Blessings

We just want everyone to know that we feel extremely blessed to have one of God's chosen spirits in our home and to be her parents. We have never questioned, "why would God do this to us" and will never be a thought in our mind. We feel like this has been a huge blessing in our lives as Oaklynn has already taught us more about life than anyone ever could and she is teachings us more than we could ever teach her. Those who have met her feel her sweet spirit and understand what we mean. I cry often when cuddling with her staring into her eyes and seeing her smile back at me. I cry tears of gladness and joy because I get the opportunity to be her mom. She makes me so incredibly happy! I'm not going to lie, life is not easy taking care of her (and it know it's going to get harder as she starts learning how to do things and then forgets again) but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

When I was in elementary school my friend and I would go eat lunch in the special education room with those kids. We did it because we enjoyed playing with them and hanging out with them. Since then I knew that I loved people with special needs. They don't judge you, or put you down. They accept you for who you are and love you unconditionally (the way the Lord does). I always said I wanted a special needs child because they found a place in my heart. Now that I have one I see it as a blessing. The Lord knows me and when i was little he knew I would be raising Oaklynn and was preparing for me to be her mom.

 Many moms who have daughters with Rett syndrome and found out about it right before they were due with another child (as did I) have told me that the first few months of their new babies life was very hard with both kids as they are both needy, but that as the younger one gets older, they are the BEST therapy that their child with Retts could ever have. When we discussed getting pregnant, it was right before Oaklynn turned one. We knew she was behind but she hadn't started regressing too bad and we weren't too concerned. We immediately got pregnant and were surprised. Down the road we realized just how far behind Oaklynn was and then realized that something mentally was wrong with her. Few months later we get a diagnosis that she has Rett syndrome and then I'm due in 5 weeks! If we would not have gotten pregnant when we did, having another child at this time would not be in our minds with how much time, money and effort goes into taking care of Oaklynn. The Lord knew that Oaklynn would need Kynslee in her life and knew that we needed to get pregnant when we did because that was his plan. We've looked back at the last few years of our life and realized how the Lord has planned our life to prepare for Oaklynn. Every decision we have made or things we wanted but fell through, were all supposed to happen for a reason. It's amazing to look back and see the Lord's hand in your life and know that he is there watching out for you and helping you along your journey.

We have felt an immense out pouring of love and support from many family and friends and are very grateful for all of it. We could not get through this without the support and love we have felt and have received in the past as we were trying to figure things out. I know that once Kynslee comes, it's going to be hard to adjust as I will have two needy kids starting out. I am very grateful to my mom for being willing to stay with me as long as I need her and to my friends who are already offering to bring me meals and help out. You all don't know how much this means to us! The Lord would never give us anything we can't handle. You just have to believe in yourself, trust in the Lord, know you can do it and it will be done.