My Princess Met a Princess!

It's no secret that my kids and I love to go to Disneyland. A lot. I got my first pass when Jeremiah was 13 months old, and renewed it last September when he was almost 3 and Evy 6 months old. Originally I wasn't going to get my pass til closer to Evelynne's first birthday, but Jeremiah's OT recommended we get him one so that he could get used to being around big crowds, loud noises, and become desensitized to lots of flashing lights/colors/etc. You didn't have to ask me twice! I got the most basic pass you could get (which still cost an arm and a leg!), that only lets you go weekdays only during non peak seasons and is blocked out the rest of the time. I kid you not, when the pass isn't blocked out we are usually there at least once a week, sometimes twice (and once I think 3 time in one week!). Luis didn't get a pass because too much Disney and him do not mix, but next week he will be getting one :) We usually only went for the afternoon, and almost always met a friend or two there for play dates. Both of my kids absolutely adore going. And now that Evelynne is getting older, more aware of her surroundings and more verbal she knows exactly where we are headed! In fact, we pulled into the parking lot today and she yelled out "Oh boy! Minnie!" before you could even see ANYTHING Disney related; just the boring parking structure. I think I'm in trouble :)

Jeremiah's OT was right- getting the pass has worked wonders for him. Definitely the best money I have ever spent! Some of my friends and family are in a state of shock that I think it's way easier to take both my kids to Disneyland for the afternoon, just me and them without any help, than to the playground for 30 min. I laid down the law very firmly and VERY early on that you always always hold my hand, stay put, do not run, etc. and it has worked beautifully. Now that Evy is very mobile things are getting a little trickier, but she has always been better at holding hands, staying put and listening than Jeremiah was in the earlier years. So far so good.

The picture to the right was taken today with Ariel- Evelynne's first time meeting a princess! I think she liked her.

Catching Up on Growing Up

Nearly a year has passed since the urge to blog has come. I used to blog a heck of a lot more when Jeremiah was small, and when I was pregnant with Evelynne. I had the best intentions of blogging last year, during her first year of life, but in the beginning I had the fall back excuse of "I'm so busy with having a newborn and a toddler!" Then as the year went on and Evelynne required less demands of me, the demands required of me from Jeremiah were growing so much more. Things that should have become easier as he grew up got increasingly harder, and were not getting easier. Last year was supposed to be one of the happiest years of my life- gaining another child, especially the daughter I dreamed of and prayed for so long and so hard for (especially after a failed pregnancy), Luis and I were doing well financially, and Jeremiah was growing up... yet it was one of the darkest times for me. One that I really had no desire to blog about.

I believe I posted that Jeremiah started receiving speech therapy and occupational therapy when he was 21 months old (September 2009). I went into his speech therapies thankful for the services provided for him, but thinking that he would "blossom" and not need the therapies within six months. I was wrong. I had a gut feeling deep down from the moment his pediatrician even suggested that I look into interventions for him that something bigger might be wrong with him than being a "late bloomer," and that feeling turned into stress. And fear. (Because what parent actually wants something to be wrong with their child?) And my worst fears were confirmed on October 5, 2010, when my precious Jeremiah was diagnosed with a high functioning form of autism. It was not something I wanted to talk about, let alone blog about. Only a small handful of friends and even family members knew for the first few months. But now that nearly a year has passed since the diagnosis, I am finally able to talk about everything with confidence and pride, not discouragement, depression and anxiety. I've had to take baby steps- talking about it first with friends and family, then talking about it here and there on Facebook, and now actually journaling about it. It's not a secret anymore. I never wanted it to be a secret, but for a long time it wasn't something I could really talk about without tearing up. It's one thing to mention casually to someone in person or on Facebook about Jeremiah's interventions or progress; it's another to actually tell its story. And I'm ready to start telling our story again- because I truly miss capturing my children's childhood in words. So I'm back... I'm going to start blogging again :) The pictures above were taken just yesterday. Jeremiah is going to be four years old in just a little over 3 months, and Evelynne just turned 18 months old. I can't wait to continue sharing our story...but for tonight this is plenty for me. Stay tuned for more!

Sibling Rivalry is Sinking In!

Jeremiah has gone from doting older brother to pesky older brother overnight. Gone are the days where he runs up to hug and kiss Evelynne all day long. Yes, he still hugs and kisses her; however it is usually after he takes a toy from her and makes her cry, and we scold him.

This morning, my sneaky little son truly amazed me. I saw him toss his basketball into his bedroom. He knew Evelynne would chase right after it, and sure enough, she crawled at breakneck speed into his bedroom. I saw the little guy grin, shut his door and yell "bye bye, Evy! Bye bye, Evy!", knowing that my poor little princess would not be able to get out.

One thing is for sure...kids with autism are SMART and CLEVER!

Kids...

Thank goodness my daughter is no pushover! She is going to need every assertive bone in her body!

Happy New Year!!!

New Years Resolution #1: Get back to blogging!! No matter how short the post may be, i want to make it a goal to update at least once a week. The past five months have been absolutely insane in my household, with lots of family changes taking place not only in our personal lives but also in our daily routines, so come the end of a very long and stressful day, the thought of blogging was absolutely not appealing to me at all. Time to get back into the swing of things. I certainly miss writing about my beautiful family! So keep your eyes posted for a few big updates very soon- there are a bunch of things I want to get off my chest :) Happy New Year!! (BTW- those huge kids you see sitting in our laps are now 3 years old and 10 1/2 months old!)

Four

Yesterday Louis and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. All day long I was thinking back to what I was doing at that time on our "big day," and brought out our wedding album to go through the pictures. Every time I open it up I start to cry, and yesterday was no exception! Our wedding was the MOST special event of my life. Why, you may ask, was this event more special than the birth of my children? Because without the marriage I wouldn't have the kids! Without the love, trust, commitment and covenant that Louis and I have in our marriage, we wouldn't have our family. I love my husband more than I could ever describe. No words in this blog would do justice to that. I know this blog is mostly filled with stories of my kids, because face it, life after kids is always about them, but this entry is dedicated to my husband =) The rock of our marriage and the head of our family. I really can't find the words to say right now without sounding completely cheezy, so I'm simply going to end this with a great big I LOVE YOU...and I can't wait for the next set of adventures that come our way as we continue through our marraige!

For your viewing pleasure!!

This is my feeble attempt at blogging for tonight! I just uploaded some great pictures that my cousin Rebecca took during the past few days when she was staying with us, and I thought that while I had the computer up and running I might as well share them with my readers =) We have been having quite the fun summer, doing quite a bit of swimming at Grandma's house, and now with our own (tiny!) kiddy pool. On Monday we are taking our very first trip as a family of four! We are spending two nights in Carlsbad. The agenda? The beach, Lego Land, and lots of time in the hotel swimming pool! I am so excited. I'm crossing my fingers that this is the only year where the kiddos join in on Mommy and Daddy' s anniversary trip I can't leave Evelynne overnight or else she'd starve =( We also need to get in all the family time together now that we can because the following week, Louis starts his new JOB!!! He got rehired BP- he had a VERY good contract position with them last year, which ended two weeks before Evelynne was born (yeah that was fun...) and now he has been rehired to launch a new project, all of which was his idea, and if it is as successful as they project it to be, then after 8 months he will be permanently hired! Praise God!!

....so perhaps this entry is just a smidge longer than I intended it to be =) Enjoy the pictures!

Jeremiah, 2 1/2 years old

Evelynne, almost 5 months old (on Friday!)

Here we are!

This is one of Evelynne's 3 month portraits. I have my kiddos portraits taken every 3 months (and picture worthy holiday- Easter, Halloween, and Christmas) during their first year. Evelynne is now 4 1/2 months old, rolling over, starting to eat rice cereal and babbling up a storm. So yes, I am quite a bit behind in my blogging! And that's okay. You have to learn what is a priority and what is not when you have two small children. For example- "clean" and "organized" take on a whole new meaning when it comes to the status of my house. As long as my house is sanitary and somewhat neat, I am perfectly happy. A house with a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 1/2 month old is NOT going to sparkle and constantly be spick and span. And I'm okay with that. However, since Marissa is now living with us, I try to be more consciencious of the state of tidiness that our house is in. Her mere presence in my household is such a motivation for me to be more on top of the housework after the kids are in bed rather than putting it off til the next day and cuddle up with Louis simply because I am too exhausted to think about it.

I can't believe that tomorrow we will already be in July. I am so thankful that (so far) this summer has been fairly mild. It's supposed to be in the mid 70's on the 4th of July! I hate it when it gets miserably hot. I have no desire to play outside with the kids or take them on walks if it is sweltering hot. Their rooms get so stuffy since we don't have central air conditioning, only the wall units, so naptime and bedtime can be quite difficult unless we have fans blasting. Speaking of July, on the 22nd Louis and I will be celebrating four years of marriage! The past three years have always been celebrated with taking a little vacation, just the two of us- Vegas, Laughlin or Coronado have been our prior weekend getaways. This year, with Evelynne still exclusively nursing (minus the one or two bottles of formula she gets every Saturday when my mom takes the kids for a few hours, and even then she will only drink an oz at a time) we will not be able to take a trip by ourselves. We are thinking about taking the kids on a little getaway to San Diego but still haven't made a firm decision on that yet. I would LOVE to get away for a few days with my little family and spend some time at the beach, however Jeremiah refuses to sleep in a regular bed. The only time he will crash with us (not that it's a bad thing!) is if he is very sick, like when he had the flu last month. He's too big for the play pen now (and besides, Evelynne would be sleeping in that). So I have no clue yet what we will be up to for our anniversary. Definitely a romantic date night, just the two of us, the night of our anniversary, but we don't know about any sort of trip yet.

That's about all i have time to write about now. Jeremiah's babysitter is here (she comes twice a week for two hours a time) and she's playing with Evelynne because Jeremiah is still taking his nap- so I'm going to relax myself!!