Step Up | 2018 - baby by oakley

Welp, October came and went, huh?! I can't believe the entire month passed us by and I didn't log a single blog post. October is, after all, Down Syndrome Awareness Month. On one hand, I feel guilty for not having posts ready to share as a way to advocate for Baker and raise awareness. It's my duty as his mom to do so, right?!

On the other hand, we are busy l i v i n g l i f e. And that life, thanks to work and everything that comes along with three kids, is busy so the old blog gets neglected. Don't worry, though. I'm still a serial poster over on Instagram and Facebook so follow along there if you want to see just how normal our life really is. I'm always up for answering questions so be sure to ask if you want to know something but hopefully I'm doing him justice and advocating for him all day long by making sure he's treated like everybody else in our home. Making sure he knows and everyone around us knows that he belongs. Baker has Down syndrome but he's still a baby and we're still a regular family. His sisters still like to hold him and smother him. I still force them all to have professional photos taken every fall. We still meet up with friends to have playdates and have fun!

October flew by for sure but we did get our act together enough to celebrate Baker and his Chromies at the 2018 Step Up Walk! This was the second walk for #TeamHeartBaker. The weather was amazing compared to the blazing heat from last year and we had a great group of family and friends who came out to join us and help raise some money for the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City. It's pretty incredible to see 10,000 people gathering at an event to honor these amazing individuals who all just happen to have Down syndrome. We're lucky to live in a community that has so many valuable resources and a network of support.

We had people from Kansas, South Dakota, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Nebraska in attendance. Some of our dear neighbors were even celebrating from the beach while on vacation.