The Time Has Come . . .

It's time!!

Time to reveal the winning answer to the What Are My Kids Going To Be For Halloween Contest!!
Can you hardly stand it??!!

The most votes went to Lightning McQueen and Mater.
No doubt it had to do with Christopher calling Andy a tow truck mouth in an earlier post. :)

Sorry to the majority of 8 people who voted for Cars, (I know, my blog is POP-U-LAR) but the winner is . . .


The Policeman and the Prisoner

Thanks for playing!
And, congratulations to you 4 who guessed correctly.
This is for you.




The coveted I Was Right About What Kristin's Kids Are Going To Be For Halloween Trophy.
Display it proudly.

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!!

Now We Know . . .

A few have asked how the visit with the neuropsychologist went.

I am willing to share because I feel like my son's story is a story worth sharing.

Before the neuropsychologist, none of his therapists used the word autism or asperger's.
Because of his age they were not really allowed to do so.
They just put him in the PDD-NOS group.
PDD-NOS stands for pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.
Many children stay in this group because their symptoms cannot be classified as classic autism or asperger's.
The neuropsychologist was "allowed" to use one of the BIG (kinda scary) terms if she had determined that he definitely fit into one of those categories.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to hear when we went into her office.
Did I want to know that his symptoms did not qualify him for a "scary" term?
Or, did I want to have a definitive diagnosis that I could tell those who work with him?
We sat down with her and talked a little about how he behaved in testing and what a sweet boy he was.
Then she said it. The sentence that I knew was true, but that we hadn't heard out of any of the doctor's mouths. "Your son has Asperger's Syndrome."
She then began to talk about the problems we are and will be facing and they just came flowing out of her.
She talked about social problems, problems in school, problems with getting a job, driving a car, having a long lasting relationship, going to college, the fact that people with asperger's syndrome automatically have ADD issues (oh goody).
For an hour!
I know just about everything about asperger's syndrome. I've read article after article and we LIVE with it every day.
But, it NEVER get's easier to hear it pouring out of a professionals mouth.
I left feeling so tired.

Yet, I felt somewhat relieved.
I now know the diagnosis. ASPERGER'S is our word.
I have him in the right therapies.
I feel like we are finally packed and in the car for our journey.

Here we go.

I have to say that I am so grateful to live in this time in earth's history.
There is so much more known about autism then there was even 10 years ago.
People are learning to be accepting and understanding.
I am THANKFUL for that.

Information about it is showing up everywhere!
Do you or your kids ever watch Arthur?


I love this show.
They talk about so many important issues in such a fun way.
Guess what they devoted a whole episode to!!
Yep. Asperger's.
You can watch a clip of it HERE.

Thanks for everyone's support and love. We feel it everyday.

Coloring

This month has flown by.

I usually relish in every little moment of October, because I love October.
I love the weather. I love the decorations. I love Halloween.
This year . . . I just barely turned my calendar from September.
Is it really the middle of October??

This month we took Christopher to a children's Neuropsychologist.
This is the big time stuff.
Basically as far as we can go right now for information about our boy.
His week (2 weeks ago) consisted of all day school, therapy, and 6 hours of evaluation by the neuropsychologist. Tomorrow we find out the results of her evaluations.
So so so much for a five year old. A five year old who's days are already exhausting.
It made me angry. Autism makes me angry . . . . A LOT.


This month I've been sad because I can't celebrate this October the way I always wanted to with my kids.
I always pictured us doing lots of crafts, going to Halloween parties, getting lost in a corn maze.
Now, we are lucky if we survive a little trick or treating.
This autism thing was really getting me down.

Today, I went into his room to change some sheets.
I looked up at his wall by his bed and saw this.



Pictures he colored covering his walls.
Pictures HE colored.
It may not seem like a lot for an almost six year old, but to us they are a masterpiece.
It has taken him almost 7 months of therapy to be able to hold a crayon and color a picture without help.
A pure miracle in my eyes.

I guess we always picture our lives being a certain way.
I always imagined the fun things my kids and I would do for Halloween.
I also never imagined that I would let my kids cover their entire wall in silly coloring pages.
Now, I can't imagine anything more beautiful.
We are lucky to see the little miracles in his life every day.

Maybe a little trick or treating is all we really need.

It's that time . . . .

It's that time of year again.

Time for the annual What Are My Kids Going To Be For Halloween Contest.
I know. I know.
I'm so sorry it's only once a year.
The excitement is palpable!!!

The choices are on the side of the blog.
Good luck everyone!

My Random Thoughts For The Week . . . .

This post will be chock full of things that have nothing to do with the other whatsoever.

What do you do with things like that?
I may start calling these posts "My Random Thoughts For The Week."
There, it's done.
Post named.

My mother in law made the boys these amazing amazing quilts.


They really pull the whole room together.
Thank you Grandma Eva!!



The boys have been squeezing the last little bits of warm weather out these last couple of days.
It was fun to see the guys hanging out,


kicking a ball around,


beating each other to the ground,


crying about beating each other to the ground,


and laughing at the other person crying?


Oh, help us.



We went to Utah to visit Davin's parents.
I forgot my camera. Again.
We went to the big game.


Now this game, I swear, has turned into part of a Harry Potter novel in our house.
The game that shall not be spoken of.
If you saw it, you know why. Ugh.
While we were there I got to go to Hobby Lobby with my mother in law and sister in law.
I had no idea it was such a fun store.
I came away with this golden letter G.


I think it looks awesome on our wall.
Only picture I (kind of??) have from the trip.


Christopher told me the other day that Andy had a tow truck mouth.
I kinda panicked for a minute. What does that mean??
Did you hit him in the mouth with his tow truck? With boys you never know.
"He looks like Mater, Mommy!"
Ohhhhh, I see what he means.


He does have a tow truck mouth.;)


I love zebra stuff.


It is really becoming so cool and chic.
I found these ottomans at Home Goods in TJMaxx the other day.


$15.
I love them.


So, what are your random thoughts for the week??

Things We Love Lately . . . .

I love waking up to get my boy to school. I get to see this every morning.


The sun rising up over the hills.


We loved taking the boys to the fair.


They ate huge cinnamon and sugar "tiger ears" and had messy faces while they looked at animals and admired prize winning pumpkins.


I love "The Help".


I know I am probably the last person on the earth to read it, but still . . . I love it.


I love love loved taking pictures of my new nephew.

I got two whole hours to look into those little eyes and feel those soft little cheeks. He is a sweetheart.


I love my latest decorating adventure.
I stenciled my wall.


I've been wanting to do it FOREVER. I finally got the courage.
Took me two days.
Two days of pure torture.
Not joking.



I am loving PINTEREST.


Again, I am sure I am the last person on earth to finally join, but WOW.
I love all the amazing new ideas on there.

What are you loving lately???

It's the first of September . . . . .

Thanks everyone for your comments and emails and kind words about my "Being Real" post.

I honestly honestly posted it for the release of all my pent up frustrations, but I gained something truly special from it.
I learned that even though life's struggles can be lonely at times, there are people who understand or WANT to understand. Thank you. Love you all.

And, just so ya know, my husband and I are not the only ones that have to adjust to the autism life (as I call it).
Andy deals with a lot himself.
In a day we do about 9 trips in the car to and from school, therapy, and doctor's appointments.
This poor thing barely gets a nap some days.


Even though he is in the terrible twos, thinks he knows everything about everything, is stubborn as can be, . . . . he is a trooper. When I have to wake him up from his nap, before he even opens his eyes, he says "Go get Buddy?" (that's what he calls Christopher). He gets up and he gets his shoes on and he gets in that car even if it is the 9th time he has done it that day. We love him.

I am trying, now that Christopher is in school, to give back some of that one on one attention that Andy has missed in the chaos of this difficult year.
Today is September 1st.
To me, that means fall!!
And, what a fabulous "fall" day it was.
The temperature only got to 74 today and there was a light breeze and dark clouds. It felt great!
So, Andy and I celebrated by making some cinnamon rolls.



He had a blast putting flour in the mixer.


I tried not to show that I was anxious about the flour pouring onto my counters and floor :)



We had a great time together and we are happy to be spending some Mommy-Andy time.

Are you excited for fall to arrive?