"Autsim"

For most of you who know me, you know that my nephew Nathan has autism. My sister Jennifer has 3 boys. Nathan is a twin and was diagnosed with it I believe after he was 2. His twin brother Reed is not, nor is his older brother Connor who is 7. Reed and Nathan just turned 5 in August. I can remember the day they were born. They were scheduled C-section babies, my sister Michelle was to help video tape some of the events. If my memory corrects me she was 38 weeks, so full term for twins. I do believe they were each 7lbs, so they were by all means "healthy" babies. I remember I couldn't get off work so as soon as I was able to get off work, my other sister Michelle called and said that they both came out one right after each other, however I learned that Reed had to be flown to another hospital because he was having a hard time breathing and they wanted to look after him and make sure he was ok and that his lungs were ok also. Well of course that was devastating and with all the drama of just having one baby, having two and worrying about one, I can't imagine what goes through a mom's mind. I knew he would be ok. I got to see Nathan and I just was so much in aw with that little man. He was perfect. He had the bluest eyes and light skin. I of course was jealous that once again another sister having yet another boy.. lol. But there he was, all perfect. Watching him as weeks went on he was great. He was the best baby. He was mellow, don't get me wrong he cried but he would always smile and just kick back. I loved it. I lived pretty far from them but I took Nathan once or twice overnight. He was fine. I didn't mind it at all. I never suspected anything wrong, at that age I don't think anyone would or could. He was typical. I don't remember when but my sister said that she thought that something might be wrong with him. Maybe around the time Reed was talking and walking more than Nathan. I know people told her oh kids do things different, don't compare the two ect. Which can be true but she had the instinct and was around them more than anyone. She took him to his doctor and I believe after some visits and tests they diagnosed him. I have been trying to read up and become more aware of what it really is. I know that it doesn't mean its the end of his life or my sisters. From what I understand the form he has he will be able to function, have a job someday. He has great parents and family around him that he will succeed at whatever he wants. He is super smart. Just look at him. He's made such great progress. I love seeing pictures of him and hearing from my mom and others on how well he's doing. I don't get to see him that often since moving to Wisconsin but I hope someday he knows who I am. He has speech therapy and I know he's speaks alot more now. I always enjoyed taking his picture because out of everyone he always would smile, I'd show him on my camera what I took and he's smile so big. I miss that.

I write about this today because Nov 2nd there is the Autism walk in Phoenix that my sister and family walk in every year. They have been having a dinner and silent auction to raise money for research for Autism also. If anyone wants to donate or participate you can. Here is a link if you want to donate www.walknowforautism.org I know that my sister does a great job with Nathan and he's very lucky. There are some devices, therapies ect that insurances don't cover that could help these kids become more independent and help grow that more needs to be done to help families. SO thanks for taking time to read my blog and enjoy some pics of Nathan. You'll see how wonderful he is, just look at his smile :-)

Carving Pumpkins

As promised, yesterday the girls carved their pumpkins. Emilee had fun getting her hands in the "goo" she wanted to just carry her pumpkin all around but they are safely outside. I still need to get a pic of them all done, however I thought I would post some shots of them having fun. We cooked the seeds and emilee had her first taste and just like everything else we give her she liked them and ate them up. Nothing like the smell of pumpkin seeds, i look forward to it every year.

Enjoy the pics and have a great day...

It's Pumpkin Time

Today was a great day to go pick out our pumpkins. Partly cloudy with sunny skies and about 62 for the high. I had to work at night so we all got ready and headed out to The Pumpkin Place out off the 41 in Suamico to check out the Pumpkins. They have all sizes of pumpkins there thats for sure. It was our first year going there but always heard about it from other people. They have a corn maze and pumpkin bowling and some other fun little things. We opted to just get our pumpkins and head out. However the cookies caught the kids eyes so they had one and daddy had a coffee and muffin. We grabbed our wagon and walked around and saw all the HUGE pumpkins and tried to get some pics of Emilee sitting on one but you no Emilee, she was not having it and just wanted to walk around and point out all the "bumpkins" lol. Once the big girls found theirs and Emilee grabbed hers we were all set.

So tomorrow we will carve the pumpkins and cook the seeds and have a good time. Hope you all are having a great fall and thanks for checking in. Enjoy the pics....

Happy Birthday & Happy Anniversay

Did you really think I could leave this day behind without making a tribute to Mr Brett? Of course not! LOL.. Today is his 39th Birthday. I prefer to post a picture of him as a Packer because he will always be one. This was taken the last game he ever played. I'm surprised my camera didn't freeze up it was so cold.

And today is also the 10th wedding anniversary for my Mom and Michael. Can't believe ten years have gone by. So much has happened thats for sure. Where I was ten years ago, I never thought I'd be where I am today. Michael has had his share of medical problems, but I'm very grateful that he is still here. He's such a sweet, caring man. WE miss him and mom all the time. Hopefully we will be able to see him soon. Hope you two had a great anniversary and we all wish you many many more to come, thats if you can deal with each other.. lol.. I really need to get a good picture of the two of you .. but here is one from the past...

thanks for checking in today..

Fall is here

Today was a perfect Fall day here. Couldn't really ask for anything better. When we have days like this we have to take advantage and enjoy every moment. This week has been very nice. Soon we won't be so lucky. It was however very windy this morning, but once the afternoon rolled around it went away. It got up to about 67 today, sunny. Just gorgeous with all the fall colors. I had my camera with me so I just took some shots around Emilee's babysitters neighborhood. They have awesome trees. This weekend will be a busy weekend for us, but the temps are going to be rather warm. Well for us that is. High 60's to low 70's. Like I said before, we will take it for now!

Hope everyone is doing well and having great weather also. Thanks for checking in.

Even Emilee can't help but smile :-)

Vacation Over

It's been quite a week or so. My grandparents had their 60th wedding anniversary on the 27th of Sept and some family as I stated before flew in for it. As well as my dear friend Betty. The party came and went so fast. It was great though. Everything was awesome. My grandparents were so happy and we all had a great time! Couldn't have asked for anything better. The final dvd slide show turned out awesome, thanks to Betty. Made everyone tear up, which was good. Good tears are always great.

There were a few low points. As you all know the Cubs did lose in the first round of the playoffs. And when I say lose I mean they LOST. Swept by the Dodgers. Go figure. Curse? I think not. Poor baseball playing is what I call it. But I'm not gonna go on about it because I'm tired of talking about it. :-) And then the Packers lost, again. Too many injured players, poor tackling, i could go on but I won't. I still have fun though.

However the weather was great while the family was here.I was so glad that Betty was able to experience a true "autumn" in Wisconsin. The leaves are starting to turn colors, the weather was in the 60's or 70's and the low even got down to 33 one morning. Woke up to frost a few mornings. She visited Lambeau Field. Took the tour, got to walk out onto the field. Nothing more exciting other than going to an actual game. No fault to her own she left today, the day of a packer game, but she got to experience what tailgating is here, and well i think she enjoyed it. How can you not. I know she was glad to get home to her family and hopefully she will again visit one day. I'm not sure she could handle a winter here, people do it all the time, I love it. When you live in a warmer climate and don't experience snow your whole live I think it would be a big shock. I will miss her.

Another great thing that happened is Emilee turned 2. Can't believe it's been 2yrs but boy time flies by fast. Her party was great. All the family was here. Grandma Cathy was still in town and then Great Grandma/pa also came. Uncle Tony from AZ didn't plan so well either, he left the day of her party but she still says uncle tony every now and then, its really cute. Aunt Liz from AZ was also still here and was able to attend. Aunt Sue was able to stop over and it was nice to see her doing and feeling well.

Anyway I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for coming out and having a great time at both parties. We already miss everyone back in AZ. Here are some pictures below from the last week and a half.. some i took, some betty took, enjoy!

Thanks for checking in..