October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and Mommy Moxie is an Awareness Champion!

Holy cow, it’s October!

I know, like that’s a surprise to anyone else, but it seems like this year has flown by. I guess when you have a new baby and a toddler, things tend to move a little quickly, but it just seems like it’s gone by faster than usual.

I’ve had a really great year business-wise and it’s only getting better. One of the best things about this year is some of the other bloggers that I’ve had the opportunity to work with, like April from Knocked Up Fabulous, Nykki from Another Day in Paradise and Kimberly from A Little Bit of This. But a few weeks ago, I was approached by Meriah from With a Little Moxie about doing a review on one of my maternity hospital gowns. She reached out to me when I was super busy so I only had a chance to quickly peruse her blog, and at first I really didn’t know if we were a fit; I told her that I didn’t know if I could, as I was trying to work with another blogger. She was overly gracious and wished me the best in landing my “dream” collaboration. I thought that was it, but over the next couple of days, I couldn’t shake the feeling I needed to consider working with her, that I needed to look at her blog again. So I did, and that night I had one of those dreams that you wake up from with such a sense of certainty that it makes those little hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

See, Meriah is a mom of two, soon to be three, and her second child, a daughter named Moxie (how cool is that?!?) has Down Syndrome. For those that don’t know, for about five years I either taught or worked with special needs children, their disabilities running from profound deformities to mild learning disabilities. Of all the kids I worked with though, those with Down Syndrome tended to be my favorites. What people don’t realize about people with Down Syndrome is that they have an extra chromosome-chromosome number 21 to be exact-but that chromosome just gives them an extra dose of awesomeness. The kids I had the honor of working with were extra loving, extra eager to learn, extra happy. They were just fun. So when I told Meriah about my dream and that we should work together, I also told her I had taught special ed. It was then she asked me to be an Awareness Champion for the month of October, and of course I was 100% on board.

We also agreed to do a review/giveaway in November after little Boo’s arrival, so I sent her some fabric options and here’s the end result. I just love it! The new With Moxie gown is perfect-just like Meriah’s cause.

As October is Down Syndrome Awareness month, if you enter “WITHMOXIE” at checkout you will receive 15% off anything in my Etsy shop. If you happen to purchase the “With Moxie” gown, which Meriah will wear when baby #3 comes along around Halloween, 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the National Down Syndrome Society. Pretty cool, right? I love being an Awareness Champion!

Follow Meriah this month and you’ll also be able to get in on some fabulous Celebration giveaways from Meriah’s other Awareness Champions. They are: