Welcome to 31 for 21!

October 1st = The first day of Down Syndrome Awareness Month and the month long blogging challenge of "31 for 21". It's NOT too late to sign up and participate! You can join in even if the month is half over with! Blogging for 31 straight days might seem daunting, but I assure you nothing bad will happen if you end up not finishing the month, or skip a day or two. It's just a fun blog challenge to do in the month of October. Bring some awareness, advocacy and acceptance to the world!

In case I have any new readers - and hi to all my 'old' readers! - I just wanted to do a quick introduction about myself and why my reason for blogging for 31 for 21.

I'm a SAHM, by choice (and which I feel fortunate to have the choice) to two kids. Kayla is our first-born child and she is the reason I blog for 31 for 21. She has that extra chromosome on her 21st pair and came with a diagnosis of Down syndrome. She also has Celiac disease and ADHD. And probably some sensory issues as well, but no formal diagnosis for that. She loves ballet, drama, and being outside.

Lucas is our first-born son (I know he would appreciate being described as 'first-born' something!). Although he is younger than Kayla by almost 5 years, he is a great brother with a big heart and watches out for her (even making sure other people know she can't have gluten!). He has to be right in the middle of everything or feels he's missing out on something, and he's a voracious reader. He read through most of the Magic Tree House books this summer. He also likes being outside and playing soccer.

We're a military family (Go Air Force!) soon to be with a 'retired' in front of that though! I am also a consultant with Discovery Toys, a Family Partner with Family Connection SC, and a volunteer with LuMind Foundation.

We found out at birth that Kayla has Down syndrome; although it was suspected during my pregnancy based on the results of the prenatal screening I had done. Those results indicated I had a 1 in 88 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome. We declined the amnio. You can read about her diagnosis in this post: Guilt. The story of that post became the basis for my story in the book Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children With Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives.

I've been blogging for 8 years now and participating in 31 for 21 for 8 years as well! So, welcome to my blog and welcome to "31 for 21!"
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My Blog is 8! And In Other News ...

Happy 8th blogiversary to my little blog and it's little corner on the World Wide Web!

8 years of sharing our life. 8 years of sharing pictures and videos. 8 years and sharing the joy of welcoming our 2nd child. 8 years of sharing that Down syndrome isn't the unknown anymore. 8 years of sharing how typical our life is. 8 years of sharing that parenting a child with 47 chromosomes isn't so much different than parenting a child with 46 chromosomes. Last year I felt like I was at a crossroads with my blog, and in some ways I still feel that way, but carrying on for now. Thank you for sharing in our journey with us.

As I have done for the past 2 years I will be donating $1 for every comment left on this blog post to Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation's Plus 15 campaign where I think donations will be matched 3:1 on March 21st for World Down Syndrome Day. Since my blogiversary is only 5 days before WDSD there isn't much time ... so comment, comment, comment please! I have tried to share all I know about Down syndrome, but if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer!

As I have also done in the past I will also be donating 21% of sales from my Discovery Toys site to Plus 15, so please look around and see if there are any gifts you might want to get for upcoming birthdays or summer fun!

A couple of other things for WDSD:

Research Down Syndrome has a World Down Syndrome Day Virtual Run/Walk event going on - anywhere! This can be whatever you want it to be. Running for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Walking 3.21 miles. Walking around your block 3.21 times. Running for 32.1 minutes. Whatever combination of 3 2 1 you can come up with!

We, the bloggers of Down Syndrome Blogs, have come up with this theme for a blog hop for WDSD:

3/21: A Day In The Life
Calling all bloggers! Any and all posts on this theme are welcome - it does not need to be about your plans for 3/21 itself. Describe a day in the life of your loved one with Down syndrome using words, pictures, or both. If your loved one with Down syndrome is interested in participating, we would love to read about their days in their own words or pictures!



Please don't forget to leave a comment so I can add it to my donation amount!

 

Disovery Toys and Matching 3:1

If you read my blog I know it comes as no surprise that March 21 is known as World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD). I blogged about it here.

WDSD is celebrated internationally on March 21 because the date, also written as, 3/21 symbolizes 3 copies of the 21st chromosome.

I am an independent consultant with Discovery Toys. I became a consultant when Kayla was 8 months old. I didn't sign up as a consultant for an extra/2nd income for our household (I don't kid myself on my abilities to be a salesperson!); I just really, really liked their products and wanted to get them at the consultant discount. I liked that they are durable, grow with the child, have more than one use, lifetime guarantee, and replacement parts.

I haven't been active since we moved from NM to MD and from MD to SC. As I said, I was never a consultant to make money!

I am going to donate 21% of all sales made from now through Mar 20th to Down Syndrome Research & Treatment Foundation.(DSRTF)

If you've got birthdays coming up, or like to shop ahead of time for the holidays, or if you are a teacher or therapist and are looking for some new tools/products to use ... take a look through the catalog and see if anything catches your eye!


Why donate to DSRTF? Because just like last year, all donations made on March 21 will be matched 3:1. So my 21% of total sales will be tripled.

Last year almost half a million dollars were raised for cognition research with the 3:1 matching donations.

There will also be a DS Cognition Research 101 webinar on March 21 at 10AM PT/1PM ET. Register here and learn about Down Syndrome Cognition Research - the science, the goals, and the results so far. Years and years ago no one thought it was even important, or worth it, to explore Down syndrome cognition. Now? There are clinical trials under way and researchers are making advancements toward treatments that could improve learning, memory, and speech for people with Down syndrome.

Research is already shedding light on improving neurological deficits.

Improvement in each of those areas would be so beneficial to Kayla ... more clarity in speech is always a good thing! Being able to communicate effectively and clearly is so important. If we could work on improving her cognition and memory she would be that much more likely to lead an independent life.