We're putting on our Santa caps and looking for volunteers to help make the holidays brighter for children with special needs in San Diego.   Last year we helped more than 30 children and their families.  We are hoping to spread cheer to low income families in San Diego that need our help!  If we can find five sponsors we will select more families and continue until the week before Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!

How can you help?
Adopt a family or help contribute to a gift basket! We're accepting donations of gift cards (Walmart, Target, Vons, Toys R Us), toys, clothes, books, and Christmas items. If you can help, or wish to sponsor a family, please email us at [email protected].    The first five nominations are listed below.  A more detailed wish list can be provided upon request.

Sponsor a Family
1)  A lovely little two-year old girl with Down Syndrome and her older sister, age 10.  We are looking for some toys and books at a developmental level of 18 months to age 2, clothing and shoes.  Her sister could use paints and paper, craft kits, books, backpack, pencils, marker and clothing. Gift cards for food are very much appreciated.

2)  A special little guy with Down Syndrome who is 2 ½ years old and has twin sisters age 12 plus a 13 year old sister.  Their wish list includes toys, clothing and books.  Sizes can be provided upon request.

3)     A two-year old little boy with significant developmental delays and his older brothe, 4, who received early intervention services. Their wish list includes toys, clothing and food.

4)     Two brothers, 3 and 5,  who live with their Mom in a very small trailer.  Their needs include  toys, clothing and shoes.

5)     A sweet 26 month little girl who has many medical issues causing significant delays in her development. She is now able to walk and would like the experience of riding a trike or other type of push car and is in need of clothing, diapers, and bath toys.  Her brotherd, ages 6 and 7 wish for board games, dvds and some new clothing.  This family could use a gift card for food, too.

Together we can make a difference!

Onwards and upwards!

One of the best joys of parenting is seeing the world before you from the perspective of your child.  I am always surprised and amused by the things Noah picks up on and how he interprets adult conversations. It is especially funny  as sarcasm runs rampant  in our home... We will only have ourselves to blame when this little guy ends up with a wicked wit in his teen years... but for now we are enjoying his literal translations of our jokes and banter. 

I can't remember if I shared this story but it is one of my favorite Noah'isms...  Cecily has been eating lately.  (Oh yes, eating!) And while I will use the word eat because the food is going from her spoon, into her mouth and we are not seeing it come out... the bites are small  but the rewards and excitement we feel are great! We have been talking about how proud we are of her and sometimes when we forget Noah is listening we wish away the tubie and look forward to a tube free life for Cecily.  (We know that day is a long time coming but we are optimists and we believe we will get there...) Anyhow I ramble when I write or talk so the point is with all of this talk about Cecily and her progress Noah has discovered WHY Cecily has her tubie!  He used to think he had one as a baby and I never really corrected this belief because I didn't want him to see Cecily as different.  As Noah becomes more inquisitive, and his friends, too, we have been sharing more and more information about Cecily's unique anatomy and why she needs a tubie to get her nutrition. 

A few weeks (months?) ago Noah, chest puffed and proud as punch, comes running to me and exclaims, "I know why Cecily has her cord!"  (He calls her feeding tubie a cord...)

Intrigued I bite... "Great Noah.  Why?"

Noah looks up at me and says, "Well... I think when Daddy cut the cord when Cessy was a baby he messed up and that's why!  Now she needs another cord... so Daddy must have cut it wrong."

I looked at his sweet face full of anticipation for solving the mystery of Cecily's tubie and I smiled.  What an amazing connection of dots... What a very logical and intelligent idea.. and what a good story made even better by it being ALL Daddy's fault! (Kidding... kind of).  I didn't want to burst his bubble so I just said well that 's quite a theory Noah...how did you come up with that?

He smiled with a look that I see on his Daddy's face.  A look that says, "That's right.. I just know." 

I hugged Noah, and looked at the clock to see how much longer I'd have to wait until I told Daddy just exactly what he had done wrong...

Noah remains Cecily's number one cheerleader!  He can make her stop crying on a dime. He can make her giggle and squeal and smile.  He can encourage her to walk and clap and use her sign language.  He is without a doubt her little angel.  Her face lights up when she sees him in the morning and when she cuddles him she nuzzles in and smiles so big that anyone who sees it is forced to smile.  It is precious.  It is my favorite part of the morning.  (And I am not a fan of the mornings... especially on the work days!) 

We feel we are about to embark on the next chapter of our lives.  It seems that things have fallen into place and our schedule is feeling more and more regular and less manic... We are thrilled with the progress both kiddos are making!  We love that Cecily is using her sign language and that Noah is eager to sign back and communicate with her in his own special language.  I often find when I am not looking that he makes up signs and uses his hands when speaking to her... it is precious.  The bond between these two just seems to grow.  They are now wrestling... I am not sure what I think of this but they think it is grand!

This next chapter should be really good! We can't wait to see what happens next.  Onwards and upwards! 

Sometimes you don't know what you are getting yourself into - until you are into it! Planning an event (a fundraising event) is not an easy thing to do! Professionally I have planned many events with big budgets and the support of big name companies.  It is much different to plan an event as a very small, young and passionate non-profit! It was an adventure, a learning experience and by all accounts a big success for our first start out of the gate!

Why was this such a great event? Because it was for a great cause and it was led by an amazing team of volunteers from UPS.  To say I was shocked when UPS called us AND then followed that call by asking how they could help us is an understatement.  I had no idea that a single phone call would lead to meeting so many wonderful people, to a beautiful room for a lovely little girl, and to an event in Del Mar that was a lot of fun AND helped us raise awareness AND raised money for our organization! We are so grateful to the team at UPS and our board of directors, especially Nicole Steele,  for stepping up and helping us achieve our goals. 

Most of you know that I don't like to ask for help and I don't like to appear to be asking for money either.  (Ahh... kinda hard to do that when you are running a non-profit!) I cringe when I advertise our events or send emails in fear that I seem grabby or that I'm hitting up the crew that I lovingly refer to as our "loyalists..." You know who you are because you are likely the only ones reading this blog entry!  The beauty about working with UPS was it exposed us to a completely new group of people who have seen the value of Cecily's Closet and have witnessed first-hand the benefits that we provide.  The team at UPS has contributed in so many ways... 1) Planning a room makeover and executing upon it 2) Planning an event & executing on it! 3) And helping us with our belly band operation with volunteer sewers! Perhaps most of all they believe in what we are doing and they are not related to us! Yippee!!! We are small but mighty and we are growing!  Thank you UPS for every opportunity you have provided us with.  You could never know how grateful we are - no matter how many times I may express that to you in word or verbal form.  Thank you!

Enjoy the pictures of our event! If you missed it... try and join us next time. We offer family friendly events that truly are fun for everyone!  Pelly's offered a festive environment and allowed our supporters to hang out - even if they chose not to golf! Kids were able to participate in our carnival games, get their face painted by our lovely and talented Emily Dolton, and of course we had some great raffle prizes and a beautiful silent auction filled with amazing items that were donated to Cecily's Closet via local businesses like Beach Bungalow Designs, Painted Plank, Noonan Family Swim School, Pelly's Mini Golf, Cirello Gallery, Indigo Salon & Spa, Georgia's Greek restaurant and Charmeljun Gallardo Photography!  Thank you for helping us make a difference in the life of a child!

Someone is communicating up a storm! So many wonderful sounds are coming out of our sweet Cecily and we couldn't be more excited! With every passing day she is doing something new!  She is starting to gesture in the direction of where she wants to go. This often comes out in the form of a tantrum but it IS communicating her needs and we are understanding and responding!  When asked to turn on or off the light she will push as hard as her little, chubby fingers can press until the light appears. She gets so excited when we acknowledge this new accomplishment.  We are so proud of her! And the words... they keep coming! She is really watching our lips and trying to repeat what she hears.  She even said, "diaper" last night. I wasn't 100% sure this could be true so I called for Noah to hear it.  He starts screaming Daddy Daddy - Cecily just said, "Da Da Diaper..."   Why I need my lovely four year old to confirm things is beyond me these days but I sometimes have a tendancy to hear what I WANT to hear... so having him on the case is quite helpful!  She also said, yes, water and door! To say this is a big deal is an understatement.  The cognition and the direction she is giving (to us) and that she is responding to (from us) is amazing! I will never underestimate Cecily and her potential.

This weekend I sat through the ABCs of IEPs... for those of you with a child with special needs you know this process. Brien and I are just learning and trying to educate ourselves for when Cecily heads off to school - which could be in as little as six-months. We know we are not ready for this and we are not sure Cecily is ready either - but we don't want to misjudge the situation so we have a team of people helping us to make the best decision for Cecily.   I know I am not ready for my baby to go to school! I see her as my baby even though Noah keeps telling me she is really a big girl now... (And he is right).   Ahhh from the mouths of babes...

Sadly despite the wonderful progress from Cecily, Grammy Cecily continues to struggle but we pray she is turning the corner soon.  She completed her sixth and final round of chemo but the impact is taking its toll as she prepares for her next drill - radiation! I know she will handle this with grace and strength but I hope that she starts to feel better soon.  We miss our spunky Grammy.

In addition this week we said goodbye to Grandma Ackerly, Brien's paternal Grandmother.  She lived a long and full life and will be dearly missed.  Luckily Brien was able to travel back to VA to visit with her prior to her passing.  Grandma Ackerly, Pat to her friends, was a remarkabe person that touched a lot of lives.  She will be missed and we know she is looking down on us from heaven and smiling as she reunites with her beloved son and husband in heaven.

We are praying that this next week is better. It seems we have had a few hurdles of late but what does not kill you will just make you stronger!  We will make it through this.

Onwards and upwards!