Videos of Universal and Disney

IN some what off order here is a few Videos of from the trip

Hogwarts train pulling in

Enchanted Tales with Belle 

Its a small world (my favorite ride)

All about Rex

With Rex's 3rd birthday approaching, and more alone time for me on the horizon I decided to take a few minutes to talk about my sweet boy.

We are currently in the process of diagnosing him with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Often, people ask me how I knew something might be a little off and I thought I could shed some light on the topic.

It really started when Rex was about 14 months.  I knew he really seemed to enjoy the TV show Thomas the Train and it really held his attention even at a young age. Prior to this age, Rex was an amazing baby. He slept through the night. He never fussed about much and seemed generally happy about most things. I noticed he enjoyed movement and watching things go fast but it was not something I was concerned about.

Anyway, we went on a vacation with my inlaws and family and we took Rex out of his own environment for the 1st time and the trouble began so speak with his attention span in the car. He was fussy and insisted on watching the same show over and over and would scream if I wasn't showing him books or pictures related to Thomas the Train.  Then as the weekend progressed, he was just very agitated about everything and was not interested in doing much of anything except for train related activities.

Then, Rex began to exhibit other unusual behaviors with toys (trains, and cars mostly as that was the only thing he showed interest in)   He would line them up over and over again for what seemed like hours.  Not always hours but for a much longer time than would be fun for any other child. Also, he was very non verbal.  Some people thought maybe he was shy (he isn't) or maybe that we was just really big train fan but I began to think differently.  I began to notice that he showed little interest in interacting with other children socially (except when kids were say running at the playground).

Also, one other clue was he did an unusual hand movement/face movement when he got really excited. At first we thought he was just really excited, since then, it is known as a stem.  Stemming is a repetitive movement.  Some kids may do excited fingers (almost like spirit fingers) or sort of flap their hand back and forth near their face.  Rex's is not very noticeable but when he is very excited, he will do some unusual finger movements by his side.

Anyways, all the things led up to me giving Early Intervention in my state a call to evaluate his speech delay and my other concerns. They came over evaluated and then decided if Rex would qualify for free in home therapy from the state of TN. We mostly focused on his speech and some other changeling behaviors that included: hair pulling, head banging, and biting.

Through these wonderful therapists and through working with medical and neuropsychologists to help rule out any medical causes, we are closer than ever to helping our sweet boy navigate this world.  Will some things be harder for him in life?  Yes.  Will people not always "get" him? Yes.
Will that ever change how I feel about my son or his potential in life?  No.  

Heavenly Father sent him to me because I need him in my life to learn that I can be stronger than I ever thought.  I love all of my children but Rex has helped my find the validation as a mother that I have always wanted my whole life. There is nothing that I won't do to see him be the very best he can be.  Our family is beyond blessed to have him in our family.

So Happy Birthday to my sweet son on Saturday!!! Thank you for being the best little boy in the world!!!!!

Rebirth in 2015???

I've been locked out of this blog for awhile since I couldn't remember my password to get into to it. I thought I might give it another try but for now I'm just trying to see if I remember how to work this thing.

Ok I've figured out a few things. Thats a good start.

10 Years.... My Top Ten Highlights.....

Claire's Blessing 2005

 Where did these kids go!? 2007

 Disney Cruise 2009

 College Grads 2006

 A Family of 5-2010

 Best 4 kids ever

 Just the 4 of us. 2007

 Just Married!!!!!! 2003

1. Leaving the Memphis Temple together after our wedding heading to our wedding luncheon and thinking... Uh... I don't feel any different but we are MARRIED!!!

2.  First time I tried to make spaghetti (as our first meal) and realized we didn't own a can opener. So I had to call my grandparents who lived close by and borrow one.

3. Our First Condo with our sweet puppy Max.  How simple our life was then.!!

4. The first positive pregnancy test!!!

5. You losing your first job and how sacred we were! Amazing now how that one thing set us up for the great job we have now.

6. The second positive pregnancy test.  

7.  Leaving our Germantown condo behind for house with a yard.

8. Driving 14 hours to Orlando to take our 2 cuties on Disney Cruise

9. The third positive pregnancy test. < Insert Lucy here.>

10.  The 4th positive pregnancy test. < Insert Uh-oh here and then insert my sweet baby love Rex>

What had happened was.....

Well you see what had happened was i got pregnant and then I went on a trip to chattanooga and then it was Easter and then we celebrated our 9th anniversary and then we found out we were having a boy and then we went to ST louis and then we had swimming lessons and then school started again and then on 9/20 (2 weeks early) Rex Michael was born 7pds 10 oz. Here's to 2012 being even more fun!!!

I'm Not Giving Up

So I know I haven't blogged in 3 months but I thought I would say that I am not giving up! I'm just giving in to alot of other things that are going on in our lives.

When your child starts school things just change! It seems like your life begins to revolve around that because you want to take all the kids to the zoo not just one or two and then those activities take over your Saturdays and all the other days you are trying to catch up from those days.

So, anyways, my point is that I am still committed to the blogging but in a new way. Only the really good stuff! Hope it won't be too long till I write again.

Ways to kill a boring new years day

We had a great time yesterday when Jed came up with an idea to have a dessert contest. We had to go to the store with no recipe and come up with something. Claire and I bought puff pastry and got vanilla pudding and whipped cream. Then added some fresh strawberries. Jed and annie made a cherry dump cake. It was a dark chocolate cake mix made with a can of cherries and butter. We had a blast and it was a great way to kick off my diet.