Happy Thanksgiving!

^{Thanksgiving art by Bearhug}

Today before dinner we all shared some things we are thankful for (well, all of us except Bitty, who was busy doing his own thing). Here are just some of mine:

My sweet boys
My husband
My parents, brother, SIL, grandparents, aunts, uncles, everyone in my family
My husband's family
My friends, those I know IRL and those I have "met" online
Heavenly Father & Jesus
My job
Our country and the freedoms we have
Our military men and women who defend our freedoms and those of others
Our home
Our church, and our freedom to worship
Our health
Our sons' schools, teachers, and therapists
Bitty's sweet voice
Bearhug's laugh
Cuddlebug's smile
Hugs from my boys
Seeing our boys progress and grow
Chicken nuggets and the rest of the short-list of what Bitty will eat
Autism, and all I have learned from it
My camera :)
The earth
Our cat
Things that make our boys happy - Thomas the Tank Engine, Yo Gabba Gabba, Super Mario Bros, trains, books
Knowledge and the ability to learn
Strawberry shakes :)
DVR (without it we'd never get to watch anything on tv, lol)
My computer


Once you get going it's hard to stop, there is so much to be thankful for! I know all our blessings come from Heavenly Father, and I am eternally grateful.

Wishing all of you a very happy Thanksgiving!

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SEW & WW: Naptime

Here's one of my favorite pictures, taken on Thanksgiving Day 2005. My dad fell asleep holding Little Bitty (who was also asleep). So sweet!



Click here for more Special Exposure Wednesday. Click here or here for more Wordless Wednesday.





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Momdot Blog Party Day 9: Best Christmas Gift Ever!

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Brought to you by jaC Jewelry, Cutie Covers and Sassy Baby.

Day #9 Topic: Most unusual gift you have received? Best gift? Do you re-gift?

The best Christmas gift ever, was Christmas 2000. I was 10 weeks pregnant and went in for my first appt (it was the earliest they could get me in) on December 21, 2000. At the doctor's office that day, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. First we just heard background noise and then all of a sudden there it was, a strong and fast little heartbeat! It sounded like a train. The doctor said she thought I was a little big for 10 weeks, so she scheduled us for a sonogram the next day to see how far along I was.

The next day, just three days before Christmas, we went back for a sonogram. Here's an excerpt from my journal:

"The radiologist doing the sonogram turned to me and said, 'So,the doctor thinks you're a little big for 10 weeks? You want to know why?' We were expecting to hear that we were a month ahead of schedule, but instead she said, 'You're having twins!' She showed us on the screen, and sure enough, there were two little babies in there! We couldn't believe it. It was amazing to watch them, both wiggling and kicking, and we could see their hearts beating."


It was three days early, but that is a Christmas gift I will never forget - Merry Christmas, you're having twins!

Note: Obviously Little Bitty's arrival was every bit as much a gift (and at that point, finding out we weren't having twins again was exciting news, hehe) but just didn't coincide with Christmas. At Easter time, I'll have a story to share about him :).

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Mondays in Motion #10: Artist at work

Recently I caught Little Bitty on film while he was sitting on my lap drawing. He surprised me with the level of detail in his drawings, especially for being only 3 and having fine motor issues. He's actually doing pretty good with his grip (yay!) although he still alternates drawing with each hand (trade off whenever one gets tired I suppose). He drew several cats (complete with whiskers!) and "happy faces."



Here's a sample of his finished work. It's a little faint in places, hopefully it will show up ok. The first one is a cat, you can see his face, ears and fluffy fur on his head, whiskers, body, and paws (front paws at least).


This one is his happy face :).



It's your turn! If you don't make it today, feel free to join in anytime during the week. :)

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Magic Marker Monday: Thanksgiving Fun

Each of the boys made a Thanksgiving placemat in school this year.

Cuddlebug's includes a note to dh saying, "I'm thankful for you making hot coco for me and [Bearhug]. Becase we like the taste. I want you to do it agian. Love, signry [Cuddlebug]"


Bearhug wrote a note to me that read, "I'm thankful for giveing hugs, because you are my favreot mom. I want to give a hug evry day. Love, [Bearhug]"


Little Bitty made handprint turkeys (so cute!) and his teacher included a poem, "This isn't just a turkey, As you can plainly see. I made it with my hands, Which are a part of me. It comes with lots of love, Especially to say, I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!"

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Baby Picture Sunday: Thankful for Babies

Debi over at "Who Says 8 is Enough?" hosts Baby Picture Sundays. This week's theme is Thankful for Babies, a perfect topic for today.

Here are some of my favorite baby pictures of my three babies:

This is Cuddlebug (left) and Bearhug at 3 months old. I am thankful for Cuddlebug's loving personality and the kindness he shows to others. I am thankful for Bearhug's generous hugs and silly sense of humor.

This is Little Bitty at 5 months old. I am thankful for Little Bitty's heart-warming smile and intense curiosity.





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Always Remembered...

Your time with us was brief
Just a few short weeks
We never got to see you or hold you
The day we expected to hear your heartbeat
Was the day we learned that you had left this world

Who knew that someone so small
Not yet met in person
Could have such a lasting impact?

I felt your presence with me for that short time
And loved you from the beginning
I will see you again
Until then, you walk with God.

We called you our little Turkey
Because you were due two days before Thanksgiving.
Baby “Turkey,” you are always in our hearts.

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Momdot Blog Party Day 8: The joy of shopping

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Brought to you by Koshas, Leapfrog and Soda Club.

Day #8 Topic: Do you shop on Black Friday? What time do you start? Do you finish all your shopping on that day? What’s the best deal you have found? What’s your shopping strategy?

I could answer this one in one word (or two words if I wanted to be really emphatic about it, LOL), but to make it more interesting I’m going to answer with a list:

Ten Things I’d Rather Do Than Go Within 15 Miles of a Shopping Center on “Black Friday"
(in no particular order)

1. Watch paint dry – several coats of paint, one at a time
2. Fill out IEP paperwork – in triplicate
3. Get stranded in the desert for a day
4. Watch Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader battle it out with sporks instead of light-sabers


5. Write an essay on the viability of bug poop as a solution to energy independence
6. Go to a Barry Manilow concert (nothing against Barry, I’m just sayin’)
7. Go out in public decked out in 80’s fashion


8. Bungee jump off a bridge (did I mention I’m afraid of heights?)
9. Eat green beans (blech!)
10. Watch a 24-hr Barney marathon

So there you have it - seriously it's no wonder my kids don't do well with crowds, I'm not a big fan of crowds myself. :)

With that in mind, my shopping strategy is typically to shop early (not summer-early but wrap up store-shopping by October) and shop online. A lot of times you can get coupon codes or free shipping if you shop around online - so much less effort than dealing with the holiday shopping crowds.





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Taking things literally

Based on what I have read, it is common for people with autism to take things very literally. I can't speak for others, but we definitely see that at our house, especially with Cuddlebug. Here are some examples just from the last couple of weeks:

Cuddlebug (angry): "Mama, Dada told a LIE." (saying the word "lie" with utter contempt)
me: "What do you mean?"
CB: "He said I'm tired! I'm not tired! He told a LIE."
me (stifling a laugh): "Well, he probably thought you looked tired."
CB: "But I'm NOT tired!"
me: "Ok, well even if you're not tired it's still bedtime."
CB: "But I'm not tired."
me: "Tell you what, since you're not tired, how about if you read a story or two before you go to bed?"
CB (smiling): "Ok"
me: "But after that, you still need to go to bed so you'll be rested for tomorrow, ok?"
CB: "Ok"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We came up with a new rule about video games. If the boys' schoolwork that they bring home each day is all correct, they can play their video games for a while after their homework is completed. If they missed some questions on the schoolwork they bring home, then we want to spend some time working with them on what they missed to make sure they'll understand it next time (this is in addition to time spent on regular homework), which means less time for video games.

This wasn't intended to be punitive, but that was initially how they took it. We tried to explain that we're trying to help them, and make sure that they understand everything that they need to on their schoolwork. Dh used the phrase, "we push you because we know you can do it." To which Cuddlebug responded, "but if you push me that will hurt."

I guess he thought we were going to physically "push" him, so we had to re-explain that what we meant was "encourage." You'd think we'd have learned by now, but there are still misunderstandings that we don't always see coming :P. I think they were both ok with the new rule and clear on the reason behind it by the time we were done talking, but it was a longer discussion that I really intended to have in order to get there...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and this weekend... the boys decided to play wii for the first time in a long time, and took turns playing it a LOT.

dh: "It's time to turn the game off, you've been playing all day."
CB (indignant): "NO, we haven't!!"
me and dh: "Yes, you have."
CB: "I haven't been playing ALL DAY!"
me: "you've been playing for a long time, pretty much all day. It's time to take a break."

At this point, CB got overly angry and dh sent him to his room. I went up a few minutes later to check on him.

CB: "Mama, you weren't listening to me."
me: "About the game?"
CB: "Yes, you said I played it all day. I didn't."
me: "Well, you played it this morning, and you played it this afternoon. That's a lot of playing."
CB: "Yeah, but I also played upstairs. All day means I played it from the morning to the night. I didn't play it all day."
me: "Well, that's true, you did take a break for a while. But you did play the game a lot today, right?"
CB: "yeah."
me: "Ok. So it's time to take a break."
CB: "Ok."

AAAHHHH! I should have realized that was the problem sooner. He didn't even so much mind taking a break from the game, he was just upset that we said he played "all day" when technically, that wasn't true. Ok, I stand corrected.

Sigh. Anyone else have kids who take things sooo literally??





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Gobble, gobble

Bitty has learned about turkeys saying "gobble, gobble." He got a little confused the other day though, when he was eating his jerky and kept pointing to it saying, "gobble, gobble." LOL





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