You've Got A Friend In Me

It has been my prayer for quite some time now that Emma would be blessed with good friends in her life, starting as early as possible. Friends are an intricate part of our well being. We all need them. Friends aren’t usually hard to find, but when you have special needs, finding friends can prove to be challenging for many reasons (unfortunately as we have already experienced). Drew never had an issue finding friends and that was something I definitely took for granted looking back. I probably never realized the true value of a friend until having Emma. I knew that I wanted her to experience all the same things Drew did. Why shouldn’t she? She is capable of being a good friend just like anyone else.

So I am thrilled to report that recently, Emma has enjoyed many play dates with her new friend Meredith! Meredith is from our playgroup that we started a year ago. The two girls play very well together and have a lot of similarities. Yes they both have Down syndrome, but they do not see that in one another. They are just two little girls learning how to love one another and play together. They both really look forward to their play dates. And a double score is that I found a new friend too- Meredith’s mommy! :) Below are some pictures of their recent adventures to the pumpkin farm and NC State fair.

The fair-


Having fun at the fair!


They loved the carousel!


And the swings. I love their faces- priceless!


Too cute not to share...


One last goodbye hug!

And the pumpkin farm-


Enjoying the hayride


Nothing like swinging on a beautiful day


Say cheese!


Good friends

I don’t think I can illustrate with words what seeing them together does to my heart. I’ll just say it’s extremely rewarding and joyous. I have waited a long time for Emma to have a good friend and she has finally found one. We love you Meredith!!!

A challenge for all of us today...We have always been taught “A friend loves at all times”, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you” and the importance of being a good friend. So often these things are forgotten. Take time today to let your closest friends know how much they mean to you. We all need to hear how much we matter to people from time to time.

The Fair

The fun rides, the flashing lights, the delicious food, the exhibits, all the laughter and fun. Sounds like the NC State Fair is here!



The fair is always such an exciting time for my kids. They LOVE going. I have gone every year since I can remember. Lots of wonderful memories made year after year.

There is one memory that I do not care to actually remember though…



Yep that’s right. Each year, for the past 4 years, I have gotten a migraine either on the way to the fair (guess the stress of the whole event brings it on) or at the fair.



Let’s see… there was the time when I got off a ride and threw up in the trashcan next to the long line of people (so sorry people!) Then, two years ago I got sick in the car on the way. I didn’t want to keep the rest of the family from going, so mom picked me up like a homeless person on the side of the street and took me home. A few years ago they just had to leave me sitting on a bench and come back to me when it was time to go.

Last year took the first place prize though. My brother Adam, Jon, Drew and I walked down the midway so that Jon and Drew could ride a few rides. We had already been at the fair for several hours and I knew a headache was coming on. Adam and I decided to sit out on the brick in the middle of the midway (yes, with all the people and flashing lights, perfect environment for a migraine!). In case you don’t know, there are about 6 sections of brick places to sit. You will see why I know this in a minute. Adam decided he wanted to get something to eat so he told me to stay where I was and he’d be back. (I always have paranoia about losing someone at the fair- even adults, so I told him I’d be right there waiting!).

And then it happened.



I had no choice but to take off and find a bathroom. I tried calling Adam but his cell phone was dead and mine was almost dead. Not a good scenario. And why was the closest bathroom 100 miles away? Do you know how hard it is to keep yourself from spewing everywhere, while looking for a bathroom and trying to call/text somebody…anybody?!?!? I don’t recommend texting and puking. Haha. (I’m trying to spare all the yucky details, but some are pertinent to the story.) As I’m dying in the bathroom, I’m still managing to pull out my phone every few minutes and try to call someone to let them know where I am. Then my phone died. There I was laying on the nasty fair bathroom floor, with wet paper towels on my head, with a dead cell phone, a migraine, puking and so worried about my family being lost. All I wanted was for the bathroom attendant volunteer lady to massage my head and tell me it would be okay, even if all her teeth were missing. Guess that would have been awkward.



About an hour later, I make it back to the brick section. I waited and waited hoping my brother would come back to find me. I had no clue where Jon and Drew were but at least they were together. It felt like time was creeping by so slow. Where was everyone? I couldn’t believe the wrong turn the night had taken. Finally, I hear my brother yell “Helen.” That is my nickname from him. Okay, for those who have seen National Lampoon’s Vacation, envision when Clark Griswold sees his family after walking through the desert to find help.



Adam and I ran up to each other, so thankful to see one another, like we hadn’t talked in 10 years. Then we both immediately start explaining our sides of the story, at the same time. Remember the 6 brick sections? Adam was sitting at one while I was sitting at another! Who knew there was more than one! Finally we were back together but neither of us had working cell phones so he started asking random strangers if we could use their phones to call my husband. What a fiasco! I was worried Jon wouldn’t answer if he didn’t recognize the number. After 3 calls, we finally got him. Adam told him that I was sick but he found me and we would meet him at the ride the drop zone. We were staring right at it. When Adam hung up, I felt so much relief! Finally we would all be back together and we could get the heck outta there! Adam and I make our way to the drop zone and we wait, and wait, and wait. No Jon. We wait some more. No Jon. So then began round two of borrowing cell phones. When Jon answered he wanted to know what had happened and why we weren’t at the drop zone. We told him we WERE at the drop zone. And then the mystery was solved, once again….who knew there were 2 drop zones! Apparently there are multiples of everything at the fair. Ugh…about 30 minutes later we were one big happy family again. Jon didn’t even believe the things that had happened to us. Another migraine story for the books!

I have set my own “I’m such a nerd” record. I am praying this year won’t make for 5 years in a row. Therefore, I came up with a “Do not get a migraine checklist” for myself.

-went to bed early last night- check
-ate breakfast this am- check
-going to take 2 ibuprofen with my lunch for good measure- check
-going to have some caffeine before leaving- check
-changed out my contacts so dry eyes won’t give me a headache- check

Here’s hoping my precautionary measures will be enough to keep the big beast away so I can enjoy my afternoon at the fair!

New House

Yesterday Jon and I drove out to our new house, in Rolesville. We had not been out there in a couple of weeks because of our crazy schedules. Also, we knew all the rain we had put everything behind schedule. I was SHOCKED when we drove up to see the whole house framed!!! A mix of emotions hit me all at once. I am very excited but nervous (as with any new venture) that it is becoming so real.

The front of the house-



The back of the house-



The side-



And the backyard (I'm excited to have a big backyard. Our property goes back past the trees! I hope to have a garden there :)-



It is actually happening! We've come a long way since putting our old house on the market in January. God is good and we feel very blessed. This is HIS house and will be used for HIS purpose. I hope to have many opportunities to fellowship in our new home. I do need a dining room table first! If anyone knows of a gently used one, let me know!

Welcome To Holland

In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and on behalf of my precious Emma, here is a writing from Emily Kingsley that describes the feelings I felt the day I found out Emma had Down syndrome.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

I strongly agree.