New swing set!!!!

Waya and Mimi got Lucas a swing set for his birthday and we put it together today and it is a hit! Lucas still can't quite swing on his own but he is getting is- slowly but hey surely is good. It has 2 swings, a slide and a teeter totter thingy............... he loves it all. He can do the slide by himself, and he is working on the swings- the teeter totter- no clue- but well keep workin' on it!

I have felt lousy all day- not sure what is going on. Achy, cold, hot, just blah feeling.... hope it passes- I have a lot to do this week to be sick! No time for mommy to be sick- ever :)

Fun at the fair!

Well Lucas, Waya, Mimi, and myself went to the fair today- boy was it cold- but we had fun! Lucas is almost 4 and 1/2 now so it was finally time to let him ride some rides and do some activities other than just watch all if us eat! He rode the motorcycles by himself- and he also rode a lot of other things with mommy like the Ferris wheel, carousel, kiddie train; he also did the balloon pop and pick a duck to win prizes. He loved the fair- he smiled and laughed the whole time. He loved all the signs vendors put out to show items for sale- many times he would stop at one and they would say can I help you :) I said no thanks- just looking. He LOVED this truck that was inside Ford arena that had advertisement all over it- no one else may have noticed it but Lukey sure did!!!!

He is feeling better thankfully and I was so glad we were able to go do something fun his weekend. He and I were cooped up in the house a lot on Monday and Tuesday so it was a nice change of pace. Still not sleeping all night but it is better- thank you Lord! We re going to go to church in the morning with Waya and then he is off to daddy's for the rest of the weekend.

Better day today..........

...........thank you Lord! Yesterday was about all I could take- so I was so grateful today went better! Lukey went back to school and he did pretty well- teacher reported a lot of problems in transitioning from one activity to another- he went through this phase about a year or so ago so I am not really surprised. Lucas did great at home with me this afternoon- not one big meltdown until right at bedtime. He was so tired from being up half the night for 3 nights (so was mommy :) so he melted pretty quickly at bedtime. Everyone keeps telling me to move his bedtime back- NOT gonna happen! My boyfriend has been over here too many nights at his bedtime to see the "melting" process- it is not anywhere near pretty! He starts pacing, starts to whine, then it is like a roller coaster peaking and going down that first big drop then BOOM there is no going back. So thanks to all for the suggestions- but they simply do not work with my one of a kind, acting very autistic lately, beautiful child :( If anyone could possibly get me an earlier appointment with the autistic pediatric neurologist at Texas Children's (in June!) that would be great...............
So I am praying that we sleep better tonight- so so so very tired. Well at least he will be at dad's tomorrow nigh and I can get some sleep............

Long rough day..............

...........thank God it is almost over with. Lucas has strep throat and had to stay home yesterday and today from school- so guess what? That meant mommy gets to stay home and try to entertain him for 2 days. Well I think he is feeling better- but the rotten attitude is in full force. Waya comes over to watch him today for 2 hours- angelic in nature she reports- not one meltdown. With me- so many meltdowns I lost count after about 30 or so- before breakfast...... I went to Lamar t talk to an advisor today and she failed to inform me that Oh you have to teach for at least 2 years to become a diagnostician........ WHAT!? I talked to multiple people at Lamar and no one told me this- so I yet again met with the wrong advisor about re-enrolling and I made yet another appointment to return and try to talk to the correct person- have I mentioned I hate Lamar!?!??!? Anyway so if it is God's will to make me a teacher so be it- i am not fighting it any more.
I know I am a great mommy but some days I get so frustrated and wonder if I am doing the right things with my boy- I just keep on praying for the Lord to give me strength and to make it through another day. Today was a tough one- hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Mommy instincts................right again!

Well there is something to those nagging feelings that we call "Motherly instincts"- mine were right again. This time the culprit is strep throat. I feel like I may have something too- I have a sore throat and am exhausted. Lucas started melting down a lot on Friday night and it continued all weekend long at his dad's house. Poor daddy- he looked like a truck ran him over when I picked Lucas up this morning from his house :( or a :) depending on how you look at it! I am glad that he was acting like that for him a little- good medicine ya know what I mean???..........

Anyway Lucas has to stay home from school 2 days- that should be fun! He is eating and drinking OK he is just touch and go with the grouchies. So I have concluded that anytime he is acting "off" I am attributing it to e is sick- something is wrong- because he NEVER acts like this unless he is sick. We used to call it "rotten tater syndrome" but it is definitely only when he is sick these days. I hate to take him to the dr. 500 times a year but it is so hard when they can't tell you what is going on. Oh well glad I took him in now................. pray that the next two days go by pretty fast!

Just say no to the HUGE shoes!!!!!

So can you guess which shoes are mine and which are my 4 year old son's ?????????? Well I hope you can- his on on the right for my slower friends :) Can you BELIEVE!!!!!!! In no time they will be bigger than mine! These are a size 12 in toddlers/boys- the biggest size in toddlers......... from this size on it will be boys- he is already in boys clothes- size 5-6 pants and size 5,6, or 6/7 tops- did I mention he JUST turned 4 in January !?!?!?!?!? OMG- help me and my checkbook.

Well today's fun was I don't want to wear shoes- well that would be fine if we lived in caveman times but we don't so I told him over and over- You have to put shoes on to go swing, to go to therapy, etc.- he threw a woolly fit everytime we had to put shoes back on today. I just moved him up to a size 11.5 shoe about 3 weeks ago so I thought surely they are not too tight already- well when I finally put these big size 12 shoes on he stopped crying about it- so I guess the other ones were getting too tight- geez............ weighs 50 pounds, is up to about 4 inches above my waist- Lord help me when he is 15!

Anyway long trying afternoon- he had a massive meltdown at bedtime over ?????? He insisted on going in the den after he had already gone to bed to sing ABC song, Ring around the Rosie's, Happy b-day and Twinkle Twinkle- be careful what you wish for huh? Want him to talk- check- want him to sing- check- at bedtime/middle of night- NOOOOOOOOO!!! Lord I pray we bot get some sleep tonight!

Fun but longggggggggggg day :)

Well when your child wakes you up at 400 am and does NOT go back to sleep then you ca officially say It has been a long day :) Lucas, oh Lucas, oh how I wish you would sleep! I am blogging this a 845 pm and going to sleep- I am exhausted! I made him stay in bed until 530 am then he was up and running. He did good at school today and OK at home too until about 430 then he started getting really whiny- go figure being up 12 hours is usually his max.

I had to post some pics from us playing outside the past couple of days, enjoying the nice sunny weather. Yesterday he decided he needed to get up on the riding lawnmower- oh how I wish for the days he can drive it! I had it parked in the back yard and he never paid it any attention but now that it is under the carport he is fascinated- I covered it up today to keep him off- so afraid he will fall and get hurt. The other pics are of him eating his and my Popsicles today outside and then chewing on both the sticks........ we often eat them together outside in the swing and then he grabs my stick- well today he kept trading Popsicles with me- he would lick his a few times then take mine- it was so funny- he ended up eating them both :) Then he insisted on swinging with them both in his mouth- almost gagged himself a few times!

Well next week on April 2 is autism awareness day- not sure what we will do to honor it but we will come up with something special. Any ideas feel free to comment! Anything to spread awareness so that others can get early intervention is the ultimate goal- and of course to figure out why 1 in 150 children in the USA are diagnosed with autism.

Ah.............. back in the old routine again :)

Yes, it is a beautiful thing having my child back in his old routine again. I love it- the school, therapy grind that he thrives on. It is hectic and busy but it makes him function like a well oiled machine. Last week he was out of school all week and attended ABA two days and he did terrible. You would think he would do worse at therapy when he is in school all day than when he has a lot of free time but the opposite rings true. He did so much better today than at therapy last week and he also did well at school today. Yeah schedule! I often wonder why out of all my friends and family my son is the only one with a strict routine and schedule- but I know why- he simply does well with one and thrives on it. I swear, I can't even put him to bed 15 minutes later without some massive meltdowns...... geez- sometimes the rigidity of it all makes me nuts- but that is ok- it makes me more nuts whe he is OFF the routine!
Well my man and I celebrated 1 year together tonight. I bought a new grill (a big $20 fancy one at Wal mart :) and I attempted to grill steaks and bake some potatoes- it actually turned out really good- and I got a cheesecake at Sam's with fresh strawberries and loads of whipped cream- YUMMY!!!! Boy it was so good- we exchanged gifts too- I got him a watch (that the battery was dead in an way too big!) and I received a sweet card, candy and a beautiful picture frame. The best part though- is that we made it to a year mark and that I truly have been happier in the past year of my life than ever before thanks to him- so glad we worked things out and are still giving it a go..............
Well speaking of routines, I am meeting next week with my advisor at Lamar to discuss how many 100's of classes I will need to return to school and become a diagnostician. My goal is to take 1 class Summer session I and 1 in Summer II, then 2 in the Fall and 2 in the Spring semesters- then maybe 2 in each summer session next year- will depend on a lot of things like how I adjust to being in school along with balancing work, life, Lucas, etc.......... it will be tough but worth it. I am actually a little excited about going back- never thought I would say that one!

Yeah- school back in tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!

Have I mentioned how glad I am that spring break is OVER!!!!! Yeah- mommies rejoice! Teachers cry- opposite from last wee at this time :) Anyway I am sooooooooo ready for my child to get back into his school and therapy routine. He did have therapy last week but he did horrible because he was so out of his school routine- it is a vicious circle. Anyway so glad tomorrow is the day! I had a great weekend for the most part- I spent some time last night catching up with old co-workers from my case management/grad school days 10 years ago- it was Michelle, Jayme and I -we all met at Cheddar's for dinner and caught up on everything from work, married life, divorced life, kiddos, old co- workers, etc. We were there from 530-930!!!! It was so much fun- so glad we did that. Hope to get to do it again very soon.......

Lukey stayed at his dad's last night and we went to visit my boyfriend's parents today- he was such a good boy. He and my boyfriend's daughter played together for hours and had a great time. They are so sweet together. Things are well in the land of love again...... ahhhhhhhh :) Lucas said something new today- he told Sarah- I'm thirsty- and I made him a drink and he drank it all! Yeah Lucas! I am hoping this is a trend......... Another part of my nice day was church this am with mom, Rene, and Mimi. The sermon was awesome and lunch with them was nice too. Rene works at Shorkey center where Lukey attends so it is nice to talk about that with her. Got to see my little sis a bit today as well- Overall a really great day

Rain Rain go away- today is still a better day!

Well it has been raining an awful lot the past 2 days much to my son's chagrin.......... that =no swinging :( his favorite activity in he world to do besides breathe and eat. Oh well- all is well in the world- things are great with my man, my mom watched Lukey for me this morning so I could run errands, and we found out today that Lucas' behavior therapy will now be covered by his health insurance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have been paying out of pocket for this for 2.5 years and it is very expensive (about $50 an hour) so we are very excited at this development. We have been trying for about 9 months to get it covered, going through the entire appeals process, so it is finally coming to fruition and being covered at 80%! Thank you God! Prayers do get answered :)

Well I am loving my new car- I am getting about 30 miles to the gallon in it! That is almost 2X the mileage I got in my old Hyundai Sante Fe. It had been a great car but not so great on mileage (about 18-20 MPG in that one).........so this is going to be a great improvement especially when I go back to school at Lamar this summer. I am also excited about this weekend- I am meeting up with some friends that I use to work with about 9-10 years ago for dinner- it should be fun. It is always nice to catch up.

Ugh............is it Monday yet? Another busy day.....

Well I have been trying my darnedest to keep Lukey busy and happy during spring break. My mom came an watched him one day, he has been to the park, to Wal mart, to Mc Donald's for pancakes, and today we went to the beloved Bounce Zone :) He loves that place- if it were up to him he would attend there M-F instead of school! Here are some pics of him playing there- the first picture shows his obsession at the Bounce Zone- the safety information printed on the side of the inflatable jumpers. I bet I can safely say that he is the only kid there that read those warning signs today :) He studied them an the clock about half the time we were there.

Well after we left we got Chick Fil A and went home. He gagged when he saw Rebecca and I eating the chicken, so we continue to hide while eating- let me tell you how very old that is getting. He cried and begged me all afternoon to take him outside to swing- well it rained all day so that was a no- but trying to explain this to an autistic 4 year old is darn near impossible!

So excited about going out with some old work friends from about 10 years ago Saturday! It will be good to catch up with all of these old married ladies :)

My little busy spelling man......

Oh spring break................ teachers rejoice- mother's curse. Look at what Lucas has been doing this week- besides making mommy a little crazier than the norm. He got some new letters from Waya and he spelled all kinds of new things with them- a lot of 5 letter words are appearing seemingly out of no where but I think he gets them off of Lingo, the game show. He spelled curse, Sterling, and millionaire- no pic of that though. Strange thing was he started spelling Sterling the day after my man and I broke up and that is close to how you spell his name- eeary :)

The other pics are Lukey hammin it up in the tub, and another new obsession of ours- playing with the outdoor trash can lid. I had placed reflective numbers indicating our address on the lid and one of the numbers fell off- OMG! It was meltdown worthy according to my son.......... so I ran inside and grabbed some scrapbook letters and numbers and took all the old ones off and let him, independently, place the entire address, numbers and all, on the lid. Well he can write in a straight line and obviously can spell with letters in a line- but not this time- he placed than all out of order. He was so proud of that little project though- it was so cute.

Well Mrs. Katie came over to watch him today so I could take a much needed mommy break- and it went really well! She is coming back on Friday morning for a few hours- I am so grateful to have someone like her to come watch Lucas when he is out of school- I trust her completely and do zero worrying while she is here. She did ABA stuff off and on all day with him and he felt like they were just playing- awesome! She had not seen him since his b-day in January and she said h looked as if he had grown a foot- most likely has :) Tomorrow off to the Bounce Zone- I am so skipping the gym in the am- Bounce Zone is a workout on it's own with him!

What a day! Love is (back) in the air :) .........

Well, funny things that love does to ya........... I have been upset and thinking about him day and night and praying he would call me and say I made a mistake can we work things out? and that is exactly what happened today :) I was so glad to hear from him- to hear that he loved me and could not stop thinking about me- so he came over this evening and spent time with Lucas and I and we talked for hours. I think we are going to give things another shot- I was truly miserable thinking about the future without him- so I am excited about starting over so to say. We are starting anew, with better communication and with openness to constructive criticism about parenting differences. I am so hopeful and excited- I will keep you posted :)

Lukey was up last night from 2-430 - he threw a party in his room that he forgot to invite me to ahead of time- he is bad about that. He talked, laughed, jumped in bed- all fun right? Just not at 2 am........ he finally went back to sleep and then was up at 730 and good most of the day just a little grouchy at ABA today- he slapped at Jennifer a couple of times but after we left he was OK. Hope we get some more sleep tonight so we do better tomorrow- Katie is coming to watch him while I work- yeah!!!! I am so excited- he works really well with her.

Better day today- awesome Lucas says!

Well spring break started today for my little guy- I decided to take him bowling after yet another trip to the pediatrician this morning. He keeps getting sinus infections and we are going to try a nasal spray to prevent them from occurring as often. If he doesn't get better soon we will have to do another antibiotic.........
On the relationship front- I am feeling better today. I am still upset and sad- heartbroken and miss him terribly but I think it is for the best. We will never see eye to eye on certain things- mostly child rearing and whether or not to remarry. We don't agree on either topic and they are biggies. I miss him terribly already and I will miss his family an thoughts of a future together- but not to worry- I am going to take time for me, and focus on what I want and what is best for Lukey and I both.
I am loving my new car- I drove all over the place this weekend and today and I still have 3/4 of a tank of gas! So much better than my old car- it is all good. I am looking forward to many more fun things to come over this next week besides driving my new car- Lucas is spending some time with his Waya tomorrow and he is also going to work with Katie on Wednesday and Friday at my house- yeah! Mommy needs a break and Lucas needs a change of scenery from me :)

New word of the day- Awesome! Lucas said this first thing this am when he saw my new car- he got in and said "Awesome!" about 5 times, then he said it throughout the day when he liked things.... what a cutie pie :)

Sad, sad day................

Well after much thought and putting off the inevitable I ended my year long relationship with my boyfriend. I am so very sad- I did not want to, but we simply want different things in life and I am in no way going to try and make this square peg fit into a round whole. He is funny, sweet, I adore him and his family with all my heart- I will miss him so very much.

I am sure that time too will heal this wound- it will hurt for a while though- that I am sure of.

I got a new car!!!!!!!!!!

Well I finally did it- I got a new car! It is a new Nissan Versa sedan and I love it. I have been needing a new dependable car for a while now and I got one that is roomy enough for Lucas as well as great on gas mileage. Unsure if this link works but try it out to see what it looks like- I will try to post pics of it tomorrow so you all can see it. It is a 4 door sedan in the Sonoran Sand (Champagne/light gold looking color).

http://www.nissanusa.com/versa/?dcp=ppn.16558633.&dcc=0.167305629#/photos/colors/

Well we met a nice new neighbor today and Lucas loved her. She responded to a post card I sent out about Lucas and that he is autistic and if he gets out of the fence to call me. I wanted everyone to be aware so that Lord forbid that ever happen someone would alert me in case I have not noticed he is gone- like that ever happens right?!?!?! Anyway she came by and prayed for my little guy as well as brought him some goodies- he played with the stuffed dog all afternoon that she brought him that barks when you squeeze his foot. So nice to know genuinely nice people that live so close by.

Another long crazy, yet good day.......

OK Tee- thanks for the grammatical update- when I choose spell check it does not check the title line :) So yes I am a terrible speller- my generation as Mark puts it. Anyway today I chose to keep Lukey home from school since everyone in his classroom had uncontrollable body fluids including my child yesterday and I knew he would be grouchy and at risk of getting it coming out both ends (one was bad enough). He threw up 3 times at school but was better by the time he went to bed. Today he was bored from staying home and he was grouchy due to "I am hungry but no I won't eat anything tat you offer me Mom." He at well this morning but would not eat until late this afternoon then went into meltdown mode. Ugh........... he cried for 3 hours straight, slapped me, kicked me, all that fun stuff until he ate a waffle at 600 pm and then finally stopped crying. The thing was he did eat some this afternoon- I consider (3) 8 oz cups of milk, 1/2 an apple and 2 pop tarts in 3 hours eating don't you? Well he ate all that and I thought surely he can't be hungry- wrong I was I guess. He woofed down that waffle and another cup of milk and then was happy.
We swung off and on all day- I am so sick of that swing! I can't wait until he can push himself- I wonder if you can hire someone to teach how to swing lessons???? We went to run some errands, went to Walmart and then the park- so over all it was a good day. I am feeling somewhat better today as well- hoping I can drop Lukey off and go buy my new ca tomorrow! I am looking at a Nissan Versa sedan. I drove one the other day and it was nice and in my price range. I am going back there tomorrow so I will let you all know if I get it! I am so excited- I have never bought a car on my own before, and the last car I bought was my SUV I have had for 7 years- so I am overdue.
I hope I can see my honey more this weekend- his daughter isn't feeling well so she did not come in for the weekend- so I am hoping we can spend some time together- I sure do miss him! With all the yucky stomach stuff going on over here we only saw each other a couple of hours this whole week- I know wha wha..........Well off to bed- no telling what tonight holds.......

Kids are like walking germ banks, I swear!!!

We went to a festival at school last Saturday and then on Tuesday night my niece Emma came down with a pretty bad stomach bug. Well I saw her on Tuesday am and then she got sick all night Tuesday night- so I was around her while she was most likely contagious. Well Lukey went to school today and he was grouchy and he got sick at school. They called be about 12 and told me on a message at home (I am never there!) that he was crying an sick. I got the message and went straight to school to get him. By the time I arrived, the teacher's aide is puking, a boy in his class has the squirts, sorry- there is no other way to put it!, and Lucas had thrown up 3 times. I took him home and he cried and screamed the entire way to the car- his teacher carried him all the way outside. Then the teacher emails me later telling me she is now throwing up and I have been nauseated myself all afternoon- fun times. I took Lucas to the dr. and she prescribed some medication for the nausea. We both took some :) and felt better- hope that we can sleep tonight- I have a feeling it may be a long weekend :(

I am crazy- it is official..... I am going back to college!

Oh the thing you do for your kiddos! I got a divorce, bought a house, I am working part time, about to go back to get ANOTHER master's degree so I can be out of school when he is, and I am going to buy another car to get better gas mileage- all for Lukey man. But when you look at this little spread legged wonder :) how can you say no!?!?!? He is getting so big, and growing up way too fast. He is sitting here this evening drinking his milk (as all of you know already from looking at the color of the cup- blue cup = milk, green cup = tea or juice.........) and watching Wheel Of Fortune. He is wearing size 8 PJ's in this picture and they fit him way to well for him to be 4 years old. He is getting enormous- weighs almost 50 pounds and at least 44 inches tall already :) Growing boy is an understatement.

I received my acceptance letter to Lamar in Beaumont today- I am enrolled to start grad school, again in Summer I which will start in June.

So that means my 7 year old car has got to go......... I get crummy gas mileage in it and I can't afford to pay to get it repaired all the time and pay for gas- financially I will do better by getting a more economical car. I am just worried about finding a sedan that Lucas will fit in the back seat! I will be glad when he is big enough to ride in the front- maybe next year :) I am looking at a foreign car- either a Toyota, Kia, or Hyandai- they all get good gas mileage and have excellent warranties. So I may go car shop this weekend- I am unsure when but sometime soon. Kind of excited about getting a "new" car- it will be used but new to me.

I have been blessed with having such a special son, and I am so glad that I have also had the opportunity to be able to help other mom's like me who struggle with raising an autistic child. I have tried to reach out and help others out everyday- I feel we are all in the same boat together so we may as well share the life raft right? Hang in there to all of you special mommy's- we will survive!

Tired mommy, long a$$ day............

Well my precious little man decided to act very autistic last night from 330-530- yelling, screaming, slapping, kicking- you name it- all over wanting to go swing. Well I said no and he lost his cool- he screamed and cried for almost 2 hours- needless to say we all were up from 30 on..... makes for a very long next day. Well since I am Nazi mom- I sent him to school and took him to ABA therapy today after school- yeah I know mean mommy right??? If he gets the idea that we can get up all hours and swing hen it will all go downhill- so I stick to my guns and make the rules while I can- I have control right now, right !?!?!? Anyway he went to school and had a great day and did pretty well in therapy too. I am hoping that he sleeps better tonight- I need some major zzzzzzzzz's. He fell asleep at 715 tonight so I am hopeful............

Another busy day.......

.........seems like all my days are busy! I did not feel well today- that TOTM :( and I talked my boss into a day off to eat chocolate, pop Midol and feel emotional. After I did that a while I went to Walmart and started some housework. Seemed like the day just flew by then it was time to pick my little man up from school. He had a great day at school- but his in home trainer Pam is about to pop- she is having a baby girl next week- so she cancelled the rest of our sessions. I was not really surprised- poor thing- I don't know how she worked this long! We will miss her so much- I really enjoyed having her work with Lucas.

He seems to be over the bladder infection- now we are fighting a runny nose- oh the joys of childhood germs! Well he most likely is having allergy issues or caught something from the 1,500 kids that were at the Happy hears Festival at the school on Saturday. We went with Waya, Mimi, Aunt Jan and Emma and had a blast! They got to jump in a bouncer, eat nachos, lots of lollipops for prizes, balloons, a book walk (we scored 14 books!) and hula hoops, face painting, and hair painting- he chose green for the hair :) We had such a great time- it was a little crazy but it was fun. I brought the puppy leash and the stroller- we used them both. He was so tired by the time we left he helped me get all the things we had won there out of the stroller and he sat in it to ride back to the car! He was such a doll there- but grouchy pants all afternoon after leaving- he was so tired- I was too- I came home and laid on my bed for a while and he played in the den- rare but wonderful!

He has 2 hours of ABA therapy after school tomorrow so that should be interesting to see if he makes it that long- the past 2 weeks we have not been able to make it past an hour........ we shall see.