I think of it as THE wedding because it was like none other. A month later and I am still moved as I go through images and memories thinking of what to share here. As tempted as I am to share all the tiny details of Nick and Victoria’s day, I realize that much of my experience was privileged. Being both sister-in-law-helper and...
This is what a ginormous 3 year old looks like: This is the first birthday I’d say he “gets it” that it’s his special day. He went to school (his 3rd day) and they sang and gave him a birthday bag to take home. He was proud of the cookies he brought to share. Then he went on a man-adventure with daddy that involved...
First Day of School — for the fashionably late. Because we were in Denver for almost two months, the kids only just started school this week. Whitney was so excited she put on her backpack and shoes with her pajamas and barely agreed to eat breakfast and put real clothes on. She rode the bus like a champ and came home and clearly pronounced...
Whitney is four! Last Saturday we celebrated with family and she marched in her annual parade and blew out candles in a giant doughnut. We’ve been constantly talking about birthdays this week. We’ll sing her “Happy Birthday, Whitney,” and she smiles and scrunches her shoulders and almost always passes it along to someone else (“Happy Birthday, Mama!”). At lunch today she turned to Tyler...
It was March 23, 2010 when they told us our baby would have Down syndrome. I was 4 months pregnant. The news was devastating. It’s very fresh in my mind still, what it felt like. I can go there, my heart wide open. It was a season of mourning – grief for the typical baby I thought I was having, as well as a...
I thought I was going to write a post today about what a significant day this is for our family, being the anniversary of Whitney’s heart surgery (read about it here and here). Yes, one year ago was a huge day for us – both insanely difficult emotionally, and positively wonderful to be be on the other side of it and confident in her...
March has become a significant month for me in the past few years…carrying the anniversaries of my top two most difficult experiences: in March 2010 we found out our baby would have Down syndrome (I’ve been wanting to write that post for a while now – stay tuned for it’s release in the next few weeks), and in March 2013 Whitney had open heart...
Dylan Boy is TWO. This Little Dude came into the world on 10/14/11. At TWO he loves: climbing, jumping, shouting, dancing, singing, running music (profoundly Mary Poppins) FRUIT. anywhere. all the time. picking (and immediately eating) from the garden doing things on his own pulling up a chair to the counter to “help” buttons and switches building towers and “robots” with blocks recalling...
Last week we earned the “enjoyed a family vacation with toddlers” badge. It was our first excursion just us four. It was last minute, low budget (low pressure), low expectations and quite fun! I found a fantastic lodging deal on my favorite travel website, Travelzoo, it helped that we stayed Sunday and Monday nights. We brought one pack-n-play for one kid, and made a...
My sweet Big Girl. Oh my word, Mamas, how do you find it in you to let your kids go? Is this snack good enough? Do you need fishies AND graham crackers? or maybe cookies. oh what if she feels like string cheese. is this enough? too much? what if she wants what the other kid is having. what’s his mom packing him right...
Whitney’s Down syndrome was not a delivery room surprise. We found out late in the 2nd trimester. I wanted the delivery to be as normal and natural as possible, Down syndrome or not, birth is birth. Monday morning, and the room was buzzing with medical staff in anticipation. Buzzing because baby has Down syndrome and a known heart condition, and buzzing because Mama was...
Whitney’s almost three! While the official day is not until Friday (8/9) she had a party and her annual parade with friends and family today. It was an Alphabet Themed Party. We played a simple game kind of like musical chairs but with letters and lollipops for prizes for landing on the letters I called out. The day we brought Whitney home from the...