Schools

School has begun and my days have been full getting these two angels of mine adjusted. 

It's been a rough start for both of them but we are getting on track finally. 

It's hard to go from no set schedule to fully scheduled days.

This is how Ty feels about going back to school...

I remember feeling that way too. 

Mylie's inclusion program started and she is back at school with her awesome special ed teachers Suzy and Kana. And even though Mylie thinks she may be overwhelmed by all the kids, I know she loves all the new stimulation. I will post soon about the details of her inclusion program. Tyler and I feel it is such an incredible blessing for all of us. We are so blessed and so grateful.

So, while I continue to get my kids settled into new schedules I leave you with these two pictures.

Wishing you all a fabulous start to fall...
xoxoxo

Both Hands Project

This Saturday I was given the opportunity to photograph and video a coming together of friends and family of Gentry and Luis Zuzunaga. Together they were able to clean and repair the house of Louise, an elderly woman in need, and at the same time raise funds for their adoption. 

Through the Both Hands Foundation, a non-profit that helps families with the process of raising money for adoptions, Zuzunaga friends and family were all sponsored to work on Saturday and help Louise... 

and also help Maria, an orphan with Down syndrome in Russia.

Some of the friends and family sponsored to work.

Louise, a 90 year young former missionary with the Zuzunaga's

I was so charmed by Louise, the elderly woman served that day. She spent many years in Taiwan as a missionary and speaks Chinese. She was so sweet and kind. She wanted to touch my hands and while mine are always cold, hers were warm and comfortable. I did not want to let her hands go.

 I instantly felt her beautiful soul. 

Louise lives in her mobile home by herself. She has a little dog that keeps her company. 

She suffers from Dementia. Her home was full of reminders of her trips abroad 

as she dedicated her life to serving God. 

She was born in 1921. She's seen almost a century of this world.

I was in awe of her that morning I met her.

Maria, a beautiful angel with Down syndrome in a Russian orphanage

 This is Maria who is 4 years old and lives in an orphanage in Russia. Her parents were pretty well off Russians that refused her after she was born because she had Down syndrome. They signed papers to send her to an orphanage. She has been there ever since.

Maria, as most children with disabilities in some foreign countries, will be sent away to a mental institution for the rest of her life when she turns 5. 

I can't even talk about what happens in those institutions. 

It is not a happy place with love, peace and joy.

And that is why the Zuzunaga's are doing all that they can to adopt Maria before she is sent away.

Both Hands for Maria, for Louise, for our Father in Heaven.

All involved spent all day Saturday serving Louise and repairing her home. 

Here is the video I made of the event. Click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bEoti1qyRo

I'm humbled by the love and dedication that I have witnessed from people who live to serve.

There is a joy and peace like no other.

I hope to have caught that joy and peace in the video.

I hope to capture that for others and for my family for as long as I can.

Thanks to all of you for sharing this with me!

xoxoxoxo

Toothfairy

This has been an incredibly busy couple weeks. Between my SUV dying finally, buying a new hybrid and school starting it has been a bit of race around here. But, none of that is important.... 

...not like loosing your two front teeth!

There is nothing like the little accent that comes along with no front teeth. 

I remember Karlos and I used to make Sofia say "Michelle" when she had no front teeth.

She would say it at every request and Karlos and I, hearing that adorable toothless accent, would crack up hysterically. We must have made her say "Michelle" hundreds of times. And it never got old!

Now, my sweet boy has that same accent and I am flooded of memories of my little sister as a child his same age. I remember it like yesterday!

So, Ty now gets the hassle of repeating all kinds of words that make his toothless accent pronounced.

Michelle

French Fries

Ship

Fooey

Fascist 

I bust up every time... and he loves it that I laugh uncontrollably so he repeats them over and over and laughs with me.

And to celebrate the end of summer Ty's eye patching 4 hours a day all summer long has increased his vision by three levels. That means he is able to read letters three sizes smaller than at the beginning of summer. We have more eye patching to go, but we are very happy and grateful for this blessing.

BTW, the toothfairy left Ty $10 for his two teeth! Can you believe that? 

He had no change. What was he supposed to do? 

Yes.... he.

Personally, I would have left a quarter.... but that's me...

He's a generous giver.. that toothfairy...

xoxoxox

JOY

There is a certain joy that emanates from a parent seeing their child happy. 

There is yet another certain joy that emanates from a parent of a child with Down syndrome 

as they see their child happy. 

It's a unique experience.

All the things they (doctors, social workers, outdated research) said she wouldn't do, 

all the things they warned us could happen.

So, this joy that I feel comes from a place where once I worried about the unknown

and was so very wrong...

"You have taught me more in your lifetime than I learned in mine.."

Thank you, Mylie for giving me the most beautiful joy known to me. I may worry, but that is only because I have forgotten for a moment that I am not in control of my life. 

The same force that blessed me with your life has a plan bigger and better than mine.

Your life and joy has healed my soul.

You have endured so much. You work so hard at things that others take for granted. 

People misjudge you because of an extra chromosome.

And yet others are healed by your genuine smiles and hugs.

Your ministry, I know, is yours... not mine. 

I love your extra chromosome. I love everything about you. I will help you with whatever you need the rest of my life. You have so much to teach me. I promise to learn and love.

love you mama!

Miracles

I don't know how long it has been since I laid on the grass and looked up at the sky.

Today, I did just that. I melted into the grass. I had nothing on my mind. It was blank. It was quiet. 

All I heard were the birds and the wind rustling through the trees.

It was so very nice!

Why don't I do this more often?... was my first thought. And then I realized it only took away from this moment if I wished to have more of it.

Such is life. 

I had been tired, we all were. We had been at Children's Hospital in LA for most of the day on Wednesday for a procedure for Mylie. We were checking her kidney reflux, which we had been watching since she was 5 months old. Both her kidneys had been affected and she has been on prophylactic antibiotics ever since. This had been the cause of her countless UTIs and possibly the cause of her scarred right kidney. The procedure would verify if we had to take more drastic measures to fix it.

The results came back "reflux has spontaneously healed".

"miraculously healed" for us....

Three years of stress seemed to drift away in the wind. I hadn't realized it was there. 

So nice to send it off.

I felt like putting my feet up...

Albert Einstein once said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

I live as if everything is a miracle. 

xxoooxoxo

TYSON ALONSO WILLSON

Tyson means "high-spirited".

Alonso means "noble and ready; prompt".

I would add the following to describe my #1 boy:

energetic, confident, active, compassionate, one who likes to debate,

loving, independent, creative, willful, a loyal friend, faithful.

"Mommy, how about you and me go to Corktree for dinner. 

You know, so we can spend time together... just the two of us." 

It was the greatest thing I could hear. I had been cooking dinner for all of us and as I looked ahead to the following few days there was no time for going out to eat together. It was one of those times, when the spontaneity of the moment felt so right. So I finished dinner for Tyler and Mylie and Ty and I went to Corktree.... just the two of us.

Ty is one who is full of life. He leaves nothing unsaid or unnoticed. He says what he thinks and wears his heart on his sleeve. Good or bad, appropriate or inappropriate the boy is pure. 

And he has a heart of gold.

The trick has been to show him when to pause, when to let others speak, when to hold that thought.

I think it's his sense of humor that describes him most. 

Eating out with Ty looks a little like this:

We'll sit down to order and he'll use the menu as a hat for awhile. Then, because the table next to us is open, he'll sit there for awhile and talk to me from the other table. He'll play with his straw and make different things out of it all the while talking about his faith. Then, he'll notice something or remember something and skip over to talk about that. 

He'll make faces and want me to take his picture. Then, he'll ask me if I need to go to the bathroom. 

No, I say. He asks me again. No, I say, should I need to? He's got something up his sleeve, I think. 

He wants to trick me somehow. 

Then our food comes and he gets his burger ready. He eats fast and furious, offers me bites and ends up eating about 3/4 of the burger and a few fries. Then, he slumps over in his chair and says he can't move he is soooooooooooooooooooooooo FULL!!

He'll play with the window covering that looks like it will fall on top of us if he continues. I ask him to stop. He forgets and starts to play with it again. I ask him to stop again. OH, I forgot, he says. We talk about school and he makes up jokes. He starts playing with the window covering again. I remind him that I've asked him to stop twice and if I need to ask again we will leave. 

Ok, he says. He seems to remember now not to play with it. I see him freeze when he goes to play with it again. Wow, he remembered!

Still slumped over in his seat, he asks when we can have dessert.

Ahhh, my boy! 

He's only complained of being bored once this summer. I think that is pretty good!

 Out of the two months we've had off, he's been able to be entertained, 

entertain himself or entertain others. 

No time for boredom. 

That's my boy!

and my girl.... she makes Ty a better person every day, a great brother and a loyal family man!

xoxoxo

Made with Love

Here is the latest brochure that Jamie and I have collectively produced with love and intended to reach other families of children with Down syndrome. 

Our first brochure served its purpose and got us in the groove of getting the message out. 

This new brochure, which has been updated and has many more photos, will now possibly be getting into doctors' offices and SB Cottage Hospital.

It has been a labor of love. 

We both hope that instead of all the negative and clinical information new parents are given in the hospitals, this brochure will bring hope and smiles.

What most people failed to say to Jamie and me in the hospital was a very simple thing:

"Congratulations on your baby!"

Our goal is to be able to get that very simple and important message to new families. 

If you have any ideas, contacts or comments, we would love to hear them.

The writing may be too small to read so if you want to see the real deal 

I can email you the brochure or mail it to you when we have it printed. 

Made with love for all the babies of the world, gifts from heaven they are!

mia

Having a blog brings inspiration to me. 

This blog I'm using as a scrapbook... sort of a thing... for the kids. It's much easier than cutting and pasting and all that stuff. I'm printing each post and collecting them in a book. A book of memories.

It's also to share with people like you, who care about my kids and my family. 

It's sharing time so to speak. How cute!

So, I find that when I'm out and about and I see beautiful images or we are doing something memorable (which is always), I get inspired to bring it here. 

Like this week, when we visited the Natural History Museum. 

Not everyone knows that they have a beautiful exhibit of live butterflies. They are all in this huge greenhouse with benches, fountains and lots of flowers. 

It feels like the Garden of Eden.

When Ty was little he accidentally stepped on a butterfly and one of the volunteers freaked out on him. The following year that same woman yelled at him again for getting near a butterfly. 

That was it for me. We never went back. So, after our three year hiatus, Mylie and I returned.

And it was awesome!!

And that volunteer was no longer there. Phew!!

These images are from the bird houses for sale at the museum. They caught my eyes with their bright colors and I had to capture them. I love love LOVE these houses, as they are beautifully crafted and look naturally distressed. WAY out of my budget though , so I had to enjoy them this way only...

Then because I had Joaquin (my third child) AND Ty I knew I had to take my little cubs to the beach to get out all that boy energy. Mylie and I sat on the sand and watched the boys body surf, yell at the waves, jump the waves, laugh and run all over the beach. It was quite the scene. 

Mylie, so sweetly and silently decided she'd eat the sand. 

and I tried to capture it all...

This picture of Mylie kills me. She looks SO cute and SO annoyed by her hair.  It was blowing everywhere that day in the wind. She was not happy about it, so this face is a face of complete annoyance. I think it is precious. She is so toddler, so fresh, so new to this world. Look at her skin. 

It's perfect.... and her little button nose. I want to remember this look always! It cracks me up!

Wouldn't it be nice to have 32 million dollars to buy this beach home? 

And then because we were so close to Padaro Beach Grill we got burgers and fries for dinner... went home and watched Wipeout and called it a day. 

Another day past, another precious day ahead for more moments of inspiration. 

What will tomorrow bring? 

If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves. - Maria Edgeworth

xoxoxo

Summer Sweets

Ojai Water Park at Lake Casitas is a great place for kids. If you have never been there please let me know and we will take you there!! I'm not kidding. 

Even if you don't have kids, your playful self will emerge as you run through massive sprinklers coming off a playset and merrily coast down the lazy river on an inner tube.

It happens to be 17 minutes from our house... (I've timed it) and a beautiful ride through the mountains to a fabulous lake that seems to be the best kept secret in SB. 

Every time we go, we inevitably have fun..... and lots of ice-cream.

 If you go after 5:00pm it's only $5 a person. Park closes at 7:00. We were so stoked to get in for so cheap... but I guess everyone else thought it was a great idea too and we stood in line for 20 minutes to get tickets all the while drooling over the water park ahead. 

Oh well... ice-cream shack was around the corner so I sent Tyler with the kids to get ice-cream for dinner while I waited in line.

This weekend was all about the sun. We spent time at the water park and on Sunday at the beach. 

Our skin is tender with a new shade of color, hair crisp with highlights 

and our tummies full of summer sweets.

I see my little girl growing up this summer. 

For so long she has been my baby girl. She now is shooting up like a weed (an inch every time we see her doc), she's thinning out (I thought I'd always have a rounded tummy to squeeze) and she has so much more language - sign language. She has learned so many new signs. Every time I sign with her she gives me a hug as if to say: 

"Thank you for talking with me. I understand you and you understand me. I love!"

I've taken for granted the beauty and freedom of language and the two way communication it brings. 

On a very superficial level it has always made sense, but until this year when I thought Mylie would have at least some language I have realized the impact no or little communication can have. 

It is an incredibly personal interaction: I tell you what I feel and/or think and you react and tell me what you feel and/or think. Pretty basic and important. Without language I am missing a great part of Mylie. 

I cannot wait to hear all the things she has to say, all the feelings in her heart and all the things she notices out in the world.

Oh, my sweet toothless boy!

He is 7 going on 15. He thinks he's an adult sometimes and wants so badly to grow up.

I tell him that childhood is too short and adulthood is a very long time...

I think he'll look back one day and say, just like I do, "Wow, being a kid was the best!"

...and I have the pictures to prove it.

;)

And as my husband says, "Once a kid always a kid." or something like that...

Wishing you all a lovely week ahead!

xoxox