Ok so this entery might be a little long, as I have a lot to talk about. First of all I want to talk about Jacobs bday! We had such a fun day. We didnt really do much because really, he doesnt care so why do a lot of stuff. We went to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch. Tom was able to get a few hours off of work to come and my mom was also there. We did our presents and ate and let him and Tyler play. While we were there, there was a ton of target employees. And they were all playing games. A lot of them just gave Jacob their tickets and tokens. So we ended up with 460 tickets! Jacob was sooo excited to be able to get a big toy. Although, most of it was candy that he got. Then we went home and went to make a cake. I let Jacob help me with that because he loves to help cook. The cake didnt turn out at all!! Thats why I never bother to make birthday cake...just buy it. But it was still fun trying to make it, and we did eat the mess afterwards haha. He got lots of fun presents and was so excited to get them all. Here are a few pictures of the fun. My batteries died at PPP so I didnt get very many pictures. Dont mind my messy house in the back...haha. It was his bday I tried to spend as much time with him as I could and kind of neglected my house.

He is enjoying the cake batter


Tyler had to get in on the fun

Stiring it like a big guy




Tyler and daddy playing basketball





Jake kept playing this dancing game...he loved it
Ok, so then yesterday I went and took Jake into the doc to get his allergies tested. His psych said that sometimes kids with Autism/ADHD have allergies and thats what makes their behaviors bad. So I made an appt to get them tested to see if he was allergic to anything. Plus he is always having runny noses and sneezing so I figured he was allergic to something. They do the test and come back 20 min later and the nurse said...wow this is a good one. I looked and he was allergic to EVERYTHING they tested him for! It was only respitory allergies and not food ones. So he is allergic to...feathers, mold, trees, plants, weeds, grass, dust, cat hair, dog hair, and some others I cant remember. So now I have to give him this med that I squirt under his tounge. But the doc said I have to give it to him every other day for 2-3 years and hopefully they should be gone by then.

Happy Birthday Jacob!!! I cant believe my sweet Jacob is 5 yrs old already!! Here are a few pictures of the past 5 years

So I got a new calling at church. I was called to teach the little sunbeams (the 4 yr olds) in primary! I am actually kinda excited. Next Sunday should be interesting being in there with them but I cant wait! Tyler will be in there in 2 years and now I get to be in singing time with Jacob and keep an eye on him.

Speaking of Jacob...we have been having the worst time at school. He has been hitting, and not paying attention, and just not being a very good kid =( I now have to sign a conduct chart and the teacher will put a red dot for having a bad day and a green dot for a good day. I am trying to not dwell on it, but its hard not to. I know when he is a good boy we have to do something extra good so that he knows that he was a good boy and that he understands that you always need to be good. He doesnt understand that hes being bad when he hits...and his teacher just needs to realize that.

Oh, and his bday is tomorrow! I cant believe im going to have a 5 yr old!!! I feel so old! We were going to do a big ol thing at peter piper pizza but we were all sick this past week and I didnt get anything ready...and he really doesnt care as long as he has presents and cake. So we will just have something with our little family here tomorrow and he will be just as happy.

Hope everyone is having a good monday!

Jacob has been going to LIFE which is the therapy place he gets his ABA and therapys at. The past 3 weeks he has been getting evaluated with Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. The PT just called me that has been working with Jacob to tell me that he was not going to be having PT today because she has to type up the report and submit it to our Support Coordinator (SC) and then our SC has to see if we have enough hours and space for this therapy (which we do). So I asked her if that means Jacob was qualified for PT. She told me that she was pretty sure he was but she had to tally up the points and then she will know for sure. But she basically told me that he did. So its kinda sad but happy at the same time. I was sad because I didnt think that he was bad enough to need therapy but happy because he will finally get some muscle in his body! Just looking at him, you can see that he has no muscle tone at all. One of his MANY diagnoses include a diagnosis called Hypotonia which is low muscle tone. So wish us luck for Occupational Therapy which is next to find out if he has qualified or not for it. I really hope he does because that is the big one that I really want. I am kinda iffy about him qualifying for it because the school already did their own evaluation and he did not qualify for it. But they didnt go over sensory issues that he definintly has. I will find out about that one on Wednesday because that is our OT day.

I met a new couple in our ward who has a child with Autism. He is 3, I think is what they said. I am so excited to be able to get to know them and to share all the info that we both know. They have had the diagnosis a year more than we have so im sure she can help me so much!

Oh what a fun weekend we had!!! Ok, so that was said really sarcastically, since you cant tell. It all started Thursday night when I started feeling SO SICK! I had my first bladder infection. Well lucky for me, I was going to the doc for something else the next day. So when I got there I told him I had a bladder infection, I thought, so come to find out I did. I got meds, and all is good...so I thought. I thought that taking meds the first day should take away the pain...HAHA I was so wrong! Friday night I was in so much pain! I couldn't stand it. And fun for me, my husband was gone on scout camp so I was alone with my kids. I did, go to my parents house to stay the night, even though they were gone. My kids entertain themselves so well there so I got to lay on the couch and try to feel better. Well it never happened and I didn't get any sleep because I was in so much pain. So Saturday morning comes and I start to feel a little better. I take my meds and for some reason it made things 20 times worse!! So I was back on the couch trying to feel better. I finally felt better later in the afternoon. I was excited because I had a fun girls night out with my friend Sharon. And I didn't really want to miss that because I really needed to get out. So the night comes and Sharon and I do our fun stuff. I didn't get home till 1am and then I was up at 5am with the kids. So im sitting at church and all of a sudden this pain comes back!! AHHH when will it end??? This sucks for my first bladder infection...I guess I should of gotten it checked out a month ago when it started...haha. I'm just thankful to Uristat...that's my best friend these past few days!! Not sure how bad the pain would be without it!!

Its amazing how much more time I have to do stuff for me, when Jacob is at school. Tyler is such a good kid, he just plays all by himself and never makes a sound. I just can hear the toys banging together in the playroom.

Jacob's bday is coming up in a few weeks YAY!! He is going to be 5! I cant believe im going to have a 5 yr old. I can remember being pregnant with him...and all the crap I went through with his delivery...haha. He hasnt had a birthday party yet. Partly because he really didnt know what a birthday was. But this year he is so into birthdays and loves them. So we want to give him a really good bday party this year!! We will probably do it at Peter Piper Pizza because thats his favorite place to be! We are going to have it on Sept. 1st probably at the PPP on Baseline and Elsworth. I know there are quite a few people with kids (boys or girls...it doesnt matter) who read my blog so I want to extend the invite out to everyone!! Just email me (jakentysmom@cox.net) and let me know if you want to come. Even if I have not seen you in a LONG time, I would love to have a lot of kids there for Jacob!!

So Jakes first few days of school went pretty good I guess. The teacher called me Friday after school just to tell me how must time Jacob takes up of his...haha oops. But then again, we tried telling him that he is like that but no one would listen to us. So they are getting an aid for Jacob so that he doesnt have to take the teachers time away. Then we decided just to keep him half day. I will take him out before or after lunch every day. All this week ill pick him up at 11:30 just because he has therapy at 12:30 in Queen Creek and it takes a while to get there. Oh, speaking of therapy...we went to this evaluation thing Friday night. Its for the habilitator that is going to be working with Jacob. We had to do a series of tests to see what kind of goals we will have for him. A lot of things he could do, but only with verbal ques or she had to do it forst and then he followed after her. They video tapped it and then said that I would get a call back soon after they watched the video and got the goals from that. I hope they call soon because I really want to get him into this therapy! A girl in our ward is going to be doing it so I am excited about the chance im going to get to get to know her better! She was placed in my life for a reason..Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he put us in this ward....and everything we have experienced has been great!!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!!

So the bus FINALLY came for Jacob yesterday! YAY! I guess when the bus dropped him off thursday afternoon, the bus driver said that he was just put on her bus. She didnt have him on her list or anything. So she said that she would just come take him to school and take him home every day. So yesterday morning she came and got him! I was so happy and excited, and so was he! He loves riding the bus so it was fun for him.


Thursday night, I was in my room, watching tv. I didnt even think that it was past the boys bedtime. So I went out in the front room because it was really quiet, to find this! I had to wake them up to put the jammies on and put them back in their bed, but this picture was too funny not to take.

Also, yesterday was haircut day! Tyler got a haircut FINALLY! We went to a place called Lolilocks or something like that and that place is awesome!! It is totally kid frendly and the lady who cut tylers hair was really good with him and cut his hair fast so that he wouldnt cry too much. Of course, he cried almost the whole time but I didnt care because thats what this place is used to since its all for kids. Here are some pictures of his cute new hair!

So, yesterday was the first day of school for us..YAY Jacob was gonna be gone all day and I couldnt wait!! Like any other parent, I took some pictures of him before his bus came. Since hes "special needs" he gets to ride the short bus...hehe. And it comes to our house and picks him up...which I love.

So here he is about to go wait for his bus

Tyler had to get in on the picture action too

Here is Jacob waiting for the bus to come get him

Here he is...10 min later...STILL waiting for the bus to come get him

So yeah, the bus NEVER came and got him yesterday! I was furious! I have had issue after issue with this school...and this was not making it any better. I had Tom call the school because I was so upset and the school psych called and really didnt make me feel any better. He just said tomorrow will be a better day...lets just see how it goes tomorrow. Well fine...im sure it would be a better day. So today...I treat it as his first day again. The bus is gonna come get him...hes staying all day at school and its going to be a great day!! So here are the pictures from this morning

Ok here is Jake and Tyler again

Here is Jacob waiting for his bus...

and once again...STILL WAITING!!!!

Can you believe they forgot to pick him up...AGAIN?!?!?!?!?! I took him to school this time and I went in there and told them that the bus problems are not being taken care of obviously, and I want him switched out of this school. I dont care if I have to put him in the autism room...or in normal K with an aid...he will NOT go to this school!!! So the school psych said that he would talk to the principal and call me back! So I already called our home school and im going to talk to the principal there as soon as she calls me back to see what we can do for Jake in this other school where we had NO problems last year!!

Ok, I have a few welcomes to post. The first one is of my new nephew Finnegan James Malone. My brother Trent and his wife, Jackie, had a baby boy Aug 4th. And from what I heard it was the best labor and delivery ever!! Jackie, you are so lucky!! Here is a little scrapbook page they made for him.







And then welcome to two new bloggers. My husband made a blog!! I am so excited and everyone should read it. Its really funny and im sure he will make you laugh. Thats one reason I love the guy!! He is always ready to make people laugh. His link is http://tompriestley.blogspot.com/

And then, my brother Mike and his wife Debbie. They made a blog!! So welcome into the very adicting blogging world. If you guys know Mike, and want to read their blog and see whats going on in their lives their blog is http://michaelanddebbiemalone.blogspot.com/

I have been having a very hard time lately dealing with Jacob...and his autism and just knowing that its going to be here for a while. I was just looking through the internet kinda looking for answers....looking for something that would help me understand just what hes going through. I came to this guy's web page. His name is Jamie Manning and he has a son who has autism. He writes songs about autism and families dealing with autism in their family. I listened to this song and I just couldnt stop crying...I felt like this is what I needed to hear. Here are the lyrics to the song and here is the link to where you can hear a little bit of the song http://www.autismsongs.com/welcomehere.php

You are welcome here

Go ahead and take your time my boy, I can wait

There’s no need to run so fast, you’re not late

You walk on a different road, that’s alright

Do not fear the shadows, just keep looking for the light

And if that road should make you lonely

There’s no darkness you should fear

You will always find a light in my window at night

You are welcome here

You have such an open heart, free from all the stain

A smile that shines like sunlight through the thunder and the rain

The warmest hand, the truest eyes that I have ever known

And though you may walk slowly, you will never walk alone

And if you need some understanding

When the answers disappear

You will always have a place you can run to

You are welcome here
I can’t tell you that the world is kind

Nor can I tell you that it’s fair

But if you ever need a hand to hold

Mine will always be there

BREAK/SOLO

I can’t tell you that the world is kind

Nor can I tell you that it’s fair

But should you ever need a hand to hold

Mine will always be there
So when you walk down that long road

There’s no darkness you need to fear

You will always find a light in my window at night

You are welcome here

If that long road makes you lonely

And you need somebody near

You will always find me here where you left me

My child. You are welcome here

(Edit)

I cant beleive I forgot this in the post...One of the BEST things happend yesterday!! A lot of people take hugs from their kids for granted...NOT ME, only because Jacob does not give hugs. For some reason autistic kids do not like to be touched, im not sure the reason, but he doesnt give hugs and if you try he will cry. But yesterday ALL DAY he gave me about 10 hugs!! I was SO HAPPY!! I cried almost every time I got a hug from him. Then we went to my parents house and he gave my dad 2 big hugs which is VERY unusual. My dad was very happy as well and kept telling Jake how proud he was of him =) We are so happy for Jake and hope that it doesnt stop. I love getting hugs from my little guy.

Yesterday Jacob started his first day of therapy! He had ABA which is a behavior therapy type thing. He goes Monday-Wednesday and has ABA for an hour and a half a day, and then has music therapy, occupational therapy, or physical therapy for an hour after each ABA session. Then yesterday, we also got hab and respite approved. I have a lady coming over from where we are doing Hab today so that we can fill out forms for the girl to start. She is going to be working wtih Jake 3 hours a day on the off days of ABA so thursday and friday and maybe some saturdays. She is actually in my ward and loves Jake. She has been coming over on her own time just to kinda work with him and observe him. So we are excited to get her to start with us and to get paid!! The place where I have Jake for therapy is called L.I.F.E. Center. They are brand new...just opened up yesterday actually. They have the best equiptment around and I am so excited for us to be going there. Everything is going so smooth there is no doubt in my mind this is where we are supposed to be...and this is what we are supposed to be doing for Jacob.

We are having such a hard time with his behaviors. I started writing down everything he does to Tyler or another child so that I can show the doc that he is really bad. Not very many people believe me on how aggressive he is because its mostly done at home. When we go out, he is very quiet and shy because he doesnt like meeting new people. But once he knows you are a good person, he will not be shy anymore, and show his real self...haha. Lately he has been obsessed with numbers. He is constantly asking me what time it is...or he will tell me what time it is. He knows almost every channel on the TV just if you tell him to turn it to a channel you dont even have to tell him what number it is, he already knows and will turn it there. Its not because we watch a lot of tv he will just flip through the channels for hours if I let him. Its a little anoying at times, but these are the things I just have to learn to deal with.

Well I better go get this house clean for the ladies who are coming over...I really dont want to get up and do that...haha. I just wish it would clean itself...that would be nice.