About Us
Owners of Littlest Warrior: Diana Collins & Trisha Romero
The Story About Us
I’m Trisha Romero.
My husband is Omar Romero, and we have have 4 wonderful children - ages 10, 7, 5, and 5. Our youngest, Cruz and Livia, both have Down syndrome.
During Cruz’s pregnancy, we did a blood test to find out his gender but ended up finding out a lot more. We found out that he was very likely to have Down syndrome. The news was very tough and quite devastating for us initially since we didn’t know anything about Down syndrome and what that would mean for our unborn son. After allowing ourselves to cry and mourn the loss of the child that we thought we were having, we wiped away the tears and committed to be the best parents that we could be to our son. We spent the rest of the pregnancy learning about Down syndrome, making connections with other families that had children with Down syndrome and preparing for his arrival. The moment that Cruz was born was unforgettable, and we realized that he was exactly what we needed the whole time. Cruz is cherished very much by the whole family and has taught everyone so much already about love, acceptance, and faith!
After having Cruz, we learned that many children like him end up without a family just because they have Down syndrome. We began discussing the idea of international adoption, looking at some of the children that were waiting, and knew that someday when the time was right that we would bring home a child with Down syndrome and provide them with a family, a home and most importantly LOVE! In November of 2019, I came across a beautiful baby girl in Ukraine and without hesitation knew she was meant for our family, so we started our adoption journey. After working through all of the steps to adopt, we traveled to Ukraine in July 2020 to meet Livia. She officially became our daughter in August, and we brought her home in September.
I’m very passionate about spreading awareness around inclusion and teaching others about Down syndrome. Locally we are an ambassador family for Easter Seals (service provider to children with developmental delays and disabilities). I also serve on the board of our local Down syndrome association, Heart of Illinois Down Syndrome Association (HOIDSA). In the past, I served a co-director of a committee for Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network (DSDN) where I had responsibility over welcome gifts, pregnancy gifts, memorial gifts, care packages and scholarships to mom/dad retreats. Just recently I was selected to join DSDN’s Medical Outreach Team, and will be attending medical conferences to talk to medical professionals about DSDN’s work and about the diagnosis experience at a national level. I’m hopeful that all these efforts will continue to showcase how wonderful, worthy, and capable people with Down syndrome and other special needs really are…that is a life mission for me!
In addition to being a wife, a mother and an advocate for my children, I have been working as a Treasury / Finance Leader in a large Fortune 100 for almost 18 years. I have a strong background in business and financial operations and really enjoy my corporate career and am excited to use these skills along with my passion for inclusion, awareness, and advocacy in a business like Littlest Warrior is very exciting to me!
Hi I am Diana Collins.
I have been married to my sole mate Lee for almost 25 years. We met on our high school graduation trip, and the rest is history! We have 4 amazing kids, 23, 21, 15, and 7!
Lee & I started life in a non-typical fashion for a young married couple. I graduated with a BS in Child Development and special ed, and with 2 babies home we started our first business. We are true entrepreneurs, and have started, grown, and sold many businesses through the years.
When our boys were in high school, and our daughter was 9, we felt like we wanted to do more to help children. There were so many children needing homes, food, and most of all love … that’s when we found the Reeces Rainbow adoption advocacy site.
We saw a picture of this tiny baby girl with Down syndrome, and I couldn’t get her out of my head. I stared at her picture for hours and it felt as it she was calling to us. We signed our commitment paperwork and we were going to Ukraine to adopt this baby with Down syndrome. Then, October 17, 2017, at 12 months old, Kenzie became our daughter!
We started off with a different kind of journey having a baby with Down syndrome. We “chose” the diagnosis and weren’t surprised by it, but like most, once bringing home our baby with Down syndrome, we quickly learned that not only were we going to “love” and “provide” for this baby, we were going to “fight and advocate” for this baby! We volunteered at our local Down syndrome organization, involved ourselves at all events, attended Gigis playhouse weekly for play dates/events, joined support groups, and unfortunately became regulars at the Children’s Hospital due to so many medical issues.
Our new mission became making sure our little Kenzie overcame her medical hurdles, and was given every opportunity and experience possible so that she can show others just how capable she is. Our passion has become advocating for her to be treated with kindness, love, respect… to be recognized for having Down syndrome, but loved for who she is… and to be fully included!
We are so very proud to say, Kenzie graduated from a general ed Kindergarten class, and is now on to 1st grade in a general ed class, as well. She is loved by her peers, and has spread joy among her school. The smiles that we see are priceless. To know that Kenzie came from a birth abandonment due to her diagnosis, to being included and loved by kids of all ages who see right past her diagnosis… it is truly heart warming and incredible to experience.
To be able to own an online apparel company that advocates for inclusion, adoption, kindness and so much more, is a dream come true for me. To be able to apply my business knowledge and experience with my passion and mission in life, is a win-win! And even more so, to partner with my good friend Trisha - who brings the financial background and great involvement in the DS community and many organizations and combine it with my business knowledge and development experience, along with my creativity and implementation … and with our mutual desire to spread awareness in so many areas … I can’t imagine a better way to utilize our skills and motivation, than to be able to continue “carrying the torch” of Littlest Warrior.
Written by Founder of Littlest Warrior, Michelle Sullivan:
We found out when I was 20 weeks pregnant that Eli had a heart defect and his intestines were blocked. Both those things pointed to Down Syndrome as well, so we had a blood test to confirm.
He was born full term via c section weighing 4 pounds 3 ounces. When I heard him cry, relief washed over me. A nurse brought him over and I got to kiss him before they rushed him to the nicu. He had his first surgery at 2 days old to unblock his intestines, then it was an agonizing long 2 days before I could hold him again. He was able to come home after only 12 days in the nicu. Then the next 6 months was a waiting game for his open heart surgery to repair his av canal defect. After countless visits to the cardiologist for echocardiograms it was time. Handing them over to the surgeons that day knowing that I may never see my baby boy again, was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But the surgery was successful and he amazed us again by coming home after only 6 days in the hospital. Eli is exactly who God wanted him to be and exactly what He knew our family needed. I will never be same and my 3 daughters will grow up to be kind and compassionate advocates and for that I am grateful. Eli is a gift that keeps on giving :)
After his heart surgery I was looking forward to connecting with other moms who have kids with disabilities. I also needed to find a way to earn an income and be able to stay at home with Eli so I could take him to all his doctor and therapy appointments and the thought of a shirt business to spread awareness and inclusion really sounded great to me! My very first design was the Holland Tour guide tee because I read the Welcome to Holland story about what it's like having a child with a disability when I was pregnant with Eli and it brought me great comfort. I love that when we wear Littlest Warrior t-shirts, they end up being conversation starters and that's a great way to spread awareness!
I started Littlest Warrior back in January 2015 and I am blown away by the outpouring of love and support we have received!