As many of you know, I am mother to a highly emotional, passionate, feisty and incredibly loving four year old (almost five), Scarlett! Also, I have an extra cool, extra happy, extra life-loving and extra chromosome carrying son, Welles. And then there is my attached at the hip (or chest;)), goo-goo eyes for mommy, tough from being a rag doll to his siblings and generally super content lover-boy, Ames.
For a number of reasons, I am sure that Scarlett was made for Welles as much as Welles was made for Scarlett. I know that the teaching and guiding will go both ways. It already does. While she teaches him to try new things, to push himself and be brave, he teaches her to love more deeply, to have compassion and patience (still working hard on that last one;)). They both need each other so much and are a perfect match for the other. I feel so lucky that they have each other and almost wonder if either of them really need me!?It all goes the same for sweet little
What a perfect Halloween it was. Crispy air but not too cold. Leaves lining the streets and neighbors going all-out on out on the decorations and hospitality. Some friends were making scones on their porch and one home was passing out cotton candy as they made it in their front yard. Another cute friend was dressed as a witch and threw a snake into a cauldron turning it into sweet treats as she muttered her spell! We kind of live in the best halloweenhood. ;)
A couple months back, I got a call from a woman named Carole who had gone to great efforts to track me down. She was a board member for a foundation called "Sharing Down Syndrome" in Arizona. This amazing women has no children with DS of her own, but has a passion and love for them. I was so impressed as she is one of the few people I know that fully understands the beauty of this diagnosis without having it in own her family. What a beautiful soul my new friend, Carole has. When she asked me if I would come be the keynote speaker and their 25th anniversary gala, I jumped on the opportunity. I love meeting other DS communities and I don't mind speaking. Plus, this meant that I would get to visit my dear sister and her family whom I miss dearly.
As we are nearing the end of Down syndrome awareness month, I've been reflecting on our life before Welles and how humbling it's been to learn from him. I was laying in bed thinking of this post and my eyes literally filled with tears. So many days I wonder why we were chosen to be so abundantly blessed to get to learn from this boy. He is such a beautiful and cherished blessing. Below I've listed the top five things that Down syndrome, and Welles have taught me.
Okay, as promised, here is an update on our fall bucket list. Because I know you're all dying to see what we've checked off (little sarcasm;))! Click HERE to see the full list. With just one week until halloween, I've got to get the pumpkin-patch involved items, done! Thus far we have.....
I don't know how many more years of costume coordinating we've got in us! Lucky for me, Scarlett wanted to be Alice and Welles and Ames kindly obliged to being her caterpillar and timely rabbit. ;) Aren't they so agreeable?? But really, I kind of can't wait for the day when Welles is into superheroes or athletes and insists on a cheesy costume for Halloween. Sounds funny, but that will show some real cognitive development. Until then, I will dress him up like a little doll in the outfit of my choice... Or Scarlett's choice!
First off... Holy cow, what a week! I am in complete shock about the attention that last post got with our #StrongLikeYou video from Jane. So very humbled by the amount of comments, likes, shares and views. We are spreading our message so far and wide! I've been responding emails literally from around the world. It brings me to tears thinking about the way people could be changing their option of Down syndrome. I always knew Welles was born with a mission...
This here video made by Jane.com is so very personal to our family. Every time they've sent me the latest edits, my heart re-opens the flood door and all of emotions rush back like a tidal wave. Jane's film crew did such an incredible job of telling our story from Welles birth until this point in his life. All in just 3 minutes and 44 seconds! We were honored to be a part of their #StrongLikeYou series.
I know, I know... You didn't even realize such cuteness existed, right?! Maybe it's just my mommy goggles, but since having Welles, I find these kids with extra chromosomes to be extra, extra, darling.
This weather, these colors and my peeps... Nothing better! This time of year is hands-down, my favorite. It's weird, but being in the mountains and walking little nature trails with my family gets me all chocked up. There is something so serene and magical about being disconnected from the rest of the world and solely focusing on your surroundings and your family.
For newer readers.... Here is a (condensed) post that I wrote almost two years ago about Welles' birth. I didn't know it was possible, but I think we now love him ten times more than we did back then....
About a month or two back, Scott was out of town and I was frantic to get the kids out of the house. It had been a long couple of days and we were all feeling pretty cooped up. As usual, the boys fell asleep just as we pulled into the park. Ugh! I decided to take longer drive and played “I spy” with Scarlett while we drove around aimlessly.
We said goodbye to our beautiful home a few weeks ago. So many memories made in that place, lots of laughs and lots of diapers changed. We will truly miss that blue-grey home, but we are very excited for our new house, hopefully to be finished by January!
I'm a little late on the "Summer Bucket List" planning, but it's been crazy around here. Not just the usual, chasing kids, appointments, daily grind, crazy... We have some added chaos in our lives right now because we are MOVING! Dejunking, packing all of our belongings (in a semi-organized fashion) and taking off! Leaving the first home we built. I have all kinds of mixed emotions.
