Awareness Month

April is almost over.

These months are flying by, which means summer vacation will be here before you know it, which means baby will be here before you know it!  Uh oh.

Before this month ends I feel like I have to do my part.

It is Autism Awareness Month.

I know I share a lot on this subject, but I feel it is soooo important.

I knew pretty much NOTHING about autism before my boy. 

I thought I knew, but I didn't.

If I can help at least ONE more person to understand something important about this disorder than I feel like I have done my part.

The thing that has been plaguing me lately is the fact that my son's autism is what I call "subtle autism."

There is no arm flapping, rocking, sitting alone in a corner.

I have more respect than you can imagine for parents with severely autistic children.

I in no way wish to take away from the things they are going through.

I would only like to share my experience with Asperger's and the difficulties it also brings.

 Asperger's Syndrome can be devastating in its' subtlety.

Everyday, I get the comment "He can't have autism!  He talks!"

I get people trying to comfort me by telling me that he will do fine in school, that we all have something quirky about us.

Yes, agreed.  We ALL have something quirky about us.

Even though it is frustrating, I appreciate their willingness to comfort and to be supportive.  I was completely ignorant when we first heard that my boy might be autistic.  Christopher was 3 and we were living in Oregon.  At a normal well check, the doctor suggested that my son may have high functioning autism.  Family and friends were shocked (as was I) and we were angry that this doctor had even suggested such a thing.  Christopher was a talkative, bright, beautiful boy.  We said "He can't have autism!  He loves to talk!"

My boy does not arm flap, rock, or sit alone in a corner.

My boy was the infant who could go a whole night without sleeping.

My boy was the toddler who couldn't go to sleep at night unless all his toys were lined up in his bed beside him.

My boy is the one who will rip up papers and scream at school because he can't stand writing while everyone is quietly whispering.

My boy is the one who cannot coordinate his legs to ride a bike,  his hands to catch a ball or color a picture.

My boy is the one who can only function with medicine I never would have believed I would give to my child.

You would think I would be happy to hear people say, "He can't have autism!  He talks!

In some ways it feels quite the opposite. 

It almost feels like someone you love has died and after you have finally accepted that fact someone says "He's not dead!!  He looks so alive!"

It is an emotional rollercoaster.  You start to feel like you are crazy!!  Do I not know my own child?

I relish in the times I get to speak with Christopher's therapists and special doctors. 

They understand the seriousness of his disorder.  They snap me back to reality and into "supermom" mode and give me the courage to get Christopher the help he needs.

Christopher's disorder has taught me to never minimize others problems. 

We can give a listening ear and offer our help.

Let's all be that for somebody.

I have wonderful family and friends who are there for me and I love them all for that.

I loooove my boy.

He is an extraordinary person. 

Autistic people are amazing.

Happy Autism Awareness Month! 

A break for spring . . . .

Wow.

What a couple weeks this has been.

This was my first spring break with a kid in school and it was so much fun!

It was so nice to have Christopher home for the week.

I thought it might get difficult just because he was out of his routine, but his anxiety level stayed pretty low almost the whole week.

The weather was pretty nice and we spent some time outside.

Daddy even came home early enough one night to play outside before the boys went to bed.

What a treat for these boys!

Thankfully, we are pretty much DONE with tax season and our Daddy comes home at a reasonable hour! Yay!

The boys dyed easter eggs at Grandma's house this year and Christopher could not get enough of it.

He begged and begged me to do more.

We already had a fridge overflowing with dyed eggs so I suggested we paint some pictures of eggs.

They loved it

and Christopher did so well with the painting.

Normally this would have put him over the edge, but thanks to all his therapy he is doing pretty well.

We decided to make a card for Camp Hippo (his therapy place) as a thank you to celebrate his beautiful egg paintings.

We had a great Easter!

The boys baskets were a little silly this year.

They got a toy whale and an octopus that grows. The boys are very interested in ocean creatures lately. Okay, Christopher is very interested in ocean creatures and Andy loves to play anything with his brother. The octopi are sitting on my kitchen counter.

Very appetizing as I prepare dinner :)

I teach young children at my church and I was asking them what they got from the Easter Bunny. Their loot was impressive - roller skates, big pink bunnies, someone even got a new bike. Christopher was so excited to share - "I got a whale! It's really cool!" The kids just stared. The other and teacher and I tried so hard not to laugh.

I got my very own Easter surprise.

My wonderful husband got me an Easter gift.

We NEVER get each other gifts, so this was a big surprise.

He bought me this book -

Sooooo good.

He knew I enjoyed her blog and I had been wondering whether I would like the book.

I do.

It's excellent.

I hung the lanterns in the baby room.

I decided to do it by myself and, believe me, I'm surprised a few of those lanterns were not ripped to shreds because of my frustration. I did it though and I really like it. Now I am just terrified a huge paper lantern will fall on the baby while he is sleeping. Ha ha.

All in all, we had a great break and it was sad to send my boy back to school.

Did you have spring break? How was your Easter?

It's a first . . . .

While I was at a meeting last night I got a text from Davin - "Christopher lost a tooth!"

I immediately thought - What did he do to knock his tooth out!!!?

Christopher has been SOOOOO anxious to lose a tooth. He feels like EVERYONE at school has lost one except for him :)

So, I was surprised that he didn't even realize his tooth was loose?

A mystery.

Anyways, he was chewing on a plastic sword (very strange) and it popped out.

He is over the moon with excitement and wanted to take a lot of pictures to remember.

He, of course, had to take some with his star glasses which he calls "so stylish and cool".

We are excited to have our first missing tooth!

Congratulations to Christopher!

Hello there . . . .

Hello, Blog!

I have neglected you!

I figured it would happen sooner or later. Life is getting too busy.

Here is what we have been up to . . . . .

Davin has been busy slaving away at the office.


Busy season is almost over!!! Only a couple more weeks.
I can't believe it.
We survived another one.

I have been busy growing a baby.

This one has been hard work, let me tell ya. Sick sick sick, horrible Braxton Hicks contractions, anemia (happens with all my babies), and really sore hips (anyone else have that problem?). I can't complain too much though. I find pregnancy to be such a miracle I can't help but be fascinated by the whole process.

I have finally gotten over the fact that we are NOT having a girl and have shoved all of those dreams of pink dresses and a pink room out of my head :) Luckily my little brother and his wife are adding a girl to the mix. Yippee!
I've started on our little guy's room and I am having tons of fun with it. My mom has been a HUGE help and I thought I would show you how it is coming along. I've gotten most of my ideas from pinterest and I am actually DOING them. Has anyone else had that problem with pinterest? You pin an enormous amount of fun things to do . . . . . and you don't do a single one. Not this time!! I'm very proud of myself.

I took the baby's old, cheap cheap cheapo dresser (this thing is practically cardboard) and painted it to look like this one I found on pinterest.

Pinterest on left


I really think it turned out cute!!

I painted baby's wall with white and yellow stripes.


Pinterest on left


His room will be yellow and teal. I usually hate yellow, but I think it makes it so cheerful.

I bought these paper lanterns to make a huge mobile for above his bed.


Pinterest on top


I will show you again when they are actually hanging up. :)

I have found a lot of cool things at the thrift store, including this huge mirror for $10.

Can't beat that.

I have lots of other projects under way for his room and I will show you as I get them completed.

The boys and I have been enjoying some warm spring weather.

They also got their dusty bikes out of the garage and took a spin.

Last year Christopher could barely move the pedals on his bike (Asperger kids are notorious for not being able to ride a bike).

This year he was able to pedal!! Just goes to show what two years of therapy can accomplish!! Sheesh.
It's slow going but we LOVE seeing his progress.

What have you been up to??

The Score

Well, the poll has closed.

Out of 17 votes, only 2 of you voted for boy.

Our family as of today : Boys 4 (including Davin) Girls 1 (that's me)

I'm outnumbered . . . . . and we are excited about it :)

Mark your calendar!

February 27th is the day!

The day we find out whether I am destined to watch Cars and talk about things like Bakugan?? forever . . . . or whether pink and maybe some barbie dolls could be in my future.

(Either one sounds pretty great, don't ya think?)

Vote for Garlick Baby #3's gender!!!

It's a fact.

I share a lot of facts on my blog about autism.
I know it probably gets a little boring to most.
I find that I share the unfortunate things too much.
This post is about some fun, funny, and beautiful things about my boy.


FACT:

Christopher loves any kind of commercial, especially infomercials.

A lot of that you can contribute to his Asperger's.
Asperger children are extremely interested in facts since their worlds can be pretty confusing.

So, he will believe any commercial or infomercial known to man.

You say it's a fun toy - he will believe it.

You say it tastes great - he will believe it.

You say that knife can cut through concrete - he will believe it.

The other day I was discussing something with Davin and I said "How would I find a babysitter for all those days?"

Christopher casually walks into the room, looks up at me and says "Don't worry mom. Just use Care.com. They have lots of people to help you. Anyone you need. Babysitter, whatever."

Davin and I laughed and laughed. He is a walking commercial. He should be getting paid for this stuff.

The other day he was so excited about an infomercial he came running in our room to tell us. He was so excited he could barely get the words out. "There's . . . a . . . . chainsaw . . . on . . . tv. It's awesome! It can cut through a whole tree. We need that."

FACT:

Kids with Asperger's have a unique gift in being able to look past a person's appearance to the real person.
They are accepting of everyone.
Of course, this could be dangerous. Stranger danger is a difficult lesson to teach :).

I teach young children at my church.
This year I have Christopher's age group.
In our class we have a pretty severely handicapped boy.
My teaching partner and I take turns taking care of him while the other teaches.
The children are nice to him, but are understandably afraid of the noises he makes and of his strange actions.
Christopher has no fear of people with handicaps.
The first day we had him in class I was holding him and Christopher rushed up to him, gave him a hug and said "Oh, he is so cute."
The other children pull away when this boy tries to grab them. Christopher pulls this boy to him to give hugs.

Christopher attends a therapy facility that I have mentioned in previous posts.
They have group therapies and they are exposed to children with a whole range of developmental and physical problems.
Most children would feel pretty overwhelmed in such an environment.
To Christopher, they are all just people. Friends.
He was talking about a little girl the other day and I was trying to picture who she was.
I asked him "What is she like?"
He thinks for a minute. "Well, she is nice. She's really good at coloring. She has a Dora the Explorer backpack."
I say "No. What does she look like?"
He says "Oh. Hmmm. Well, I don't know. She doesn't have any legs."
I'm always so amazed by this unique ability.
What if we were all this way?
What a beautiful, accepting world this would be.



FACT:

Asperger children are never afraid to say what they are thinking. They always tell the truth. ALWAYS.
Sometimes it can be a bit embarrassing :)
Other times it is just cute and funny.
Christopher loves his kindergarten teacher.
LOVES her.
He draws her pictures. He tells her that he loves her all the time. He will announce it in class.
One day someone asked Christopher who his teacher was.
"Oh, her name is Mrs. ---- and she has beautiful golden hair and I love her."



If only I was so brave to tell people I love them. Tell people I appreciate them. Tell people I think they are terrific.


FACT:

I love my boy.
He is a beautiful person and everyone who comes in contact with him immediately senses that.
I would love to be more like him.