Top 25 Most Inspiring Families

What inspired you to start blogging?

A friend of mine suggested blogging as a way to keep out of town loved ones updated on what was going on in our family. I started a family blog and really loved the idea of posting photos in one place, rather than sending batches of them in emails to everyone. When I became pregnant with our tenth child, we had some markers show up on an ultrasound for Down Syndrome. I started a blog just to journal my feelings...it became therapy for me in those roller coaster like months of emotions.

What are three distinctive features of your blog?

1. My letters to my daughter Lily. They are very personal, and I never realized how my feelings would resonate with so many new moms.
2. I write about Down Syndrome advocacy.
3. I also write about advocacy for Reece's Rainbow -- a ministry that helps find adoptive familes for orphans with special needs.

How has blogging changed your journey as a family?

While blogging has helped me so much personally as a wife, mom and individual, it has created a venue for our family to help orphans. I had been reading for months about orphans with Down Syndrome on many other blogs, and I finally decided to take the plunge and use Lily's blog for something more than journaling my feelings. I'm so glad I did. As a result, we have been able to help in the rescue of three orphans in Eastern Europe by hosting giveaways to fund raise for them, as well as bringing awareness to their plight. We figured if we could raise enough money in their grant funds, families would step forward to adopt them -- and it worked. My kids spent the month of December last year giving to and praying for the orphans we were blogging about, and that was without a doubt the best Christmas we have ever had as a family. Lily's blog hits were off the charts that month, and our family was so excited to see people rally around a cause. We will never be the same because of that -- our eyes have been opened to the orphan crisis, and that never would have happened without the blogging community. 

What are your three favorite posts?

1. Ripple Effect
2. The Most Important Post I Have Ever Written
3. At Home in Holland

What inspired you to start blogging?

I started blogging about three weeks after we adopted our first child from Vietnam. I had kept an online travel journal of our time in Vietnam, but hadn't formally blogged. Once we were home and facing some of the difficulties and realities of adoption -- along with the joys -- I wanted to connect with other adoptive families. So I started a blog.

What are three distinctive features of your blog?

1. Honesty. I am very honest and I don't sugar coat or present anything in a way that is untrue. It doesn't mean bloggers need to overshare personal details, but I don't believe in altering reality for the sake of appearances. If it's too personal, it stays off the blog. If I share it, it's the truth. 
2. Humor. I laugh at (almost) everything, as does my whole family. Even my kids have senses of humor, at two and a half and four. Laughter is a wonderful survival skill when things are tough and it's great when they're not. If not for my ability to make light of and laugh at so many situations, I'd probably be curled up in the fetal position...permanently. 
3. Heart. I love my family and my children so much it hurts. I think I openly share my feelings on my blog, just as I do in real life.

How has blogging changed your journey as a family?

We have made lifelong IRL (in real life) friends through blogging. I've been so fortunate to meet many of them in person -- both when I've traveled to different parts of the country and when others have traveled to our part. In fact, one of my best friends was first a blog friend who lived in my city. I've connected with so many great people, learned so much and found a community of kindness and support. 

My blog began as an adoption blog, but morphed into a life blog and I love that I've connected with many different people as a result. There have been several occasions where I've considered quitting blogging -- when I'm too busy or overwhelmed with life or am short on creative inspiration, but I don't because I think about the people that I've met and how I'd miss out of future relationships. That is truly the best part of blogging. 

I also began freelance writing over a year ago and I think those opportunities have expanded because of my blog, which is funny because I always assumed the blog would be the reason people would say, "Um, no thank you." 

What are your three favorite posts?

1. Don't take my moment
2. RIP, Shorty Robe
3. We met our daughter two years ago today

What inspired you to start blogging?

At 25 years old, and expecting my second child, I never imagined my life would take this turn, but when it did writing it all down made sense and became therapeutic (spiritually and physically). Through my blog and birth of my son with designer genes, Grady, I was renewed in my faith, my passion for photography and my new role as an advocate. You see, Down Syndrome inspired my blog, but my faith in Jesus set it on fire.

What are three distinctive features of your blog?

1. Yes, my kid is that cute, and yes he has Down Syndrome. He's that happy because he has an awesome family, not because he has an extra chromosome.
2. Flexing my photography and photoshop skills never fails my own entertainment. Hey, if you don't want to read you can always peak.
3. You will not find angry disgruntled mom rants on this blog, but honest assessments and practical faith solutions to everyday mishaps, experiences and multitudes of joy.

How has blogging changed your journey as a family?

Besides a very hungry husband, blogging has given me an outlet to be authentically and freely me. It has connected my family to people around the world walking in the same journey or struggling with big decisions on their hands with a prenatal diagnosis. Vulnerability comes with a price, but for the glory of the Lord it's worth the cost. 

What are your three favorite posts?

1. Fortune Teller
2. From D1 to T21
3. I carry a concealed weapon