Andrew had his first drum lesson and Grace had her first ophthalmology appointment this week. Andrew loved the drums and Grace's appointment was... pure torture! This was Grace before her eyes were dilated…
Once her eyes were dilated she became very uncertain about her surroundings and when the dr came in she immediately gave him the heartbreaking "frowny face"…
This is a mild version of the "frowny face," but you get the idea… This face breaks our heart every time and makes us putty in this kid's hands!
…she held it together for a good bit of the exam, but the last part where the Dr had to shine a light in her eyes while holding some magnifying thing in front of each eye separately was enough to throw her over the edge. 5 heart surgeries, check… eye Dr visit, game over! Picture this sweet hunnie crying so hard that she would hold her breath, turn bright red, make herself gag, spit up, and then repeat. She cried so hard that she has some burst blood vessels on the side of her head :-(. After the torture was over, we walked to the front counter to check out, she was still very upset, but waved goodbye and blew kisses to the nurses through the tears. I'm still praising the Lord that it's over until next year, but most of all that her eyes checked out great!
Friday, 3/21, was World Downsy Doo Day! We were blessed to have our very first Sugar Land Down Syndrome group gathering (I totally failed at taking pictures of the sweet time). When we arrived to our church Home Team on Friday night, they were all sporting their Downsy Doo colors and/or crazy socks!
LOVE THEM!!!
Aunt Becca and cousin Joe representing too!!!
3 of our favorite local restaurants donated 20% of your bill to Research Down Syndrome, so we went to Guru and not only loved our food and the owners heart to support those genetically enhanced friends like Grace, but we met some new friends there too!
This day was extra special for me because I have spent the last 7 years begging God not to give me a child with Down Syndrome (because I always felt like we would have one), but I never begged him more desperately than the 9 months that I was pregnant with Grace. I frequently have flashbacks of those conversations with God as we drive by the route that I would run home after going on runs with my friend. It was on those runs (and in the middle of the night) that I begged away for 7 months. From the moment we found out we were pregnant I had a hard time celebrating because I just knew that my worst fear was going to be realized. When David shared with me that he thought we should have a third child, I said to him "you know if we have a third kid it's rolling the dice, so God can slip a Downsy Doo into our lives." To which David replied "if that's what God wants us to have, that's what I want!" At that time, having a child with Up's seemed like a devastating blow. Fast forward 2 years and we celebrate that we were chosen to "have one." The reality is, unless you "have one" (or are related to one) it's kinda hard to explain, but we truly feel honored to get to have Grace in our family (extra chromosome, broken heart, and all) because Grace has allowed us to experience God in a life changing, mind blowing way that has come with great heartache at times, but has been trumped with tremendous joy, love and freedom. There are so many other blessings that Grace's life has revealed and one of those is the unwavering love and support of you, our Village! Y'all know what we need when we don't even know what we need, you some how know when we need some random encouragement, you make sure that through the craziness Abigail and Andrew are not forgotten, and you have taught me what it means to love and serve someone well. You have made such a huge impression on my heart that I find myself thinking about and praying for you individually often. I think about all of the big and little ways that you have blessed us and I pray that I can be for others what y'all have been for me (us). Can't wait until next year's World Downsy Doo Day, but why wait a whole year, let's celebrate God's goodness and perfect provision/plan (I'm sure glad He doesn't answer all of our prayers because we would have missed out on one of life's biggest blessings) everyday! I know that there's a high likelihood that someone reading this right now may be struggling with their own heartache, whether that's with infertility, financial, marital, loss of a loved one, insecurity, etc, but I just wanted to remind you that God has not forgotten about you and He is able to reach into your circumstance and deliver you from your pain or make the pain bearable (and sweet at the same time :-). I know this is true because God says so, but also because He has done this in our lives over and over again.
Abigail had her first soccer game of the season on Saturday morning and she scored 2 goals!!! Somehow, this is the only picture that I took at the game, I guess that I was a little distracted :-).
In case you can't find Abby in the pic, she's the little bitty one :-).
We went to dinner to celebrate family birthdays on Saturday night and Grace actually held some bread and took microscopic bites off of it. We will take it!!! David and I were ELATED to say the least!!!
She loved taking a bite and then giving her Daddy a bite...
Hope you have a blessed week, sweet Village!
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