Becoming a mom is
a unique thing in itself, let alone a special-needs mom.
Aw, that is so sweet.
Oh, my gosh, they smell so good.
You're so sweet to Mommy.
But if I barely touch your shoulders you'll do it, huh? You ready?
FINLEY LAUGHS
We were trying to get pregnant for about, like, two years,
I think, total.
I couldn't get pregnant, I had fertility issues. We just decided
that domestic adoption of a newborn was the route we wanted to go.
Do you like spiders? You do?
They scare Mommy. What about...?
When Daddy... When Daddy put one on your car.
Yes, Daddy scared Mommy big.
I'll never forget our attorney calling us
and letting us know that we had been matched.
Alexa and I were pretty close through the pregnancy.
We texted round-the-clock.
I walked in the room and there was Finley in the little incubator.
She was three pounds, and I just instantly fell in love with her
and I wanted to climb in there and protect her
and just promise her the world.
The five weeks that Finley was in the hospital after
she was born were very difficult for us.
We didn't know if she was going to have severe disabilities.
Why do you have to use this walker?
What do you use it for? Can you tell me?
Do you use it to fly?
No.
Do you use it to ski? No.
What do you use your walker for?
To walk. Good job. That's the girl.
Finley was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 15 months old.
It really was a life-changing moment for us.
A lot of people think that it is a leg disorder or just
a physical disability, it's actually because she has a brain injury.
So it's a neurological disorder, and her brain is just constantly
sending signals to her legs to be flexed and tight.
It goes in my mouth. Mm-hmm.
See, I can do it. Yeah.
OK, brush, brush, brush.
I got it on my mouth now. Take it.
With her having cerebral palsy she basically needs help with
almost every single task.
I was very, very depressed post-diagnosis
and so I spent a lot of hours just scouring the internet
trying to find other moms that I could just connect with,
and there really wasn't that many.
I found one mom who was a huge advocate for her son who has
a little more of a severe case of cerebral palsy.
And just watching her put him in these cute shirts
and do these posts, I was like, "I want to do that, too."
So I started a secret account,
I didn't tell my friends or family, anybody,
I just started it and I started posting.
I did not ever expect my blog to get any attention
and be where it's at today.
I just had a little dream that I would meet moms like me.
Is that your birthday cake?
I was closing my eyes.
Why were you closing them?
Can you pick it?
Can I go get it? No, can you pick it?
I still have days that are dark and I struggle and so
it's really awesome to be able to turn to other moms in those days.
I want to kiss it.
As of this morning, we had 87,000 followers on Instagram.
Oh, my goodness.
Finley, look, 88 now, just in one day.
Finley is extremely shy but she turns it on for the camera
and she loves playing dress up.
Do you want to play dress up?
Where are we going to wear it?
THEY LAUGH
What's Finley going to pick?
Let's do the flower.
No, this one.
Oh, this flower. No! No?
Which one, babe?
The pink flower.
OK, and where shall we put it?
Oops!
Can you stand me up? Yes.
I want to go show Daddy.
You want to go show Daddy?
Daddy!
Hey! I have one shoe on!
I don't know if I was expecting the online fame to be
so big as it is now.
I do know that Christina tends to put her heart and soul
on the line with everything that she does.
I think it comforts both the families and the children as well.
It kind of normalises the situation,
which is what we've hoped to kind of come out and do.
What's up? Did you choose these clothes?
How about the one shoe?
That's an interesting fashion choice.
Because this one... The other one comed off.
It fell off?
Yeah... The other one.
The right foot? Yeah, this one.
Where did it fall off at?
I think Christina and Finlay have a very special relationship.
I love how supportive she is, I love when Christina
and Finley go out and they're matching clothes.
We adopted our daughter, we went through a premature birth,
we went through finding out a diagnosis.
There was a lot of hurdles that we went through.
When there is a bump in the road they're not upset about it,
they just go right through it. Big one, big one. Oh!
How about a knucks?
Finley always has a smile on her face. Bring the bubbles.
Oh, bring your bubbles?
Yay! Yeah!
The days are going to be hard,
there's going to be a lot of difficult days and lonely days
and days where you just want to pull your hair out and cry.
You just literally have to be positive about your life
because no-one's life is easy, but get up, get ready,
go out there, let your light shine.
And, honestly, Finley is just...
..a little light.