Happy National Adoption Month!

In celebration of National Adoption month my sweet friend, Elizabeth asked me to answer some questions about international adoption for her blog.

Here is the post, go check it out.

http://www.confessionsofthechromosomallyenhanced.com/2013/11/international-adoption-insiders-look.html

World Down Syndrome Day

Today is World Down Syndrome Day.

People all over the world are celebrating the wonderful lives that we have been blessed with in our loved one with down syndrome.

It is a day of advocacy,

a day of celebration,

a day to honor those who have three 21st chromosomes.

We are doubly blessed here as having Alayna opened our eyes to the plight of orphans with down syndrome around the globe.  Thankfully God blessed us with bringing Dariya into our family.

These two girls bring so much joy to our family.  They are capable, independent, funny, able to learn, and full of love.

Today we celebrate our girls and all our friends that share that extra chromosome.

We hope you will join us by advocating about down syndrome.  Share your story of how someone with ds has touched your life.

If you are in the mood for dinner out tonight eat at Ruby Tuesdays as they are donating 20% to the local down syndrome association. Click the link and print the flier and give it to your server tonight!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

Love Brings You Home: Dreams, redux.

One of the hardest parts of adoption for us was gotcha day.  We had such a huge range of emotions running through us that day.  Joyful that we have our girl, thankful for the groupa leaders who loved her so much and took such good care of her, overwhelmed by the people that helped us get to that day, blessed to have met her birth father and have open communication with him, but SO very sad to see all the children that we had to leave behind.

I have blogged about the children in Dariya's orphanage and thankfully all but 2 from Reece's Rainbow have been adopted or have a family coming for them this summer.  Jewell and Noah both have CP and are still waiting for their families.

This Sunday is a special day, it is Aidan's 9th birthday and my sweet friend Kelly Dirkes' birthday.  Kyle and Kelly just last month brought Charlotte home (the very first little girl that drew me in to Reece's Rainbow).  Kelly's birthday wish is for the last little girl with special needs from Charlotte's' groupa find a family.
Please take a moment to read her post about Kacey in hopes of finding her forever family.

Love Brings You Home: Dreams, redux.: She begins her daily walk toward me, uneven and slightly halting, as soon as she sees the groupa room door open. Before long, her ar...

World Down Syndrome Day: A reason to celebrate!!!!

When parents learn that their child has down syndrome whether prenatally or at birth the news isn't usually cause for celebration.  

However, those same parents when they stop worrying about the "what ifs and what might be's" and enjoy their child as the wonderful creation God blessed them with they soon learn that down syndrome does not define their child nor restrict their child from living a full and fabulous life.

It truly is a reason to celebrate.

With the new prenatal, blood screening for down syndrome my fear is that one day there will be no more children born with down syndrome. 

For my girls this means lack of services &  no connection to other families or individuals with ds.

Today marks the 7th year that World Down Syndrome has been celebrated on 3/21.  

This date was chosen as people with down syndrome have triplicate of the 21st chromosome.

Even the United Nations is recognizing today as WDSD!!!!

We love our girls and their extra chromosome and shout it from the rooftops.

We are blessed.

We hope you will join us in our celebration today and take our challenge to tell at least ONE person you meet today about down syndrome and how my girls (or your own child/grandchild/cousin/aunt/uncle whomever has ds in your life) have positively touched your life.

Advocacy at its best!

Please leave us a comment and let us know who you shared with today!

World Down Syndrome Day

Today people all over the world are celebrating those with Down Syndrome.  Down Syndrome is the triplicate of the 21st chromosome, therefore World Down Syndrome Day is on 3-21!

Yeah, a celebration!  This calls for ice cream!!!!

If you follow our blog you know that we celebrate all the blessings God has given us, especially in our children.    Down syndrome is just a small part of Alayna.  It in no way defines her.  She continues to amaze us each day with her sweet personality, trust me she has a way of drawing you in.  Her toddler antics amuse us and she has proven that she is going to grow, learn, excel and soar in this world.

Alayna has truly opened our eyes to the beauty of down syndrome, which is one of the main reasons we began our adoption journey.  We are so looking forward to having Dariya home with our family.  Next year we will have even more reason to celebrate the day. 

We hope you will join us today in celebrating everyone who has down syndrome.  God made each and everyone perfect.   
If in your celebration you decide you can live without your Starbucks (or whatever your vice may be) and donate to Dariya's fund we would be humbly thankful.

World Down Syndrome day

Tomorrow we will celebrate World Down Syndrome day. Our DSG is hosting a big celebration at Crown Center and if it stops snowing (it was 65 yesterday and WOW we several inches of snow) we will be going to the party.

Down Syndrome is caused by a triplicate of the 21st chromosome hence the celebration on 3/21 each year~

As an educator, I truly believe that one of the perks included in having a child with down syndrome is being able to educate others and dispel the myths of this genetic condition (ok I know I am weird but, I really love to teach and feel that through education and knowledge people are changed). Even with a degree in special education, I didn't work with students who had down syndrome therefore, I didn't know the true facts about it, so I continue to learn and try to pass that knowledge on.

You might be asking why are you celebrating Alayna having down syndrome? We don't focus on her down syndrome because it is just one small part of who she is. However, we do acknowledge that God made Alayna perfect just as she is so we do celebrate down syndrome and hope to bring awareness not only to our friends and family but also those people we meet at the park, or at the grocery store or wherever...

Did you know?

• Down Syndrome affects 1 in every 733 births, and is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition.


• There are more than 400,000 people with down syndrome in the United States.


• All people with down syndrome experience cognitive delays but, it is usually mild to moderate and is not indicative of the many strengths, gifts and talents that each individual will possess.


• You can't have a little down syndrome...(been asked this question loads of times) you either have an extra chromosome or you don't. However, all people with down syndrome, just like all people, have varying abilities, strengths and weaknesses and excel at different things.


• People with down syndrome are fully included in schools, live independently, go to college, are employed, marry, participate in religious, recreational and community activities, live meaningful and productive lives contributing to society in numerous ways.

Our hope is that the more people we educate about down syndrome the more those people will in turn educate others. The ripple of change continues and hopefully all people with down syndrome will be welcomed and valued as a member of society.
We hope you will celebrate with us even if you can't join us!

Education is the key

My advocacy of children with special needs didn't begin the day Alayna was born but rather, 30 years ago in an elementary classroom. Each student in Mr. Cunningham's history class were paired with an elderly adult to research the history of their life and write about it. There weren't enough adult volunteers for my class so, I was signed up to work at a school that specialized in kids with severe to profound learning delays.


As you know, I don't think anything happens by chance. God has a plan for my life and I love to look back and see how he has gently held my hand as I have walked on his sidewalk (ok maybe he dragged me back on the sidewalk when I got off into the grass, or in the mud, or slept in on Sundays in college because we had too much fun at Harpos on Saturday night, or kicked me in the bum the other day for...well ok you get it).



I loved working with these students with special needs, and because of this experience it led me to pursue a degree in special education. As a teacher and even as a principal, I have always been drawn to kids with special needs. Nothing delighted my day like the hug from one of my teenagers that most of society would walk away from without even greeting.


Maybe it is from my own awkward moments in life of wearing glasses in early elementary school, being a "band nerd" (I was drum major~queen of all band nerds, for goodness sake!), or a very ugly preteen.


No, I don't think so. I believe all these life experiences have prepared me for the best job...to be the mother to Aidan and Alayna. Their biggest fan, advocate, educator, and protector.


I would love to live in a perfect world where there is no poverty, no stereotypes, no evil, no homeless, no orphans, no mean people, no bad words etc. but, that just isn't life here on Earth. I will continue to prepare Aidan & Alayna for life. I pray that they will be self confident and will stand firm in this world all while accomplishing many great things.


I commend Special Olympics and the awesome youth that started the Spread the word to end the word... campaign. Please educate yourself and others around you about special needs and the use of these derogatory words.


I truly believe that education is the key to changing society. I will continue to educate those that walk across my path and hope you will too.

Excitement is in the air...

You can feel the excitement in the air at our house this week. On Saturday, we will be Stepping Up for Down Syndrome. We have over 90 members on our team and over 100 supporters who have donated nearly $4,500 in honor of Alayna & LC (YAHOO for our awesome supporters)!

Be sure to check back in on our blog this weekend as you won't want to miss the pics of the girls in their tutus. Please pray for great weather as it is rainy and cool here today.

Our best buddies from Little Rock, the Russells are coming in to join us in fact, one is already here. Shan arrived this morning and was quickly greeted by an over excited 6 year old boy and a shy 1 year old girl. The rest of the family is coming in tomorrow for the weekend and we couldn't be more excited for them to meet Alayna & LC.


Alayna was so excited about the walk she decided that she should excel at PT today to warm up for the Saturday festivities. She showed Ms. Erin her stuff...Alayna amazed her with army crawling, getting up on all 4's, getting into and out of standing and kneeling.

For Alayna, this week something just clicked and she is a girl on a mission to get where she wants to go in forward (as she has been a master of backwards for months now). She now is really motivated to pull up and find toys etc.

Here is a video of her last weekend when daddy moved her favorite toy across the room...sorry it is a little dark.

Rivals cooperate on touchdown for player with Down syndrome

I love it when the news highlights the positive things kids do....click on Alayna's picture to read an article about a Freshman football player in St Joseph that scores his first touchdown (he also happens to have down syndrome) that was in the KC Star today. Very cool...

People first language

Even with my background in special education I had to adjust and use "people first" language. Here is some information from Alayna's school that will help us all put her (and others with special needs) first!

People First Language

At the Lee Ann Britain Infant Development Center we believe that children are children, and come in all different packages.

All children have unique gifts and talents. We are here to help each child reach his or her potential by giving them whatever help they might require, according to their needs.

Because we have the utmost respect for our children and their families, we use “people first” language. This means that when we speak of our children, we refer to them as children first.

For example, instead of saying “special needs kids” or “Downs kids,” we say “children who have special needs” or “children with Down syndrome.”

The word “children” come first, and the disability comes second.