Things We Love Lately . . . . .

I love that this boy had a birthday.

Okay, maybe I don't LOVE it. My baby turned 3!

I do love that he loved having a birthday.

His day was full of cars and more cars :)

I love that for the moment we have found the most heavenly balance of medication and stress free living for our Christopher.

For the moment :)

That means that these two are best friends again.

Doing EVERYTHING together.

And I mean EVERYTHING.

Oh, how I love it.

I love the show Intervention.

I think it comes from my obsessive need to see that everyone is living their happiest lives.

I HAVE to see that these people get help. And, if they don't . . . . . well, I'm sad for the rest of the day.

Yep, I'm a strange one.

Maybe in a different life I should have been a therapist.

I am loving cheetos.

I used to think that people who had weird cravings during pregnancy were . . . .well, . . . . weird.

I have always HATED cheetos. However, during this pregnancy they taste like heaven. Pure heaven.
Don't worry. I don't sit around eating cheetos all day. They are my rare treat :)

What is your rare treat? Do you think that I need an intervention from cheetos?
And, what are you loving lately?

It's a . . . . . .

Baby.

We are having a baby.

We are having a BABY!

New baby's picture is up on the fridge, mingling with his (or hers') brothers' pictures.

I got baby's picture taken today at the doctor.

This pregnancy has been strange for me.

The smile has been there on my face and the words "we are excited" have come flowing out of my mouth without hesitation.

But, in my heart I was afraid, anxious, and somewhat numb.

It may sound strange to others, but I was feeling guilty about this pregnancy.

I know that by already having a child with autism, the odds are greater that I will have another one with those issues.

I honestly considered not having more children.

I was surprised when they took me into the ultrasound room at the doctor.

They said they like to do an ultrasound at the first appointment.

They said this would be fun because usually most patients aren't far enough along to see much.

I am 14 weeks and the baby would be much more formed.

And formed it was.

A perfect little outline of baby's head, nose, mouth.

Little legs and toes kicking.

Little arms and fingers moving up and down.

A heart beating in its' little body.

There was a little person growing inside me.

I was so emotional on the 30 minute drive back home.

I was no longer numb.

I felt this baby.

I felt that I was not a selfish person for bringing this new life to our family.

This baby was a blessing from God.

My Christopher, with all his struggles, has taught me so much.

He has taught me that life is precious.

He has taught me that some of the most beautiful people on this Earth are the ones that are "different".

Whether this next baby has some difficulties like Christopher or not, it will be special and loved by our family.

We are having a baby!!

It's our party . . . and we will cry if we want to

What a holiday season we had.

We partied!
And, . . . . we pity partied.


Pity party -

The kids and I developed a cough that literally lasted more than a month.


Ugh.


Party! -

Christopher had a birthday!


Number 6!




Pity party -

Andy and I developed food poisoning from some really beautiful, really delicious oranges.


Not fun.


Party! -

Christmas!!
We had such a wonderful Christmas full of family and happy memories.



Pity party -

Christopher developed the stomach flu on Christmas night.



Party! . . . . uhhh . . . . pity party?? . . . . can't decide -

Grandma and Grandpa Garlick came to visit us after Christmas!
We had a great time chatting, playing Farkle (love that game),


and just enjoying their company.
Andy began the stomach flu the day they arrived.
Christopher began a new medication that was producing some very negative side effects (at the time we didn't know it was the medicine).
After they left, Daddy got the stomach flu . . . . and then Mommy.
Wow. Food poisoning, cough, stomach flu, and morning sickness were MISERABLE for this Mommy!
Ha ha.

However, we are all well.
No more stomach flu.
No more new, scary medicine.

We have one more party coming up.
Andy's birthday is today.
3 years old!
Where does the time go?
We are waiting to celebrate next week.
We are exhausted from all this partying and pitying :)

How was your holiday?

It's my party . . . . .

My birthday is on the 16th.

My last year in my 20s.
:(
We already did a little celebrating at my Grandparent's house.
I was surprised with some fun gifts.

My parents gave me one of my great grandmother's rings.


It is stunning and a real treasure to me.
One of those possessions that truly truly mean something.
I own very few things that mean something so wonderful. My family history.
I love it.

My baby sister (who works at Olive Garden) brought me a to die for piece of lemon cream cake.


Doesn't that look heavenly?
Well, it was. Believe me.


We decided to give our own little present at the party.
We pretended the gift was from Davin.
I pulled this out of the box :

(thank you to my brother Rob for the pictures)

It was fun to see the reactions. Especially because my baby brother and his wife are also having a baby in July. Double the fun.
We are very excited for our family to grow again.
What a happy birthday it has been.

Wishing . . . .

There is a lot of wishing going on at our house.
This year Christopher is planning out his Christmas and birthday (his birthday is on the 21st) lists with precision.
Every detail must be perfect.
Andy (whose birthday is right after Christmas) . . . . . . . not so much.

Me: Christopher, what do you want for Christmas and birthday?
Christopher : (mysteriously disappears upstairs and comes back with paper) Here Mommy, write this down, okay.
Me: Uhhh. Okay.
Christopher : For me, I want legos, etc. etc. etc (this went on and on).
Me: Wow. Okay that's a big list.
Christopher: For my zhu zhu pet, . . .
Me: For your zhu zhu pet???!
Christopher: Yeah Mommy, he needs stuff too.

Oh, boy.

Me: Andy, what do you want for Christmas?
Andy: Cars.
Me: What else would you like?
Andy: Uhmmm cars.
Me: What else besides cars?
Andy: Well, maybe soooommme cars?
Me: Just cars?
Andy: Yep. Cars.

Can you guess who will be the easy one this year?

What are your kids wanting for Christmas?

The Good, The Bad, and The Christmas Party . . .

We had a Christmas party at our church a couple days ago.

I love our church.
I love the people at our church.
I love Christmas parties.
I DO NOT love taking my poor boy to a crowded party.

Christopher is a boy of opposites.
He is a social butterfly with no inhibitions, yet becomes incredibly anxious in large crowds.
We are in the buffet line and the anxiety is already building.
He is afraid that they will run out of food.
He is afraid that they will not have anything he likes.
He is afraid that people will cut in line.
He is afraid that he will drop his plate.
The line is noisy. People are grabbing around each other. People accidentally touching.
He starts to meltdown. We are trying to get through the line fast, all while holding on to two children and 4 plates of food.
He is crying and getting angry.
People notice and try to calm him down . . . . .with teasing. Ugh.
(A little info : autistic kids can have a wonderful sense of humor. However, when stressed, they may take things you say as very very literal.)
He grabs for some chocolate pudding telling me the whole time "There is not going to be enough! I'm not going to get any!"
A man next to us says jokingly "You can't have that! Chocolate for dinner! Better put it back!"
Christopher's eyes get as big as saucers and he looks at me horrified.
This makes things worse.
What do I say to this nice man who is only trying to help?
It is a dilemma you run into EVERY day when you have a child with autism.
Do I tell him to stop teasing and hope that he takes it the right way?
Do I tell him my child has autism and wait for the look of I totally don't get what that has to do with me teasing him about pudding?
Nope. I decide on the try to nicely ignore him approach. I hope he thinks that I am too preoccupied and didn't hear him.
We made it through the line and are searching for a seat when that familiar, nasty, ugly thought creeps into my brain. We are not normal.

I try hard to push the thought from my mind, but some days it seems so impossible.
Then, I hear the announcement that Santa Claus has arrived!
Christopher immediately jumps up and runs to see.
I'm worried. Will he be okay in that room full of crazy kids?
Will he meltdown waiting in a line for Santa?

I give him a few minutes to see how he will do on his own and then head over to peek in on the situation.
What I saw made my heart sing.


He sat with the other kids with big bright eyes.
Totally enthralled with the magic of it all.
Then, for that moment we are normal.
He is just a kid enjoying the magic of Christmas.



We couldn't convince Andy to see Santa.
He just quietly snuck by to get his ornament off the Santa tree.


Love that boy.

The rest of the night went smoothly.
He participated in the Christmas program as a shepherd with his best buddy Abby (the angel)

We left tired, but satisfied that we had given our child a chance to be a normal boy.
And, If you really knew my boy you would know that he is better than normal.

Things We Love Lately . . . . . .

Yes, I am alive.

:)


These are some things we love lately :

We loved our first school pictures.


He was so incredibly proud.
He said "Mom, look how handsome I am."
I, of course, fully agreed.


We loved having Thanksgiving with Davin's family.
I didn't bring my camera. Ugh.
But, let me assure you that we had a great time.
Davin and I got to spend some much needed time apart from the children.
We saw The Help.


Have you seen it yet?
Loved the book and I really liked the movie.




I loved having the boys help me decorate the tree.


Our tree is small and humble, but to them it is Rockefeller Center.
Kids are great.


I love that my husband has, these past 7 1/2 years of marriage, taught me to love football.


No, seriously.
Before I married Davin I knew pretty much zilch about football and therefore did not enjoy watching it.
That is sooooo not the case now. Now I probably know more about football than any woman should. Players, players backgrounds, bad plays, etc. etc.
And, I kinda love him for that.
I love him for opening up a world that I had deemed boring and not for me.
Now if I could only teach him to watch my girly shows with me . . . . .

What are you loving lately??