Life can be interesting.  If you would have asked me 10 years ago, as I was preparing for life and dreaming of marriage, family and career, I would have told you something different than what I am living right now.  It would have been a picture of perfection, or at least what I thought was perfect.  Husband, 3, maybe 4, kids, dog, working as a teacher, and perfectly cooked meals.  Everything you see in the movies. But that isn’t what happened.  And, boy, am I glad.

My name is Tara and I am a stay at home mom.  That looks funny even when I type it.  I have a wonderful husband, who is a pastor.  We don’t have a dog.  I don’t cook perfect meals.  And, at this point, I have two kids.  Two special kids.  Two kids with special needs. And I love it.

Bear, as she is called by family, changed before my eyes at 5 1/2 months.  She was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms, a very rare epileptic disorder.  She was so sick, and ended up have severe developmental delays because of it.  She is now seizure free and catching up on her milestones.

Lion, as he has been nicknamed, was born with Down syndrome.  He has the most beautiful spots in his eyes and his laugh and smile will brighten up any room.  He is doing very well with keeping up on his milestones.

These two are my life.  And, I wouldn’t change a thing about them.  My children are way more fun this way.  Every little thing that they do is celebrated and enjoyed.  Goodness, when Bear started walking a few weeks ago, you would have thought she won the Nobel Peace Prize the way everyone partied.  They are my kids and I love them.

Many ask me how I do it.  And I always tell them that it isn’t me.  I have great support from my family and great faith in my God.  This makes the hard days not as hard and the easy days even easier.  It helps to not compare my two to other children.  I mean, they can’t compare.  No two children are the same.  They are themselves, individuals.

And I like to think that their differences, what makes them their own person, is what will make them great someday.  Bear has never once allowed her lack of words and her physical delay to slow her down.  She knows what she wants and she will get it.  She is tenacious.  Just like her mother.  My kids are more normal than they are different.

So, I have taken the lemons and made lemonade.  And it is the best tasting lemonade I have ever drank.