31 for 21: Day 17... Who Will Wyatt Marry?

probably one of the things that worried me most when we received wyatt's diagnosis of Down syndrome was the misconception that he would never get married.  one of  the first things his pediatrician (who has thankfully retired!) told us was that "they are all really sweet children....he'll do little things you'll be so proud of.....and he'll always be with you...."   um, not really what a parent of a newborn wants to hear, is it?    as much as we love our children, we know that they are eventually supposed to live independent, fulfilling lives, right?  

i was so excited the very first time that i heard about a couple with Ds who were married.  i stumbled across the story of josh and bernadette, who were the first couple with Ds in tennessee to be married.  i was thrilled!  and as i read and watched their video, i was so encouraged!   i love what josh said, ""Our responsibility is, grow up. Be a young man and young lady.  We together. It's nice together. Sometimes it's good and bad. We work it out."  they have been lifelong friends, since they were preschoolers, and have been married almost 3 years now.  and their last name is PUTMAN!!!!   (our last name!) 

because i love being married, i want everyone to be married!  when i have single friends, i always try to think of a "love match" for them!   i have always looked forward to our older boys being married, and pray frequently for the young women that God is preparing to be their wives!     and i now know that although it has not traditionally been the "norm" for adults with Ds to get married, more and more it is happening, especially due to their longer life spans!   just this past week the documentary "monica and david" premiered on hbo....a documentary about another young married couple with Ds!   i think the publicity this is giving to the Ds community will only make marriages between adults with Ds more and more acceptable and expected! 

and although i know that a young married couple with Ds  needs lots of extra support from their families....we will be more than happy to give that support to wyatt and his bride....whomever she might be!  he has "girlfriends" around the country....louisiana, oregon, new jersey, texas, and of course florida...to name a few!    will he marry brennan, melody, grace, isla, annabella, or another precious girl we haven't even met yet?  only God knows.....but i do know that it is a very real possibility for wyatt....and that makes me very happy.......peace!   

A New Year...School, Marriage....

school has started! ethan is a senior...forrest is a 4th grader...wyatt's still a baby! everyone seems happy with their teachers, parking spaces, bus driver, therapists, life, etc.....i can't believe that i'm the mother of a senior, though, how did that happen? next year this time he'll be starting college...wow!

as tim and i celebrated our anniversary last weekend, we did reflect on where we are now, and where we expected to be 22 years ago! tim never expected us to be living in florida (i was kind of surprised!) .... i don't think i expected us to have 3 children. neither of us expected to have a BABY at this point in our lives, that's for sure! God's plans are so much greater than ours.....and i'm so glad!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

wow! where did the years go? and how can i be old enough to be married 22 years? haha! it just doesn't seem possible....and yet it also seems like we've been married forever! funny how that works, isn't it? to look at the pictures, we sure were young! only 5 years older than our oldest, ethan, is now!

married while pursuing our master's degrees at southwestern baptist theological seminary, we have fond memories of those first few years in texas! then my texan hubby moved me back to my floridian roots! quite a transition for him! i think he still feels the "texas tug" to move back when we visit his family there...

no one tells you how hard marriage is going to be, do they? they didn't tell us! and we went through premarital counseling at the seminary! i don't think anyone would believe you if you told them just how hard marriage is! marriage takes hard work, trust, compromise, patience, friendship, understanding, forgiveness, love (of course!), and the list goes on.... but our shared faith in God is the foundation of our marriage. without that foundation, i can't imagine how hard life would be in general....much less married life!

after being married almost 5 years, the addition of a baby boy (ethan) added a whole new dimension to married life! new worries, stresses, joys, responsibilities....there's just so much when you're responsible for a little baby that you've brought into the world! eight years later, another precious son (forrest), and then another eight years later, a surprise "bonus baby" (wyatt) gift from God....with special needs too...wow!

my life is not what i ever expected it to be....but it's SO MUCH MORE! i am so thankful for the Godly man my husband is! i'm thankful for how much he loves and provides for us. he is a man of integrity, well respected, a hard worker, wise beyond his years, and much more. (i'll stop here, i don't want anyone to be jealous! haha!) i am so blessed.....