Lisa (aka Me/Mama): I'm the one who does the blogging. I'm a stay-home mom, formerly a paralegal. I'm a Starbucks addict who swears like a truck driver, and loves to read and write. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that I'd one day be the mother of six children, let alone the mother of a child with Down syndrome (but, really, who does imagine these sorts of things?). I'm an atheist, so I don't go in for these notions that Finn is a special gift from God or a divine messenger of any sort. Finding out my baby has Ds was, for me, like having all my dreams cave in - that's how it felt for a while. I'm pretty much over it these days, though. I really wouldn't change anything about Finn, and am completely wild about him and thankful for the gifts of wisdom and perspective I've gotten because of him, although the sting of having a child who is different is always there on some level. I don't blow sunshine up anyone's #%@; I tell it like it is, at least as far as how I see it. Sometimes it's pretty, sometimes it's not.
Michael (aka Daddy): I'll keep his bio brief since he never asked to have the world in his business! Michael is an attorney, a talented musician, and a devoted husband and father. He's the kind of dad who has impromptu dance parties in the living room with the kids. Fortunately, he's a smart-ass like me, so we get along well. Prior to morphing into an attorney, Michael worked in the disability field for many years, first as a caretaker in a residential facility for adults with such disabilities as autism, blindness, deafness, blind/deaf, and cerebral palsy. He later went into deaf advocacy and taught himself American Sign Language to the point of fluency, and worked as a sign language interpreter for several years. He remarked once shortly after Finn was born that it felt like maybe all those years working with people with different disabilities was in preparation for his role as a parent of a child with Down syndrome.
Kevin: Our oldest, he loves to read and write and make stop action movies. Kevin is a bright, sensitive, compassionate young man who has taken it upon himself to learn about Down syndrome and become an advocate (in case you haven't seen it, check out the speech he gave in front of his student body, bringing the house down). He dotes on Finn, and the 11 years between them is no barrier.
Joey: Kid #2 for us, Joey is 6 years older than Finn. He's into math, music, and baseball. Joey knows that Finn has Down syndrome, but only has a rudimentary understanding of what that means. To him, Finn is just Finn, and he likes him just the way he is.
Lilah: Our baby girl, she's 21 months older than Finn. Aside from the twins, Lilah and Finn are the closest in age of our kids, and they share a very close, special relationship. Lilah just thinks Finn is the best thing to come along since . . . well, since anything. Sometimes watching the two of them together gets me all verklempt.
