Fall in Austin

Well, I didn't want to bore people with our lives, so I wanted to give it a few weeks before updating.  But, I have had a few complaints for not updating, too.  So, sorry to those who are checking this blog daily.  I plan to try to update a few times a month unless something crazy fun is going on!  It's been a busy month, starting with the birthday bash to going to a pumpkin patch, fall festivals, more visitors, and our follow up with Andrew's doctor by phone.  This weekend is the big fall festival at Andrew's school and it is a huge event for the community and a big fundraiser for the school.  It should be a fun time!

Andrew's therapy continues to go well and remains busy with school and the therapy hours.  He knows his routine and doesn't complain a bit about it.  He has become AMAZING when it comes to taking pills, as he has quite a few supplements that he takes.  Again, all without a bit of complaining.  Some of these pills are HUGE and he just swallows them up without water.  They seem to really be helping, though!  We had our phone follow up this week with his doctor in NY.  We found out some lab results and found out some areas that need to be tweaked.  He made some changes and additions and suspects that his body has heavy metals (like mercury) that is affecting his cognition.  We will be testing that with a urine test in the next few months.  It really makes sense to us, since he is so high functioning on so many levels, but his cognitive skills are lacking, which really affects his learning.  We also had a consultation with a neuropsychologist today to have his cognition, memory, IQ, etc. tested.  CARD wants to have a baseline of where he is.  They will also test him for dyslexia, as we feel he may struggle with this, also.  His testing for all this is November 8th.  

Kylie is in her preschool program, now 4 days a week.  She seems to like it a lot.  It's a half day type thing and then she comes home and naps at home.  We tried having her nap there, but it just wasn't long enough.  She is starting to get into the "mama" role of taking care of her brother!!  Very different than her brother, as she does NOT miss a thing!  I can just say the word "go", and she is ready to "go" and wonders why we aren't leaving!  

Kylie doesn't seem to be afraid of the horse at the fall festival; she rode him, too!

So, we had some fun visitors this past weekend!  Grandpa and GrandJan (Kristin's dad and his wife) were in Austin to visit.  Let's face it, mostly visit the kids!  That was a fun time and we enjoyed their visit.  We went to church, visited a few homes that are for sale in the area, and played with the kids!  We went down and visited the UT campus, too.  It was great having them here and the kids had a blast!
They came to Andrew's school and ate lunch with him and he loved that, too!!

The ultimate "cheese" smile (or look, is a better way to put it)!  But, at least it's a good pic of Grandpa and Grand Jan!

We also got a garden started!  That is something that we really wanted to do, since we spend a lot of money each week in produce.  So, we planted some beets, cauliflower, snap peas, carrots, and several lettuce varieties.  I wish I could say it will be fun for the kids, but Andrew could care less, and Kylie just gets filthy when she goes out to "help water" with her watering can.  Anyway. . . .hope we get some good veggies from it.  

See.. . .they don't look like they have worked very hard on the garden, do they??

Doug is doing well with his work and staying busy with projects for a few companies.  He went to Portland this past week for a few days to meet with the Intel group there that he works for.  


And, as for me. . . . do I miss work??  Yes, I do, but can't imagine how in the world I could do what I do now and work, even part time!  All the pick up early, take to therapy, doctor's appointments, etc. are enough to spin my head 30 times!   I do miss work and helping people.  But, right now, my job is to help my family and my boy.  I like how involved I feel now and how I feel like there is nothing holding us back from helping Andrew.  I definitely had more "me time" when I was working, even if it was my lunch break or driving to and from work. . . .but, I am okay with my new role.  I think the pay off will be worth it!!  

If I worked, this lipstick moment would not have happened??  I told her this was NOT her color!

We have found a church we like and have gotten involved with a small group.  So, we are slowly getting connected here in Austin.  It is just as great as people told us and we really like it here.  


We hope all of you are doing well and thanks for your love and support.

Andrew is a 7 year old!

Well, it's official!  Andrew is now a 7 year old!  His birthday was last Thursday, and we really feel like this may have been the first birthday that he was really into!  He was totally jazzed about his party, his cake (and that it was gluten free and he could eat it and didn't have red dye!), that the cake would be rectangle with white frosting, and that it would be a "Transformer party".  We had it at a gymnastics place, trying to find a place like Tatarus in Knoxville.  They blow up a huge train shaped inflatable and the kids get to run around to the different stations or obstacles!  We invited his class, which worked out great!  It allowed us to meet some of the kids in his class and their parents, too.  About 9 kids came, which was the perfect number!  He had a ball!  The party was on Saturday (right during the Clemson game--yikes!)  but that worked out great, too.  He can now tell you he is 7 years old when asked, which is always a struggle for him to know how old he is now, will be next year, etc.

Kylie had a ball at the party as well.  The gymnastics place was great about allowing her to go out on the equipment supervised by dad!  She had no problem learning how to use the equipment, as you can see by the pictures below!!  You would have thought she was training for the olympics or something.