there has to be a change

Cameron and his Money November 2007.

That was taken last year at Cameron's school. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving lunch. I find myself going to this picture alot. When I see it I see a Mom looking at her son with love and a little boy who is holding on to so many secrets. That is what Autism with my 4 and a half year old son feels like to me. Secrets. Jason and I are forever wondering what is going on in his little head. And of course ALL of us are trying to figure out a better way for him to actually tell us. We are a family in constant frusteration because all we want is a way to communicate with him. But as with most kids with Autism he is the ones calling the shots and we just go along for the ride. Hoping that somehow we stumble upon something that works.

Well life threw us some curve balls. We have lost his teacher of the past year and a half, Mrs lmn-O, because the school, in all of their infinite wisdom, thought it would be best to close down her classroom. We lost RaRa and the boys. Our beautiful boys. Hunter and Parker have moved to Arkansas. They are missed everyday. These people had a HUGE impact on Cameron's life. But we move on.

We are starting ABA Therapy. It is a much more intensive approach to Autism. We never approached it before because in all honesty Cameron is one of the most low key Autistic kids you will ever meet. None of us really thought he needed it. We have met Zahra his new therapist. Tall and gorgeous by the way ;) And this is going to be consuming. 3-4 therapy sessions a week. We have a therapy group calling us back to give us info on new speech therapy and occupational therapy. Which will be at least one 2 hour session a week. And as of right now he will be in school from 11:45 til 2:30 everyday starting the 19th in Mrs Carle's classroom. ACK!!! But it all equals new hope for me.

And what do we have if we don't have hope?

Smooch the Squishy!!

I really don't want any new ones! I just want to go back in time and squish and queeze on this one!!

Cameron at 35 weeks.

Oh and I wish we had a scanner. I could share some serious chump a lump from a Baby Hannah!! And the wee diminutive Josie B.

How much would we Mother's pay to have just a moment to go back and hug and kiss them one more time!?! Blame my cousin Laurie for the moment of nostalgia she is the one who got me started ;)

Brace Face!

Hannah FINALLY got her braces last week! We have been waiting for about 2 years. Poor thing is almost 15 and has yet to lose one of her canine teeth. But the Doc so no more. Her two front teeth are , obviously, to far back and they were actually pushing her bottom jaw out of alignment. Time to get to work!

Or at least pose for the crazy mother with the camera and then let the tech get to work ;)

The last picture to be taken of Hannah before 'the change' :D

Hardening the 'concrete' that will be holding the metal to her teeth.

Isn't she such a freaking trooper!?!

Getting to see her braces for the first time! She didn't get her bottom row done yet. With her two front teeth scraping across her bottoms row so often we have to wait for them to shift forward a bit.

Dr. Barbieri. The man is a freaking hoot!!

But here is the sweetheart that did the work today. She was actually surprised I wanted her picture!! ( I am terrible but I forgot her name! )

Of course the first days with Hannah were funny because she spent all her time stretching her lips overs her teeth. And she is a bit over zealous about what she cannot eat. But she did have much soreness. Which we know will change as she goes in for tightening.

So check back in my blog two years from now and I will show you Hannah's new smile!!!

More S'mores please!!!

Our first weekend in Illinois!! Had a little family get together with my Aunt Rena, cousin Tija and a plethora of random children!!

It was a great dinner of course but we were there to enjoy a fire! Jeff had a fire pit up in Chicago and he brought it down for the family to enjoy!

After watching Eric attempt getting a blaze afire my sister shoved him out of the way and took over ;) OK there was no actual shoving.


What's gonna work? Teamwork!!

Maddie amused by all the adult silliness.

Jason's so hot smoke......never mind I already used that one ;) I do enjoy the 'Magnum' look he took out for us!!

My Aunt Rena and my Mom making sure us young whippersnappers don't cause a ruckus and/or burn down Mom's house!

Tija had a bag of marshmallows, Hershey bars, graham crackers, one stick......and a dream!

Impatiently awaiting this 'dream' we were just talking about :D

Just as good and tasty as we thought they would be!!! Thanks Tija!!!

Of course many people are missing form my pictures! Allot more family were milling about. But it was such a good evening. The weather was perfect for sitting around a fire and watching Tija make S'mores!!

Don't call it a comeback!!

Actually we can and we WILL!!!

Right there on the side of Cameron's head. Yeah right there!! Do you see it!?!

Oh yeah baby that is a flip!! The inevitable beginnings of the infamous Flippy Dippy Do!!!! I have been waiting for MONTHS!!! I just think my little man looks....well like Cameron when he has a more longer carefree hairstyle. His Surfer Do. Not that he didn't look like a big boy with the shorter hairstyle I just never felt like it fit his personality! And of course the fact he actually has flip capability really helps.

OK yes a whole blog on Cameron's hair but anyone paying attention knew the level of despair I felt having to cut it all off a few months back. Finally seeing that little flip on the side of his head made me smile :D

And so does this picture. He is saying 'Cheese!' :D

4th of July

We had a family gathering at my Mom's house for the 4th of July. Jeff and Erin came down from Chicago and my Dad came over after he put in a full day at work. We were all there.

With corn! Miss Maddie's helping us shuck the corn!

This is Jeff and Erin's dog Betty. Poor thing looks like she is scared of the camera!! Don't let her fool you she has modeled for us before!

Sitting around enjoying the weather!!

One of Krista's many flower babies!

Dagnabit!! Once again a few seconds late! They were actually giving each other a hug! Still sweet!

I am so HOT smoke gathers around me!!! ;) See how Erin is gazing at me lovingly!?! Or she is in awe of my cotton like hair ?Josie broke my iron. Which I , of course, think is a plot to make me look goofy!! Because of her I had to go naturelle!

Jason loves this picture! Can you tell by Miss Maddie Boo's eyes she is up to no good!?! :D

Chit chatting with the ladies!!

Jeff saying something amusing to my Mom. So I assume. I don't find him in the least bit funny!! ;)

These cute little frogs where posing right next to me. So of course I took their picture!

Not a posed shot at all.

Jason off to the side not giving a hoot what the internal temp of the pork was as long as it wasn't raw when he ate it!

Cameron loved this game!! Could of cared less about the actual rules to the game. Didn't see a need to actually play against someone. But it made him happy. A as we all know that is all that matters ;)

MOM!!!!! Jeff is throwing things at me!!!

Erin playing Candy land with the little ones. I am not 100% sure but I doubt Cameron was playing by the rules here either!

OK now we are all at Troy's house. He lives farther out in farmer land so we could sit out on his deck and see the Oakwood fireworks without dealing with traffic or actual humans.

This is not a good picture but it still makes me smile. Troy has a hot tub next to his deck. Most of the younger kids were in their suits sitting in it as the fireworks were going off. Can you think of a better way to watch fireworks then chillin' in a hot tub!?!?!

Jeff, Erin and Krista!

Jason actually had to do a bit of PhotoShopping on this picture to get it to work but here is Jeff and Erin. I think this picture is cool!

Dang it!! What a uber cool picture but yet Krista is not here. She had to leave cause Maddie was pretty wet. As these guys were leaving I had Hannah take a quick picture of the adults. Who new that it would actually turn out!?!

This is more along the lines of what I was expecting!!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my latest installment of Illinois blogging. I have more lot's more. I hope to don't lose interest cause if you guys were fussy enough you could remind me I never finished up on my Brenda blogging. I have such an interesting life I am easily side tracked. HA!!!!

Beasts of Burden

OK only one more interruption before I get back to Illinois blogging. I have been wanting to get these three babies all in one shot for a couple of days now. But they were never all three together close enough. You all of met Zoe and Mac-gyver. Up front is Miss Kati. She belongs to my friend Danielle. Whom by the way we adopted Mac from. Her and her family just recently moved to Germany. At a rather last moment she found out that the airlines won't fly out a dog in this heat. So she was frantically trying to find Kati a temporary home til the weather gets better and she can get her to Germany. To make a long story short Danielle cried and pointed out a few times that Kati has ONLY 3 legs. What is a warm hearted person like me supposed to do!?!?! Of course I took her in. And to be honest we were nervous but it has gone so smooth. Zoe is not 100% on board yet. Which is why I couldn't get a picture with all three. But as the days go by and Zoe realizes that most of her life really isn't changing she is accepting this new friend. Mac has known Kati so he immediately started licking on her face the minute he saw her. And I don't think he has let up since. My little man is a lover not a fighter.

So I have warned most of our local friends not be alarmed when they come to the front door. It looks like the ASPCA over here!!

Autism: The Musical

www.autismthemusical.com

It's next to impossible nowadays to say Autism hasn't touched your life in some way. Be it a family member, a friends child or the family you see at church every Sunday. I highly recommend this movie. For everyone!! It is not a clinical look at Autism it is a look into the lives of the families who live with it on a day to day basis. And at the end if there isn't a tear in your eye......never mind cause there will be!! Jason and I cried most of the movie. In a good yet heartbroken way. So much hope and painful reality in one and a half hours. It was worth it though! Such a beautiful movie!! With unbelievably beautiful (and flawed) parents, teachers and of course children with Autism!

Gracie Lou Freebush is SIX!!!

Ever since they named her she has been Gracie Lou Freebush to me!! 'Miss Congeniality' for my non-movie addicts.

My first Illinois blog!! I have to let you know that I am blogging backwards. Jason accidentally took my first half of pictures and put them on his work computer!! So instead of making you wait any longer I am working with what I've got and that is Grace's 6Th Birthday party at Grandma Loni and Grandpa Paul's house!

One of the only shots of me in Illinois so I thought I'd better share. Getting ready to head out and par-tay!!

Yeah Troy put Jason on grill duty. I warned Troy.....more then once. Jason does NOT enjoy grilling. We actually had numerous discussions about this fact while I was home. I came from a grilling family!! All men in my family sleep with a turner in their hands a piece of charcoal under their pillow. So I got married assuming my hubby would be grilling every summer. Um....15 years later and no. Not saying he hasn't stood in front of a grill but he has never caught on to the joy of it all. So Troy gave Jason grill duty and was a bit shocked that Jason wasn't as thrilled as he should be.

Yeah that face didn't look any happier til we were all done eating ;)

Forget 'Land of Lincoln' we are in the 'Land of CORN!'

Josie and Justin!

Hannah and the Birthday Girl!!

Grandma Ann gave Cameron a bus!! Cameron LOVES buses! But I just couldn't get him to look at me. Onery little bugger :D

Our oldest nephew Joshua with his little sister!!

Jonathan who becomes a teddy bear when he is around his Grandma Ann. I loved this moment and I adore this picture!!

Actually this was supposed to be a picture of Joshua's ugly foot!! This kids int he background is just a bonus ;)

Paul and Grandpa Marvin. Who had surgery a few weeks prior!!! He was doing GREAT!!

Josie delicately eating a hotdog!!

Jason playing with the kids. He was smiling by now!

Well no sport scholarships for Josh! ;)

I am not sure what they paid for these kind of front row seats but I hear they were killer!!

This girl is into High School Musical!!! Sorry I have no cake pictures they didn't turn out!!

I am trying to figure out a way to get Justin here on a regular basis!!! He kept Josie outside ALL day!!!

Alright I am keeping this short because I have so many pictures to share and I don't want to bore you all ;) Jason already brought me the rest so no worries there!!! My next excerpt will be 4th of July!!!