The lowdown for this morning 

The boys and I are going to possibly walk the track this morning. We have to take Lizze to an appointment this morning and we may be heading to the park whole we wait.  School begins tomorrow morning and I'd love to make today as pleasant as possible.  We have school clothes as ready as possible and we're hoping to get things off on the right foot. 

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We would end up imploding 

Lizze and I met with Dr Pattie last evening, as per the usual for our Tuesday nights. Our main topic of course was school and how to handle this school year.  I should very clear that no one thinks homeschooling the boys is a good idea. As the school year approaches, I'm getting worried about how everything is going to play out. Between Emmett's fevers and sensory issues, I'm already worried about how we're going to manage this year. The idea of homeschooling has been on our radar for awhile, but none of us like the idea. It's nothing against homeschooling itself, it's based in our particular situation, and how it would impact us overall.  Dr Pattie basically said that the decision is ours to make, but she thinks we…

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What makes a corndog inedible? 

This is my life, and as a parent to three with Autism, I deal with this stuff every single meal, of every single day. My goal with this post is to help put into context, what both people with Autism and their families or caregivers, deal with.  The pictures below are just one example of how sensory processing disorder and Autism can impact things like eating.  These are more dramatic examples because the imperfections are much more obvious. Many times however, the imperfections are much more subtle and only noticeable to one Mr. Emmett.  I can see why he sees this as a problem but it in no way impacts the corndog.  In his eyes, this is absolutely inedible and he would never dream of actually consuming this, regardless of…

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We have a very big decision to make in regards to school

Lizze and I are meeting with the boys therapist and bringing up the subject of homeschooling. As scary as that sounds, I'm not sure we have much of a choice.  Emmett isn't wearing most shirts anymore and frankly, getting him to wear anything is next to impossible. The idea of another school year where we are dealing with battles every single morning, is not something I'm not ready for.  The other issue is Emmett's fevers. Almost every single day, his average temperature is above the fever cutoff for the school. Even if we can get some wiggle room like we did last year, it's going to be extremely close on the good days and a no go on most others.  Emmett missed way too much school last year, although it…

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Taking the @WithingsEN Steel Activity and Sleep Watch on my weight-loss journey 

After my doctor's appointment yesterday, I'm motivated to continue moving in the right direction in regards to my health. The biggest thing I have to work on is my weight and blood pressure.  These can be overwhelming to work on, but there are tools available to help keep people motivated. These tools come in the form of apps and activity trackers. While they aren't required to lose weight, they do make things a bit more fun and efficient.  I've used many different activity trackers from Jawbone up, FitBit, Basis and the entire Samsung Gear series.  Most do pretty much the same thing. The main difference is the device's corresponding app and how the app integrates or shares data with other third party apps like myfitnesspal.  Recently, Nokia sent me the…

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Gavin’s vision is blacking out 

On Thursday, we will be heading to Akron Children's Hospital for Gavin. He will be going for another, more detailed eye exam. His last appointment was simply to get his new glasses. This particular appointment is going to try and identify why he's experiencing blackouts in his vision.  Gavin's been experiencing periods of time where his vision goes black and he can't see anything.  He rarely tells us in the moment, but rather later on in the day or even days later. We don't know if this seizure related or something else.  We're hoping to either identify or rule out something physically being wrong with his eyes. If everything checks out, we're probably going to need neurology again and have another EEG done. 

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The Final Tuesday 

It's a new day and the final Tuesday of summer break. We're focusing on back to school preparations today. The first thing we have to do is fashion show, which is when we double check to make sure clothes fit. The boys hate doing this but it's a necessary evil.  I want to get this out of the way as soon as possible, because we have to likely get some things for Emmett.  Anxiety for the new school year is already setting in and while we're trying to ease into a new routine but it's always a rough change. 

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Review: How the Thermo Smart Thermometer made our lives easier (@WithingsEN)

A couple months ago, I received a Thermo Smart Thermometer from Nokia. The idea was to put it through the ringer and see how it works. Our case is a bit unusual because Emmett, our youngest, has a rare fever disorder. Tracking his temperature throughout the day has been a nightmare. https://youtu.be/5Wtgn7mfZvU When the Thermo arrived, I was really excited because I'm a techie, but mostly I was desperately hoping that it would make life a bit easier. You don't realize how complicated something as simple as tracking fevers can be when you have to do several times a day, every single day. [foogallery id="64700"] You can see in the above gallery, the Thermo is a relatively small device that fits very comfortably in your hand. There's only one button…

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