The Purpose of this Blog

The goal of this blog is to provide education and bring about higher awareness about Down syndrome. It is to share that life with Down syndrome (DS) is not scary, horrible, or to be feared.

My experience comes from raising my daughter, Nebraska Larae (Braska), born November 2006 with Down syndrome.
The posts on this blog are related in some way to life with DS or disability, and they are reposted here from my other family blogs. There are links to those blogs in the margin on the right side of this blog if you would like to visit them directly.

Thank you for coming by.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Peek at tomorrow

This weekend we were at my in-laws' place for a very quick visit. We went largely for a housewarming for Cheryl and Ethon, which was Sunday afternoon. They have a pretty darn cool place, so yay for you guys!

Sunday morning pictures are normal, we do them alot. This week, before we left for church, Carole took a few pics of my little poonchin. They didn't all turn out great, as she kept making funny faces and moving at the last second. I stole them off her camera for my collection, and when I looked at this one I just kind of stopped.

It's not any super great picture. It's cute, but hey, how could it not be? She's waving at herself, that's the reason the hand is up. But that's not what I saw.

Go ahead, click on the picture. Can you see it?

I don't see Down syndrome. I don't see a feeding tube. I don't even see a tough cookie, open-heart surgery survivor. It's not my favorite picture of her ever, but I can't hardly stop looking at it. This picture, to me, is a picture of what's to come. She looks less baby-like here. She has a whole different look to her, which I think will be amazing to compare to a 2nd grade picture or something in a few years. I can't explain it, I just see our future there. I don't think she really resembles either of us, now or in this pic, but I do see more of herself coming out in her face here. There's something grown-up about that little smile. I just can't wait to see how she grows into her personality. She's going to be one great little girl.

Friday, April 4, 2008

New Fave-o Site

Get a cup of good hot chocolate, put on your comfy clothes, and settle in with some non-rushed time to check out Dan Drinker's site. I can't even tell you how much I love watching these videos and reading what his family has written about him. I feel like I want to tune into the Dan Drinker 24-hour channel or something.

Dan is a young man with DS who is living and loving life, and his younger brother Will captures much of it on video. It's priceless, in my opinion. I just love it. Check out the blog, watch some videos, tell them that you've been there. I wish this guy lived near me!

The most recent post, about Breaking Up with Christine, is funny and poignant. Here's a couple of my other favorite videos so far... I've still got more to watch!
His 7th Prom
A Basketball Date with Sarah