Leaving for Vacation Tomorrow!

Hi Everyone! We have been getting ready for our Florida Beach trip this week. I have to throw our clothes together still, but we are pretty much ready to go! Steven stayed with Nana and Pop this week, so he is on his way to the Beach today with everyone from Memphis. We will see him tomorrow! We have missed him all week. I haven't let the boys stay that long away. Maybe a day or two before. This week we went to Nashville for a appointment at Vanderbilt for Ryan. We will be seeing a Sleep doctor, and allergist in the future. All the people at that Hospital are so nice! We are lucky we live close enough to take Ryan there. There was a good reason we moved back to Alabama in my opinion! Well Ryan is having a classmate come over to play today. That should be fun. We have never had a playdate for Ryan. The little girl is so cute, and she has Aspergers. She can talk unlike Ryan, but her mom says she doesn't play with other kids either. Her mom is real nice, so its nice to have an adult to associate with, I forget when the last time I have sat and hung out with a friend! Today will be FUN! Its going to be a nice Sunny day. Well I better get myself together for the day. I will post new pictures from our vacation when we get home!

Ryan's pre-school program- May 19 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ryan said "PLAY"

We have been working with Ryan on saying Play, or having him give us a picture card that says "PLAY DVD" on it. He doesnt really care about those cards, but I have been doing the sign for Play(which looks like Hang Ten -Pinkie and Thumb fingers). So I did the sign and Ryan said PLAY! I was so excited. Another time I said Play while doing the sign language for PLAY, and Ryan said DVD! He has been improving on requesting for what he wants. We have noticed alot lately. He also has been saying "Bye Bye See you" to his speech therapist,and looking at them when he says it! That makes it like GOLD! So I had to share this excitement that I am having with everyone! I will write about other stuff later.

Its almost time to go to the Beach!

It has been so nice out lately, I am so glad. I get tired of Winter after a month of it! The boys love playing outside in the sprinkler and their little kiddie pool. We just got back from Memphis yesterday. We went for the Music Fest(that we didn't even go to b/c of the rain). Nicolas made his Communion at church also, so we got to go to that too. We are all ready to go to the beach at the end of the month. It will be a week of not having to do much, and that is what I need for sure, and some color to my white legs. Well Steven has asked me a million times to help him with his Star Wars wii game which I can not play at all, but I better go try.

Walk for Autism in Huntsville

Make a Smilebox slideshow

March 09

Well I didn't realize it has been a month since I wrote anything on here. We have been real busy. Steven started a fun Karate class at Little Gym last week, and loved it. It teaches Karate/Gymnastics to the kids, and it was fun to watch him. We have 3 more classes at Vanderbilt for the Speech class. We will miss the class, and all the nice families we met, but it will be nice to have a break from driving every week, and getting home so late on Monday nights. The weather has been real nice here, we are ready to get some color to our pale skin, and get outside more. If the rain would go away we would be good! Steven and Ryan are doing good in school. Ryan has a busy week of Therapy , and school, and he really enjoys going to all three places. Next Saturday we are participating in a Walk for Autism, and have raised over $500 from our wonderful family and friends! I picked up our team shirts today , and they turned out so cute! My Mom, dad, Mamaw,(Cousins) Taylor and Stevie, and my friend Jana will be walking with us. It will be a fun day! Well I better go see what we are going to eat for Dinner. I will post some new pictures soon.

Looking forward to Spring!

This week we have gotten outside and flew kites two times. Ryan's Winnie the Pooh kite flew real good! They loved it! Ryan let the kite go, so I had to jump our fence and run back around with it! We also have started a new speech therapist,so Ryan will be going 2 times a week now, when he is not in school. The boys are doing good in school. I picked Ryan up today, and his teacher said he had his best day today! I felt so happy that she said that. I know Ryan likes going! He carries his backpack around ready to go in the mornings, and follows me around until we go out the door. We have been working on cutting with scissors, and some work sheets his teacher gave us, and he is getting better each time. We are also doing a lot of practice with Steven on his number recognition with games, so that he likes doing it. He gets excited about playing number scavenger hunt, and card games. So we have been real busy at home all the time. I will be glad when we can get outside more, b/c the boys need to burn off some energy. Well I guess I better go. Ryan needs to get ready for bed.

Ryans Birthday...then everyone being SICK

First I want to say how much fun Ryan's birthday was. He had the biggest smile on his face when we sang Happy Birthday! He loves his rock climber he got, and it was nice to have everyone come for the weekend. We all went ice skating which was real fun.
Then we all got sick! Steven was first with the stomach virus, and he got sick more than he ever has! Then a few days later Ryan started, and me in the same day! It was a mess! Chris had to clean up, take care of all of us, and work and go to school. So far he hasn't gotten it! I think he might be safe! Then Steven got ear infection, and 2 days later we were at the Dr. office with Ryan and his ears! First infection since tubes fell out! So that's not looking too good for him w/o tubes in his ears! The boys missed school all week, but are going back tomorrow since they have all their energy back, and able to keep all their food down for 2 days now!
Today we also got some of the food allergy results back on Ryan, and he is allergic to Yeast and Wheat Gluten. The Yeast is the worst, and Wheat not too bad, but we need to take these outta his diet, and see how he does. We are lucky according to the Doctor. It could be worse. I have met people with kids that have allergies to almost everything!
We are going to Memphis for the weekend, and then Nashville on Monday night for our speech class for Ryan. Chris had to go this past Monday by himself since we were all sick! Well I better go for now.

January 25, 2009

Today has been a nice day of staying home, and taking nap from being so tired from our weekend in Nashville. We got home yesterday evening, and I was so tired, but didn't get to bed until around 10pm. I really enjoyed the class me and Peggy took at Vanderbilt on Saturday. I met so many people that I have a lot in common with. I learned a lot of stuff about making playtime easy for us, and how to teach Ryan to want to play in different ways! It was great! I can't wait to go to other classes that they will be having. We went to Opry Mills mall and shopped a little and ate lunch at Johnny Rockets. Then headed home. I was so tired on the way home, b/c Ryan woke up at 3am just talking away, so none of us really slept good. I am sure Peggy was ready to get in he own bed after sleeping with Ryan and me. He did sing to us Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, so its kinda hard to get frustrated when you are lacking sleep, and your child is up for over 2 hours babbling in the bed, but sings in his sweet voice a song! Its great! I am so glad my mom, Peggy and Mamaw met me there, It real nice to have people to help, and spend time with. We had a lot of fun! Tomorrow is Ryans last day of Playgroup through Early Intervention. It is sad, b/c he loves it, but we will continue to see everyone there b/c that's where he receives his additional therapy. We are also headed back to Nashville tomorrow to start a speech workshop to teach us parents how to help our kids (Ryan) how to speak and communicate in a different way. We will be going to this class once a week through April, so we are about to be some tired people on Tuesdays after our Monday traveling back and forth, but if its as good as the class we just took, then I will be very glad we are able to be there and learn this for Ryan! Well I better go, Steven is ready for bed. Talk to you later.

Getting ready for busy weekend

Yesterday Chris and I went to observe Ryan' s preschool classroom he will be starting on the 30th. The program is going to be so good for Ryan. We were there while the sensory motor group was just starting in his class. The kids were having so much fun. They were riding tricylces down the hall, and walked on a balance beam, then crawled through a tunnel. Half on the kids in the class are typical kids, and others have special needs. They were pretty much all able to do everything the same, so that made me feel good, that Ryan will eventually be able to do the same as the other kids. They all write their names, and do lots of handwriting practice. We were very impressed! The teacher wanted us to see that all the kids reguardless of what is going on with them, are all doing the same work, and really doing it! I am so excited for Ryan that he gets to be in this class! Tooday we are getting ready for our busy day tomorrow. We are going to Nashville overnight, for a workshop at Vanderbilt on Saturday morning. The class is about Developing Play routines at home. It would be nice to have ideas on ways to play at home, expecially since Ryan doesnt initiate play, so its a little harder to know what he wants to do, and how to keep him interested in the activity. My mom and Peggy are metting me there, and Peggy is coming to the class with me, while my mom keeps the boys! Then we will go do fun stuff when we are done with the class! Like eat and shop! Well I better go for now!

First Blog

I wanted to start this, to make it easier for our family, and friends to know whats going on with us here in Alabama. It may be hard to leave messages on here, but I will try to every once in a while post updates and stuff.
Today Steven had Pajama day at school, so he wore his Super Mario Bros. pajamas. It was in the 20's today, so we are going no where other that to pick up Steven from school.
Today was a good therapy day for Ryan, and it seems like that's how it has been going since he is getting used to the routine, and what is expected of him. He played with Desiree his therapist today at home, and he pointed to my eyes, and mouth when asked where they were at on himself. That is great that he pointed ,and recognized where they were and showed us! After she left we had snack and drink, and Ryan drank out of a little cup with a straw, which he will not do at playgroup. He likes sippy cups that have straws, but not use to the dixie cup and straw. So thats something we have to work on, so he will at pre-school. So we have had a good day of learning today.
Ryan is taking a nap. Steven is playing Star Wars on Wii, and I am about to make a cup a tea, and sit and do nothing for a little while. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.