These are the videos you don't want to miss!
Wow! It’s hard to believe that as of just a few hours ago I posted the 30th consecutive video on this site! It was just a little more then a month ago when my friend John, and I were jokingly discussing a site where I posted a daily one minute video of our (as in my wife and I’s!) son, (who just so happens to have been born with Down Syndrome.) Well, that conversation turned into reality.
Wow Noah’s Dad, You Sure Post A Lot Of Videos. Why?
When Noah was born my wife and I knew very little about what life was like raising a child with Down Syndrome. We were scared. Surprised. Confused. Anxious. Happy. Sad. Nervous. Excited. And about a million other indescribable emotions.
We wanted to know what our son was going to be like…what our life was going to be like. I guess we sort of wanted a window into the future.
We quickly met (Facebook stalked!) some new friend’s whose son had also born with Down Syndrome. (To be honest, it took us about a month after Noah was born before we really felt like talking to other parents who had children born with Down Syndrome.)
However…our new friends had no idea how much we were being encouraged by them (and their Facebook wall.) We found several videos that they had posted of their son Seth.
We watched them. And watched them. And watched them….and watched them…..They didn’t post a video everyday. In fact not even every week…but when they did…we consumed it. It was our little window into the future. Those videos gave us hope. They helped ease our fears. They helped us understand that Down Syndrome was ok. They helped us realize that there was nothing to be afraid of.
But I wanted to find more videos. I wanted to see other families. Other children. So I searched YouTube for “Down Syndrome Videos” (don’t do that by the way) and came up all kinds of results, mostly people making fun of Down Syndrome. I was hurt. But I also know we live in a world that is broken, and so people do things like that. No surprise. But it wasn’t helpful.
Our Life Has Never Been Better. Seriously!
It’s now six months later, and life is ok…in fact it’s great!
I can honestly say our life has never been better. I’m not googling for videos anymore…I’m making my own! If you are new here, we do a daily, one minute video about anything….Noah related. We are just here to show the world through pictures, videos, and writing what life is like for a family raising a child born with Down Syndrome; which I think you’ll see is much more “normal” then un-normal.
My prayer is that God would use this site, these videos, and our family to encourage other people who may be where we were six months ago when Noah was born.. It’s only been a month, and the response to this site has been overwhelming to me. I’ve gotten so many messages from new, expecting, and seasoned moms who have found joy, hope, and comfort through the story we are telling through this site….and that brings more encouragement to us then you know.
Thank you to everyone who has viewed, shared, commented, liked, or tweeted, anything you have seen on this site. We promise to keep the updates coming!
With so many videos (one each day!) it can be time consuming for someone who is new to this site to find the “best of the best.” In order to help solve that problem I’ll be writing a post every month showcasing the top five videos (as chosen by me!) from the previous month! This post will also make it very easy for you to share via email to a friend or family member who may be interested in learning more about a family raising a child born with Down Syndrome..! Without further ado…here you go!
Top Five Videos For June 2011
- Noah’s Six Month Birthday Extravaganza
- Noah’s New Friend Seth
- Sitting And Squash – A Big Day For Noah
- Noah Shares Some Of His Favorite Toys
- Noah’s First Swim
I hope you enjoy these videos! We really enjoy hearing from people who are visiting the site; so please take a second to leave a comment, or send in a message tell us about yourself, and your family! I’d also invite you to take a minute to subscribe so we can stay connected!
About Rick Smith
Excellent!! I love to find sites like this showing the world that DS isn’t a horrible, terrible thing. My son is now 5 and I’ve discovered, as you have, that DS is a wonderful blessing in our lives. My son is wonderful and I LOVE having him. Your son is adorable!!
Rebecca,
Thanks so much for the comment! I have found that a lot of people are much like I was before Noah was born….simply uneducated on the topic. I’ll admit, I knew very, very little about Down Syndrome before Dec of later year….however, I’m quickly becoming a “pro.”
My hope is that this website, and our daily one minute video, (Noah’s Minute) will help people to understand Down Syndrome a little bit better!
Do you have a blog? I’d love to learn more about your family as well! 🙂
My son is actually my tenth child. Like you, I had very little knowledge of DS before he was born. I’ve learned a lot over the years and continue to learn. Your videos will help educate others and that’s a great thing. I have a blog about my son http://www.theupsideofdown2.blogspot.com. I also have a small website at http://www.downsyndromeassociation.org.