Thursday, September 24, 2009

Will My Child Drive a Car??....Possibly, Check This Out!!

Thank you to Mel for posting this on your blog so I could "meet" Kelly, a very inspiring young woman with Down syndrome. Kelly is an amazingly determined young woman who has not allowed Down syndrome to hold her back in any way, in fact she has made a point to set many goals for herself...one of them being to get her driver's license, and SHE DID IT, how great is that!?!!!

When Reid was first born the question of "Will Reid be able to drive?" never even entered into my thoughts...not on my own that is....however, I can vividly remember our first visit with the geneticist when Reid was JUST 2 DAYS OLD...and she asked us what we knew about Down syndrome. Quite honestly we had to share that we didn't know much...so she went on to give us the clinical description and expectations...as I sat listening, trying to hold back the flood of tears waiting to dispel uncontrollably at any moment...the trigger words were unleashed, and as if being kicked in the stomach I heard her say..."and Reid won't drive a car...he will most likely use bus transportation, or ride a bike, or he will rely on a family member to drive him places". That was it, I fell apart...I had just heard that my child would have mild to moderate mental retardation and now...that he wouldn't ever have the capability to drive a car. Ughhhhh....really now, did I really need to hear that when he was just 2 days old? I remember going back to my hospital room, clutching my pillow and just crying and crying until I couldn't cry anymore. Later that evening I spoke with my dad on the phone and shared with him what the geneticist had said and he in turn had a story to share with me that he had heard earlier that day from a client of his...a story of a couple with Down syndrome living in his area who had met, married, had jobs, and the husband actually had his driver's license and HE drove the two of them around town...no buses and no bikes, unless they wanted to use them.

Where oh where are THOSE kinds of stories that a geneticist can pull out of his/her bag of knowledge when your baby is only 2 days old and you need more than anything to hear words of encouragement??? Well...here is one of those such stories...Kelly thank you for sharing with us your amazing victories and inspiring life!

**Make sure to pause my music at the bottom before viewing the video. :)



<span class=

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Dinner with a Cause Postponed....in Hopes to Make a Bigger Impact, Please Consider Participating

The "Dinner with a Cause" in honor of a child waiting for their Forever Family that I wrote about in the previous post was postponed due to it being a very busy time of year for everyone, us included, so it was decided to wait so we could have a bigger turn out for a bigger impact for a little waiting Reece's Rainbow orphan ....but actually postponing allows me time to get my little experiment in motion. The more I thought about it, the more I began to think about HOW GREAT it would be if several different dinners were happening around the same time, or on the same night, to raise money for the same child in hopes to get them home with their family as quickly as possible....we could double, triple, or quadruple our efforts all while having an amazing time with friends. Here is the deal,
  • Invite friends to your home for "Dinner with a Cause", in this case our cause will be a waiting Reece's Rainbow Child.
  • You can decide whether to have it catered, host prepares meal, or pot luck style
  • Decide on a a suggested donation, we usually say $35 per person for suggested donation, but that is up to you.
  • Dedicate a portion of your evening to sharing with your guests about Reece's Rainbow and the need to get these children out of these orphanages before being institutionalized. (I am planning to share a video/documentary that I found on You Tube....and hook it to the TV, I also thought of having the Gifts video (see below) playing throughout the evening as others were mingling)....I will send these resources over to you so you can do the same.
  • The donations will go directly to the child's fund and are 100% tax deductible
  • Leave me a message here on my blog or email me to let me know you would like to participate by hosting a party. We will finalize details off line. tlcforeman@verizon.net
If you like this idea...please feel free to blog about it and link it back here so we can get as many people involved as possible.

**You will want to pause my music at the bottom of the blog before viewing the video.



<span class=

Thursday, September 10, 2009

A Benefit Dinner for Reece's Rainbow Children...Need Your Input!!

Reece's Rainbow

Saturday evening Toby and I will be dining with some friends....who are hosting a benefit dinner...or "Dinner with a Cause". Let me give you some background...this family has always been so gracious in hosting amazing parties...Luke's favorite are their Christmas parties where in the past the home entry has been adorned with snow flakes where he actually laid down and made snow angels and later met Santa who had a long list of names he read from and then gave each child a gift purchased specific for them (one year Luke got a doctor's kit because his baby brother Reid was to be born just a few days later...we packed it in my "hospital bag" to take with us for the delivery). Well, about a year ago they decided to add an amazing twist to their parties and host dinners every other month that would benefit different causes...a few of those have been The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Smile Train, Breast Cancer Awareness, Battered Women and Children's Center....and now this month Reece's Rainbow. We are thrilled that this is the chosen charity. For obvious reasons this organization has become dear to us, and we are so thankful for it's existence as an avenue to help these "forgotten children" find the love of a "Forever Family". In discussing how we should use the raised funds they have left that up to us and I have gone round and round in my head as to whether we should put the funds toward new cribs, or clothes, or upkeep on the orphanages... or give it to a family who is in the process of adopting....and this morning it hit me. I began to think about ultimately what I would hope for for these children...a new set of pajamas or to ultimately leave the orphanage as soon as possible? When I thought about it that way the answer came easily and our wish is to give the money to a family in the process of adoption. The fee is so high, averaging around $22,000 and if we can help....by means of this simple dinner amongst friends that would be a beautiful thing to us.

During the evening we hope to share a video about Reece's Rainbow as well as a little about how crazy in love we are with our own little guy with Down syndrome...and how we ache for all his little friends who are sentenced to an orphanage merely because they were born with an extra chromosome. Such a shame....these biological parents have no idea what they have cast aside, it just breaks me up inside. We are also hoping to share links to blogs of families who are in the process of adopting as well as of those who are already home for anyone interested in following these beautiful stories.

However, I need help....I know this is fast and furious because the dinner is Saturday evening...but if you could leave me a comment telling me of a child you know who is in the process of being adopted and their family's blog I would so appreciate it. You can even make a suggestion for a particular family to receive the funds as we have not solidified that yet. Or of a family and their blog that have already adopted.... THANK YOU in advance!! xoxo

Since we learned of Reece's Rainbow a year ago there have been a several families that have drawn us in with their amazing stories and I have listed those below...but I know there are more out there that you may have become attached to and I would love to learn about them.

Hidden Treasures
Grew by Two
Bringing Kellsey Home
Smiles and Trials
Cornish Adoption Journey
Dreaming on an Angel and their family blog Life with Bubba, Chicky, and Nika

....oooohhhh I just had a thought, what if we all had a "virtual dinner party" and we each hosted dinner parties at our homes and put our funds in together for one child at a time to get them all home! Hmmmnnn I just might have to keep thinking on that one... :)
<span class=

Wednesday, September 9, 2009