fun october craft project

i made these for the boys after seeing the idea in Family Fun.

I'm hoping they'll get a kick out of seeing what they dressed up like each year for Fall Festivals/Halloween. These will be their new "treat bags" for years to come!

It's pretty easy...just take any light colored bag (I got a 3 pack of canvas ones at Walmart for $5.97). Buy photo transfer paper and print out the photos, then iron them on and decorate with puff paint!

a picture is worth way more than a thousand words.

i think this has to be my favorite picture from vacation. it says. so much. about where we are at the moment. still so "new" to this diagnosis. there are days i forget that it exists. there are days when it is all i can think about. autism. some days i despise the word. because what i see, when i look at my son, is just jordan. jordan...so bright, full of love for life and lots of life to live! right now we are very much in the "gray area" of this whole mess. there are still so many unknowns. sometimes i'm up at night....here (are a few of) the questions....

what therapies does he need? how much? will insurance pay? what school? when? do we move to get to the "better" school district? will our house sell? will we find a new house? should i go back to work? who will care for jax while j is at school if i go back to work? why did this happen? why did we get denied services from Florida Parishes? will we win our appeal? should we have appealed? what caused this? will jaxon have it too? what does the future look like for J? is there a cure?

no answers at the moment, for any of them....but there is a surety. My Loving Savior and My God, who knows jordan completely....who knows us all, and who Holds us in His hands. He WILL help us. He KNOWS what J needs...before we ask. he knows the days when i am weak, when i seek answers and try to do things in my own strength. i admit that i do that far too often.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of The Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

we are...SO BLESSED. there is a boy in speech at the same time as jordan. he is a week older; but has no words. i cant imagine to heartache...but at the same time i find myself wishing many times i could just have a conversation with my son. then i go back to feeling guilty when there are others so much worse off than him.

we should know much more about things after his "big" school system evaluation in october. meanwhile, we are seeking wisdom from the Lord about how to proceed as far as schooling options and therapies. please pray with us. thanks!

Jax's (2nd) 1st birthday party

round 2 was lots of fun, too!

jax: our little foodie

jax is a lot like i am, he enjoyed the vacation not only for the getaway, but for the FOOD! he had a couple firsts...including celery and chicken wings (bones). it seemed like most pictures i took of him he was eating :)

st. augustine beach

so much fun! it was jax's first time on the beach and he LOVED it. jordan has always loved the water and enjoyed it so much!

oh no!

my camera got lost somewhere in GA so no pictures from the beach, jax's (2nd) 1st bday party, etc. :( BOO! hoping it will be found soon so i can do some updates.

we're getting back into the swing of things since being gone on a weeklong vacation.

i'm loving my new client and working at the Church Parking Lot on Fridays. J has started speech and seems to be doing well...and we really missed being away from Crossroads while we were gone. Looking forward to Worship tomorrow!

I promise to do the best i can with picture-less updates till the camera is found. If it's gone forever then I'll be super bummed!

so proud!

after 2 weeks of practicing hard, Jordan finally put the pedaling and steering of the bike together and was able to "cruise" for awhile today. i am super proud of this; especially because one of his symptoms associated with ASD is low muscle tone, thus making it hard for him to do some things that most preschoolers can do. Here's a video of our morning ride. we usually go out when jax is napping and have been working on this for awhile now! enjoy!

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

what we do when daddy cuts the grass....

first date

jordan and "shady" (Sadie)

a mommy's heart

there is something special about the camaraderie felt among mothers of children with special needs. whether i'm reading another mom's blog, talking with a mom, or sitting in support group i just feel an incredible sense of like-mindedness and empathy when listening to them talk/write, etc.
A friend pointed me to this blog when we first got J's diagnosis. Her words from today's post could have been my very own, in fact, i'm sure I've said this in my head before during one of the "hard days".

A quote, from one of my new favorite places on the web:
(this is a story she shared about her son who struggles with SPD/Sensory Processing Disorder)

One night at the beach, Noah was having a hard time. I've already forgotten the details, the trigger. No matter how many times it happens, I can't seem to stop myself from asking "what's wrong? what's wrong, baby, what's WRONG?" Of course, he doesn't answer. He can't answer. We have a good dozen books on the subject and even they seem to mostly be guessing at the answer, at what it's like for a kid like him. Something was just WRONG, something he couldn't explain to us, something we couldn't fix.

And I stopped asking what was wrong. Instead, I made a promise. I told him it will get better and that it won't always be like this. The world will not always be so scary and strange. It won't always be like this.

I am keeping that promise. I am keeping. That. Promise.

And as we fight for services, appeal decisions made by state authorities, go through Evaluation after Evaluation, attend therapies, every step of the way....I believe her statement today is WHY WE DO what we do.