Warning - I feel a long-winded, somewhat incoherent and perhaps
irrelevant ramble coming on here...I've been in a bit of a funk lately,
and I think "getting it off my chest" is what the doctor has ordered!
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Can't
believe it's been
45+ days since my last blog post. eeek!
Perhaps I'm having withdrawals.
One might be thinking..."good for her"!
Another may assume it's because her priorities have finally been
appropriately aligned. Like maybe those dishes aren't still piling up,
that laundry mountain(s) has been tackled, maybe those rooms (yes ROOMS) filled
with "waiting.to.be.donated" items have been delivered to their desired
destinations...but no. As we speak dishes mount (AGAIN), Mt. Everest is
still waiting to be put away (AGAIN), and those boxes in undisclosed
areas of the house are still (sadly) collecting dust. :-( It's the
crazy-cycle around here! Of which I'm sure ALL can relate.
You're just
lying to yourself if you deny it.
Let's just say (aside from my
motherly/wifely domestic duties) my
little photography biz has also
picked up speed. Fall is "primetime" for family pics! I am loving this
new state of "self-inflicted busyness" I have for no good reason, other
than it's fun (?), thrust myself in. oh well. It is what it is. And
I am thankful.
Can you believe
THIS IS MY 500th blog post? I
know. What? How did that happen? Too much time on my hands I guess.
(right!) But seriously, where has the time gone??!?! It seems like
decades ago that I wrote that
first post...
I've been absent from the blogosphere for so long, I almost feel like I need to "re-introduce" myself...
Sometimes,
my focus is SO MUCH about my children, that I feel hidden in their
shadows. I have been spending so much time editing other families
digital memories and am behind the lens so much, that I rarely get
captured in the viewfinder. Which is fine (because I'm not the most
photogenic), but also somewhat hypocritical. There is some buzz going
around the World-Wide-Web about the "disappearance of moms"...you know,
we use our kids faces as our Facebook profile pics, our calendars and
Social Media "check-ins" revolve around our kids' schedules, etc...
As
a person who is insistent and almost obsessed with documenting history
and journaling important events/milestones as they happen, I am somewhat
dissapointed in my efforts of preserving my own sense of self. What
footprints am I leaving behind? who knows. who cares.
---------
so
here goes. (below is an introduction I wrote for another "project" I
was working on & didn't want to see go to waste) hehe
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I am
a young professional (former Advertising & all things Media JUNKY), turned stay-at-home mom,
special-needs advocate, picture-taker, video-maker, church-worker/volunteer and blogger. Oh & newly crowned V.P. of the DSA. woot!
During
this season of my life, family is my whole world. I am trying my very best to take full
advantage of every moment with my children while they are young (while trying to suppress, as best I can, those all-too-familiar temper tantrums of course). Seize the Day. I have a wonderful husband who stands beside
and supports me in all I do. For this I
am grateful.
I officially
became a blogger during the wee morning hours back in January 2010, not long
after our second daughter
Macy was born. Our family blog
was initially created (while spending many quiet hours in the Children's
Hospital NICU) as a way of sharing health (and emotional status) updates with family and friends.
You see, we had just learned, that our Little Miss had Down
Syndrome. Our world was rocked to the core. Every thing
we thought we knew was being challenged. Priorities reassessed. Life
goals realigned. It's crazy to think how something as simple
(and microscopic) as an extra chromosome can change everything (but also,
in many ways we
later find, not much at all).
Now
blogging serves as a type of therapy, release and creative outlet for me. Getting
my thoughts and feelings down on “paper” allows me to better process all that
is going on. Not to mention a fun way to journal our adventures as we adjust to
this world of Special Needs and simply being a family of four :-)
"We
write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." --Anais
Nin
I'd say the same theory applies to picture taking. I have a passion for snapping photos
of everyday occurrences from creative angles and perspectives, to later being
delighted to discover the beauty & wonder that is (sometimes accidentally) captured. Forever frozen
in time in the form of still frame images.
I guess you could say I’m obsessed with weaving pictures and words to tell
a story, our story. We all have a story,
each one deserves to be shared.
"A shutter is clicked, the flash goes off, and you've stopped time, if
just for the blink of an eye. And if these picture's have anything to
say to future generations it's this: I was here, I existed, I was young,
I was happy, and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my
picture." ~one hour photo
If
my blog posts (which are eclectic & random at best) happen to create a bit
of awareness and understanding and perhaps inspire acceptance for individuals
with Down Syndrome. That's an added bonus! My main goal with each post is to share ideas
(educational otherwise), resources, triumphs, challenges, struggles and successes. But most importantly, my objective is to simply connect
with families, friends, evens strangers, who walk down a similar life journey. Through blogging, I have learned that this
world is much smaller than originally suspected. We are NOT alone.
If I am just one "happy" post away from saving just one precious (and
life-deserving) soul from being terminated in the womb, due to it's "genetic
make-up", than so-be-it. It just might be worth it after-all!
A little more about me? I married my college sweetheart on September, 21,
2002. Joe and I are the proud parents of two beautiful baby girls.
Both my girls are perfect...
McKenzie (5) is special beyond measure, as she's the one who taught me
how to love & gave me a "momma's heart"...Little Miss Macy (almost 3)
is the one who broke this "momma's heart", shattered it into a million
pieces and repaired it 100x BETTER than it was before!
Macy
happens to have Down Syndrome. But Down Syndrome does not define her or
our
family. She is amazing. We are so thankful to be on this journey we
call life with her. Afterall, it's the journey, not the destination.
We live in Elkhorn and things we love most (in no particular
order) are spending quality time at home, heading out to the lake for the weekend,
cleaning,
sitting on our front porch, watching McKenzie & Macy's imaginations at
work, annual trips to Estes Park, "mommy & daddy" date nights,
Husker Football, CWS, good food, mission work, photography, VOLUNTEERING, family, friends and
therapy. Yes, therapy. Macy has a wonderful team of OT’s PT’s,
Speech Pathologists and special Education teachers who help her push toward
conquering new milestones. EVERY skill
& ability is celebrated at the Harnisch House. NOTHING
goes unnoticed, nothing gets taken for granted. Advocating on behalf
of my daughter and all people with special needs does not consume my
life, but most certainly is
an honor and high priority.
okay - so there's my little "bio"
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I
feel it's appropriate that this post (incoherent ramble) comes out as
we near the completion of Down Syndrome Awareness Month. It is during
this month of October that I'm supposed to be focusing my posts on Down
Syndrome
(here's last years post), helping to generate awareness and acceptance for all those who
posses this extra (some call magic) chromosome. Helping to facilitate a
sounding board for all issues, challenges, successes and resources
relevant to the interest of Down Syndrome.
So, I guess...in some strange way,
that is why I'm glad this post does not JUST focus on Down Syndrome.
That would be an injustice. And we shouldn't give this chromosomal
abnormality that much credit.
After-all, Down Syndrome Awareness
happens every waking moment of our entire existence. It is in
celebrating the SIMPLE things in life that acceptance happens each and
every day. Not just during the month of October.
In fact, it is
when we acknowledge the craziness and normalcy all intertwined together
into one very complicated existence when "awareness" is truly spread.
Awareness that...IT'S ALL GOOD! Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (Life Goes On)
I
hope it illustrates the fact that our stresses and anxieties are
stemmed by the very same annoyances that plague everyone else down the
street, around the corner and across the country.
(I
will say, however, that all this extra assessing, evaluating &
testing by Macy's TEAM as of late (cuz she's almost 3) does have me a
little anxious (and quite honestly, inconvenienced). oh & just had
big sister's first Kindergarten P&T conference today, turns out, our
"typically developing" kiddo has some things that don't come quite so
easy to her either, go figure, looks like we have things to work on with
her too - HA!)
But, all in all, my mind is not consumed
with
worry, fear or anxiety as it relates to the unknowns of our girls
future, etc...nope, I AM totally stressing, rather, over the fact that
those dishes are NOT washing themselves, wondering why the heck (in this
21st century) they have NOT invented machines that wash/dry/fold &
put away our d@mn laundry FOR US. I mean seriously, is that asking too
much! And for the love of God, why hasen't that SAINT of a DELIVERY
TRUCK arrived in my driveway with 4 strong men knocking down my door to
take MY OLD CRAP AWAY!!!
---------------
So there. That's
it. I just HAD to get that off my chest. I feel amazingly better!
Thanks for listening (reading) - your genuine interest in my mental
state has saved us a boat-load in therapy bills. ha!
Now, in
these next few weeks...I have a lot of blogging to catch up on and will
(in the future) make an effort to get our family happenings (big &
small) posted in a more timely fashion. less words, more pics!
This
fast approach of cold/non-photo-friendly weather, coupled with the
arrival of Daylight Savings is sure to assist me in achieving this
goal. :-)
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I leave you with one picture!
 |
| a recent return trip to our favorite place in the world |
 |
| one more...because y'all know it's dang near physically impossible for me to take, let alone, post just ONE picture at a time. This was in Ponca last week :) Yay Leaves!! |
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