Mother of 4

Today Journey turns 8 months. I absolutely can not believe how fast that time flies by. Everything my son has done so far have made me so proud. Our family has come a long way since last summer. His health continued to get better and my hopes are getting higher. I have slowed down all my research on Down Syndrome specifically and m focusing more on...well...parenting in general. I have put so much pressure on myself to know absolutely EVERYTHING there is to know about my son's diagnosis that I got lost in the knowledge and forgot why I wanted to be a parent in the first place.

Journey is my son, and he is my son above everything else. So I take my time to learn about HIM and not his diagnosis for a while. Journey loves smiles and if he smiles at you he knows you will smile back. He seems to do this to lighten me up out of a stressful mood and makes me realize what's more important. He has taught me to take the time to enjoy the moments I have with him and I don't take one moment for granted. Journey loves to watch sports in the morning. He expects a bottle of juice for a snack around lunch time. He loves to play piano on Daddy's tablet. He says "mama" and "dada". I noticed he always looks up to his big brother and I can see he is studying him. He loves when I sing to him Danny's Boy or Sunshine.  He is also very ticklish and loves to giggle. He is a typical little boy and I am lucky I get to know him.

Also I am the parent of three other children as well and one is not more special than the other. Kiana is so smart and beautiful. I often see her as older than she really is because even though she is 6 years old she acts much older. I see her running her own life and being independent. She is obsessed with vampires and Monster High. She is so good with her baby brother and will stop doing anything she is doing to help take care of him and help me out.

Edwin is growing to be such a great little man. He is my biggest helper all of the time and I just know one day he is going to make some girl very happy. He is full of love and always looking for ways to help the girls in his family. He is protective of his sisters and baby brother. He loves super heroes and enjoys spending time with his daddy playing basketball. I just registered him for kindergarten for the fall and he is super excited to go.

Shelby loves to dance and does everything just like me. She is my little mini me and I'm trying to get her into head start. She is pretty smart and really stubborn just like her mother. She loves having her hair and nails done and loves dressing up. She is very girly.

Next I hope to learn something new about myself. Spend some time on me and find out who else I am. I know the majority of me is a mother, but I'm also an aunt, a daughter, friend and wife. There is more to me that I just haven't learned yet because I have never taken the time to learn it. So that is definitely something I plan to take the time to work on.