I just realized something!

 Last Sunday night my son (with autism) was taking a bath at my mom's apartment.. he was just playing in the water for a while..my mom and husband went in to check on him. They  remarked the water was getting cold. My son did not care or seem to notice. I was relating to my step-dad the first thing that tipped me off that something was wrong was him falling and getting hurt. He was about 2.. 2 1/2 at the time. He did not cry at all or even notice he was hurt. I had wondered out loud if the insensitivity to temperature in general was related to his hypo-sensitiveness (to the pain) he had when he was younger. Well I got to talking to another parent on Facebook that has a child with autism.. and I asked her if they were related. She said Absolutely! My son now has been sensitized to pain thankfully. 

Looking back over the past few weeks,  I have realized that my son will react either to something very hot or something very cold. He does not seem to feel anything in between. If I tell him something is hot, he will say 'it is not cold' or if it is cold he will say "it is not hot". His bathwater is usually warmer than what I think is safe or comfortable or colder than I would be comfortable with.

I am going to talk to his teacher next week.. and possibly his Occupational Therapist to see what can be done to help with this.  

 

Home Management Binder

A few people have asked me what I have in my Home Management Binder. I had put this together originally for a friend of mine on CafeMom. I want to share with all the ladies in LDS Moms what my home management book looks like. I will try and get it uploaded here. Just a shout out to my LDS Mom friends.
I hope it is helpful and shares some ideas for your own home management binders.
I finally found out how to do it.. :)

2012

Hi there! I haven't written in a little while. Jamie is now 6 and he is great. He does have some behaviors that need to be worked on but who doesn't.. Trey is still working at Valero Energy Corporation and I still am a Stay At Home Mom.. Not sure what else to write here.. :)

Sorry it's been so long!!

You know life happens. My little boy will be 6 in about a month and a half!
On Facebook I have been promoting awareness this month through my posts about special needs awareness.
I wrote my post on Facebook today and this is what I wrote;

I am a mom of a child with autism. Don't feel sorry for me. Many times I am annoyed and impatient more than I should be, and I am mad way more than I should be. But I laugh way more than some think I should, love more than I ever thought I would, and sacrifice more than I thought I possibly would.
I am proud and grateful to be a parent of a child with autism.

The more and more I think about it The more I know this came from my heart.
I am grateful that my son was sent to me!

It's been SO LONG!

I can't believe it's been a year since I have posted.
Lots of things have been happening though.
For one, My sister's Birthday is today! Jamie did so cute in the Primary Program Presentation in Sacrament Meeting last week! He did so great memorizing his line. :)
Jamie loves Preschool and he loves riding the bus.
Trey has been out of school for a while now.. so I will have to think about going to school online perhaps. I'm not quite sure when I should start.
Right Now I'm trying to sell stuff on EBAY and taking care of Jamie.
Not very much out of the ordinary happens around here. Life just happens, including work, Jamie going to school, I clean all the time.. :)
Well that's it for now!

Busy Busy

I haven't posted since March! Oh my gosh.. it's been pretty busy around here.

Well, in May Jamie had his first ER visit. He was walking pretty fast by this cement ramp we step over to get to the stairs to our apartment. He was too excited one day and tripped.. and got a about a one inch deep cut on his head by his hairline.. I was SO scared! For one.. I didn't know that head wounds bled so much. I called the pediatrician in a panic, and I told them only that he was bleeding and that he probably needed stitches. They were all calm and told me to get to Methodist Children's Hospital. I was like.. how can you be calm??!! I called my husband.. and he had to come home.
The bleeding stopped, and like 20 minutes later, he's out walking like nothing ever happened. We were waiting for Trey to get home. We went to the hospital and Jamie was only cooperative when they gave him a sticker! So they had to give him a sticker to get his temp.. put some gauze with ointment on it...etc.
He ended up getting 5-6 stitches, which came out a few days later.. In June.

A Breakthrough!

I know I haven't posted for a month and a half.. AHHH! Anyway.. something exciting happened today.. not only is Jamie getting over his tummy bug he had yesterday..

He initiated going to the bathroom! First he wanted his shirt and pants off.. then his diaper.. we went to the potty and he peed in the POTTY! What a breakthrough! I think that that is so cool. OH and he's only been training since November.. so I think this is really good!!!

This past month or so, it's been very busy. I tried signing up for a home based business.. that I could do from home. That was promising, but the company that sent me the check was bad and we had to freeze our bank accounts, etc etc. So that was all a big mess. Fortunately our old bank caught it, and didn't deposit the check.. so it's all OK.

Jamie still loves preschool and will go back again tomorrow. He LOVES to ride that yellow school bus!

New Beginnings

Well, Happy New year to you all! Hope this blog finds everyone happy, healthy, and most importantly, in good spirits.

On New Year's day, we got into a fender bender up the street from our house. Trey didn't see a parked police car, and hit it quite hard, shaving off our right front fender, entirely! We were all ok, but kinda like.. what a day for it to happen on. This delayed our arrival at the inlaw's for New Year's Day dinner. We got there okay though. We were able to drive it for I think 2-3 days before we could drop it off and get it repaired.

The Brady family is doing well. Jamie after his long break had no problems readjusting back to going to his special Preschool. From what his teacher says, he is signing Help and more more regularly, and that's great! He loves going to school.

Jamie started Primary the first of the year. His first week he had me stay with him. It was fine though.. it was a very big change for him to go through and he had to know it was ok, and this was his new class or routine. Last Sunday, Jamie isn't able to sit down for very long, so they needed my help when they go into Singing time into Primary (his 2nd week!) and I was able to leave a few minutes into the class time, and he was fine without me for an entire hour! Woo hooo! I was very excited about that.

We were able to get Jamie a new car seat and I really like it. He looks comfy in it and it is easy for us to use, which is important. This should be his last one he will need. :D

Oh today we got back our Honda Accord.. and it looks Brand New. They did a good job on it. It will be nice to have our car back. I can drive again with Trey..

Trey is pursuing a Master's degree in E-Business. The sad thing is that it's going to be on Sunday the same time as church :( The only thing we could do is go and have Trey drop us off at the church :) The good thing too.. is Trey will graduate when we have originally planned.. we'll have to see what happens.

Lots of News and lots of stuff going on. Will post more soon.

I can't believe it!

I know I've been MIA for a month.. Jamie's been enjoying school and the holidays are fast approaching. Jamie Signed Help!! That was exciting. This brings Jamie's vocabulary up to 3 words.. mostly signs, and the word no. He'll get there.
We got some blood test results from the Dr's office. Turns out Jamie is low on the protein 'Ferritin' that helps store iron in the body. So we will supplement him with iron drops so he can get those stores back up again. Hopefully the supplement will help him sleep better, and in turn, help his attention span.
Merry Christmas and Happy holidays. Happy new year!

A GREAT DAY!

I decided to start trying to teach him sign language again. I started with the simple sign, 'more'. Basically you put all your fingers together and tap them together. That's the sign for 'more'.

I started having him pay attention to what I was doing with his hands. I did the sign for 'more' and I had to prompt him a couple times. The third time, he did it!! He touches his fingers together, but It's a SIGN!!! I was so excited!!!
All I need to do now is to sign when I ask him if he wants 'more' of something, and he will do it!! We practiced all day yesterday!! What a great Day!!

Jamie loves the bus! One of his first days when we woke up late and he missed the bus..he cried and got upset!!! Poor guy! (We did drive him to school that day, though.)

He is doing so great! He is sooo smart! Hopefully he can learn another sign.. I am so excited!! That MADE MY DAY!!! Oh we had so much fun yesterday.

An Auspicious Day

Well, We got the diagnosis. What was hard for me is that All along I didn't think it would be it. Jamie has high-functioning Autism. That's right. Dr. Harkins also told us that he does have some sensory integration problems, but that kids with autism can have sensory problems.

When I read the review, I cried. It made me feel better when the doctor told me that his prognosis was great and that he will do just fine.
I talked to my mom about it and she said she knew two girls with HF (High functioning) autism. One is eight, and she said her mom says she had it, and my mom's like WHAT??.. She couldn't even tell. So that's a good thing.

That's what we found out.

He must be very special.. and he's so fun to be with.

News Coming about Jamie

As most of you know, We've gotten help with Jamie from Early Intervention with Speech and Occupational therapy for his sensory issues.
We've been crazy busy with the ARD for the PPCD class he's in, and testing from the Developmental Pediatrician Jamie's been seeing. They've done lots of testing, and asking him to do different things, like feeding a toy baby, asking him to try and follow directions, that sort of thing.
We've also been busy with the school's assessment with him too.

We have a parent conference at 11:30 tomorrow, and then Dr Harkins, (the Dev. pediatrician) will give her diagnosis for Jamie. It will be just us parents talking to her. I am excited. Trey thinks I'm crazy to be excited, but I am just a Mommy looking for some answers, and ways to help Jamie.

I will keep you posted.

:D
Will write more later.

Jamie Antics

A few days ago I was on the phone with someone and I realized things were a little too quiet. This is what I found. (This was afterschool one day!)



Yea. That there is Jamie. I guess he likes it.. Look how he's playing in it.


Here he was after he got up from the kitchen floor.

What a Kid!



What a mess!

Lots of News and Updates

I never mean to go very long without posting, but it happens.

We wanted Jamie to go Trick or treating, but he had a fever that night, so that was a no go. Maybe next year.

Jamie started school on his birthday! He is going to this PPCD (Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities) class and it's from about 7:30-10:30am everyday. The bus comes earlier but drops him off later. Jamie really really likes it. He even pulls me toward the bus when he knows it's coming.

He's doing good. He's been going for about two weeks(?) I think.

Tagged!

I was tagged by Kristin--This looks like fun! Here it goes...!


8 favorite TV shows
1. Full House
2. Sabrina The teenage Witch
3. Amazing Babies
4. Home Improvement
5. The Golden Girls
6. The secret Life of the American Teenager
7. Sponge-Bob Square-pants!
8. Mama's Family (yes it still is on tv!)

8 Favorite Restauraunts
1. Wendy's (Love their frosties!)
2. El Jharro del Arturo
3. McDonald's
4. The Olive Garden
5. Zio's
6. Fudrucker's
7. Subway
8. Burger King (once in a while)

8 things that happened yesterday
1. didn't go to church
2. stayed home
3. Watched Home Improvement
4. Cuddled with Jamie
5. Surfed the web
6. Watched The Singles Ward
7. Loaded the dishwasher
8. bathed Jamie

8 things to look forward to
1. Christmas
2. My 5 yr anniversary :D
3. Halloween
4. Meeting up with my internet friend Kristin
5. Getting Jamie's diagnosis in Nov
6. Jamie going to a special Preschool
7. Losing some weight
8.Thanksgiving

8 things I love about fall
1. The changing leave colors
2. The smell in the air
3. The cooler weather
4. Thanksgiving
5. Hot Cocoa
6. Pumpkin Pie
7. Gathering for Thanksgiving dinner

8 things on my wish list
1. Lose some weight
2. Purge and organize
3. Pray and read my scriptures daily
4. Traveling the world
5. Get out of debt
6. Become a millionare :D
7. Saving more money
8. Purge and organize.. can you tell I really want to do this?

8 people I am tagging
1. Kathy
2. Shannon
3. Rebecca
4. Linda
5. Heidi
6. I don't know many people with blogs
7.
8. Anyone else who wants to do it! :D

Some Good and Bad news

Well, from what the title implies, we do, have good news and bad news.
The bad news is that Jamie was sick all weekend with a stomach bug.
The good news is he's feeling much much better today. I think I got him hooked on popsicles lol.
I can't believe my little guy is going to be 3 in 8 days.. We're going to have his birthday party a little early.

VERY EXCITING NEWS!

Something very exciting happened.. and I'll tell you what.
We usually go to our in-law's house to do laundry once a week.
We were at our in-law's house and I was getting Jamie undressed for his bath. I took his diaper off. (I thought.. what the heck) and sat him on the grown up potty. I made sure to keep a hold of him so he wouldn't fall in. He PEED in the potty!!! Jamie was observing what he was doing, too. I was SO excited!!! I told him three or four times ' You peed in the potty!' I clapped a little bit.. and Daddy came to the door of the bathroom. I told him what happened.. He told me GREAT!. What's more, is that he went back to the potty a time or two more..and (actually he started going on the tile) I grabbed him and held him. and he POOPED in the Potty!!! So I was REALLY excited!
That's a great thing to happen.. Yay Jamie!!!
I'm hoping to at least take him to the potty before bath and have him sit on his potty chair at home!
I'm just all smiles.. This made my day!!!
Grandma and Grandpa may have to get a potty seat for their house!

An Update

We went to the play date. Jamie was good. Jamie hadn't met this little boy before he played with, and it was a new place. Jamie was exploring for the first few minutes, and then really started to play toward the end. The lady that we talked to that let us use the room and the tape recorder said that the tape could make a difference on the diagnosis.. but it won't be very long until we find out what's going on.
We have our next appointment in two weeks for more testing and then we go to the parent conference in which our Dr. will tell us what's going on.
In the meantime, we're hanging in there.. and hope that things get better soon.

Things have Gone CRAZY!!!

I know what you're thinking.. yea I'm a crazy mom. No I'm not going crazy, though I confess to going out of my mind now and then.
I wish it wasn't so long since I posted. Here are some pictures to give you updates on what cute things Jamie has done.

First, some updates.
Jamie's still seeing a developmental pediatrician to diagnose him, since he has completely stopped talking, and has some sensory issues too. The appointments to get the diagnosis have been crazy, but that keeps us busy. We are going to a 'playdate' tommorrow (Oct 16) where we need to let one other child interact with Jamie for 20 minutes.. and it needs to be tape recorded. This is to see how he interacts with someone his age. But we're getting things done. We have another appointment with the school district (one to assess him.. one to get the results) and we'll have a couple more appointments and then a parent conference to see what the diagnosis is. Although frustrating he still is a happy boy and a pleasure to be around. We have also learned since he has a significant 'language delay' and the sensory issues, he can attend a special preschool at the public elementary school every school day for 3 hours a day.
He can start going to the preschool on his birthday if he wants, but we'll see.

Trey's still doing good and spending time with Jamie whenever he can. He is working on his masters still.. not too much to say about that.

I'm the crazy one in the family.. I guess. I've gotten a calling for a VT coordinator.. which is basically who you call to turn in the VT reports of who people you have visited. I also run the house and keep everyone organized. I also make sure that Jamie isn't making messes left and right.. which he tends to do at least once a day. It doesn't help matters that I tend to misplace things almost daily.. and 'hide' things a little too well from Jamie (and myself). We are excited for Jamie's third birthday, We plan on having a duck themed party.. (that's his thing now.. rubber ducks, he has 9!)
I can't believe that Halloween is coming so fast.

Anyhow.. here are some pictures that Jamie's been up to.



Jamie's really into imitating me lately. He knows that I put on the oven mitt to work in the oven. Don't worry, the oven is off.. :D



Examining the cold oven.. :D


While I was doing something, Jamie had figured out how to open a little take out container full of BBQ sauce. Here he is eating it straight out of the packet..
I know.. totally gross right? He seems to love it!


Here is another picture of him!


Here's Jamie in his PJs. See his new haircut.. Cute right? I thought so.



Jamie had gone to sleep very early the other night (Oct 14) and was 'reading' Chicken Little. Cute!



There's Jamie conked out and Daddy 'napping' for the picture. Jamie likes to go to sleep with Daddy close by.

Well, I know this was a long post, but a lot has happened.

MIA... EKKKK!

I am surprised it's been so long since I posted.. I've been MIA for about a month or so..
Lots of things have been happening as always at the Brady household.. I've got a few pictures to show you what we've been up to.


My mom needed boxes to pack up stuff .. Jamie's checking out the boxes! LOL



Jamie now loves to play with the vaccumn hose.. what a kid!


I'm not quite sure why he would want to put it on his mouth.. oh well.



He's probably thinking something like.. 'Wow.. look what I built!"
These 'blocks' or Nesting blocks..have become one of his favorite toys.
He'll even carry his blocks down to the car to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house :D


What's with the tongue..?? Hmm.. He's been doing this lately...


Trying on Dad's Valero flip-flops. What's funny is I actually let him take a walk outside in them once. :D
I think he'd say if he could talk would be 'Outside, now mommy?' or something.