Wordless Wednesday... Brothers

A Beautiful New Life

A little girl's "life story" has been rewritten because of this incredible family featured in the ABC News clip below.... and from what I understand the Reece's Rainbow adoption website has been on overload since this aired.... I hope it stirs more hearts and ALL of these beautiful children will find their Forever Families.... The little girl Masha they show wondering if the news reporter was her Momma? Tears poured down as I watched that, no one should be without a mom or dad... I pray this news story helps her find her very soon!! 
Click here for the ABC News clip  Then, to read more of Kareen's journey to her new life,  go here. 
A few thoughts..... Once given the diagnosis of Down syndrome from health professionals many of us walking this road were encouraged to abort, told that our child would be a burden to society, to their families, their siblings would suffer.... you scour the internet and you will find outdated and biased information pertaining to the life of a person with this extra chromosome, BUT...... you ask a family walking this road and you will get a much different answer. Of the over 500 children adopted through Reece's Rainbow, I would venture to guess that most of the adopting families either already had a child of their own with Down syndrome or an extended family member.... that says A LOT of this road, and the falsehood of the statements above.  Parenting is tough..... with or without extra chromosomes, but the most beautiful tough I have ever experienced and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Living What I Dreamed....

This weekend I stumbled upon a song that moved me.... actually I guess you could say I had a weekend that moved me, and refreshed me, and softly reminded me that I am living my dream... and finding this song sealed that beautiful sacred weekend for me with its words... Dream by Priscilla Ahn (now located on my music list below).
Shortly after Toby and I were married we purchased the Thomas Kinkade painting to the left... we were starting our marriage, dreamed of a family...and a home to call our own. I have stared at that painting many times through the years...and loved the homey, coziness is exudes and the love I imagined that welcomes you as you walk through the door. Pregnant with Luke I would look at it and dream of the baby that was to make us a family of 3..and then along came Reid. All part of a plan.... all part of a dream.
I really cannot put into words what this weekend was for me...but it was good, it was full, it was fireplaces and candles and "fall is in the air" ish...it was rich with simple family time and there were times I found myself pulling out my camera to snap pictures of my boys just because somehow I wanted to capture the moments this weekend possessed. As I took those pictures I consciously felt like life had seized into a slow motion time frame...no sound, just slow movements and what I saw was smiles and laughter and Luke being silly and looking oh so grown up and sitting proudly next to his dad that he loves with all his heart and Reid being sweet and silly and quirky in his way that makes us all laugh out loud and then scoop him up just to drink him in.... I drank him in...I drank my family in in a way that my soul needed this weekend.
I dreamed of this.
I am grateful for the home we have built...and the love that envelopes me as I walk in the door...and the reverence to know it was part of a plan for me.

Lyrics from the song:
I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me.

I played pretend between the trees, and fed my houseguests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green.

I had a dream

That I could fly from the highest swing.

I had a dream.

Long walks in the dark through woods grown behind the park, I asked God who I'm supposed to be.

The stars smiled down on me, God answered in silent reverie. I said a prayer and fell asleep.

I had a dream

That I could fly from the highest tree.

I had a dream.

Now I'm old and feeling grey. I don't know what's left to say about this life I'm willing to leave.

I lived it full and I lived it well, there's many tales I've lived to tell. I'm ready now, I'm ready now, I'm ready now to fly from the highest wing.

I had a dream

My Very Special Person.....by Luke

There are many things about Luke's school I love and one of those things is a tradition where this time each year they have the children think about a special person in their lives and to write an essay about them...and then invite their special person into the classroom to be celebrated and to hear the sweet words written from the child's heart!

In kindergarten Luke chose mom, last year was dad (you can read that here), and this year.....I love that my oldest son wrote from the heart about his little brother.... and this picture he drew, oh my goodness..... I just think it is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!! Definitely a treasure I will hold onto! Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE these two boys?!!

My Brother Reid

My brother Reid is a special person in my life. He has blue eyes, blonde hair, and a little nose and mouth. He is funny, sweet, and cute too. My brother weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces when he was born. Reid is three and he has Down syndrome and it's been a joy to watch him grow up and to get involved in more and more things.

Reid always wants to do things with me. For example, everyday when I wake up I walk into the family room and he is always sitting and waiting for me. After he sees me he says, "Dah, Dah, Wii", and pulls me over to the Wii game.

Another reason why Reid is special to me is because he always cheers me up when I'm down in the dumps. Whenever I'm sad he always does something funny or hugs me and that usually does the trick.

The last reason why my little brother is special is that he has to do everything that I do. Whenever I have baseball practice, if my mom stays he always runs out and gets involved in everything. Another example is whenever I get out my guitar he always takes it and tries to play too.

I love you Reid and I don't know what I would do without you.

Love,

Your Big Brother Luke

Cwyyying... Cwyyying...

Oh I've missed you little blog of mine...you have been cast to the side while I have feverishly been trying to meet deadlines for work, but at nearly 11:30 pm I have stopped for a "cookie dough break" ;) so I figure I must give you a little attention as well to make note of a sweet moment that occurred this morning.
Today Reid and I did our usual drop off of Luke at school and the two of them did their usual hugs in the back seat and I said my usual, "I love you buddy...have a super day, see you at 3:00"....but as Reid and I drove away I heard a noise from the back seat that was not usual. At first I was just concerned with making sure I got out onto the street and into the turning lane without incident so just heard a noise but did not really concentrate on what I was hearing until I looked in the rear view mirror and I saw Reid with his little hands balled into fists and rubbing his eyes....while saying "cwyyyying, cwyyying". Oh my gosh....he was telling me he was feeling like crying because Luke, his best playmate, had to go to school. How stinking cute is that??? Seriously, this little guy just melts me. He loves his Luke so much! But you know what, not only was that soo stinking cute...but so smart. He is really starting to make some big cognitive connections lately and that was one of the first times I have seen him make a connection between his feelings and verbalizing them. Big stuff, fun stuff.
I saw a quote today that I think fits how they feel about eachother...
Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown

My Sweet Baby Reid...Is Now 3

Little Reid...my sweet, sweet baby boy.....you are now 3 and such a big boy! You give us daily snuggles, daily giggles, and our daily fill of love. We love you so much!

At three you can do so many things...

• You can run and jump off two feet
• You go to preschool and love to learn new songs
• You love to play Patty Cake and we love to watch you try and do all the motions...we take turns asking you to make one for each of us. The words you can say are pat, roll, and you say the name of who you are giving it to....we love it, I especially love to hear..."Paattt....wwollll....Maaaamaaa" and you point to me with a huge grin on your face
• You love baseball and whenever we pass by the baseball field you say, "baball" and then give a loud, "yayyyy!" while clapping...not sure who you are clapping for but we love your enthusiasm :)
• You love to play the Wii....and you make all the sound effects you feel are appropriate for each game
• You have a silly side to you and pretend to be asleep when I get you out of the car seat but then after a few seconds you open your eyes, look over at me, and giggle the best little giggle
• You LOVE, LOVE your big brother Luke and continue to call him "Da"... I have a feeling Luke would not mind if you always called him Da...he loves it and loves you so much!
• You have a soft and sensitive side and come to give hugs when you think someone is hurt. You say "oh, no, oh no" in the sweetest most concerned voice until a kiss has been given by you to the one hurt
• You love music and entertain us with your cool dance moves. We turn on different music stations just to watch you change up your moves to the different rhythm you hear....you are so funny!
• You are a book fanatic and love looking through them and cracking yourself up with the pictures
• You are a flirt and melt people with your smile that lights up your whole face
• When you wake up in the morning you go right to the fridge and fling it wide open saying.."Baaaa..." (that's what you call your sippy cup)
• You love to play the drums with my egg beater, spatulas, mixing spoons and anything else you can reach out of the drawer and daily bang the floor, the oven, the chairs...and whatever stands still long enough to be banged on
• You love cookies....I mean LOVE cookies!! ..and you have made up your own "sign" for cookie by putting your fingers up to your mouth and saying "num, num, num" real fast like cookie monster does. In fact...you love cookies so much that this year I decided cookies and ice cream were in order rather than cake, so on 12/28/09....special birthday cookies were made for you!

Reider Peter Punkin Eater.....we have loved loving you the past three years!!!!!

I love how my boys look like..."Mom, come on with it....light the candles ALREADY!!!" lol

"COOOOOOOKIES!!!!"

Change In Plans & Feeling Contemplative

Well, this evening we are suppose to be at one of our favorite Christmas parties of the year....and this year's theme is Polar Express where all the kids come in their jammies and listen to the story read by the host, and then Santa comes with toys for everyone. But, our boys are both under the weather so unfortunately we needed to keep them home. So, my alternate plans?....cleaning out the fridge and freezer...somehow this just does not compare to getting all dolled up and heading out for Christmas cheer and celebration. What a bummer!
Well, with this unexpected opening in my evening and with the house being quiet with feverish kiddos and with the rain tapping outside on my windows I figured maybe I would use this time to put a few thoughts down that have been swirling around in my head. I have been thinking a lot lately about Reid's upcoming birthday. Reid will be turning three in a few weeks, so hard to believe on so many levels and yet I am really glad to be here, three years out. Don't get me wrong, I love the baby stage and savor each milestone and I actually love diapers...I'll be sad when diapers are gone forever around here..... but somehow Reid turning three is just so sweet for me and I have been feeling very contemplative and reflective lately on those early days and very raw emotions we experienced. I am working on a couple different posts and hope to share in the next few days... so many amazing things actually happened those first few days after Reid's birth that I have not shared yet on my blog that we took as signs that we would be okay, and, of course three years later we are so much more than okay!! But, I am working on sharing those stories....
Until then, here are a few pictures from earlier in the week when my guys were feeling better and decorating some Christmas cookies.

I just love to see the love these two boys have for eachother!!

Soccer Season Must Come to an End....

Boo hoo, I am sad to say today will end the best soccer season we have experienced yet for Luke. We were so fortunate to have landed on such a a great team with really great "teaching" coaches. The boys learned a lot about playing strategically, and you could certainly see their growth over the last few months. Luke was groomed into the goalie position and he LOVES it. At the beginning of the season I dreaded when they would put Luke in the goal....it is so hard on a mom to watch her little guy under so much pressure! But, over the season he grew in skill, was given the nickname "titanium wall" (which he eats up by the way ;) ), and this mom screamed so loud last game she lost her voice...yes I have become one of those crazy soccer moms! But, it was an intense game (actually two) that lent this little team who had actually only won one game to play today in the final championships. We potentially have 3 games today depending on how they do, concluding with our end of the season party. So fun!
You know what else I love about this team??? These boys...all on their own, decided to make Reid their mascot. They surprised us by having a little jersey made for him just like the team players. Every half time they call Reid over into their circle and they chant his name while he dances. It's made me cry a few times...sooo sweet these boys are!

Wordless Wednesday...

The Love and Expectations of a Big Brother

On the way home from school the other day Luke told me, "Mom, I don't care how long it takes or how hard it is... I am going to teach Reid until he can get into the GATE class". GATE meaning Gifted And Talented Education, which Luke is currently in the cluster class for.  He totally caught me off guard. OH MY GOSH, what a sweetheart this little boy is! And with all that is in him, he means it...the love and expectations of a brother are just unmeasurable! I truly believe that if we have high expectations for our children, all our children, and give them opportunity to grow and shine, they will. Somehow Luke has learned that already.

These words came from the same little boy that I was so afraid to tell that his baby brother had Down syndrome after he was born...that his brother would be a little different, look a little different, that he

 would take a little longer to learn things...but that he would. Nope, I couldn't do it. For the first 10 months of Reid's life Luke's understanding of the word Down syndrome was that it meant he had a "bad heart". We had friends tell us we were wrong for not giving him the whole diagnosis, but I just didn't feel he was ready, I wanted him to just get to know his brother without reservation. Looking back in hindsight Luke would of handled the entire news as he does everything... contemplative, inquisitive, and lovingly. But, the truth is I don't think I was ready to share all of it yet.
When we did finally share more of the diagnosis it was on the eve of our first Buddy Walk, when Reid was 10 and 1/2 months. Quite a few of Luke's friends were going to be joining us for the walk in the morning  and I didn't want him to hear about his brother's diagnosis from his friends. So, Toby and I sat him down and told him in more scientific terms what else Down syndrome meant for Reid besides his heart complications. We shared with him in detail and then told him how lucky Reid was to have such a super big brother who could help teach him things. You could see the wheels turning in Luke's head so we asked him if he had any questions....his response was "No...but hang on a second..." and he then proceeded to pick up a book from the coffee table and went right over to Reid and said, "See this word buddy, it says sss-k-y...sky". Toby and I looked at each other and knew right then and there that Luke was indeed going to be the best big brother for Reid. 
*The picture on top was taken when Reid was about 2 1/2.... He is looking through one of Luke's anatomy books while Luke explains to him what the Dr. did to repair his heart.