Monday, October 28, 2013

Halloween for ALL!


What a wonderful weekend of laughter, happiness, fun and surprises! We don't get many weekends like this. Most times it's kids who are struggling to have a good day as routine is changed for the week. But this weekend, we celebrated eight years of blessings with Evan in our lives. We celebrated, Chris standing next to me (our "non-verbal"son) and count from one to ten like it was "normal"......I sat and looked over at my husband and said "did you just hear Chris?"
He looked at me and said "wait that was Chris? I thought it was Evan!" As you can imagine we cheered Chris on and celebrated his progress and loved every ounce of happiness that he showed as we cheered him on. This seems to be his "break out" year. So many milestones that he is finally meeting. In a way we feel overwhelmed with how much he has progressed in the last few months. Should we dare get him a Halloween costume and see if he will wear it and go trick or treating? Will it be too much for him to handle? It's worth a shot I guess. I guess that is for another post. Yes?
Another fun thing we did this weekend is we as a family went to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out the pumpkins. It's moments like this that we cherish, when we can go together as an entire family on an outing. We of course worry about overload and meltdowns. Evan was so excited and began to wander around looking at all the pumpkins making sure that whatever pumpkin he chose it's the perfect one. Chris held my hand and we walked around. He was gracious about posing to allow us to take pictures of him and Evan. Even with all the other people, the sound of traffic as it drove by, he stayed so calm. He not once chose to dart away or run off. He just looked and walked with me. I said, "pick out your pumpkin!" and you know what! He did! It was just perfect! It was a good outing for all of us. And for that I thank God for it.







So after all that fun, we went home and looked for ideas to carve into the pumpkins. Chris chose a cute Mummy, and Evan chose Masterchief from Halo. Dear Lord that was a hard one! 



Okay so the last one was Mommy and Daddy's pumpkin.....and of course the boys may have picked out the designs, they would not go near the inside of those pumpkins. Maybe next year, they passed again this year! We had a great time either way. 

Ahhh...the final point for today is, it's almost Halloween. With that in mind, if you have a child with Autism, share with others the following, if you are someone who doesn't have a child with Autism, read it, and share it with others. I hope and pray that ALL children are able to enjoy Halloween this year, and hope that everyone gives that understanding to our children and be kind to them! 

Have a great Halloween! 
   

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

How they Amaze Me....One Day at a Time

I have been so busy with school and the kids that I haven't been able to post anything recently......life...so much has happened and I feel like I don't know where to begin. On October 8th we were in a car accident. Thank God both boys were uninjured in the accident. I on the other hand have been placed on light duty with life...So far two slipped disks in my neck, shoulder and knee injuries that I need to see the orthopedic surgeon for. But I will take the hit instead of having either of my two children being hurt.
Friday is Evan's 8th Birthday! I can't believe he is going to 8 years old. It really does feel like yesterday that my son was born at 11:59 AM on Tuesday October 25, 2005. I remember how tiny he was that day. I knew I was looking at the most beautifully amazing child on the planet as I sat in awe of him. My little blessing. Now he is only ten inches shorter than me, his feet are officially bigger than mine, and his personality is outgoing, funny, head strong, and loving......He is beginning to love the cuddle time with me. Finally almost eight years later, I get the snuggles and loves that I always longed for. His IEP went wonderfully. He is at grade level in his academics. His behavior is not. So that is what we are going to work on right now. See for yourself how my little guy has grown.

As a mother watching your child grow, you really are amazed at all the new things they do. I have learned through this journey how precious each and every milestone is. The first word (not Momma) Dinosaur. His first friend Aden. (still the best of friends) First day of school. The first time he spoke a sentence. The first time he looked me in the eye. And of course the first "I Love You Mommy". Still stay in my mind and heart as they will forever. I will never be able to forget the first or following seizures. The hospital trips, ambulance rides. The specialists. The tests and tests and more tests. The fear of not knowing what is going on and not being able to help your child. What I did learn from this journey is, we are okay. And we will be okay. We got this. I tell my boys this all the time. We got this. There will always be days that I hate Autism. Those days that it rears it's ugly head to prove to me that it's still there and no I can't forget it. I no longer however feel bad about their Autism. I am too busy praising them for all the amazing things that they do. Loving them. And most importantly having them love me and show me and tell me that they love me. Yep I am blessed that these two amazing angels are in my life. They teach me the best lessons in life each day. I am a better person because of them and thankful that they are there.
What I hope that you take away from todays blog is, always remember who they ARE, not the disorder they have. Look at them and see the amazing person they are. Love them and be there for them.

To Evan and Christopher....Mommy loves you to the moon and back. Always and forever!