World Down Syndrome Day

March 21st marks World Down Syndrome Day, a day to advocate and spread awareness for those living with Down Syndrome. The date signifies 3 (March) copies of the 21st chromosome, which is unique to people with Down Syndrome.

Colin works to advocate for himself on a daily basis...

He is just like any other boy but he just has to work a little bit harder than most to do everything that everyone else can do...He can and he will do what everyone else is doing, it just might take him a little bit longer to get there.

That just means that every moment in our house is a BIG moment, and a moment worth celebrating...

We are so proud to be the parents to such a loving, happy and amazing little boy. We started out on a journey that looked scary and daunting because of what could potentially lie ahead, but it did not take long for this little boy to show us that all we needed was a little bit of patience and love. He IS special. He IS strong. He IS amazing...and we just couldn't love him any more than we do.

Below you will find a copy of an interview that we did around the time of the Special Olympics' Polar Bear Plunge. The interview was done through a local cable company station and they came to highlight our special little boy...HE spreads awareness by showing everyone what HE is capable of.

One thing to remember about someone living with Down Syndrome...you need not put limits on what they can and can't do because they work hard to accomplish their skills. Never say can't because they can...

Happy St. Patrick's Day from our very special lucky charm!!

"May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand."

Bringing Home Kailey

One of the reasons for my significant impatience over the last week before Kailey was born was the anticipation of seeing my kids (still sounds crazy to put an "s" on the end of that!) together and interacting. With the love that Colin gives out, I wasn't worried that he would be anything less than loving with his little sister. In fact, he has been great (aside from worrying about how gentle he has been). There has been minimal jealousy and he still goes about his business most of the time as though she isn't even here. I am so thankful for my growing little family!

Heading home for the first time...

Little Kailey...(can you tell how much I love having a girl already?)

Colin and Kailey together...Colin was so cute and excited!

Giving Kailey kisses...

He was such a good boy with her!

His expressions if she cries are hysterical. I don't think when he was practicing the sound a baby makes leading up to her coming home he expected it to be anything like it actually is!

CAT, KAT, cat, and kat of our crew!

Colin and Kailey in their chairs...

This is probably one of my favorites yet!! I love his smile in this picture...

Kisses for Kailey...

...and I had to throw this picture in. Here is Colin proud of himself for getting onto the couch by using his "Colin chair" to do it...

I love them! :)

A New "Kat" to the Crew

After a long week, we all had a great night sleep last night and feel refreshed today. We are enjoying the newest addition to our CAT/KAT crew family and have been enjoying the friends and family that have been coming to visit as well. As promised, here are some pictures of our past two days for you.

I have been blessed with the best husband and after we got to the hospital he gave me a card that had words of encouragement and love and also included a little picture of Colin. So, in the next picture, the question is, "where's Colin". He was there throughout the process...lol!

Little Kailey Ann...

This is a classic "Daddy kissing his newborn on the nose" picture (we have the exact same with Colin)...

Colin visiting for the first time...

Colin visiting his sister today...he is definitely getting better slowly and it's cute to watch him be curious about her!

Isn't he the cutest big brother ever?

We heart her :)

Colin and Kailey

Colin has a new baby sister to love and protect...and we couldn't be happier to add to our family!

It's amazing how different each experience was for us when comparing them to the other. Considering this time around I had an epidural that worked and a baby whose heart was not being stressed, it made for a very pleasant birth experience. I won't deny the fact that after she was born and I got to hold her, I took a peak at her eyes to see if she had the beautiful almond eyes that Colin did. She did not, but it would not have mattered anyway...at least this time we would have been prepared!

Because Kailey was the first girl born in our hospital on March 12th (the birthday of the Girl Scouts), she won a big "prize package" put together by the Girl Scout organization of lots of great stuff...we will certainly be thanking them for this great gift!!

Colin came to meet his new little sister this morning after his swim lessons and then again later this afternoon. Each time he seems to be getting a little bit better, but he is just so curious about her! When you ask him to give Kailey a kiss, he gladly obliges and this afternoon he even was rubbing her shoulder to do "nice". I worry about the grabbing (he wanted her hat) and poking (he has a LARGE interest in eyelashes), but I know it's something that will just take time and practice. It's just amazing to say that we have kidS now, and to see the two of them already interacting together. I just can't wait to see how their relationship is going to grow and change through the years.

Thanks for all of your love and support through the past 10 months...we are so happy to add to our family and to our blog, which will soon be called, Love for Colin...and Kailey too! We will continue to share our adventures of raising our little boy who has Down Syndrome and his life with his little sister.

Pictures to follow soon!

Colin IS a big brother

We are proud to welcome Colin's little SISTER - Kailey Ann Tobin (7 lbs., 15 oz., 21") to the family... Born at 4:52 am... Mom and Kailey are doing great!!

Love for Ice Cream

This little boy LOVES ice cream. From the moment we gave him his first taste, he has been a boy in love. In fact, I think his first sign he learned associated with food was ice cream and the first sounds associated with food was his version of ice cream (mostly just an "sss" sound).


Tonight, I went and got him his treat without asking first if he wanted it and when I came in the room with it he got the biggest smile on his face and was very excited. I told him if he wanted it, he had to get in his chair and he crawled right over on all fours, still with the biggest smile on his face.

I don't think there is any denying that this little boy loves his ice cream!