Thanksgiving food and family

Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving.

I love the food



I love the time with family



I love the cooking and baking



I love the smell in the air



I love the cooling weather



I love the holiday cause it an excuse to be able to have pumpkin pie and hot chocolate for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving!!

S.E.E.K. Arizona

On Monday morning I was lucky enough to be able to go to a little goodbye/graduation for Brody at one of his preschools. Brody goes to two preschools (one is 2 days a week and the other is 3 days a week). It was a little celebration for Brody completing the fall session of the Early Childhood Education program at S.E.E.K Arizona (Specializing in the Education of Exceptional Kids) and a chance for parents to see their child amongst the other children.

We have loved this program at SEEK. It is an awesome program especially for children like Brody. There are 3 other children in his class and each have overall delays or At-Risk for Autism or something like that. Each child has their own therapist but the group acts like a class and there is a classroom teacher and the therapist is there to help each child whether it is with an art activity, socialize with other children, circle time, etc. The people there are such neat people and Brody's therapist, Jenna, is very nice and amazing with Brody. The other thing I love about this program is every other Friday there are field trips or "community outings" as SEEK calls them Brody has been able to go to the zoo, a children's museum and a petting zoo just to name a few.

Brody started this program mid way through but adapted very well. The first two days he cried and screamed when we dropped him off. Now, when I bring him in and Jenna meets us he looks right up at her and Brody smiles really big and without even a second glance at me he grabs her hand and walks back to the classroom.

On Monday during the goodbye/graduation time the parents came at the end. I was a bit of a distraction for Brody and to get him to stay in circle time they used a trick that has helped him before which was to bring in a little office chair that spins and he will stay put (as long as he has the occasional spin). It was really cute - Brody was able to pick two songs during circle time and they sang other ones, the teacher read a book and then at the end before everyone went home each child (with help of course) went and got their picture of themselves which was part of the activity board and each child got the "goodbye" song sang to them

It has been wonderful for Brody and we are blessed that has been able to be part of this program and to have a therapist that cares so much for him and his goals!

9 months old

On the same week Ryan turned 9 months he also got a new Grandpa AND Grandma is no longer living under the same roof as Ryan. Ryan ADORES his Grandma Donna and since he was born Ryan has had a wonderful Grandma to be around a lot. Ryan lights up with the biggest smile every time he sees her. It is bittersweet but because of Grandma Donna's happiness it is more sweet than bitter!

Ryan had a tough week this week with an ear infection in his left ear - even with his tubes! It came with some horrible non-stop diarrhea and a rash that looked like a giant red burn on his bum. He was miserable there for a couple days. But he is feeling a little better and just has a bit of a runny nose left (which you can see in some of the pictures).

Our baby boy is growing and getting big. He has a spitfire of a personality and a couple months ago started babbling and squealing. Ryan can be VERY loud!

Ryan is crawling every where and getting into everything.

Ryan is eager to play with people and wants to be held and then when he is held by someone he is jumping out of their arms for something.

Ryan now has 5 teeth. With those teeth has come interrupted sleep and shorter but more frequent naps - boy does he fight the sleep!

Ryan is already getting ready to move onto the next phase of walking by pulling himself up on stuff. Unfortunate for Ryan though, once he pulls himself up on things he can't always work out how to get down so he just cries - it is actually kind of funny (am I just the meanest mom ever)!!

He is still the cutest thing around and I just love watching him crawl around with his chubby little hands and wrist getting everything from Brody's puzzles (which really makes him mad) to computer cords.

Enjoy the recent pictures

We found out two days ago there will be a wedding

It has been a crazy couple of days. Donna has been dating a man named Dennis for a couple months. On Sunday she said they are getting married Tuesday!!

I have lived with Donna for years. I am very lucky to have a mother-in-law I love and I call a dear friend. I am so glad she has found happiness.

We will all miss her desperately.

Walk Now for Autism

This past Sunday was a special event for Autism. As we are pretty new to all of this we thought it was a great opportunity to go out and show some support. It is called Walk Now for Autism Speaks.

It was just family and we met up with a friend of mine and her family but then lost them in the crowd. There were SO MANY people there. Our team was called "Brody's Bunch". We raised some money (I think it was a lot but compared to others I guess it wasn't).

It was a simple little walk at Tempe Beach Park. But there were lots of activities and booths set up. Brody didn't seem to want to participate in any of the activities so he and Ryan got a little restless in the stroller. But everything considering it went pretty well.

Here are the pictures:

I was reluctant to participate in this walk cause it was for Autism Speaks. They are a bit of a controversial organization but this event was in association with SARRC (Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center) and that organization is local and has great programs and training seminars that parents and therapists take parent in and there are numerous programs and research studies for children who have Autism. So because of that I decided to join in the walk. Besides, despite some faults of Autism Speaks, I truly believe there intention is good - even if they go about it in a way I wish was different.

Our boys!

Becky and Trevor came out to support. Becky was responsible for the awesome shirts. She was sort of team co-captain in all of this!

We so love our Brody!

Ryan and Brody were being really bad at looking at the camera but this is as close as we can get to a "family" picture

Brody's Grandma who has been our help and support at home through all of this!!

We even got to met the Sun's Gorilla!! (Too bad Brody wasn't interested)

This is to give you an idea of the crowd and this was only a small section of the area I took a picture of - again such a huge crowd

Then we were on the walk

There was this big group of boys from some school in the Valley and they all had these matching jerseys - it was neat to see them

Brody loves his uncle Trevor

Evan and Ryan hanging - okay Evan hanging and Ryan sleeping!

Here is out team - not including Sarah who is taking this picture. Oh and in the background is the rest of the team

More of the walk. It was a little warm but a beautiful day for a walk

This is all about you Brody and helping you become the boy you were meant to be!! You are very loved and hopefully someday you will know that

Not so exciting or traditional Halloween

Brody still doesn't have even the slightest clue what Halloween is and Ryan is obviously too young. So instead of putting ourselves through needless tantrums of trying put a costume on Brody who screams as if he will die, making him "trick or treat" when he can't really talk, dealing with all the candy, etc. We stayed home. Passed out candy while hanging out in front of our house and letting Brody run around a bit. But I did get some good pictures of Brody's cousins who dressed up.

This is us in the front of our house passing out candy

For those who know Thomas the Train this little bundle was Sir Topham Hat

Her brother Evan was Thomas

Here is to next year well hopefully there will be more understanding and comprehension of what Halloween is and we can actually enjoy this holiday!!