I don't want to forget....

Those of you who have read my blog for any length of time know that I don't like autism and how it has taken my sweet girl away. However, as much as I wish she'd wake up tomorrow, a typical 7 year old girl, I have learned some things the past four years while on this journey. Some things I know I couldn't have learned without autism. Let me share a couple with you. I am a better mom. I was one of those who really thought I'd be a good mom. I always loved being around kids and dreamed for years about being an elementary school teacher. I'm not one of those that had no idea what to do with kids when I first had EK. (I was a little clueless in the newborn stage, I'll admit.) I was excited to be a mom and thought it was going to be so much fun. Well, it is fun at times, but being a mom has taught me a lot. It's taught me how selfish I am, how my bad attitude affects the others around me, how I try to control things. It's also taught me to love unconditiona...

Keith is serving on the executive board for the SBTC (Southern Baptist of Texas Convention). They had their annual board meeting earlier this week in Galveston and I was able to go with him. :) We are very thankful that both our parents were willing to help take care of the kids. I can't remember the last time Keith and I took a road trip without kids. It was so nice to have uninterrupted conversations and just enjoy the ride. We got to our hotel around 4 and had time to relax before meetings others for dinner. This was our view from our hotel room.     After a nice dinner, we were able to spend some time with Keith's long-time friend and his wife. I don't stay up past 10 anymore, so it was a late night for me. I was thankful we didn't have to get up too early Tuesday morning. We split up after breakfast . He headed to his meeting and I went with the other pastor's wives to tour Galveston. We saw a lot of the city and learned it's history. W...

It is hard to believe that AK is 20 months old. (EK was 20 months old when AC was born.Wow!) I love seeing him learn new things every day. He is talking up a storm, although there's a lot we still don't understand. He is very expressive, as you'll see in the video. Even though I see these sweet faces every day, I still laugh when he makes them. You can tell he's just so excited about each thing! We're working on body parts and animal sounds. You can also hear at the end what he calls AC.  

  We spent some time today at Mimi and Pop's on the trampoline. It's becoming our Saturday afternoon thing. :)       Sweet EK after she'd lost a tooth. She's lost 2 on bottom and 2 on top now.   My cleaning helpers...this was at 9pm last night.         This is from our ER visit a couple weeks ago. Did I write about this? AK got a nasty splinter and then spiked a fever EARLY (4am) the next morning. Instead of going to see my ped, I opted for the "doc in a box" places. My bad!! I have learned my lesson and will not take my kids there again. We ended up spending 7 hours at our local children's hospital because of elevated white blood cell count and left with no real answers. (He acted fine though.)  Guess he just happened to catch a virus about the same time as the splinter. Don't believe they were linked.    About a month ago,...

I thought I would let others know what our day-to-day life is like. I'm not complaining or whining about my life. While my life is not what I thought it would be when I dreamed about being a mom, I love my EK to pieces. I love everything about her, but read/research all the time to try and find ways to make her life better. I want her to be healthy, to be able to communicate, to feel loved, etc. If there something that's in my ability to help her, I'll do it. I know my husband feels the same way! Mornings: I get up around 6:30 to make my coffee and get EK's breakfast ready. Keith goes upstairs to get EK from her room and brings her downstairs. She can walk on the stairs if you hold her hand. She usually has gluten/dairy/egg free pancakes or waffles. She will use a fork if I put food on the fork. Since I don't give her syrup, she can use her hands to eat. After breakfast, we sit her on the potty. This is the only time she is consistent. Then it's time to get h...

Today is one of those days that I just don't like autism and what it has done to my sweet girl, the things it has taken away from her. I recently had some of our small cassette home videos put on a DVD. I'm not sure it was the best thing b/c there were several videos of my EK before autism. So normal...playing with toys, talking a little, following directions. It's hard to explain if you didn't know my girl before she regressed. Her regression was so very slow, so I can't pinpoint anything specific that caused it. Looking back, she had a lot of sensory issues at first, chewed on EVERYTHING or at least put it in her mouth before spitting it out, she starting walking on her toes shortly after she turned 2, she wouldn't eat certain textures, etc. However, I knew nothing about sensory issues and how helpful an occupational therapist would have been at the time. She was verbal and could make simple requests, although closer to age 3, a lot of her speech was echolalia...

Just in case you don't know a child with autism or aren't sure what autism is exactly, here is some information I got from www.rethinkautism.com No two children with ASD are alike. Some may never develop language, and can have other problems, such as mental retardation or seizure disorder. A child on the mild end of the spectrum may be able to function in a regular classroom and with intervention may overcome many of the challenges associated with the disability to the point where he is no longer identified as having an ASD. Children on the autism spectrum may avoid eye contact, ignore others, speak little, or lose language or social skills they once had. They may exhibit self-stimulatory behavior for example flapping their hands repetitively or they may focus on one activity with little interest in anything else, for example fixating on the wheels of a toy car for hours. This year, one out of every 88 babies born in the United...

Today is called Autism Awareness Day and the month of April is used to raise awareness of what autism is and how many it's affecting. The statistics are really depressing, to be honest. I got these facts off of www.tacanow.org , if you are interested in reading more. I'll post some other things and share more about how autism affects us every day throughout this month. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me. •AUTISM OCCURRENCE: One in every 88 children in the US has autism (read CDC March 2012 Study). It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. has autism. (Note: This number and the following statistics below do NOT include: PDD, Asperger’s and other spectrum disorders.) These statistics are endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics, and other federal agencies. Autism Facts: •Autism prevalence figures are growing •More children will be diagnosed with autism this ...