Avery's Big Day

Today was Avery's first day of school. Yes, today my two and a half year old got on the bus and went to toddler group at the Southview School, which is a program for children with special needs through the MRDD. I went along today, and I'm so glad I did. I texted Phillip updates and pictures all throughout the afternoon, and at one point Phillip texted back, "I feel like crying. Avery finally looks like he belongs." I actually swallowed back the urge to cry several times as I watched him. Avery sat in a chair like a big boy and clapped his hands during music time. He played in dry rice and with some other learning toys. He sat on a bike during gym time. While Avery was one of the most limited kids there, there were so many with a variety of special needs that Avery just blended in. There's one other student in his class, a little girl named Lily, who uses a walker too. She's really good with it, and Avery just looked at her like he was amazed. They rode in the wagon to and from class together. I know there is no quick-fix for my little guy, but I'm hoping that he thrives at school. Here are a few photos of our day.

BUSY!!

I...must...keep...going...This has been the voice inside my head for the last two weeks because without some serious self-talk, I wouldn't have survived. This week has been Dryden Road's annual campmeeting, and we have attended most services, a.m. & p.m. Add that to the fact that we were in a week long revival last week, along with normal everyday therapy/appts, working in visits to my sick mother-in-law, and living in an un-finished house and you can begin to understand my lack of energy. Tonight is the last night of campmeeting, and although I would LOVE to go, I am officially crashing tonight. My house is beginning to look like a tornado struck and I feel like it would be borderline abusive to wrangle my kids into church clothes and take them to another church service. Don't get me wrong; revival and campmeeting have been AWESOME, but I am pretty much done.

So, with that being said, I'm in the beginning stages of cleaning up and plan on spending my evening doing laundry and catching up on some much needed house work. Also, I'm going to let my kids play unrestricted and hopefully, get them in bed before midnight for a change.

Above all, God is good. I'm excited about the things I have seen him doing in my church and at Dryden Road, which is basically our second home church. I've felt challenged and convicted to move up, and I hope that I can meet the challenge.

Today we met Avery's toddler group teacher, assistant, and nurse, and he will be beginning next Tuesday. It will be a bittersweet moment, but I'm definitely hoping that toddler group inspires Avery to learn some new skills.

Bryson is unusually grouchy, but I have to blame our wacky schedule for that. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

So, I must end this scattered post to get on with my night of playing hookey. I have much to do.

Until next time...

Goings On

I've gone and fallen off the wagon again with my blogging, but sometimes, life just happens! I just can't believe it is mid-August already. This has been one of the hottest summers I remember, and it has moved so quickly. There have been so many ups and downs since my last post, and I can't recount every detail, but perhaps I'll hit the highlights.

First, we're staying in our new house. Yes, the stinky, leaky, un-livable house that my husband has been working so diligently to remodel for us. It still is unfinished, but it's no longer stinky, leaky, or un-livable, so we're taking it one day at a time. We're slowing marking items off of our to-do lists, but it will take lots of time! I'm thrilled to be in our own space and excited with the outcome of the remodeling. I'm looking forward to the finished product!

Today is Bryson's birthday, and it's hard to believe that he is 4! It seems like yesterday he was a little, cuddly baby, and now he's so big and smart. He asked me if he gets to be the boss now that he's 4...like he's not already!! We had planned on being in Gatlinburg this week and celebrating his birthday there, but plans changed so we kept it low-key. We took him to McDonald's with his cousins and let him eat a happy meal and play on the playground. Then we took him to Toys R Us and let him pick out a couple of toys. It was simple but fun.

The reason that our Gatlinburg trip was cancelled was due to my mother-in-law's declining health. Her cancer is back and spreading, so her doctor admitted her to the hospital and began another round of chemo. We're praying that God will move once again for her.

Avery has also had some not-so-great days. He continues to puzzle the doctors, who are considering sending us to Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, for a closer look. He had another seizure last week, scaring me to death again. (I don't think I'll EVER get used to them). And his eating is declining. He is getting to where he doesn't want ANYTHING in his mouth. So, we've changed all of his speech goals to feeding goals in therapy, and we're focusing on eating. I've gone back to whole milk and adding baby formula for calories, and I've also gone back to baby food, since he is choking so often now. It has been a constant struggle to get food in him, and I'm finding myself increasingly worried.

On a better note, our church had a great revival last week. I, and I believe many others, was challenged and convicted to get closer to God. I'm hoping that it was only the beginning of something great for our church!

I realize this was a pretty scattered post, but my life is a little scattered right now too! Until next time...