Kamdyn's 3rd birthday

With wrapping up the giveaway, having a birthday party for Madison and Kamdyn, Madison's actual birthday, and everything in between, I never got a chance to post for Kamdyn's actual birthday.  I'm not quite sure what I could say that I haven't said a thousand times before, but I'll try.

There's been a lot of change, and there is still a lot of change to come on the horizon.  I remember when Kamdyn was a newborn, and I was signing her up for Early Intervention.  At that first meeting, they told me that when she turns 3, she would no longer be in the program.  I remember thinking how far away that sounded.  I remember thinking how scary it sounded to get to 3.

Here we are, at 3, graduated from Early Intervention, and we did it.

We said goodbye to our therapists, who spent hours with us each week.  One, in particular, was there since Kamdyn was about 6 months old, and I was still pretty scared out of my mind.  I remember confiding in her, telling her my fears, my insecurities.  She always encouraged me, always told me I was doing great.  I'll always be grateful for that.  At the time, I needed it.  I needed so desperately to hear that I was doing ok.  A big thing that has changed now is that I don't need to hear that as much.  I am confident in my ability to advocate and fight for Kamdyn when I need to.  I'm confident in my ability to love her.  And I have seen how God has worked things out for us. 

Kamdyn's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, and we had a joint party for both of the girls.  This year, I felt another change. While I still feel a lot of emotion over my reaction to Kamdyn's diagnosis, this is the first year where I didn't feel overcome with guilt.  There will always be a part of me that feels guilty over my feelings, but I am beginning to forgive myself and see that as just part of my journey that I had to go on. I wouldn't be who I am today without it.

(Another big change is that this was Kamdyn's first birthday where she could walk!  Yea for walking.  I never get tired of it.  And for all the people who said I wouldn't like chasing her around: I LOVE CHASING HER!)

 

Down syndrome is a part of our lives.  And, gasp, will I dare say it's a big part of our life?  I will, because it's the truth.  There's a lot of things in our schedules and in our lives that probably wouldn't be there without Down syndrome.  And I'm ok with that.  Different is ok. 

Kamdyn with her baby cousin, Aiden. 

Right before Kamdyn's birthday, Brad made a comment that was something along the lines of "what would we do if we didn't have Kamdyn in our lives? "  Who would we be?  I really can't even imagine it.  What I can say is that my life wouldn't be as fulfilling.  I wouldn't feel as content with my life as I do.  I would be a different person.  Kamdyn has changed me.  She has inspired me. We have a lot of learning, growing, and changing to do as we continue this journey, and I only look forward to it.  I look forward to all of the blessings that I know await us in the future. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I am thankful every day that I get to be Kamdyn's mama, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Some more party pictures:

Somebody gave Kamdyn a bag of chips before the party started.

She ate the whole thing.

I tried to think of a theme that would be pretty simple and be appropriate for a 7 year old and 3 year old.  I decided on a Spring/garden/flower theme.  We had the party at a park with a pavilion. 

The disheveled table covers were thanks to the windy day.  I made the tissue paper flowers, and I got some table decorations from the Dollar Store (flower center piece things and flower, gem-looking table scatter).  Madison's favorite color is purple, so we did purple balloons.  We also got one of those big bubble blowers, and the kids really liked that.  There were two tables with activities for the kids to do.  One had pre-made wands (from the Dollar Store) that the kids could put stickers on and color.  The other had small planters for the kids to paint.  After the paint dried, there was potting soil and seeds to plant and take home:

I bought the cake.  So much easier than making it, obviously.  I made the sugar cookies and decorated those, and the cupcakes were from the store, and I added the flower decoration on top. 

One more thing that has changed is Kamdyn using a fork to eat her cake instead of her hands.  Big girl stuff, right there.

The girls had matching outfits: