31 for 21 Day 3 Wyatt Enjoying the Beach!

 just like all little boys, wyatt loves to be with his dad and brothers, and he had fun at the beach labor day weekend!   

31 for 21 Day 2 Surprise! Wyatt Starts School!

 
 wyatt turned 3 shortly after we moved this summer.  when a child who is in the early intervention program turns 3, he transitions out of that program into the public school system.  it was NEVER our intention to put him in the public school system when he turned 3!   no way, no how!    we wanted him in an inclusive environment with all typical children who were talking! when will i ever learn to stop saying "no way"???   'cause you just never know.....


not so sure about all this attention!

wyatt had been receiving 7 therapies a week for the past several months, all provided through early intervention at NO COST TO US!!!   a rough estimate of what those therapies would have cost WEEKLY would be $650-700......WHOA!!!   we knew that we were blessed through that program, but certainly didn't realize what we would be missing once he transitioned out of it!  

1st day of school!

once we moved and did not immediately access private therapy for him, we began to see a difference in his development..... he was not progressing as he had been.  of course everything was new.... new town, new house, new church, new friends....   although we had him enrolled in a private Christian preschool, we met with the county's pre-k exceptional services director to see what services we could access for him in the area of therapies.  much to our surprise, we found them to be quite accommodating of our needs and desires for wyatt's education.   they were open to us enrolling him 3 mornings a week, as opposed to the full day/every day program that is available, and they were willing to place him in a class with children who were talking....  

ms amy, wyatt's teacher,
carrying him in on the first day of school!

principal smith checking on wyatt
for nervous mama!

at that point our heads were spinning because that was NOT our plan!!!  but we knew that we could not provide him with all of the private therapies that would be available to him in the public school system.   we had a last-minute IEP (individualized educational plan) meeting, and met the team that would work with him; his teacher (miss amy), and two of the therapists (speech and occupational).  we were thrilled with his team, and with how smoothly the process went!  we were told he would receive 1 1/2 hours of speech, and 1/2 hour each of occupational and physical therapies each week, as well as adaptive physical education.   we decided that we would place him in the public school system, knowing that if this was not a good "fit," we could always remove him!  

and now, 6 weeks later, we are VERY HAPPY with the decision we made, and i'll be sharing in the coming days all that he has been up to!!! 

blessings!

31 for 21: Day 1 October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

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october is Down syndrome awareness month!  although i have been "missing in action" for a few months, it's time to raise awareness of our awesome kiddos blessed with that "little something extra;"  Down syndrome!  

i'll be posting pics of wyatt and his friends, as well as sharing some good info about Ds!   hope to see you back here often!  

blessings.....

"WORDLESS" WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY!

our impromptu world down syndrome day picnic with big brother ethan!

tom's hotdogs and sonic drinks.... yummy!

yogurt is a finger food, right?

brothers playing hide and seek!

" this salt pot from the civil war is so cool... "

 "i really want to get in it!   help a brother out!!"

and of course, he did....who could resist?

pure joy!!!!

a beautiful day!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

today is world down syndrome day!   we will be taking freshly baked muffins to share with wyatt's family service coordinator and the team who will be part of wyatt's first TRANSITION TEAM MEETING!!!   to say that this is a stressful time is an understatement!   this is the first step in transitioning out of the early intervention program into the public school system.  we have been so very blessed by the early intervention program, i do not look forward to transitioning!!!  but it is time to start the process, so here we go!  we covet your prayers as this process begins! 

three years ago we had never even heard of world down syndrome day, and today we actually celebrate it!   we certainly had no idea how much that little extra chromosome would change our lives!  we know that God has great plans for our little man, and that wyatt's Down syndrome was NOT a surprise to our Mighty God!  

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.   

I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. "   

Psalm 139:13-14 

"For I know the plans I have for Wyatt,"
declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper him and not to harm him,

plans to give him a HOPE and a FUTURE!!!"

Jeremiah 29:11

click here for a really awesome video that my friend made for world down syndrome day!  you just might see wyatt a *few* times.....as well as some of his friends!    blessings.....

31 for 21: Day 31 Wyatt Rocks!!!

so, in case you were wondering, we think WYATT ROCKS!!!

and this about sums it up!!!!!

31 for 21: Day 1 Holland is Lovely!

it's october, and that means it's Down syndrome awareness month!   three years ago i would not have known that october is Ds awareness month..... wyatt's birth in 2009 opened a whole new world to us!  i only wish i knew then what i know now!  throughout the month of october i will be posting daily to raise awareness about Down syndrome, as well as having a few guest writers share their stories!   so as i thought about what to post this first day of october, i decided to once again share the famous "welcome to holland" poem! 

we first found this poem a couple of days after wyatt was born, while we were waiting to find out if he did, indeed, have Down syndrome.  we had not told our family, just a couple of our best friends, about the possibility of his Ds diagnosis; we did not want to upset them if there was no reason to upset them.  we had gone to our local books-a-million searching for any books we could find on Ds.  we found virtually nothing....i believe the only book we found was "road map to holland: how i found my way through my son's first two years with Down syndrome," by jennifer graf groneberg.  this is the poem that is the basis of the title of her book.

the author of this poem is emily perl kingsley, who has been a writer for "sesame street" since 1970.  she gave birth to her son, jason (who has Down syndrome), in 1974.   jason co-authored with mitchell levitz the book "count us in: growing up with Down syndrome."

i think you will enjoy this poem as much as i do.....holland is beautiful!

Welcome to Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. Michelangelo's David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.



Copyright © 1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley
All Rights Reserved

A Great Start!

what a great way to kick off national down syndrome awareness month! the mexican fiesta at carol's home was truly delightful! noel, kristen and i were treated to delicious food in a beautiful home provided by a gracious hostess! carol really knows how to entertain!

it's so fun to get together with these ladies; they are the mothers of michael(2), logan(4) and chloe(5). they have other children as well, but these are their children who were born with that extra chromosome that makes THEM so special and that draws US together. otherwise, our paths probably would not have crossed, and these friendships would not have formed!

i can't help but laugh at our conversations, though. sometimes we just about talk over each other, we have so much to say! (we're a talkative bunch anyway!) maybe a monthly meeting is just not enough! we have so much to share about doctors, therapists, school, and life in general.

we are truly blessed to have each other in this unexpected journey that we find ourselves on!