with my feet (Jason's been telling me for years I have no arch).  

We have been having a blast lately, but this post is long enough so I'll spare you anymore details.  Buttah, Mama loves you, Mama is soo proud of you, and May God Bless You to the Moon and Back My Sweet, Sweet, Sweet Ray.