Meet Sadie & Sisters

[momtofourgirls]

My name is Kari and my husband Scott and I are parents to four beautiful girls. Kiersten (12) is bright, sweet, caring and funny. Madison (10) is a girly girl, has lots of friends, loves to sing and is a great sister to little sister Sadie. Hannah (7 1/2) loves life, is always smiling, likes to laugh and is funny. Sadie (almost 2 on 6/17/04) has a contaigous smile, is funny, likes to dance and sing and seems to be a super-star everywhere we go. My three bigger girls dance and sing (5 days a week) and Sadie is always there dancin' along.

Sadie was diaginosed with Down Syndrome when she was born. We had a 1/100 chance of having a baby with DS, so needless to say- we were a little surprised. A surprise I personally was grateful not to have to deal with until I had my little girl in my arms. As her second birthday approaches, I am surprise at the feelings of excitment I have. A lot has changed in a year. Instead of wanting my baby to stay a baby, I am excited to see all the things she will accomplish this coming up year. (not to fast though!!) The past two years have been filled with fear, saddness, joy, laughter, fun and bonding. I was always told Heavenly Father wouldn't give me anything I couldn't handle- I wondered that when Sadie was born, now I wonder... how did I ever question???

Madison, Hannah, Friend-Camille & Kiersten
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j158/mamatofour/kidsjanmar2006017.jpg

[c01dunlap]

You have a darling group of girls!! Sadie is a doll! My little Sophie (turning 3 end of August) is starting to pay a lot of attention to the pics on the forum. She saw your pics, and immediately wanted to know what Sadie's name was. :p

We have a great group of parents (and families) here - always glad when someone new joins in and introduces themselves. My DD is hearing & developing typically, but I have learned SO much from all of the parents of all of the different kiddos here. Don't know if you've already seen / read the Holland thread (http://www.signingtime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516) (if not, and not familiar, check it out); also check out the original writing (http://www.signingtime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1050) by Kei, "mom of 6, including 5 yr old William, who has T21/aka Down syndrome", who is one of the Senior members here and a WONDERFUL person! :D

[Krista]

Welcome!!!! Your girls are beautiful!!!!

I'm Krista, I have 3 great kids. Madison is 6 and also a huge drama queen; loves to dance and sing- maybe it's the name, lol. Anika is 3, turns 4 next month, and is our little firecracker; very excited about life. Corbin is our little man who just turned 2, he's very sweet and VERY mischeivous. Anika was born 2 months early and has had a lot of ups and downs since her birth, but we are very blessed. To this point she has mild low tone cerebral palsy, Chronic Lung Disease, severe GERD, G-tube, sensory integration issues, and possible tethered spinal cord syndrome.

OH! LOL we have been teaching our kids sign since they were born, as I am hard of hearing ;).

[c01dunlap]

Too bad it's not to Ohio -- Sophie and I would be there to welcome you. :D Have you had a chance to try to find ST! forum folks in the area you're moving to? I'm sure if Kari knew you, she'd be crushed you were moving out of town/state.

Hope the move goes well.

[lovemy6sweeties]

We are also blessed in our family to have a cutie pie that is chromosomally enhanced :) It's been a wonderful adventure so far. I'm glad for the opportunity I've had to learn from Brady :) We have 5 other kiddos too :)

Your family sounds wonderful and amazing. Happy almost 2nd birthday to Sadie :) She is so darling!

Welcome!

[momtofourgirls]

So, here's a question. Sadie is almost 2.. but cognitively around 20 mos. As I already told you, she has 3 big sisters. We love watching Signing Time on the local PBS station- but I know it's a little fast for Sadie. She does enjoy loving and it has her total attention.. but I wonder if Baby Sign would be more appropriate for her?? She is quick to imitate, has about 10 signs she uses regularly and lovessssssssss music!!!

[fia's mom]

We started with BST and the music is fantastic! We have all the ST! dvds but there are times that my little kiddos prefer BST to ST. Sabrina picked up the signs from BST really fast as well due to the repitition.

[theresa]

So nice to "meet" you and hear your heart warming story. My family and I were also blessed with a daughter who has Down Syndrome 5 1/2 yrs ago. I remember feeling as you described... .afraid, even angry and expecting the worst. As soon as I saw a picture of her (she was rushed to the NICU for O2 and a friend/Doctor took a picture and brought it to me in L&D while I was recovering).....I was in love! She was so sweet and beautiful, and still is. She teaches me more about life and true love than anyone ever has.

Anyway, about BST. I would definately recommend it, along with the board books if you can afford them. Might make a nice birthday present?!! My daughter, Shea, has always loved looking at the books...and she can take her time studing the pictures and signs. The BST movies are adorable and possibly more her speed (the kids are 2 and under). Shea and my 2 yr old, Brenna, still love to watch them together....especially the Diaper Dance!!

By the way, I have always enjoyed Shea taking a little longer to "grow up". She stayed my little baby a lot longer than my present 2 yr old(who seems to be 2 going on 20 sometimes!) Hope Sadie has a happy 2 yr old B-Day on the 17th! :)

[Krista]

Too bad it's not to Ohio -- Sophie and I would be there to welcome you. :D Have you had a chance to try to find ST! forum folks in the area you're moving to? I'm sure if Kari knew you, she'd be crushed you were moving out of town/state.

Hope the move goes well.


Thank you! No I haven't looked for ST there, I've been more focused on finding homeschooling groups and a place to live, lol. But you can bet I"ll be looking once we get there! :p

[Kei_as_in_K]

Welcome Kari! I'm Kei, momma of 6 great kids, the youngest is William who has Ds. William will be 6 in a few months and is in kindergarten.
We began signing with him from the time he was just a few months old, but he only showed us a few signs back until he was 2 and we found out about Signing Time. We only had the first one until they came out with more. William loves repetition, so it didn't seem to matter what pace things were at. We did buy Baby Signing Time when it came out and he loves that just as much as his regular ones.
I think Sadie and her sisters (and you!) would love BST and the music is all through it, a definite plus for a music lover like Sadie!

Again, welcome, and I hope you have a chance to join us in our weekly chats here!

[lovemy6sweeties]

So, here's a question. Sadie is almost 2.. but cognitively around 20 mos. As I already told you, she has 3 big sisters. We love watching Signing Time on the local PBS station- but I know it's a little fast for Sadie. She does enjoy loving and it has her total attention.. but I wonder if Baby Sign would be more appropriate for her?? She is quick to imitate, has about 10 signs she uses regularly and lovessssssssss music!!!

I have a lot of friends with children with ds about Sadie's age and they said that BST! really helped their kids signing abilities take off. The colors and music and babies signing were really appealing to them :)

Brady is four and still loves BST! I think part of the appeal is the fact that he is in it, and he likes to see himself and say "DaeDeeeee". But - I think the format and the repetition and the little kids just really draw him in. Plus - since we met a lot of the kids who sign in BST! I name them and I think he thinks they are his friends LOL He signs to the songs and sings them all now (somewhat in bradyese) and it is so cute to watch him :)

Because there wasn't BST! when we started, we just started with volume 1 and went on from there as new volumes came out, but if I were starting out now, I would try BST! first :)

HTH,

Can't wait to hear more about your girls - they are all beautiful!

[CAmommy2KJ]

:D Hey Kari!!! Good to see you here!