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 Alphabet Party was my first Pinterest-inspired party…I scoured people’s boards to come up with ideas for all sorts of things….a fraction of which came to fruition or worked out as initially intended. All in all the party was great fun and I enjoyed all the projects that made the theme come alive. And I learned a bit in the process. For instance, make...
It was a big weekend for our little family. Not only did we celebrate Whitney’s upcoming birthday with a party and parade but Mr. Curls got his first trim. I had held back probably a lot longer than I should have with the mess of blonde. So we set up a video out on the deck, and after arming myself with a few youtube tutorials...
Today I rocked it. Whitney’s birthday is coming up and I actually did something to prep for the party more than a week in advance! We’re having an ABC themed party (Alphabet, people. My Pinterest research taught me that apparently there is another type of ABC party out there…you college and otherwise eccentric folk can rest assured knowing the dress code is indeed family...
FIRST trip to the Dollar Store for the kids (and first in a long time for me) – wow, what an easy place to spend money! Our finds brought on a few other firsts….. FIRST tea party, attended by our new spiders. FIRST home recorder jam session….yes, Whitney plays it however she wants. I liken this to something in between Kenny G, and...
Happy belated 4th everyone! We’ve got another type of independence going on here. Freedom = Highchair free for 2 weeks now, I still can’t believe it when the kids spoon out their own Cheerios and milk. Dylan says “OWN” all the time, as in I want to climb in my carseat, go upstairs, brush my teeth on my own! It’s actually helped with the...
For the past two years Tyler and I have taken the challenge to make New Years Goals. While I am an excellent list maker, and a big idealist and dreamer….deciding on a few things to commit to prioritizing is not easy. My 2012 goal was basically to survive – I was drowning in the daily drum of a 2.5 month old and a 16...
We participated in an exhibit called Testify at our church that showed this morning. Our story and the image they used are below. Delighted laughter and the thumping of dancing bare feet sound from of our backyard deck. Our eyes meet and the familiar twinkle says what we don’t have to: we love our kids. Praise God, for life is good. If feels good...
I’ve taken it upon myself to do some family screenwriting lately. It goes like this:Act 1 Scene 1: garage door lifts, child runs shrieking with glee toward the street as mother frantically chases yelling all combinations of ‘stop!’ ‘Freeze’ ‘wait!’ ‘[name!!]’. Child turns a corner into neighbors yard and dares mother to hurdle waist-high shrub. And on and on.Act 1 Scene 2: [sound of...
Before surgery I was afraid and saddened by the thought of Whitney’s scar. I thought of what it represented, particularly of the trauma that her little body went through. It made me sick. I mourned the loss of her perfect soft skin on her chest being blemished with a gruesome mark. The other day I thought again about her scar. Yes, it’s quite large,...
Whitney made a friend at an appointment this morning. A six-year-old girl with Down syndrome entered the room and zeroed in on Whitney, coming over to proclaim her “sister” and sat forehead-to-forehead cupping her face, whispering secrets, and looking into her eyes lovingly. It was precious. I soaked in this beautiful moment of kinship. I’m not usually one to try to make best friends...