The pouring of support for our daughter Josephine and her friend Izzy has been nothing less than amazing! We are forever grateful to so many people who help us on a daily basis.

We all gathered in front of the TV this morning to watch the great story that PIX 11 News did on Josephine and Izzy and the rare genetic disorder they both share. We believe this story not only helped to bring some awareness to their particular disorder, but also the many, many people who have special needs.

Anyone who has a special needs child can attest that it changes your life forever. It’s true that some of your hopes and dreams change…but in some ways, for the better. You find yourself focused on the present–and not to think too far in the future of what may or may not be. Instead, we find ourselves everyday celebrating ‘what is.’

I work at a motivational speakers bureau (Eagles Talent) and one of my of my favorite speakers (W Mitchell) has a saying, “it’s not what happens to you, but what you do about it.” When we learned about our daughter, we had a choice, to be negative or embrace the positive. We chose the latter and haven’t looked back. Yes, our lives are filled with challenges, but we wouldn’t trade them for the world.

This has been an extremely special week for us as we have hosted the Kelley family with their little girl Izzy. We absolutely love her and have already developed a wonderful bond with her (we even got to celebrate her 6th birthday with her yesterday!). She has been her all week going to special therapy and already we can see that it’s helping! Words can’t describe what it’s been like meeting Izzy and her family–and will miss them when they return to Iowa (sooooo glad we have social media to keep up to date!)

We filled blessed to be involved in the special needs community (and love the school that our little JBean attends PG Chambers) . We also feel extremely bless to have tons of support from our family and friends.

We look forward to sharing new information about Josephine and are going to work towards starting a foundation for kids like Josephine and Izzy with rare genetic disorders.