Aaron and Nicol

When I came home from Andrew's game tonight, I swooped my little Natie-boy into my arms and whisked him into the kitchen. He told me he was thirsty, so I plopped him on the kitchen counter and walked over to the fridge to get him some water with crushed ice.

He likes the crushed ice.

James was on the phone with Lynn from Nashville and they were talking music and contracts and stuff. I wanted to make myself Nate a fried egg-in-a-basket, so I got out the pan and the eggs. Just as I was buttering the bread, James walked into the kitchen and handed me his laptop, which was open to Aaron Shust's blog. Then he walked back out of the kitchen b/c he was still on the phone.

I glanced at the screen briefly, cracked the egg inside the hole in the bread, and immediately looked back at the computer screen because my eye had caught a glimpse of a beautiful baby boy with Ds.

As the egg crackled away on the stove, I read Aaron's most recent few posts with a grin on my face. 

I almost whooped because I was so happy!

I know what lies ahead for them.

It's like learning someone in your family just won the lottery.

Except the Shusts are not my family.

But in a way, they are.

They are now.

Not only are we brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, but we are members of the same community who share the common thread of a child with Ds.

And this community sure feels like family to me. 

I understand my dear friend Tony now more than ever.
Awhile back I posted a story about Tony, and it's shocking to me that I actually ever felt the way that I did back then. Scared? Afraid? Uncertain of so many things?

Wow.

I wonder now how I could have felt that way, and if I didn't have the proof of my time-stamped blog post, I wouldn't remember it or believe it at all.

But getting back to Tony....the long and short of it is this; when Tony learned that Nate might have Ds, his response was, "that would be so awesome."

So yeah, I understand that now!

I get excited...I get so excited when I hear of another beautiful baby born with Ds. 

I have posted the following question many, many times over the past years that I have blogged, and that is, "how did I get to be so lucky?" 

Seriously.

How did I get to be so lucky to be the mom of this little boy?

It's not that I love him more than my other children. It's not like that.

It's just that it's different, and I don't know how else to say it.

It's special and wonderful.
But not because Nate is special.
It's just that he is so special!!!

Yesterday I was sitting with Nate on the couch and I was literally feasting my eyes on him. I could just hang out and watch him laugh and move and sing and play and chatter and smile and every little move he makes still to this day makes my eyes tear up.

I adore him.

Last night I was scouring the internet for information and/or pictures of Nicol and Greg Sponberg's baby girl. A friend of James from Nashville had shared with him that the Sponberg's had recently had a little one born with Ds.

Again...

EXCITED!

But I hadn't had any luck learning anything until last night when I saw pictures on Greg's twitter page.

Finally! I found her! Awwww!!

Darling, precious, gorgeous baby daughter.

When I read from both of these incredibly talented and anointed musicians the honest and raw emotions about the fear, doubt, struggle...I was briefly confused.
Why??
How could anyone feel that way about the birth of a child with Ds?
For a flash of a second I feel a thousand combined emotions of anger and defensiveness and utter disbelief...and then I remember.
Oh yeah.
That was me, too.
aarg.


But I know that I know that I know that I know that I know that I know and for sure I know it's true;
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow awaits them, too.
Ah.
yesssss.