First Official Christmas Festivity!!

As we were about to celebrate our first Thanksgiving gathering, we got an awesome invite to see Santa when he arrived at the mall the same day!!  Santa read the boys the story, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. We met the Mouse from the book.  We took a train ride and wrapped up the whole event with a stop for cookies-on-a-stick from Cookie Factory!! Thank you Aunt April for a perfectly unexpected Saturday morning play date...much fun was had by this crew!!

32 Week Checkup, Christmas Lists, the loft and a few other updates!

I know I am amidst a lot of big things right now...so I figured a singular update was easier than trying to fit in several different posts!  Here comes some updates from the Linley Crew parts of the world!


Checkups!
The Tuesday before last, before Owen and I began ADAPT, I went to my 31/32 week checkup for Greyson.  Boy was this one WAY more relaxing than the last...thank you God for calming my nerves!  At this appointment we learned that my glucose test and blood work look wonderful.  He said my numbers look better than normal for a pregnant woman in the areas of glucose and iron and a few other things.  My blood pressure was slightly elevated from my normal, but he said not to worry too much about it at this point...b/c everything else looks so good.  Greyson's heartbeat was 129/130 and nice and steady (YAY!).  He is also guessing his weight between 3 and a half to 4 pounds...which makes him a big boy...and Dr. T said he could likely be our biggest!  We go back December 4 for another check in and he said I had another five weeks of not going into labor (they will stop it). After that they will just do a c-section!  I'm fine and dandy just waiting till his 40 week due date...so he is as healthy as possible!  Hang in there G.  We're doing good.  Let's keep it up!  Oh and here's a belly shot!!  2 months and counting folks.

Momma splurges

I took a trip to Target last week...and between the One Spot aisle and my love for hats and scarves I had quite an amazing trip.  I left with this new bad boy and could not be more excited! I think accessories are a pregnant girls best friend!!

I also happened to stop for this on my way.  Probably not a healthy, thoughtful splurge...but oh so delicious!!

More Cookie Stops!

What our first couple days of therapy looked like!!

We've gotten very used to our life with Mom at home.  So heading into a "gone all day" scenario was interesting!!  But we were prepared with some pre-made meals, laundry caught up etc.  Regardless I snapped a few pictures to help remind me where we were with these days.  Something tells me photos or not, I'll never forget my experience!

Owen crashed about 5 minutes after our second day!

One wiped Momma who wished she could have napped on the ride home!

I left Coop a note and snack in his Lightning McQueen backpack!  I am missing my little crazy one :)

Homework...there have been worksheets and homework to sit down to a few nights. I usually organized it and left it till the kids were in bed.  Boy did I feel like I was back in college!

Loft Reno Progress

HELLO!!!  Progress abounds!!!  Here are some updated photos of the space...with more to come!!  Also carpet installation and actual, colored paints have happened.  We still have a pretty good list of to do's...but considering how far we've come...it's serious progress folks.  Serious progress.  And I could not be happier!!!

Christmas List Making

The boys have been really into the toy catalogs that have come in the mail for Christmas this year!  Owen is getting so big and so mature...that this year we decided to start a real, honest to goodness Christmas list.  I titled it Owen's Santa Wish List...and we began cutting pictures he's seen out of magazine and glueing them to his list.  He is so visual it's a fun thing for him and it honestly is a great way to keep track of the things he's wishing for.  He even reminds us sometimes...Mom, I want to put that on my list.  We started one for Cooper too and it's funny b/c Owen thinks he needs to add to his as well!

Monthly Surprises!!

A few months back, Steff sent me a link to Citrus Lane.  It was such a fun and cute idea!! I signed us up immediately!  However, after a few months of boxes and some discussions with Steff, we ended up canceling our monthly subscription and going a different route.

For the last two months we have been creating our own boxes....and taken to calling them our surprises for the kiddos!  We shop for each others kiddos and swap the surprises on the 15th of the month!  I thoroughly enjoy both sides of this activity!  And cannot wait to continue this awesomely fun tradition!!

Here's a few pics from the past two deliveries:

Turkeys with my Turkeys!!

The boys and I were in need of some creative fun...Pinterest to the rescue :)

ADAPT...a parent training course

We've been on a long journey so far with Owen.  One that we believed was leading to several different places...sometimes all at once.  A road paved with sensory issues, tantrums, speech delays and many other possible labels and potential diagnosable disorders.  After doing some reading, looking at our child and thinking about our daily life with him, I tried to prepare myself for whatever the possibilities may be.  But if I were honest...did preparation make any of the things people were telling us any less gut wrenching?  Of course not.  Because let's be serious...no one wants to sit down and "evaluate" their own child to the minutest details...pour over 15 pages of check boxes asking if your child displays this tendency or that.  Or who wants to spend time having to debate your spouse because their perception of a question differed from yours.  Nor do you want someone else to sit down and look over him or her with a fine tooth comb.  That is almost worse.  Objectivity is so hard to swallow.  Nothing prepares you for it.  Knowing it's coming, reading materials before hand...it just doesn't help.  AT the end of the day it's your baby who you would lay down and die for...so it's tough.  But I truly believe we loved Owen enough to swallow the fear and pain and look the situation straight in the face. And if I had it to do all over again?  I'd do the exact same thing again.  No question about it.

It all started a couple years ago with Early Intervention...an in-home therapy.  I wrote about it here, here and here.  It was my full intention to log our progress on the blog because I thought it might be helpful to anyone else out there who might be struggling with similar issues....but truth be told?  Our family expanded...therapies began making changes in Owen that were phenomenal, Jeremy's Dad got sick...and life was simply busy.  But to this day...our journey continues...and though I haven't written about it in awhile...Owen's road is not one that is clear at this point.  As far as development goes...it may never be.  Owen has been attending school through our Early Childhood Center. This year is his second full year.  At the end of the school year last year, his teacher recommended we go ahead and get him evaluated for autism.  We started the grueling and lengthy paperwork...and after a summer of waiting for school to start...the piece fell into place and we got everything scheduled.

So last month we attended the evaluation at an Autism Center in St. Louis called Easter Seals Life Skills Center for Autism.  Based on this meeting, we were nearly certain they felt Owen had autism and after a meeting with school, that we would have an educational autism diagnoses to go along with it.  What happened surprised me...but it's kind of how Owen's journey has always been.  Not exactly what you think.  We met with his school teacher, his school psychologist, his speech therapist and our representative from the autism center to discuss the findings from the center eval and to determine if we were going to update Owen's IEP (a list of goals the school is required to keep for Owen in order for him to receive pull-out services at school such as speech therapy) to reflect a newly diagnosed autism spectrum disorder.  At the meeting after 2 hours of discussions, it was decided to give Owen more time.  He was developing out of so many tendencies.  Tendencies I have no doubt would have earned him the autism diagnosis had we been looking at him more closely when all of this got started.  But tendencies that either with time, therapy, patience and maturity...we are seeing get better and better for him.  So, because of his progression through these things, rather than make any changes right now we are going to wait a few more months to finalize things.

One thing that came out of the evaluation was that they did recommend a free 2 week intensive, parent training course called ADAPT.  10 days from 8:30 to 4:30 spent learning about the autism spectrum disorder, applied behavior analysis and spending time in therapy sessions designed around your child. After much trepidation on my part b/c of the timing, I bit the bullet and got us signed up for the class.  It began Wednesday the 13th.  Owen and I have headed over to St. Louis for seven days now...and will continue to do so until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  In the first few days I had already learned a lot, felt a sense of connection to other people and their struggles with their kiddos and simply felt empowered in the decisions we've made for Owen so far.  As the days have gone on, therapies have gotten harder and I'm understanding that there truly is no cure for ASD or related disorders...I am continuing to be amazed by my little boy...beginning to see the world through his eye more clearly...and finding myself filled with sadness because autism is hard to understand, explain, and comes to terms with.  It's hard as a parent to understand behaviors and he's my child who I love unconditionally.  What about the world he's heading into??  So much to think about.  Needless to say, it's exhausting, but I have no doubt Owen and I will end this better people than we started...and I will leave a much more educated parent with a whole toolbox of things I can put to use with all of my kids...especially Owen.

Here are some facts about Owen that are worthy of remembering for my own memory bank...and also interesting.  Especially when looking at the Autism Spectrum Disorder and all of it's components:
**As a baby he often was hard to console, was a poor sleeper and struggled with communicating needs (this is common among children who get diagnosed with ASD)
**By the age of 18 months Owen was without much speech. A couple words we did hear Mom and more had come and gone without hearing them again.  By 2, he still wasn't talking and after a hearing test revealed he was hearing fine...we began our journey.

**Owen began working on speech therapy at age 2 and a half through in home therapy.
**Owen began talking through use of sign language...and experienced a language explosion around age 3 to 3.5.  His speech has continued to improve far beyond my expectations. He is still behind for his age, but considering the deficit and the comeback, we are proud of our little strong-willed boy who keeps trying even when he's frustrated.
**Owen is currently in a special education classroom that has 5 kiddos.  There is a teacher and 2 aides to assist.  It's a highly restricted classroom...because kiddos in it often need reminders, reinforcement and instruction to complete tasks. I believe he needed and still very much needs this scenario for his daily work to continue to progress.  However, his socialization skills have come a million miles since starting full time with his current teacher...so much so that they are integrating him into a larger classroom for circle time a few times during the week.  It's a step up in size...to 12 mixed gen ed and special ed students.
**Owen loves routine. Has an amazing memory for directions, routines, movie lines and anything else you tell him.
**Owen often struggles with transitioning.  Bedtimes, baths, to and from preferred to non-preferred activities often tend to be the hardest.  Though we have learned ways to help him cope with changes, he still can be caught off guard with things he cannot predict or plan.
**Owen is super visual.  The use of pictures to remind him of what he needs to do (a picture schedule) has helped us with routines such as bed, bath and has made transitioning at school much much easier.
**Owen loves playing with other kids (something that is very much not typical of ASD kiddos).  He is working on his personal space and some of the more subtle social cues that kiddos like him sometimes struggle with...but I believe he is getting better and better.
**Owen is a very picky eater. He struggles with gastrointestinal issues and has for as long as I can remember.  He hates weird textures and often refuses to touch anything that is slimy, soft or sticky.
**Owen often prefers to do things on his terms, but he is learning through lots of work on his and our part, that life isn't always about you and your terms.  We are teaching him about flexibility and choices and trying to help him work on this.

Some facts I've learned from this ADAPT training program so far?  1 in 88 kids will be diagnosed with autism.  Boys are 5 times more likely to be diagnosed than girls.  There is a 5 to 6% chance siblings will have a related disorder or be diagnosed.  There is no test for it and there is no cure.

What does all this mean?  Honestly?  For me?  These are things that make Owen Owen.  Does he have autism?  I'm still not 100% sure but if we go with this diagnosis prior to kindergarten, I will not be surprised. Whether he does or not, the things we are learning to do as parents, are making us better more confident and accepting people.  And helping Owen have the most successful life possible?  It's what this whole parenting journey is about for us. We will continue to do whatever we need to do to support him and our other children as well.  I hope they always know how much we love them.  And how strong they already are!  Prayers for these final days of therapies and workshops would be amazing as Owen and I could use few extra from God's army of angels pushing us through to the finish line :)

Thank you God for Owen, for wonderful places like LifeSkills who help so many struggling families and for the virtue of patience and understanding.  Life is pretty amazing...even when we get a curve ball our direction now and again!

Everything Halloween the 2013 Edition

Now for a Halloween holiday run down for 2013...

First we spent a little time getting crafty and creative :)

When we lit the pumpkins, Cooper started singing Happy Birthday...every single time.  It was hilarious!

Then we took off on a trick-or-treat adventure!!  The first stop on our adventure took our characters to Gigi's house:

Then we visited Grandpa and Grandma's house...who greeted us with full size candy bars in the boys favorite kinds of treats and lots of hugs and snuggles!

Next up was Uncle Josh...he had to work Halloween...boo...so we stopped by and cheered up his midnight shift!!  Cooper loved meeting Joe the tank farm dog...and Owen was mesmerized by the computers and lights in the operator room!

After seeing Uncle Josh, we hit Aunt Katie for a quick stop in...and we owe Aunt Katie an apology b/c photos were not taken...the boys were too excited by seeing her and getting treats and making a run around their loop at the house to stop for a photo!!

After that, we ventured to our final destination. Trick of Treating with our Linley crew.  We met Aunt Jackie, Uncle Paul, Uncle Jonnie, Aunt April and Grandma!  All who spoiled the boys with fun treat bags of goodies!  These kids are loved!!  We also happen to meet up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Sofia the 1st!  

It was a rainy, but unseasonably warm night and we couldn't pass up wandering a few blocks of streets before calling it a night.

We arrived home soaked, hungry and wiped out.  But scored lots of great loot!!  Owen even developed a love for a candy besides Hershey's chocolate ;)  A boy with a heart like his Momma's, tootsie rolls are a new fave!

Thanks Halloween, for kicking off our holiday season with a bang!  And for a hubby who enjoys spending his birthday with a couple dressed up kiddos and a crazy, but fun schedule of places and wonderful people to visit!