Bloggin 'N Joggin

As promised here is my Isabella focused post.  She is going to be 2 on the 29th… already!!  I still can’t believe it.  She is doing amazingly well.  Every time I try to figure out how many words she has she’s saying 4 or 5 new ones.  She is definitely our little conversationist.  She still gets shy around people she doesn’t know but give her time to warm up and you will never hear silence again.  At her recent doctors appointment she measured in the 40th percentile for height and 15th for weight ( a wee 23lbs).  She is our sweet little one.  Now that she is about turn two we are getting her involved in more extra curricular activities.

2 weeks ago she started soccer.  She goes once a week and she loves coming home to tell daddy all about it.  She understands the concept of dribbling and is getting pretty good at it.  Here are some fun pictures from her first two sessions.

Action Shot

Go Team!

Listening to Coach

In a few weeks she will also be started ballet… or tutus for two.  We will see how much ballet she actually does.  She does love her new dance outfits.

"Mommy, I pretty" - yes baby, yes you are

And in late May she will be starting swim.  Today we went to get her a couple swim suits for the summer.   This girl loves to shop and even more she loves herself some shoes.  Lucky for her she is our only girl and will probably reap the benefits.  Once we got home she wanted to try on all her new clothes oh and take pictures to send to Daddy.  ”I show Daddy.”  The girl can seriously melt your heart.

She is very excited to be getting a new baby.  She loves to give my belly lots of kisses.  While I”m almost positive she doesn’t really understand what it means to her I am sure she will definitely be a big helper.   She will also struggle with losing a little mommy time but she does love time with daddy and she has a lots of activities to give her some one on one time as well.  I am positive that she is a pretty much the cutest little girl ever.

I have so much exciting news to share on the autism front.   In my last few posts I’ve been talking about how we put C on a GFCF diet and we have been completely GFCF for 3 full weeks.  It took a little while to get there but we made it.   He has responded really well.   When we initally tried this a few months ago we found that he didn’t eat what we gave him.  We saw that he does much better through out the day with his picture schedule so we decided to try that with his menu.  We created a picture menu where he can see each meal a head of time.  Once we started that he started eating what we gave him.  We found that he was eating more then usual.  Since starting the picture menu he will at least eat some if not all of his food.

C's Menu

We keep his schedule in the fridge so he can reference it as needed.

Menu

As he eats specific meals we remove them and place them back in his PECS book so he can use them as needed.  He often will decide he wants something different and will just pick something from there and ask for it.  Yay for communication!

PECS Communication book

We keep that close to the menu to prevent confusion.  In the past two weeks we’ve seen amazing progress with C.   Its like the fog has lifted and he’s more alert than before.  He is using more words and spontaneous speech.  He initiates play with his sister.  When called he will answer or act on the first command without repeated requests.  Both his teacher and his speech therapists have mentioned a difference.  Caleb will greet and say goodbye to his teacher without being prompted.  I am just so excited.  This past week during his swim lesson his instructor said he made huge leaps.  He was better able to focus.  He would swim (granted with the noodle) to her from 10 feet away.   He swam 2 ft from me to his instructor under water with no problem.  Its just so amazing to see him blooming.  While we still have a long way to go I can easily say I’m a believer in the diet.  While its  a little work to plan all his meals out the week before its totally worth it!

If all of that was not enough he has had a major breakthrough in potty training.   This past President’s Day we did the pantless training method.  He essentially ran around naked all weekend.   Without prompting he has started to stop what he is doing to go use the bathroom on his own.  Can you believe it?!  I wasn’t sure if we would get him trained in the next year and here he is doing it.  We only a couple accidents this weekend and none while we were out.  I’m in complete and udder shock.   As if that is not enough Isabella of course has to do what he does and she is almost trained too.  I will be beyond excited if I can get them both out of diapers before Baby A arrives.  Especially since I had already accepted I would probably be changing 3 kids in diapers.  I’m trying not to get ahead of myself but I’m just so proud of them.

We are also in the process of starting with a new Developmental Peditrician that is local.  We are hoping she could give us some great insight as to C’s developmental needs.  We have also applied for the GenRescue grant and our fingers are crossed that we will be accepted in the next group starting in May.  GenRescue assist with biomedical intervention in children with ASD.  Many children have seen great progress from it and usually respond to the GFCF diet (which we now know C does well on).   C is scheduled to start horseback riding in May with Equi-Ed.  He’s been on horses a few times and is so calm and relaxed when he rides.  I’m anxious to see how he responds.   We also have a meeting with Cheryl at Cheryl Teaches Music to provide C with piano lessons.  I have been so excited to find so many options for special needs children out there.   Caleb is so active and provding him with various different outlets that provide him both a comfortable envoirnment and stimulate his mind has been really great.

I promise to have an Isabella related post soon as she is doing so many amazing things too.  I can’t even believe this girl is only 21 months!

Just a friendly reminder that I am walking in the Austim Speaks walk on April 14th with other special needs moms.  If you would like to support us you can in the ticker on the right. Thank you!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!! I know there are mixed feelings about today but I love day about love.  I don’t think the day should be focused on being in a relationship but appreciating those loved ones you have in your life.  I spent more money on my mom’s gift than I did my husband’s.  Use today to tell your family and friends what they mean to you.  In the spirit of today I appreciate all my readers that take the time to not only read my blog but to give comments and advice.   I appreciate all my tweeps that encourage me to run harder and be better every day.  I have amazing friends and family that bring so much happiness into my life.  I have a wonderful loving husband and children that I am grateful for each day.  I have been truly blessed by God and I’m appreciative of that.  So go out and tell those people that have positively influenced your life that you appreciate them.  Sometimes we need a day to remind how lucky we really are. So here is what we did for the day of love…. My muchkins made heart hands for their grandmothers Donavan and I went to dinner and saw Safe House on Saturday night for our Valentine’s Day date night.  He also bought me these lovely roses: and I got him some almonds (pun intended) with a note that says “I’m Nuts For You”  (Thank you pintrest) and a gift card for shoes. For breakfast I made heart shaped french toast which was a huge hit.  C helped me make the shapes. And my kiddos rocked their red.

Ridiculously Cute!

I love that face

I hope you all have a beautiful Valentine’s Day!!

Thats right its a BOY!  A few weeks ago we hosted a Gender Reveal party to find out Baby A’s sex with some of our friends.  I have to give a big shout out to my amazing friend Michelle that made it all happen.  She not only did the reveal but took all the pictures.  She truly made this day super memorable and I can’t say thank you enough!! Here are some of her amazing pictures from that day!  You can also view the slideshow here.

So previously I did 10 things for my brothers on their birthday.   This year I’m doing GTKY.  Today is Brady’s 25th birthday and in celebration of him I’ve given him center stage on my blog.

So Brady lets Get To Know You.

5. What is something you wish every one knew about you?

Quick and dirty- I’m a geek not a nerd. But I do have nerd like tendencies. On a more serious note: I’m actually a pretty normal person. I thrive in being a geek which can make me a bit socially awkward sometimes but really I can be “normal” too.

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35vf8g/

That meme describes it well. Sounds pitiful when you read what I just wrote but its so true.

6.  What is something no one knows about you?

I have a really bad habit of over organizing things on my computer. I break things up into folders constantly based on minor similarities. So to find a file I end up having to dig through multiple folders to get to it. I’m in charge of our repository at work and my co-workers constantly complain about how deep files are. I just sit there and chuckle and tell myself cause it all makes sense to me.

7. What song represents your 24th year?

I have to say 24 was quite a rough year for me. Had to deal with a lot of life changes, put my head down and get through it so I’m gonna have to say Life Goes On by Gym Class Heroes.

8. What song will represent your 25th year?

My plans for 25 are to spend a lot of time building and finding out who I really am so with that I’ll have to say Dreams of Reality by Fame Or Juliet.

9. Name one thing you want to do before you turn 26.

Hopefully clear out my “Gaming Queue” as we like to call them aka the games I’ve started but haven’t finished. On a more professional note, finishing some books I’ve bought but never read. Is there ever enough hours in the day to get everything done you want to!?

10.  If you had to choose you would pick me as your favorite sibling right?

You’ll always be my FAVORITE SISTER! And most hated for that matter. Don’t you feel special though!? My favorite sibling….I’m gonna have to say Brett. Based solely on the fact that we all know neither you nor Jared would choose him, so he needs a little love right. Plus he’ll probably never see this anyhow. Always the last to know.

Check out Brady’s blog here and be sure to wish him a super happy birthday!

ps – there is still time to support me and the Moms for Moms team in the Autism Speaks Walk in April.  Check out the ticker to the right.

In case you havent heard on this lovely Groundhog’s Day, Phil saw his shadow and he’s proclaiming this 70 degree winter is going to continue for 6 more weeks.  What does Phil know anyway?

Well I call Phil’s BS and I started planning the kiddos spring activities.   We have a full schedule lined up for them and I can’t wait to get started.

As stated in my last post Caleb is taking swim lessons once a week.  I also take him to swim therapy twice per week so he’s getting lots of pool time.  In May he will start therapeutic horseback riding which will be 3 days per week.   So between 3 days of swim and 3 days of horseback riding along with his full school (he does an extended school year) and therapy schedule he’s going to have lots to do.   Once school is out for a couple months we are hoping to get him started with piano lessons but we will see.  I’m still on the fence if he’s ready.

Isabella is going to start TuTus for Twos on Wednesday’s at the end of the month which I’m dying over.  She’s so stinking cute in her tutus.  We are also hoping to sign her up for soccer on Tuesdays in April and a twice a week swim class.  That will at least get us to the summer when Baby A makes his appearance.   Once we see which activities they seem to enjoy the most we can start planning their summer schedules.   Don and I enjoy an active lifestyle and we are excited the kids are getting to the age where they can participate in extracurricular activities.

Personal Plug:  You may have noticed that there is a new ticker on the right sidebar.   A former co-worker, Kristie, and autism supermom friend of mine started this great group called Moms for Moms.   Check out Kristie’s awesome blog here.  The group brings local special needs mommies together to provide support, answer questions and bounce ideas off of.  Its been a great resource for me.  We have a super fun mommy mixer coming up next month when we all finally meet in person I hope.  We also signed up for the Autism Speaks Walk in April.  We have a small fundraising goal and I hope you will support this super group of moms.  Thank you!

So I’ve been majorly MIA lately mostly because I was on the east coast visiting family and friends for 3 weeks.  What a world wind that was.  I had some sort of gathering or event every day for 3 weeks!! It was fun and amazing and completely exhausting.  We came back in mid-January and found out that Baby A is a boy.  We think we’ve picked a name but you will have to wait for a later post for that… he he.

Uncle Brett and Iz at Rissa's wedding

Brig's baby shower

Carter/Sweeney Christmasapalloza

So here’s a quick update:

Mommy - I’m 21 weeks now and feeling pretty good.  I have some lower back pain  but overall I have energy.  I found out at my ultrasound that I have placent previa (read more here) so my doctor has told me no running or biking until my return appointment at 28 weeks.  That feels so far away .  In the meantime I’m doing swimming, “light” walking and crossfit.  I’m up to 5 days per week of crossfit and I am seriously in love.  I’m doing the baby bump version (crossfitmom.com) so some of the exercises are modified for the belly but over all its pretty much the same.  I still think its important to continue some form of cardio along with crossfit as well as some stretching so I”m considering yoga.

Daddy - Don is barrelling through at work.   He just hired a second trainer along with a pilates instructor so he will be able to teach less classes and focus more on training which he is very excited about.

Daddy and the kids at the holiday parade

Caleb – is back at school full time.  We are still working on some transitions but overall I think he’s done well.   We have him on a full GFCFSF diet to see if it helps him.  Its a lot of work planning all his meals out weekly and ensuring we prepare and pack everything he eats but I think it will be worth it.  He has also started taking official swim lessons.  He goes once a week and then swim therapy 2x per week.   He loves swimming and is really able focus in the water.  I’m hoping it will offer him the sensory outlet he needs.  While we were home C walked down his first aisle at my lovely cousin’s (Isabella’s Godmother’s) wedding.

C-Money

Isabella – we have moved the kids into separate rooms and split the toys so Iz has her own big girl room until Baby A arrives.   She is still adjusting but has made it most of the way through the night the last couple of nights (phew!).   We’ve also started potty training as she is very interested since C has been doing it.  It slow going right now but she is only 20 months so we arent pushing it.  Her speech has development so well and quickly.  We are thinking it has a lot to do with all the work that we do with Caleb but I’m still in shock with how much talk and singing she can do.

Izzie B

Baby A – HE is doing great and growing right on pace.  He definitely moves more than the other two did.  He’s been head down most of the time so I”m hoping he will race his way out when its time.   No real heart burn yet so he might but we are only half way to we will see what happens the next couple of months.

Baby A

I am super excited to be featured today as Running Rachel’s Fit Inspiration!  Check out here blog here.  I love mom’s supporting moms!

Also there are only a few days left to enter in this great giveaway for free Vix Swimwear and a 2 – night stay at Solage.  Goodluck

We are excited to announce we are expecting a little June Bug.   The baby is officially due on June 8th which puts me right at 12 weeks.  We already know what an amazing big brother Caleb is (Our Protector) and Isabella will be a wonderful big sister.  She just loves babies and I’m sure she will love having one around the house.  Don and I are preparing to go into zone defense but are looking forward to all the laughs, love and joy having another little on around the house will bring.  When it comes to running I’ve put races on hold for a few months.  As you may have read from previous posts I made a deal with the devil and promised my husband an “off season” after race season ended.  Don’t worry our little June bug was able to get a few races in before off season hit.  June Bug’ s accomplishments include: Napa Valley Ragnar, Baltimore Relay and Healdsburg Wine Country Half.   While taking a mini break from running I’ve been doing spin, swim and crossfit.  I discovered crossfitmom.com which is a modified version of crossfit for mommies to be.  I have to be honest I LOVE it.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE crossfit.  I already feel stronger and it allows me to push myself similar distance running.  I promise more posts about that soon.  Well that is our big news!  I’m so glad we can finally share it with everyone!!

Here is a picture from my 6 week appointment.  Unfortunately we didnt get an ultrasound today but hopefully at 16 weeks in December.  Stay tuned!

I know I haven’t posted in a while but thats because I have a really big post planned for tomorrow. Get excited!!

I saw this yesterday and I love it.  I thought my Tri-Geeks and Tri-Dolls would appreciate it.