The day of love is just around the corner! As you all may remember from Christmas, I love holiday books. They add a theme and a variety to our at home library. As we approach our next major commercial holiday, I set out to do some research and read over 30 cupid-themed books. I selected my 12 favorites (in particular order) that you may want to consider gifting to your little ones next Thursday for Valentine’s Day. I’ve provided affiliate links (at no cost to you but help our family) to Amazon and all are available with Prime – so you have plenty of time to order! Yippee skip hooray.…
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Find Your Voice Girl!
A few weeks ago, I had my first opportunity as a mother of a special needs son to step up and advocate in a childcare scenario. I started a Bible study group on January 8th. The main reason I chose this group was because they offered childcare! SCORE. I remember mentioning in an email to one of the childcare facilitators that Hudson has Down syndrome but did not think it was relevant to mention that he was a non-walker. The morning of my first time attending this bible study went smoothly. Hudson has struggled with separation anxiety but it improved over the holidays with family in town. I wasn’t worried! …
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11 Christmas Books for Littles
After posting on Instagram stories yesterday about two of my new favorite books for Hudson, I wanted to share some additional books if you are wanting to buy your kiddos Christmas books to add to their collections. Click on any of the book covers to be taken directly to Amazon for purchase (affiliate links won’t cost you anything but can help us earn a little dough)! You Are Special by Max Lucado This story brought me to tears! It’s not necessarily a Christmas book but has a Christian message worth reading all year long. 2. The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt Another book that isn’t necessarily…
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Sibling Love: Third & Final Video
Tomorrow is the last day of October, which means Down syndrome awareness month is coming to a close. Last year, I didn’t really do anything to celebrate the month. I remember seeing other people post about it but wasn’t sure where “my place” was in spreading awareness and encouraging acceptance. One year later, I have found my place and my voice advocating for our sweet little Huddy Buddy. I’ve had the chance to share so many wonderful accounts that celebrate Down syndrome through Instagram. I shared with other moms about the joy that siblings bring into a special needs family dynamic and created three videos. I designed and printed postcards…
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Sibling Love Video – Part Two
As October is winding down, I am still going headstrong with Down syndrome awareness and acceptance month! Thank you to everyone for your love and support with the first video I released last week. I love reading comments and seeing people share the videos and posts. When you have a child with special needs, there is a looming thought in the back of your head….will the world accept and love my child? Or will they only see differences? Knowing that there are so many lovely people out there in the world that want to support not only our baby Huddy but all of his rockin’ friends – well that brings…
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Down Syndrome Awareness Month
Hello hello friends! Happy Wednesday to you 🙂 We are over halfway through October which blows my mind. But I can tell as the leaves are starting to fall off the trees and the wind has turned bitter cold up here in Chicago. The other great part about October … it is also Down Syndrome Awareness Month! When thinking about this month, I came up with two separate campaigns I wanted to run from the blog, Facebook and Instagram to spread awareness and encourage acceptance. First Campaign I reached out to several Instagram accounts I follow that have and/or feature someone with Down syndrome and asked if I could have…
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How to Vacation in Tennessee
Hello lovelies! Even though we’ve been home from our Tennesse vacation for 6 weeks, I wanted to share about our adventure and relive some of my favorite summer memories with you! There are several reasons why I love Tennesse. 1. The first and most important reason is that’s where my in-laws live. Therefore, it shoots up to the top! Enough said. 2. I’ve always found it gorgeous. There was a long time ago, when I was a teenager, that my family took a road trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And we drove. Meaning I drove. I’m pretty sure I was barely 16 (back me up Sarah Bacon….); and we…
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Hudson’s First Birthday
He’s one year old! I’m sure every new parent feels this way at his or her child’s birthday – but I don’t know where this year went. I remember those few moments before he was born and knew life was about to change; it’s similar to the same way I felt when Tyler & Emily walked into my apartment so I could meet them for the first time. The pitter patter of my heart was quick but so full of excitement, love, and joy! When deciding how to celebrate, I knew I wanted something intimate. There was a day back in February where I thought I might want to plan…
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Five Friday Favs #4
Happy Last Friday of July! Wait whattttt!!! We have had such a whirlwind summer that it is just blowing past us. There are a few things left on my summer ‘bucket list’ like a trip to Brookfield Zoo, camping (if we can), visiting family in Tennessee, and Six Flags. But even if those all don’t get checked off the list, holy cow, we’ve packed a ton into this summer! It’s been a while since my last FFF post! If you want random updates of things I’m enjoying, please check out my Instagram stories. But I think it’s helpful to have a ‘go to’ place on the blog to list a…
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Guest Blog Post: Why I Run
Happy Thursday (and June)! Hard to believe it’s already here. I launched the blog almost 4 months ago and it’s been a complete and lovely whirlwind. This is a general quick update post – continue reading to learn about why the GiGi’s Playhouse 5K is important! Short on time? If you don’t want to read the rest of this post below…feel free to jump right to my guest blog post “Why I Run” on the GiGi’s Playhouse blog. CLICK HERE I had a lovely 30th birthday last Friday. Thank you everyone for the messages, posts, texts, and calls. I felt so special and had a great day with my…
