Refresh

Refresh

The blog has finally been updated. I have been waiting for some great pictures of the kids and my friend, Megan, came through for us. She lives in Ohio, so while there for the 4th of July holiday we made a point to schedule a photo shoot with her. I have adored her pictures on Facebook over the years and I knew she would be a wonderful fit for our family. We had a lovely evening at the Wegerzyn Gardens. The kids were amazing (which given Ollie's recent behavior was a miracle). I am beyond excited to have new pictures of the kids. What a wonderful opportunity to capture our family in the moment.

If any our of Dayton area friends are interested in a fantastic photographer, please consider our friend. Click HERE for her website.

Comments

Joanne Huff said…

Wow, Shannon I love everything about this new blog makeover. I totally loved the previous one as well, but this is so fresh and current. It's stunning! Joanne

July 17, 2014 at 9:52 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.