11 months!

cant believe this one will be a year next month. this year has flown, and he has brought much joy to our family.

at 11 months,

jax has a few words, and loves to say daaaaaa-dy, ma-ma, and "cookie".

he's a sweet heart and i love his cuddles and kisses.

he loves his ba-ba and playing with his brother.

he naps 2 times a day and eats three big meals.

he is finally sleeping great (11-12 hrs at night)

and we sure do love him lots!

happy ELEVEN months Jax!

pressed but not crushed

i remember writing back in june; about all the yuckiness going on in our family, and thinking if we could just get to July things would get easier...but they didnt....they got a little crazier.

autism?
more car repairs
another virus for the littlest one
and now; salmonella for jordan.

many times i found myself begging for relief or asking why. I've been so encouraged as so many times asah would quote II Corinthians 4, and it became our little mantra.

Pressed but not crushed! I've said it to myself over and over this summer, and have come to believe the sweet truth.

II Corinthians 4:7-9
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

i love that the ESV (asah's preferred preachin' version of the Bible) uses "afflicted in every way" rather than pressed.

that's a description of this summer so far.

from broken A/C to various and sundry illnesses, 2 cars in the shop (including a breakdown on I-10 from GA), to a possibly life changing diagnosis for jordan (keep praying for Aug 5!)

so, there's a reason for not so many pictures and coupon links and general fun stuff....we've been walking through some difficult times this summer. and i'm ok with saying that it has NOT been fun, desireable, or easy. but we have hope in the fact that we know the One who holds us all together.

thanks for all the prayers. July's almost over....and I have some high hopes for August!

because we are here for his glory, and,
"to show that the all surpassing power belongs to him and not to us",

tara

summer fun

got some great shots of the boys today. i love being their mommy so much. the carefree feelings that come with summertime always put a smile on my face.







my little "princess".

when God's gift comes specially wrapped.

a friend directed me to Charles Swindoll teaching on this subject. How timely! How touching! God is so good. This is actually the title of a Chapter in a book he wrote on Parenting; but he also teaches a series of sermons on the topic. I havent listened to all of them, but I wanted to share them if anyone was interested in listening as well.

Click Here for Sermons

most helpful article on autism i've found to date.....

Click Here.

Written by 4 doctors who specialize in it. Very simple terms, easy to read, and just a good resource.

j's little memory is pretty amazing

one of the things that's always amazed me about jordan is his ability to memorize. recently he's become very attached to certain books and this one in particular he loves to recite. i could not point the camera at him because he'd stop and say "cheese" instead of "reading"...so i had to shoot the video from the side. anyway, you can kind of get the point. more than just the memorizing of this book, i love what it says, and have found myself in tears when we read it together because it's so true.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

here's the translation in case you cant understand "jordan-ese" :)

i could search the whole world over, from here to timbuktu
but i would never find one, just like you

i could borrow a bloodhound, to search and to sniff
would he find one like you? no! not even a whiff

you're a custom made kid, by God's own design
Your not three, you're not two, you're one of a kind!

Were you born high in the mountains, overlooking the lakes
Or down in the bayou, with the crawfish and snakes

God knows all about you and he smiled when you came
He delights in your laugh and the sound of your name

Curly hair, chubby toes, perfect teeth, freckled nose
If you're covered with mud or if you smell like a rose

Lots of sweet tiny details make you who you are
And I celebrate you, you're a superstar!

From all the you things that you'd like to change
There's not a single "you" thing that I'd rearrange

You're a gift sent to me, from God up above
Perfectly, delightfully created in love

When I'm with you, and when we're apart
You're always here with me, right here in my heart

I love you completely because you are you
Not only for the things that you say or you do.

You might snore in your sleep, or snort when you laugh
You might like your sandwiches in triangles or halves.

You have a purpose, no one can fufill
No one can replace you, and no one ever will!

Is it all coming clear now, can you see that it's true?
All these things I like are what I love about you.

quickie update: appointments

we got in! to the Baton Rouge Clinic. in record time. our pediatrician said to expect a 4 month wait for the one she referred us to, and a 2-3 month wait for her partners. how bout August 5???? God is good! One of our prayers was that we would not have to wait long. So we were thrilled to be given a date less than one month away.

Yesterday was a day of people calling me back as well. Lots of great information. We got hooked up with the Tangi School System's early intervetion and they'll do an evaluation soon (when school starts back?) They seemed to be on top of their game and offer many free services, which we'll take!

One of the not so great things about any developmental delay is that most insurances dont cover diddly squat. So we're praying for that too.

I also heard back from SLU's speech/language/hearing clinic and got more information from them. Several folks have recommended them, and the cost is fairly minimal each semester. There's a "waiting list" but not first come/first serve, it has more to do with the patient's age/situation since it's a teaching environment. We are hoping they need a 3 year old with ASD! They also do an eval. there. So he'll be thoroughly evaluated :)

Prayers:

That Jordan wont be too overwhelmed with all these "new" faces/evals/therapies, etc. Remember, he's still Jordan and doesnt know what in the world is going on with all these doctors visits and specialist appts. He's also terrified of doctors offices and hospitals and it takes him a long time to feel comfortable. He cries and cries and just has a tough time. So we're praying the clinics are warm and inviting and that he's comfortable so he can be accurately evaluated.

Finances. Most of this stuff isnt free. And most of it isnt covered by insurance.

For Asah and I to make the best decisions for Jordan. I have learned what it means to be an "advocate" for him already. Wisdom comes from the LORD.........

I cannot thank everyone enough for the comments on this blog, emails, etc. It is so freeing to share this and not carry it anymore by ourselves. You are all so wonderful!

And you know I'll keep you posted!

jordan: explained.

been wondering how to word this post for awhile now. guess it's easiest just to say it. we believe that Jordan has some form of autism. wow. it's almost freeing to even type it out. for about a year now, somewhere deep inside I knew that J was different. I always wrote it off as him being "quirky" or in Jordan's World. Maybe 3-4 months ago I shared this with Asah. After watching him closely we could not avoid/deny it any longer. I began to read and research everything I could. It wasnt pretty. J seemed to have all the classic signs and symptoms, right down to walking on his toes. (Had no idea that was even a red flag). This morning we went to our regular pediatrician for a consultation and to share our concerns. I've been journaling his behaviors for about a month now to get a clear picture. I also printed off a developmental checklist for 36 months and found that he has only met about 1/2 of the milestones. Talk about a springboard for action. Dr. Tran was awesome. Very affirming. She gave us some tools for early intervention as well as a Referral to Pediatric Neurologists in Baton Rouge. It will take some time to get an appointment there (think: Months) but meanwhile we can begin taking steps to get him lined up for Therapies, etc even before an official eval/diagnosis.

Pray with us. Jordan is still Jordan. Happy, free, loving, caring, Athletic, warm hearted. We want to get the best help we can, so that he can improve in his speech, social skills, and other areas where he needs extra help. We believe that he is on the high functioning end. In fact, if you didnt know him you wouldnt think a thing was wrong. There are days he is fine. There are very difficult days. Mostly when we're out of routine.

any questions, ask away. now that we're walking this journey, we'd love to be a resource to inform others, especially of the early signs.

Edited to Add:
Just wanted to share an excerpt from a blog i'm now addicted to, thanks to Allison!!
It is the blog of a mom with a son Just Like Jordan. Here's part of a letter she wrote to him. My thoughts exactly. Sharing this has already been a good thing. So many people out there know of many many other resources for us. This is only the beginning!!

I'm sorry the little things are so hard for you. I'm sorry that I just don't understand sometimes.

I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you and your smart, wonderful, mysterious brain. I'm so proud of your good strong eyes that never miss a thing. I'm so proud of how far you've come and how well you talk now. I'm so proud of what a happy, confident boy you are, in spite of everything else.

I love you. I love hearing everything you have to say. I love your voice, your smile, the way I hear you humming along to the music in your room. I love how you manage to thoroughly charm people, even when you're making their job a little harder. I love how you always give me another chance to be a better Mommy, a more patient, fun and understanding Mommy, and how a rotten morning can still lead to a wonderfully sunny afternoon.

You're too amazing for this world, Noah. And that's our problem, not yours. Don't ever forget that.

this is what we did when we got home

sunday we caught up on some rest. jax took a 3 hour nap Sunday afternoon. 1st time in his life. i'll take it.

trip to GA: sweet time with family and friends!

our weeklong trip to GA was restful, and it was so nice to see many family and friends. We love and miss everyone and its always nice to be able to visit, even though most times only for a short while. here are a few pictures. i was good about taking them at the start of the trip, then slacked off towards the end. i didnt get any at the farm or revival leg of the trip :( we were too busy eating and sleeping!!! oh, well. the revival went well, the boys had a good time. God is good.

Pool time with cousin Sumner. Had a ball.





pool time with Uncle Tyler at Daddy's house. He jumped off the diving board 100+ times and spent hours in the pool.


It's always nice when you can get them to do THIS in the car, at the same time. Rarely happens but when it does, it's great!



juice break. we have lots of juice, and snacks, and anything else to keep us occupied for 7+ hours. this was J's first trip "potty trained". he did awesome. and i love having boys. we just pulled off on the side of the road each time and let him "potty in the grass".