Ok, so I know I haven't updated in a LONG time!! But im addicted to facebook now and well, blogging has been on the back burner. but if you want to add me to facebook just look me up!

So I had to post this about what happened tonight. So my friend Sharon and I went shopping late tonight to pick up a few things she needed. We went to Old Navy where they were having a killer sale. I even picked up a cool shirt for Tyler for 99 CENTS!!! I couldn't believe it. So anyways, I saw this jacket and it was on the sale rack but it didn't have a sale price on it so I thought I would ask the people up front if it was on sale. So I get up there and she rings it up and it rang up at the regular price for 24.00. She was like that's ridiculous and I don't think it should be that much. How does 4.99 sound? I was like HECK YA!! That sounds awesome haha. So I got a nice jacket for 5 bucks. I thought that was the deal of the year right there for me! So I thought I would share.

On a family update everything is going good here. All of Jacobs blood work and tests came back fine but she wants to see us in 6 weeks to see if he has gotten worse on anything or improved and we will do more testing then. We are all getting ready for Christmas and its been fun. Tyler is so into Christmas and Jacob is getting there.

We had Tylers bday party today with his cousin Caleb. Caleb was born 5 days before Tyler so it was fun to have their bdays together. They were so cute and got some fun stuff. I will post pictures later when I do my Christmas post.

My brother, Trent, was just called as Bishop!! I cant believe that I have a brother that's a bishop. That is so cool but I do feel bad for his wife haha. We were in their ward when he was announced and it was so cool to be there for his setting apart. Congrats Trent!!

I guess that's all from us for now. Hopefully I will post more...I know im slacking big time on it. Maybe in the new year I will get better!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! I know we sure did.

Today we had to get Jacob's blood drawn for some of the blood tests that we have to do. So we went in there and he was pretty nervous. He started crying when they put the needle in and then as soon as he saw the blood go in the vials he was fine. He thought it looked so cool that his "bleed" was going in the vials. So they had to take 3 tubes of blood from him. The first 2 were fine. Then she put the 3rd one in. And all of a sudden the blood stopped coming. So she jiggled the needle a little bit and put it in and out and still nothing. Jacob started screaming because he was really scared. All of a sudden he just went limp in my arms!! He had passed out!! I wont lie...I was really scared when it hap pend. Then a few seconds later when he woke up I was laughing because it was kinda funny. And those who know tom....knows that he HATES needles. And he will pass out just seeing them. So Jacob passing out was just funny because his daddy does the same thing. Then when I tried to tell Tom the story he made me stop in the middle of it because just talking about needles was making him light headed haha.

Tomorrow we go in for Jacob's MRI. And that I am pretty scared about. They are putting him out so they can do everything fine without having to worry about him. I am glad they are putting him out before they put the IV in or else he would probably pass out for them too.

Jacob has a new love. Its a little crazy and I'm not sure where this came from. But he LOVES infomercials!! He will actually sit and watch them and soak up all the info and then come tell me all about it. Well since Toms birthday is on Saturday, Jacob has been on the lookout for the perfect present. Well last night I think he found it (so he thinks). It was an infomercial about a sandwich maker. He told me about it for a good 5 min and if we were in the market for a new sandwich maker I would of been sold. Although, it doesn't take much to sell me on things if a 6 yr old can do it haha.

I couldn't put more pictures on the last post so here is a Halloween post. Our Halloween was a lot of fun. We all dressed up this year. Jacob was a rocker, Tyler was a dinosaur, Tom was a scary clown, and I was a hippy. We did things a little differently this year. Usually we go to my moms house and T or T in her neighborhood. But this year Jacobs little friend Max told his mom that he wanted us to come T or T with them this year. And because of the difficulties our kiddoes have with socializing and friends....we both thought this was huge! So the boys talked about it for a few weeks...every day at school and we knew this is something we needed to do for them. So we got together with them and had a great time. Us parents put on a pretty fun Halloween party for the kids at school. And boy were we tired after the party was done! I give those teachers lots of credit for having to do this every day. So here are some pictures of our Halloween.

This is toms scary costume. He dressed up for our wards Halloween party. The young men do a haunted house every year and tom loves to dress up and be involved since hes in the scouts with them.

This is a picture of Jacob and Max...his best friend. Max was a bloody doctor...haha.

This is max's cute little sister anna. She was a mermaid. Her and Tyler are the same age.

These are the pictures of Jacob's school party.

This is his whole class.

This is his classroom before they all came in to see the party. We surprised them with everything. None of the kids knew what was going on.

Here is me and 2 of the other moms. We were trying to be scary...aren't you guys scared?? haha

This is Jacob with 2 of his therapists. Well the cat one is his occupational therapist Becky and the witch is not his therapist but she treats him like her own. She is an awesome person!! Her name is Erin. And I'm not to sure who the other boy is...it was one of Becky's clients.

We had good luck going to the re eval appt and everything worked out great and we got another diagnosis. So thats all taken care of and we are so excited. Then we went to his orth appt and just what we figured, he has to get orthotics in his shoes. Thats not a big deal...its just going to be expensive so if anyone wants to donate money ill take it...haha. The nuro appt...its going to have to wait until we get some more news. We have to get Jacob some blood work done and an MRI. I am a little worried about the MRI because they will have to put him out for that. Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks. I just downloaded all the pictures off my camera.

Tyler and I had a fun playdate with Sharon and Rebecca a while ago at McD's. They were so cute and had a lot of fun together. I thought this picture was cute...and that other little boy was just someone there that wanted in the picture.

We went camping a few weeks ago and when we were driving back we got a flat tire!!! Thats what we get for parking our car in the dark...in a bunch of glass.

We are in need of some prayers this week. Jacob has some pretty big doctor appts coming up this week and I am nervous about all of them. Today he goes in for his re diganosis appt for autism. The state requires you to get another dx when the child turns 6 and this is the soonest we could finally get in. I am really nervous because this basically holds the fate of my son. If we dont get another diagnosis then all of his therapies will have to stop and he cant get therapy again. And if that happends, I dont know what I would do.

Then tomorrow we have an appt with an orthotic specialist to look at his feet. Since he is a toe walker and always has been there are some concerns about his feet. They are starting to turn in when he walks and he has a hard time walking flat footed. So we will probably have to get orthotics on his feet to help him walk better.

Then next thursday we have an appt with a Nerologist. Jacob has had some issues come up that now we need to see a nerologist. Its probably nothing, but we want to make sure, just in case there is something that we juust cant see. All doctors recomend getting an MRI just because autism could be caused by something else in the body somewhere.

We also have to make an appt with a hearing doctor to get his hearing checked. His speech therapist is having some concerns that he is having a hard time hearing so its always good to get that checked as well. But all of these appts are pretty scary because you never know whats going to come from them.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!!

I just thought I would put a little update on here about Jacobs school. He is doing AWESOME!! Since the scholarships came through, they are able to split the classes. So one class is for the advanced learners and one for the beginning learners. Which basically means they split the verbal and non verbal kids. Which is awesome for both groups!! That means that there is 10 kids in Jacobs class and 5 adults in the class. So the kids get a much better 1 on 1 ratio. Jacob is doing wonderful and his social skills are getting so much better. He has a little best friend named Max and him and Max are so good together. They talk to each other and engage in play with each other and its awesome to see them both act that way. We have been doing a huge assessment through his therapy and to see what he can and cant do. And so far everything on there has been that he can do it...and he does everything to where he should be at! That makes me so happy to know that in most places hes developing right where he should be. There are a few things where its very hard for him to do but that's nothing compared to what he CAN do! I have been very discouraged and stressed out this past week because everything seemed like it was coming crashing down on me. We had some good therapists quit, Jacob started to pick up some strange behaviors, his aggressiveness has been coming back, and Tom was going to be gone this weekend camping with the scouts and I didn't know how I was going to do it. So I went searching for some inspiration in the way of a poem or a story of something that would make me feel better. And this is the very first one I saw...and I knew it was put there just for me right at that time. This is Jacob almost 100% and so I wanted to post it so you all could read it.

I am Ethan:

You may not understand me, or the way I feel today.

You may not understand my reasoning for things I do or say.

The reasons why I’m so loud and say things over & over again,Why I run so differently or lose my homework every now & then.

I write my letters backwards and sometimes numbers too,and when in a conversation, I’ll say “Guess what” 100 times to you.

Too much noise, light, or excitement can set me in a spin.

I don’t like the way these pants feel rubbing against my skin.

I try to be good, but sometimes it’s hard to control,I have to do it, it’s an impulse, I don’t always do what I’m told.

Ketchup, Ranch and BBQ sauce on everything I eat,sometimes I have days that I just can’t sit still in my seat.

I like to talk a lot even when it’s out of turn,my mind plays tricks on me and interrupts what I’m trying to learn.

Sit up straight, wipe my face, and play ever so soft,some of these things

I have trouble with and I usually lose my train of thought.I didn’t mean to spill the milk mom, or slam the door so hard,everyone else is done with their homework, I don’t know where to start?

My heart’s as big as gold, my feelings get hurt too,I get sad, cry and have bad days just like you.

My brain works differently than other girls and boys,but one thing always holds true, I can give your life so much joy.

I get frustrated so easily and my hand won’t work that way,I don’t understand why those other kids won’t let me come over and play.

Please don’t think of me any differently or love of me any less,I’m just like other kids and trying to do my best.

I am very special in my own unique way,and every moment with me you’ll never have a dull day.

I am Mom:

I love you more than the sun moon and stars,my little miracle you’ve come oh so very far.

Each day that you grow and learn and love I thank god for everything in the heavens above.

You are sweet, smart, and funny, all rolled into one and you have so much love to give, you‘re my whole world my very special son.

© Kelly Graham

I just want to wish my very best friend Sharon a happy birthday!!! Thanks for spending the weekend with me =) I had so much fun!! I hope you have had a good day. Glad you are finally 26 with me! Feel any older?? haha

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!!

Today is Jacob's 6th birthday!! I cant believe that I have a 6 yr old. So because hes 6, here are 6 things that I love about Jacob!!

1. He is so sweet!! He is full of hugs and kisses right now. He loves to give anyone a hug and a kiss. He tells me he loves me about 20 times a day...and I love it!!!

2. He works SO HARD!!! When it comes to therapy's he never gives up he is always working hard and accomplishing all of his goals.

3. He is the life of the party. He is always wanting to have fun. He loves to make people laugh and usually does it just acting like Jacob because hes such a fun kid.

4. His love for music is just awesome! He can pick up any song the first few time he hears it and sing it again. He loves to play the piano, guitar, and drums. If hes not talking, hes usually singing.

5. Hes one after my own heart...he LOVES to talk!! Yes anyone can tell he is MY son since we both talk so much. But I love it because it reminds me of me.

6. He loves his cousins more than anything. He makes a reference to at least 2 of his cousins a day. When we asked him who he wanted to come to his bday party all he named was his cousins. Too bad they all are not here =( But when his cousins come into town...that's all he can talk about to anyone. And he has the same love for the oldest cousin right down to the youngest.

Here is a picture of birthdays from the past.

This is a picture of his bday last year. I decided to make a cake last year. I was going to make a big one and frost it and make it cute. Well it didn't turn out good AT ALL!! I think it fell apart and I was so upset. So we bought a cake instead haha. This year im going to attempt to make another cake. Hopefully it goes better this time.

Here is a picture of his first birthday. We were living in Texas at the time but came back to Az to visit for his bday. He was not sure of the cake and we had to put his hands in the cake for him to see if he would do anything. And nope...he just cried.

Last night we went to Peter Piper Pizza with Grandma and Grandad. They are leaving today to go up to Lakeside so they wanted to have dinner with him before they left. So this is when we did presents and stuff since he was getting them from Grandma and Grandad we just did them all. He got another MP3 player and I think that is his fav gift by far! He had one before and it got stolen out of our car and hes been using our Ipods and now he has one of his own. He also got a gift card to target, a game boy, some Lego's, a movie, and a game.

Happy Birthday buddy, I hope you have a good day today!!!

***Ok, I am so mad. I just had a big post all typed up, I hit the keyboard and it deleted!!! So hopefully I can remember what I posted***

We just got the best news! A few months ago they took away the scholarships for the kids with special needs to go to private schools. That was a BAD thing for a lot of parents...like us! A few days ago they found an account that had 5 million dollars in it. And so they said they could use that money to fund the scholarships. Well just tonight we got an email saying that it did indeed pass!! And that they will be having a press conference tomorrow to reinstate the scholarships. I am beyond excited and hope this is not false hope. We need this to happen...badly. We just got word that we are using all of our hab hours and respite hours and we dont even have enough to use for our date nights anymore. So we will finally get all our hours back!! Which means Jacob will finally be able to get ABA therapy again. For those not in the therapy lingo...ABA is the behavior therapy Jacob gets daily. He has not been able to get it for a month and a half and is suffering BADLY! All of his therapists are having behavior problems and we are experiencing A LOT at home. His aggression is coming back in full force and its not fun. Just tonight, he put a blanket over Tyler twice and sat on him with the blanket over him. I talked with his Occupational Therapist and we decided that we are going to put him back on the Gluten Free diet. We had him on it before and didnt see very many results. And we think its because he was on Meds as well. But since he is no longer on any meds we figured we are going to try again and see how that works. Grocery stores are carrying Gf things and so it seems a little easier to find things. So, those people who are GF...please email me some good recipes that my whole family would enjoy. I dont like cooking 2 meals but I will if I have to.

In other Jacob news...his birthday is next week. I cant believe that I will have a 6 yr old next week. He is getting SO BIG!! And really...he is so tall I am scared to see what he will be when he is done growing. He is learning so much every day and im so happy to be his mom!! I have been homeschooling him since the scholarships got taken away...and its so fun to see everything he learns. He is SO SMART and amazes me every day. Right now he is obsessed with street names. He can tell you exactly what street we are on and when we are at a light he can usually tell me the cross roads we are on.

5th Disease has taken over our house!!! If you dont know what it is, here is a little rundown for ya.

Its a parvo disease. Its in the same family as chicken pox...so if you get it once, you wont ever get it again. Sometimes you have sick reactions sometimes you get nothing. And then you get a rash that is on your cheeks, arms, chest, and legs. It is contagous but only before you get the rash. And most times there are no symptoms so you dont know that you have it until you get the rash. The only way you can get it is if you share your germs. Because Jacob puts almost everything in his mouth, im sure he picked it up somewhere that another kid with it had put his mouth on. And then Tyler also has it. So im sure it was passed the same way. Tyler also puts everything in his mouth. So Jacob had something in his mouth and then I didnt clean it off...because I didnt know he had this. So tyler got it also. Its not a big deal, it doesnt bother them at all. The one big worry is that anyone who is pregnant to catch it because if you are 4 months and under in pregnancy you could lose the baby. But for someone older to get it...Jacob would have to of sneezed on the person and then that person put her hand or whatever in her mouth...yeah, doesnt sound good haha. Hopefully we will get rid of them soon. Doc said it should take 4-6 weeks!!!

Ok I got tagged on Carlies blog so here I go!

1. What were your nicknames in high school? Didnt really have a nickname except Brit.

2. Did you do any extra curricular activities in high school? nope...nothing.

3.What did you do with your free time? Hung out with friends and worked.

4. Coolest /Funnest thing you did as a teenager? I think one of the funnest things I did when I was a teenager was either go to EFY or go to Snowflake with Sharon quite a few times to visit our friends there...haha.

5. Did you have a boyfriend in high school? Not until the end of my Senior year I started dating Tom

6. Songs that come to mind? haha this might be a little emberassing. Sublime songs...lots of dave matthews band...LL Cool J...haha

7. What did you think you would be when you grew up? something to do with sign language.

8. How did you picture yourself? I was a little shy...I only really talked to my friends although I talked a lot (and still do) I thought I was pretty fun to be around. Always trying to have fun

9. Fun/silly Memories? Going to Bahama Bucks every weekend just about because Sharon worked there and we thought it was so much fun to go and hang out there. We got to try all the flavers we wanted...and we thought her manager was cute...haha

10. Most embarrassing moment? Asking a guy I really liked to a dance and having his mom call and say he couldnt go.
I tag anyone who wants to do it. Its fun!!

So, this weekend we went up north to Lakeside for my birthday. It was a lot of fun and we did a lot of fun stuff. The best part was...I got a camera for my birthday. YAY thanks so much mom and dad!!! So this post will finally have pictures!!!

For some reason the pictures did something funny. Just click on the pictures to see them.

So we got there Friday night and just relaxed, ate dinner, and then went to bed. We had to be up really early Saturday morning (my birthday) because we were going to the parade in Snowflake for Pioneer Day. So we are out of the house by 750 am and as we are driving to Snowflake for the parade. Here are a few pictures from that fun time!!





My nieces Taylor and Madyson are such big helpers. They helped so good with Tyler and making sure he didn't run to where the parade was. EVERYONE was throwing candy and so Tyler liked to run and get the candy even when the floats were coming.





So then we were leaving from the parade and we decided to stop at Trappers for some pie. If you have been to snowflake then im sure you have been to trappers. They have THE BEST PIE!!! And I was so excited to get some for my birthday. So when we were in Show Low we were stopped at a stop light looking at the helicopters that were just landing at the hospital. All of a sudden we get hit from the back by another car!!! I was so shocked and I wasnt really sure what just happened. I kept saying to myself...did we just get hit? But we pulled over and sure enough we got hit! Everyone was fine but most of us have stiff backs/necks and my arm and head hurt really bad. What a great birthday present eh? Here is some of the damage that happened.



So then we finally got home after waiting for the police for about an hour and getting out of there like 2 hours later. When we got home I had the kids helping me make some home made ice cream. When it was done in the machine I brought some up for the kids. They attacked it like crazy and thought it was so funny.



And then we had dinner and pie...and it was over all a pretty good birthday.

Thanks for the emails and everything from people wishing me a happy birthday =) I appreciate it!!

So my birthday is coming up on Saturday. And Tom asked me a few weeks ago, what I wanted for my birthday. I thought about it and told him that I wanted roller blades again. I haven't had a pair since I was a kid and I haven't even gone roller blading since I was a kid but it sounded like fun and really good exercise. So on Sunday we were at my parents house and I was looking through the ads that come out on Sundays and I found some roller blades for really cheap. Tom also wanted some golf clubs at the same place so we decided to go yesterday. We got my roller blades...YAY!! I was so excited to try them out. So while it was 110 yesterday I just decided I would go around the block. I first put them on...and I fell!! I was so embarrassed. I couldn't believe that I forgot how to roller blade. Then I realized that they were on too loose and that's why I fell. So I tightened them up and off I went. My legs were hurting so bad just going down my street. I could tell I haven't used those muscles in a long time! So then right before bed we took the boys to the park that's across the street from our house and while Tom went with them, I went around the block. It was a whole lot better the 2nd time around and I wasnt as sore. I am excited to be able to roller blade every day now!! Now if the heat would just go away so I can roller blade and not feel like im going to die...haha.

This has been on a few blogs so I thought I would do it as well.

Here are the directions:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

What a fun weekend we had!!! We decided to go up north to Lakeside for a few days this past weekend for the 4th. We went up Thursday and stayed till Sunday. The car ride there was ok. It started raining on us when we went through the canyon and that was really scary. Then a rock came and hit our windshield and put a crack in it. The weekend went pretty good. We just hung around the house and relaxed. For the 4th we had a BBQ at my aunt and uncles house with their 2 daughters and their family. So that was a lot of fun to get to talk to them and have our kids play. Fireworks were pretty late so we just stayed in and watched them on TV. Jacob was so excited to watch fireworks and he loved them on TV just as much as he would of liked them live. Maybe next year. Then it started raining on Saturday and pretty much rained the whole day, and even hailed on us. It got down into the 60's and it was so nice!!! Then we went to church on sunday and headed out.

Now here is where the "fun" came in...haha. Those of you who are familiar with Arizona and up north will know what im talking about. If you dont, im sorry...haha. So we started off at about 12:10. We decided to go through Payson instead of going through the canyon just because its fun to go that way sometimes. Right as we started out, it started to rain again. Before we got to Heber, we saw one accident and it was backed up a little bit. By the time we got past that it was raining pretty hard. So between Show Low and Payson, it took us 3 hours. It was raining so hard that we could not see the car in front of us. By the time we got to Payson, the rain storm was just about to hit so it was fine. We decided to stop and have a bathroom break since we were all dying and needed to get out and stretch. But there was a HUGE line for the bathroom and the mens restroom was flooded and there was nastyness all over the floor. Tyler wouldnt walk and Jacob of course was making all kinds of noises because it stunk so bad. There was only one stall in each bathroom and so it took forever to get to the bathroom. Finally we were on our way home and we didnt get home until 530!!! It was one of the longest trips...but the weekend we had it was well worth it.

This past week Tom was away at scout camp. He had to take my car and so I was left carless. So the boys and I decided to go up to the mountains, to Lakeside, with my Mom for a few days. It was a lot of fun...and the weather was SO MUCH better!! I wish we could just move there. While we were there my mom had a birthday. We actually left on her birthday, but we went and had ice cream at Dairy Queen for her birthday...haha.

Not much has been going on with us. We are still struggling on what to do with Jacob and where he needs to go to school at. I just told them at his therapy center that we would not be able to go on with the school for this next year. Only because we dont have the 1ooo dollars a month it cost to keep him in there. Other than that, Jacob is doing a lot better now with his behaviors and such. He is talking a whole lot better and people can actually now understand most of what he says. He still stutters a lot and when he talks fast you cant tell what he says, but over all its coming a long good.

I have a movie for everyone to see. Yes, its a movie about Autism, but I think this is a movie that everyone should see regardless. Its called Autism: The Musical. When I first heard about the movie I thought...wow that's horrible they made a musical about autism. I thought that people were making fun of the movie and I wanted no part in it. And then I heard more about the movie. And I was totally wrong!! Its about 5 kids who are the main part of the movie. They start out in this social acting group and they end up doing a musical in a span of about 6 months. And it goes through a lot of challenges...it shows a very good range of kids with autism and I think its a great movie. I was in tears almost the entire movie because I just fell in love with these kids. Especially this girl named Lexi. She is 13 and so fun!! She had me cracking up every time I saw her on the movie and boy can she sing! She sings a lot in the musical and she is a very good singer. And because I want everyone to watch this movie...I am going to let you into my "secret" website to watch it...haha. This website is awesome! Its where you can watch movies for free. And its not illegal because they go from different websites and you don't have to download anything. Most of the movies are on hosting websites like youtube. So here is the website to watch Autism: The musical and if you watch it, let me know how you liked it. Oh, and I have to warn you...because its like a public website there are some ads that are not very good to see. But you can just not scroll down to the end of the page and you wont have to look at them. I usually just make sure the bottom of the movie screen is on the bottom of my computer screen and I dont ever see them.

Today is my Dads birthday!! Happy Birthday Dad, we love you!! You are the best dad anyone can ask for. You are so loving and caring to my boys and they love you for that. You show genuine love to Jacob and he knows that and loves you right back. Thank you for being a great example to all of us. The first thing Jacob said when he woke up this morning was...its grandads birthday yay!


So being sick is no fun! Especially when you are sick over Fathers Day and do nothing for your husband because you are too sick!! Well that's what happened to me! Saturday was a big birthday party for my mom. And we were so busy all day and I just started feeling really sick through out the whole day. By the end of the night I was really sick and just wanted to lay down. Sunday (Fathers Day) came and I couldn't move I was so sick. And I stayed in bed and did not say one word to anyone. I did wish Tom a Happy Fathers Day right when he woke up and I did let him sleep for a hour or 2 longer. Then Monday we ended up going to Urgent Care where the doc really left me not knowing what to think. He took a look at my throat and said "Hmm something is definitely going on down there." So I asked him what he thought it could be. And he told me that strep is going around, and so is a virus, and an upper respiratory infection type thing. He didn't know what I had so he just gave me a strong med that will kill all of it but the virus. He told me that if I had the virus then I would start coughing soon...and what do you know, Ive been coughing. So I think that's all I had. But he did tell me that the sore throat will last for 2 weeks. I really hope not because I am tired of this sore throat already.

So Happy Late Fathers Day Tom and Dad!! Sorry I missed Fathers Day but I was still thinking of you guys!