I Can't Keep A Secret...

... at least not a secret this wonderful!

Coming October 2014:  

Sadie's Saturday Morning Nun Talk

She's impatiently awaiting the day...

Last week when we slipped in from the narthex and walked forward to receive the Eucharist I had my hands full.  Paul had Patrick but Maggie was in exceptionally fine form and while she usually tries to rush up to attempt to abscond with her own Eucharist, on that particular Sunday she was adamant that we weren't going forward.  She was noisy and wild and it was taking all of my attention to get her down the aisle without bumping into anyone while trying to hush her at the same time.

Finally we made it to the priest and I received and turned to go.  I made it a few steps before realizing that Sadie was no longer beside me.  Turning I saw her standing there, smack dab in the middle of both lines, face bright, staring at the chalice.

"Sadie!"  I whispered as her sister attempted to escape and drag me down the aisle, but I got no response.  She was in her own little world, her attention fixed on who was before her.  "Sadie!"

Finally Paul, who was thankfully behind us, put his hand on her shoulder and said her name softly, which snapped her back to the world in which she needed to walk back with us to the narthex.  She turned, looked surprised, and hurried after me.

Later, in the car, as we navigated through the thickly falling snow, we talked about that moment, which was so reminiscent of her attempts when she was three (and four) to convince every single priest she came across that she was old enough to receive, by kneeling and tilting back her little head and extending her little tongue.  Paul who'd been behind her, had thought she'd been trying to receive but I shook my head.  "I don't think so.  Her tongue wasn't out.  And her arms were crossed."

Finally Sadie, giggling and eyes still bright, said that she'd been daydreaming.  When asked she said that yes, it was about Jesus and when Paul asked if she was telling us what really happened she said that yes she really was.

I think someone might be big enough to appreciate going to adoration occasionally...  She's going to be so excited when it's finally time for her first communion!

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Watching Maggie and Sadie's relationship blossom has to be my favorite thing about the last few months.  Maggie seems to have suddenly noticed her big sister and decided that she's a pretty cool person.  When she wants to do something with Sadie she runs over and grabs her hand and then leads her to the place where she's decided they need to play and will start playing.  And since Maggie has been dressing up like a princess her big sister is super, super interested in playing with her now.

--- 2 ---

Although there was still a moment last night when Sadie had settled onto the couch just before bedtime to look at a book and Maggie ran over and grabbed her hand and started to drag her across the room and Sadie said:  "Maggie, I don't want to play with you all the time!" but Maggie was unconvinced and within a minute all three of the kids were racing back and forth across the living room giggling:

--- 3 ---

If you aren't big enough to know that you shouldn't jump on the edge of the couch, you shouldn't be big enough to climb up by yourself.  But since he is big enough I've been trying to convince him it's a bad idea.  He's even fallen off... but he remain unconvinced:

--- 4 ---

Patrick's favorite word is "Daddy" followed by "Maggie" and then "Sadie."  He'll also say "rub, rub, rub" (about putting his lotion on), "shake, shake, shake," (when he sees me shaking up Mae's milk and vitamins) and "itch, itch, itch," (when he was scratching his tummy and being silly).  Do you notice what word isn't there?

Me:  "Patrick, say Momma!"
Patrick:
Me:  "Say Momma!"
Patrick:  "Daddy!  Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"
Me:  "Maaaaaaa Maaaaaaaaa!"
Patrick: (giggling) "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

--- 5 ---

I now have the best reason ever for wanting winter to be over right this second.  Our energy bills for January arrived and apparently keeping the house from feeling like -19 cost $500.  I took a deep breath and told myself that a) at least the disaster last month set us up to be able to pay that much for this month and b) from what I heard that's not all that bad for a month in Michigan right now because other people are getting bills that are way higher, but it still feels kind of crazy.  And it makes me all the more ready for spring, although I'm fairly sure the February bill is going to be roughly the same.

--- 6 ---

I no longer trust the percentages for snowfall given on our security system panel.  After 20% chance of snow turned into something like half a foot a week or so ago I'm looking at anything over 2% as a reason to look for the almost inevitable flurries that start drifting out of the sky.

Although snow I'm okay with as long as the temperature is above 20.  That's my little winter request at the moment.  

"Okay winter, I won't mind you, just don't go below 20 degrees and we're cool?  And 23 feels like -5 doesn't count."

See.  Winter has me talking to it now like it's a person.  Which I'm pretty sure is a sign of February induced insanity.

--- 7 ---

Even more cuteness... cheesy cuteness:

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

{phfr} The Daddy Daughter Dance Edition

Last night Sadie and Paul went to the Daddy Daughter Dance and then went out to ice cream.  Today's pictures are (almost all!) from their fun night!

{pretty}

First a close up of the dress and her sparkly princess shoes.

And another picture showing off all the fabrics she picked up and how they came together!

Admiring her new cape!

Impatient for Daddy to come downstairs!

{happy}

{funny}

{real}

Sadie isn't always so easy to impress.  Here she is with Daddy at the Moscow Ballet's presentation of The Sleeping Beauty of his school.  I think she might have had enough of having her picture taken at this point!

For more {phfr} head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter!

An Early Morning Minute by Minute

We didn't do much this morning but it certainly felt busy...  Here was the start of our day:

1:00am- Get up after hearing one of the most horrible sounds I can imagine coming from Patrick's room.  Rush in and discover that he's coughing with every single breath.  Pick him up and take him into our room and lay down next to him and nurse him while he wheezes and coughs while trying to swallow.  Worry that his cough sounds a lot like one of the public service announcements in California that was on TV all the time when the Whooping Cough started popping up more frequently.
4:30am-Wake up with Patrick's feet kicking me in the ribs.  He's coughing and smiling at the same time.  Hear Sadie start coughing in the other room  Pray that everyone just goes back to sleep.
4:37am- Realize that the bed is wet from a diaper failure.  Get up. Walk downstairs.  Find Paul already awake and studying.  Hand him Patrick.  Noisily descend into the basement to get a new sleeper for The Boy, hoping that any mice that may encounter have the common sense to hide.  Grab a sleeper and head back upstairs.
4:42am- Head back to bed.  Grab a clean towel from the bathroom and put it on the bed.  Climb into bed.  Try to convince the boy that it's still night time.
4:44 am- Hear the monkey jack-in-the-box start to go in the girls' room.  Listen to more coughing from that room.  Give up.  Yell down to Paul that we might as well get them up because they aren't going back to sleep.
4:46am- Tell a not-too-happy looking husband that I have a plan.  Explain that I'll be getting up with the kids and that he can get dressed and go to school right this second as long as he comes back in the afternoon and lets me take a bath before I have to make dinner and get the bunnies to bed and help Sadie get ready for the Daddy-Daughter dance (which is called something else this year since Daddy-Daughter dance isn't PC).  Cling to the idea of a bath.

4:47am- Help a now happy husband take the kids downstairs.
4:48am- Present Sadie with her princess dress and cape and help her try it on.
4:49am-Rush around the room and find Mae's Aurora dress after she sees Sadie in her princess dress and starts to sob.
4:50am- Find the dress in question and help slip it on over her pink footed sleeper.  See Patrick look over.  Tell him he looks like a super hero in his red sleeper and see his face light up while his biggest sister sings "You're a Super Patchy!" in her loudest voice.
4:51am- Search for matching lids to sippy cups, decide that a blue fish cup can work with a pink princess lid, fill the cups with almond milk and find something that each child will eat.  Stumble back out and fall down onto the couch.
5:02am- Glance around and wonder if a nap is possible with Patrick sitting on my lap, Maggie sitting on my right side and Sadie sitting on my left side.
5:03am- Decide that it's not possible and that it's going to be a long day.
5:12am- Notice that the kids have drifted away to play.  Burrow under a blanket and hope they don't see me trying to rest.
5:23am-Spotted!  Maggie sees me laying down and runs over and climbs up next to me.  She pulls the covers away from my face and I tell her that Mommy needs a little more rest and that she should go play with her brother and sister.
5:24am-  A certain three year old plops down on my stomach, feeling not unlike a 35 lb weight being dropped two feet, which is basically what's happening.

5:25am- The three year old moves down and tries to sit on my head.
5:27 am- Someone sticks their finger in my ear.
5:29am- What is it with little people trying to sit on my head?
5:31am- Patrick joins in the quest to keep Mommy awake.
5:32am- Maggie and Patrick work in shifts at making sure Mommy is paying attention, beginning an hour and a half of fun.
7:00am-  It's time to start the rest of our day and get ready for therapy and school and meals and chores.  Wonder if I can pull off staying in my sock monkey pajamas all day.  Decide that that might make the therapist uncomfortable.  Consider it a second time.  Go downstairs to find real clothes... hear someone say they're hungry... back to the kitchen...

I'd keep writing, but let's face it we're only slightly over two hours in and this is already too long, and besides, once we hit 7 the day becomes a blur of going up and down stairs and making sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing when they're supposed to be doing it.  And so that is a beginning of a day (with approximate times since I definitely wasn't writing everything down minute by minute at 5 am) in our house... I'm hoping they sleep in tomorrow.

The Cape

I wasn't sure if I was going to finish Sadie's cape in time for tonight, and I wasn't even sure once I started it if it was going to turn out.  I was afraid that I didn't have a long enough piece of the "fur" lining fabric... but it came together a little less than an hour after I finished the dress and was perfect!  It will help keep her snuggly warm on the way to the ball with Daddy tonight!

Allergies and Princess Dresses

I just got back from a Maggie's doctors appointment where our doctor gave me back Sadie's allergy results since they'd just come in and she was awesome enough to remember.  Sadie is allergic to dogs, cats and... wheat.  She said she's not so allergic that she can't ever have it, but that it would be a good idea to eliminate it as much as possible and that it is probable that it's making her feels sick (Sadie had said she thought eating bread hurt her stomach).  So... that's the latest allergy news, and it pretty much means that the kids in this house don't eat wheat or dairy.

In much happier news, Sadie's dress for the Daddy/Daughter dance is almost done.  I have a few finishing touches to add, but I snapped pictures of it when she tried it on for me today and I'm pretty excited with what we have so far.

Sadie helped design it (and I sewed it without a pattern) and she picked out almost all of the fabrics (I threw in some extra sparkly velvet at the end since she'd asked for "extra sparkle").  There were so many I felt a little ridiculous sewing it and I was seriously wondering how it would turn out.  There are two types of velvet (one sparkly, one crushed), shimmering gymnastics spandex, satin, sparkly crepe and lace.  Now that she's abruptly decided that purple was her favorite color in the entire world she's been a little sad about all the pink in her closet and so this is a purple extravaganza:

Ready for the ball! 

Daddy wasn't a fan of this one... but it showed the dress so perfectly! 

A little over two yard of fabric make the skirt super twirly.

A Day in Conversations in Snow Bound February

"Maggie doesn't have a binkie in her mouth, that's just her face."  Sadie announced as she colored a picture this morning before telling me a story that then turned into a conversation about how she was pretty certain that a wolf's heart would be a tasty dessert.

This child.  Did I mention that I was a vegetarian for ten years when I was a kid because my heart just broke at the idea of eating animals?  Yeah.  She might be my polar opposite when it comes to the subject of animals as food (as a child at least).

Yesterday we were sitting on the couch, snuggled beneath blankets, watching a documentary when this conversation followed:

Sadie (watching a whale splash in the ocean): "Mommy, I wish we lived near the ocean."
Me (smiling): "That would be nice."
Sadie: "Then we could eat whales for dinner."
Me:
Sadie:  "Wouldn't that be nice?"
Me: "We don't eat whales."
Sadie:  "Why not?"
Me:  "Because they're too smart.  There are some animals that we just don't eat."
Approximately thirty seconds later:
Sadie:  "Mommy, I think we need to get a whale as a pet.  It would be too big for Maggie to squish."

This all started out when she was four and found out that ham and bacon were made out of pig and was delighted that "pink pig" was something that she could have for dinner and began to wonder what other animals were as tasty as "pink pig."

Conversations like the one above, that have me laughing, are helping me pass this slow winter month.

Our dancing Patrick is another bright spot in the day, at least most of the time (like when he's dancing on the floor, which mostly involves him stomping his feet and going around in a circle while occasionally stopping to bounce up and down and then look around to make sure everyone is watching).

Attack the vacuum cleaner is
a favorite game around here.

Unfortunately Patrick has also learned to climb up on the couch and he strongly feels he should be allowed to spend all of his time up there, while not yet possessing the common sense to not almost fall of every ten seconds.

In fact he climbs up, runs across it so he's as far away from me as he can possibly be and when I say:  "Patrick Xavier!  You sit down right this minute!" he shimmies up to the edge, bounces up and down and shakes his butt.

He's 15 months old now and is determined to keep up with and maybe even outdo his big sister.

And Maggie?  She's still surprising me by playing princesses with her big sister. Yesterday they made a fort and hid under it together.  Her therapist was just singing Row Row Row Your Boat to her and Mae stopped her by saying "How 'bout e-i-e-i-o?"

That's a little glimpse of our snow bound days.  And getting organized has been making me feel a bit more optimistic about surviving February, although I think we'll be going with someone other than Terminix since I've been waiting for him to get here for three hours and he is now one hour past our allotted time slot.

In totally unrelated news, tomorrow is the Father Daughter Sparkle Dance!  Here's a glimpse of Sadie's dress:

My camera is still missing and this picture didn't quite do the dress justice!
Sadie helped design it and picked out the fabrics!
It just needs a zipper and then it will be done.

February: Reorganizing to Stay Sane

As we're blundering through February I'm launching a top to bottom house deep cleaning project.  We're already a few days in and I've mostly reorganized the main floor.  The upstairs is in fair shape with two out of four rooms needing pretty much nothing and two needing some light reorganization, but the basement... the basement is in shambles.

And I have to say, I've become slight superstitious about my basement, in a sort of involuntary way.  You see, I've completely reorganized the basement twice in the year and a half we've lived here.  And shortly after each reorganization our basement has flooded, once with the water table rising up (okay more than once, but once causing me to rip apart the work I'd done as I scrambled to get everything out of the water) and once when the sewer backed up and destroyed just about everything it touched.

I'm trying not to feel like an inevitable disaster will strike the moment that the basement is neatly arranged just the way I want it. And I know that when this snow starts to melt the water table will likely be in my basement again, although at least this time I know where the flood starts and where the stream will run to drain the flood.

The other slight deterrent to basement reorganization has been the mice.  After opening a box and having a mouse jump out at me I shelved the plan for the past few weeks... but now I'm ready to give it a second try.

Still, having the main floor reorganized has lifted my spirits.  If we're going to be trapped inside while the ever persistent snow drifts down from the sky, we might as well be organized.

And tomorrow Terminix will be here to do an inspection of our mouse problem.  Unfortunately I check the lease and pest control is our problem.  But the mouse hiding next to my sewing machine pushed me over the edge.  I could deal with them downstairs in the kitchen and living room, but now that they're running across the room and hiding next to my bed?  After trying all the various types of traps on our own I'm ready for some professional mouse eliminating help.

Sadie's Saturday Morning Nun Talk: Sadie on Angels

I just had to share the banner I made for her last night!

You may have already read this yesterday on Sadie's blog but I just had to share it today.  I love it when she retells stories like this one:

Once upon a time God created the angels.  God made many, many angels.  They said we will do everything you want, Lord God Almighty.

But what was Lucifer doing?  What was he saying?

There was Lucifer the bright and shining one.  He said I'm too bright and shiny to bow down before anyone. I'm just as good as God is.  So he said no.  And I will not serve, he said.

And that started a war and Saint Michael said "You think you're as good as God?  Well you're all wrong!  Who is like God?  No one!"

Michael and the good angels cast the bad angels out of heaven into hell . Everyone in heaven is happy with God in their home.  They've passed the test and can see God, the blessed Trinity.

The End.

7 Quick Takes: February 7th.... Edition

--- 1 ---

It's here. February 7th.  The day I spend the other 364 days a year dreading.

Christian Athanasius would be two today.

Okay, it's more like the preceding week and the day that I spend the year dreading.  I spent yesterday bursting into tears because of things like "it's snowing" and "Patrick is still sick and needed to be carried and/or nursed around the clock" and I'm pretty sure I've been taking every single possibly unkind (but not meant that way) thing I've heard or read all week the wrong way.

Let's just say that it's probably not the best week to offer me constructive criticism on how I could be a better person because right now I am just trying to get through the rest of this week (unless it's on how to be a better mouse catcher/killer.... because that I could totally use).

My favorite picture
shortly before what happened,
happened.

--- 2 ---

I know what you're thinking (okay, maybe not everybody, but at least some of you probably are!)!

Athanasius?

Yes.  Paul picked the first name.  I picked the middle name.  I'd really lobbied for it as one of my favorite boys names for a future first name (with the suggestion being Athanasius Augustine) but Paul wasn't a fan.

After much debate I sold him on it as a middle name.  Barely.

--- 3 ---

Okay.  So.  Let's try to pick things up a bit and I'll try not to be so depressing just because it's today and I'm counting the hours until tomorrow.  (Why yes, after typing that I realize that the previous sentence is a total and complete fail.)  Also, when I'm feeling particularly dramatic I apparently use periods dramatically and inappropriately.  Sorry about that grammar lovers.  It's like my brain screams, don't do it!  Don't do it!  But I just can't help myself.

--- 4 ---

Patrick learned to climb up on the couch yesterday.  I am not a fan of this newest accomplishment.  I think climbing onto the couch should have a pre-attempt-common-sense-requirement that one first understands that if they sit on the edge of the couch with their back to the room and bounce up and down something bad is likely to happen.

And after watching Boomer sit on the edge and bounce and then scream in outrage when I picked him up because he now believes that he should always be on the couch, standing up and jumping and walking and living life on the couch's edge (with it's drop right down to the hard wood floors) I am 100% certain that he is not ready to be able to get up there by himself.

Unfortunately I have a feeling that it's not a skill that he's going to be forgetting any time soon!

--- 5 ---

In an attempt to find something nice about February I made "snow cream" yesterday for dessert and the kids loved it (except Patrick who let me know that eating anything that cold is quite simply insane, regardless of how it tastes).  And it was so easy.

I took a bowl of fresh powdery snow, which we have in abundance and mixed it with sugar and vanilla almond milk until it tasted like heaven.

And for about thirty minutes I wasn't like:  February!!!!

I was more like:  February!!

And then the moment past and it was right back to being a quadruple exclamation point type of month.

--- 6 ---

Last night while I was sewing a mouse came into the room and attacked me ran past me into my closet.  As you can imagine I was really brave totally panicked and called Paul and told him that that was it, we needed to move, right then, right that minute,  he needed to come home from the law library and pick us up, because I can't do this whole mouse thing anymore.

Then I went downstairs to try to forget about the mouse and a second mouse ran past me.  I feel like I'm the little old lady in Ratatouille.  At least I don't have a shotgun.  If I did we might have had an issue last night.  Especially when the mouse darted past me a second time and disappeared by the bed, where he hung out ruffling papers and rustling around where I couldn't find him.

You may not remember this earlier picture that I draw of the mouse
but it's still a shockingly accurate portrayal of what the mouse looks like when he sneaks up on me
late at night.

Do you want to know why I'm done with winter?  Sometimes, when it feels like -17 and I step outside I've discovered that you can actually get a cold headache just from being out in the super, super cold.  But mostly it's because every single mice in a I-don't-know-how-far-radius has moved into our home to wait out this season of snow.

--- 7 ---

After watching this I'm pretty sure that I should find a different store to do my shopping at today.  I'm not sure I want to brave the crowds braving the cold to see the President visiting MSU to sign the Farm Bill just to to do my weekly shopping on the other side of the school...

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Theme Thursday: Church Windows and the Beginning of a Conversation...

I've been in many beautiful churches over the years, churches were light poured through gorgeous stained glass windows, filling the space below with spectacular light.  But when I saw that today's Theme Thursday theme was Church Windows my heart jumped a little.  There was only one window that I could even think of posting.  I began to dig through old disks and load them on my computer and this morning I found the image.

I'm sure you'll see plenty of beautiful windows this morning.  They'll be windows that aren't cracked and peeling and yellow with time, windows that weren't just paper plastered onto very old glass.  

But this is the picture that is special to me.

You see, when I was much, much younger I played Mary in the Southern Baptist church that I grew up in during the Christmas play I waited until my cue to go on behind a wall, waiting to go up above the baptismal tub (which had a board over it) to sing my part, which was loosely based on the Magnificat prayer.

And while I stood waiting, I stood beside this painting and looked up and began to talk to Mary.  I did it as we rehearsed and as I waited to go on the night of the show.

Years later as I began to pray the rosary and was then confirmed into the Church, I found myself, over and over again thinking back to those first conversations with Mary and I couldn't help but believe that the journey I was on had begun with those first conversations.

When I took this picture it was over a decade since I'd sang that song and prayed those prayers.  I was married and newly confirmed.

To snap the picture I had to push aside a couple boards that covered the window to peer up at the faded image in the darkness.  Above Mary and out of the photo's range there is an image, of the holy spirit descending on her as a dove as she says her Fiat ("I am the handmaid of the Lord.  Be it done unto me according to they word").

Yes this window, boarded up and forgotten, is the first one I think of whenever I think of the start of my conversations with the Mother of God, whose intercession would one day help me find my way back to her son.  And that is why I chose it, although it is faded with time and only an echo of what it must have been when it was first put in place.

For more Theme Thursday head over to Clan Donaldson (I'll post a link to today's post as soon as I see that it's up!).

Best Western isn't the Best... Our Best Western Horror Story in Lansing, Michigan

Most of you probably remember when we were homeless during the ice storm and ended up staying in the worst Best Western in the history of hotels (it's the one in the south part of Lansing in case you want to know where not to stay).  After our experience there we were told that the hotel would refund $25 a day because of the no-water-rude-staff-no-cleaning-the-room horrible experience that we had.  We've actually been told multiple times that the $25 a day has been refunded, pretty much since the day we left.  So far it has not happened (and it has now been over a month).  And both corporate and the hotel itself have been contacted and just keep saying that it will come through.  

At least that's what they were saying.  Then they changed their story and denied that we'd stayed for six nights and offered $100 (which they said they'd put through, but which, like the $125 they promised weeks ago still hasn't come through).  Now they're saying they will refund $25 for the entire week because we "only had one room" and they're claiming that's all they can do with one room.

I wish we could have left earlier than we did.  I really do.  But after going to five motels and being turned away because much of Lansing was looking for a place to stay during the storm we were kind of trapped.  

And what does Best Western Corporate have to say about this?  Well, after talking to them over and over again and after having been assured that a refund was coming they have "washed their hands" of us.  So if you stay at a Best Western and have a horrible experience don't expect Best Western to stand behind their name or be at all helpful. 

I really didn't want to blog about this.  But when we were there I took a video with Sadie, who oh so wanted to be in the frame, to document our experience there and since nothing else has worked I am sharing it here.  

It's something to consider if your thinking of staying in a Best Western because apparently they don't guarantee that you won't be treated horribly at their franchise and if you are they might not do anything at all to help.  Here's what our seven days in the Best Western in South Lansing, Michigan were like:  

Edited to add:  Best Western Corporate has now seen this video and stated that they are "standing behind" the decision not to give us even a $25 a night refund.  Wow.  That is incredibly horrible customer service, especially since they'd already promised us $25 a night.

And a second edit to add in response to the comment that appeared yesterday that I won't be publishing:  By day five most of Lansing still had power.  The hotel was mostly empty.  We were one of the few people left.  People who are likely Best Western staff suggesting it's because they were over run at this point won't be published because it simply wasn't true.  Sorry.  And yes to answer the question asked, I did try to keep the room clean but five people, one a special needs child in a room without any sort of cleaning equipment a room becomes unbearable very quickly.  Blaming the victim of your hotel's mismanagement for the horrendous experience?

One more edit:  Best Western just contacted us and says they will be refunding $25 a night, the original agreed upon amount!  I will update if the payment clears through (since the hotel itself was promising this for over a month!)!

The Routine

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, both to help myself what we've been doing and for those of you who have asked or wondered.  Mae has made amazing progress since the treatment part of our journey began back in September.  She's so much happier as both our ability to communicate with her has grown and as her tummy has begun to feel better.

I wondered how to write this post and I thought I'd start by saying that I can't stress enough how this particular plan is very particular to Mae.  Autism is a spectrum and while there are similarities among people on the spectrum just as there are similarities among neuro-typical people and among all people, there are also differences.  What helps Mae might be detrimental to someone else.

I read a study this last week where a group of doctors said that they found four subtypes of health problems among people with autism.  One involved gastrointestinal problems and that seems to be where our little ray of sunshine falls because of the tummy troubles that she has (and then I spent an hour trying not to have any panic attacks that they said that those problems are strongly associated with a risk for seizures).

The long list of supplements below are in part to address those tummy troubles.  Since Mae's started them we've seen major changes, although I can't attribute these changes entirely to this routine.  They are one piece in the puzzle that we've slowly been working out as we try different things and have figured out what works for Mae.

Mae's gluten free casein free diet is the foundation for the supplements and without it the supplements are almost pointless, since gluten and casein cause so much pain for her that pretty much everything else is pointless.  A steady routine and therapy also are part of our schedule now and we've found that if any one of these parts of our day is taken away pandemonium follows.

And so here is what we do to help our little Mae be her happy, healthy self:

• Her diet is gluten and casein free and natural.
• She has ABA therapy six days a week in our home.  When the local autism center opens she'll start speech and occupational therapy.  The occupational therapy is what we're the most excited about because she's such a sensory seeker.
• She does daily therapy with me as I'm being trained in a study at the local university.
• Every night I make up a special bath for her with 1 cup epsom salts, 1/4 cup baking soda and a few drops of lavender oil.  She loves these baths and they really help her relax before bed.  After her baths and in the morning I apply "Boomer's" lotion*.  Mae has realized that her skin feels much better when we put the lotion on and sings "rub, rub, rub" while it's being applied.

Those activities provide a sort of frame for our day.

And then there are the supplements. They are definitely helpful, but they're also my least favorite part of our routine because it's a struggle to get them all in.   After months of slowly adding in supplements to Mae's day, we're finally getting to the point where almost everything has been added in (in the list below we haven't yet added in Dimethylglycine and we're starting Glutathione cream this week and Saccaromyces Boulardii when it finally gets here).  In case you're wondering, some people with autism seem to have a harder time absorbing vitamins and that's why there are so many of them in this plan.

And while below is my schedule for the day it certainly does have a tendency to get mixed up a bit as I have to get creative to convince her to take this many vitamins over the course of a day, all while remembering which supplements can't be taken together.

Morning

All of the crushing and
dicing of pills still feels weird.
Since this picture was taken
I bought a little pill slicer/crusher
to make things easier.

Digestive Enzyme (1/3 capsule)
Multivitamin
Cod Liver Oil
Taurine- 1/2 tablet
Vitamins C and D
B6
Dimethylglycine
B12
Fish Oil
Glutathione Cream
"Boomer's" Lotion

Mid-Morning
Candex
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Monolaurin
Colostrum (Ora Mune Liquid Gold Colostrum which is gluten and casein free)
Saccaromyces Boulardii (a probiotic)


Lunch
Digestive Enzyme (1/3 capsule)
Zinc

Mid-Afternoon
Probiotic (lactobaccilus acidophilus)
Multivitamin
B6

Dinner
Digestive Enzyme
Glutathione Cream

Bedtime
Calcium
Magnesium
Melatonin
Dimethylglycine

The changes we saw early on with the supplements (especially taurine and cod liver oil, oddly enough), were enough to propel me along to keep following the suggestions in Doctor Sears' book.

And that is our keeping Mae happy and healthy strategy at the moment.  It's pretty flexible as we learn what works and what doesn't, what helps and what doesn't.

Now I just need to count the days until going outside and playing in the sunshine becomes a part of our routine again too!

*"Boomer's" lotion is 1 part vaseline to 1 part crisco with an ounce of cortisone (enough to fill the rest of the large sized vaseline container) mixed in.

The Mermaid in the Tub

Tonight while Maggie was taking her bath I glanced over and said: "So Mae, which are you, Dora or a mermaid?"

Part of the study that we're working on involves encouraging her use of language and gestures through various methods and one involves giving choices.

Still, tonight I said the words at the end of a long day, not entirely paying attention, not entirely expecting an answer since I wasn't actually holding anything in my hand that she wanted.  But when her face lit up I realized she was going to respond.

"Mermaid!" She said, swishing through the water, her legs stretched out behind her, feet together like a fin.  "Mermaid, mermaid, mermaid!"  She practically sang the words.

"What's the mermaid doing?  Are you swimming?"  I said.

"Swimming!  Mermaid!  Swimming...  Away.  Go.  Go.  Go.  Go.  Aaaaaaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaay!  Mermaid!  Swimming!"  She said the words as she played, giggling and swishing her feet through the water cheerfully.

After many more rounds of saying "mermaid," "swimming," "away," and "go" she started playing with sentences.  "Mae go away...  Go Mae away.  Away Mae.  Go. Go. Go.  Mermaid.  Mermaid.  Mae away."

"Okay, a few more minutes until we have to get out of the bath and go to bed."

"Go, go, go, go, go."

"It's time."

"Go, go, go."

"The little Mae mermaid needs to get out of the bath and get ready for bed."

"Away!  Go, go, go, go, go."

Finally she was out, dried off, and tucked into bed where she quickly closed her eyes and I'm settling down and thinking about sewing, still amazed that a mere six months ago I was lucky if I heard three or four words in a month and now... well... she continues to amaze me every single day.

Sadie's Stories

After watching me work on my blog since she was tiny Sadie decided that she needed one of her own.  And after starting several notebooks where she would tell me her stories and I would write them down, we decided to continue with that and write her stories and post her accompanying drawings on her very own blog.  It's what she's the most excited about when we start school each morning and what she wanted to work on all weekend, although with the rush of getting everything done, we didn't get around to posting anything!

She comes up with all the stories herself and I type them word by word and then she colors pictures that go along with the story.  She also picked out the blog colors and is really interested in decorating it.

So I had to share her link here, for anyone who wants to stop by.  I love hearing what she comes up with each day, and I thought a few of you might too!

WIWS: Patrick in a Suit (again) Edition

Today was one of the first mornings in a while where no one had the flu, or a migraine and the roads weren't frighteningly icy or completely covered in snow (relatively speaking I guess).  And so we bundled everyone up, got them into the car and made it to Mass, altogether as a family.

And while today wasn't one of the easiest days we made it all the way to the homily before we had to retreat to the narthex and when Mae reached both hands up in an attempt to abscond with the Eucharist I said "no!" in a whisper and she dropped her hands and listened.  So I'll call today a success.  

I even managed to get a few pictures snapped while we were out and about:

Yup, I'm making a funny face because it's bright and I'm trying really, really hard not to blink...
But Patrick was so cute I just had to share (and yes, he is wearing a fleece sleeper under his suit!

And then there's this picture of Sadie.
She's the only one who was ready for the picture and had her eyes open so I cropped it in.
She's wearing her jacket for next year, which found on the clearance rack at Meijer a few weeks ago. 

Okay, so apparently I didn't get one good picture of my actual dress.  But at least I'm actually
looking at the camera in this picture, which is a minor success.

Here's what the dress actually looks like, although my jacket never came off during Mass.

Of course after Mass the princess dresses came off and the ballet slippers went on.  Actually I had to go on a search for slippers for Maggie because she couldn't live without a pair of ballet slippers and she wanted to wear her sister's current slippers to Mass, a plan which I vetoed.  The tantrum that ensued when I said that that was impossible with the snow outside led to a tantrum that heavily contributed to our very late arrival time at Mass.  So after Mass I dug around and found a pair of Sadie's slippers that would now fit Mae and happiness was restored.  Sadie even helped her sister smooth out her new (hand me down) dress:

Patrick wanted to get in on the dress up action and insisted on putting a shirt on over his fleece sleeper.  He wasn't thrilled with the idea of a cape though, despite his biggest sister's insistence that it "made him look like a prince."

For more WIWS head over to FLAP!