Welcome New Year!
It seems that sooooo much has happened since this time last year.  Life is wonderful!  Thank you for visiting DownsDaily!
Last year this time I was pregnant and my doctor had ordered me to bedrest.  The only ‘privilege’ that came along with this bedrest was that I could use the bathroom.
So no blog posting was allowed.
I have been soooo busy!!
But I did miss this platform and communicating with everyone!!!
I am very excited about sharing with you again.
Our family has grown. I have grown.  I will share it with you …

Four years ago today I buried my Mother.  How many days is that? 365 days four times is 1460.
When my mom died I was more than eight months pregnant.  I could not imagine how life was supposed to go on.  I remember someone saying to me, “Life will go on.  It’s just up to you to participate”.
I guess that person was right.
Life is going on
And I choose to participate.
Exactly
WHAT does a person MEAN when they say,”I am trying to get my life together.”?  I guess it depends upon the person.
Sometimes …

We are so proud today!!!
Isaac graduated from his full day kindergarten class today.  He officially moves forward as a member of the class of 2023!
We are so happy.  Many of us shed tears of joy.
The ceremony was great.  The children sang songs.  They also walked on stage and received certificates.  They also shared with us their hopes for what they wanted to be when they grow up.
Isaac said that he wants to be a doctor….
Let’s get it!!!!!
Right now I spend my days in part preparing for the summer.  Even though …

I recently had someone say to me, ” If you are too beautiful, people will hate you.”
This statement was made when referring to a picture that I had posted online.  These words have been nagging at me for a little while now.  You see, I am guilty of spending much of my life shrinking so as to avoid the ‘hatred’ of others.  My mother would say to me,”  God made you and He made you beautiful.  If someone has a problem with that, then you tell them to just take …

I am a mother.  I am an engineer.  I am a learner.  I am an entrepreneur.
I have always loved learning.  I have always loved solving problems.
I consider these things to be a few of my gifts.
I wanted to be a mother.  Having my children is such a blessing.  I try to teach them everyday…

Jamie Foxx is an entertainer, an actor and singer.  an he has a sister who has Down syndrome.  Jamie does not seem shy when referring to his dearly-loved sibling, Deondra.
Jamie lives with both of his parents and his sister.
He seems proud of her.
I hope that my boys grow up to be proud of each other.
Life is interesting….boys are very competitive.
They compete with each other.  They compete with their friends.
If you would like to read about and see the video with Jamie Foxx and his sister Deondra, you may …

The absolute worst way to improve educational special needs inclusion policy is to decide to exclude a special needs child who is also dying.
The school district that I am dealing with has decide to do this very thing.  There is a little boy in our district who has been given only a few short months to live.  The school district has decided to not allow him his only request in his last days…to be able to attend school.

October is the one month of the year that is dedicated to Down syndrome Awareness.
Awareness…I think that this is an appropriate word to describe what I would like to accomplish.
You can usually see in communities having  a Buddy Walk event that is used to raise awareness and to raise money.
Awareness…Exactly WHAT would I like to help people become aware of?
I would like for people t become aware of all that is unknown about having Down syndrome.
The fact is that most of what is know has only been discovered in about …

I am officially the mother of 3 beautiful wonderful, blessed and highly favored sons.  One of my boys, Isaac, happens to have an extra 21st chromosome…….and this makes me a Down syndrome parent.

What was my Down syndrome pregnancy like?
Well, I can’t really say that the pregnancy itself was remarkably different from my other pregnancies.
I CAN say that the behavior of my doctors was weird and mis-leading.  I asked specific questions that should have helped us to know that Isaac had Down syndrome before he was born.  We wanted to know so that we could help take care of him.
When I did the ultrasound where his nuchal transclucency was higher than it should have been, I asked lots of questions.  I wanted to …