Our first night on our own

The boys and I had a pretty good evening. Lizze left after dinner and won't be back until sometime Sunday. We went for a forty minute walk at the park, before undoing our efforts with a trip to Walgreens to pick up some movie snacks. We ended up renting the new Surfs movie on Dish. The boys loved it and afterward, they went to bed without too much of a problem. I don't think we have any grand plans for today, but I'd like to make another trip to the park, assuming the weather holds out. Perhaps we'll do some work around the house. Like I said, no grand plans.

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It’s a guys weekend cause Mommy will be gone

The boys and I will be on our own this weekend. We haven't had a guys night for well over a year now. Lizze will be going out of town and out of state with her Mom. While she's gone, the boys want to have a special movies night tonight. I'm not sure what they want to watch yet but I know they want to have a special dinner as well. It'll be nice for Lizze to spend some time with her Mom and for the boys and I to get some guy time. I'm looking forward to this weekend.

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The simple, practical, and powerful reasons we chose to #vaccinate

While I will never tell someone else what to do with their child, as I would hope no one would do to us, I will share why we've chosen to vaccinate our kids. My wife and I decided very early on, that we were going to vaccinate our kids. We both have had all of our vaccinations growing up, and want to protect our kids as well. We also have a great deal of respect for our children's pediatrician, and trust her to help us give our kids the best shot at a healthy life. Shot... See what I did there? lol Aside from the common side effects like fever or redness at the injection site, none of our kids have ever had a problem. I think Elliott's arm swelled…

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#Autism, #Vaccines and the doctors appointment from HELL

I didn't think this appointment was going to be a huge deal. I thought it was a well/medication check, and I was right. Unfortunately, part of the good check meant two vaccines for Elliott and ear flushing for Emmett. Truthfully, the appointment was a nightmare before we even knew there would be shots or flushing. Elliott and Emmett were in rare form, bouncing off the walls, fighting, and incessantly talking while I was trying to speak with the doctor. Then, of course, we learned about the vaccines and ear flushing. Once that happened, the bad dream turned into a nightmare. Elliott massively freaked out. He was already incredibly anxious because he was at the doctor's, and this pretty much shot him through the ceiling, no pun intended. It was awful,…

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There’s no way to win this war with #Autism involved

We had to get up this morning at the ass crack of dawn, in order to have the boys to Akron Children's Hospital for appointments at 8 am. Elliott and Emmett are there for good checks. It's also an ADHD follow-up.  I don't plan on anything unexpected coming from this appointment.  The only wildcard in play is Elliott sleep issues of late. I'm not overly concerned, but I do want to bring this up and see what she thinks. It's always a good idea to keep the doctor in the loop.  This will likely be one of those appointments where the drive takes longer than the doctor, but whatcha gonna do. Good pediatricians aren't always easy to find. ☺  I should also mention that I prepared the kids for the…

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I remember why I don’t take all 3 of my kids with #Autism shopping at once 

I'm completely exhausted after a long day. I took the boys to therapy, to order Gavin's new glasses, and then to the grocery store. While at the store, I was quickly reminded why I avoid taking all three of them shopping at the same time.  Don't get me wrong, they weren't terrible, and frankly, after the long day they did well.  It was more exhausting than frustrating for me because I had to constantly keep them focused. They were all over the place and wrangling them wasn't easy. Gavin was simply oblivious to his surroundings and kept walking into people and things.  Elliott and Emmett were pushing each other's buttons, and it quickly escalated.  My back is killing me, I ended up spending to much at the grocery store, and…

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Maintaining our marriage while #Autism #Parenting

Managing the amount of stress associated with being an Autism parent is a real challenge. Maintaining a marriage and or outside relationships is just as challenging.  There are days that can prove to be more challenging than others.  My wife and I felt that stress come to a head this afternoon when the kids were visiting my parents. We were looking at the same issue, only from a different perspective, and it got tense.  It's so easy to sorta turn on each other when we are both so incredibly stressed out. It's important that we be cognizant of the fact that stress is playing an influential role in our disagreement.  We never set out to take things out on each other, but the reality is, it sometimes happens. Aside from…

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