long day in Columbia, SC

We took our little Robug to the Developmental Pediatric Clinic today for his evaluation and they told us what we already knew. Ro has classic autism. If I'm being totally honest here, I will tell you that it wasn't any easier to hear it, even though we already knew. It still took my breath away and made feelings rise up in me that I forget are there sometimes.

That being said, we are glad to finally have a diagnosis! I knew before we went that the only reason we were doing this was to get eligible for the services that he needs. The appointment itself took about 2 1/2 hours, spending all of the time with only one developmental pediatrician. I was under the impression, from what I've read, that an evaluation normally is attended by several types of therapists and doctors, but apparently at this clinic, it's a one-on-one thing. Not sure if I think that it was the best way to do it, but either way, he got his diagnosis and we can finally move forward with therapy. One encouraging thing she did say is that Ro's main issue is only in one area, communication, which makes me encouraged because that is an area easy to help in!

My stance remains the same through all of this: We continue to stand on God's promise, what he TOLD us and confirmed several times: He is going to heal Rowan. Every day I am more firm on this, and honestly, I don't care whether or not you agree with this. Because frankly, it doesn't matter what anyone else says! I have my promise from the living, eternal, all-knowing creator God and that's all I need, baby!

This is my blog, I can say what i want. :-) Love you all very much! Keep joining with us in prayer. It avails much.

-Rowan's mommy

wow fast answer!

read the last few paragraphs of my previous post



done? now get this: the evaluation people just called and scheduled us for Monday! Yeah, thats right. THIS monday. There was a cancellation! Can you believe it!!

wow fast answer!

read the last post, particular the bit in the middle about Rowan.



done? now get this: the evaluation people just called and scheduled us for Monday! Yeah, thats right. THIS monday. There was a cancellation! Can you believe it!!

birfday and baby fun

Well, I guess I'll just post a quick summary of the past week or so!
The day after the seminar in Atlanta was my birthday! So, I slept in and took my time getting up and ready. I donned a per-dy dress and went to church with my familio. I almost had to do nursery that day, but my sweet friend Tori ended up staying up there because, well, she's sweet! And she's so good with kids. Then, after church, my amazing then-very-pregnant sister in law Lauren took me out to Brio for lunch, with my very good friend Lora. Brio is my absolute favorite restaurant and those are 2 of my favorite people! A good combination. They each gave me some very sweet gifts and really blessed me with their company.
After lunch, I came home to find our wonderful friends from Wisconsin next door. I had been expecting them the next day, so this was a very pleasant suprise! They hadn't intended it to be a birthday present, but it was. It was awesome to have them around for a whole week, we always miss them. So that night after the kiddos went to bed, we had some lemony, strawberry, whipped-cream-topped cake for my b-day, supplied by the amazing baker extraordinaire, Susanna Internicola. I swear, she could bake a paper bag and it would taste good. Thank you again, Sooz!
After we had our yummy desert, we sat around and just talked, and my friends all decided to bless me with words of affirmation. That is always my favorite part about getting together with the people I love. I come away feeling better. And it's nice to have a focused time where people tell you how great you are! You just don't hear it all the time, and well, gosh darnit, sometimes ya just gotta hear it. :-) So thanks, friends, you guys really made my birthday great. Looking back, I'm wondering how I managed to not take ANY pictures that day. What the heck?!
The next few days were pretty much same old. Joel's new schedule is great and he is loving working so much. I have never met anyone who likes to program websites and applications as much as my nerdy hubby. He's having a blast! He works at his employers house twice a week, and then 3 days he is working upstairs in his office. Someday soon he hopes to start renting some office space with other techy friends of his.
Rowan is doing well too. Not a whole lot has changed lately, so we are hoping to get some wisdom soon on what to do next. I've made several calls trying to set up his evaluation to get an official diagnosis and very quickly learned that it's going to take a lot of months before he can get in. Which means it will be that long to get any home therapies. So right now, aside from his healing, my biggest prayer request is that the process of getting diagnosed would be sped up! I dont want to wait 6 months or more, and it would be best for him not to!
Asher is now talking up a storm. New words every day! His voice is so sweet to me. And his playfulness brings me joy beyond words! Now that he's 2, he's learning how to rebel and all that fun stuff, so it is interesting the contrasts I feel some days. You parents know what i mean :-)
Bella Rose is such a joy to us! Everyone says she's the happiest, smiliest, most social baby they've seen. And its true. She'd smile at you no matter what, I think. And she is now sitting up, crawling, even pulling up on the furniture. Still doesn't know how to get back down, but that'll come soon. And she has officially cut her first tooth! We are waiting for number 2 in the next few days.
All in all, we are well. I'm still sewing but have stepped away from it for a few days because of this: I have a new niece!! My sister in law, Lauren, had her little baby girl on Tuesday morning. Hannah Elizabeth. She's so stinking cute and precious. I could hold her all day! We prayed hard for this little baby to exist so there is much rejoicing! While Laur was in labor and recovering, I got to hang out with my nephew, Andrew. It was fun to have him around and get to know him more. I love my family.
On a personal note, I am saddened by the recent deaths of some celebrities, particularly Michael Jackson. I dont know why I care so much. Maybe because i had a mild crush on him during my college years, or maybe because I prayed for him to get saved so much (maybe he did, who knows?), or maybe it's just because I know how huge a role he played in influencing the music and dance in our nation and how missed he'll be in that regard. I dont know but I just feel bad about it. I pray that God will heal the hearts of those who loved him, especially his family members and children.

5 things Friday

1. feeding my kids healthy food! (when they will actually eat it!)

2. seeing friends from a far off land (we have friends visiting from Wisconsin and it is SO good to see them!)

3. selling things in my etsy shop (it makes me feel so productive and contributing)

4. hugs from Rowan, and spontaneous kisses

5. Asher's hair. (he has wings!)

TACA seminar in Atlanta

Here is my big boy with his new hair cut! So handsome :-)












Joel, Susanna, Bella and I went to Atlanta for the day! Joel and I had signed up to attend a "Talk About Curing Autism" seminar and Sooz volunteered to take Bella for the day while we went to the seminar. It was awesome!! Sooz and Bella spent the day roaming around Atlanta with our dear friend Kim, who lives there. We woke up at 5 AM (which was not easy with only 4 hours sleep prior!), then drove 4 hours to Atlanta, only to get there and sit for another 7 in the seminar. On the way, there was an amazing rainbow in the sky. Sooz shouted, "Look! There's your promise!" The Lord promised us many months ago that he was going to give us our so n back. So I think he was just reminding us that day of that. Ok, moving on!

Suprisingly, we made it through the whole seminar. I thought for sure Joel was going to fall asleep but he did great, after a few times of getting up and walking the halls. My back was hurting from sitting for so long, but since I was so interested in what was going on, it didn't bother me that much. Thank God! Joel and I learned so much during those hours sitting there, especially Joel. I feel like I'd heard most of it before, but for him, it was the first time and it's really nice to be totally on the same page with him now! And he was thrilled to be learning all of this. We are now SO motivated to keep moving wiht this thing.

While we were there, we met a Christian couple and got to sit and pray with them over lunch. We laughed and cried together and it was awesome. Just to be able to relate to someone like that was priceless to us, as we'd never met anyone else going through what we are. Such a great divine encounter, thank you Lord! I'll never forget Larry and Laura Lea, and their little boy Lorenzo.

We came away from Atlanta with a bag full of resources, a notebook full of scribbled notes, and the gumption to keep going. I am a bit overwhelmed with all of this new information and with all this new motivation, so please pray that i can pace myself! TACA's motto at the seminar was "Autism recovery is a marathon, not a sprint, so pace yourself." I can totally see myself completely burning out if I'm not careful, and I certainly dont want to neglect my other children!

Above all, continue praying that God would heal Rowan. I know that He can, and I hold to the promise that He said He would!

Here is a photo of my little Bella, hanging on to the window sill (under Daddy's supervision of course. She is only 7 months but she sure is strong!)

YART SALE!

Ok all, there is a sale in my etsy shop. It is a site-wide sale on Etsy, so for some reason that must explain why they spell it "yart". Not sure why. But anyway, everything in my shop is now 20% until Sunday!!! Here is the latest bag I made:








So go check out my shop!! And buy stuff :-) Love you all!

Wordless Wednesday

my angel

glorious smiles

The past few days I have just been revelling in Rowan's smiles. I love all of my children's smiles, and if you're a mom, you know that every smile melts your heart. For Rowan, who for the better part of 2 years barely made eye contact, his smiles melt me just a little more nowadays. He has been looking straight at us and grinning from ear to ear, hugging us, wanting to be with us. His eye contact is remarkable, which for me is a turning point because it makes me feel like I am connecting with him when there aren't words. Soon I will take a picture of his beautiful smile and post it on here for all to see.
In my last post, I talked a little bit about "the fog". A friend of mine wrote me recently and told me of another way that someone put it once: "There is this perfect child on the other side of a dirty window that you just can't seem to clean. Sometimes you can't see through at all, some times you squint and get a glimpse. But, so help me, I will tear that window out of the wall and pull that child out."
That is how I feel. I long to see this little boy's smiles accompanied with words like "I love you Mommy," or even "I have to go poop", or I'd even take "Mommy, I just ate dog poop and it was yucky." I'd even be happy and probably jump up and touch the ceiling if he called me fat or something! I'm telling you, there is going to be a day like this and I hope you come back and see the photos, because there are going to be a million.
Today we ran out of Ro-safe food so he had to have almonds and black beans for breakfast and lunch. I caved and gave him a bite of orange, which isn't good for him for a number of reasons that I dont have time to write; the main one being that it is too much sugar and if there is a yeast issue in his gut, sugar feeds yeast and thats bad. But he happily ate those black beans and almonds and drank his lemon water! I never thought I'd see the day when my 3 year old willingly and happily ate totally healthy foods, much better than even I eat. Praise God! Now if only I could get my two year old to eat vegetables...

Hello, blogspot!

I am new to Blogspot Town so I'll be experimenting with templates and such, but we are here now! I'll be doing this one instead of the wordpress one from now on. I prefer blogspots gadgets and templates way more than wordpress so far!
Anyway, check back for an update soon!

Jenn