Little kiddo on his third bowl of cereal!  I seriously don't know where he puts it all.  

Loving on his new bed.  So far he has only fallen out twice....that we know of. :)

Don't judge me based on my child's ensemble. He went in his room and chose this outfit on his own.  He then climbed up into  the chair next to me while I was on the phone and fell asleep.  Sweet boy!

Love this kids smile!  It lights up a room!!

My sister has recently started getting into photography and so Sammy had his first photo shoot with her last week.  She is so AMAZING!!!!!!!

What is my deal?

Ok, so it's seriously been MONTHS since I last posted.  I knew this would happen.  I tend to tire of things quickly.  Not a trait I am proud of, but let's just be honest here.  I don't know how I could possibly catch everyone up on the last several months so I am going to give you the very, very short version....ok? :)

Jordan is still in school and maintaing a 4.0!  He is taking A&P 2 this semester and hoping to ace that class as well.  He will apply to Nursing School this Summer and if accepted (which he will be) then he will begin Nursing School in the Spring of 2010.  He is still working his full time job but has now added a part time job.....Worship Pastor at our church.  Once he begins Nursing School he will drop the full time job and we will then live on the part time church job.  We take comfort in knowing that God is in control because otherwise I would be freaking out trying to wrap my brain around living on a part time salary. 

Sammy is still as vivacious and full of life as ever!!!!  He has the best sense of humor and still possess the ability to light up a room as soon as he walks in.  He turned 3 on January 29th and had super cool Pirate Party!  Jordan taught him how to close one eye and pump one arm up and down while saying "arggggg".  It has got to be one of the funniest/cutest things I have ever laid eyes on.  He had several of his little buddies come play with him at ASI Gymnastics.  They jumped on the trampolines and played in the foam pit.  Then we had Pirate cupcakes!  A friend and I made the cupcakes and they turned out sooooo cute!!!!!!!

Sammy continued speech therapy this year with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) until he turned 3.  Once a child turns 3 they are then referred to the school district.  So in January we began the evaluation process with them.  We fully expected Sammy to qualify for speech therapy due to his very delayed speech, but we were in for a surprise.  Through a series of evaluations and discussions the district determined that Sammy was Autistic.  At the time the news was devastating.  We didn't know how to feel or what to think.  It seemed that our world was spiraling out of control.  All we had planned for Sammy's future seemed like it was falling apart.  I had about a week of crying and trying to cope with the news.  But, God has been faithful to just wrap us up with His peace and guide us through this process.  We can already see how He has paved the way for us and taken care of each and every detail.  Here is just a sampling of what He has done-

-provided a sensitive and understanding evaluation team all of whom were moms.

-placed us in the district that has one of the best Autism programs in the country.  People move from other states to our district JUST for the Autism programs. 

-provided an opening at the school that has the best teacher and aids AND happens to be exactly 3 minutes from our house.

-got Sammy qualified for the program that is 3 teachers to 6 students!  Almost like private therapy.  And it's free!!!!!!!  If done privately, this kind of care could cost up to 40K a year. 

-and most importantly, God has reminded us that to wish Sammy wasn't Autistic would be to wish that he wasn't who he is.  Does that make sense?  The things that they said were signs of Autism are some of the things that we love most about this kid.  To take all those things away would be taking away the spunk and energy that defines this little boy.  We love who he is and who he will become.  His teachers are convinced that he will do fantastically in this program and feel he will transition to regular Kindergarten just fine.  They see that he is smart and learns quickly and have said they are so excited about teaching him and watching him learn.  He had his first day of school on Friday and did great!  Miss Amy said that she was proud of him and he was a great addition to their classroom.  

Sammy's first day of school

Walking down the hall to his classroom with Miss Amy.

Me?  Well, let's see......what's going on with me?????  I am still working on the orphan ministry at my church.  Things are moving a little slowly, but we all have kids and families that come first.  It's just really hard to find time for much else.  But, we are plugging away and always looking for a project to work on.  I am also trying to figure out what I am going to do with myself now that Sammy is in school everyday ALL day.  I sort of feel like I have lost my purpose, ya know?  My plan was to stay at home with him until Kindergarten.  I was supposed to have 2 more years!  So, now I am scrambling to find my new identity.  In a few weeks I'm sure I will fall into a routine and this new life will feel normal, but for now it just feels odd. Can't really explain it.  Just odd.  

I am still planing to travel to Africa sometime in the spring with my friends who will be picking up their sweet little girl and taking her home forever!!!!!  I am so excited to have been given the opportunity share this journey with them.  I can't wait to hold all the babies at the orphanage and play with the older children.  I am so looking forward to it!  

I think that's the long and short of it folks.  I will try to keep you posted on our life a little more often.  Darn Facebook has sort of taken the place of blogging....at least for me.  :)  

Buddies

Those of you with children ages 1-5 are probably familiar with "Little Einsteins" on the Disney channel.  Sammy has been in love with them for a while now.  He can be in the foulest of moods, but will turn into an angel baby if he watches his "buddies" on t.v. Several months ago we were at Target looking at toys and he picked out the Einstein figurines. I reluctantly purchased them due to the fact that he's 2 and gets over things quickly.  Especially things like figurines.  I was so wrong this time.  He LOVES these guys and is rarely separated from them.  When we leave the house they go in the diaper bag.  When we exit the car they must all four be in his hands...which is difficult.  They pretty much do whatever he does. If he's brushing his teeth, their teeth get brushed too.  If he's eating or drinking, he shares it with them.  He will give them rides on his toy elephant, his toy cars, and they also join him in the bathtub.  We were in the grocery store one day accompanied by just Leo this time (he occasionally caters to one more than the other). I was trying to keep an eye on the toy to make sure he didn't leap from the cart in hopes of escaping Sammy's death grip. Well, somewhere along the way I lost track of the little fella. Must of been when I was trying to figure out how in the world peanut butter could cost $5!!!!! ( I resorted to the cheap peanut butter which will probably be the cause of my death when I'm 40, but I am not paying $5 for the healthy stuff!) It wasn't until we were on our way home that I realized Leo was missing.  My child was crying and I was stressing....it was only 8:30 a.m. (don't ask me why I was at the store so early) and I was not prepared to have Sammy cry ALL day long about his lost Leo.  I was also not prepared to turn around and go back to the store and hunt for him.  Turns out the little guy fell inside a grocery bag. Thank you Lord!!!!! Seriously, it was a big deal!!  Anyway, today I was on the computer and I knew Sammy was in the room with me playing with his "buddies" content as could be. After a few minutes he came over and grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the chair to show me something.  This child was soooo pleased with himself.  He had come up with a way to prop up the buddies and take them for a walk. Too cute!!!! It is a blast to watch him pretend and use his imagination.  I always swore that MY child would watch very little television because I didn't want his brain to go stagnant.  Let me just say though that I think that his imagination is what it is because of the shows he watches.  There are still lots of useless cartoons out there that do rot the brain, but most things on Noggin and Playhouse Disney are GREAT!!!  I fully endorse television viewing for little ones (within reason) especially "Little Einstein's"!

Daddies are so fun!!!!!

Playing outside in the sprinkler went from a pretty good time to the best time ever once Daddy joined in.  

Close one!

I was at the pool today and I felt something sharp on my finger and looked to see that my engagement ring had broken away from the wedding band and a section in the middle of the engagement ring had totally broken off and my ring was slipping from my finger.  I was sitting next to a drain!!!!!!!  I can't tell you how panicked I was.  Yes, I caught the ring before it fell off, but had it been just a few minutes later I would have lost it taking Sammy down the slide.  If I hadn't been with friends I would have just left and burst into tears.  The thought of my beautiful ring slipping down a drain and being gone forever was so horrible.  Imagining it caused me to feel like I had tunnel vision and you know how your hearing kind of goes and everything moves in slow motion when you are freaking out, well that's how I was feeling. There had been a little hairline split in the band for some time that we kept intending to get repaired, but it didn't really bother me so I wasn't in a rush to get it done.  Note to self: if ever the band splits again, GET IT FIXED FOR HEAVENS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now I have the uncomfortable pleasure of not having a ring on my finger for a week or so.  I can't tell you how often I hear that I look like I'm 18, so now I will REALLY look like a teenager all the while toting a 2 year old around.  Oh, well.  Who cares what people think anyway! I am just thankful that I have my ring!