It’s hard to sit down and write about all of the emotions surrounding my beautiful daughter’s birth. Just putting it into words is difficult because from the very beginning she was making her presence known in a very big way!

Leighton Olivia Myrick was born January 30, 2009 at 11:10 a.m. She was beautiful and absolutely perfect. When she was born, we were unaware that she had Down syndrome, so to say the first couple of hours were crazy is an understatement. Over the next few hours, they spent time examining her, performing tests and trying to keep us abreast of the developments. It would actually take several days to get the results back, so the next few days and nights were spent anxiously watching and praying over our little one.

Over time, we tried to relax and begin our lives as new parents. In most cases, that is easier said than done, and of course ours was no different. As therapy and early intervention appointments became a common thing for us, we began to realize that raising her was going to be just like raising any other child. Of course it comes with challenges, some large and some small, but no one ever said raising children would be easy.

The big things didn’t seem as big as they did in the beginning, and the accomplishments were worth celebrating no matter how big or small. We got to watch her grow and achieve things they said she wouldn’t or couldn’t. She beat the odds then and continues to do that today.

Leighton is now 8 years old and a 2nd grade student at First Presbyterian Day School. She loves swimming, riding horses, and, of course, does not like boys.