Today, Elliott and Gavin received martial arts promotions. Below is a brief part of Elliott's promotion (Gavin's is still uploading). Both boys attend Summit Academy, which is a charter school for kids on the Autism Spectrum as well as kids with things likes ADHD ect. The school bases much of it's teachings on martial arts. This helps the kids to build self-esteem, self-discipline, respect for their bodies ect. This has been an amazing journey for Gavin and new beginning for Elliott. The kids earn promotions based on things like helping others, participating in class, doing their best and things of that nature. One of the things that the kids get to do during promotion is break a board. The board is symbolic of the obstacles they will face in life. By smashing through…

This is kind of a good news/bad news post.  I'll start with the good news first then work into the bad news. I picked up our van yesterday at the shop.  All the repairs were done and here is a brief run done of the repairs: 1) The Fixed the broken drivers side window. 2) Replaced front inner tie rods. 3) Replaced valve cover and cleaned intake. 4) New shocks on the back end. 5) Fixed rear brakes. 6) Aligned the front end. 7) Replaced air filters. 8) Replaced broken condenser. 9) Replaced accumulator. 10)  New tire on the front end. The total came to just about $2,500.00. Now for the bad news.  I left the shop to go pick up the boys from school and the check engine light…

The best of intentions Every day I set out to do better... Every day I have a list of things that need to be done. Things like,  laundry,dishes and random other household chores that always seem to get pushed off to another day. Truth be told,  I'm bothered by my inability to get these things done.  Every day that I wake up and see these things still needing to be done adds a few more pounds to the ever increasing load I find myself carrying from day to day.  I'm also aware that there is a tendency to erroneously associate ones parenting ability with the condition of the house.  I find myself on many occasions,  feeling guilty that I can't seem to ever get anything done. I feel like my…

We were out most of the afternoon with various errands and doctors appointments for Gavin.  My mom was kind enough to pick Elliott up from school for us because we were otherwise indisposed.  Instead of bringing him straight home she hung out with him for a few hours and brought him home a little bit ago. Within minutes of Elliott arriving in the house,  he started bouncing everywhere and ended up falling and cracking his knee on the floor. Even before that,  he had already started with the whining and crying.  After he fell,  it kicked into high gear. My mom hadn't even left yet and all the drama started. He was fine while he was with her.  While I'm glad he did great at his grandparents house,  it's frustrating…

Gavin made it through his appointment and his bowel is not obstructed. We may be dealing with IBS. However,  after some prying I learned that Gavin is once again eating toothpaste.  It appears as though I need to lock everything up once again. Of all complications that come along with Gavin's Autism,  the PICA is one of the most challenging.  Some of you out there understand and yet some of you couldn't even imagine the things that Gavin has ingested.  There is always a reason to be concerned and always cause to assume the worst. Posted from WordPress for Android

Gavin is now at the pediatrician getting checked out.  We will likely be sent for an abdominal xray to get a better idea of what is going on. I'm concerned that he is dealing with a blockage or at least a partial blockage. The other concern is that there is a chance he has actually been eating his socks and that is contributing to the problem.  While he denies this as being true,  he's never honest about what he eats right away. With that said,  we can get an idea of whether or he's hiding something by the way he reacts to the question. We have to assume that he's not being honest because his health and safety may be at risk by what he has ingested.  This will turn…

Gavin woke up after a short nap,  feeling better.  We decided that we would hold off on the emergency room for now.  Instead,  we will see our pediatrician this morning. This will be less traumatic on Gavin and they can do the same abdominal xray there that they would at the hospital.  If he has to go to the hospital from there than so be it. Thank you for all the prayers and support :-) Posted from WordPress for Android

It's about 6am and I still haven't been to bed yet.  Gavin woke up about 2 hours ago doubled over in pain. I tried to get him to try potty but he felt like he was going to throw up. About 30 minutes ago,  we made arrangements to get him into Akron Children's Hospital.  However,  he has since fallen asleep. As soon as Lizze's mom picks up Elliott and takes him to school,  we will drop Emmett off at my parents and be on our way to the hospital.  I'm concerned that we may be dealing with a partial blockage.  I asked Gavin if he is going potty every day and his answer is "I don't know".  So I'm left to assume we have a problem in this department and…