School and lines

It is my baby's first day of kindergarden tomorrow! I am excited and at the same time really sad! She went to preschool last year, but now she is going to all day school and starting lots of new activities! I am SO proud of Emma and what an amazing smart and good girl she is, although if I could keep her little forever I probably would! I am excited to see how her first day goes tomorrow. I am going to be a room mom in her room so I will get to help out and be a part of her class! She is joining several activities as well. She will be doing swimming lessons, poms, and Awana! It blows my mind how once school starts kids lives get SO busy! I worry about having enough time to spend with her! I just have to add, in the process of writing this Emma was a "spring chicken" we caught, cooked and ate, we talked about the chrysalis (we cant call it a cocoon!) we have in a jar, read a book, and have talked spanish! She is so smart is just constantly amazes me! And she certainly has the best imagination EVER!

Grace's life is changing lots too! We started really focusing on her communication when we moved here. We had amazing oppurtunities with Birth to 3, they have done amazing with Grace! Our initial focus was simply to get her to communicate. We had to reinforce You ask, you get. So if she asked for it she got it! It was great at getting her to talk, but it was also creating a monster we knew we would have to deal with at some point. Gradually we worked at shaping our responses to her, we do not always say yes, but we try to avoid no (although we do say no sometimes now as well) by being careful in how we word it. She has just blossomed in her speech! SO it is time to reevaluate what our goals are. We need to work on getting her talk to other people now, and we also need to start addressing the "bossy" behavior. She is use to getting everything she wants and if she throws a fit she gets her "calm down" items. She has definitely started using screaming and fit throwing to get what she wants. Up to now we have mostly ignored her when she does this, but I think it is time to really start addressing it. We have finally been able to establish "time-outs" in her room. Today was her first big one and it went pretty well. It took her a long time to calm down, and she is still getting upset quickly, but its a good start! Now that she has the language skills we just have to start getting her to use them! I am beginning to see a lot of impulse control issues with her. Some seem pretty ordinary for her age, but I also see some that have the potential to get out of control if we dont address them now! Well, this is about all the time I have to sit down for the moment! We off to play some games now!

Mommy's week off :)

It has been a while since I have posted, lots has been going on! I will start with the FANTASTIC 3 days and 2 nights I had without my children! I was struggling a LOT the week before the trip, but as always God knew just what I needed! I was listening to Focus on the family and they were talking about the importance of not letting your kids become your whole life. If you are like me and your kids often become the center of your life, I highly recommend listening to this. It put into perspective to me that it was important that I take that step and walk away for a few days! So what did I do? What any other mother would do who needed a few days away.... I went camping with the youth at our church! I love to camp and my husband and I haven't been able to go since Grace was born. SO my sister-in-law came to stay with my girls and I got away. It was a great time away and forced retreat since there was little to no cell service there. We went tubing and kayaking and I got a chance to get to know some great kids! The best part was, no diapers, no crying, no on waking me up at the crack of dawn, and NO dealing with autism! No convincing people she had it, or working on new treatment ideas, or talking with therapists, or discussing her meltdowns over dinner, or even rejoicing over the happy moments either. It was a complete break! I think when you have a child that requires more attention or has more needs it is SO easy to allow our identities to become completely wrapped up in them! The more attention that child needs, the less we feel we are able to get away. If nothing else, I have learned the opposite is true! It becomes that much MORE important to get that break, or else soon you will be so consumed with needing to care for others you quickly spiral into a vicious cycle of being to tired to care for yourself properly OR your kids properly! So how do you keep that from happening? Well, its way easier said than done! We are still working on that answer! What are your suggestions?

Dr apts, school, and more!

Grace went for a nurse apt yesterday and to see her allergist today. We also spoke with the school psychologist about some options for this fall. We have been struggling with her behavior a lot the last couple weeks and have been hoping for some answers!

At the nurse apt, we mainly wanted to check her weight since she hasn't been eating much lately. We did find out she has grown 3 inches since April! She has lost a little weight but not enough to be concerning yet. We are going to try adding some pediasure to her diet to make sure she is getting all the vitamins etc that she needs and just see if this is just a phase she is in.

The allergist had a lot of info, but unfortunately no answers. I am happy nothing is wrong, but a little frustrated there is nothing we can fix! The rash she had is most likely a reaction from the strep she had. I did learn that what most people think is an allergic reaction to an antibiotic is often just a reaction to an illness. She will most likely also have the same reaction down the road if she gets strep again. It is good to know I dont need to worry about the rash at all! We also talked about the fact that she seems to pick up EVERYTHING she is around. He did say that will likely get better overtime and will actually have a positive effect on her allergies. On the downside there really isnt anything we can do to improve it. I did ask about different vitamins such as fish oil and the many other ones we hear that are supposed "magic cures". I love this Dr because he is totally honest! He pretty much told me, they will not hurt, it may help, but it may not. There is not a lot of real research out there to back up whether or not vitamins really make a difference (this is obviously aside from someone who is actually deficient in something!). He said there is more anecdotal evidence for it (someone who has tried it and noticed a difference for themselves) and it would be something I wouldn't see a change in right away but more overtime, I may notice she has fewer strep infections a year kind of thing.

We also talked about a gluten free diet. It was a pretty similar discussion. He doesn't feel she has symptoms at all of a gluten allergy, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't benefit from a gluten free diet. I was excited to hear that if we did decide to try it we would see a difference in a few weeks (MUCH better than what I had originally heard that said it took 6 months to see a difference!). I think we will probably try the gluten free thing for a while and see if we see a difference. If we don't we will just go back to our regular diet.

I also talked with the school psychologist today about Grace. I was hoping to start her at the same time as Emma to minimize the need for repeated routine changes. We are going to do sort of a mix. If she did start school Birth to 3 services would end, and I want to keep those going as long as possible! The school system also doesn't have a responsibility (for lack of a better word!) for kids until their 3rd birthday. His suggestion is we set up some "visits" for Grace so she can start to get familiar with the room and people in it and can start to feel comfortable there and begin to get into a routine gradually. I think this will work well. Given how much she has started to meltdown and have tantrums again lately, I think a more gradual process will be better for her.

Thats all for now! Now I am off to make dinner for my girls!

Activities for flubber!

If you havent read my post about flubber, check it out! The girls LOVED playing with it (as did the youth at the church I attended! We found way to many ways to entertain ourselves with it! lol). So here are some more ideas of what you can do once you have made it, please add your own ideas as well!

Put beads or small items in it to find.

Let it flatten out and press different shapes into it

Roll it into a ball

roll it into a snake

Squeeze it

Bounce it

Flubber! Great sensory idea!

This is a great, easy and cheap recipe! Its a WONDERFUL sensory tool too!

1 1/3 cups warm water

3 teaspoons borax

Stir together well

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 cups glue (about 2 large bottles)

food coloring (if wanted)

mix together well

Poor the borax and water over the glue mixture

(Get ready to get sticky! lol)

Let it sit about 20 seconds then carefully flip it over

it will be semi solid and very sticky, continue to flip until only about 1 tb of water is left and the outside is less sticky and holding together.

lift out mass and allow excess water to drip off

Flubber!

The more you play with it the more "solid" it gets, let it sit on your hand and it turns more "liquid" VERY fun! Once it is made its not very messy and easy to clean off surfaces.

As you play with it and roll it, it becomes more solid. I stored mine in ziploc bags.

The S word?

Its almost that time.... school! Emma is going to be in Kindergarden. She went to preschool last year, but she went between her dad and I so it was somewhat scattered. She is going to kindergarden here this year and it is the first time she is in real full-time school! I am excited and nervous about it. I am excited for her to get to be around lots of kids her age, but a little worried about some of the habits she will pick up. This will also be all day school so it will be interesting to see how she does with that. Grace is also starting school this year as well! I am losing both girls at the same time. Grace is starting special ed 4 mornings a week. I am a little excited and a lot nervous about that! I am waiting to hear from the school if we can actually start her at the same time as Emma (normally she would start the week before she turns 3 which is the end of October). Given some of the recent behaviors we have seen, I am very concerned about her adjusting to Emma going to school then also having to readjust when she starts to go to school. Emma will also be gone a couple weeks right before school starts so this also has a big impact on Grace's behavior. I dont know what the state laws are so, they Grace may have to wait, but it is my hope to start them all at once! Emma's Nana is a child's advocate for the state so I am lucky in that area I do have her to help me out and answer questions for me and let me know what laws are. We have been seeing a lot of anxiety and OCD tendencies beginning in her. I am going to be trying to get in touch with a neuropsychologist and see if they can come up with some new ideas for us. Grace has come such a long way, but we are kind of stuck in a rut right now and need to come up with some new ideas! Do you have ways of getting out of a rut when you feel stuck with your kids?

Trip to Pic N Save with a happy ending!

All of us have those stories of getting angry at people when we are at the store or whatnot doing something while our child has an epic meltdown. I have come home furious many times and I have also made comments to people in stores many times when they have given me dirty looks when Grace is screaming. Today we had what I like to call an epic meltdown. You know what I talking about! The one where she is screaming so loud and so hard you can hear her, where you have learned to face her away from you so she cant hit and kick you. Grace was also trying to bite me, but was tensing her whole body so hard that it was obvious to everyone she was MAD!! She doesnt have these to often anymore, although lately we have been seeing more and more of them. What set her off? We were in the car cart, and she kept trying to push Emma out, so I took her out. For those of you who havent dealt with an epic tantrum, let me just say, this is not a 2 year old just angry about not getting her way (hence the word epic! lol). After I finished checking out and managed to get out of the store, I got Grace in the car and strapped in. I was just getting the groceries to put in the car when I saw a woman walking out. Of course, right away I thought, oh great here we go. She was obviously walking towards me. Then she came up and told me she wanted to commend me for how I acted in there! Instantly I teared up and thanked her and explained Grace was autistic and when she gets worked up, just doesnt have the skills to calm herself down. The woman told me she was so happy with how I responded and that I hung in there. WOW! I think it was worth the meltdown to hear someone give me a positive response for once! There was no judging and no telling me what I should be doing, just acknowledging a tough situation and thanking me for how I handled it. That woman was definitely a blessing for me today! :)

TGIF!

The weekend is here! Yay! I am excited and a little bummed, there is SO much going on this weekend it doesnt really feel like a weekend! Today I went garage sale shopping. I got a TV stand that holds all the girls videos and still has an empty shelf. I got a bookcase that is painted yellow and already matches the girls room, it was just right for putting Emma's electronic toys in her reach and out of Grace's. The playroom is finally completely organized! In our house the rule is (in theory!) that you take out one toy and before you play with another you put the first toy back. As long as I stay on top of the girls they do pretty good with this. What ways do you have to keep your kids putting away their toys? This way works for us, but only as long as i am staying on top of them. If I get distracted trying to keep the rest of the house clean then I will get everything else clean only to find their room is a mess again! LOL I heard a quote once, A mother trying to clean a house with kids in it, is like shoveling when its snowing. I think this is true! Do you have any tips or tricks that you use to keep your house clean?

Our visit with Congo, 8-3-11

On Wednesday we went to visit Congo. As you can see, he is growing! He was very hyper the first couple of minutes (which is definitely to be expected since he is ALL puppy still!) but then he quickly settled down. Grace had a pretty rough trip there, as soon as we were in the car she was asking to go home. Since it is a 1 1/2 hour car ride you can imagine how that went! She was pretty standoffish the whole time we were there, I got a couple cute pictures of her and him together. If you would like to see them, check out our facebook page Service Dog for Gracie. Congo had not seen Gracie in 2 months. I was expecting him to be very bonded with the family training him and not initially react to Grace. Well I was wrong! The INSTANT he saw her he ran to her and was all over her with kisses and climbing on her. Once he settled down she didnt really want anything to do with him, but he just watched her and went where she did! Even though I had the leash and I was the one petting him, he had his eyes on her the whole time! I followed her around with him for about an hour like this. At one point she was swinging on the playground, and he was laying on the ground just watching her. I am convinced he knows he has a special purpose in her life. God is absolutely showing me this is the right thing to do. Every time I feel worn down and find myself praying and asking God if I should continue on this path, the answer I get is an overwhelming yes! Some great things are happing with the fundraising (but that is a blog for tomorrow!). GOD IS GOOD! The trainer let me know after we left Congo howled when Grace was gone! I thought that was so cute. I am excited to update you on everything happening with the fundraising, but for now, I am off for some much needed rest!

Visiting Congo on Wednesday!

Grace has been talking about Congo like crazy the last few days! We are going to visit him on Wednesday, I was excited to tell her about it today. Emma will be meeting him for the first time, and we are bringing Jersey with us as well to see how they get along. He was in our house a couple weeks before going off to training, but this is the first time since he left Jersey will be seeing him. I am excited to see him as well. I feel like its these visits that give me the energy to continue this journey! There is NO doubt in my mind or in my heart that this is exactly what we should be doing for Grace. I will be honest, however, and say the process is definitely wearing me down. It has been MUCH harder to fundraise than I anticipated it being! I love talking to people, but its not feasible for me to have Grace with me when doing things like going door to door or meeting with groups of people. Since she is always with me, this is drastically cutting down my ability to go and get the word out. We have been having a lot of issues with Grace being sick or just plain having meltdowns so I have been in the house a LOT lately and havent had much time away from her. The last few days I have had to hold on the knowledge that I feel strongly this is the right think to do for her! When I picture Congo here I can absolutely see where our situation will get better. These times like now when I feel trapped in the house because of her behavior will hopefully not happen as Congo and Grace bond and learn to interact with each other and he helps her through these moments. Grace has become more aggressive over the past week, and I am constantly monitering her interactions with Emma. We have rearranged their rooms in order to have a room with no toys that is bare bones for Grace to go when she is overstimulated. ABA therapy would be so perfect for her right now. I am hoping after her birthday we can get on the waiting list to help address some specific issues! Soon she will start school, so I hope that will also help! The next brat roast is this weekend! I am excited about the oppurtunity to make more connections and raise more money for Congo! I hope you come to visit us at Walmart!