31 for 21 Day 11 Down Syndrome Society of West Florida: We're Having Our 1st Event!

 

Down Syndrome Society of West Florida

Fall Picnic and Membership Drive

Saturday October 27, 2012 10:00 a.m. –12:00 p.m.   Bayview Park 2001 E. Lloyd Street Pensacola, FL       Down Syndrome Society of West FL Serving Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties of Northwest FL (850) 292-4796

Join us as we celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month with a Family Picnic!   Hot dogs, chips and drinks will be provided, and we ask that each family bring a side dish to share!  Membership applications for the DSSWF will be available at the picnic! Please RSVP to (850) 292-4796 to reserve your spot at the picnic!

31 for 21 Day 9 Family!

 

 

we were blessed to be able to have family portraits taken this past sunday afternoon; my friend amber taylor took these wonderful pics!   we met online a few years ago when she was pregnant with her sweet baby girl violet, who also has Down syndrome!    we met IRL last year as well, and now only live about 1 1/2 hours apart!   we had a great time taking these pics, and i love them and wanted to share them with you!!!   i'll share more soon!   blessed!

 

 

31 for 21 Day 7 Boys with Down Syndrome Love their Brothers!

 

 

just like most little boys, wyatt loves his brothers!  (more alike than different!)  since ethan went away to college, wyatt has developed an even more special bond with both ethan and forrest!   he gets excited when we pick forrest up from school, or if forrest is the first person he sees after naptime!   and he's even more surprised and excited when he sees ethan, because he doesn't see him every day!  i love their special relationships; how wyatt brings out a different side in both of his brothers.... a tenderness, protectiveness, gentleness..... love!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31 for 21 Day 6 Boys With Down Syndrome Like Corn Mazes Too!

our family spent the day with friends at a nearby farm that has a 7 acre corn maze!  they have lots of fun activities for the kiddos in addition to the maze too!   wyatt had a blast!

i'm so glad that we live in a time when we don't have to "hide them away" because they have Down syndrome, aren't you???      i'm glad that we can share the joy that wyatt has brought to our family as we "live' our lives, like enjoying fun family outings together such as this one!

 

 

31 for 21 Day 5 The Night Wyatt Was Born....

precious wyatt.....

finally got him back, a little cleaned up!!!

i really wanted wyatt to be born on the 4th of july, but he would not cooperate!   he waited until the 6th of july to make his grand (and quick) entrance!!!    that was a monday, and it was a busy day!    i cooked fajitas for supper and we had a delicious meal!  i thought i might be getting closer to having him, but was not sure!  after a nice hot bath through contractions, we decided to call our obstetrician, who is also our friend, to see if it might be time to go to the hospital.... from the tone of my voice she said it was definitely time!  

proud daddy!!!

we got to the hospital about 9:30 that night, and he was born about 10:15!   i told tim once we got to the hospital that i just could not do this.....i was TOO OLD!  he just laughed.  but those were a pretty painful 45 minutes (i have never used pain meds)!!!!   as i was pushing, i told our OB i just couldn't do it, and she said "ok!"  LOL!!! RIGHT!!!! 

meet the brothers and g-mama....
that's our OB Dr Debbie!

so i thought i would share some of wyatt's birth pictures with you...... we did not have a prenatal diagnosis with wyatt because we chose not to have any prenatal testing.    i am so happy that we had these precious moments with wyatt, not having a diagnosis.   as i look at these pictures, i am fully convinced that no one involved with his birth had any idea that he had Down syndrome!    it wasn't until he was a couple of days old that it was suggested that he might have Ds..... 

blessings....




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!   

Where Has the Time Gone?

wow!  i think that this is the longest that i have gone without blogging!   so what have we been up to?  lots and lots!   we have spent a lot of time traveling back and forth to pensacola, house searching, as well as just everyday life.   living apart from tim has really taken it's toll on me!  i am one tired mama; fortunately that is all about to come to an end!!!!   a couple of weeks ago, tim said that we had about 3 more weeks before we needed to look into renting our home if it did not sell; UGH!   praise GOD that within the past 2 weeks, our house FINALLY sold, and we have a contract on a new home in pace!  

as happy as i am to be reuniting our family after these LONG 6 months of living apart, it is still a time of great sadness as well.  i am moving away from my hometown; i was born and raised here.  tim and i moved back here when ethan was 3 months old, and he just turned 19!!!!   my parents are here, and are getting older; my sisters are here; our friends are here!    but we know that God provided this opportunity for us, and that HE is in control.  He goes before us, and He has great plans for us (jeremiah 29:11).

i realize that i do not blog when i am feeling blue. that's why it's been 2 months since my last post. but i'm doing my best to get back; this may be more of a journal for the next couple of months about our move, who knows? but i'm SURE that you have missed cute pics of my boys..... wink, wink! so here's a quick pictorial update!   thanks for reading.....
 

one of our favorite traditions, decorating Easter eggs together!

enjoyed a wonderful visit with my bestie susan!!!

forrest had belt promotion.... this was fun!

hanging with my peeps!

field day!!!!  

ethan and i climbed the pensacola lighthouse.....
a favorite thing to do!

the significance of this picture is that this is the first time
i can remember wyatt actually communicating that
he wanted to do something....
everyone else had gone up in marine one, he wanted to as well!!!! 

ethan and wyatt..... he loves his brothers!

all my guys together = 1 happy mama!!!

me and the love of my life!!!  
we are SO ready to live together again full time!!!!

Wordless Wednesday.....What A Wonderful Beach Day!

today wyatt and i were able to "run away from home" for a few hours!  even though we are blessed to live less than 10 miles from the beach, we do not spend a lot of time there!    thankfully there are times that friends come to visit our beautiful beaches and we get to enjoy the beach with them!   today was one of those days....  my dear friend cassie and her family (including wyatt's girlfriend brennan) rented a cottage at seaside, and we met them at the beach for a couple of hours of fun in the sun!     wyatt and brennan LOVED the beach!  they had a great time playing in the sand, and would have been in the water a LOT more if it hadn't been so chilly!    and i sat, played, relaxed, and let wyatt pour sand on me..... and enjoyed our time together with our precious friends.....

Happy 11th Birthday, Forrest!

was it just 11 years ago that we were celebrating the birth of our second son, forrest?   for the past week we have been celebrating his birthday!  he and his friends enjoyed a fun game of miniature golf last weekend, followed by burgers at home!  last night, for his "actual" birthday, forrest's gmama and gdaddy took us to golden corral (his choice) for his birthday supper!   we had a fun night!  

forrest has brought us much joy and laughter in his 11 years!  he is quite a funny kid; we never know what he is going to say!  he is very much a "people person," like me, and loves to play with friends.  he is good-natured, and is a terrific big brother!    wyatt ADORES forrest; forrest is so patient with him!  it would not surprise me if he went into the medical field because of his little brother, he would be a terrific pediatric therapist....or physician!  

we visited the potential (and likely) middle school for forrest this week over in pace.  it was very clean and QUIET..... shockingly quiet!!!    he was VERY happy with the school, which i am very thankful for!   and he expressed an interest in joining the band.... oh my!   in 6th grade you are either in band or p.e., so i guess he is going to explore band!  i was a band kid from 7th grade through graduation, and i loved it!   we will see how he likes it!   i think that it will help him to connect and make friends more quickly at his new school in a new town.

we are so thankful that God (and kym and my mama....who both take credit for forrest being born) blessed us with this precious boy, who is becoming a compassionate and caring young man.....

"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!