We Cherish You

Sissy knew you before we did

She longed for you in her dreams

She began to voice her need for you

And so the thought of you came true

Your uniquely made heart 

Lead us to your particular being 

You joined us in this world early

You melted our hearts immediately

Our preconceived notions of trisomy 21 

were replaced by who you truly are 

What I would give to show you this world is as willing to love the way you do

We awaken each day to open the hearts and minds 

of those who are yet to learn the teachings of the pieces 

of heaven with an extra chromosome 

Our voices will be heard

Our goal is to make the places that bring you joy the safest of all

To keep you laughing as you slide and swing, 

to bring you comfort that friends will be near

Your path to your future will be filled with droves of those you cheer

May God lead you to help those who fear, my sweet dear.

World Down Syndrome Day

Wow! What a great day filled with celebrations. Two news crews followed our stories around town. First we began our day night an early! Jordan Grace and I had the best sleep, we went to bed early and woke up at 6:30, yes, AM! Those of you who know me know I'm not a morning person at all, not even a little bit! We began by Taking over MAMALODE's Instagram account to begin our day in the life.

Truth be told, I've secretly always wanted to do "a day in the life" like a celebrity. Today was the perfect day!

I wasn't aware of the first World Down Syndrome Day, I was in LA LA land getting to know our precious Jordan Grace.  I didn't read much about Down Syndrome at all, my focus was truly on my little one, what her personality would be and not comparing her to anyone at all.  I wasn't right or wrong.  Each individual family, sibling, loved one deals with the cards they are dealt in different ways. 

I just have to say this year, we over celebrated, BIG TIME, all day long!  Just to make sure we made the past ones and the future ones count. 

Bringing awareness is my number one priority these days.  The fact that there was an audience and interested parties made our "job" easy.  I quote job, because it's not really a job for us, it's our life.  It's our reality.  How I wish YOU could walk in our shoes.  It's truly a marvelous life, it's truly rewarding and incredible. 

In the future I will write "If I knew then what I know now" so much to say! 

If you are a beautiful pregnant woman expecting your precious one with Down Syndrome reach out to me.  I want you to know and to truly BELIEVE life is a billion times better than what you imagine right now in this moment.  THIS I PROMISE YOU! 

 

 

A Princess Wish

Our book about acceptance and inclusion. A Children's book inspired by our girls is now available for purchase.

Amazon (USA)

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (UK)

Barnes & Noble

Create Space

"A Princess Wish" was written for all children. It is a book about acceptance, wishes coming true, and awareness. 

My dream is for all children to have friends no matter what their race, color, or ability. 

By writing this book, I hope children grow up knowing that no matter what we look like we are all beautiful in our own way. And we all deserve happiness! 💖

Laughter is the very best medicine...

It was an interesting month...boy oh boy, thank God baby girls are feeling much better!!!  It's not fun seeing our girls sick and with no energy.  It is however so incredibly amazing  seeing them laughing again...laughter is the best medicine of all.

Baby Steps

Everyhing in life takes patience and determination...

Yesterday we celebrated Jordan Grace's 2nd birthday.  We had some friends over and had a grand time...she is such a social butterfly, LOVES attention, but most of all she loves engaging with anyone who will give her the time of day.

She is so loving and so tender.

Her celebration was also a great time to show her skills, she was taking steps and then would look around expecting applause.  We kind of raised her like that.  We applaud everything she does, each single milestone.  We have done that from the start of our parenthood.  Greg and I have always encouraged our girls to try and try again. 

So, our baby girl is no different, we praise and praise and she expects it and loves it.  Our pride and excitment drives her to keep going and keep trying.

To say we are so incredibly proud of her would be a total understatement.  Here's a picture for proof...wish you could have seen her daddy's face as he was taking the video of this still picture.

Determination

Talk about never giving up! We try to teach our children about determination, dedication, patience, and practice makes perfect! 

I'm not trying to teach perfection at all, just want my girls to always try their best even if they don't win, if they don't reach, I want them to try and try again. 

This little lady was born with all of those things and more. She can spend endless amount of time trying until she achieves what she wants to achieve, she is in many ways stubborn to make it happen! Whether it's dumping all the flash cards on the floor on purpose and trying to put them all back inside the box no matter how long it takes. 

Jordan Grace has a thing for socks, she takes them off constantly, so I chase her around the house trying to put them back on. It doesn't matter if she has shoes on or not, shoes and socks come off all day long. I'm not sure if it's a game to her or if her little brain is working to figure out things, because she's always focusing on the logistic of things. 

In the end, she's teaching me that she has all those amazing qualities in life to succeed. She knows mommy needs comfort in knowing, she can do it! 

Why I'm a lucky mama

I have two sweet girls who bring me joy each day. Around this house there's a lot of dancing and singing, it's been that way since our first born could make sounds.

Our girls are more alike than we thought possible. Sure there's some differences.

Ana Maria had different milestones like walking at nine months, writing and reading before preschool among other things. 

Jordan Grace picked herself up to a sitting position holding on to my hands on day two, she rolled to her back at six weeks, she said her first word "Hi" pretty early on.

I can go on forever about their achievements. Instead of comparing them, I love watching each one grow into their own. 

Their similarities are endless, they love baths, playing, coloring, discovering, they are loving, caring and happy. They adore each other! But their number one common ground is singing. 

They both bring me happiness each day through song. Here's a favorite video of ours of Ana Maria singing Hail Mary while playing church when she was about four. And today, on cleaning day, Jordan Grace serenaded me with La La La.