Gill-G's travel case

Gill- G has high functioning Autism. We never had an issue accepting it because it helps define who he is. We do not feel sorry for ourselves and we do not regret anything. I love him dearly and accepted it long before we knew he was Autistic. Gill-G was going on  27 months before we started testing and it would be another 3 or 4 months with speech therapy before he would even start talking. He would occasionally have melt downs and bite himself until he bleed.  There is a never ending curve of learning because he is learning and developing too.
Just because you know one kid with Autism does not mean you know Autism because Autism has many faces and no two are a like.

But this article is not about living with Autism, it is about living with allergies. Autism just plays a minor part because it affects the way he thinks. 

We have a special baggie in my purse to carry things for Gill-G. 

Inside we have some important thing in case of emergency for when we go out with Gill-G.

This case is easy enough you can get into it but difficult enough that it should slow the children down. 

One side contains an all natural sunscreen because he burns easily and a lotion balm I found on Avon.  The lotion balm is great for the extreme itchy days and we can't get to the lotion or coconut oil and it does not make a huge mess. Normally we also have a small supply of band aids but someone has not replaced it.

The other side contains epi pens and a letter. I also plan on adding Children's Benadryl Liquid Allergy Relief - NEW Larger Size (8 Fl Oz X 2) We had some in there but with allergy season we grabbed it and forgot to refill it. The letter was written for us by our developmental Doctor. This give us the protection if someone hears Gill-G screaming" stop hitting me or you are hurting me" and calls the cops. You would be surprised at the things that can happen. 

It has been way to long...

Things were all over the place for awhile and it got overwhelming but we are back and we are more organized and in a better place. 

                                                     

I want to start with we completed our first year homeschooling with Yasser and it was a long crazy year. We combined first grade with kindergarden because she was comfortable with kindergarden before the year even started. We are starting second grade this year. She is also bridging into Brownies with our girl scout troop. I am very proud of my little lady because she worked hard to earn all of the pins and patches she could. We are also in to works of losing our first two teeth!!! I really have no clue how I feel because it does not feel that long ago she was depending on me for everything.

                                                                        

Gill-G had huge changes in his life. For starters we have the official Autism diagnose but he also has apraxia with anxiety and horrible allergies. The good news to it all we were able to start putting together plans to help him work around stuff. Now we are in a much better place and starting to see the unusual child emerging. It is honestly nice to see. We finally got rid of our gross green blanket and don't spend day and night upset. We are starting Kindergarden this year after catching him doing his sisters school work for her ( he just turned 4 so I didn't want to push but he can do math in his head and basic reading). Lessons were learned and now we are in for a really great year. 

                                                                          

Hulk man well he is just Hulk man with more mysteries than answers but we have either been learning how to accept and deal with more or he is getting better. I really have no clue anymore. But we love him and plan on another great year except this time we with be keeping up with our blog. Even Justin agreed to start typing and writing more. My weekly schedule has a blog typing section blocked off every week :) Thank you everyone for not giving up on me and checking every so often. 

Becoming parents

The day we brought Yasser home

Sometimes becoming a parent is not a planned decision. At times when that happens you do not end up with the right person. I am one of the few lucky ones, we accidentally got pregnant but almost 7 years we are still going strong. He is my best friend and the one who knows the best way to calm me down. Some days I really really need it to but today is not my day or about me. Today is the one day a year that we celebrate the amazing fathers in the world.

Hiking with our 6 month old baby

Today I want to write about the long difficult journey that my husband I went through that makes us cherish being a parent. We first started dated and got pregnant right away with our very first child but that unforntuelly was not meant to be. Although it is sad I learned that are worse things in life than losing a baby before the end of the first trimester. For a short time I was depressed and sad but later found we would out we would be having our lil miss Yasser.

Daddy trying to convince Yasser to try some food

 After that first few days of completely freaking out it then hit us that we were becoming parents. Thankfully this pregnancy was easy no special or traumatic things would happen. This was followed by a fairly easy labor too. After my water broke she was here in 12 hours.  She was a good baby and by the time she was a month old she would be sleeping through the night. I would tease and say had I only known how easy and great she was I would have never had another kid, but that would just be a lie.

Looking at ducks on the lake

 Months after Yasser we found out we would be having Mya. This was the hardest time period not just for me but us as a couple as well. From the very beginning something was wrong I was sick day and night and there was nothing that could make me feel better. Even water made me sick and I was just losing weight like crazy. If you knew me you knew how that was not a good thing because I am tiny. Not just short tiny but super skinny tiny. I was so sick they had to put me on medication in hopes that I would finally start gaining weight.

Gettysburg!! (Miss living near it)

At about 6 months we went in for an ultrasound and thought we would be surprising our family with if it was a boy or girl on Thanksgiving( it was only a few days away). Instead we found out there was no water around her they were hoping my water broke because if it was that then she may have had a fighting chance. We were not that lucky she had potter syndrome. If you have never felt what it is like you are lucky because sitting there pregnant feeling this little life kick away and knowing you will never be able to hold or watch this little baby grow is heartbreaking.

Baltimore zoo

 This was a really difficult time for us both, dealing with it was nearly impossible at first. Mya never developed lungs or kidneys or any of her GI track and we had to decide to end the pregnancy or finishing it knowing what the out come was. We decided to end it, it was hard enough as it was. I lost my mind and my poor husband (fiancé at the time) had to deal with me and the after math. All I wanted was my baby. It would be a few months before I came to my senses and try healing.
We were told it would take us a year to get pregnant again and we wanted to have a kid again so we went off birth control the month we were getting married me. On our honeymoon we had the biggest surprise ever, it would not take a year, it took a month (I had both the depo shot and the pills at the same so the fact it took a month was really surprising).

Seeing our baby for the first time (little Man)

When I tell People my little man was planned I mean I planned on having him a year later not within a month, this was the closest to a planned pregnancy we ever had. Gill-G was an easy pregnancy and super easy uncomplicated birth too.

Labor is never fun 

 Actually I love his birth story. We went in to get induced Feb 9, 2012, it was a training for nurses and we agreed to let them in our room. I even agreed to let the only male student take care of me ( Justin said yes before I could decide) because no one else was okay with it. They broke my water at noon. I was going slow and around 5 I told my nurse I was having horrible pressure. We were not expecting him yet so she was shocked to be seeing a head. Everyone rushed in, and all of the students. Dr. Scout ( I love that doctor) said something that made me laugh and the next thing I know everyone is telling me jokes. All I remember was laughing and then being handed my little man.

Students

 After his birth is when things got hard. This poor kid was miserable day and night for the first 11 months of his life. As he got older we started learning why. Gill-G was maybe 3 months when we found out I got pregnant on the pill again.

Nicu with Hulk man

Hulk man like Mya was a difficult pregnancy. Crazy Both of my Febuaray due dates were easy and my April due dates was horrible. They did not think he was going to make it. At 20 weeks I started dilating, it was a battle to keep him in. My water starting dripping early Feb 26 and by late that night I was starting to contract horribly.

My poor baby 

We were in the middle of a move that day. I was at the new house with my older two. Justin was bringing over more stuff when my water decided to completely break (talk about timing). Hulk man and I had some serious scares during the labor the 28 they almost did a C section but things corrected its self and a few hours later he was born. We thought we were out of the woods with him but at 6 weeks this kid nearly died. He was getting sick and we had an appointment with the doctor in the morning just needed to get through the night.

He was so sad looking 

 Justin agreed to take watch and let me get some sleep. The next thing I know here comes my husband flipping out Hulk man was dead and he hands me this blue lifeless looking thing. I had to calm him down and make him find the phone to call 911. I did CPR ( if you do not think taking that class is important, it really is you never know when you might need it) if I did not try he would not be here today.

Getting better 

 I sent Justin and Hulk man to the hospital while I figured out child care for the other two. The poor child stopped breathing and had seizers for 5 hours. They had to induce a comma (we are debating how to write this so if you know the correct way to word it please let me know) in order to mercy fly him into D.C. Hulk man remained on life support for 3 days until the swelling in his brain went down. I have to say I have never been so thankful to have such a strong willed and determined little boy.

Hard to believe this cute face nearly died 

He pulled through and has not stopped moving since. After Hulk man we decided never again will we have another biological child (I still want to adopt one day). I may or may not adopt some days these kids make me want to hide but I would not trade them for anything in this world. Looking back on this I am thankful that I have the right person by my side. This post has taken me almost a week to write and reading through it I still cry. Having kids has been one of our hardest journeys and most heartbreaking but I would not want to trade it. I love my kids and my husband that made all of this possible. With out him I do not know where I would have ended up.

All of us 

Homeschooling- The well adjusted child

Nichol suggested to me to read the book The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling. Part of me is super glad she did the other part is amazed I stayed awake. It was nothing against the book, just never mix allergy medication with a book.  As for the book if you are concerned about the social ideas behind homeschooling this is the book for you. When I first talked to my husband about homeschooling he was extremely concerned about our kids being social awkward. Well lets be honest they are but not because they are homeschooled they are just really really weird kids. I enjoyed Gathercole's Chapter on what do homeschoolers do. The great thing about this is she shows no two classrooms are the same. In regular public school all the classrooms have a certain unison to it because everything is government regulated. You can only change so much to the curriculum and the actual class before someone gets offended and says something. At home what can they say? I hate the color of your walls? Would you stand for that or just kick them out? I still have to follow some guide lines but I design my stuff based on my beliefs and how my child learns. Gathercole talks about more than that (you should really read her book). The other Topic I really loved in the book was "Freedom and time to be a kid (before having to be grown up)." I love this topic because our public school is an 8 hour day and what is it really preparing you for? I recently read somewhere on one of my fun science websites that the human mind does not really learn until after 10 am. Yet by that time you would have attended how many hours of class? In school you do not get to enjoy playing and other child activities. You go home after a long 8 hour day but you have home work. When do you get to be a child and play? My classroom is based on my kids and most of my learning are games. Math has become a new favorite in my house and my 3 year old is doing basic math in his head. Part of me is confused where he learned it the other part is completely impressed. We started out playing Learning Resources Sum Swamp Game and I just added a few pompoms to the box to help with the counting. (Next time we play we will take pictures and write a whole article with what the kids think.)  Last but not least I also truly enjoyed "the homeschooling parent's social life". This is a topic I struggle with I personally have a hard time going out somewhere for a few reasons. Mostly where am I going to go? I am not the most social person and honestly rather my own solitude more than anything but I am at the age where most of my friends like to go out drinking and partying or they are just starting to settle down and start their lives. I do not drink or care to party, and I live in wine country. Where am I going to go Walmart? Call me crazy but that is not a fun time and going out by yourself is not easy. Once you start homeschooling and really get into it you forget about your sanity and what you need for yourself because you are so busy trying to make sure your kids have it all. She explains all of this and how to give your kid that perfect life you really need to take care of yourself. Please do not take this as a book review it is more of a book suggestion. Pick up it and add to your homeschooling library because it is worth the read.