Why he’s so excited about this red box

It's a little odd but Gavin has been chomping at the bit to get a new sharps container for the disposal of his IVIG infusion supplies. I say it's odd because he's been really focused on it. On Friday, I made arrangements for a new sharps container to be delivered today and the old one picked up. It's not that I was putting this off, it's that the current container simply wasn't full. Gavin perceives it as an eminent issue because it was approaching the full mark, even though there was a good ways to go still. I informed him over the weekend that his new one will be delivered sometime on Monday but I didn't have a specific time frame. That has clearly been causing him a bit of…

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Does this make me the monster I feel like I am?

I'm going to cut to the chase. Putting things bluntly, Gavin is driving me absolutely crazy and I'm not as patient with him as I should be or as much as he deserves. He's constantly asking me the same questions and sharing outload, every thought that pops into his head. It's exhausting, frustrating and overwhelming. I used to be so patient with him in this regard and would listen to every word that came out of his mouth. Over time, it's chipped away at me and as Gavin's overall cognitive ability suffers, the constant talking increases. Getting him to do one or two step tasks requires multiple attempts and a great deal of coaching. I've no question in my mind that he's doing the best he can. I also know…

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Emmett’s Martial Arts Tournament Results (Tons of Pictures AND Video)

It's been a long day, but I've finally recovered enough to write this post. I'm going to keep this brief and let the pictures/videos do the talking. ☺ Emmett had his martial arts tournament on Saturday morning and it was a pretty awesome experience. I had originally thought this was going to be something that wouldn't have any actual competition but I was wrong. There was no sparring or contact anything, but they did compete. Everything they did was scored by the judges and the highest score won. He competed in the Empty Hand Kata and the Weapon Kata. I'm super excited and incredibly proud to share that Emmett took first place in both competitions. He had the highest scores of anyone who competed today and there were a ton…

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I’m really pushing myself today

We leave for Emmett's martial arts thing in about an hour. I'm absolutely not feeling well and I just want to go back to bed. Obviously, that's not an option. I'm going to have to really push myself this morning. I know how important this is to Emmett and I will not be the reason he doesn't make it there. My hope is, after I get moving around a bit, I'll begin to feel better. I'm so excited for Emmett and I want today to be all about him.

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Helping my kids deal with loss

It's been one week since Maggie passed away and we wanted to try to keep the kids distracted today. Kids with Autism are especially prone to struggling with loss and tend to benefit a great deal from distraction. Trying to process already confusing emotions is difficult and at least my kids tend to perseberate. It's been a rough seven days for most of us and it somehow seemed fitting to spend the one week anniversary of her death, outside enjoying the sun. She loved being outside and basking in the sun. Lizze and I took the boys to the park and let them explore this afternoon. Click the image below to open the gallery. [foogallery id="79085"] The boys had a great time. We all had a great time actually. Everyone…

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There is no cure for what my oldest son has but we keep pushing forward

Eariler today there was a knock at the door. It was Akron Children's Hospital delivering Gavin's IVIG infusion supplies. I guess I didn't realize it was already that time of month again. Gavin has been getting these delivers for more years that I care to remember and as much as I hate the fact that they're necessary, they are. These supplies allow for his twice a weeky IVIG infusions. Without these infusions, Gavin wouldn't have a functional immune system. It's a heartbreaking reality that people like Gavin and families like ours have to live with. There's no cure for Common Variable Immunodeficiency and while the treatment is available, it's also incredibly expensive. Over time, it's likely that Gavin's condition will continue to worsen and he will need higher and higher…

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I have an exciting announcement

So this is pretty exciting. Emmett will be in a martial arts tournament tomorrow morning up in Akron. Every year at the end of the school year, the school invites the kids to participate in a martial arts tournament. In previous years, the tournament was held in Columbus, Ohio and that was a bit too far away for our guys. This year it's in Akron and only about a thirty minute drive. Emmett was all over this when it was announced but Elliott wants nothing to do with it and that's totally okay. Over the past few weeks, Emmett's been working very hard to prepare for this event, including practicing with weapons. He's really excited about that part because he gets to demonstrate how they are used. ☺ Martial Arts…

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The boys don’t have school today but I’ll be there anyway

There's no school in the morning. Some nonsense about end of the grading period or something. Lol Anyway, while the boys won't have school, I'm supposed to meet with the principal about the raffle to raise money for an end of the school year surprise for the kids. They've worked so hard this year and they deserve anything we can pull off. I've been collecting items for the raffle from some very generous companies and I have big box full stuff to help raise money. There are times where this platform I've been blessed to have can be very frustrating. There are other times however, when I'm able to leverage my platform to do some pretty awesome things for deserving people. I'm so grateful to all the companies that are…

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