Dreams Do Come True

When Kennedy was born I was scared. I had no idea how much Down syndrome would change my life.  In the past two years I've realized that it has changed it more for the positive than anything.  We enjoyed our vacation so much.  Kennedy absolutely LOVED Disney.  She loved the characters.  She ran up to them all, hugged them and kissed them over and over.  She even hugged a few photographers.  It was a trip that we dreamed of taking long before we had kids.  Long before Down syndrome came into our lives.

There are no words to describe what a great time we had.  So I'll just blast you with a few of the 1,900+  photos that I took.

It's DISNEY, people!!!!!

How do I hug this dude?

I'm coming!

Hi Daffy!

Hey tall dude? Dance with me.

She loved the rides! Especially Dumbo!

Excuse me?

Truly the happiest place on Earth and an absolutely magical vacation for the entire family!  I'm counting down the days until we go back.

Determination

One of the things I've told Kennedy from the day she was born is that she can do anything she wants to, and that we will do whatever we can to help her achieve her goals and dreams.  Even though she's still too little to understand just what we are saying, she's already showing her determination.  Lately, there are a lot of things Kennedy is determined to do (or not do.)  Sometimes she shows her determination when she's learning a new skill.  This has really come through in the past few weeks as she has been working so hard on her walking skills.  She also shows her determination at night when she doesn't want to go to bed, or when she wants to eat something from our plate.  When she doesn't want to get in her carseat or when she's trying to figure out a new toy. 

Standing and walking is hard work.  It takes lots of determination to learn to do these skills.  Fortunately Kennedy almost always shows us how determined she is.  Except today, during Physical Therapy.

Today Kennedy was determined not to let Grandma put her in the car seat.  She decided it would be much more fun to stand up in it, and play with her friend, Lowry.

I love to hear stories about how other people with Down syndrome have used their determination to make their dreams come true.  The link below is to a video that brought tears to my eyes and reminded me how many awesome things Kennedy, and other children like her will do when they grow up.  One extra chromosome isn't going to stop her from following her dreams, just like it didn't the gentleman in this video.

Determination Trumps Down Syndrome

On The Go

I'm sure no one expects regular blog posts from me any more.  That is, if I still have any followers!  The past week has shown me that Kennedy is getting faster by the day and I'm getting slower by the day.  Last night it took me 40 minutes to get her into her pajamas, and we ended up doing so in the foyer.  Which was where I finally caught up to her, and was able to hold onto her for long enough. 

I've seen a number of articles over the past couple of weeks that bring tears to my eyes.  Tears of joy and happiness for these young individuals who are experiencing a dream come true. 

Texas High School Prom Queen!
Iowa Student Crowned Prom Queen!
New York Prom King!

I love to hear stories of dreams coming true, especially when those involved, just so happen to have an extra chromosome, like Kennedy. 

I did finally get some really great family photos from our trip last month, and I have some other adorable photos of Kennedy.  But I'm way too tired to upload them tonight.  Most people are exhausted because their baby keeps them up all night.  Not me.  I'm exhausted because we have this obnoxious bird that starts squawking loudly around 6am.  It's been over a week since I've had a decent night of sleep, and I'm definitely feeling the effects.  I promise, I'll try to get to the pictures earlier tomorrow.  In the mean time, here's a really cute video of miss Kennedy playing with her stage this afternoon!

Dreams

When we got Kennedy's diagnosis, I was flooded with emotions.  One of them being fear for the future.  Would she be able to do everything she dreamed of?  Obviously it's not something to worry about right now, but for those of you who have been in my shoes, receiving a diagnosis as shocking as Down syndrome - either prenatally or after birth, I'm sure most of you can agree that one of the biggest fears is what the future will hold.  With that said, after things calmed down and I had begun to accept what our new life would be, I realized that you never know what the future holds with any child.  No matter how many chromosomes they have.  You don't know if they'll go on to graduate college, or if they'll go straight to work.  You don't know if they'll ever get married or have children.  For awhile it made me sad to think that Kennedy may never be a mom, especially because I love being a mom so much.  But then I realized that either way, Kennedy may not want that. 

What I dream of for her future, is for her to be happy and to enjoy life to the fullest.  I want for her to be able to do anything that she wants.  If she wants to get married, I want her to be able to get married.  If she wants to live independently, I want her to do that.  If she wants to stay living at home forever, that's okay too.  I just want to know that she's able to do everything that she's dreamed of.  As her mom (and I'm sure my husband would agree) I want to do everything I can to help her achieve those goals. 

I read an article this morning that brought tears to my eyes.  It's about a couple (Heather and Craig) who met at a Down syndrome conference nine years ago, and fell in love.  They are trying to get married, but due to government regulations, doing so would prevent them from receiving assistance and benefits.  Heather is determined to make this happen.  She's already shown her determination by obtaining a position as an Administrative Assistant, which was another dream of hers.  It brought tears of happiness to my eyes, to see that this couple is so in love and will not give up, no matter what challenges they are faced with.  This is what I want for Kennedy.  I want her to have dreams and I want her to work hard to achieve them.  Just like anyone else.  Yes, she's going to have to work a lot harder to achieve the things that others do, but it's going to make it that much more rewarding when she does.  What frustrates me is that individuals with disabilities have to work so hard to get the assistance and support that they need and deserve.  These two individuals are making a life for themselves, but are being "punished" in a way because the government will not provide them with the services they need, if they get married.  This disgusts me.  I'm not going to get into all the things that this country pays for that I believe are unnecessary.  You already know where I'm going with this. 

Kennedy has already shown us that she's not going to sit back and let people dictate what she does.  She's proven so many people wrong in her nearly six months of life.  Here we are six weeks post-op, when we expected to be dealing with significant developmental delays from open heart surgery, she's close to sitting on her own, and just this morning she was scooting around her play mat trying to figure out how to crawl.  I have one determined kid on my hands, and I know she's going to go a long way in life, and prove to people that she can achieve her dreams just like any one else.