Our friends and family

We put a plea out to our friends and family asking for donations for our garage sale. I wasn't sure that we would even get anything ... boy was I wrong! We have gotten so much stuff, some even from people we don't even know. That is just awesome. I pretty much think we have the best friends and family ever. Yesterday, we spent the entire day with my mom, sister and brother-in-law going through all the stuff we have gotten ... and we still are not done.

I do have to give a shout out to our friends, the Corcorans. A couple years ago, they moved over an hour away, so we don't get to see them as often as we like. Nonetheless, they have always been present for anything that we have ever had for the kids {i.e. Payton's buddy walk, birthday parties, etc}. This weekend, they make the trek to our house to drop off their donations for our garage sale. They pulled up and this is what I saw ...


Note that this picture was taken after much of the stuff had already been unloaded. They brought us SO much stuff and we are so thankful to them. We are so thankful to everyone. When we figure out how to thank you, we will let you know!

Learning love from Baby Grace

After having spent a long weekend with my entire extended family to celebrate my sister's wedding, I found myself trying to find the right words to prove ... for lack of a better word ... to some of them that we are doing the right thing. I guess I still don't have the right words and as I have said all along ... we aren't asking for permission from anyone to do this (well, except for the Russian authorities, that is), we just would like to be supported. I have tried hard to help people in general to understand that being the parent of a child with Down syndrome is not the end of the world.

I recently came across an article about a woman who learned of her daughter's diagnosis prenatally. She was given one week to process the information before she would have to decide how to proceed with her pregnancy (i.e. abort or give birth). During that time, she was given a book called a book called Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives. After reading Gifts, this woman was rocked in such a way that her little angel is now about six months old and thriving.

I contributed to the Gifts book and I am so honored to have been part of Baby Grace's chance at life. I think reading this book and the stories of mother's from all over is a great way to wrap your mind around what life is like with a child that has Down syndrome. I have several extra copies that were deemed "defective" by the printer by way of a few blotches on the cover ... I love would to send a copy to anyone that might like that extra little boost in understanding my world.

So ... I'm wondering who out there feels that they would like to better understand Down syndrome? That is why I'm here and why I blog about my journey ... to spread awareness and promote education. :)

We have the best family ever

Yesterday, Mason and I were on our way to Backyardigans and my cousin, Debby, texted me this picture ...
These are her two girls having a lemonade stand for us during a neighborhood festival. It brought me to tears, to say the least. Yes, I am very emotional when it comes to anything Addison.

Maddy and Ella ... thank you so much for the money you raised for us!

Well Wishes {from Natalia and family}

Telling our family {and friends} the news

We have pretty much told all of our immediate family {and our close friends} about our adoption. We have received mostly positive responses, with a few reservations here and there. I suppose those reservations are the same reservations we had back in the beginning and I understand that nobody knows the same amount of information as we do at this point. We would just like support from everyone, that is all we are asking ... and that is pretty much what we have gotten. I am sure there are some that secretly think we are out of our minds, but that is okay. We know we are making the right choice for our family, and that is really all that matters. Love to all.