November 1- Nancy and GiGi
For the month of November GiGi’s Playhouse Fox Valley will be recognizing people/organizations/businesses that help us change the way the world sees Down syndrome. On this first day of thanks we would like to thank our chief belief officer and founder of GiGi’s playhouse, Nancy Gianni, and her daughter, GiGi....
October 30th- Aaron and Laura
"Our sweet Aaron is five, and he is the third son of our biological children. Including my step-son, we have four boys in all. During our prenatal stage, we found out at about 13 weeks that our baby would most likely have Down syndrome. As a mom, it took me...
October 29th- Julian and Kelly
“We met Julian and Kelly at a few GiGi’s events, but really started to be friends when Kelly agreed to babysit my kids on Fridays if I would watch Julian when she worked in the evening 2 summers ago. Julian and Aidan quickly became friends and Julian treated Zoe like...
October 28th- Jose and Rubi
“Fun fact about a baby who is born with Down syndrome, but is always up! He has taught me how hope can be so big in a such a tiny body. He is strong and always doing something super crazy and overcoming obstacles and meeting his milestones... Happy National...
October 27th- Eli and Katie
“Kids with Down Syndrome are often delayed when it comes to milestones. But Eli was a gross motor rock star as a baby. Rolling at 4 months, sitting at 7 months, pulling to stand and cruising at 13 months. But crawling? He refused. He would not get onto his hands...
October 26- Annabelle and Jessica
"This is Annabelle Grace! She was born in October 2014, so she just turned five! Annabelle brings so much joy and laughter to our family. Annabelle’s diagnosis was a surprise to us, we found out right after she was born. There was a period of adjustment since she spent her...
October 25th- Matteo and Mayfe
"Our first boy Matteo was born on March 17th 2013, he was the most wished baby after trying to conceive almost for a year. When he finally got here and the diagnosis was confirmed a few days later we were very scared about the future for him. We certainly had...
October 24th- Chloe and Julie
"There is a phrase well known to families in the Down syndrome community, 'The Lucky Few'. It's something only parents and close loved ones can truly understand. I recall when we got our prenatal diagnosis, we thought our world was falling apart. During this time, I was given a book...
October 23rd- Buddy and Taylor
"My husband and I were just coming out of our teen years when we found out we were going to bring our blessing with Down syndrome into the world. After the diagnosis I had termination offered to me almost every visit. The doctors would tell us, 'You have such a...
October 22nd- Erin & Patty
"How can I begin to tell you what a blessing this child has been to me and the joy that she has brought to my life and family? I knew during my pregnancy that I would be having a child with Ds and was able to meet with a local...
October 21st- Zoe and Katie
"Zoe was a surprise right from the beginning. When asked if we wanted prenatal testing, we declined. We wanted this baby, besides nothing would happen to my baby, those kinds of things happen to other people. When Zoe arrived Mark announced, 'It's a girl!' The doctor swaddled her and handed...
