It's been real.......but I think its time to sign off!...

I just recently realized that I began this blog 5 years ago this month! 5 WHOLE YEARS ~ Wow,  that's a really long time!

I started this blog as a way to reach out to any new parents who may be scared to death to begin this unknown journey.....my hope being that seeing pictures of Ryan and our family in everyday action would alleviate any fears that  people would have of welcoming a child with Down Syndrome into their family;  that by seeing that they could and will have a full family life, just like every other family, DESPITE the "diagnosis" would help to "ease the pain" that is often felt at the start.

 I feel like (and I hope that!) I've done just that. That by sharing our family photos, stories, schoolwork, sports activities and even random things here have helped to better understand that life with a child with Down Syndrome is FAR from being an "end of life as we know it" type diagnosis. Trust me, it's only the beginning of an amazing journey ~ I PROMISE! :)

Ryan has not only enhanced our family with a better understanding of how to interact with people who may be or seem different than us, but he's also taught us to appreciate and accept anyone who is unlike anyone we've ever known before. We are SO THANKFUL that we were chosen to be his family! :) What a gift we've been given! And how lucky are we to have been given this treasure!?  We have been truly blessed!

But, as time goes on, and our family life gets busier, I've been finding it harder and harder to keep up here on the blog. We had an AMAZING April, filled with another awesome, annual trip to Florida and other fun, happy family occasions, but finding the time to upload the pictures and write about our adventures here is just too far and few between.

It's also been like a year since I've gotten any comments from anyone other than a friend here on any of my posts, so I don't quite think I'm reaching the masses any more like I used to hope to be doing.  So, for all of these reasons, I think I will be signing off and no longer posting on the blog.  

For those of you who know us personally, I will be happy to keep up on Facebook and email. For those who have lurked but never commented here, please, if you have any questions, comments, whatever, please reach out and email as I would love to "help" others who are navigating this path behind us. It hasn't always been easy, but it's ALWAYS been worth it. ALWAYS trust your instincts and go with what you feel in your heart to be the right thing for your child!!!

I think I will leave this blog up on the internet, continuing in my hope that by chance, some new Mom or Dad may stumble across it and find hope in the future after reading about or/seeing Ryan in action. (and who knows really?....I may change my mind tomorrow just so I can share Ryan's first Holy Communion, or his Spring Dance photos in a month! ;)

In any case, I leave you now with a great big THANK YOU for reading along and cheering us on every step of the way for these past 5 years!  Please feel free to leave comments on older posts if you wish to,  as I will hopefully still be getting notifications of any comments left here and will try to respond as best I can.    Wishing you all an amazing lifetime of love & happiness!


And just for old times sake, here's one of the first family photos I ever posted here from 2007!

And here we all are just last week!

MAN, how time FLIES when you're having fun! ;)   Be well, my friends! :)