Moved and Other things.....

So we are moved!! Actually things went a lot smoother than I expected them to go. We had so much help. I packed a little at a time for about four weeks so by the time it was moving day we just had furniture and a few little things. I even had everyone eating off paper plates for the last week we were in the old house. The new house is almost twice the size as the old one. We did not move because we didn't think we had enough room. It honestly just kind of fell into place. For Owen's sake I wanted to be in the Hudsonville school district so that he could start at their new Early Childhood center and then continue on to Hudsonville Christian to be at the same school as Paige and Blake. Honestly that was one of the first thoughts in my mind when Owen was born was that I was nervous he would not be able to be at the same school as the other kids. After speaking with some teachers at HCS and some other moms who have kids who have DS at private schools we decided it was the best environment for Owen.
Anyway we are mostly settled. Mike is working on painting Blake's room tonight and we have a couple rooms getting new carpet in the next week or so but other than that we have almost every box unpacked. Here is a picture of the house.....the yard currently is something to be desired, this is an old picture.

Now as far as adjustments go...Paige is breezing through it socially. There are tons of kids around her ago on our street and she has made lots of new friends. She has aquired an attitude that is something to be reckoned with and I have lost it with her a few times but I think we are getting better. Blake on the other hand is having a terrible time adjusting. At the old house Paige and Blake were buddies as there weren't a lot of other kids near us that were their age. However Blake is such an intorvert sometimes and if you have ever met Paige and spent more than 10 minutes with her you know she is an extreme extrovert and can be kind of bossy, even with adults. We are working on that. ;) Blake is not social enough to join in the fun and Paige is having too much fun to think too much about Blake not joining in. He sat on the couch with me Monday and cried because he missed Paige and our old house. I felt physical pain for my little love. He and I spent a lot of time snuggling this week and I feel like he is slowly adjusting. I have had to limit the time Paige is running the streets with the other kids in the neighborhood, really 5 years old and it's like her little gang of friends run the street. I have learned to appreciate each of my kids personalities and gifts for what they are. I don't make excuses for their characteristics, they might be polar opposite but they are wonderfully unique!

Thankful for all the help we had for the move and all the love and support from all the people we love so much!!

Strong Women

I am surrounded by them!

My moms, both of them! My sisters, all 5 of them and I have the most amazing friends around!
However a little less than a week ago I was introduced to a new group of strong women that I can already tell are going to be a Blessing in my life.

When we were in the NICU with Owen we had a wonderful nurse, who did not take care of Owen, but that came to talk to us. Stacey has a daughter Britton who has Down syndrome and Stacey and her husband also did not have a prenatal diagnosis. Stacey and I seem to have more in common than not as pertaining to having an intuition that our babies would be different. When she sat down and began to talk to Mike and me about her experience with Britton's birth and her feelings I looked at Mike and said, oh my goodness, these words are exactly what I am feeling. She gave me such an honest outlook on her experience and her family's experience into Britton's birth and I have to add my favorite word picture from her before I move on to the rest of these amazing women!

Think of the diagnosis of Down syndrome as a salad bar. Your kid is not going to have every health issue that goes with it. You would not pile up every topping on the salad bar onto your salad. Britton had low tone and a heart defect, Owen had low tone and feeding issues.

This seriously was exactly what I needed to hear!

Now last week I went to moms night out through the Down syndrome association of West Michigan, amazing organization by the way. So I initially thought that most of these women would be at least 40 and their kids would likely be at least 10 and I would have nothing in common with anyone but before mentioned Stacey. WRONG! Most babies born with DS are born to women under the age of 35. Each and every women there was awesome. Each brought something to the table and each seemed like they appreciated what the other brought to the table. I cannot explain how amazing it was to sit with a group of women who have been where I am. Who look at their child with DS and would not change it, would not fix their child's DNA for anything and see each and every one of their kids as a mind blowing Blessing. We sat and ate and had some drinks and shared in this amazing common bond that our kids are different. And I feel like everyday they celebrate different, yes celebrate. Are they honest? Of course! There are issues that arise but you know what is great about this group of women? They listen. First. After they listen they think if any possible resource that could help the issue and then as far as I can tell would make it happen for one another. They come from all walks of life. Some work full time, part time, stay home with their kids. Religious or not. Married or not. First time moms or a mom of 6. We share this common bond, a bond none would change and a bond I am beyond thankful for. I hope some of these women have read this and know how amazed I was at each and every one of them. I look forward to getting to know each of them better and watch Owen grow up with their awesome kids!