A touching speech and a cute baby.

When I was 9 months pregnant I read the book Bloom by Kelle Hampton. I balled my eyes out to the point where I was concerned about dehydration (I was a very hormonal preggo lady). If you haven't read it or checked out Kelle's blog, you should. She (unexpectedly) gave birth to a daughter with Down syndrome and Bloom is the story of their journey. She also shares amazing photos on her blog!

Anyway, stay with me here.

I know a lot of people hate on Kelle Hampton. When you start typing her name into google "Kelle Hampton hate" pops up. Really people? Really? I am not all about the hate in bloggy land. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SOMEONE'S BOOK/BLOG, DON'T READ IT!

Okay, now that I'm done with my mini rant I will get to my reason for this post.

I clicked on Kelle's blog today and she had shared a speech written by Carrie, a 36 year old with Down syndrome. Please, take a few moments and hop over and read it here.

Frequently through the week I see a young man with Down syndrome running in the neighborhood where I work. It reminds me that we are SO blessed to live in a time where Down syndrome and other conditions don't automatically translate into a life of being hidden or sent away. And this young man might not know it but he is such a motivation for me to get out and run!

Okay, sorry this has been so windy/rambling. I just had to share the speech and a couple of thoughts!

Lov

Oh, wait. I promised you a cute baby. Here he is:





I am SO in love with him and so thankful that he is healthy and happy.

Love,
Jess

What to do when the pool isn't filled yet...

Day 28: Only pictures.




















Love,
Jess

High Five for Friday

1. I got to run on my favorite greenway twice this week!
2. Monopoly with the kiddos. This hasn't happened in awhile and we had so much fun!
3. Luella's BBQ in Asheville. Amazing. I absolutely LOVE barbecue and was so bummed when I found out Charlotte is seriously lacking as far as legit barbecue goes.
4. Hubee D's. The kids were off from school so we walked to the restaurant to level off all of the delicious chicken.
5. Clay was such a trooper waiting for our 5k to start on Sunday. It drizzled most of the morning but no complaints from this little one!

Aaaaand, time for High Five (+1) for Friday: Clay edition!




Today I'm linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday!



Love,
Jess

Wordless Wednesday

My Favorite Picture

Favorite picture of yourself and why...

This prompt is SO deceiving! At first I thought this would be easy peasy. Umm, no.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGG

Anyway, this is the one I decided on:





This photo was from Clay's newborn session and I love it so much! Elizabeth at almond leaf studios did SUCH a wonderful job.





Love,
Jess

High Five for Friday!

Today I'm linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday!







1. Gift certificate to the salon for Mother's Day. Score!

2. A big bowl of popcorn and the Grey's and Scandal finales!

3. I'm attempting to braid and I'm finally getting there!

4. I wore this super cute outfit yesterday and this was the best picture I got of it!

5. Taco salad might be one of my most favorite meals. Ever.

Aaaaaaand...it's time for the Clay edition!





Love,
Jess

10 Things

Today's challenge is 10 things that make you happy.

Here we go:

1. This guy



(and the fact that I accidentally made our outfits coordinate)

2. The Whitewater Center (USNWC)



If you ever visit Charlotte this is a must visit!

3. Photos. Everywhere.




4. Meal planning. For me and for little man.




5. Coffee




6. Flowers




7. Chocolate. Anything.




8. Family




9. Making silly faces.




10. Memes. Especially ones with Clay.




Tomorrow is Wednesday! Yes!






Love,
Jess

I miss...

What do you miss?

Sleeping in. Hands down. I love getting to sleep in.

But you know what? I love the reason I'm missing the sleep so much more.

What's so great about my mornings now?




Getting to hear Clay tell Patrick stories.




Morning snuggles. The best.




When photos like this get taken...




Getting to laugh at how messy he is.




PJs & a cowboy hat? Ok.

I love him so much! I'm so lucky to be his mom!

Happy Mother's Day!






Love,
Jess

10 words

Today's challenge: sell yourself in 10 words or less.

How do you put a baby alien to sleep?

Rocket

(Umm. Rock it. Rocket)

Bahahahahaha.

So I blanked and I thought that 10 word joke would help sell you on my amazing joke telling skills.

Anyway, here's a picture of my cute baby.




Aren't baby blazers THE BEST?






Love,
Jess

High Five for Friday!

This post is going to be super short because we're leaving for Tennessee today and I (gasp) haven't packed yet.

Today I'm linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday!







-Tupelo Honey Cafe coming to Charlotte! Best news ever!

-I'm so lucky that I have a friend like Liz that I can send pictures like this. Yes, we're getting real on Adventures in Ginger Mommyhood today. I wanted to make sure my pants looked okay. Don't judge.

-Free coffee!

-Finally put up mementoes in my closet/office!

-Rachel have a serious addiction with Netflix, Rob Lowe, and teen dramas.

And the moment you've been waiting for...H54F: Clay edition!




I already posted a lot of photos of Clay this week so these are my favorites just from the past two days!

I am so happy that my replacement monitor came yesterday!

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Jess

A Moment in My Day

Coffee. That's all.





Love,
Jess

Now listen here, missy...

Today's prompt was to give a piece of advice. I went back and forth all day. Funny advice or serious advice? Parenting related or not? Finally a few minutes ago it hit me.

So from my 8 months of parenting experience, my biggest piece of advice is:

Don't let other people tell you how to parent your child.

I don't mean be rude to people who give advice. I just mean that ultimately you are the parent(s) and you know what is best for your child.

A few of my favorite pieces of advice:

"Oh, that baby needs socks on." When it's 75 degrees outside...




"Formula is the devil." Okay, so I didn't hear these exact words, but I might as well have. For the record, my intentions were to breastfeed exclusively but we got to the point where I just could not physically produce enough milk for Clay. He is now breast and formula fed. And perfectly healthy. Wait. I feel like this is an entire post to itself. I'll revisit this in weeks to come.

Anything along the lines that a child from an untraditional family won't be happy. Clearly we don't have that problem.





And countless more.

I know, I'm rambling. I think I've gotten my point across though so I'll stop.

Also, you should go watch this video. I think I've watched it about 100 times since Clay went to bed.

HERE!HERE!

Forgive me, I haven't figured out how to actually put the video in the post. HELP!




Yeah, so I memed a picture of my son. Insomnia is THE best.





Love,
Jess

The Things I Don't Like to Talk About & a Cheer up

...or the things I'm most afraid of...

-having to explain to Clay when he gets older why he doesn't have a "traditional" family.

-snakes. snakes. snakes.

-driving in the snow.

-Clay falling while he's learning to stand/walk.

Okay, enough of that. Time to cheer up!

*note: I really need to take my camera to daycare so I can post better photos!




I am really sad that this is blurry. I went to visit Clay today and he kept giving Reagan kisses. Yep, I have that kid.




Free (massive!) coffee from Dunkin' Donuts.




LOVING this scarf and shoe combo!




Umm. This is why I shouldn't take selfies. Ever.


That is all.





Love,
Jess