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!  

 

 

Raising a Toddler with Down Syndrome

As you all know I rarely blog anymore, but today I knew I needed to write this blog, pretty sure it's a God thing.

When I was pregnant I tried to envision my future.  I always knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would love my child no matter what.  But I didn't always know if I would love living a life with Down Syndrome.  That's a harsh, honest truth that hurts me to honestly put out there, but it's true and I know I'm not alone in that fear - there are other Moms like me.  I think we all have it in some shape or form but we don't let fear consume us anymore.

Now that Ollie is here.  Now that she is 2 years old, almost 2 1/2 - living with Down Syndrome is like raising any other child.  Yes, she has things we have to overcome.  She has delays.  Delays suck.  But she's working on them with such a fierceness - I know she will whatever the heck she wants to do in her lifetime.

Some days it hurts more than others.  Seeing kids younger than her talking in sentences, saying Mama, doing all the things she hasn't yet...yep it's hard.  I dislike that it bothers me.  I wish she would (notice I didn't say could b/c she says lots of words she's stubborn mostly) say Mama and I'd be a liar if I said I didn't wish she was close to potty training.  

But then I look at my sweet girl, the girl God blessed me with and she smiles.  And I know that everything she accomplishes means so much more to us because she worked her tail off for it.  She loves everyone and I seriously mean everyone!  She hugs strangers, she laughs with her soul, she's stubborn, and ornery as the dickens.  She loves to dig through the garbage, watch Dora, dump dog food, empty all the toilet paper on the floor, climb things she shouldn't, play in the toilet, wrestle her siblings, and the list goes on and on and on of things she does like every other child.  And discipline - OYE - girlfriend has a pout lip like no other, thankfully she's rarely naughty!  But she's not like other kids her age.  She's special.  Not because she has DS, but because the personality that God blessed her with.  That he blessed us with.  I wouldn't change her for the world - I'd keep that extra chromosome!

So if you asked me, what's it like to raise a toddler with Down Syndrome, I could honestly say, it's like raising any two year old.  Terrible twos some days yes, some days it's Terrific twos.