If Only Gavin Were a Bit Older…….

This is one of Gavin’s all-time favorite books.  It looks AMAZING!  Gotta love when they bring classic children’s books to life (and I have this weird thing for James Gandolfini. I don’t know).   Maybe you can see it in a couple of years, Gav!

Free Book/DVD Giveaway!

Since April is Autism Awareness Month and next Thursday is World Autism Awareness Day, and because I’m bored and have nothing else to blog about, I thought I’d do a book giveaway.  I have a brand new copy of Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues AND a bonus DVD with the BBC Documentary I Want My Little Boy Back.  (If you’ve read my blog at all, you know how much I LOVE this book and this is the DVD that made me cry so much-I think you’ll love them too).  So, all you have to do is leave me a comment and I will draw names out of a hat and announce the winner on World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd.  Make sure you leave your name! (Even if you are not directly affected by autism, you may have a family member or know of someone who could greatly benefit from this book).

Happy Birthday, Liam!

At 12:01pm two years ago today, Liam came into our lives and changed them forever. This little ball of fun has not stopped making us laugh since the day we brought him home. From his first cheesy grins, to his funny announcements to whomever will listen, he has been the life of the party.
Happy birthday little guy! We love you so much! Thanks for making our days bright!

(Yes, he’s eating coffee grounds out of the trash)

(“Helping” with laundry)

Scholarships

I just got a call from our counselor at Son-Rise and Josh and I are EACH getting $550 towards our trip in June!

Homework

I received an exciting box in the mail today from the Autism Institute. It’s my Start-Up Kit! There are 3 books, 3 DVDs, 2 pamphlets, and 3 audio discs that we have to read/watch/listen to before our trip in June. Yikes! I’d better get busy!

I Had a Moment

I had a moment last night as the boys were taking a bath. That’s Daddy’s job and I usually spend the time picking up the house and getting the last little things done before the boys go to bed. I was passing the bathroom door last night, and Gavin, in his sweet little 4 year old voice says, “But Daddy, I’m a man.”

Instantly, my mind flashed to the scene in Father of the Bride where Steve Martin is talking to his daughter about her getting married and all of a sudden she’s teeny tiny talking in her little baby voice about how much she loves this guy and that he makes her happy and she’s going to marry him. I literally froze. I got a lump in my throat so big and I suddenly saw the years flash by and Gavin having this same discussion with his dad when he’s 18. (I’m tearing up just typing this!)

Now I have no idea what the context of Gavin and Josh’s conversation was, but I spent the rest of the night realizing just how fast time goes and wanting to make the most of EVERY SECOND I have with my kids. I seriously have no idea where the last four and a half years have gone and I know they’re just going to keep going faster.

Whew. Deep breath. Ok. I’m done with all the sad stuff.

We know it is officially spring around here because of this:

The pants are getting holes. This time of year is always so tough because winter clothes are wearing out or starting not to fit, but it’s too cold for summer stuff (which I recently stocked up on thanks to HUGE sales at Old Navy).

In other news……..we went to our first speech therapy session on Tuesday that was covered by Title 19. WE DID NOT HAVE TO PAY A DIME!!! Apparently we are COMPLETELY covered. Again, thank you Lord! (Other good news….we should be FULLY reimbursed for the sessions we paid out of pocket!) And Gavin is also scheduled for his OT (occupational therapy) evalutaion on April 1st. Apparently there’s a very long waiting list for OT therapy, but fortunately his speech therapist, Kim, is also OT trained, so she’ll be incorporating both in his sessions until we get an OT therapist assigned. We also begin speech therapy twice a week starting the 23rd.

On Wednesday we had parent/teacher conferences at Gav’s school. His teachers told us that they have recommended that G be placed in a “universal preschool” this fall. A U.P. is a classroom with 10 typically developing children, 8 special needs children, one gen ed teacher, one special ed teacher, and an associate. Because our main concern for Gavin are his social skills, they feel he would do better in a class with typical peers than in a room where all the kids are similar to him (like his current class).

I know this will be good for him, I’m just really sad to say goodbye to these wonderful teachers. He LOVES school and these women. I know he will flourish and this is the best thing for him before kindergarten. As of right now they do not have a location yet for this class, but we should know sometime before the end of the school year.

And last, because I am at the Windsor Heights Hy-Vee Health Market SO much, I had several employees stop me yesterday to let me know that they have changed their health market discount day to Wednesdays starting next week. For anyone else who shops at that Health Market, this is just a friendly heads-up!

Boys, boys, boys

The Hulling boys are proud to announce the addition of another BOY to our family in July!

I think I need a spa day………or week!

God is SO Good

This morning I got a phone call from our adviser at Child Serve (where Gav has speech therapy). She has been SO helpful in directing us to various funding sources since our darn insurance won’t cover it. She had just received word that Gav had been accepted for Title 19 (which I mentioned in my last post). I told her we were aware of this news, but I wasn’t sure what Title 19 would cover. Is it just medical? Is it for other things……..like speech? (I asked, crossing my fingers). She said it WOULD cover speech and then I asked if she knew how much it would cost us per session. “$2, $3, no more than $5.”

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I almost fell over when she said that!! So, because of this wonderful news, we will be enrolling Gav in another speech session during the week (they say 2 times a week is best) AND he is now on the waiting list to begin OT as well!