Meet our two-year-old Palyn. We had an unofficial prenatal diagnosis at 11 weeks through a blood test. We were given the chance to have further testing to confirm the diagnosis, but opted not to. Nothing would change the fact that we would be having a beautiful, little girl. On January 18th, 2018 our lives would be forever changed. After a short NICU stay, we were blessed to head home with no medical conditions related to her diagnosis.

We want to give our daughter every opportunity to be anything she wants to be. We push her weekly through Early Intervention, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Without all of their support, we would not be where we are today. It may take her longer and she may have to work harder to achieve those milestones, but she will get there. At 9 months old, Palyn became a Down Syndrome advocate for the globally published photographer Stephanie Ann of Paperdolls Photography, based out of Nashville, TN. Her mission is to capture the hearts of her subjects teaching the world to love like Jesus does with her universal mantra “Look with your eyes, but see with your heart.”

Palyn amazes us daily with her spunkiness, silliness, resilience, determination, and sweetness. We couldn’t be more proud of the person that she is and of the person that she will become. To all the future Down syndrome families out there, everything will be okay! You have an amazing community and support system here. We are honored to have Palyn represent this amazing organization as a 2020 ambassador.