Tony's Birthday to Devin's MRI

Last Monday was Tony's birthday so after breakfast and getting ready the kids suggested taking a Happy Birthday Daddy picture to send to him, so we did! Then it was school and outside play, lunch quite time, screen time then off to theater class. When I got there I realized tuition was due, so after dropping Elizabeth off Devin and I went to Walmart and picked up a present for Tony, and got the cash needed, oh and Devin was thrilled to find a box of Mike and Ikes....his favorite treat! Elizabeth reported a great class, then we came home and Tony brought home dinner from Famous Dave's for his special birthday dinner.  Then the kids couldn't wait to show him his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cup with a bag of special M&M's! And the special birthday card they made together for him! It wasn't much but we did our best to make his birthday special! Tuesday Devin had a REALLY hard time going to preschool, after not being there for a week and a half! But I managed to get him there. Elizabeth did school then they came home and played for a bit while I got lunch ready. After lunch they ended up just playing outside and inside until it was time to go to Cookie Cutters in Bountiful to get both or their hair cut. Elizabeth was thrilled to finally be getting her hair cut! We agreed that short was best, so I went with a chin length Bob cut, and it turned out sooo cute! She even got to have her hair washed at the special fire truck! She was nervous at first as she HATES water on her face, but once she realized it was much better than standing under a shower head she relaxed a bit. She didn't appreciate the blow dry at the end either, but she looked adorable when she was done! Devin just got a typical haircut, and looked handsome too! Then we went over to my Grandma and Grandpa Walkers, as the kids now insist upon! They had fun visiting and playing, and I got to catch up with my grandma which was very nice! I think it was that night that we went to Papa Murphy's pizza and turned in Elizabeth's reading pizza pledge. She ended up reading two more chapter books, totaling five in all, so really close to her goal of 6 books! And honestly 5 chapter books in 12 days is SUPER impressive for a 6 year old! It was a great deal....pizza for reading!!! Wednesday was just school, and play. We didn't get to Bravo because Devin slept long and refused to go. Se La Vi! Thursday I couldn't get Devin to go to preschool for ANYTHING! So he came to the homeschool co-op with Liz and I, and did alright. He even played toss the ball with another boy his age named Jacob for about ten minutes! The fact that he shared the holy blue ball with someone is HUGE! He did have several struggles as well, but I like to focus on the positive! After lunch I dropped Elizabeth off at Tisha's house for her older kids to look after her, as she played with the younger kids. Devin and I went to his first OT appointment with Anna, which went pretty well. Anna was kinda shocked by all the needs our kids come with. She suggested we look into a in home behavioral therapist, who would be far more helpful with the root of the behavioral issues both kids have. I don't even WANT to know how much that costs!! But we'll look into it. We picked up Elizabeth and went home for dinner play and bed. Friday morning we woke the kids about 6 am got everyone ready, dropped Elizabeth off at Ashley's house as she had kindly agreed to take her with them to This is the Place for the day! Then Tony drove Devin and I to PCMC where we Devin's spotted a Cozy Coup right inside the door, and "drove" himself to the imaging dept. We were the first ones to check in! We didn't wait long for them to take us back to get Devin's height weight and vitals. The part I was most nervous about turned out to be the easiest part! The IV. They had a little trouble finding a good vein and had to use a special light to find one, but they got it on the first try and Devin didn't feel or say a thing! The nurses and I were bracing ourselves for the screaming, and fighting, but it never came. He didn't even flinched. He literally didn't feel a thing! As the nurse said that is crazy in both good and bad ways. They let Devin pick a prize, where he found a fun Spiderman case with a little book and coloring book and crayons. He was very happy with his cool prize! After a little while they came and let Devin drive the cozy coup to the MRI machine. Devin absolutely refused to lay on the "bed", and so they gave him the sedative via his IV while he sat with me in a chair next to the  bed. Once he seemed pretty drowsy, Tony picked him up and laid him down, which somehow he knew he had been put on the awful bed and he got upset, so the point he held his breath(he already had his oxygen tube on so we weren't too concerned), so they had to give him more sedative to calm him, then he could fight it no more and was finally asleep! While he had his MRI Tony and I went to the cafeteria and had some breakfast. We then went back to the waiting room for a while, before they let me go back with Devin. They told me he started to stir a bit about 15 minutes before the MRI was done so they had to give him a little more sedative to keep him still. So he was out like a light! After about ten minutes we started trying to wake him, and once we stirred him he wanted to be awake but had a hard time staying awake. He took about ten minutes to drink his apple juice, and ate a few goldfish crackers, but was really struggling to stay awake. And when the nurse checked his temp it was a bit low, so they covered him with three warm blankets to bring it up, but he couldn't stay awake all warm and snuggled up like that. Once his temp was back up we woke him up again, then after about 15 minutes of being mostly awake....ish and not throwing up, they took his IV out, and got a wheelchair for him, gave me the discharge info and we were on our way! Devin was getting really upset about Elizabeth not being at home, so we bought his happiness with the promise of going to the store on the way home a getting the movie Big Hero 6 for him to watch. It worked wonderfully! Devin slept all the way home, then laid and watched his movie. After a few hours he was a bit more active and playing. Ashley brought Elizabeth home late in the afternoon, and we all chatted about their fun filled day, I thanked her about a hundred more times for helping us out and for showing Elizabeth such a good time. Then we just chilled the rest of the day. Saturday morning Tony and the kids worked outside for a while. After lunch we went to our next door neighbors for their daughter Mariann's birthday party. The kids had a blast on the awesome inflatable bounce/fun house they rented. Elizabeth scared us all to death when she climbed up the side of the slide portion then slid off the side and fell to the ground. Luckily she didn't get more than a couple bruises! They served hot dogs and fancy hamburgers, and such, we stayed for presents and cake, then departed as we still had some grocery shopping we needed to do. After the kids were in bed, my dad went with Tony and I to Walmart for a few things and we picked up dinner on the way back. We watched a couple shows with my parents while we ate dinner. Sunday we bathed the kids and got all dolled up and went to JC Penny and got family pictures done. They turned out so good! After we took the kids to McDonald's as we had bribed them to be good for pictures. Then we went to the Nester's house to pick up something they had been storing for us, and had a great visit with them! Then we picked up some dinner on the way home and watch the new Annie for family movie night. And that was our week!

Tony's Birthday!

Some pics before Devin's MRI

Easter and Such!

This past week wasn't terribly eventful. Monday was just school in the morning, as Elizabeth didn't have theater class due to spring break. That evening the kids and I walked down to Tisha's house and her older kids watched the kids while she and I went to Olive Garden for dinner and a good talk/vent. cry. She is such a great friend! Tuesday after we got most of school done(oh and Devin didn't have preschool this week...spring break), we met several friends at a nearby park, where the kids played for hours, and us gals chatted. We ended the outing with a fun water balloon toss game. Wednesday was just school in the morning, lots of playing and Bravo in the evening. Thursday we didn't have co-op again spring break, so we just did school as usual. In the afternoon I dropped Devin off with Mary and took Elizabeth to OT, where she was very calm through the entire session! Naturally as soon as we were done and I was waiting to make more appointments she found a tap bell and rang it over and over, even after I repeatedly asked her not to and told her to stop....Anna(her therapist) came out and busted her, and made the comment that the calm before the storm was over and the storm was a ragin' now! So true!! Friday morning we got through school nice and easy, then met Tisha, Ashley and Ruth, and their kids on the church lawn and had a super fun egg hunt! Elizabeth searched for eggs with Cinderella on them and Devin's eggs had minions! It was so much fun for the kids!! After they played for over an hour while us gals chatted on and on, until our kids dragged us apart. After that we went to Barnes and Noble and the kids each picked out an Easter book. Elizabeth also got the movie Home chapter book(she read all but the last chapter that day!) Then we went over to Standard Optical in the mall to pick up my new glasses, that I absolutely LOVE! To keep my kids behaving I bribed them with a ride on the escalator, which they earned. So we road it down, I looked at The Children's Place for bottoms that Elizabeth would wear in summer(her SPD makes finding clothes that don't bother her pretty tricky) and The Children's place has always been a good place to find bottoms for her. Sure enough they came through again, I just priced them out for the time being. Then we road the escalator back up and headed home for lunch! I visited with my mom for a bit before they set off RVing with Tony's parents for the weekend.  Tony and I had a bedtime date night and Tony used a coupon and gift card to get dinner from Outback, which we ate while watching Royal Pains at Netflix. Saturday was a full busy day! In the morning we gave the kids the last smiley face on their "getting along/working together" chart so for our family fun activity we took the kids to see the movie Home, which was so cute! Then we went over to the mall and went on a bit of a shopping spree. Granted Elizabeth was in dire need of summer clothes. She only had a few shirts that fit, and just one pair of shorts. So we went to Crazy 8 and got her a few things....her favorite are the one piece shortall outfits, and I found a really cute one there. Then we went back to The Children's Place and picked up all the shorts she'll need, and a few approved shirts(she has a surprisingly long list of requirements for acceptable shirts). We picked lunch at the food court, stopped by Gymboree where I found some really cute stuff, including another one piece outfit! Then we went to JC Penny as Devin really wanted(and surely earned) a Mickey Mouse fire truck he'd seen at the one in Riverdale after his birthday pictures. Well the JC Penny at the mall unfortunately didn't have a Disney section. Devin was fine in the store because he assumed we were going to the car to go to the other JC Penny. And broke down in tears when Tony told him we might not be going to the other store, He was so unbelievably devastated we ended up hopping on the freeway and going to Riverdale. There was only one firetruck left and it took us a while to find it as it was just left on a random shelf. Elizabeth spent her allowance money on a Cinderella gazebo playset. After that we went over to RC Willey, as we've been wanted a dining table for a while. And we found a fantastic deal on a really great one! Then we came home, the kids played outside while Tony went and picked up my dad's truck then the table. We ordered pizza for dinner, and Tony was so excited about the table he stayed up til one putting it together! Oh ya we also went to Smith's and did our grocery shopping in there too! Sunday the Easter Bunny was a little late(and somehow neither of our kids seem to believe the Easter Bunny thing....even Devin told me I was the Easter Bunny, he seemed to think it was funny!) Anyhow the kids were up for a while before Tony took them outside to play for a bit while I got the baskets put out on our new table! They enjoyed the fun little things in their baskets, but the hippity hops were a huge success! They played with their new fun things for a bit, then it was time for lunch. We let the kids watch an Easter show while eating their lunch. Then we decided to finish up doing some of the things we didn't quite get to the day before, like getting our poor dirty van washed and vacuumed. Then we went to Walmart to pick up a few things we couldn't get at Smiths. Then we came home, and just missed Tony's parents who left our April gift and Tony's birthday gift with my parents. We visited with my parents for a bit, let the kids change out of their Easter outfits and play outside, and they were thrilled when the neighbor kids came over and played with them. We had a wonderful family dinner at our new table and it was wonderful! Sometimes it's the littlest things that are taken for granted. The kids each picked a movie while at Walmart(it just so happened that Annie and Penguins of Madagascar had both come out), so for family movie night we watched Penguins. Elizabeth didn't get to finish it though as she was being rude and difficult and so was sent to bed early. I've started the mad curriculum research for next fall, which is more work than you'd think! Devin's is proving the most difficult, as Elizabeth is pretty established in certain things that work really well for her. I'm still figuring out what works for Devin. And that was our week, phew!

The Easter Baskets!

The video!


We had yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

Endless fun on the Hippity Hops!

Another fun video!


Adorable Easter outfits!!
Elizabeth was being a cutie pie!

Devin wasn't really up to having his picture taken well!

Our Easter cuties!

Bunny Day Party, Devin's Wellness Check And More!

So this week was a very busy one! Monday was a typical school and theater class day. Tuesday I once again forced Devin to preschool, and when I picked him up we discovered that he and another boy with the same backpack had switched them. Devin was devastated because Doggie was in his backpack, but his teacher promised to get it to him on Thursday, and he calmed down a bit and we went home. That afternoon I dropped Liz off with Mary and took Devin to be re-evaluated for OT through Primary Children's. He seems to be crossing over from a sensory avoider in all senses to actually becoming a bit of a seeker in a couple. He of course qualified so hopefully we'll be getting him more help in a couple weeks. She suggested we get him into feeding therapy again too. When we picked up Liz from Mary's I had a good visit with her and my Aunt Ellen, and Devin begged me to ask Mary if she'd watch him on Thursday and to his great delight she was able to! Wednesday was another typical school and Bravo day. Thursday Devin was actually excited to go to preschool to see Doggie again! I took Elizabeth to the homeschool co-op and I helped in the nursery class. Unfortunately I completely lost track of time and ended up being 20 minutes late picking Devin up from preschool! I felt awful!! I brought him back to the co-op where one of my good friends was keeping an eye on Liz. We waited for her to finish up her business then we went to her house and ate lunch with her while our kids played and we visited until it was  time to drop Devin off with Mary while I took Liz to OT, which once again went very well. OT is such a great thing for Liz! Friday morning Devin had his 4 year well check. He was 43 inches tall which is the 95th percentile. He weighed 41 or 42 pounds, can't remember, but it was like the 80th percentile! Pediasure works people! I filled out his "Autistic 4 year old" evaluation papers and he seemed to be doing pretty good. still some obvious motor delays, but his speech is good(comparatively to an Autistic child not a typical four year old). His receptive language has come a long way which is good. He was even pretty good socially! She was quite impressed with him! Then she checked his reflexes, which is something I've never even given a thought too. They're just reflexes right?! Well as she tapped his knee we watched as Devin's leg distinctly popped up twice, then she tried the other knee and the same thing happened. She asked me if I saw it too, and I asked her if she meant that his leg was bouncing up twice instead of once, then yes I saw it too. She went on to check all his other reflex points and each of them responded with a "double bump". I asked her what that meant and she looked kinda grave, which made me feel very uneasy. She told me it was a sure sign of neurological damage. And since Autism has no connection to reflexes, it is something more than just the Autism. I was quite scared at this point, despite her telling me not to worry and making me promise not to Google it. She said they'd order an MRI right away, and I'd need to get him into his Neurologist as well. As we talked about other things, she saw some typical Devin and Elizabeth behaviors and asked if I'd gotten Liz into Cognitive Therapy yet, which I told her I hadn't. She also strongly suggested we get Devin into ABA(behavioral)therapy as well as it's most effective before the age of 6-8. She too strongly urged me to get Devin back into feeding therapy. Oh and since both our wonderful kiddos have an array of Neurological disorders, she's sending us for genetic testing on both kids as well. To say I came out of that appointment overwhelmed and worried would be an extreme understatement! I want to do all I can to help my kids, but to help them Liz needs to be in OT, PT(physical therapy) and cognitive therapy and Devin needs to be in OT, PT, ST(speech therapy), FT(feeding therapy) and ABA therapy(which is intensive, 3-4 hours a day, 3-5 days a week). How do you find the time and money to do it all? So what do you NOT do, and who doesn't get to do what? Or who does get to do what? Answers I just don't have. I came home let the kids have lunch while watching a show, and I called Tony, nearly in tears to tell him all that. Then the kids and I set out to meet Tony at a Trax station, but we didn't get far when I saw lots of break lights up ahead, a Jeep whizzed past me, going WAY too fast, and obviously didn't see the break lights and caused a four or five car accident right in front of us, I kinda saw it coming and was able to bring an end to the pile-up. I rolled my window down and talked to the guy in the service van in front of me to see if I should stay and witness, but he said there were plenty of people and I would be fine to go. A half hour later in more stop than go traffic there was another accident that was getting close to being cleaned up. Once we got past that it was smooth sailing. I called and told Tony what was up and we decided to meet in SLC instead, which worked out much better. We took the kids to Build a Bear and let Devin get a new soft black and white dog and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pj's to put on him, and Elizabeth got a Frozen blanket and pillow for her Elsa bear. We used Devin's birthday coupon to help pay for it. Then we went to Applebee's for dinner, then headed home. Saturday morning my dad and Tony worked in the backyard. That evening Jen and Daniel came up and we had a Bunny Day party with my parents. My dad and I set up a fun little egg hunt for the kids, which they really had fun with. Tony and my dad picked up Tony's birthday dinner from Famous Dave's to eat at home, as going out with out kiddos is just too much work sometimes(we learned this at Applebees the night before!). The food was delicious! After dinner the kids played in the backyard with our neighbor's two kids, who are also 6 and 4 in a couple weeks, while we visited.  Sunday Tony took Elizabeth to his cousin Robbie's ward as he was blessing his son. That afternoon we switched the kids rooms up. You see our kids have insisted on sleeping together every night for over a week, so we decided it would be easier to just move Elizabeth's bed into Devin's room, making it a beds only room(their books and couches are in there too) and all their toys are now in Elizabeth's room, that we now call the toy room. They love it! And when they inevitably stop loving it, it's easy to change back. We watched Cars 2 for family movie night and that was our week! Oh and I just have to mention that on Monday I saw on KSL's Facebook page they teamed up with Read Today and Papa Murphy's Pizza to do a Pizza Pledge where your child reads for 20 minutes a day for two weeks and then turn in the paper and get a free pizza. Well reading and Pizza are two of Elizabeth's most favorite things, so when I showed it to her it was no surprise that she was super excited about it. She exclaimed "I can PIZZA just for READING?!!!" Then she proceeded to do a happy dance! Then she started calculating. "So I usually read at least 2 hours a day, 60 plus 60 is.....12 and a 0.....120 minutes! 20..40..60..80..100..120...(putting up a finger for each number), that's 6 slices a day(you mark one slice for every day you read 20 minutes), she counts the 12 slices on the pizza.....I can be done, and have my pizza in two days!! It's one of those moments where I'm not sure if I feel more proud or manipulated! I strongly commended her math skills, but then burst her bubble saying she gets to sign off one slice of pizza a day....the point is that she read everyday for the next 12 days. She was a bit disappointed but agreed that it would be simple enough, since she already reads plenty everyday. ;) She then challenged herself to read 6 chapter books to get the pizza. So far she's read, "Meet Caroline", Mummies in the Morning" and "Magic Puppy, The Perfect Secret". So she's off to a good start!

Easter Egg Hunt!

Easter egg hunt video


My cute kiddos!(those things around their necks are sensory tools, we call them chewies)

Decor!

Easter baskets from Nana and Papa.

Messy toy room and bedroom.

Devin dancing to the letter U song on abc mouse, and Elizabeth reading her third grade basal reader.

Clean toy room and bedroom!