Dear Target... Thank You, Love Reid

Oh dear, there is so much dust on this little blog of mine.... but I am attempting to post, but posting I must do with one hand wrapped over my eyes so as to shield me from the sight that my blog is still stuck in, gulp, Christmas mode.... and that I have not posted since January. But, good news is that anyone reading this post... who may also feel crazy busy... maybe even frenzied at times in their life can pat themselves on the back and feel good in the fact that at least their blog does not scream CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY CHEER at the end of May! So... you are welcome!


So, why after all this time roll up your sleeves and set your fingers back on the keyboard you might ask? Well, it has to do with a picture, and as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words... this one can illicit about that many from me... whether I get them all out is another thing.


That picture is this one... 

I actually don't physically have it in my hands yet but my friend, Sharon, on the east coast alerted me to it as she received her new summer Target catalog in the mail yesterday and this shot is featured on the back. The little blonde haired, blue glasses wearing, baseball uniform sportin guy is Reid. I love, LOVE when companies feature children with special needs in their print ads... it is amazingly sad how under represented our children are in this field... but I think there is a new growing awareness and more and more companies are recognizing this and making sure our children are included, and Target is definitely leading the way. 
Honestly, had it not been Reid in this ad but another one of his friends with Down syndrome I would have still done the same internal standing ovation for Target and still re-vowed my ferocious allegiance to them because it is just that special to see kids being kids... no matter the number of chromosomes or special need.
But, since it is Reid .... I get to share details or parts from the shoot that are not visible to anyone else and are stored in my heart. 
This opportunity came quite out of the blue.... Back in January we got a call from Infantino, (who ran the Everybody Plays Campaign that Reid was fortunate to be a part of in the fall).... and told us that an agent was looking for a little boy with Down syndrome for a Target ad that was to be shot soon there after and wanted to know if we were interested... and then one thing led to another...
Which led me to driving Reid out to Malibu for the shoot. As I started to get closer to the location a frog settled in my throat and tears began to fall as I traveled down Pacific Coast Highway, taking in the beauty of where I was and the beauty of the opportunity before us. I kept looking back at him in the rear view mirror and I kept thinking... "Good for you little guy. Good. For. You.... that you get this neat opportunity to be visible in a world when so many times our kids are not". They just aren't sadly. The tears continued to welp up, it's a wonder we made it there in one piece as I traveled with tear blurred vision... I was just really happy for him and humbled yet again as to where his little extra chromosome has taken us as a family.
I finally found composure as we parked and walked in. I had no idea what to expect but as we were greeted one of the gals asked Reid if he would like to dress up in a baseball uniform... He smiled huge and said "Yes!!!" Seriously, seriously?... that could not have been any more perfect for Reid's baseball fanatic personality. His little cleats even lit up for heaven's sake... he. was. on. cloud. nine.
When I look at this picture there are things that make me just giggle...  like the silver trophy he is holding, well.... that was actually the 2nd trophy because the first one which was actually gold, well, umm.... it kinda slipped out of my guy's hand and was no longer functional. Whoopsie ;). 2nd, the grass stains on the boys' pants.... that is actually grass stain spray paint (who knew there was such a thing??). The patch of grass the kids are on.... not too easy to tell but just beyond are stairs that take you down to the beach and cozy little beach front cottages. I don't know this for sure but it reminded me a lot of the summer beach house scenes from the movie Spanglish. 
It was on that patch of grass the kids took a break in between shooting and hit a few baseballs. When it was Reid's turn I remember watching the kids all inch closer to him thinking he would not be able to hit the ball very far... the competitive mom in me secretly hoped he would just wallop the heck out of the ball and show 'em... and I laughed out loud when he did! Wallop he did and the kids cheered and hollered as they ran to retrieve the ball that inched ever so close to the crest above the beach below. Perhaps it was this moment for Reid that helped him feel like one of the guys but during that break I walked over to him to try and brush his hair, and in embarrassed teenager fashion he told me.... "Stop mom, my hair not cwwazzy!!". 

When I look at that picture I think of all those moments above and of how amazingly clear Reid's speech was that day in that setting and of the incredible "Baby Wrangler" Mark (pictured here with Reid) who was positioned just outside the scope of the shot.... who rallied the kid troops to relax, smile, giggle and just do their thing....
But, it is my heart that looks at that picture and thinks back to the "me" when he was born and I think had someone been able to have fast forwarded 5 years for me on the day Reid was born and been able to show me this picture I know I would have grabbed it, clutched it between my fingers and squinted close trying to imagine that that would one day be my guy... it would have given me a much needed giggle and smile through my tears as I laid there in that hospital bed... how soothing to my soul that would have been on one of the best yet hardest days of my life as it was also the day we learned of his diagnosis. ...a day that I worried about his future and worried that life as I knew it was over.... little did I know that not only was it NOT over it was about to expand in a multitude of ways and become even more beautiful....


Those are the parts... the parts you wouldn't be able to see unless I shared...

To end this post I think I'll simply leave it with my son's words as I imagine he would say them....

Dear Target, 

Thank you, thank you that you give my friends and I an opportunity to be seen as the "typical" children that we are in your advertising. My Poppa said he'll always shop at your store because he likes what you stand for... personally I like your awesome  cleats that light up when I round the bases! Because of you one of my classmates at preschool brought this ad in and asked if I would sign it, that's kinda cool for a kid my age! I plan to ask my favorite mailman when he finally delivers your summer catalog to my door to turn it around so I can show him who is on the back. I know he will like it because we are good pals!

Love,

Reid

"I Five.... Today

Today Reid would tell you.... "I five!" if you asked him.

Actually we were at the park today with some friends and I told Reid to tell the girls what today was..... I was not sure how he would respond to be honest, but he looked up at them, smiled, and said, "I five!!". When they said Happy Birthday Reid, he responded with a most adorable, "Fanks!!" with again that little smirk on his face. 
If Reid had more words about him he would also say....

"I have the best big brother, EVER!"

"Daddy is my hero!"
"Follow your dreams, there isn't anything you can't accomplish if you put your mind and heart in it!"

"If you have the opportunity to sit out or dance.... DANCE!!"

"Tell someone that you love them.... To Infinity and Beyond!!"

"Laughter is good for the soul!"

"Rudolph isn't the only cute reindeer!"

"Mind your manners and don't forget to say, "Thank you... thank you very much" from time to time!"

"Hug close the ones you love!"

"If you want to hang out in only rain boots and underwear all day... so be it! Blaze your own trail!"

"Five is going to be my best year yet!"
**Top photo taken by Kelle Hampton for the Infantino/Step2 "Everybody plays" Campaign. All photos are property of this blog owner and may not be reproduced without permission.

I Love You to the North Pole and Back!!

I have to confess, my soon to be 5 year old had not had a full blown birthday party until this year. His birth date is December 28th, and that... is such a hard time for a party. I have felt guilty over this little issue and vowed to myself that THIS year Reid would have a party with his school friends. THIS YEAR, this year, this year, this year....


But seriously, this year WAS going to be the year and it turns out that once I embraced the whole winter~Christmas theme that comes with this time of year my mind flooded with ideas and I began to wonder why I was so stumped each year with how best to pull off a party in December. ...Give me a summer birth date and I have ideas galore, Luke has benefited from a fun party or two in his little lifetime, but poor Reid~ Nada.


The more ideas rolled in, the more obsessed excited with the thought I became. A huge inspiration came after reading this post on Kelle's blog. I had already thought about having snow delivered but had not fully developed my ideas until I read about her North Pole party she hosted for her girls to just "embrace the fact that Christmas was encroaching"~ and that's when the flood gates opened..... "THAT'S IT" I thought....Reid would indeed have a birthday party... and it would be hosted in no other location than the North Pole (AKA my front yard) and, it would be hosted by none other than Mr. and Mrs. Claus and a cute, spunky 10 year old elf who also goes by the name Luke. Once I got the plan set in motion I reached out to Serendipity Soiree who made these invitations for me, I LOVE them, she did such a great job!
Toby knew something was up when he noticed me typing furiously one night and giggling all the while and asked what was going on... I smirked and told him that I had an idea for a party for Reid....and that, gulp, it was going to require him in a costume..... and, gulp.... memorization of a script! He gave me the o'l, "Oh no, not again...." look. He has been through this with me before, once I hosted a Scooby Doo Mystery birthday party for Luke and Toby was our "Present Thief" and he was given strict orders to follow the script I had typed out for him! Oh, the joys of parenthood..... but my amazing hunk of a husband took it all in stride and was the most lovable Santa that day, and even threw in his own spontaneous dialogue that made me howl with laughter!
Once the invitations had gone out to Reid's classmates one of the moms stopped me and said, "Just so you know..... (insert sweet little girl's name) is telling EVERYONE that she is going to the "real North Pole" for Reid's party!!". We laughed together about it, but then the pressure MOUNTED..... I. Must. Transform. This. Place. Into. The. North. Pole.... So, operation North Pole went into full affect. 1st, I literally walked up to a neighbors house a few streets over that I had never met and, gulp, gave them an invitation and asked if I could borrow 3 of their huge inflatable lawn decorations to help "set the stage" for the North Pole. This stranger woman surprisingly did not close the door on my face but smiled huge and said "Of course!" 2nd, I scoured the Dollar Tree and 99Cent store for as many decorations as I could find to "North Pole" the place up (though I had bought gobs of stuff, gobs of it never made its way out the door that day.... we had rain the day before so my decorating time got cut short~ but I think it was North Pole enough to do the job). 
Once the decor was taken care... the kindergarten teacher in me began to relish in the fact that there were so many fabulous "stations" I could have the children rotate through... and decided that "Mrs. Claus" would read a story to the children to help conclude the party while Reid's dad ran inside and changed into his Santa costume.
Anyway, here is what our Sunday looked like around here.

 

Luke was such a great sport being our "Chief Elf"! ...you could tell he loved every minute of it! ...Truth be told, he even slept in his costume that night, said it was "comfy" ;)

 

Our neighbor graciously made these balloon candy canes for all the kids!

We contacted our local ice company and purchased several 40 lb bags of snow which they delivered. The idea was for the children to make snowmen at one of our "stations". I had carrots, tree branches, buttons, jewels, and wiggly eyes for them to choose from. However, I think the kids found it most fun to just slide around in and throw at one another.





We set out a gingerbread decorating station.

We had an Elf Wrapping Station. At the beginning of the party I handed out elf hats from Oriental Trading Company and told the kids that Santa needed help putting the finishing touches on the gifts by adding ribbons and bows. Then, they were to add their name on the back so we knew which elf inspected it. .... They did not know that these were actually their "party gifts" and the name tags on the back was to help "Santa" call out names at the end of the party once he made his grand appearance.




 

I found these cute little plastic reindeer jars at the Dollar Tree and thought they would be perfect for adding "Reindeer Food" into... however, the 1st store only had 8 so I began searching other stores in the area until I had to realize I was getting neurotic about these dang reindeer jars and that no... it was not healthy to drive 10 miles to pick up the 1 jar that the store manager said he had left, sigh, so I caved and bought the Santa ones to have as back ups. I had to giggle to myself when I had 4 reindeer left over after the party because lots of kids preferred the Santa (Mama Mia... I could have saved a bundle on gas and on headaches had I allowed myself the grace to know that it is okay if reindeer food does not necessarily make it into a reindeer bottle) ;)










After the "stations" had been thoroughly visited it was time to cut the cake...which was also Toby's cue to head into the bedroom to change into the Santa costume we borrowed from a friend. 






Santa and his Chief Elf had been instructed that they were not to come out of the house until I had the kids seated and I had read a book to them....



And then the time had arrived.... Santa made his debut.
....and he came bearing gifts, the presents they had finished wrapping at the "Elf Station"


Toby and I had to laugh that night.... about how much "power" comes along with wearing the big red suit. Kids crawled up on his lap unsolicited and one sweet little guy in particular looked him square in the eye and asked him if he was on the "naughty" list?? He got hugs... and kids lingering around not wanting to say good bye. One dad told me later that his little girl told him, "At first I thought it was Reid's daddy... but then I noticed hair on his hands and thought that must mean it really is Santa" ...Oh my gosh, kids are so funny! Even Reid was staring at Toby trying to figure it all out. 

And as for Mrs. Claus... though she is best known for her fabulous cookie baking abilities and managerial skills with the elves, she is also known to have a bit of a sassy side to her that she unveils from time to time ;).

Reid, we had so much fun celebrating your little life! Happy 5th birthday!We love you..... to the North Pole and back!!