Fun, Fashion and Frugality

Last month marked our biannual trip to the consignment sale.  Rebecca loves coming with me and I really enjoy both her company and her help.  Shopping for multiple children is a challenge and this year we shopped for a few extra little girls.  :-) 

I end up buying more things at the sale when I take Rebecca - and that is probably a good and fun thing.  One example - shoes!  I'm happy with just a casual and dress pair.  I would not have come home with 6 pairs - but for a couple of dollars each for almost new shoes, I don't mind.  (One pair of boots is not in the picture below if you are counting.  They are on the little model if you scroll down farther though.)

We also bought for the boys, but they didn't need as many things this year.  (I hope I don't find mid-season that I've estimated their needs incorrectly!)  Since we pass a lot of things down, we get a lot of wear from our boy's clothes.



Eliana doesn't have many hand-me downs.  (And to be honest it is soooo much fun to shop for a little girl!)



Part of the fun of new clothes is trying them on, right?  Eliana happily obliges her big sister's desire to see how it looks.  I think they are both having a blast!





Some of her outfits look cute from the back and now she often shows us the back of each one.  LOL



And check out my new boots!





Eliana is fascinated with the camera.  It's probably no surprise given the number of photos we take.  It is cute to see her hold up the camera and make a clicking noise with her mouth when she wants to "take pictures'. 





Another area in which things were bought due to shopping with a big sister ... costumes.  "She needs more dress up clothes because we mostly have boy dress up clothes!"  It's true, though perhaps we made a dent in that.

A butterfly





A pirate.  (Only a little girl with big brothers!)



A really cute tutu and some hair accessories (hard to see in this picture).







I know I talk of Eliana often and partly it is because I want to advocate for people with Down syndrome.  It is much misunderstood.  I have to believe that is why more than 90% of pregnancies of babies with Down syndrome in our county are terminated.  That just hurts my heart.  People don't know what a joy it is to have a child with Down syndrome (Ds).  I want to spread the message.  I want  people to see the joy, laughter and delight that is a part of our life due to having a sweet girl who happens to have Ds.  I pray that perhaps people might make different choices if they knew that Ds is not an awful thing - but perhaps just a different thing than you expected which is also going to bring you joy!  I hope that a peek into our lives might just change some perceptions and hearts about what it is like to live with Down syndrome.  For our family - it is a huge blessing that is much enjoyed every day!

Blessings

Leslie