Four years ago I was pumped to learn I would have another baby brother. Our whole family was looking forward to his arrival. We would talk about “Floyd” constantly as my mom mentioned in an earlier post. This was the name we referenced the baby with, but not his actual name. The beans got spilt…

October is our time to rise and shine! While we get to celebrate and shout the worth of our friends and family members all year long, October is a great opportunity to get our communities involved too! Down Syndrome Awareness Month has always been our chance to teach people about the most common chromosomal condition…

It’s August, which means school is going to begin! For most parents, this means back to school shopping for supplies, clothes and shoes, checking class lists, and excitedly sending kids off and celebrating another summer survived.  For us, it is largely the same, plus a little more, and maybe a bit different than expected.  We…

At our Grand Opening celebration last weekend we took a moment to recognize some of the incredible volunteers who have dedicated their time to the playhouse the last six months. One of those volunteers was a young man named Luke. Luke received our Enthusiasm award. At GiGi’s we follow five core values, Enthusiasm is the…

My first day at work was the GiGi’s Chicagoland 5K Fun Run four years ago. It was held in a grassy field that was filled with mud from rain the night before. The families showed up in huge groups, all smiling, excited and happy to be there. Music was blasting, the energy was high, and…

Every week Eleanor works so incredibly hard in therapy. At school she receives 90 minutes of speech, 60 minutes of OT and 40 minutes of PT. Privately we currently do 60 minutes of speech, 30 minutes of hippotherapy (PT and OT) and 60 minutes of OT. So in one week she gets 2.5 hours of…

 We didn’t really know what to expect when we enrolled Sofia in the speech program at GiGi’s. Over her almost 10 years, Sofia has been enrolled in countless therapy programs. And while we know that this is what she needs in order to speak more clearly and be better understood, we also know that she…

When Finn was born I knew our family would accept, love and protect him.  I knew our friends would accept and embrace him and add him to the mix of our dinner parties and gatherings.  It’s the world that worries me and keeps me up some nights. Will the world at large accept Finn? Will…

We didn’t find out that Taylor had Down syndrome until she was born.  That day is still so clear in my mind.  She struggled to breathe so my husband Brett stayed close to her as the nurse worked.  He was the first to suspect that she might have Down syndrome.  I immediately began to feel…