Sometimes,  well actually,  most of the time,  I find myself having to improvise in order to survive.  Without the ability to think outside of the box,  I shudder to think about where we would be right now. While I never understand at the time,  there seems to be a rhyme and reason for many of the things that occur in our lives,  all the way down to the decisions I make. Truthfully,  much of the time I'm shooting from the hip.  People seem to think that I always know what I'm doing and honestly,  much of the time I don't. Sometimes all I can do is throw whatever I have left at the wall and hope something good will stick. When we brought Bella into the family,  there were those…

  For those of you that have been following my blog for a little while, you are aware of Gavin's ongoing health situation. His list of health issues continues to grow steadily with the latest official diagnosis being epilepsy. Dysautonomia is pending diagnosis but that's more of a technicality at this point. Last week we had a scare in regards to his current antibody levels. Oh yeah, Gavin also has common variable immunodeficiency as well. Thankfully that turned out to be somewhat of a false alarm, although his IVIG dosage is going to increase from 15grams to 20 grams beginning with his next infusion. I swear I'm not looking for things to go wrong. Gavin has such a complex and ever changing health related landscape that something new is always rearing it's ugly head. It seems like there…

Today I was forced to lay wubby to rest.  Wubby is or rather,  was,  Bella's favorite toy.  Surprisingly,  wubby latest for about 6 months and I have to give her credit for that.  Bella,  like my boys,  plays very rough with her toys.  A lesser toy would have quit many months before now.  This afternoon however,  she finally expired.  There was nothing that could be done.  I declared time of death at 3:47 pm.  There was nothing I could do,  as her face and head had simply sustained to much trauma. So, I wanted to pay my respects to a favorite toy and even closer friend.  Wubby kept Bella from chewing on things that she wasn't supposed to and I truly appreciated that.  Wubby,  you will be sadly missed but…

Gavin had a major meltdown this morning. We knew it was just a matter of time before it happened. He had already come close about 3 times before the meltdown finally occurred. The meltdown finally happened after Gavin was caught telling his brothers to keep something a secret from Lizze and I. Upon questioning Gavin,  he flipped out. The self-injury began shortly after that. There was no question as to what Gavin had done because Lizze and I both witnessed it first hand.  We simply gave Gavin a chance to explain himself. What Gavin wanted the boys to hide from us was not even a big deal.  However,  we can't allow Gavin to persuade his brothers to keep secrets. Apparently,  a few years ago,  Gavin tried to clean his windows…

As a special needs parent to 3 boys on the #Autism spectrum,  it's no secret that life is challenging. On most days I feel completely overwhelmed by all my responsibility.  I suspect that many of you out there have experienced similar feelings as well. When you find yourself completely overwhelmed what do you do? Typically,  when I find myself overwhelmed I turn to my blog and write about it. I find that writing helps me to put things into perspective and that helps me to move forward. What do you do to help cope with the stress of special needs parenting?  **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store This was posted via…

Emmett wanted to share with all of you what he got for his birthday this year. He was so excited to have gotten this game for his 3DS. He loves Batman and all of the previous Lego’s.  Lego Batman 2 was the perfect gift. **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct is working against me.

Elliott and Emmett received the rest of their souvenirs from Disney World.  They are now the Mickey Mouse twins.  :-) **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct is working against me.

One of the most challenging things more me as a parent to an #Autistic almost teenager, is personal hygiene.  Gavin simply has not concept of self care type things.  I'm trying to help him become a little more self-aware.  I think that I'm actually going to make up some signs that will help him remember a few of the basics. You might be wondering what I mean by personal hygiene? Basically,  I'm referring to things like wiping food,  drink or toothpaste off his face instead of walking out the door to school without cleaning his face. I'm working on helping him recognize things like his nails needing trimmed or his clothes need changed because they're dirty. I have tried to make up little quizzes to aide in the process of…