Thank You Porter's Peeps

We're still riding the high after this weekend's amazing Buddy Walk! THANK YOU to all of Porter's Peeps who supported us in person, via donation, or via thoughts and prayers this past weekend. We are so proud to be Porter's Peeps and are already counting down the days until Buddy Walk 2014. 

Mega-photo post coming soon. Until then, know that you've put a mega smile on this mom's face!

  

Long overdue- here is a photo recap of the day. We were surrounded by love from family and friends. From my friend Lori, who I met in gymnastics at age 3, to our amazing daycare and therapy team who we've only met since Porter's arrival, and from everyone in between, we felt the love. 

 

 

To Aunt Terra, who flew in from Oklahoma, and Grammy and Pa, who came from St. Louis, thanks for traveling to be a part of Porter's Peeps this year. To our friends and family who hopped in their cars in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and western PA, thanks for making the trip!

 

 To the Fitzpatrick family (especially Godmother Maureen), thank you for bringing the fun, as always! To our Villanova and Bloomsburg friends- thanks for always being there to support us.
To our therapy team, who devote countless hours to Porter, thank you!

 

 

 And, to Dr. Risa Roland and the team at Metropolitan Vet, we can't thank you enough for your incredible fundraising efforts.

 

 

We can't say thank you enough to each and every one of you who donated or joined our team. You have no idea what your support means to our family!

 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Buddy Walk 2013 is tomorrow!

The Buddy Walk is tomorrow! We're getting ready!

If you'd like to join us or support us, click here: Porter's Buddy Walk Site

Thanks to all our family and friends who have helped us raise over $9,000 towards the Trisomy 21 Program at CHOP. We are in awe of the support and can't wait to celebrate tomorrow!

Down syndrome awareness month

October is Down Syndrome awareness month. To celebrate, I'm sharing a photo and something we've learned every day this month on Instagram (mammat10). I'll post a few here from time to time.

 Today's insight is about family- the bond Penny and Porter share is unlike any other. They are so alike in so many ways. She watches out for him at school- she checks on him during playground time. And he is ultra aware of her emotions. He learns from her examples and she teaches willingly. She knows him as her brother and loves him for everything he is. They are playmates and friends already.

Every child has their own schedule. While there are milestone ranges for typical kids, there are even bigger ranges for kids with DS. Penny walked before 10 months and Porter is not yet walking at 19 months. Regardless of when the milestones happen, we celebrate them. With Porter, perhaps we celebrate more because we notice more. We're more aware of the mechanics behind the milestones, more aware that he's working much harder to meet these milestones. So we celebrate the little steps on the way to the big ones. And we watch, mesmerized, at the way Penny meets her milestones so effortlessly. We're proud of them both and we'll push them both towards the next milestones, celebrating all along the way!

Confession- I stare too. When we see an older individual with Down Syndrome in public, I stare. I imagine I stare for the same reasons many others do- these individuals are different...I'm intrigued by the differences and I have questions about the differences. It took me a few months to have the courage to approach these individuals, introduce myself and share our connection. We've met some of the most amazing people by chance this way! Now we're sometimes on the receiving end of the stare. I'd love if people would come up and ask us questions instead of just staring! Share a smile, share some kind words, share that you understand that "a person's a person no matter how small!" So next time you find yourself staring, wave and say hi.

Understand that you, as a parent of a child with Down syndrome, like any other parent, have received the most amazing gift. You have the privilege of raising a child. They may not be the baby you expected when you set out on the journey to parenthood, but they are the perfect baby for you!

Buddy Walk- Lehigh Valley Style

This weekend, Porter spent some quality time with his friend Devan as we walked on her team for the Lehigh Calley Buddy Walk. What a great event. As you can see, Miss Devan pulled the weight for her team :) "Get over here Mr. Porter!"

We had a blast! Nana joined us for the fun.

Penny and Kendall were supportive big sisters and had plenty of fun on their own! 

We walked through the beautiful park, celebrating these amazing individuals and all they've accomplished. We heard about an awesome partnership with East Stroudsburg University and heard some very cool success stories.

Most of all, we supported an amazing little girl :)

And we did it together. 

I hope Devan and Porter only get more involved as they grow older!

We'll support them every step of the way!