Need Opinions

I'm working on Team Eian's new logo for the Down Syndrome Buddy walk. They are all the same except the little saying at the bottom. Which do you like best or what should I change about the whole logo need honest opinions please.

Which one do you like best?
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The Mama Behind The Blog

Wanna know more about Mama Monkmee? Ok here goes. I'm Dawn aka Mama Monkmee. I'm 26 and have 3 little boys, Alex (5), Eian (32 months), & Will (2 months). I'm married to my high school sweet heart Joel.

I started blogging on MySpace on August 23, 2005 my 1st blog entry was.
"Hey everyone. It's me Dawn, and for those of you who dont know me you will very soon.

I just wanted to get this up and running , now I must get back to Alex.
Dawn's the name, Mama's what they call me!"

Not the greatest but everyone has to start somewhere. I moved over to blogger on May 10, 2008. I choose the name Mama Monkmee cuz I loved monkeys and my oldest son Alex called them monkmees.

I blog about my life the ups and downs of raising 3 boys all 30 months apart, my life long love of Joel(ok half my life), my son's Down syndrome and anything and everything in between.

I was your typical 23 year old mom of 1 son and another on the way when Eian was born with Down syndrome. It changed my whole life. It made me a better person. Most importantly it made me a better mom. I wouldn't change Eian for the world. I love him just the way he is.

So me, well I'm a computer geek. I love making graphics. My biggest passion is photography. Although I've been slacking in my photo taking. I deal with anxiety issues. I get stressed out super easy. I used to be a cutter, but I've not gone that route in years. I wont lie life is stressful being a SAHM of 3 small boys. Eian has therapy twice a week outside of the house. It's a 45 min drive to and from his therapy. He also has Early intervention once a week at our house.

I have 2 on bottles, ok not really I have 1 on a bottle and 1 on the breast. I have 2 in diapers. I use cloth diapers, most of the time. I try to live green. I love text messaging. I've been married for 10 months. I got pregnant with Will the night of my bachelorette party. Lol I found out I was pregnant 5 days after I got married.

My 5 year old is a video game nut just like his daddy. He'd play all day if I let him. My 2 year old knows more sign language than I do. My 2 month old is spoiled.

I'm real and this blog is about my real life. I started doing giveaways to give me something todo while nursing Will since I spend a good bit of time hee at the computer.

My husband leaves in 2 months for basic training with the Army. He'll be gone for 16 weeks He'll miss mine, his  and Eian's birthdays. He'll be home in time for christmas. then he'll be gone again. Me and the boys are stay here until next summer when we will join him provided he's somewhere we can go.

If there is anything else you wanna know about me, the boys, our life anything leave a comment and I'll answer it. Thanks

Rainy Saturday Blues

Well once again it's raining here in little old Union. Makes me so sleepy. Well this year is moving along so I'm starting to gear up for Team Eian fundraising. Our goal this year is to raises $1,000 atleast. Last year we feel short by alot. we raised $250, but I gotta say alot was due to personal issuses that came up in my life. And with me pretty much running Team Eian alone, it makes it hard to do things when other stuff come up. But this year we are doing it. I'm already selling the DS Awareness Magnets for $4 and have a few other things lined up.

Eian is doing good his gross motor skills are good infact his PT cut his time from once a week to once a month. His fine motor skills still need help, he works with Mrs.C once a week on that in OT. His speech is good when he wants to talk. He can say anything, he just only does it when he wants to. He has a couple signs that he uses on a daily basis, Mama, Dada, Eat, and he's signed I love you a couple times.

Alex is well Alex. Lol he's good sometime and sometimes he's just Alex. Thats pretty much the only way I can sum it up. He's doing good in school. He has a new girlfriend, her name is Rebecca, she took care of him the other day when he got a booboo. So the teacher told me he asked if he could give her a kiss on the forehead and she let him. Daddies lock up your daughters now. He's back in underwear today as he told me they called him a baby at school cuz he was in diapers. So heres to hoping he's potty trained by age 4 which is coming up really soon. April 19. I can't believe my baby is almost 4.

I'm doing good. Still at home with the boys and still not sure what we are doing about the housing issuse. But other than that all is going ok. I've donated a DS awareness Kit to Renee for her auction to raise money to bring Kellsey home. Also I have a few give aways planed for the up coming weeks.

31 for 21~ I'm a Slacker

I have fallin so far behind on my 31 for 21 i suck. sorry I'm gonna try to do better.

On to Eian he has a 2nd tooth coming in another on top. he's standing alot by himself. he's gonna be a pumpkin halloween. and i'll upload buddy walk pictures later.

31 for 21~ Team Eian's New Site

http://TeamEian.synthasite.com
we had to move from spruz as they went pay site on us. So check it out and let me know what ya think. Also there is an Awareness Store on it now. Where you can find all he things Team Eian is selling.

31 for 21~ Busy Saturday

So today we had a birthday party to go to for Austyn, she's a part of Team Eian and she just turned 6. She's a cute little blonde that has designer genes too. Well it was so cool at her party there ended up being like 5 kids including Eian that had DS, and it seemed they all loved Eian. lol. my boys had a good time .

When we left there we went to Joel's family reunion. It was nice, the boys had fun until Alex had an accident. He was running down a hill and went head first and hurt his face in like 4 or 5 places. Poor little guy he's always so clumsy. The worest part was I saw it happen but was too far away to help him.

Dont forget

about my give away
http://mamamonkmee.blogspot.com/2008/09/give-away.html
only a couple more days til my cutie picks a winner.
Still time to sign up. Go enter and help Team Eian spread the Joys of Down Syndrome

Give Away

In Honor of Eian's 1st bday coming up in 21 days and DS Awareness Month(Oct). I'm doing a give away. Up for grabs is Team Eian Awareness set. It will include a child's or adult DS awareness bracelet with your choice of name on it. the DS awareness pearl key chain, and a DS Awareness cellphone charm. All you have to do is leave a comment with your name and email and link back to us to help spread the word of DS Awareness. on Oct 2nd Eian's bday he will pick the winner.

Key Chains For Sale

Ok so the Team Eian Key chains are for sale now. here are pictures and prices if you would like me to do a custom one email me and i will get you a price. I can also get other ribbons too(pictures suck sorry)

$5 has 21 pearl beads in sets of 3 and yellow and blue beads to accent and the ds ribbon

$10 Child size bracelet

$3 Zipper pull shown with autism ribbon

$3 Heart key chain with ribbon charm shown with down syndrome ribbon

$3 cell phone charm holder and charm

Just the plain charm is $1


here is a list of the ribbon colors and meanings i can get
Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer, Birth Parents & Nursing Mothers

Lime Green Ribbon: Lyme Disease, Lymphoma, Muscular Dystrophy & non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Peach Ribbon: Uterine Cancer & Endometrial Cancer

Red Ribbon: AIDS/HIV, Heart Disease, Stroke, Substance Abuse, MADD, DARE, Epidermolysis Bellosa, & Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.

Teal Ribbon: Ovarian Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Uterine Cancer, Sexual Assault, Polycycstic Ovarian Syndrome & Tsunami Victims

Green Ribbon: Childhood Depression, Missing Children, Environment, Kidney Cancer & disease, Tissue/Organ Donation, Leukemia, Safe Driving, Bi-Polar Disorder, Bone, Glaucoma, Growth & rebuilding, Literacy, Mental Health, Cerebral Palsy, Neurofibromatosis, Spinal Cord Injury and research, Stem Cell donor and Research, Tourette’s Syndrome & Mitochondrial Disease

Grey Ribbon: Allergies, Aphasia, Asthma, Brain Cancer, Brain Tumors, Diabetes & Mental illness

Pink & Blue Ribbon: Amniotic Fluid Embolism, Baby Safe Haven, Birth defects, Male Breast Cancer, Infant Loss, Infertility, Miscarriage, Premature Birth, Stillbirth & SIDS

USA Flag Ribbon: National Support, Fireworks Safety, Flag, World Trade Center Victims & Heroes

Puzzle Ribbon: Autism & Asperger Syndrome

Violet Ribbon: Hodgkin's Disease & Testicular Cancer

Orange Ribbon: Cultural Diversity, Hunger, Leukemia, Lupus, Melanoma, Motorcycle Safety, Racial Tolerance, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome & Self Injury

White Ribbon: Adoptee, Adoption, Anti-Pornography, Blindness, Bone Cancer, Child exploitation, Child Sexual Abuse, Community Support, Congenital Cataracts, Elderly Affairs, hernia, Holocaust Remembrance, Hope & Support, Molestation Survivor, On-line Sexual Predator Awareness & Internet Safety, Osteoporosis, peace, Postpartum Depression, Retinoblastoma, Right to Life, Scoliosis, Stalking, Student Sexual Abuse, Teen Pregnancy & Victim’s of Terrorism

Gold Ribbon: Childhood Cancer & COPD

Black Ribbon: Accidents, Amish Support, Anti-Terrorism, Gang Prevention, Gun Control, Melanoma, Mourning, Narcolepsy, POW/MIA, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders & Trauma

Brown Ribbon: Anti-Tobacco, Colon Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Familia Polyposis & Tobacco Awareness

Burgundy Ribbon: Adhesions, Brain Aneurysm, headaches, Disabled Adults, Hospice Care, Meningitis, Sickle Cell Anemia, Thrombophilia, & Multiple Myeloma

Purple Ribbon: Domestic Violence, Epilepsy, Pancreatic Cancer, ADD, Alzheimer’s, Animal Abuse, Crohn’s Disease, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, ADHD, Homelessness & Thyroid Cancer

Lavender Ribbon: Cancer (unspecified), Caregiver Appreciation, Epilepsy, Foster Care, Gynecological Cancer, Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis, Infantile Spasms & Rett Syndrome

Pearl Ribbon: Emphysema, Lung Cancer, Lung Disease, Mesothelioma, Multiple Sclerosis & Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia

Silver Ribbon: Brain Disabilities, Brain Disorders, Campaign for the Brain, Disabled Children, Dyslexia, Elderly Abuse, Encephalitis, Niemann-Pick, Parkinson's Disease, Schizophrenia, Sciatic Pain, VACTERL & Young Onset Parkinson's Association (YOPA)

Blue Ribbon: Drunk Driving, Children’s Healthy Weight, Child Abuse, Foster Care Awareness, Crohn’s Disease, Lymphoma, Prevent School Violence, Osteogenesis Imperfecta (IO), Victims of Hurricane Katrina, Dystonia, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Alopecia, Education, Epstein-Barr Virus, Save the Music, Teens against Smoking, Color Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Anti-Tobacco & Anti-Second hand Smoke.

Navy Blue Ribbon: Alopecia, ARDS, Arthritis, Child Abuse, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Colitis, Colon Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Crime Victim’s Rights, Crohn’s Disease, Drowning, Education, Epstein-Barr Virus, Erb’s Palsy, Free Speech, Guillain Barre Syndrome, Huntington’s Disease, Hurricane Katrina, Death of Police Officer on Duty, Rectal Cancer, Restless Legs Syndrome, Teens against smoking, , Victim’s Rights, Water accidents, Water Quality & Water Safety.

Light Blue Ribbon: Addisons Disease, Behcets Disease, Chronic Illness, Cushing Syndrome, DiGeorge Sequence, Graves Disease. Hyperaldosteronism, Klinefelter's Syndrome, Lymphedema, Men's Health, Pro Choice, Prostate Cancer, Scleroderma, Shprintzen Syndrome, Spay or Neuter Pets, Thyroid Disease, Trisomy 18 and Velo-Cardio Facial Syndrome

Yellow Ribbon: Adenosarcoma, Adoptive Parents, Amber Alert, Bladder Cancer, Canadian Cancer Society, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Complementary / Alternative Medicine, Endometriosis, Equality, Ewings Sarcoma, Gulf War, Hydrocephalus, Liver Cancer, Liver Disease, Missing Children, Myxoid Liposarcoma, Obesity, POW/MIA, Remembrance, Sarcoma, Spina Bifida, Suicide & Troop or Military Support

Cream Ribbon: Paralysis, Spinal Cord Injuries, Spinal Disorders and Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Light Green Ribbon: Celiac Disease, Chronic pelvic Pain, Human Papilloma Virus and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Black & White Ribbon: Anti-Racism, Carcinoid Cancer, Diversity, Transitions and Vaccine Awareness.

Orchid & Orange Ribbon: Eczema & Psoriasis.

Blue & Yellow Ribbon: Designated Drivers and Down Syndrome.

Blue & Purple Ribbon: Pediatric Stroke & Rheumatoid Arthritis

Blue & Red Ribbon: Congenital Heart Defects and Disease (alternate red), Hypo plastic left heart snydrome, Noonan's Syndrome, Pulmonary Fibrosis and SADS.

Red & White Ribbon: Aplastic Anemia, DVT, Head and Neck Cancer, Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, Oral Cancer and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Teal & Purple Ribbon: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Purple & Yellow Ribbon: Autoimmune Hepatits, Chemical Injury and the relationship between Lupus and Endometriosis.

Red & Yellow Ribbon: Hepatitis C, HIV/HCV Co-Infection.

Teal & White Ribbon: Cervical Cancer

Rainbow Ribbon: Gay Pride, Same Sex Marriage.

Black & Pink Ribbon: Loss of a Sister, Loss of a female child, mourning a sister, mourning a daughter.

Black & Blue Ribbon: Loss of a Brother, Loss of a male child, mourning a brother, mourning a son.

Periwinkle Ribbon: Acid Reflux, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorders, Eosinophilic Disorders, Esophageal Cancer, Gastric Cancer, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease(GERD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS), Pulmonary Hypertension, Small Intestine Cancer & Stomach Cancer

Lou Gehrig's Ribbon - White with Navy Pin Stripe - Specifically done for Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Yard Sale Update

at the end of the day we had made a total of $350. We had a great turn out, great help, and great people that donated items for the sale and money at the sale. I'd post more but i'm tired and Eian's calling me.

Team Eian's Yardsale For Down Syndrome

Busy Day!!

Today Eian had OT from 9-10 am and the he had EI from 11-12. We worked on him feeding himself puffs at OT today, he did pretty good he got mad a few times. I spoke with his OT Mrs. C. about him not doing too good with thin liquids and him watching you talk and moving his mouth like he's trying to learn to do it, and she thinks it's time to start speech therapy. So she said she would call his dr to get the referral for ST. He has his PT evaluation this month too. Then his EI Mrs. S. was really shocked at all the new stuff he's doing she's been on vaca for 2 weeks. Next week we are updating our IFSP plan even though our 6 months aren't up he has met all the goal we set for him so we have to set new ones. WOO HOO!!!!!

Then we finally got home and I have alot of boxes of stuff to take to the garage for the Team Eian Yard Sale. We still have no set date or place yet. hopefully by Wednesday we will.

We have also noticed that Eian doesn't sweat so I need to make an appointment for him to see his dr.

Don't Pity or Feel Sorry for Them

Ok so my son Eian has Down syndrome, whats the big deal. It isn't a big deal. All it means to us is that we as a whole work a little harder for the things he does. No biggie. He has one more chromosome than you and me.

So we haven't dealt with some of the things other Down syndrome parents post about. But the one thing I have gotten it the "I'm so sorry" when some one finds out about his designer Genes. We aren't sorry why are you. We feel so blessed that God gave him to us to love and care for. I love him just the same as his brother. I understand most people don't know what to say. Say congrats, you are blessed, anything but I'm sorry.

No matter what please don't pity my son or anyone else with Down syndrome. So Eian can't sit up alone yet, so what if he's not said his first word. He'll do it all in his own time. And what he doesnt say in words he says with his eyes. He has a smile that could melt even the most cold hearted person. We support Eian in anything he does or doesn't do. I don't have a life plan for him or his brother for that matter Alex and Eian will do and become whatever they want in life.

Maybe it's me the 24 year old mom who still not sure what she's gonna be when she grows up. But my boys have a whole world in front of them, and I'm sure they'll make the most of whatever they want outta it.

Also another that grips my butt, and I'm sure I'm not the only ds parent that feels this way. But wow I love getting "They are just the happiest people in the world". Fact of the matter yes they can be and they can also be mean, whinny, fussy, mad, sad, and every other emotion we all feel. I mean I have seen my 7 almost 8 month old display all of these. Sometimes even in the same hour. Like right now I can hear him fussing over the baby monitor cause he's alone in his crib.

Another thing all people with ds don't look alike. They look similar because of the ds characteristics but not alike. Eian is a good combo of me and his daddy. at first he looked more like me know he's looking more like his daddy.

Any ways the point of my post is not to be mean and if you thought that then I'm sorry. I just want people to see that people with Down syndrome is no different than you and me. Down syndrome does not make them who they are it's just a part of them like I have brown eyes and Joel has blond hair.

And I will leave you with a few pictures of our Team Eian kids.

Lily

Chandler

Austyn

Eian

Team Eian

for those who don't know let me tell you about Team Eian. I started Team Eian after we got our diagnosis of Down syndrome. It started out just as our family Buddy Walk Team, but as time past I decided to expand it. Now Team Eian is Union County's Down Syndrome Awareness & Support group. As of right now we consite of 4 families with children who have DS. We have grown and we are just starting. Our goal is to Show everybody that people with DS are just like everyone else. You should check us our we have a website and there are wonderful pictures of our Children. We are always looking to expand even more new members etc. I'd love to have all age people from Union with DS join us.

http://www.teameian.spruz.com/