Light It Up Blue!

          April is Autism Awareness month, and April 2 is the official Light It Up Blue for Autism day!

     I made special t-shirts for me and the girls and a few other people who wanted one, too. I am so excited with how they turned out. I may be new to this Autism mom thing, but I know how important awareness and understanding are with this disorder.

      At church, my entire Sunday School class came in wearing blue!

     These 3 are Rylee Love's biggest fans! I sure do love them so! Kaden is starting to try to understand Autism and what that means, but his overall analysis was "I don't think Rylee is different. I like her!" Goodness, that boy knows how to melt my heart.

     After church, we headed to Olympic in Alamo to celebrate Ryan's birthday with his family. We were all in our blue!

    I also posted on social media asking our friends and family to send me pictures of themselves in blue so I could add them to this blog. I was overwhelmed with all the love and support we received. Thank you everyone who participated! I have posted this pictures below. There were so many more who wore blue, but didn't want to send in a picture, and I completely understand that. I am still so thankful for all the support in bringing awareness to autism! Happy Light It Up Blue day!

     Rylee Love, you are one very loved child. No matter what challenges you may face, always remember there are so many people in this world who are rooting for you and who believe in you. Kid, you can move mountains!

Spring Break 2017

    We started our Spring Break out right by heading straight to Liz and Brandon's house for a cousin play date Friday after school. Unfortunately, our Spring Breaks didn't line up this year, so theirs was ending just as ours was beginning, but we made the most of it. The kids played outside for hours and even got into the freezing cold sprinkler. After that they went inside to warm up with some Pizza and played soem more.

     Rylee stayed behind for a cousin sleepover and Payton Joy came home for some special mommy-and-me time. Rylee says Kaden will always be her best friend and I hope that's true. I so love the bond that these two share!

      Saturday we headed to Memphis to celebrate Ben's birthday! He got a day pass from Teen Challenge and we went to the Children's Museum. I don't know who had more fun, the adults or the kids, but it was a blast!

     Unfortunately, since she didn't sleep much at her sleepover and it had been a very stimulating day, Rylee had a pretty big meltdown as we were leaving the museum and heading to dinner. This meant I spent the first 20 minutes of dinner in the car with her, trying to calm her down. She eventually agreed to go into the restaurant, but only if I hid her under her silky so no one would look at her. She hid in my lap for another 10 or minutes, but eventually warmed back up and ate her food and was pretty much back to her happy little self. Autism is a tricky thing because once she melts down, it is so difficult for her to bounce back, but she continues to impress me with how well she copes and adjusts time after time.

    Monday we spent the day driving around, scoping out potential houses for sale and then we went to lunch and later to piano lessons. Tuesday, we spent the day at home as a family. Rylee Love cooked herself some grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch and the girls spent lots of time outside playing. Then when Ryan went to work, the girls helped me clean the house and we spent some time together watching cartoons.

     Wednesday, we had a girls' day and went to get hair cuts. The girls both did so well for their hair cuts and even behaved wonderfully while I had my hair cut and colored. I was very impressed with them.

   

    And I just love how my hair turned out. No more yellow hair! It's a beautiful shade of ash blonde! The girls thought I looked silly under the dryer, so they just had to take a pic. I sure do love time with my little princesses!

      Thursday was Ryan's birthday! We made him blueberry muffins for breakfast, then woke him up with presents in bed. He was happy to read the sweet cards both of the girls made him and he was very excited to get Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a new phone from me. We spent the day playing his new game together and making sure he was spoiled in every way. We sure do love him!

      Friday we went with our realtor to look inside some houses. This was our first official house hunting experience and it went pretty well. We are being pretty picky and are taking our time to find the perfect home for us, so we didn't find exactly what we're looking for yet. But it was good to see some houses and get some ideas of what we are looking for. The girls had a blast checking out the new houses and especially the yards. After we finished, we went for a family lunch at Pizza Hut. It was a really good day.

     Today we slept in late, and then spent the day together as a family. Ryan cooked dinner on the grill and we all ate way too much, but it was awesome. I love time with my little family. I am so thankful for this week to spend together. Now, only 8 more weeks of school until Summer Break! I can't wait, but I sure will miss my sweet class as they head on the kindergarten.

Payton Joy 0 Stomach Flu 1

    Friday afternoon Payton Joy began to get sick. She was up much of Friday night, but seemed to be on the mend Saturday morning and even went outside to play in the snow as it began to fall Saturday evening. We figured it was just a 24 hours bug and she would be good as new shortly.

     Then Saturday night she woke up sicker than before. I knew it was really bad when she chose to take a morning nap instead of go outside and play in the snow with Rylee before it all melted away. She began to have difficulty staying conscious. She would wake up only to get sick and then pass out. We began to get worried, so we took Rylee to Nonna and Granddaddy's and took Payton to Jackson to Urgent Care.

   The Urgent Care doctors ran a few test to rule out strep and flu. Then they took a urine sample to test for UTI, and decided from the ketones found in her urine that Payton was too dehydrated for them to treat, and sent us on the the ER.

     When we got to the ER, they took us back very quickly and immediately put an IV in even before running any tests. Once they took some tests, they said Payton was just 1 point away from being so dehydrated that she would need to be admitted. Her CO2 was at 16, and at 15 they automatically admit. As soon as the bag of fluid was in her, she began to perk up and immediately begged for Cheetos. The doctor said this was a good sign and sent us home. She was still getting sick, but the virus was starting to slow down. Monday morning she woke up with a rash, so I took her to her pediatrician and he said it was a result of her virus and usually once the viral rash appears, the rest of the symptoms stop.

   He was right! She went back today for a final check up to make sure her hydration status was improving, and it  is! He said she should be good as new soon. After her appointment, we all ate at Pizza Hut and she pigged out. I'm so happy to have our silly, sassy little girl back. And I hope to never see her that sick again. It was terrible!

Read Across America Day

     Today is Read Across America Day! Rylee Love's class got to dress up like their favorite book characters. Rylee chose Little Bea. Payton Joy didn't want to miss out on a chance to dress up, so she dressed up, too. She said she was a Minnie Mouse Flower Princess... ha! 

     As a special treat for Read Across America, Ryan came to read to my class today. Sadly, many young children don't get the chance to hear men read to them. They ate it up! Ryan reads with lots of expression and silly voices and the kids were so into it. It was absolutely precious.

    After he finished reading to my class, he went to read to Rylee Love's class. She was so excited to have her daddy at school. Her class loved it just as much as mine did. It is so important for young children to have stories read to them and have good reading role models. I am so thankful that I have an awesome husband who is willing to step out of his comfort zone and entertain our classes.

    After all the reading was done, Ryan went to lunch with Rylee so she could eat on the stage with him. Because he works second shift, she doesn't usually get to see him on weekdays, so she thoroughly enjoyed this special one-on-one time with him. It just melts my heart to see their precious bond. She is for sure her daddy's girl!