Underpants & Kittens

You know you are a stay at home Mom when....

1.  Your kids stay in their underpants most of the day.  And everyone sprints to get dressed before opening the door for the mail man around 3 PM.

2.  Posting pictures of kittens on Facebook posed with stuffed animals becomes a high point in your day.

(said photo earned almost 200 likes - a picture of Everett earned about 10 - what the heck friends?!)

3.  House slippers are definitely shoes.

4.  Getting dolled up means you are going to the grocery store & bank.

5.  Going down the road to your Moms still in your pjs to eat lunch is considered an appointment.

6.  Facebook is your "adult" time. 

7.  You sing cartoon theme songs in your free time.

8.  You stop to pick up turtles on the road to keep your kids entertained AKA free babysitting.

9.  Cleaning is therapeutic.

10.  You find yourself organizing closets and drawers for "fun"!

Now you share with me your list!!

Ground Breaking DS Research - My Minds Blown....

This week I heard about this new article where scientists have figured out how to turn OFF Down Syndrome.  Before you get all up in arms for many reasons GO READ THE ARTICLE.

I read it, then I read discussions online between many of my friends and you see my mind is BLOWN.  Jade & I can't wrap our brains around this.  I'm writing this blog not to start controversy, not to debate with others opinions, but to simply put out there things on my mind.  If you have nothing nice to say, please say nothing at all - warning you in advance I'm not putting up with nasty comments.

My initial thoughts were - this is the end of Down Syndrome, they will eradicate babies like Ollie. Then I started thinking more into it.  They won't be eradicated, right now they are - so many babies with DS are aborted b/c doctors are sharing outdated, misinformed information to new, scared shitless parents, and they are pushing abortion.  This is happening right now.  Not ALL doctors, but many doctors.  Insurance companies don't enjoy babies that medically cost a lot of money & some countries are pushing for NO kids with DS by 2030 - think about that a second - what doe that mean???

So perhaps this treatment may save the lives of many, many babies.  Or perhaps new parents will be pushed into this treatment option before they really know the right option for them - I can foresee that too.  I just don't know!

Further questions - right now toddlers with DS have a much higher chance at developing leukemia but also a much higher chance of beating that cancer too.  So this makes me wonder - is the key to beating cancer hidden in that extra chromosome - if you turn it off will our kiddos be less likely to beat cancer but much more likely to get it - that's scary in itself!  Is there a miracle in that mix of an extra chromosome that has the potential to save a mass amount of lives?  Again I just don't know!  All I know is there isn't enough research on it.

Then throw in the fact that people with DS have much higher rates of developing Alzheimer's at a young age, in fact it's been found that patients with Alzheimer's often have 3 copies of the 21st chromosome in some of their cells - there is a link.  If they turn off the extra DS chromosome will our kiddos be less likely to develop Alzheimer's so young because that would be a huge blessing?  No one wants their 30 or 40 year old suffering from Alzheimer's and it scares me to know it's quite possible.

Now to the part that truly blows my mind.  When we were pregnant and had this diagnosis - we accepted Ollie for who God created her to be.  We educated ourselves and celebrate every tiny piece of her.  But I never in my wildest dreams imagined that in my lifetime there would be a way to help her cognitively to a point that she could possibly function like a typical person with 46 chromosomes.  Most of you won't understand this b/c you don't have a kid like Ollie but imagine trying to make that type of medical decision for your child.  I say I'd never change her no matter what - that God created her like this for a reason - and trust me I mean all of that.  But I also read a friends comment who has an older adult daughter with DS who would want this treatment because she wants to be typical so badly.  We aren't there - my daughter is 2 - what would Ollie want?  The fact is - it's not my decision it's Ollie's.  What if this is an option for her one day, what if she gets to decide, what if I have to decide for her?  How in the hell do you know?  

It seems partly like playing God but then I look at people with huge medical gifts - her heart surgeon that repaired two major holes and a valve in her strawberry sized heart - what if this is another gift from God - that he gave someone the talents to change things?  

What if this could be used to save the lives of babies with Trisomy 18 or 13 in utero?  Or kiddos with extra pieces of chromosomes that have terminal conditions - just think about it - mind blowing isn't it!

Anyway - I had to share the article because I just am not sure what to think of it.  And fortunately we have a lot of time before it's going to be something truly available or affordable where it's even an option to our family but I talk a lot about education and advocating for my daughter and sharing this is doing that for her. 

 So say some prayers that God's hand is in ALL of this. 

Disney Recap - 4 months delayed

I can't believe I didn't ever blog about this BUT probably because I may never recover from our trip!

In March I earned a free vacation to Disney from Beachbody.  It was a partial week at the Yacht Club so we extended the week at a resort of my parents.

On the way down Ollie started puking & puked the remainder of the drive.  She sat on a towel cut to fit her seat and after blowing through clothes and a roll of paper towels she rode in a diaper with another towel for a blanket.  It was hellacious - yep that's a word!

Baby girl finally recovered by the time we got to Florida on the second day, but the van smelled like death.  She had a couple major diaper blow outs of course on the streets of Hollywood Studios but we survived!

It wasn't long after that and they started dropping like flies.  

One night it was Jade in the middle of the night swearing it wasn't the stomach flu.  I refused to kiss him the entire trip - I'm hateful like that but I NEVER caught the bug!

We planned a full and I mean til you drop day at Magic Kingdom my most favorite place ever.  By the end of the day Everett didn't look great.  I just thought he was tired.  He slept through the fireworks, parades, all the fun, and when we got back to our condo he puked in the parking lot.

Fairly certain I did not win Mom of the year award for demanding we see the night show that day!

The next morning we were off to the Disney resort and we stopped for donuts then food supplies for the hotel.  

As I was in Walmart oblivious to what was taking place outside Aubrie puked all over the car - literally all over milk & donuts - too graphic?  Sorry!  Try to clean it up with wet wipes!  We threw her carseat cover away right then and there.  It was just a mess.

We pulled into the hotel parking lot only for Everett to proclaim he crapped his pants.  Jade (the one who cleaned up the puke as I shopped) lost his cool and shouted, "Why can't you guys warn me before you puke or shit yourselves!"  I was DYING - some adults can't even control themselves let alone a 5 and 7 year old.  Everett was promptly stripped nude in the Disney parking lot.

I did a full load of laundry in the hotel bath tub & hung the clothes on the balcony - did it help - absolutely not.  They were awful until we got home to do laundry and everything smelled.

Everyone missed the first party - which was amazing - Disney characters, a DJ, food, my family would have loved it but I had to go solo - boo!

The next day Aubrie and Ollie were the only two ready to rock so we hit Epcot pretty much on our own until Jade & Everett could meet us later in the day.  Epcot is right next to the hotel it was amazing!

Finally near the end of the trip EVERYONE was healthy!  

Not to make it sound like the worst vacation ever but seriously it was pretty touch and go but we had an amazing time!

We saw every park without puking!  And even hit the water park two days of the trip!

The last Beachbody party was out of this world - it was a Pixar party with all the characters in this huge building no one knew even existed followed by fireworks and dessert by the Epcot lagoon - is it called a lagoon?  It was just the perfect ending to our trip!

I had some time without the kids & worked out a couple mornings to Shaun T in front of the Epcot ball - it was opened to just us coaches early each morning & it was amazing!!  This is my coach Bec on the left & Veronica on the right - I love them!

All in all we had the best time despite circumstances!

And the van after several days in the Florida sun - oh my - Jade joked we'd trade it when we got home it was that bad!  And then in May we did trade it!  hahahaha!

Apologies in advance to the hundreds and hundreds of people we infected while we were there!  And these pictures were in no specific order :)

Throwback Tuesday - say what?!

I'm breaking the rules and doing Throwback Tuesday because I like it and I do what I want.

So I'm going to share with you my first blog ever!  

Here is what I wrote about the fabulous Aubrie Grace that is now 7 1/2 years old...

at the time this all went down she was going on 4...and clearly she was pretty kick A back then too!

"So to get down to it - you want some funny today? Well here is the scoop. I have 2 kids that are named Aubrie & Everett. Yes they have old people's names, but that's because we ADORED our grandparents and spread the love to our kids. Aubrie is almost 4 and Everett recently turned 2. Well this summer when Aubrie was 3 1/2 she had a good one. I seriously mean it was hilarious! I actually keep a notebook to write down these funny kid moments so I can't forget them b/c I will forget - it happens already!

Well here's the story. Jade was being outrageous about something. So when he went outside to grill our dinner I said Aubrie your Daddy is a ridiculous man & thought nothing of it. I then went in our bedroom to put away laundry when Jade comes in all worked up. He said what did you tell your daughter about me? Well this had been about 10 minutes later so I have no idea what he's talking about. Apparently when he came in the house from outside, Aubrie stated - Daddy you are a dickless man! Talk about mispronounciation! PRICELESS! I couldn't have planned it better! To this day it's one of the funniest most shocking things she has ever said. I think that is why we had kids - to make us laugh and share our stories with others!"

Still by far my favorite story & my favorite come back to him in times where I want to make him laugh!

When Life Gets Good...

It's how funny how things change.  

When I didn't have a purpose in my life other than Mommy and going to my job, I started this blog to share stories about my kids and mainly my home.  I felt so empty because I was just going through life, uninspired, wasting time, and I wanted something to look forward to.  So blogging about my house, new projects, updating things on the weekend gave me a hobby.  It gave me something to work on.

Then with Ollie's prenatal diagnosis & birth then later her open heart surgery this blog was my therapy.  It was my outreach.  It was a way to find other families just like mine.  A way to find other Mom's to ease the stress on my heart.  A way to be a fly on the wall in homes of people raising kids with Down Syndrome so life wasn't so scary, but just a new form of normal.  And it was a way for me to put it out there how I felt when I was surrounded by people wanting to throw me their own pity parties.  It was a way for me to celebrate my daughter's life before she arrived and to show the world that no matter what she was still loved & we were still blessed.

Now my blog focuses on our transformation now.  Honestlly, our life is a new normal.  We are happy.  We are in a good place.  We have three wildly beautiful kids that are healthy & strong.  We (my husband & I) are for the first time truly healthy inside and out too!  We focus on exercise & nutrition and we pay it forward by helping others change their life.

But one thing I've realized even though this blog has changed so much is that when life gets good - blogs are more far and few between!  It's so hard to sit down and right because there is SO MUCH to write about!  There is so much that I can't figure out where to start, how to condense, what to say.  Because life is so full & so good right now. 

So if you  have blog requests post them up!  More fitness?  More food?  More Ollie?  More house?

A Natural High

Well I did it!  I was asked to speak on the MGM grand garden arena stage in Vegas in June!  They wanted me to share my success story with Beachbody.

I did it!  I loved it!  They cheered for my sweet girl!  Hearing that many peole roar for Down Syndrome is something I will NEVER forget!

Here is my video!  Enjoy and feel free to share it!  I know God put me on that stage for a distinct reason and it must be shared over and over again before Ill ever know why I was one of three to speak out of 100,000+ coaches!  When God puts his hand into your life and delivers you to your passion and your purpose big things happen & I'm certain more are the come!