All for the love of Lila: October--Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

This has been a lovely month. Lila is working on crawling and getting to where she wants to be. Nothing can slow her down!

It is also Down Syndrome Awareness month. Lila and I were the spokespeople for our local DS Chapter. We appeared on the local news to promote awareness and our Buddy Walk. It was so exciting!

Diana Davis (our local KAIT 8 News Reporter)

My sister and her friends made these lovely signs for Lila's Buddy Walk Team: Lila's Loves.
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Buddy Walk was an unforgettable experience. It was beautiful and humbling. First, let me say that I have a great support system. My family and friends are awesome. I couldn't function each day without them.

I was completely humbled and speechless on the day of our Buddy Walk.

On Buddy Walk morning my mom and grandma took on the job of babysitting Lila, Layla, and Gabe (our friend's-Joey and Sarah's- son).

Chase (my husband), Joey, Sarah and I arrived early to set up. We helped get everything ready for the big event.

When people started to arrive, I realized just how big Lila's team was going to be (over 80 people!). There was this little moment in the building that day, I just stood there thinking, "Wow, all of these people are here for us and our girl." It was a defining moment for humanity. I saw the beauty in a lot of people that day.

What else did I see? Pure JOY. All of these people were there to support their loved ones and friends with DS. I realized that day (though I had been going to the local DS meetings for several months) that the DS family was a family I was PROUD to belong to.

And I was so proud of EVERY parent there. Every parent that brought their child was teaching a simple lesson: acceptance and love. What better lesson can we teach our kids? There are none.

What a fabulous day for me. I was on cloud nine. My parents, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, in-laws, and friends were there for this amazing day. People from our community and my husband's work came to support us. I was overwhelmed. Lila raised the most money (over $2,800).

I broke down and cried with my sister-in-law, Kelli, on the way home. These are the kinds of moments I will remember forever.

We had relatives travel from several hours away just to be there. Chase's company, Tenaris, donated $1,000. We also received donations from NET Systems (they bought our team shirts), TriState Motors, and Fulks Auto Sales. A family Chase works with donated $200, and a family who lost their son with DS donated as well.

There are so many things I could say about our beautiful Buddy Walk experience. I will sum it up with this: There are so many beautiful things in life, take time to experience them. Accept and love every one. Teach acceptance and love. Appreciate your friends and family. They are awesome! GET INVOLVED!