Highlights from December

We did all our favorite things this December. So much fun was had all around.

 

Went home to Arizona to be with our family. Family time is the BEST time.

Attended our first Christmas dance party for the Edmonton Down Syndrome Society

 Had super fun slumber parties.

 One of my super favorite activities is feeding the giraffes at the Reid Park Zoo.  I always feel like a kid at my favorite zoo.

 First time going to the North Pole Experience was so much fun.  Very magical and amazing!

 Celebrating Jesus' birthday of course!  Best family tradition is attending midnight Mass.  I love singing and celebrating it brings me to tears every time.

 Playing baseball and walking to the park is also such a fun tradition we do every Christmas eve.

Losing Acer

With a terribly heavy heart I write this post.  I met Acer, my sweet soulmate's dog back in 2004.  The year Greg and I met.  I traveled to Nova Scotia for New Year's.  She welcomed me with open paws.  We loved each other from the start.  She was the most faithful, loving, loyal, hyper, caring sweetest dog there ever was.  It's difficult to write this post without breaking down and wishing for one more hug. She was protective but she loved everyone that walked in the door.  She was social and playful.  She would do her thing while we had visitors and as they were about to leave she would come to the door to say goodbye, and would stand there until they were out the door. I always said she was part human and had a heart of gold.  

Our Sweet Acer had such a beautiful life, she loved running in the field behind our house.  I loved those summer days when we would go fly kites and she would chase us and run free.  She loved walks and marked her territory at every six inches, she was so funny!

We celebrated her birthdays with a cute birthday cakes. Ana Maria and I would go to Pet Smart and pick one out a few days before her big day.  We would let her eat most of it and sing to her.

The most difficult time was telling Ana Maria she was in heaven when she came home from school.  Daddy had called me to let me know that she was gone, then he came home and we all cried together.  It was so painful to see Ana Maria's heart literally breaking for her best friend.  She was her faithful partner all of her life.  Acer was always the reason why she wanted to become a vet.  I cried for Ana Maria's and Greg's pain for the first couple of weeks and then it hit me hard that my Acer was gone.  

As mothers we always put others first including sorrow.  God gives us the strength to somehow carry others pain before us and then He carries us through our own heartbreak.

We miss her so much and we still cry for her more than once a day.  She was a MacKeigan, she was our family and we will always hold her close in our hearts. 

Rest in Peace sweet girl, and know we LOVE AND MISS YOU TERRIBLY.

Morning announcements

Good morning students, teachers and staff

This week is Down syndrome awareness week in Canada. But really everyday is a good day to learn about the uniqueness that makes us who we are. 

We are all different in our own ways. Some of us come from different countries, some of us know different languages, some of us have an extra chromosome. 

Jordan Grace, Ana Maria's little sister  has Down syndrome. But she's just a child like anyone else, she wants to be loved, she wants to have friends and she wants to be included.

Today I ask you to look around your school, it's a beautiful mix of a lot of different cultures and people. We learn from each other each day. 

People with Down syndrome learn a lot from everyone around them. Jordan Grace loves to copy what others do. That's why we have to be great examples, great teachers and great friends.

But you can also learn a lot from someone who has Down syndrome. You can learn patience because they may take a little longer to learn some things, you can learn that they are more like us than different, and that Down syndrome is not scary or contagious.

There's a new saying "inclusion is the new cool" what does that mean? Well it means that including all people in our daily life, play or work would make this world a better place for everyone. 

So today I challenge you to think about others around you, to be kind and to be a good friend to all! 

And When you see someone different than you please remember that we all were created by God, we all have a heart, we all have feelings and best of all God doesn't make mistakes! 

Have a great day everyone!!! And always remember the golden rule! Do unto others as you would have done unto you! ❤️

Saying bye bye to Nana is never good!

We were blessed to have mom here for a couple weeks. Of course those days flew by with tons of activities, from helping out at Jordan Grace's school to attending Bible celebration at Ana Maria's school, to parties, and book events, to a news crew coming to our home, and regular dance, piano and guides. To fun Halloween parties, festivities, parades and trick or treating. Our time was very short but packed with amazing memories to last a lifetime! We sure are missing her like crazy tonight though! 

Annual Halloween Dance

I've always been a fan of dressing up and celebrating...this year our family dress up came out of no where. It is actually a funny story. We were leaving piano lessons and Ana Maria's piano teacher asked what she would wear for Halloween. We were joking about the weather and said maybe I will just wrap them up in big blankets and they can be blankets for Halloween. The lightbulb went on! 

All the way home I drove and tried to talk Ana Maria into being Paris, I told her I would be Michael Jackson, daddy could be Prince and Jordan Grace would be blanket. We laughed all the way home and then as the days passed I completed our costumes.

The dance party was so much fun and a success, we made people laugh and we saw so many great friends we have made through the years at Ana Maria's school. We are seriously so blessed with so many wonderful people in our lives! 

Worth the wait!

Sooo worth it!!! This picture of her is so sweet! I can't explain to you how much I adore this little lady! We are so incredibly blessed and so in love with her!!! Truly worth the wait! 

Following along...

When I was pregnant with Jordan Grace I thought that she wouldn't be able to do things, for some reason. I was not educated on Down syndrome, so I just assumed that she wouldn't know what was going on. But I was completely wrong. 

She is a pretty smart little lady. She learns by watching others, and she's a very quick learner. Getting to know Jordan Grace for who she is has been the best decision of my life. I didn't want to label her.

I knew as a mother kids do things at different times.  Ana Maria my 8 year old didn't crawl until she was over eight months old, but she walked at nine months old. So I knew I shouldn't go with the "norm."

I couldn't be more proud of all the daily  things she's achieving. I love watching her grow and thrive...so blessed to be her mother. 

I didn't count on you!

My dearest daughter, I am so happy to tell you that when I got pregnant I was counting on a normal pregnancy, delivery and baby.  At twenty weeks of you developing inside, we were told that you had a heart defect.  We were scared, we were prayerful, among other feelings we’ve never felt before.  But the doctors didn’t stop at that, they also gave us the diagnosis of Down syndrome.  

 

This diagnosis brought us to our knees in pain.  We had never known anyone with Down syndrome, we had no idea what to expect.  You still had to develop for another twenty weeks.  Those days and months were filled with questions of why, tears, fear, uncertainty, and many dark moments I never imagined.

 

Somewhere along those long days my heart settled.  I knew I loved you from the moment you were created.  We wanted you so dearly, we tried for you for so long, so when you were finally a reality, we fell in love immediately.  I’m just sorry we had our doubts about your future.  When my heart accepted both diagnosis I couldn’t wait to finally hold you in my arms. 

 

One sweet February morning, three weeks before your due date, I knew you were on your way.  I went in to the hospital for a check-up and then I had to call daddy to let him know he had to come because we were going to meet you soon.  Sissy made it just in time after school, she got to feel my belly one more time, then went to the chapel to pray while you made your grand entrance.  Labor was fast, almost painless and easy. It was like a sweet movie, the doctor was amazing, she pulled you out and placed you on my chest as you looked up to me with trust and joy.  In that moment, I knew I would do everything in my power to change the minds of people all over the world.  

 

I didn’t count on you to have my heart so deeply, I didn’t count on you teaching me about life.  I didn’t count on you showing me about what love is all about.  I didn’t count on you to be so “normal.”  You have taught us that Down syndrome is just a little something extra you have, not something you are.  I thought it was all up to me to teach the world about you, but you are winning everyone’s heart as you meet them, by just being you. 

 

I didn’t count on you, I couldn’t feel more blessed that our dreams came true in a way we didn’t envision.  You came true in your own unique and special way.  You bring a certain kind of love that needs to be spread.  

 

My precious daughter, I’m glad you were sent to us, to be in our family, in our lives, how lucky are we to know and love someone like beautiful you!

 

Newspaper clippings

I have to say, this doesn't get old. It's kind of exciting to get google alerts when my name is published anywhere. But this is proof that not everything published under my name is alerted to me. Which is kind of cool to know that some stuff is published and I never know about it. 

What I mean by that is that our story is getting out there and people are reading it and hopefully getting something out of it! 

This newspaper clipping was sent to me by a friend. He said he was having coffee and reading this. Which is fun to receive because I didn't know it was being published! 

I'm so proud of my girls and sharing our story, but I'm touched when others are willing to share and are inspired by them! 

So much talent!

Today's photo challenge theme was talent. 

My Jordan Grace is incredibly talented in so many areas! I can't pick just one! She literally can make anyone smile, she's totally aware of people's feelings. She loves to make people laugh, so silliness is definitely a talent. Not to mention her dancing, singing, crafting, coloring skills among other things. 

But what I'm most proud of her for is the way she loves life, people and animals. She has such a zest for all things. She has a way to live each day happiest, to work hard and play harder. To love and hug harder. To kiss and let us know how truly and deeply she adores us. 

She just has a way, I can't explain it, I can't put it into words, it's something you have to experience, and be oh so lucky to know our beautiful Jordan Grace! That's why we are called #TheLuckyFew

Go21

It was a crazy beautiful day yesterday! Too busy to post and too much fun to share!!! 

We attended our first walk to bring awareness to Down syndrome. It was such a great turn out, huge crowd, happy souls, lots of volunteers and tons of friends! 

We are so lucky to have my beautiful mom here this week, she was able to join us on the walk and meet some wonderful people we are so blessed to know. 

We were so blessed to be accompanied by our dear friends Lals and Gabrielle. 

It was such a memorable experience!

Book signing event at Audrey's Books

My sweet inspirations and I at a book signing event today. Seriously blessed! Such a fun journey in our lives and I love the people we meet in the process. 

A beautiful family came into our lives today and I cannot wait to get to know them and their precious little one living the beauty of Down syndrome. 

We had a fabulous day!!! ❤️

Siblings

Ana Maria prayed and begged for a baby sister! When we found out the baby had a heart defect she prayed harder and she stressed a lot, she would ask me many times If the baby would go to heaven or if she would be born. It made me so sad to think that she was carrying all this burden when all she ever wanted was a sister. 

I tried to tell her everything would be ok but I had a hard time believing myself. I had to keep the faith and keep reassuring her. 

When I had to explain that her sister was "different" after she had been born, Ana Maria said "so what?" And "it's ok mommy" 

Though she suffered through the difficult understanding, she was more sure than anyone that her wish had come true and to her, her sister was perfect.

These sweet princesse couldn't adore each other more!!! I'm truly so proud and so blessed!!! 

A Princess Wish

Day 20 of photo challenge for Down syndrome awareness month is: something awesome. 

We have been in an AWESOME journey with this sweet children's book "A Princess Wish" inspired by my girls. We've been blessed to be able to share this book with many people.

News networks in both US and Canada have covered our story along with newspapers and blogs.

As many of our loved ones know we are trying to raise awareness not just for Jordan Grace but for all people who are different, in hopes that parents will bring up the subject with their young children. 

The earlier we teach children to respect, include and accept others who are different the better life will be for our loved ones. 

Model Baby!

We received this sweet shirt from Megology. Not only does she look super cute! The shirt is soft and stretchy. Plus it's originally made by Megan from the Emmy award winning show "Born This Way." We love supporting Megan! 

#DearDoctor

Our Dear Doctor letter is up on The Huffington Post.

Birthday party FUN and hats! 💝

Ana Maria attended a birthday party for one of her friends she's known since kindergarten. 

These girls have known Jordan Grace all her life. They not only accept her, they include her, they go out of their way to play with her. They don't do it to be praised, they do it because they genuinely love her!

It's so heartwarming to see the way these girls swarm toward my baby girl, take her by the hand and let me know they've got her back! I couldn't feel more blessed today by their actions. 

Most times it's not what we say but what we do! And these girls are a great example of what acceptance is.

What I know now!

Singing copies of "A Princess Wish"

We've been on such a beautiful journey...I love all the people we have met through this beautiful community of Down Syndrome. I love that I have "friends" all around the world I may never meet. Yet, I know that these mamas understand exactly what life with a precious one with DS is all about. 

It's about normalcy...it's just as fun and just as interesting as life was like with my older daughter at this age. It's about exploring and learning. It's about hind sight is 20/20. I kick myself sometimes thinking about the day I found out about Jordan Grace's diagnosis.

I wish I could tell myself back then that DS was just a diagnosis and not a definition. I wish I knew that I would become a spokesperson for our baby girl. 

I wish I would have known life would be ok. Life would even be great! 

My sweet girls!

I love these sweet little ladies so much!!! They are full of energy and joy, laughter and fun, and make every single day a new memorable one. 

They keep me on my toes, but fill my heart with pure love! They need me all day long but pay me with tons of hugs, kisses and "I love yous," yes, even my Jordan Grace. She signs "I love you" in her own precious way and it melts my heart! 

I'm truly one blessed mama! 

Down Memory Lane

I've been going down memory lane these past few weeks. Gathering pictures for some projects I'm working on...to be revealed later.

It feels like another lifetime to think back to when Jordan Grace was just a dream of ours.

It's difficult to picture just the three of us, I know we had unbelievable adventures and lots of firsts and tons of fun. So it's fun to see all those little glimps of the past. 

The four of us makes us complete. I'm not saying no more babies but I'm also not saying babies. I guess it's easier to not decide. It seems too official to say "we are done!" So I won't.

I loved being pregnant, they were both filled with morning sickness all day long and gestational diabetes pregnancies. However, I loved the feeling of my babies moving, kicking and being with me. It is hands down the best feeling in the world.

I know for some people who long to be pregnant or some who may have lost their sweet babies may be sad to read. I don't ever take for granted our blessings. I am so grateful for these sweet girls God has entrusted to me. 

Here's a couple of fun pictures I'd like to share. 

Heart...

Anytime I hear the word "heart" I can't help but think of all the worry, sleepless nights, shaking with fear feelings, knowing that our sweet little baby needed to have open heart surgery. 

I do remember begging, pleading and falling on my knees several times with desperation asking God to fix her and to let us keep her. Especially that day we found out at 20 weeks pregnant that her heart would need mending. 

We had been praying and trying for a baby for so long and couldn't bear the thought of losing her. It's hard to think about it even now. My heart just pounds with fear, I can't think back on that day, the day I handed her over to the amazing team at the Stollery. 

There's not one picture from that August in 2014 that I can look at without breaking down, including this one. 

Those pictures bring me back, to the point where I feel I'm standing there staring at her, I couldn't leave her side, even when my family would beg me to leave I ended up asking if I could have one of those parent rooms, where I slept while someone else watched her every breath. 

She has our heart! She kind of just wrapped her being into our souls and we instantly loved her. Even my family from afar, they were wrapped in her love the moment they heard she existed.

And everyone knew they couldn't love her more, for everything she's been through, for who she is and for all the love she brings. 

The Park...A Ghost Town

This park has been our go to since Ana Maria was super tiny. And though there was a time it was shut down to be renovated, we've always been so blessed to have a park across the street. 

The girls love old fashion fun! They are all about the park, walks, exploring in the river valley, bike rides, sledding, snowman making, trampoline, etc. If they could be outside each day everyday, they would! 

I love that about them! Sometimes we own the park! It's crazy not to see kids playing the way we used to, technology has definitely stollen some children.

The park sometimes is a ghost town...but we always take advantage and enjoy the simple things in life. 

Like Ana Maria says "I'm going to miss summer" now that the weather is changing and there's lots of snow...we will still play outside, it might take us 20-30 minutes to get ready, but we will keep enjoying the beautiful outdoors! 

School!

Jordan Grace started pre school in September. As you can read previously in my blog I didn't think I was ready. After all, she's only two and a half years young. I was afraid to let her fly. 

In the past month that she has been in school, not only am I proud to have let her start, forget my tears, worries and anxiety. She was ready! 

Jordan Grace has always shown us her love for people, how she's always ready for something new and her love for learning about how things work. But besides that, she loves watching people do anything, so that she can copy. 

Good or bad she copies. If Ana Maria is yelling across the room, she yells back at her. If we are making the sign of the cross she makes it in her own way. 

She loves to learn, she loves to socialize and she loves "choooooooool" 

I have even ventured away to meet up with my girlfriends for breakfast, go grocery shopping, and even clean the house on Friday mornings. 

Her teachers love her so much. They are so impressed with the things she's already doing and how fast she catches on to things. It's so exciting to see others be proud of my girl, accept her and include her. 

She's exactly where she should be and my heart is happy and content. 

So much to be thankful for on this Canadian Thanksgiving! 

Baby girl wanting back in after her first day of school! Safe to say she LOVED it! 

Family Sunday Funday!

I love that we have made Sundays our family days. We try never to schedule anything on Sundays. We attend Mass in the morning and then the rest of the day we do anything family related. 

Whether it's fun traditions or going sledding, watching Home Alone with popcorn and just relaxing on this cold/snowy day. 

Ana Maria has always loved any snow activities, she had a blast going up and down the snow hill. Jordan Grace loved sledding, she kept signing she wanted "more" every time she was down the hill, it was too cute!!! 

I love Sundays! 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend

It usually never feels like Thanksgiving this time of the year...growing up in the US, I'm always used to our November Thanksgiving which we still celebrate here. 

Our Thanksiving (back in the day) began with my mom up super early putting the "bird" in the oven, Mass in the morning, that crisp wind announced fall, light sweaters or jackets. Coming home to those wonderful smells that would fill the house with "Thanksgiving," the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Traditions have always been our thing, so watching "Home Alone" with chocolate covered cherries became just that one year, it was the official beginning of our Chrirmas season.

Yesterday marked the beginning of Thanksgiving Day weekend here in Canada. It began with a beautiful celebration at Ana Maria's school where she got to read a special prayer. 

And it continued with that feeling of vacation time, there was no where to go after school, except home! I love those days, I'm a homebody, always was, always will be. I'd rather be home any day, then out and about somewhere. I crave family time and love every second of it! 

Then the snow hit...not gonna lie, I'm not a fan. I used to be when I would see it on the mountains, or once in a blue moon. It's an automatic downer for me. But since having kids, I try hard to get into it for their sake and picture opportunities.

So, it snowed, snowed and snowed and has yet to stop. Today as my Gregory fixed Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings and a lemon merengue pie on the side, the girls and I went outside and played hard. My phone died during the snowball fight, but it was a moment to remember so I took video with my heart. 

The girls love the snow, in fact any old fashion play, they are all about being outside and enjoying life, to the fullest. So today I joined in. Maybe this will be our new Canadian Thanksgiving tradition! I guess that's up to Mother Nature! 

Here's to a blessed night and a beautiful Thanksgiving  weekend! 

She looks up to her!

I love the way Jordan Grace imitates Ana Maria, she adores her big sister and she wants to be just like her! Ana Maria is 6 years older than her, so sometimes when she has sleepovers or friends over its hard for her to include Jordan Grace.

But when it's just them, they play, they hug, they laugh, they dance, they sing, they FIGHT, they are just like any siblings. 

I don't like to see them fight at all, or either of them get upset with the other.  It hurts this mama's heart. But that's life, it's learning from each other. Trying to get along without pushing boundaries. 

What I do know is that they love each other with all their might! They are sisters by blood but forever friends. 

One of my sweet joys is watching them each day as they grow, I'm so lucky to have front row seats to their precious lives.