Pony Party

That last post was from Abby. She was typing while I was on the phone and actually managed to post it. So, I'll leave it since she's so cute.

Yesterday we went to a Pony Party in fall city. It is a farm that rents to birthday parties and functions. One of the mom's in our mom's group set up a day for all of us to go with our kiddos. Madeline rode a pony twice and Abby rode and even smaller pony one time. They both really liked it, even though Abby was all business. She wasn't even going to smile. Here are some pics from our day.

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Raining

The girls are outside on the deck watching it rain. They are completely mesmerized by it, like it's something they have never seen before. Give it another couple weeks and it will be all they see.

I took a really long time to update this and a lot has changed. We just bought a new house and are in the process of doing upgrades. The house needed new carpet, paint, cabinets, lighting fixtures, etc. Since Jon and I are not very handy we flew in my dad for 10 days to help. He's been over there last last 4 days helping. It's really kind of amazing how far they have gotten already. As we speak (as I type) they are over there right now painted the foyer. Jon is on a lift that they rented about 15 above the floor. Yikes! :)

Madeline starts school next Tuesday. Mornings this year. Should be interested. I've never had to get myself and two kids ready and out the door at a specific time each morning. We'll see how it goes. I really like her teacher this year, Madeline already knows her so they won't be starting from scratch which is good. I don't have to give her the 15 minute run down. She's well aware of the situation and gets really excited when Madeline meets her goals.

Madeline turned 5 a couple weeks ago. WOW, that is crazy. I can't believe she's 5. It's weird because I was positive when we first got a diagnosis that she would be perfectly fine by 5. I read stories of women who "recovered" their kids in less than a year. Obviously every kiddo is different and we have to take each day as it comes. I'm really hopeful for this year. I really think we are starting to get the right combo of therapy and school down for her.

Kids are asking for a bath now so I'll post some pics of Madeline's 5th birthday at the Fun Forest at Seattle center. Madeline loved it!

Oh, I see

They didn't have her paperwork and no where on the check in sheet did it mention she had autism. Seems like something they might have put down on the form for the teachers. Idiots!!! I've gone and voiced my opinion, either they figure something out or I get a full refund. I'm so disappointed, I thought this is what those camps were for. Then I spoke with a friend that works there and she never sent her son to those camps. Would have been nice to know before I signed her up.

Days like this

Today was Madelines first experience with Day Camp. The children's therapy center out here runs camps throughout the summer. All are for kids of all needs and abilities. I signed Madeline up for Gymnastics camp this week and Science camp next week. I was sure she would love both. Today I dropped her off and I wasn't really sure. It didn't feel like they had a handle on it. Since I had talked to other parents that take their kids I was sure it was fine. Then they called me a half hour later to ask me for tips on getting Madeline to participate. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I've been trying to find tips on getting Madeline to participate for 2 and a half years. That's your job as a teacher of children with special needs. Get her interested. I guess she found their fish tank and was completely mezmorized by it. So I told them to cover it up at recess time so when she came back in it would be out of sight. Dang! I thought this was going to be so good for her. When I picked her up they said she did better but still wanted to wander a little. DUH!

I have to take her back to the therapy center in a few for OT so I'll have a chance to figure out what the heck they are doing over there. These camps are expensive and I don't want her wandering or watching fish for 3 hours. UGH!

Summertime!

I'm trying to get caught up. I just did my scrapbook for 2008! We're only 7 months into 2009 so that's not too bad. Luckily I do it the easy way by using shutterfly and having the images turned into books. They turn out really nice and it's a lot easier than cutting and pasting. Cleaner too!

I spend last week at Whidbey Island with the Bugni's. It was a great time. We just wished we would have booked a longer stay. We lucked out with the weather but not with the crabbing. Madeline loves the water and spent most of the time with her feet in it or in the sand. PJ brought a boat this time so both the girls got to go for boat rides. They also really liked the ferry ride over. Madeline kept saying "we're swimming in the ocean", which is basically scripted from a television show where they go swimming in the ocean but she used it appropriately so I can't complain.

We just got her started on a new drug called bethanecol. New to her, not new in general. Hopefully it will get her tummy moving. She's been pretty miserable lately. http://www.autismcoach.com/Cod_Liver_Oil.htm

School is out, well kinda. she's still very busy. She has preschool and OT on Mondays, ABA on Tuesdays and Speech on Fridays. I also got her signed up for 3 summer camps. Gymnastics, Ooey Gooey science and Champ Camp. They are all offered by our local childrens therapy center and can accomodate kids of all abilities. I think she'll love Gymnastics. Abby gets to go to Creepy Creatures camp too. That means I'll have three hours, three days in a row all to myself. I might have to actually get my hair cut, or go to the dentist!!

I've been meeting with a few of the mom's from Madeline's preschool a few times a week. Just at local parks for playing. It's nice to have a group of friends that know what daily life is like in my house. They are all great and I'm really glad I found them. It actually turns out that one of them is related to Jon's family is a weird sort of a way. Basically her aunt married Jon's Dad's first cousin. So she has a bunch of cousins that are Brunaugh's. Not a common name so we figured it out. Weird.

Here are some new pics.

Back to the Great Wolf

We took the girls back to the Great Wolf Lodge on the way to Vancouver this last weekend. They LOVED it. Madeline would stay in the water all day if we'd let her. Abby really liked the arcade. She found the tokens and tickets very exciting. Madeline's favorite part is going in and out of the water fall!

April is Autism Awareness Month!

I've just finished watching last Friday's airing of Larry King Live and boy am I pissed off. It's completely unbelievable to me how some of these dr's aren't even acknowledging the fact that autism rates have increased in the last 10-15 years. Dr. Wizitzel (or whatever his name is) is a complete moron. I sat here listening to him ramble about kids with small social issues being diagnosed with autism and how that is the only reason the numbers are rising. What an idiot!!! He's also trying to say that most kids are born with it and it has nothing to do with environmental factors or vaccines. I was really happy to hear Dr Healy though. She's one of the only mainstream medical dr's that I've heard admit that there has been no real research done in regards to autism. They are so far behind in learning anything more about the disease. And that's what it is, a disease, not a disorder. She mentioned the need for a study comparing kids with vaccines vs kids without or with a limited schedule of vaccines. DUH! Are you kidding me? Of course, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure the need for that study. Unfortunately so much of our medical community is paid for by pharmaceutical companies that if and when that study does happen it will probably have to be a privately funded study. Here's some info for them. I have two girls, one was vaccinated, one was not, one has autism, one doesn't, I'll let you guess which is which. Idiots!

If any of you reading this have new babies or friends with new babies or just questions on vaccines I really recommend looking up Dr. Sear's vaccine schedule. It's the one we are following with Abby, although we are starting hers a little later than he recommends because I'm a chicken! Either way, if you have questions, please ask me. I'm not the expert on the subject but I have lots of great resources at my disposal.

OK, enough venting. For now at least. Since it's autism awareness month there will probably be a lot more morons on TV for me to be pissed at.

Our naturopath recommended a new supplement for Madeline that we just got in the mail. It's called Enhansa and is a mild chelator, anti-viral, anti-fungal and has other benefits. She mentioned she has seen lots of improvements in social and communication in GIRLS she sees. (remember autism is 4-5 times more prevelent in boys) Especially those who haven't responded to other treatments, like our Madeline :) We'll start it tomorrow and see how it goes. It's supposed to have a pretty good "die off" effect where kids get a lot spacier before they get better. The spacey part is supposed to be a good sign. We'll see! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, just as I do with every other treatment we've tried.

Here are some pics from our mini spring break trip to Ellensburg. We had great weather and a lot of fun. Abby was so happy to see her favorite dog Tally. Madeline actually liked her this time too. Great, I probably am going to have to get a dog! :) Either that or make more trips to Eburg, I'd prefer the latter.

Oh, if you are interested in watching that episode of Larry King it's posted on youtube by xmagicdustx . It's in 5 parts so make sure you watch them in order. Also, it's re-airing this Saturday. They also have some good links and info here : http://www.generationrescue.org/

MRI's, EEG's and MBSV's

Last week was a busy week of appts at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Tuesday was Madeline's MRI on her stomach. It took a long time to get the anesthesia and then the actual test only took about 15 minutes. She freaked out when she woke up because they left her IV in and had tape all over her arms but otherwise it was ok. The tests came back normal so we know everything is connected and working properly in her gut. So good news there.

Then on Friday she had an EEG, which is a test where they place 30 electrodes on her scalp and measure brain activity for about an hour. We were pretty positive there was no possible way she was going to lay still while someone stuck a bunch of stuff to her head, especially since she hates me even brushing her hair. Luckily the nice EEG tech was smart and let her keep her pony tail in. She laid in the bed and played her Leapster (handheld video game) while the test was performed. I was amazed!! She was such a trooper. We got those tests back yesterday and they were normal too. So, no seizures and the funny little thing she's doing is just a stim that she controls. Probably regulating her nervous system. So more good news.

Then this weekend she got sick. Nasty fever and runny nose. I took her to the dr yesterday (in a snow storm) and he said it was MBSV. "Must be some virus"! :)

We are happy because now we have most of our questions answered. We know that none of her symptoms are serious and most are related to sensory issues and not physical issues. hooray!

We got a ton of snow in the last few days. Here are some pics!!

Seattle Aquarium

We took a family trip to the Seattle aquarium today. The girls LOVED it. Madeline really liked the jellyfish and the seals and Abby just liked to make kissing noises at all the fish. Here are a few pics.

new blog??

I'm getting a lot of flack for taking so long to update my blog. Seriously ladies, it hasn't even been a month. I guess what that really means is there hasn't been much to talk about either that or I've been too busy to sit down and do it. We've also had the great pleasure of passing a cold around the house. Madeline started it and then it went full circle and is back to her and I again. I'm going around the house with lysol today to try and kill this bug!



We had Madelines GI appt at Seattle Children's hospital. It went ok. They really didn't do anything, just ordered more tests. They are going to do an xray and an MRI to make sure all of her parts are connected properly. They really think that she's basically not going potty on purpose. Apparently kids can do this to themselves. She gave me some concoctions to try at home but the real answers will come after the test results at the beginning of next month. That same week she'll be having an EEG which is basically a test to make sure she's not have seizures. That should be a really fun week! :( I am looking forward to it though, it's been a long time since I started wondering about these things. It will be great to have a definitive answer. Hopefully these folks at children's will be able to get her to cooperate through the EEG. They have to put all these monitors on her head. Hopefully the room is fun and has a TV or they'll be in big trouble.

We've also been doing some research on dogs and autism. There are many companies out there training dogs for children with autism. They are basically trained to keep and eye on the child. They can get pretty skilled so that they go to school and everything with the child, much like a seeing eye dog but this is not what we'd want. We just want a dog that would be trained to keep an eye on the girls. Especially in places like parks and the beach, etc. Abby is so in love with dogs that she would be the happiest girl ever. We can't do it in this house but maybe in the next one. I just need to find a good local trainer to help us out. I'm looking at golden retriever/poodle mixes. It's called a mini goldendoodle. They are the cutest things ever and they aren't that big. Here is a link http://www.swissridgekennels.com/retrieverpups.html . Here is a link on autism and dogs http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/16/heroes.shirk/index.html .

Happy New Year!

So it's a little late. I can't seem to find time to sit down and type.

I've been spending a lot of time, playing in the snow, traveling, doing laundry and getting ready for Kerry's wedding. Now that it is over (it was wonderful) I can get caught up with other things.

We had the monthly update with Madeline's ABA therapists yesterday. She's doing really well. She masters every program they give her in record time. She isn't crying and complaining as much as she used to. That is probably because she doesn't do it as often as she used to. I think that she definitely needs a balance. I think we were focusing way to much on ABA before and she needs a wider variety. They work on things like playing catch, cutting with scissors, learning the days of the week, social questions, matching and so on. She had mastered quite a few of them yesterday and they were coming up with new programs. I love hearing that because a lot of the stuff she learns in ABA you don't notice on a daily basis.

Madeline has learned how to use the computer. Yet another reason why I don't have time to blog! :) She loves it. She just needs help getting to her favorite toddler websites and she can handle it all from there. It's actually very impressive. The only thing is that she ONLY wants to play the computer. When she wakes up in the morning and when she gets home from school that's the first thing she asks for. I had to ask the therapists yesterday what their opinion was. They said as long as she has a balance it's fine. Basically if' she has ABA for 2 hrs in the morning she should be allowed to play the computer for an hour. Then if she's at school for 4 hours she should be allowed computer time when she gets home. Also, in situations when there is a ton of people at the house she should be allowed to play. This way she's not just watching tv, she's actually interacting and participating in a game and she's not bothered by the amount people and noise in the room.

Abby is doing great. She's a little fiesty but still adorable. She loves her cousins Ella and Jack and is actually chanting their names right now. She is waiting...impatiently...for them to come over and play.

I've attached some more recent pics. I hope everyone had a great holiday!