A Day in the Life of Jordan

So today has ended up being a great and fun day for Jordan. Since Scott was off on saturday and today, we had more time than usual to get things done around the house. On saturday we did all the cleaning and planting we needed to do. So today after Josh's therapy Scott decided to take Jordan fishing. To say he was excited is a huge understatement. He was bouncing around the 5 minutes it took for Scott to get the fishing gear all loaded. Here is a couple pictures Scott took of him this morning.



Then this afternoon my dad called and told us there were some Military F-16's at the Ogden Airport. I guess one of the jets blew a tire while landing and crashed and shut the base down for landings. So they flew into Ogden Airport to wait for the base to open up. So Scott hurried and took Jordan out to see them up close, since my dad can get him on the ramp. He was sooo excited to get to see the jets that fly around all day long here... up close and touch them (his words). When they got out there one of the National Guard men let Jordan climb into the cockpit. Jordan was a little scared to go up the big ladder, but he did it. And he was so excited. All he could tell me was about the yellow lever (ejection lever) and how you aren't supposed to touch it.

So I think Jordan got to have a pretty fun and eventful day. I was so glad, he really needed some fun. He kind of gets lost in the mix here at times with all we do for Josh, and then dealing with Trevor. He just needs some alone time with us and it's hard to get that. But he had a wonderful day and was so happy. It makes it all worth it!

A sick week

I haven't had alot of time to post this week due to sickness....yet again. I was not feeling the best on Easter Sunday and ended up in the doctor on monday with Strep Throat again. Scott went in on tuesday with it as well. The kids, thank goodness, have not caught it from us. Josh did have to go to the doctor on thursday with another ear infection. He is still recovering from a cold and runny nose. Having a feeding tube with a constant runny nose has posed some interesting problems, and I have had to re-tape his tube daily. He hasn't been thrilled over that, but dealt with it OK.


The other two are doing good. Jordan is finally getting over a cold he had that lasted for over 3 weeks. Trevor was sick recently too, but is fine now and hasn't caught anything going around in our house. He has a Field Trip tomorrow for school and is so excited to go.... so I think even if he was sick he would tell me he wasnt :)

Other than that, we have had a pretty uneventful week for the most part. This weekend the weather has turned warm and sunny so the kids were able to play outside finally. Most of next week looks very good, so maybe this week will be a better one with something more to do. Josh loves the outside and now that we can be out there, his Physical Therapist can work on some of his outside walking issues. That is one of our next hurdles we have been dealing with.

I am glad that I can finally blog about an uneventful week for the most part. Now that I am feeling better again, we can get back into the swing of things. I hope everyone (at least those of you living in Utah) get out and enjoy this gorgeous weather.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Be Prepared

I am sitting here trying to decide what to say. It's time for an update on Josh, but I am struggling with what to say. It's just one of those days where I want to say everything is hunky-dory... but it's not and therefore am not sure what to say.

I did take some pictures of him tonight, he was playing with the boys and laughing. It was so cute.

Anyway, today we went back to Primary Children's Medical Center for a Barium Enema. Yep... it was fun stuff. As I sat there trying to tell him I loved him and everything was OK, I got a little emotional. I usually am good at putting up a strong front during dr. visits, tests, therapy, ect. But today was just one of those days. I started thinking what if everything is NOT ok? What if Josh has to do more tests that are hard, painful and terrifying for him? I am emotional exhausted today with everything, and really wanted it to be done. But... fate had other plans. I rushed home to give my mother-in-law a break (she took the kids today to Baby Animal Days and had them for most of the day). About 15 min after getting home, Josh has a blow-out. He had a TON of Barium in his little body that had to come out. I just sighed and got to cleaning him up. As I am taking his clothes off, I realize his NG tube is covered in baruim/poop mixture. GROSS!!!!!! For those of you who don't know much about the tube, it is taped on his face, over his ear and then some more tape keeps it on his back, tucked into his shirt, and hangs down. Well it was down far enough that when the top of the diaper leaked... it got covered. Since he needed a new taping job that I had put off.... I realized I was going to have to take his tube out, replace it with a new one, and cause more pain. Oh... I just wanted the day to be done. It's days like these that I wonder what else can go wrong before I can go to sleep and start a new day.

But on the flip side, he is now OK and forgave me for all the pain of pulling off tape and sticking the tube down his nose/throat. He continues to amaze me with how well he can bounce back after a day like today.

So, for some updates now... he is still a ball of energy. He is all over the house getting into things he never had the energy for before his NG tube. He is not making any progress with the eating, but we kinda of figured that until we get the tummy issues figured out, he isn't going to want to eat. I am so tired of the constipation issue, I hope I can push to get it resolved in the next couple weeks. We will get the results of this test on monday.

Other than that, he is doing good. He is such a good boy and very lovable. He is really into giving hugs and kisses lately. We are so happy to see him being so interactive, it's just priceless.

Enjoy the pictures!

WALL-E

Today Trevor got a birthday card in the mail from my sister and her family. Amy knew he would love to get mail... which he did..... and was elated to find a Walle card. And not only a card, but glasses too! So I snapped a couple pictures so Amy could see how excited he was! Thanks..he was so excited!

Happy Birthday Trevor!!!

Today is Trevor's 7th birthday. Since it is Easter Break the kids are not in school. So since Scott had to work yesterday, he was able to have today off. He took Trevor and Jordan bowling for some birthday fun. I didn't go since Josh can't walk around there and is always stuck in a stroller. So Scott took some pictures for me. Enjoy!

Here is Trevor opening the last of his birthday presents. He had two parties last weekend but we made him wait until today for his presents from us. He was happy with what he got.

A day with Josh

This is the last post to catch you all up....

Last night I was taking Rosco outside to go potty. I came back in a couple minutes later to find Josh here......

He is so funny sometimes! It is nice to see him with so much energy and happy. We love this kid!!!

Poor kid!

Trevor had a rough week being sick. I took him to the doctor on monday since he had a high fever I couldn't get to go down. He had a double ear infection with one ear drum possible ruptured. So it took him a few days to get better. He slept alot more than usual and spent alot of time on the couch. One of the nights he was laying there sleeping and Scott and I were watching TV. Scott looks over at Trevor and started laughing. This is what we saw...

Poor kid! He was sitting up and asleep. It is nice he is feeling better now!

Family Party

This past tuesday my family went to dinner at El Matador. Since my sister and brother-in-law are here from Philly, we went to their favorite restraunt. It was so much fun! Afterwards we came back to my house to visit some more. We got out the Wii and had some fun. Amy and Luke don't have any experience playing so it was very entertaining! Just a couple pictures I took that night.....

I miss those guys so much! I can't believe their two week visit is over tomorrow morning. We won't see them again until Christmas. We love you guys!

Autism Awareness Day

Today is Autism Awareness Day. April is also Autism Awareness month in case you didn't know. I thought I would just share some of my thoughts about the road of 'autism' we have traveled.

I am including some pictures of Trevor through the years as well.

Before Trevor was born, I didn't know much about Autism and I didn't know anyone personally that had it. I honestly had no idea of the signs or symptoms. As many of you know he was born 4 weeks early, so when he wasn't hitting his milestones on time it was just passed off as a little behind with prematurity. As he got older and things like speech and language didn't come along, we knew something was wrong. We had a wonderful pediatrician who sent us to Early Intervention at 17m to get an evaluation done. He came back delayed enough to begin speech therapy. By the time he was 2, it was clear that there was more than just a speech delay going on, and this is when the possibility of autism began. By age 3, I was 100% sure that is what he had, but it wasn't until right before his 4th birthday he was officially diagnosed. He also began the Northern Utah Autism Program the fall of 2006. He had done amazing with the help he has recieved and I don't even want to think about where we would be without all his therapy.


Being a parent of a child with autism has been a challenge, but very rewarding. I think we celebrate milestones more than most parents do, simply because we never know when, or if he will really be able to accomplish the goals.

It's been a long and bumpy road, with some early health scares and bad allergy issues, but we made it through just fine.

We have amazing family that has accepted Trevor for who he is, not what he should be. We have been on family vacations in which they probably got frustrated, but were very understanding anyway. They are wonderful!

Trevor really is an amazing little guy who has come so far in his short (almost) 7 years. He tries very hard and works at making his way in a world that is not easy for him to deal with. He has a determination that I hope he never loses.

On this day of Autism Awareness, I hope you all may pause and think about how often Autism is being diagnosed. One in 150 kids have autism. So next time you see a child acting out or screaming at the store, consider that the child may have autism and is very overwhelmed. I wish that every child being diagnosed had the same opportunities that Trevor has had to succeed.

And if you are still reading this, thank you for all your kind support and love for our family. We have some rockin' friends and family!