Time to play catch up.

Sometimes after reading another persons blog I feel inspired, more than usual, to write myself. After reading Cjane's new blog entry I feel that. Except I also feel like I probably have no business blogging ever again reading those words, so beautifully put. She's really amazing. I'm kind of obsessed and she DEFINITELY gets my "favorite Mormon" award, maybe even my favorite woman award (I heart Mormons)!

SO annnnyway,

Today is Monday, Presidents Day and I took the day off from work. Yay me!

I had the most amazing weekend with my most amazing boyfriend, the love of my life Mr. Eric Myers. We drove up to the mountains and went to a dance and boy did we dance, on Saturday evening, hung out with some cool Clampers and their women (widders) and then spent all day together Sunday. We went to a couple of Antique stores in Oakhurst then came home and relaxed together, it was heaven. I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather do than be with that man. He's home for me, as long as I'm with him everything else is ok and for the first time in my life I can be honest when saying I really feel like I'm with the person that I'm supposed to be with and more importantly who I want to be with. It's truly the best feeling I've ever had.



 

We thought this was funny.

 

My super cute antique store finds: Artichoke platter, napkins, teapot.

The End. Driving home..

 

My Blake will be starting his first day at Central Ca Autism Center on March 1st. Last week he had a couple of assessments at the center to see what his abilities are (which are many) and to see how many hours he'll be there. Since he is already in school 5 hours a day, they are giving him 15 hours a week. SO he'll be there about 3 hours a day after school. Not too bad. I'm a little worried that he's going to be extremely exhausted but I think it will be something that he's going to have to get used to. I'm very excited for him. He's a smart boy, he knows how to count, can say his ABC's, knows all his letters, numbers and shapes. He can say so many words now but there are still a lot of things he needs help with like talking in complete sentences and other little things I never even really considered until someone was asking me if he does them. It's pretty crazy.

Blake also started taking the bus two weeks ago and loves it! I've tried to get a couple of pictures of it just to have, it's pretty adorable and watching him smile through the window and wave bye as the bus takes of is pretty much priceless. I almost cried but amazingly didn't!

The first day I put him on the bus which was after he had already rode it a few times, he raaan out to it!

This was on Friday, he was waiting for the bus to come

This time was different though, he said "hold my hand" and I walked with him all the way in like that.

Picking a seat. His friend was in the seat he usually takes but he didn't have a meltdown, was just a little thrown off.

I love my boy soooo much. Especially when he does cute things like this! He also wanted to wear my vans and flip flops but those kind of pictures aren't as A.cute or B. good for black mail.

 

<3 p="">

 

2013, A "to do " list

I decided to come up with a "to do" list for 2013. It's not something I usually do or have ever done for that matter, but I have a feeling this is going to be a good year for me and I wanna try to stick to some of these small goals to make it even better. Maybe making them public will help me do it?!

1. Learn to Crochet and/or knit

This is something that up until recently I had little interest in. But lately I've been thinking about hobbies and the fact that I have very little. I love to be creative and crafty so I figured this would be right up my alley. Plus I can make cool stuff for myself and others! My Grandmother was and Aunt still is really good at it, so I figure it must be in my blood somewhere. I even decided to start a "stitch n bitch" so my friends and I can perfect our skills together while doing some hardcore girl talk!I can't wait to get started!

2. Get in shape

I really just need to eat better. My blood sugar needs to be lower, my cholesterol is high an I need to lose 15 pounds to be at the appropriate weight for my height. I'm not happy about it, I'd rather eat donuts, cupcakes and pizza every day like a true fatty but I just can't anymore.I realize that I'm getting older and I need to get healthy to make sure I'm here for my kids. Wish me luck!

3.Spring cleaning/organizing!

This is mainly a garage project but the house could use it also. time to get rid of some major junk.


4.Blog More

I'm working on it! It feels good and I love to do it but I'm a huge procrastinator so sometimes even when I have a half hour to sit down and blog I don't.

5. Bake More

I love to make cupcakes, cakes, etc. and don't do it enough. Although this my not be a good idea in regards to #2.


6. Read more books

I would like to read at last two, maybe three. They may be only autobiographies but at least I'll be reading.

7. Travel More

I just wanna go places with Eric really. It's my favorite thing to do.

8. Do the Fresno Autism Walk

I missed last years so cant wait to do it this year and hopefully raise lots of money for a cause thats now very near and dear to my family and I.


Well, there it is. There are a few other things I would like to do this year, much bigger things I would like to do but I think I will keep a few things to myself.

On a side note:

It's crazy how much more you appreciate a child's ability to talk and communicate once you have a child who is unable to do it. I'm so very proud of my son. He has improved SO much just in the last month. I see a new light in his eyes and I'm so excited for the months to come and all the new things he will say and do. He talks more and more everyday and even though he has a lot of work to do in other areas his ability to communicate improves daily. He truly amazes me.

We've been going to our favorite park a lot lately and Blake loves it!  We usually pick up cousin Jude and Auntie heather on the way. We're lucky because in January here it's still sunny and warm enough to be outside most days. Maybe not so lucky in July when its 110 degrees though.

Park Pics:

 

 

 

 

 

Til next time.
xoxo

Awkward.

Yesterday was Friday and I had the day off from work, It was grrreat! I got to stay home with Blake on a weekday which meant it was just he and I from about 8:45 a.m. until about 3:50 p.m. Getting to hangout with Blake alone is so nice and I think he liked it too. Usually Blake isn't the clingy type. He doesn't want to cuddle or sit by me hardly ever but yesterday he wanted to be with me every second and I loved it. Id wished every day could be like that.

I had a Dr. appointment yesterday and was a little nervous abut having t take him with me because he can be pretty loud and  ummmm well for lack of a better word, unruly. He was actually listening to me though, I would say "Blake come this way" and he would follow me, which was amazing.Yes, he kept opening and shutting the door and was demanding "COLORS" very loudly but once I gave him my phone to watch Bella's dance video he was silent for a good 20 minutes which was just long enough for me to see the doctor.

Something happened yesterday though that was kind of awkward and I realized that it would probably happen over and over and over for a long time. I felt I had to "explain" that Blake is "autistic" to my doctor. I wouldn't have normally felt the need to say this but he was trying to talk to Blake and he wanted nothing to do with him. He completely ignored him so for some reason I felt the need to say " oh, he has Autism, so he gets really into things (the video on my phone) and wont pay attention to much else". I guess I could have went on and on about how he doesn't talk much and so he probably wouldn't have said anything to him regardless. but I stopped there and the doctor just gave a little awkward giggle and said "oh, okay" or something to that extent and that was pretty much it. I don't know if this is what I should do or whatever but it kind of makes me feel better to justify why he isn't communicating with someone so I will probably continue to do so.

Anyway, Im off to do my Saturday duties! Have a wonderful weekend!

Autistic-Like

Today we met with Blake's teacher to go over the findings from his "IEP" (Individualized education plan) appointment we had a couple weeks ago. Basically a few people from the program he is at right now assessed him to see if he would qualify for special education, including speech, etc. His teacher told us that there are three major areas they asses: Cognitive ability, Speech and Social skills (the ability to follow direction etc). His Cognitive ability is very high which is great but his speech and social skills are lacking, he also has "autistic like" behaviors so he is qualified to receive special education services. On Monday we go to another meeting to talk about this more "in depth" which is something we will do once a year for as long as he needs these kinds of services. It was nice to talk with his teacher today. I got to ask a lot of questions which I hadn't really had the chance to do yet. He gave me some pointers on how Im supposed to discipline Blake when he is doing something he shouldn't and some other helpful advice as well. I always feel so mean when Im telling him not to do something because I feel like maybe he cant help it, maybe he doesn't know any better but I know he still needs to be corrected and his teacher was able to tell me how to do that. I gotta be honest, I never in a million years thought we would be going through this. I never thought one of my children would have any learning disability let alone Autism and Im still trying to get used to all of the changes that are and will be taking place. Dealing with a crazy toddler is hard as it is, but imagine the toddler has infinite energy, can't follow simple commands like "come here" and has no real sense of communication. It is all consuming and sometimes it's really hard. I feel so sad and scared for Blake. Everyone says "he's smart, he'll learn, he'll get better" but how does anyone know? What if he only progresses to a certain point and then stays the same, what if he never functions "normally"?  I will say that I already see some (all be it small) improvement and I am optimistic for his future.