Just sitting here thinking about how lucky and blessed I am to have such a wonderful family.
Sometimes I forgot how lucky I am when I let the outside the family interference get in the way.
Just….
14 01 2013Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Down Syndrome, Love, MJ, Pride
Categories : Father, Love, Parent, Peace
Fall Fashion
14 07 2012Miss Carly is already set for the fall with this lovely fall getup including tennis shoes and a train engineer hat.
It maybe 90 degrees outside, but it is not too early to think about this falls fashion trends.
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Tags: Carly, Down Syndrome, Laugh, Life, Love, Pictures, Pride
Categories : Down Syndrome, Future, Joys, Love, Peace, Smile
I am a great rocker
22 01 2012I am a great rocker…
Most of the time I am a great walker and talker…
I am a great walker and talker when Miss Carly wakes up in the middle of the night and has a tough time falling back to sleep. We walk back and forth across the apartment floor as she slowly falls back to sleep. I can tell she is asleep by either sneaking a peak, at her eyes, in her reflection in a window or her cute little snores.
Tonight, walking and talking was not working. She could not get comfy and was just plain restless. Rather, tonight was a perfect night for rocking. We sat down in the rocker and she snuggled up against my neck. No walking and talking needed tonight; she let out a deep sigh, nuzzled her head against my shoulder, and quickly started to snore in my ear.
As I put her back into her crib, she let out a big sigh. Which I am pretty sure means “Thanks Dad, you are a great rocker.”
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Tags: Carly, Caroline, Dad, Down Syndrome, Laugh, Life, Love, lucky, Sleep
Categories : Down Syndrome, Father, Growth, Joys, Love, Parent, Peace, Sleep
Some facts..
7 10 2011• Down syndrome occurs when an individual has three, rather than two, copies of the 21st chromosome. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome.
• Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. One in every 691 babies is born with Down syndrome.
• There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States
• People with Down syndrome attend school, work, participate in decisions that affect them, and contribute to society in many wonderful ways.
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Tags: 31 for 21 Challenge, Carly, Caroline, Development, Down Syndrome, Education
Categories : 31 for 21 Challenge, Development, Down Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Joys, Love, Peace, Tolerance
Carly on the road
16 05 2011The other day, I mentioned that Confessions would soon have a major announcement and I am happy to say that we are hitting the road.
Carly, and the rest of the crew: Jason (me), Mary Jane, and Brady are headed off to a new adventure in Peabody, MA. Emma will be our West Coast anchor as she will stay in Sacramento with her mom.
We are excited and a bit nervous at the same time. I have lived in California for 20 years while MJ has been here 14 years, so it will be a climate change for all of us. Looking forward to the four seasons and experiencing US history close up.
Next step is getting everything in order for Miss Carly, so the transition into a new educational and support network is easy for her.
Now it is back to the packing and getting ready for a coast to coast move.
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Tags: Brady, Carly, Caroline, Dad, Development, Downs Syndrome, Emma, Laugh, Life, lucky, MJ, Pride, Smile, without conditions
Categories : Brother, Development, Down Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Education, Father, Future, Joys, Love, Parent, Peace, Princess Good Good, Sibling, Sister, Smile
Tranquility
11 04 2011Peace
Joy
Tranquility
A sense of calm covers the house
MJ and Brady sound asleep upstairs
Little girl fell asleep on the floor
Dad feeling incredibly blessed.
Charlie curled up behind me purring into my ear.
A simple Thank you sent out to the universe.
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Brady, Carly, Caroline, Dad, Downs Syndrome, Good, Life, lucky, MJ, Sleep, Smile, without conditions
Categories : Brother, Cats, Development, Down Syndrome, Father, Joys, Love, Parent, Peace, Sleep, Smile
Sunny Day at the Park
10 04 2011
Loving the sun and the green grass.
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Tags: Carly, Caroline, Development, Downs Syndrome, Laugh, Life, lucky, Smile
Categories : Down Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Growth, Joys, Love, Park, Peace, Princess Good Good, Smile
Facing Forward
26 01 2011
Yep, I am a big girl now. I am facing forward when we drive. Hey Dad, does this car go any faster?
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Carly, Caroline, Dad, Development, Downs Syndrome, Laugh, Life, Smile
Categories : Development, Down Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Father, Growth, Joys, Love, Parent, Peace, Princess Good Good
No News is Good News
13 01 2011When something horrific, such as the shooting in Arizona, happens, the question of how do you tell your kids or answer your kids questions about what happened is brought up. How can they not ask or have questions when the news covers the story 24/7? The pundits and parents have their own opinions and all seem to ignore the obvious. Why are the parents exposing their kids to such negative crap as the nightly or daily news? And how do the networks get away with calling this garbage news in the first place?
The news business, both print and television, have a saying “If it bleeds, it leads” meaning that the more horrific or tragic an incident is the greater the likelihood it will be featured on the front page or have a newscast dedicated to it. Our “news” is no longer covering news, rather it is focusing on the negativity of the world. We are obsessed with tragedy, celebrities falling from grace, and a natural disaster every now and again. With all this negative information being pumped into our heads I am surprised that our world has not curled up into the fetal position.
So how do we, the Fitch Family, answer the questions that our kids have about the tragedy or tragedies? How do we explain about Lindsey Lohan and her stint in rehab? How do we let our kids know that our political views are far more superior to those who disagree with us? The answer….
We don’t.
We don’t watch the news, we don’t listen to the news on the radio (except for sports and even that is slowly being reduced), and we sure as heck don’t believe that one political party is far more superior to another.
What do we do? We listen to books on CD, usually those about goal setting and believing in yourself. We ask each other, at night when we sit down for dinner, how our day was, what did we learn that day, and what our favorite part of the day was. We read to the kids before they go to bed each night. Most importantly we talk to each other and believe in each other.
Why do we do this? Because life is too short to focus on the negative. How can you live, laugh, and love if you let the constant drum beat of negativity invade your house? Heck, even if we wanted to watch the news, Phineas and Ferb is generally being TiVo’d at the same time. 
At our house, we have learned that “No News is Good News.”
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Brady, Carly, Dad, Development, Downs Syndrome, Emma, Laugh, Life, MJ, Smile
Categories : Brother, Down Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Father, Future, Growth, Joys, Love, Parent, Peace, Sibling, Sister, Smile
Music Non-Stop
8 01 2011Music Non-Stop:
There is an old Judy Garland song that goes something like “Clang ,clang, clang went the trolley Ding, ding, ding went the bell.” At our house it is more like bang bang goes everything or as the late 70′s early 80′s band Kraftwerk so elequently put it “Music, Non-Stop” .
The gift and joy of music is heavily embraced not only by the banging, clanging, and listening of Miss Carly it is embraced by the whole family as well.
Our taste, or which some say mine is a lack of taste, range from Jimmy Buffett to Depeche Mode and back again. Along with a heavy dose of Yo Gabba Gabba, Jack’s Big Music show, Phineas and Ferb, and whatever Disney pop star is a hit at the moment.
The whole family enjoy’s our yearly trek to the nearest Jimmy Buffett experience, calling it a concert would be a crime. Whenever Depeche Mode is on tour I attempt to raise the same level of excitement as well, by the way Dave Gahan next time please don’t lose your voice the night prior to the show.
Emma is getting to the age, she just turned 9 (Happy Birthday!!) where I am sure she will soon come up with a list of her must see bands as well and we will trek to those as well.
Brady is a fan of all types of music except for my techno, rap, or dance music (Sigh, where did I go wrong) which is always met with a “Dad, can you please turn this off?” Heck, he has even been to a Trace Adkins concert with MJ.
Now Carly, her music taste rang from whatever she can bang upon to the soothing sounds of the afore mentioned Yo Gabba Gabba or Jack’s Big Music show. Her music has not only a calming effect on her, which provides instant relief to when she decides to wake up @ 2:00 AM, but all of us as well. And if you were curious, yes, we do have lullaby CD’s by Jimmy Buffett and the Cure.
So, if and when you stop on by the Fitch Family home, expect to hear more then “Clang ,clang, clang went the trolley Ding, ding, ding went the bell.”
With that, I send you off with our theme song:
“Today is Gonna Be a Great Day”
Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: Brady, Carly, Dad, Development, Downs Syndrome, Emma, Laugh, Life, MJ, Smile, without conditions
Categories : Brother, D.A.D.S., Development, Down Syndrome, Father, Joys, Love, Music, Parent, Peace, Sister, Smile