Weekend Warriors: wk 2 W/ Easter Egg Hunt

Jane @ Adoption of Jane hosts Weekend Warriors over on her blog ... got check it out

There are no rules... this will run
through the whole weekend
(Friday evening posted by 9pm PST
thru Noon Monday, PST )
so that Special Needs Families
will have time to participate..
we never know what any day is going to be like..

THIS WEEKS QUESTION(S):

This weeks Questions:

a. When did you first suspect that your child was on the Autism spectrum? 

b. What's the best advice that you have for parents whose newborns 

and/or young children diagnosed with some sort of challenge?

c.Who has been the most helpful in your journey with your child? 

Okay so I don't know that Nathan is anywhere on the spectrum, yet, but I suspect his is going to be somewhere on the higher end of the spectrum.   He will play with, make eye contract, etc ... with his family, not so much strangers.  The things that get me the most his lack of language and his abundance of sensory issues.  He understands, processes, and is smart as a whip, but when it comes down to it, he can't communicate back because he can't seem to get it down.  He TRIES to say words but, it doesn't work well.  He had a vocabulary, at 3, of 75 words I think, only 10 of them are clear.  He plays with his brothers, but if he wants to be left alone he will scream at the top of his lungs or he will fold over and cry ...  He's yet to be diagnosed.  We've decided to pause that process and wait until after we move. 

Today we went on an Easter Egg Hunt.  We were going to go to two of them, but the second on, when we got there, was really small and a lot of people there already, and it was a half hour to the hunt yet. 

But the one we went to this morning was fun.  They had balloon bounces there, and a DJ, some games, and the Easter Bunny ... which has a funny story....  and of course there were closed off sections for age groups.  I was going to take the kids to the Baby area, but there were 4 rows deep of people with their kids standing there already... and we had passed the "Special Needs" area ... and I thought, I'll take them back there because Nathan will freak out, I just know he will. 

So we got up there and they were staggering starts.  The Special Needs was going first, then the babies, then the little kids, then the older kids...  well...  we got up to the area and one of the ladies goes "Are you looking for the 1 to 2 yr old area?"  I explained to her that Nathan was special needs and after I saw how many people were there, knowing he'd freak out, I figured it was best to be here.  So I got them out of the stroller with their baskets just in time for the GO and wouldn't you know, he walked away from me... CRYING... 

Managed to help him with some eggs though, while he cried.

There was a big pile of eggs in the middle of the area and so I took the babies over there (Kaedyn kept trying to run off, Cal and Noah had gone into the older group) ...

Some of the other little kids migrated over to the area we were in, there were only a hand full of special needs kids and tons of eggs.  Everyone was told there was a limit of ten eggs, and the speckled eggs won a prize.   Well the people there made sure both Nathan and Kaedyn had a speckled egg each.  (By the time we got to the table, there was nothing left.  Got a Boyscout T-shirt for Cal and a Green Bay Packer hat for ... well, since no one here will wear it....  Nana!) ... 

Nathan didn't stop crying until he was back in his stroller (safety)

Then we found Cal and Noah ...  found out they were running it wonderfully this year.  Didn't matter how many eggs the kids got, they got 1 stuffed bag of candy.

This was the area where the kids turned in their eggs for candy  (he has the white sweatshirt)

Four Bounce Houses!

Noah got in for awhile, I tried to get Nathan to go in but he didn't want to, and Kaedyn I didn't trust in there with the bigger kids.  (Though I didn't exactly trust them with Nathan either)

And that's when my camera died.

Weekend Warriors: Week 1

Jane @ Adoption of Jane hosts Weekend Warriors over on her blog ... got check it out

There are no rules... this will run
through the whole weekend
(Friday evening posted by 9pm PST
thru Noon Monday, PST )
so that Special Needs Families
will have time to participate..
we never know what any day is going to be like..

I just want to point out that I've started to add "Pages" to my blog so things are sloooowly disappearing and going up there!!   I have so far added a tab about our family, my buttons for those Families who have Children with Medical issues that I titled "Special Families" and then I put up condensed stories of both Noah and Nathan up there for people to read.  So if you haven't read Noah and Nathan's stories yet, I ask that if you are reading this - you please go up there and read about two of the biggest miracles in my life.  

Noah has learned that the DR's had predicted that he wouldn't live when he was born, and it bothers him a lot.  (He overheard something I was saying to the Pastor at Church) ... So he's getting to that age that he wants to know why ...  it's hard to explain to him.  

In other news, Nathan had another genetic blood test done to see if they could find a genetic link to RSS and it came back normal.  Less then 10% of RSS children have that genetic material to back it up, but it's still frustrating.  It's like knowing he has it and just not having the proof on his medical records to back it up right now.  So frustrating!!  

Anyway .... the Weekend Warrior Question of the Week is....  

This weeks Question:

if you knew then what you know now, 

how would this information have 

changed your 'list' of 'must haves' for baby 
e.g. skip the really cute little hat with ears 
[he's never gonna wear anything on his head ever] 
and opt for a life time supply of Velcro 
for all those pesky PECs.......

 (He did wear those hats, btw, and so did Nathan, see...)  

Noah at 6 months (photography done by Emily King Photography when she worked at Sears, she took all of Noah's baby professional pics and once she quit Sears, so did we.. LOL..) 

She also took this one of Noah too which is one of my absolute favorites

See I have a love affair with those cute hats, at least one of them let me put them on (all below photography was done by me)

Nathan at 3 months (both the above taken on the same day)

Nathan at 6 months - (this is the outfit we brought Kaedyn home in - that say anything?)

Nathan at 7 months

Nathan at almost a year

Okay - enough with the hats (but there are more, trust me! LOL)

I have to say that I found it VERY difficult to even buy anything for Noah.  I was being told over and over that he would die either before he was even born, or shortly after birth...  even though I had hope and faith he would survive... with every wave on the ultrasounds... I would walk into the baby departments, and see something so adorable I just HAD TO HAVE ... but I would get a sick feeling and have to put it back.  I couldn't justify buying brand new things for him, I couldn't deal with the thought of having HIS STUFF there to come home to if I didn't have him with me.  It would be to heart breaking for me.   I was given a changing table, my Mom bought me a bassinet and a stroller/carseat combo travel system.   We got some preemie cloths on ebay, which in turn ended up being WAY to big for him.  After he was born, we had to find sites where wonderful people sold micro-preemie clothes.  We got preemie books and even a 1st Year Calendar NICU edition.  I have to say that the biggest must have, for use, were the swings.  They were a God send with both Noah and Nathan.  


And boppys were wonderful for tummy time.  Both boys have pretty bad sensory issues and a lot dealing with food...  


I haven't had to deal with the sensory stuff for Nathan much yet, we're going to look for some stuff for him when we move and get our own place.  He displays a lot of autistic symptoms sensory wise, but not socially.  We wonder if he might have Asbergers, and realize that he probably won't be able to be diagnosed until he's older if he does.  I would like to get him one of these ... 


The Sensory Swing

And a Tactile Pillow (which I'm thinking about trying to make myself)

Just planning on getting him a lot of sensory type stuff to help him with his sensory issue, or help him explore that...