E! news...star siting!

See these two....do you know what movie they are in????!!!!!!! I know you do...HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL! So the other day I'm sitting at the dinner table with the kids having our usual dinner..spagetti-no sauce-and listening to High school musical 1&2 soundtrack as background music, when the phone rings. "Who is it?" you ask. My sister Katy who is a massage therapist at 'The Grand America' hotel in SLC...the nicest hotel in town. She tells me she just massaged Corbin Bleu(Chad)!!! He got a couples massage with Monique Coleman(Taylor). Just in case your wondering....ya, she got to massage his head-said he has amazing hair! She said she saw the whole main cast, they'll be staying there until July while filming 'High school musical 3.' So if you're around downtown SLC, go hide behind a bush with your zoom lense and see if you can get some good shots!

BUBBLE FUN!

I got this bubble blower a while back and we just opened it yesterday....who knew it would provide hours (not kidding) of entertainment and pure joy for these guys....a seriously GOOD investment!! CHARGE!!!!!! Those bubble are toast!

taking some time out to give the dog 'prince' some love!

So much fun with just soap!!!!

I'm gonna get this one!

Easter

Here's a pic of the kids on Easter. (Cameron wouldn't let go of his little pot filled with his Easter jelly beans) It was a really fun day! To begin I was able to get Lindsay into a dress(she will ONLY wear skirts!) We were able to get all three kids to sit for a picture(usually one is crying or refusing) and three....we were only 5 min. late to church(usually about 10-15) So ya, pretty successful day! To top it off the girls got barbies in their Easter baskets and played nicely with them ALL day.

Check this out!

So I found this article writen a couple of years ago by a doctor about vaccines. It is so so so so very incredibly interesting. In the autism community there is a lot of controversy surrounding this topic. I'm not sure exactly where I stand....but reading this opened my eyes a little, that's for sure. Let me know what you think?

A User-Friendly Vaccination Schedulehttp://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller15.html

Drugs or No Drugs....THAT IS THE QUESTION!!!!

If you look to the right you will see a poll I am taking. I can't decide on how I want to have this baby. I had an epidural with Lindsay...and although there was no pain...the recovery was brutal. So I had Alyssa and Cameron with nothing...although the delivery was BRUTAL!!!!!! The recovery was awesome and quick. I've had to be induced with all three, thus far, and so am assuming that'll be the case again. I've heard it's a harder labor when your body isn't ready and you are induced....but I'm sure it is Hell on earth no matter how the labor comes. All for a Heavenly purpose of course! It is amazing how you have to experience the most excruciating pain for the greatest joy and miracle I can think of!!!!!! What a contrast and emotional ride! So.... if all who read this will leave their vote and maybe a comment why I should do one way or the other that would be much appreciated. If the winner is 'no drugs' there better be some dang good encouraging comments!!!!!! Thanks!

Thank You XANGO!

It's good to have hook-ups! I work Xango with the sister-Daniala-who is awesome-of two of the Xango founders. Tonight she was able to hook us up through her brother, Joe-to get tickets to see PRINCESS DISNEY ON ICE! Not just any tickets...but we got to see it from the Xango suite, which is beautiful and orange and was filled with lots of yummy things to eat. It was an amazing show and the girls had so much fun.

Alyssa was so funny and refused to wear a disney princess dress and insisted on wearing a princess and the pauper (erika) dress....Disney's rival! Lindsay wished it was a Hannah Montana concert and wore her HM shirt....she's too big for princesses!!! I would've worn a princess dress, but I don't think they make them in maternity-about to explode-size!Thanks Xango for a fun night out with the girls!

Alyssa's journey through Autism

Alyssa is my second child. Her journey through life this far has not been an easy road, nor has it been easy for her mother! When she was 18 months old something in her changed. She gained language until that point...but didn't seem to progress after that. Her behavior and temperment changed and she threw terrible tantrums, she had no desire to be social, she loved puzzles, she had a weird diet, she would do strange self-stimulatory things....these all should've been signs for me. Whenever my mother, who is a speech therapist, came to time I would bombard her with questions and concerns, just reaching out to someone for answers. When Alyssa was 2 1/2 my mom suggested I get her tested for her speach. She threw in at the end that I might want to ask for a psych evaluation as well...my mom so lovingly as only a grandma can do pointed out that she did have some odd social behaviors. I followed my mother's wise council and had her tested. I remember the day the therapist called and gave me the results of her tests...I'm crying right now as I write and remember the flood of emotion. "Alyssa is on the Autism spectrum." she said. I went through many emotions with this news. At first I just would watch her and see the things she did that were 'normal' and cling to those things. She was three at this time and qualified to go to a public preschool two days a week for a few hours. For a few months I thought that would be plenty.

About three months after the she was diagnosed I heard her talking to herself (she did this a lot, but it was in jabbering languange) late one night while in bed. I went in to see her. As I sat by her bed calling her name she wouldn't even look at me or acknowledge that I was there. I went back to my room and started bauling...my daughter is autistic!!!!! And here I am doing nothing! My eyes were finally opened and I went right to work! I begain researching the internet and reading books...I needed to educate myself. I found a great preschool, but she had to have her name come up on a waiting list...this could take years to happen. I talked to everyone I knew who had, or assiciated with someone with an autistic child to ask what they did. One mother told me of some energy/ meridian testing work she had done on her autistic son and told me of her amazing results...why not. Almost a year ago I went to an appointment for Alyssa. I had an amazing experience and she began to make progress almost immediately. Don't ask me how or why, but I was blown away by it. My husband who is and was very skeptical even admits(which is hard for him to do) that she improved.

A couple months after that I got a phone call from the autistic preschool in Ogden, Ut saying that they had a few last minute cancelations for spots and Alyssa's name was up! What a miricle for our family! I took her in the next day to have her accessed and check the school out and although she had to wait all summer, she was in for the fall!

So Fall came and she began the school, while still three years old- on Sep. 24 2007. This school is very intensive ABA therepy. the kids go to school everyday, mon-fri. Picked up by a van in Layton (15 min north of Centerville) at 8 am, taken to Ogden which is 15 min north of Layton, and I pick her up again in Layton at 3pm. She eats Breakfast and Lunch at this school. I am required to volunteer 3 hours a week. She has blown me away with her progress! Today I went for her 6-month evaluation and these were her results:

She was first tested on Oct 22,2007 and again on Jan 28, 2008. The (mos.) means months. When she was first tested her age was 47 months old and current test scores she is 50 months old. the number indicates which level of age in months that she tested at.(does that make sense?) Here are her results!

Date 47 mos.-10.-22-07 1-28-08

Gross Motor 54 mos. 67 mos.

Fine Motor 52 mos. 72 mos+(means she is off the chart)

Cognitive 55 mos. 63 mos.

Language 38 mos. 47 mos.

Prewriting 32 mos. 56 mos.

Self Help 52 mos. 58 mos.

Social/Emotional 39 mos. 70 mos. WOW!!!!!

The only area that she is behind in and not advanced in is her language(which has improved leaps and bounds!!!!!) She has come such a long way and I am so proud of her. She has taught me so much about patience and love and I am so grateful to have her in my life. She still has another year after this before starting kindergarten. The school has basically said she can finish out this year...but doesn't qualify for another year because she is too.....'normal'!!!! Isn't that a beautiful word...'normal'. Alyssa-I love you, I'm so proud of you, and I'm so blessed to be your mother!

A clean kitchen!!!!

I cleaned my kitchen yesterday....I mean really cleaned it! For me it seems like there is always a pile of papers somewhere or toys that just get left in a spot, or vitamins that don't get put away....and weeks go by. Maybe this is just an issue I have! To have my kitchen really cleaned is something that needs to be documented! By this morning of course it was messy again, but for that brief moment in time, all the stars and planets aligned in my favor!!!!!

Cameron doesn't want to grow up!

So...this is Cameron....this is how he looks most of the time, with blanky and paci in tow. The Blanky was actually Brian's blanket when he was a baby. His now 40-something year old sister made it for him with some friends of hers when she was 14 and brian was a new baby. It is just falling apart...but Cameron loves it anyway. Yesterday I tried to be a strong mother and told him he could only have his pacifier when he was taking a nap or at night time...he opted for a nap right away in the morning and slept for about four hours...then when he woke up and I took it away he wanted to go back to sleep-so that he could still have it. He'd spend the whole day in bed if he had to to get that paci! I held off for a couple hours and he just cried and cried....I couldn't take those big brown eyes filled with tears anymore, so gave in. He's back to his happy place! How do I get rid of that thing?!