Did you Know?

That a new Lego Store has opened up at Arden Fair Mall and we were there at the Grand Opening celebration. We waiting in line to get into the store for about 1 hr and then another 40 minutes to pay for our purchases. It was great for the kids though.

Waitng in line, everyone was really good for having to wait an hour

Check out Evan by the life size clone trooper

Gabriel and Nathan were in hog heaven in the Lego store

Everyone got to help build bricks for the Lego Master Builder to use in assembling the 8ft tall Lego R2D2.

Gabriel wants to be a master builder at Lego Land

Evan's Birthday Party 10-25-08

We had Evan's 4th birthday party on Saturday at Kloss Park which is an accessible park near our house. It has a wheelchair swing and ramps that kids can walk up or be wheeled up in order to access some of the fun stuff on the play structures. This is the best park because I do not have to worry about Evan falling off of the play equipment or hurting himself.
Evan had a great party and we were so happy that many of our friends and family could join us to celebrate, and we missed those that were not able to make it but we understand that sometimes everyone is not able to make it and life gets in the way. Being a special needs parent I probably understand that better than others. Enjoy the pics

Evan got this Thomas the Tank Engine bike from Grandpa Steve and Grandma Barbara. Even though we have the adaptive bike, we thought this would be Evan's regular bike that would help him feel like one of the kids. He is not able to pedal and so we are going to remove the pedals because he keeps getting bruises on his shin.

Cousin Nathan is showing Evan how to ride his bike down the ramp.

Evan on the wheelchair swing, he loves this swing, I always ask him if he wants more or down and he usually signs down. Our friend Cody got to try it out as well but I did not get a chance to get pics.

Pinata Time, Evan helped me fill his Elmo pinata

Evan was really into hitting the pinata, it is so nice that each year he grasps the concepts of things he was not able to the year before.

Nicholas has a turn

Evan's friend and Nicholas's brother Connor has a try at the pinata

Mia she was the only big kid who closed her eyes since we did not have a blindfold

Second time around Cynthia helps Evan hit harder than he can by himself.

Mia helped Evan read cards and open presents

Evan got a lot of great gifts, such as this cool dinasour, tons of Thomas toys, gift cards, tool box, movies and clothes.

Evan is trying to blow out the candles but he just shuts his eyes and breathes through his nose, it is really cute to watch. This year he had a little help from Daddy but we just gave Evan all the credit.

Here is a close up of the cake I made for his party

Evan's Birthday at School

Evan had a great day at school today, they talked about his birthday, made him a crown and even sang Happy Birthday. His teacher said that he was not sure about the crown but after awhile he knew it was because it was his special day.

When I got to school Evan was riding in the wagon,
this is one of his favorite things to do at home also.

Hi Mom

Going for a ride

Evan then decided that he would pull the wagon, the little girl with the braid is Emily and she is a friend of Evan's, apparently he has a little crush on her and stands by her in line and wants to play whatever she is playing.

In this picture the little girl on the left had found a roly poly and was showing it to Evan. He wanted her to put it in his hand.

More fun with the roly poly.

Going down the slide.

Using PECS to let the teacher know what he wants for lunch

Passing out cupcakes to his friends

Evan had a lot of fun passing out cupcakes

Here he is getting ready to eat his cupcake. Auntie Dana came to help out since I had Sophia with me today. She was a great help. Evan had a great day at school and is really excited for his party on Saturday.

Evan's 4th Birthday

My baby boy is 4 years old today. I remember the day he was born so clearly. I was going through his picture CD and found some cute pics from his first few months. Here they are:


I love this pic of Evan. He was just a couple hours old here.

Gabriel was very excited to be a big brother, he
was about 3 1/2 years. He was with us the entire labor
and delivery, although he slept up until I was pushing,
my mom stood behind the curtain with him and he was
very interested in what was going on.

Our kids, they are so big now.

Does he look like a 10.9lb baby

What a sweetie, too bad he forgot how to sleep:0)



Evan's First Halloween



Another sleeping picture

I took these pics on Thanksgiving, I had fun coordinating
outfits for the boys.



Gabriel was so sweet with his brother



Gabriel is still sweet with Evan even though he
sometimes has a hard time with the fact that Evan
does not play with him like a typical brother would.


At the time I did not know how important this milestone
of holding his head up and pushing up on his arms would be.
Nor did I know how hard he would work to meet other
milestones that are usually met in the first year. You
know the big ones such as rolling, sitting up, transistioning
from sit to all fours and back, side sitting etc.


My sisiter bought this outfit for Evan but by the time
Christmas came around my little chunky monkey
was too big for it. The snaps in the crotch kept
coming unsnapped. I think weighed about 20lbs
at this point.



Evan's 2 month check up, what a chunker. He was 18 lbs.

Here is the Birthday boy today at school.
Evan has worked so hard to get where he is today
and he still has a lot of work ahead of him, probably
something he will deal with for the rest of his life. I think
back and wonder if I would have wanted to know from day one
what was going on with him. I kind of liked the period of blissful
unawareness and thoughts that I had a perfectly typical child. But I would
have liked to find out sooner than I did, like after I mentioned my concerns to his pediatrician. But I am so proud of the accomplishments that Evan has made and I hope to see more this coming year.

Happy Birthday Bubbas We love you

Evan's PT Report

So we go the report from Evan's physical therapist at school. It is sometimes so hard for me to read these darn things. I really did not think he was as far behind as he tested. I mean I know he is behind but he is overall about 2 years delayed in his gross motor skills. He is probably at least that delayed if not more in his fine motor skills and speech. And I am sure the report that we eventually get from the psychologist is going to be glowing as well. I know I sound a little negative.
She even mentioned something about how he drops to the floor in protest of somewhere that he does not want to go.
Here is some wording from the report:
Evan was assessed iwht the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales for Gross Motor. At the tiem of assessment he was 46 months
His basal age level was 15-17 months
His ceiling age level was 30-35 months
His age level equivalent score was 21 months (a 25 month delay)

Overall Evan tested in the 2nd percentile(in a group of 100 children his age, 98 perform better than he) In a breakdown by skill, he scored in the:
99% for reflexes
1% for balance
37% for non locomotor skills
1% for locomotor skills
2% for reciept and propulsion (ball skills)

I think reading that in a group of 100 children his 98 performed better than him was pretty hard to read. I guess I just did not think he was delayed as he tested. He is in the bottom of the barrell. Seeing things in words just make it harder, IMHO.
The therapist stated that he has significant motor delays. I know that there are plenty of kids that are more behind than Evan but he is my kid and his delays are what I deal with so I have to try hard not to feel bad for being upset by this report. I do that a lot. Feel bad for my feelings about Evan's problems because there are others who are more affected. But we each deal with our own children's issues so I need to not feel bad, because when I have friends whose kids do things that Evan does not, I do not feel jealous of them, I am happy for them that their child is meeting goals and I am sure that is how they feel about Evan. My friend and I were having this conversation and I told her that I feel envious when her autistic son talks and says things like Mama up or other words and to the same token she told me that she is envious when Evan wants to play or be social with other kids. So it goes both ways.
I know these reports are coming and I know that I am going to feel down about it but it is still hard to handle sometimes.
Ok, I will get off my rant. But I am glad I can be honest on this blog, it is nice to be able to put my feelings down in words.
I just read the comment from Evan's past PT, who we keep in touch with now and then. She made a good point, Evan has come so far from when we began this journey so I should also focus on that. I mean I am thrilled that he is walking and is doing so well at it. But as I stated before this is just one of those things that puts me in a down mood and I will snap out of it in a day or two and be fine until the next thing hits.

Not much to talk about

I know it has been a while since I posted but there is not too much going on right now. I think after the crazy months of August and September I am welcoming a quiet time before the holidays hit.



Rudy is now working days whis is pretty exciting. I am happy that he can have a typical schedule. We can actually have the weekends to do stuff instead of me just doing stuff or waiting around for him to wake up. Maybe I can even get him to go to church with me and the kids.



I am probably going to look into getting a part time job at least for the holidays maybe longer. Now that Rudy is working during the day I can work in the evening. We will see how it goes. I finished my very last class for school on October 2nd and I am happy to report that I got an A-. I am still seriously considering going back for my masters. I am counting down the days until the scrapbook expo where I am going to thouroghly enjoy spending my graduation money and then staying to crop until 11:30pm.



Cynthia is doing well, doing great in school and being her typical self. She is invited to a Halloween party so I am making her a greek goddeess costume. It is turning out pretty well and my next adventure is going to be making her Jr. Prom dress, she just has to get a date. It is hard to believe she is going to be 17 years old in January.



Gabriel is a Lego Maniac. He is doing well in school and really enjoys it. We are sad because his best friend Rodger is moving away tomorrow. Gabe and Rodger play together all the time and have been buddies since we moved here 3 years ago. We will still see him now and then but it will certainly not be the same. Gabriel is very excited for Saturday October 18th as we are going to the grand opening of the new Lego store in arden fair mall. We are going with a friend of his who loves Legos as much as Gabriel.



Evan who is the one who always has something going on. He is doing great in school and his speech therapist is teaching him to use his Dynavox more, which is great. He really likes school and is excited to get on the bus each morning. His behavior is becoming more of a problem and it seems we cannot take our eye off of him. But he is super cute so that helps. He is going to be 4 years old in a couple weeks. We are having his party at the adaptive playground near our house. I am hoping that some of his special needs friends come so that they can try out the wheelchair swing. I can't believe he is going to be 4 years old, it is just crazy to me.