American Idol!

Angela Martin is a mother to a rett angel and has once again made it to Hollywood on American Idol. Angela is such a fighter she is a single mother, her daughter has Rett Syndrome, her father was killed 2 years ago and her mother was missing just last month. With all that heartache this woman is still going, still giving it her all and still reaching for her dreams all with a smile on her face - what an inspiration!!

Team Work!

So the girls and I decided to make some guacamole (all 3 of us just LOVE guacamole!). I hooked up Annie's powerlink to her switch so when she hit her switch the little chopper got power but then Gracie needed to push the button on the chopper in order for it to chop and blend. In a nut shell they needed to work together to make the guac. This video is just too cute!!

A Mothers Mission!

Let me introduce you to Ingrid Harding. Ingrid is the founder of Girl Power 2 Cure (the organization that I am a part of as the mothers advisory board) a 501c3 non-profit organization that raises funds and awareness for rett research. Ingrid is the mother of an angel. When given the diagnosis of rett syndrome for her daughter Ingrid decided to do something about it. That thought has grown into an amazingly succesful organization. Ingrid fights tirelessly daily for all of our girls. She was recently on Parents TV sharing the story of Sarah, her beautiful daughter. Thank you Ingrid for all that you do!

Making a Miracle!

Click HERE or on the image above for details!My hope is that this movie so so inspirational and motivating that we can get LOTS and LOTS of people psyched up to join us in April for our Dress Up 2 Cure event! After all.....we want to "Make our Miracle Happen" and CURE Rett Syndrome!!

Party Party!

Annie's 5th Birthday was Wednesday and her Chuck E. Cheese party was last night. What a blast! Annie had such a great 2 day's - tons of smiles! It was so great to see all of Annie's friends last night. Obviously Annie is unable to tell me about her friends at school and who she plays with (although her teacher does an amazing job filling me in!) so it was great to see the happy faces, the interaction and the friendships (and crushes!) that she has made throughout this school year. Each and every one of Annie's friends has a special place in my heart, what wonderful kids!

Miss Colleen (our respite care) got Annie this great parachute!

James wrote Annie a card and the then the little inventor made a balloon carrier to deliver his card to her.

Look how happy!

Just look at this party outfit - compliments of Aunt Jen of course!

Annie with Grammy and Grampy!

Look at that smile!

Too much party - Annie cashed out before she even opened her gifts!

Yes, I know, no pics of friends - I forgot to ask the parents permission to post pics but trust me when I say they are adorable!! Thanks everyone for making Annies day so special!

Voting Opportunity To Help Rett Syndrome Research

Extraordinary Measures is a movie about a father who recieves news of his newborn son and toddler daughter being afflicted with Pompe - a fatal neuromuscular disease. John and his wife decide to make it their lives work to save their children. It stars Bendan Fraser and Harrison Ford and is based on the real life of John Crowley.

The Extraordinary Measures website is highlighting video stories of hope and inspiration. The video with the most votes will win $10,000 from CBS Films. Please visit and vote daily for “Reverse Rett Syndrome – Give Our Girls a Voice.

Please also visit the Rett Syndrome Research Trust Blog to read an interview between Monica Coenraads and John Crowley. Both of these tremendous people work tirelessly for their children and the families who are afflicted with their respective diseases. They give hope and inspire all of us special needs families to reach higher, dig deeper and to keep going even when it seems impossible. Many thanks to Monica for all of the amazing work she has done for our girls and all that she continues to do!

Odds and Ends

With the kids back to school I have a moment to post some of the things we all did over the Christmas break. Here's Annie with her new Girl Power to Cure pin on her hat! Too cute! Thanks Ingrid! We went bowling with the kids - It was Annie and Gracie's first time bowling, what a blast! We also made cookies which isn't typically a big deal except this time Annie got to help!! Her school let us borrow a powerlink so we could hook up the mixer to her button and she could control the mixing! Here's a video of Annie's first time baking cookies!! For some reason the video isn't uploading, I'll try again later - its really cute!