Its VOTING time!!

Back in May I was honored to have won a makeover from my local JCPenny's in a promotion they were doing together with Matrix hair supplies.  You can read about my makeover here.  Part of the promotion was to give someone within the community who has made a change a makeover, then from all the local winners within the U.S. they put together a webpage to VOTE for the best makeover stories. 

Now I am calling my blog readers to help with your VOTE.  Please visit www.matrix.com/jcpenny, search for Hanzely and VOTE.. only one vote per computer and/or phone, so I would appreciate you spreading the word for me as well.  The top 5 people will win $5,000 to give to an after school program of their choice.  I would love to do something for children with special needs in my area with that money.

C'Mon, vote already would ya????

and THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Identical Twins with Down Syndrome... Keeping it Real...

I thank God daily for doubly blessing Tom and I with these two beautiful, amazing, intelligent 5 year old identical twin boys he entrusted to us to raise in his sight.  I express my love for these boys to all who will listen to me babble on and on about them as I often do.. I always try so hard to turn negative comments into positives.  When someone tells me they are sorry, as so many often do, I tell them there is nothing to be sorry for, I tell them that the odds of having identical twins both with Down Syndrome and PDD Autism are so rare that we obviously feel "chosen" to do this.  When I talk to someone for the first time and tell them my boys have DS and Autism the reply I most often hear is "awwwwww".   I can totally see why someone who had never had the opportunity to live with a person with Down Syndrome to think and speak like this.

Here is my Boo Hoo..... My boys are five, they are non-verbal.  Right now as I type they are wanting something that I cannot figure out.  Since they cannot communicate to me they scratch and bite until I figure it out or redirect them to something else.  Caleb currently had a bruise the size of a silver dollar on his forehead from head banging when he is unable to communicate with me.  Tom and I are so scratched up from constant tugging of our face to look at them to figure out what they want.  My boys are five, they are still in diapers with no indication that they do not like messing in their diapers.  When they get into the tub and urinate they do not know what the yellow stuff is that is making a fun fountain to play with... 

*scratching me again*

My boys are five, they often hum and twirl socks or dangle toys while intently staring at them.  Until I had my boys I had never heard the word stimming, now that has become a daily routine.

*scratching me again*


My boys are five, somedays I wonder when I am going to find the right instructional book explaining Parenting twins with Down Syndrome 101, with the second edition adding in the Autism part.  As Caleb walks back over to me banging his head off all the furniture and of course, scratching me..

ok back from getting him a sippy cup. Where was I? Oh, my boys are five.  In five years I have learned so much about myself.  I have learned that I have taken so much for granted in life.  I have learned that I go and go and go and need to learn to slow down and smell the roses.  I have learned that I have ALOT more to learn in life.  I have learned that I did not treat all people as I would want to be treated myself.  I have learned that going up and greeting and/or hugging the least visually appealing person in a hospital waiting room will put a smile on that persons face for a week.  I have learned that the struggles I feel I am dealing with are nothing compared to others.  I have learned that everyones problem is the worst problem ever, until I really sat back and saw some people dealing with things that I never could deal with myself.  It was at that point, that I discovered THAT is how people look at me.  People see me struggling to hang on to one boy while the other throws a temper tantrum in the middle of a store floor.  People see me feeding both boys and myself when we go out to a restaurant to eat.  People see me going out in the public usually always with a wrap around worker (or two) handling the twins so I can accomplish my grocery shopping.  People see me sitting in the van at a baseball game watching Elijah from the parking lot so the twins can sit and watch a movie to allow me to watch the game.  People see me carrying one twin in each arm down a flight of stairs to their preschool room to save time until they master going down stairs themselves.  People see me not being able to attend things because I know that the surrounding will be overstimulating to the boys and they may scratch behind their ears until they bleed or bang their fists on their head. 

Why am I typing this post?  Because when I talk to my friends and family members I always make it seem as though raising these boys is just like raising my other three children.  When I talk to friends and family I only talk about the amazing things they are doing..  ( and that is ALOT ) but there are also things going on behind the scenes that often times brings my spirits down a little bit.  The boys have begun bolting from us, they have begun pulling things off the counters and taking things out of drawers.. Safety is a huge issue right now and its stressful to me feeling like I can't control everything and they may get hurt.  Elijah came in the house yesterday and left the door open... Caleb found the open door and ~whoosh~ he was gone, crossed the street and went to see Grandma and Papa.. How terribly frightening especially as we had a dog killed on the road last week.  Its an eye opener.  I have been thanking God that the warning came in the form of a dog losing her life and not my child.  Today we had someone come and give us a quote for fence for our yard... I am hoping that I can find some peace of mind soon so that we may all enjoy our summer instead of worry our way through it.

Thanks for reading and if you read this far you sure got an eye full.  I feel better now..  Any words of wisdom or been there done that talk appreciated :)

R.I.P. Auggie Doggie

Today we lost a family pet.  She was a great buddy to the kids and she will be missed!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ An oldie but a goodie

Chairs of Change, JCPenny Salons & MATRIX Make Over America

I was so honored to receive a call the other day letting me know the I had been awarded a FREE MAKE OVER from JCPenny's Salon & MATRIX from a national promotion going on called Chairs to Change.  When I first received the phone call and the manager of my local salon started talking about her exciting news, what ran through my mind was that they had taken collections of change from people who had their hair cut and was choosing my organization, The Arc of Jefferson County, to donate their change to.

As she went on for another minute and announced that I had been the one that had made the change in our community and I had won a makeover I was shocked....and very excited!!!  I come to find out that I was nominated in their promotion by the president, Linda Kearney, of my chapter of The Arc.  She wrote in that I have dedicated so much of my time to getting programs started for children with special needs in our area, and have done so with five children at home.  And then she went on to explain that two of my children are 5 year old identical twin boys both with Down Syndrome and Autism.  Her story captured the hearts of our local JCPenny's crew and I WON!!!!!

So here is my BEFORE photo before I left for the salon:

When I arrived there were balloons and the many of their crew was there to welcome me in, it was very humbling to know that this was for me.

I got my first pedicure and I have to tell you.... WHY oh WHY did I wait so long for one?? I have heard from lots of my friends that they get them, well now I know why... I will come back for another.  Thank you so much Lindsey for a great relaxing hour.

Then it was off to the chair to get my hair done.  Unfortunately, I had just gotten my hair cut three days prior to my makeover, and it was my short summer hairdo, but Jenn M. was able to work some magic, add some coloring and highlights and shaped up my hair a little more and I LOVE IT!!!

Here is the AFTER SHOT from today:

a little closer for the hair effect:

And look at what I received from MATRIX:

and this was my extra special gift from the salon:

then I headed off to the clothing department and was given $50 to spend on an outfit...  Loved That!!!

and to end a perfect day, my husband came and took me out to eat at Red Lobster. 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! I honestly don't feel like I've done amazing things in our community, I honestly think that my boys have changed my way of thinking and my heart and what I am doing is truly out of need and love for our special needs population.  I will always remember this day!!!!

Thankful Thursday...

Today I am thankful for the giggles I get out of my children everyday.  Today Caleb was the giggle for me.  He found his sisters headband and wore it on his forehead AND turned his glasses upside down.  He literally did this for 30 minutes.  He ran around the house being goofy and trying to get my attention because he knew he was being silly..  Thanks Caleb :)

Welcome to the Clan... Zoey Lyn

Our Newest Addition arrived on April 19th.  My brother in law and sister in law welcomed their fourth child into our clan.  I got to go and see her and take some photos, she is so precious...  sharing her with you, my family and friends :)