This past weekend we had a beautiful baby shower for my best friend Ahna. It was very small and intimate. Ahna is due with her 3rd in July. We are so excited for you and cannot wait to meet that beautiful baby boy!

Pregnant With All My Highschool Besties

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year I wanted to do my own thing. Since I am a mommy now I wanted to spend this special day with my family! I have been wanting to take Dylan to the Long Beach Aquarium for quite some time now. So I decided that this is what I wanted to do for my Mother's Day. My mom joined us for a beautiful day! Dylan had so much fun seeing all the fishes, and sea animals. I think he is still a little too young to understand what everything is, but he still enjoyed seeing things swim around. After we went to the Aquarium we had a great lunch and PF Chang's. It was a very special Mother's Day and I love my family so much!

16::Weeks-Baby Lopez #2

Well I have finally made it to my 2nd trimester and I am feeling much better. This pregnancy is a little different then Dylan's was. I am a litte more tired, but I think I am finally getting my energy back. We are so excited, because we found out that we are having a little girl! Dylan is going to have a little sister. He is going to be the best big brother ever! His sister will defiantly protect him through out his life!


Family and Love

There is something about family that I have always loved more then anything! Family to me is everything and more. I grew up with lots of cousins, aunts, uncles and always having family around. I have so many memories as a child that I can still remember and have truly made me the person I am today. I don't know what I would have done with out them.

Because I grew up with family always around and the same with Greg we knew that we wanted the same for our family and children. When we had Dylan it became more apparent that we wanted it more and more. We want to always know that Dylan is loved no matter what and that his brother's, sister's, cousins, grandma's, auntie's, uncle's grandpa's all LOVE him more then anything! He is truly a blessing to our entire family. His cousins light up when he is around and I cannot wait to see how they all grow up together and protect him. Dylan's love and compassion has brought our family closer then we could have ever imagined!

A couple weekend's ago my Aunt and Uncle were visiting from Pennsylvania for the weekend and of course it is a great excuse to get everyone together for a family BBQ. We played games, ate lots of food and enjoyed each other's company. I wish we could all live on some big farm somewhere and have little houses all right next to each other, but unfortunately that will never happen. That day we attempted to get all the kids together for a group photo-just like we do every time, but this time we hit the jack pot! It turned out so good that I am going to have it blown up and put in my house. This picture gives me so much joy and peace in my heart and fills me up with so much love! It reminds me so much of my child hood and how much I love my cousins....

Family is truly my life and when all else fails, Family and God will always be there to hug you and guide you through life!!

Baby Lopez #2

Well I think I have neglected my blog long enough! It has been quite sometime since I have been on here. Things have been pretty crazy in our household and of course that has to do with me being pregnant with baby #2. This pregnancy has been very hard and I was really sick this time around. That might have something to do with the fact that we are having a girl!!! We could not be happier and so excited for our growing family. We cannot wait for Dylan to have a baby sister to play with and learn so many things. I am due November 10 and I am about 14 weeks along. I am finally feeling better and getting some energy back. Thank you to my husband for being patient with my mood swings and my (not so much self)the past 7 weeks, but we made it!

Greg and I our over the moon to have another baby. We have always wanted a noisy house so I guess we will be getting that sooner then we think. Dylan is still to young to understand, but I am sure when there is another baby in the house and it is not just him anymore he will soon wonder "what the heck is going on"!! We will defiantly enjoy this time with Dylan as we will soon be a family of 4.

Easter In Pictures

Happy World Down Syndrome Day-March 21, 2014

 Today marks the 9^th Anniversary of “World Down Syndrome Day” and each year the voice of people with Down syndrome, and those who live and work with them grows louder. But there is still so much more to do!

Today is the day that some in the world have seen fit to change the virtue and value of the lives of those with Down syndrome. You can count our family in on this day! There is so much that comes to mind for Dylan, myself, and Greg that highlights our appreciation and gratefulness for Down syndrome.

Over the last year and a half our journey with “disability” in the context of raising a growing and young family we often wondered what the impact of Dylan’s life would be? Would he be able to play, grow and learn like other’s his age? Would he be accepted by others, would he be bullied? There are many other questions that can flood the mind of a parent in the midst of disability. A parent’s response to the ongoing challenges brought on by a child’s diagnosis directly impacts every relationship in the family. By God’s grace over the last couple of years we have been able to see, hear, and experience the impact that Down syndrome has had on Dylan first hand. He is nothing but pure joy, and has love written all over his face. When people ask me “how is he doing”? This is my response: “He is doing amazing! He will go far in life because he is one determined little boy. Dylan will reach his own goals just like your child will and on his own time.” I will push him because I am his mom and I only want the best for him. He will do things that he wants to do, he will play the sports he wants to play and he will learn the way he wants to learn and follow every dream that may come his way. Just because he is different, does not mean he will be anything but perfect!

There are so many little ways that their character and worldview has been impacted by disability. They recognize the good in everyone and always have a smile on their face! Disability is obviously in our midst, but Dylan is just Dylan, he is our primary existence as an individual, our son, and a loving human being that god created. We know that we have a long way to go in our parenting, but it is no different than any other parent in the world. It has been a great encouragement to see that disability has not served as a wedge between our family and the character of God. No, far from it. Down syndrome, and disability in general, has been nothing but pure joy and more love then I could have ever imagined!

So on this day our family stands blessed, proud, changed, and more in love with what Down syndrome has brought to our lives. This is all in part of God creating Dylan together especially for our family.

If you are the parent, family member or friend of a person with Down syndrome, you should be contemplating how to celebrate one of the most important days of the year: World Down Syndrome Day.

03/21 is the day set aside to celebrate the triplication of chromosome 21 that is the genetic composition of people with this condition.

This special event has been created to generate awareness about the abilities and possibilities of people with Down syndrome. As a special fact, it is estimated that around 6 million people in the world live with this condition and we are all more alike than we know.

Happy Down Syndrome Day!