A special day for special needs

This past Saturday our church hosted their annual Big Bunny Party, which is basically a big Easter party filled with an egg hunt, carnival games, petting zoo, food, and of course, the opportunity to take a picture with the Easter Bunny.

We have attended in previous years, and of course had a great time, although the event was a tad overwhelming for Clara, and thus a tad overwhelming for us as a family.

Photos from last year. . . and on a completely different note, my children look so very tiny in these two pictures!

This year our church/children's minister had the most amazing and thoughtful idea, of opening up the event one hour early for a VIP admission for children with special needs and their families. When I first heard this. . . tears. And while you might argue that I cry all the time thanks to ever changing pregnancy related hormones (seriously, I started crying on the way home from Chickfila a few days ago. Don't ask for a logical explanation. No idea.), these tears were due to an overwhelming sense of gratitude and appreciation that someone took the time and effort to make this event just a little more enjoyable for kids like Clara.

And y'all. . . this year. . . she had a blast! A smaller crowd = less noise = less sensory overload = more likely that a special needs child will relax, enjoy, and engage in activities offered. Success!

The girls started off by hunting eggs. . . Camille thought she owned the place. Someone just break it to her gently, ok?

Clara found this one egg and then was perfectly content just walking around the grounds. . .

Every once in a while she would stop to inspect it, to make sure it still looked like the perfect choice. . .

We invited our friends who live nearby, who also have a daughter with Cohen Syndrome. LOVE that Clara and Kathrine have each other and can grow to be the best of buddies. Thank you God for this good gift and colliding our worlds.

Kathrine hunting for eggs. . .

And then Camille attempted to take over the petting zoo. . . "Gentle hands, Camille," was said approximately 450x.

Our family pic with the Big Bunny. . . :)

But the best part of this event (at least in my opinion) was the bounce house experience. Because of the light crowd, I was able to crawl into the bounce house with the girls and bounce for a solid 20-25 minutes. Just the four of us! This type of activity is something Clara and Kathrine would not typically be able to enjoy at such an event. The girls were laughing and smiling while I bounced them up and down on their bottoms nonstop. These two might not be able to speak, but you don't need words in these moments. All you need is the look on their faces. Such joy in those 25 minutes. Precious, precious memories. . .

And P.S. If you are in need of switching up your workout routine, just go bounce on your butt nonstop in a bounce house for a solid portion of time. I am not kidding, my thighs are still recovering. I had to take a break in the picture below and Kathrine was not amused. "Mom, she is so lame. Wanna come in and take over for her???"

So many thanks and warm thoughts goes out to the crew that made this event possible. We thank you for going the extra mile and by doing so, recognizing that kids with special needs are well, special, and sometimes just need a little extra special treatment. :)

A fun family filled weekend

We enjoyed a nice, relaxing weekend as a family. So needed! I much prefer this type of weekend over the last few, where Brandon has been working quite a bit, and the actual weekend has felt more like an extension of our week days. Fist bump to some good quality family time!

We kicked off Saturday morning by all heading out to Clara's OT session. Clara's OT, Ms. Brittany (who started this journey with us when Clara was 7-8 months old) has agreed to see Clara on Saturdays because she is an angel straight from heaven. When we decided to pursue Clara's full time ABA school, we knew keeping her private therapy schedule would be challenging. There is no way we could expect Clara to attend school 8:30am-3:00pm and then continue with private speech/OT after an already full day. Enter Ms. Brittany who saved the day and casually offered "I am happy to see Clara on the weekend(s) and just open up my practice to your family." See. . . angel from heaven.

Both girls had an absolute BLAST. Ms. Brittany recently broke off from her former practice to open up her very own place. It. Is. Amazing. Clara (and Camille) were in OT heaven! Rock wall, crash pads, huge swing, ball pit, roller coaster, slide, trampoline and more. If any local parents are needing an OT recommendation, I can not say enough good things about Ms. Brittany.

"Do you think I can jump from here into the ball pit, mommy??" Um no, no you cannot. . .

Girlfriend is a brave one and wanted to ride the roller coaster solo. . . Please just say a prayer for us mmmmmkay?

Camille was so sweet and was trying to help swing Clara. . .

Clara has become very consistent in signing "more" spontaneously when she wants more of something and also when we give her a verbal prompt. Her version of "more" looks like a clap. Here she is mid-sign.

Her expression. . . best ever!

A little sensory input on the trampoline. . .

Camille was fully enjoying the ball pit. Does it seem as if she assumed she owned the place? :)

And later. . . bath time. The girls love bath time together. Despite having to clean half of the water off the floor after the fact, it is a really fun time of day! 

I have to tell Camille "Please sit on your bottom," approximately 455x a bath. . . 

She is still fine tuning her listening skills. . .

We also enjoyed the sunshine and played outside quite a bit. . .

I made the mistake of letting Camille swing in Clara's green swing while Clara is away at school. Not a good move, mommy. Now whenever we are all home, and Camille has to get into her blue swing, she sports some attitude. Please see below. . .

"No, I will not look at you and smile."

No attitude for Ms. Clara. . . here she is again signing "more". . .

On Sunday evening we visited our friends Matt & Jenna, who just welcomed their new baby girl. Their oldest, Parker, is SUCH a sweet friend to our Clara. He always talks to her and loves on her. He was so dear to want to swing her while they were playing outside. Melts my heart!

Parker and his cool shades. . .

Camille kept trying to crawl in baby Molly's bouncer. It may or may not be because she slept in this exact same contraception until she was far too old. :)

Camille trying to pat the baby. . . For one second I was able to get a glimpse into my life come August. Go ahead and just say a little prayer about that as well.

Wonderful weekend. . . now on to tackle this week!