This dude. My life shifted course five years ago when I first held this bundle of passion, laughter, and amazement in my arms. When I look through my “monthly” collage for Dylan I can’t help but realize how fast those years have gone by – I vividly remember so many of those moments like yesterday and when I see how little he was and...
Some shots from our Easter weekend. This is as good as family photos get right now…someone’s hands in her mouth, someone’s not looking, someone’s staring into space, mom and dad are trying their best not to move. The next best had someone lifting her skirt and someone else marching around us in circles. Oh the...
Happy World Down Syndrome Day everyone. I think it’s fitting that Whitney spent most of her day at her full-inclusion kindergarten classroom (I basically tout her school/teacher/staff to someone almost daily – we are so grateful for what it is right now), and then after school we went to a doctor’s appointment…because that’s the other thing people with Down syndrome do a lot, right? Well sometimes it...
Every year on March 15th my mom reminds me to “beware the ides of March.” Just kidding, right? But no, seriously, in reality I basically brace myself every time I flip to this page on the calendar. March is a month of remembrance for me, especially for very challenging experiences that have fallen on it’s pages. Yesterday (March 14th) was three years since Whitney...
This makes me laugh. I’m fully amused by these curls. (one of the triplet brothers in brave | Dylan | Michelangelo’s David) and I’ve had a few different people prompt this one (me | Kim Raver from Greys Anatomy/24/etc) over the years…I don’t know, I guess I can sorta see it. I’ve never seen any of her shows. and here’s an old...
My last post was a frustrated one about Whitney’s bolting away and how one result of that is choosing to stay cooped up at home to avoid the stress (and danger) of chasing her around public places. Well, I’m happy to report that we’ve had a few adventures since that post and while all involved wrangling her as she tried to wander, none involved...
We’ve been cycling through a series of celebration and survival modes the past two (and a half?) months…and I have a lot of catching up to do. If you were wondering where your Christmas card was I’m sorry, we didn’t get one out this year. But I LOVE getting all the cards and catching up and seeing snapshots of people’s lives. Thanks to all...
There’s some extra cuteness going around and the smiles are especially contagious. And I found the first little tooth poking through this evening! We had a 4yr (Dylan) and 4month (Leslie) checkup last week. These kids are healthy and thriving! Dylan is the size of the average 5 1/2 year old. The doctor encouraged us to “put a basketball in his hands.” I just...
Dylan’s obsession with collecting “treasure” made it easy to do a birthday party theme for him this year….a gold treasure party. For the first time, we decided to have a small collection of kids WITHOUT their parents! Of course, I stacked my party team with grandparents, aunties and uncle to help out, but all in all I’m a fan of the party focusing on...
This boy. The fourth year has meant a lot of things for him. To begin with there was an unquenchable desire for building (legos, marble runs, blocks), farm boy early morning wake ups, lots of bursts of energy and silly words and sounds. He has collected thousands of “treasures” in all the empty boxes and canisters he can get a hold of. Treasure means...
We recently returned from our inaugural Disney family adventure….and now we study the Disney map at breakfast every morning. “Mom – what’s the scary parts in Indiana Jones?” “Why didn’t we go on Yeti Mountain?” Seriously, though, while totally exhausting on my end with baby back on an every-three-hour feeding schedule, Disney did not disappoint – it was every bit as magical and as...
I blinked and it’s now five weeks later. We are a whole different family now. Dylan’s hair seems a few bushy curly inches longer, Whitney is almost to her first break for school, and we heard the beginnings of Leslie’s laughing today. It’s been a whirlwind of change – we have been weathering tons of parent meetings and trainings for these co-op schools we’ve...