Our unique insight on having a child with Down Syndrome in one big happy family.
Today is Easter. We celebrate because Jesus came to earth and lived the perfect life we were supposed to live and died on a cross in our place to satisfy God’s holy wrath for the sin we committed. God loved us so much that He offered up His own son to die for us. The very best…
We will be celebrating Seth and all of his T21 friends across the world tomorrow. Here’s an excerpt of a blog post my wife wrote on this day a few years ago: The time is now for people of all colors, races, age, religions, genders or ways of life to recognize another group in…
A lot of folks are asking, so I figured I’d cast a wider net to inform all on what’s going on: We had about six inches of water in our house on Sunday evening. Here’s a two minute time lapse over two hours of the event.…
This is what has been going on lately. Emily: She’s been doing great is really excited for her birthday. 28 years good for you mom! 😉 Joel: He’s been doing amazing and is rocking it at 40! You go dad! Ella: I am finishing up 5th grade strong. I’m 11 years old and am excited for…
Sometimes when Seth does something goofy like making a mess of packing materials, you have a choice to either get frustrated or use it as a teaching moment. Or, you can do like I did today, and do both. Up close and personal Standing up
Many of you, whether you have a child with Down syndrome or not, wonder if your child will overcome the terror of the barber chair. There is hope. Seth used to be so resistant that the blood vessels on his face would burst. We would walk away beaten down emotionally and with…
Well it is been a while since I posted last. It turns out you get pretty busy with four children 10 and under. I thought I would share a time lapse Watch on YouTube of a tea party we had with our good friends Chase and Brittany.…
I thought this article did a really good job of highlighting both the great joys as well as the great challenges. I guess the only way that I would modify the “happiest people” is to change it to the most content people. Seth is the least likely to complain about not getting…
This will bring a smile. It certainly did for me. Ella has become such a beautiful girl and her brother Seth adores her. Seth asks, “May I have this dance.” Watch on YouTube
Seth had a great first year of kindergarten. Despite being younger than most of his classmates and having special needs associated with Down syndrome, he was fully included in his class. He was taken out for some more individualized work for about 45 minutes in the morning and…
We didn’t know what all to expect for Seth when he was born with Down syndrome. I’m not sure I expected him to be able to make good contact with a pitch when he was five years old. Whatever our expectations were, Seth continues to exceed them. In this case, he is participating…
It’s rodeo season here in Texas, and all the FunHouse little ones have ALL had fun recently dressing up in their best western (not the hotel) gear. While I realize that Sully’s costume doesn’t exactly fit with our western theme here at the ranch, I couldn’t help but capture our…
Diversity. Whether the subject matter is education, the workforce, religion, or societal expectations, it seems our culture is infatuated with the idea of diversity. For some, it may never truly be understood. For others, embracing diversity is something that is slowly being…
Ella turned eight years old on November 28, 2013, and she did it in style. The Fun House enjoyed celebrating with family and friends. There are plenty of opportunities to do that on her birthday since it falls so close to Thanksgiving. I’ve always told Ella that Thanksgiving is…
The days have passed quickly since all of the activity at the end of September with Jackson’s multiple TV appearances. However, in the midst of all the excitement with Jackson, the Fun House were so excited to celebrate Kyle’s third birthday. We enjoyed hosting my parents and…
Well, just when we thought the fun was over, we were asked for a live follow up interview on the Today Show to discuss Emily’s live TV birth of Jackson on Monday as part of the Today Show’s #BornTODAY focus. Here’s the relevant footage of our family during this morning’s…
The whole process started with Emily’s doctor asking her if she would be interested in participating in NBC’s Today Show’s attempt to get as many live births on TV during their program on September 23rd. Emily was due on September 28th but she had delivered two weeks ahead of…
Ella tries to re-create a science project from school in her room. When mom is helping clean her room, she discovers this chick hatching project. Never a dull moment in the FunHouse. Sneaky Ella trying…
We are back with an update of our 2013 summer. The five of us had so much fun going to the hill country to start the summer. Good family time in the hill country Then, Emily and I were able to get…
Watch this Watch on YouTube of the kids finding out about baby #4 (who we now know is Jackson) for the first time on Valentine’s Day. It was back in February, but it’s an unforgettable moment that we wanted to share. Ella was blown away. Seth and Kyle took it in stride.…