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!

Packing.....

So I mentioned before that we are moving. Was I crazy to do this? Actually the timing of our move is not the real issue but more the fact I have 3 small children! When I am not nursing or trying to get a baby to sleep (which feels almost constant), I am either breaking up a fight between Paige and Blake or trying to demand enough respect from their tag team they have now formed. Now I also have a husband who goes to work everyday and works hard and then throws on his daddy hat when he gets home. I am sure the last thing he wants to do at the end of the day is pack up a house. So here I sit.....trying to decide what I can pack away and still get away with living in our house and functioning until the actual move. Aaaaaahhhhhh like I said this is something we really want but this week it has been somewhat overwhelming, and it's only Tuesday!!!!

And my Little man fell asleep during tummy time, I could just eat him up!!!!

Here is the tag team themselves, they have a love/hate relationship!

This was last spring, not too sure Mike would approve of this picture either.

So we carry on. I need to really stop myself and really play with my kids as much as I can since time is passing oh so quickly. The packing will have to wait until after bed!

Lately

So whats new with the Wigger Fam......

-We are moving! Very random. After Owen was born I had a strong feeling that I wanted to be in Hudsonville so Paige could ride the bus to school and eventually Blake too. I also wanted Owen to start and keep the same therapy team and eventually go to the new ECC in Hudsonville that they are developing. So we found a house we liked and were going to list ours but it turned out that it sold before we even listed it. It was such a Blessing and we will be moving about 4 minutes from school. The kids are excited. I am not looking forward to packing and unpacking but like I said to Mike, I feel like our lives are in somewhat of an upheaval anyway, why not add to it and get it all over with at once?!

-Tonight Paige had her preschool celebration. This is the equivalent of a graduation and it was so fun to see all the kids singing their little hearts out. It sounds crazy but I could hear Paige very clearly and it was cracking me up, the girl loves to be on a stage and sing. We'll see where this takes her someday. She will be in kindergarten all day on T/TH/FR next year. I am going to miss her like crazy. I am so proud of the strong willed and smart young lady she is. She also impresses me with how much she loves those around her and her Savior. She is so much like me in certain ways, like her strong will and emotional outbursts and so much like Mike in the way that she is so confident and smart! Can't wait to see what God has in mind for her. :)

-Owen is in a study for U of M's kinesiology department. So last week head of the department and his assistant came to our house and measured and weighed him and checked his motor skills and development. He then wore some motion sensors on his ankle and wrist for 24 hours and will be doing this whole deal once a month until 6 months and then again at 9, 12 and 18 months. The study is to compare typical kids and kids with DS and the rate each grows and gains muscle, fat and weight in general as compared to their activity. It won't be benefiting Owen but will hopefully help kids after him. Kids with DS can struggle with obesity and because of their low muscle tone can deal with rapid fat gain as well. Looks like Owen might be keeping me in shape if I am going to be working out with him in the future.

Beyond that we are getting through life. Some days are harder than others. I keep joking that people think I am going to board the crazy train soon. I just mean that sometimes I think people think I might be a bit too positive about things. My husband included. Some days I do want to pull my hair out and think to myself this is hard. It's hard to have to teach your kid that his muscles need to work and connect and he needs to close his mouth better to nurse or take a bottle. Or that he hates tummy time as all babies do but that he needs to do it that much more than other kids. And when I have so many appointments in a month I feel like I am neglecting Paige and Blake. Yes it sucks! But it is life. God never looked down on me and said Amy, you are going to have it made it the shade, smooth sailing and no challenges. He did say that no matter what He would give me what I needed when I needed it. NOT what I wanted, what I needed. And I feel this peace everyday. There are moments when I know one of the kids is frustrated with me and lack of time or attention. But you know what? He made the same promises to each of them. Every single one of them, and Mike as well. We are getting through it and my positive attitude is something that I feel He has Blessed our family with and pray it continues.

I tried to post some recent pictures but the computer is acting funky so until next time......

In the Scheme.....

So here we go.....a little vent for you!

In the scheme of Eternity, how much does Owen having Down sydrome matter?

Since Owen has been born I have been told repeatedly what a challenge his life will be and how sorry people are that we are going through what we are going through. Before I offend someone let me first say that I know people only mean well and are not sure what to say to me or us sometimes. For goodness sake, 6 weeks ago I might have been the same way.
 
But here are my thoughts on the matter. Never has God promised any of us that our lives on the earth would be easy. He has always promised he would give us what we needed to get through it. Since Owen has been born I have felt more peace in my life than ever before, there is no explanation for this but I am so thankful for it! Owen will have a visit from Early On tomorrow afternoon. Here begins the journey of therapy. Of achievements that might have come easy for Paige and Blake will probably take longer for Owen. Is this bad? Not to me. Is it sad? Not to me. Is it something to feel sorry for us about? Please don't! It is DIFFERENT! Yes Owen's life will be different. But let's look at it this way, Paige's life is and will be different than Blake's and Owen's will be different that both of theirs. But is different bad? Not to me. The journey we are just getting started on with Owen will be his journey. He will bring new things to the table in our family. He will need extra help but what else is family for than to help the people that we love? 

So in the scheme of eternity how much does Down syndrome matter? It doesn't and it does all at once. I keep reminding myself that this is not something God is doing to us but is something God is giving us. A glimpse into his view of perfection.

Questions

So Mike and I have had this discussion in the past week or so and just wanted to share. We are learning so many things about people with Down syndrome and what is politically correct and what might not be. The amazing Down sydrome Association of West Michigan is amazing and gave us this great binder when Owen was in the NICU with tons of information in it and I have been like a sponge lately with learning about Down syndrome and different interventions used that will help Owen develop as time goes on. So back to the initial thought. Mike and I want people to know that while we are learning a lot quickly we are still learning. However we want people to feel open to ask us questions. Send us a message or post a comment here and we will do our best to answer.

On a different note, this week is the first time since I went on bed rest 7 weeks ago that I am starting to feel like we are all settling in and balancing out. the kids have been through a whole lot in less than two months and I have watched Paige and Blake transform into this tag team. Before they would fight against each other and now they are joining up to take on Mike and I together. Cute huh? It is to me sometimes because it lets me see that they are watching out for one another and I know they will do the same for Owen. :)

Owen's Birth Story Part 2

So to set the scene. I am pretty sure at this point everyone except Paige and Blake and I was crying. It is hard to describe what everyone was feeling and I cannot even begin to explain it. I do remember telling people they needed to hold it together for our kids. We needed to be happy for our kids and to be honest, at this point I did feel very at peace with Owen's diagnosis.  I  was more upset that he was being transferred to another hospital but wanted to do what was best for our son.
So the NICU transport team came into my room and explained how he would be transferred in this amazing vehicle that HDVCH had just started using and you should have seen this incubater they had put him in. They handed him to me, I kissed him. I looked him over and I smelled him. I told Mike I just needed to smell the boy who was part of both of us. I love that smell! And then I called Paige over and she asked why and I told her she needed to hold her brother before he went. That she had been waiting a long time for him and that she should hold him before he left. She did and it was beautiful, still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. She handed him back and I handed him into the arms of strangers who were going to be taking care of our baby boy. Still God held me together.
It was at this point that I think we all knew that it was  time  to close out the day. The kids needed to get to bed and we all needed our own way of dealing with what had just happened. So we all said our good byes and then there was just Mike and I.
We had decided we needed to be with one another that night, we knew Owen would be taken care of until the morning but we needed to cry, and hug and hold and pray. And we did. We talked about our  fears and then our hopes. Would be ever be just the two of us again? How would this affect our other kids? What if he had more diagnosis' than having Down sydrome? Would he want to play sports? How awesome of a  Michigan fan would he be? What was he going to teach us about pure love? Did God really have the much confidence in us? And this is what we came up with......
We just need to LOVE him. The rest will fall into place and God's will always does. It may not always be easy, but God never promised constant smooth sailing. It was then and there that I feel like God really opened our hearts to this wonderful gift that was Owen. That is who he would be, young fighter and well born, Owen Michael. We would be proud, Mike beams if you ask him about his son, as much as he has for our other two. And God gave me intuitions in my pregnancy so that I was prepared to open my heart and head to this wonderful gift, and I would be at peace. So we decided, we will love him, just like Paige and Blake. We would accept this gift and be thankful for it.