Our Newest Addition

Well, this post is a little late, but I am just not too excited anymore about keeping up my blog (and I guess with a newborn I am a little short on time as well).

Little Owen Jerry did arrive very quickly (almost did not make it to the hospital in time) at 4am on June 11.  He was my biggest baby at 9 lbs and 20.5 inches, and now I think he must be at least 12-13 lbs at 6 weeks.  He is incredibly sweet and his siblings can't get enough of him.  We feel incredibly blessed to have a new healthy baby boy in our family!

And it's a ????

For those of you who are not on Facebook (and honestly I can't blame you if you aren't, because I wish I would never have joined Facebook myself),... anyway I thought I would let you know that we did find out that we are adding another little boy to our family.  We are super excited, and I think Ben will really enjoy having a little brother to play with.  Vanessa was a little bummed at first, but now all she can think about is how fun it is going to be to have a baby in the house again.  I am sure she will figure out quickly that there are lots of advantages to being the only girl. :)

Finally feeling better

So, I think I am finally past the worst of the morning sickness.  Honestly, I think this has been the most sick I have been with any of my kids.  I was pretty sick with Vanessa, but at least then I didn't have any other kids to take care of, even though I was working and in school.  Kids are still harder than work and school in my opinion.

Anyway, despite my sickness December has been super busy with all kinds of Christmas related events.  Vanessa has definitely kept us busy with all of her activities.  She decided that she really wanted to take up hip hop dancing this year, so I decided to let her give it a try.  She got to perform at a local event called "The Festival of Trees".  She was supposed to have her hair done up like a "who" from "whoville" for their Grinch production.  I did my best,... I have never been known for my hairstyling skills.

 

We also had Vanessa start piano lessons this year, and she had her very first recital during Christmas.   She was so excited to play in front of everyone and was not nervous at all (I have no idea where she get's that from because I am absolutely the exact opposite). We really felt like she did a wonderful job and we were super proud of her.

 

And just because I am super behind on posting pics of the kids and just blogging in general, I just wanted to throw in a couple of pictures I took of Evan and Ben on Christmas day with their matching shirts.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)

Some News

So I know it's been a super long time since I have updated my blog.  I, honestly just lost any interest in keeping it up over the last part of the summer,... and now well, for those of you who are not on facebook and didn't see my post, I am pregnant!  I have felt so sick and horrible that I have hardly even been on my computer since the "all day" sickness set in.  So, I do hope to update soon when I start to feel a little better.

We are super excited to add one more little addition to our family.  Vanessa is ecstatic, and is crossing her fingers that it will be a little sister.  A little girl would be nice (it has been almost 10 years since I had Vanessa), but in the end, I just want a healthy little baby.  I am due in June.

Hopefully more to come soon.

An Outing for the Entire Family

So, this is from way back in April, but I wanted to post about it anyway.  Having a child with special needs, sometimes means not being able to do things that other families get to do.  We can't just take Evan anywhere for several reasons:

A.) He might have a meltdown caused by his anxiety from being in a public unfamiliar environment.
B.) If my husband is not with me, then there are precious few places I am willing to venture out alone with a two year old, and a child with special needs.
C.) Unfortunately, the stares and the comments made by a few ignorant people can at times really get to me and despite telling myself that it doesn't matter what a few ignorant people think, actually believing that can sometimes be a little more challenging.

On the flip side,...

Every once in a while, because we have a child with special needs, we get to do things that other people don't.  In April, because it was National Autism Awareness month, we got to go to The Living Planet Aquarium during after business hours for FREE, but that wasn't the best part; we ended up being the only family that showed up, so we had the entire place to ourselves!!!!  It was awesome!  Yes, sometimes we do get hooked up,... and the kids (including Evan) had an absolute blast!

Evan got to do his thing...

He especially loved the jellyfish...

 

And the rest of us had tons of fun too...

The stingrays were a favorite for everyone!

It really was an awesome night; no stress, no meltdowns, no having to leave early, nobody staring... And really the best part about it for me was the we got to go together (like the entire family).  Usually if we were to do anything like this, it would be Marty or I staying home with Evan while the other parent took out Vanessa and Ben, so yeah,... it was a pretty special night for all of us.

I have a nine year old!

Holy cow, this summer has been crazy busy so far!  I am seriously worn out, and ready for school to begin again.  Between the birthdays, baptisms,  parties on the weekends, and all of Vanessa's activities, and Evan's therapy during the summer, I have hardly had a chance to even breathe,... and the state of my house can vouch for that.

So I am super behind on updating my blog, and will try to do a little bit of a better job in the coming weeks (hopefully).

Today I am going back to May to dedicate this entry to my daughter.  She just turned 9 a month ago.  Yes, I am old enough to have a nine year old.  It's crazy.  Man, it really does seem like it was just yesterday, she was Ben's age, running around with her chubby cheeks, and hair in pig tails. 

Vanessa at her 2nd birthday

Time flies by way too fast...

I wish I could slow it down a little, or at lease push a pause button every once in a while.

Now she is a very active, sweet, beautiful little nine year old.  She is such an amazing big sister and daughter.

She has had to deal with a lot, having a brother just 14 1/2 months younger with autism.  She has missed out on many outings, activities, and other things that a family without a child with special needs gets to do.  I have had to tell her no a lot, wishing more than anything I could say yes.  She has to deal with the stresses of having a sibling with autism that a child her age shouldn't have to deal with; even though we try so hard to shield her from it.  She worries about Evan, watches over him, asks me questions like "Will I be able to get married when I get older, or will I need to take care of Evan?"   Evan has been by her side ever since she can remember.  She knows no different.  She has more patience, kindness, understanding, and unconditional love than I will probably ever have.  She helps me to be a better mother every day.

Ok,... so on to her actual party.  She really wanted to go to Jumpin' Jacks (a big indoor inflatable playground). 

She picked out what type of cupcakes she wanted. (Brownie cupcakes with white chocolate frosting with her two favorite colors)

and she got to invite her cousins and some friends...

 

I think they all had a good time.  Vanessa told me it was the best party she had ever had.  So, I guess it was  a success.

Happy Birthday little Yessa! (Ben's name for her) We love you sooooooo much!

Happy Easter (part 2)

I mostly just wanted to post these pics I took of the kids before they went to church on Easter Sunday.  Evan wasn't in the mood for pictures, so I had to settle for just Vanessa and Ben (which isn't really settling). :)









ahhhh,.... love these kids!

Happy Belated Easter!

So, I really wanted to get a few of these Easter pictures up, even if it is a little late.

Every year for Easter we go (kind of out in the middle of nowhere), and have a big outdoor cookout with all of Marty's extended family with lots of yummy food around a campfire, and then we end it with a huge Easter egg hunt for the kids.  This year was a little cold, and a lot muddy, but the kids had a blast, and in the end that's all that really matters, right?

Even Evan was really happy and pleasant the entire time we were there.

But, Ben... wow, he was really hard to contain. He wanted to run around everywhere! He especially wanted to keep hiking up "the mountain".

Ben's first real Easter egg hunt.  He had so much fun!

The site of the Easter egg hunt.

Evan thought he would help himself to some of Ben's candy...

Ummm, Ben wasn't too happy about that...

Anyway, the kids had a great time.  Vanessa was having so much fun with her cousins, I couldn't even get her to stop and pose for a picture. Oh well,...

They came home with lots of candy, and lots of mud!