Thanksgiving Prep

That's sort of a misleading title. It may make one think I actually have to prepare in some way for this holiday. Like I am cleaning the house before all the guests arrive; or cooking the turkey. I am really not doing anything to prepare. Maybe I should have made the title simply: The Day Before Thanksgiving?

Things are busy as ever in the Brown house. Gavin is going to school; Erin is working from home and tutoring a couple nights a week; Molly is hanging out with Mom and visiting her regularly scheduled specialists; and I am just trying to keep up with all of them.

A couple weeks ago Molly had a nasty stomach virus, and the last couple nights she has been waking up with some new, unrelated stomach issues. But aside from that all is well. She was slightly miserable for the week or so she had the aforementioned virus [not that I blame her]. It's always so obvious to us when she is not feeling well because typically she really might be the happiest baby ever.

Most kids cry for a reason: hungry, diaper, tired, uncomfortable. Molly is no different, except she hardly cries for anything. She lets us know when any of the above scenarios needs to be addressed, but to actually cry - I mean to let out a whimper or a scream - something has to be really wrong. This explains why even I - the soundest of sleepers [I am not really sleeping through I am choosing to ignore most issues] - bolt out of bed when Molly awakes with a scream in the middle of the night.

So as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, we're gearing up for turkey day. The Wilberts clan came up from Houston and Cara is coming out from the city (even though she has to be back for work at 7pm). I am psyched for some relaxation time with the whole crew. Maybe this year I'll even try not to eat myself ill.

Then again maybe I will.

Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving and take a few minutes to consider the things you have to be thankful for. I know I will. Not that I even need a holiday for that these days.

It's the Holiday Season; Unpaid Advertisement Follows

A couple quick administrative things:

1. If you haven't registered at www.trisomy18.org, or you registered but chose not to accept email from the organization, then you're not aware of the new collectible holiday ornaments. This ornament is the first in an annual series and it comes enclosed with a special awareness card. I think you'll agree these ornaments are attractive and reasonably priced, and would make a nice holiday gift.

1a. Also, if you haven't chosen to accept emails from the Foundation, you'll miss out on the highly anticipated debut of "From the Desk of the VP of Development" (a working title). Hopefully this catches on and serves as an effective means of communicating progress and goals with the members of the community, while simultaneously helping to coach and empower them to broaden the reach of the Foundation through fundraising and awareness efforts with their own networks - much in the way all of you helped us through the Triathletes for Trisomy 18 efforts last summer.

So, anyway, if you don't get emails from the Foundation make sure you have an active email address listed in your profile. If you're not sure one way or the other, shoot me an email letting me know you want to receive correspondence from the Foundation (using the email address you want the correspondence sent to) and I will make sure your status is updated appropriately.

[Also feel free to email ideas on what I should write about. For some reason I don't think I'll get away with mass communicating Giants updates to the community. FYI: if you didn't receive an email "From the Desk of the Executive Director" on Nov 20, you're not set up to receive email from the Foundation.]

2. The Foundation also has Keepsake bracelets like the one in the picture above. You can get one with or without a birthstone, and they also are reasonably priced, make nice gifts, and come with a special awareness card.

Both the ornaments and the bracelets require some lead time, so the holiday deadline is fast approaching.

Most importantly, proceeds from these items immediately benefit the Trisomy 18 Foundation and its mission of support, advocacy, and research. Items can be purchased by clicking here.