Rollerblading

Grayson is far from a sporty kid but yesterday he decided that he wanted to Rollerblade for the first time. He has had the Rollerblades for a little over a year and not even given them a second look. He was so excited he thought he was going to go all the way to star (wal-mart). He kept telling us I'm leaving. Then he decided that he was going to do little jumps. It was so fun to see him get so excited about it.

It's a Baby Girl!!!

Baby Girl!!

Hand and Foot!

We are so excited to know we are having a cute baby girl coming to our family. She is going to come to us just at the right time. We can't wait to meet her. The due date is April 29, 2010 and can't come soon enough. We have waited so long to have her already. Grayson is so excited to have a baby girl. He has been telling us the whole time it was a baby Peach. Well we know now never to doubt him. tonight he kissed my tummy and said I love you so much baby! Too Cute!

Baby Bean...

So here is the newest picture of our baby bean. I am 12 weeks pregnant now. I can't wait to find out if it is a baby Mario or baby Peach (Grayson's way of saying boy or girl). We will know on the 12th of November we hope.

Our Anniversary...

Wow I can't believe it has been another year. I am so lucky to be married to such a great guy. We are such a great team. We have been through so much together and always stay strong. Bob has this way of adapting to every situation and making me realize how little stressing about things helps. He is the kind of guy that just makes the best out of everything. He helps keep me strong!

Bob, I love you so much and thank you for being the best partner, husband, and friend.

Autism Carnival!

We had so much fun at the Autism Carnival Sahara Cares put together. There were bounce houses, rock walls, games and Grayson's favorite shaved ice. He had such a blast and had a huge smile on his face the whole time. I am so grateful for company's and people like this that do so much for Grayson and other kids with Autism. It is always nice to have the chance to meet and be around people that understand. The Autism community always amazes me. Everyone is connceted and so supportive. I sometimes wish I had a "typical" child. But, days like today remind me how lucky I am to know all of the people I have meet because of Autism.

Baby Bean...

Still tiny and unrecognizable but, Very much there. We got to see the little beans heartbeat today! I am so happy to have the chance to be a mommy once again. I can't wait!!!

A Bun in the Oven...

Well after a year of fertility treatments and trying to get pregnant it finally happened. We found out this week that I am pregnant...YIPPY!!!! The funny part is this was the month we decided to give up and stop trying. I know everyone told us to let whatever is meant to be happen. That is a lot easier said then done. I am so happy and can't wait to add a new member to our family. At the same time I am terrified. I hope this time around everything goes according to plan. I hope I can stay pregnant all the way to the end. No more Preemies please. I also hope that we can have a happy healthy baby (Autism free). I will be happy with whatever we are meant to have. But, Lets hope for the best. I am due around April 14, 2010 and that seems so far away. The last time I was pregnant I didn't even find out until I was already 22 weeks along and Grayson was born at 32 weeks so it was a short 10 weeks of waiting. At least this time we have time to plan and prepare. We asked Grayson if the baby is going to be a girl or boy and he said "a baby Girl" (let's hope)!

My Daddy...

My Dad is so amazing. He just got his foot operated on today. I guess you can chalk another surgery up on the million dollar man. He is so strong and has been through so much. He somehow goes through life without complaining. Not only does he not complain he somehow can just go through life making everyone he comes across smile. He can make friends and meet people everywhere we go. He has this way about him. He is one of my biggest hero's. So as of now I am going to list the things he has gone through and I am sure I will miss a ton.

2 titanium hips

1 titanium knee

brain injury

legally blind

shoulder replacement

fussed spine

broken back

fused ankle

elbow surgery

heart problems (angina)

diabetes ect.... oh wait I forgot 11 kids and 20 grand kids.

wow...he is so funny. He can always make me smile and see the bright side of life. He lost my Mom 5 years ago and I think that was the hardest thing he ever had to go through. He still had my 15 yr old little sister home. He got the chance to walk her down the isle march of this year. We are so blessed to have him and I hope we can keep him around for a really long time.

First Day of 1st Grade.

Grayson had such a good day today. He loves school so much and was so happy he was going. He has been talking about school the whole time he has been off. He was so happy to see Sarah and his other teachers today. I am so glad he loves school so much. I am glad we have a school like Pingree to help us navigate through Autism. I am going to miss having him at home to play with.

After a long day at school, he was all smiles!

He was so cute in his new clothes. He loves his new shoes.

Just getting ready!!

The Dentist Adventure!

So when you have a child with Autism little things like brushing teeth and going to a dentist seem like impossible things to accomplish. Grayson wont even let the dentist look at his teeth without being put under. I wish we could just go and have him hop in the chair, let them get xrays, and get his teeth cleaned. Instead we have to first go try to get him to open up his mouth and after repeatedly trying that we have to schedule a surgery time and have him put out and they do everything at once. The worst part is we do all this because we think his teeth are bugging him (he doesn't tell us, he just holds his mouth sometimes) and then find out no cavities just getting his 6 year old molars and a loose tooth on the bottom front. He was so brave and made sure to charm everyone that worked on him. He even made sure to give a nurse hugs and a kiss and told everyone thanks for helping me. I love him so much and wish I didn't have to put him through things like this. I guess it's just a part of the autism life.

It's a Mario time...

I love listening and watching Grayson play Mario. He thinks he needs to put himself right in the game. He repeats everything Mario says and acts out most stuff. It is always good for a laugh. He is so fun to be around. I may sometimes hate his video games but, they really make him happy. He can some how master any system he can get his hands on, WII, Xbox 360, N64, DS, ect. He is so smart. He can make grown men feel bad about their gaming skills. I really love you Mario aka; Grayson.

Swimming !! (we should have been born a fish)

Grayson has always been such a water boy. He would spend all day everyday in the water if he could. He has taking swimming lessons and mastered most of the swimming essentials this year. He asks everyday if we can go swimming and if not that he wants to jump in the water (tramp with the sprinkler under it). I love to watch him swim and see how happy it makes him when he is in his favorite places. It is so fun to see him use the things he has learned in swimming lessons. He is always happy until it comes to the dreaded getting out. He never understands all good thing come to a end. This year we didn't get to put our pool up at our house, so we have spent most the summer at Grandpa Bateman's, Viri's Parents, and Dimple Dell. I am so glad I have my Dad and my friends to help me keep him happy. I have such great people around me to help me through this thing we call autism.

Vacation to California

Grayson and I at the beach!

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I Just got the chance to see how far Grayson has come in just 2 short years. We just spent the week in California with my sister Julie and her family and my Daddy. He was such a good boy. He made it through a 15 hour car ride, 3 different places to stay, brand new people, and so many new things. I know these are all things that don't really sound like big feats but, it was such a different experience just 2 short years ago. We went on vacation with my Dad, and Grayson spent almost a week melting down. The only relief we had was when I took him to the shore and let him throw rock after rock in the water. My Dad counted one day and he made over 4ooo trips to the same place going in the same path clearing the beach of every rock he could pick up. I had a member of my own family tell me if he were their kid they would have given him up for adoption (not even in a kidding way), I didn't at that point even feel like it was different from my every day. Back then that was my life. This week was so great to see him be able to enjoy some things and see his face. It wasn't by any means a perfect trip we still had our aggression issues and didn't like the idea of having to move from one activity to another and Pier 39 was an awful experience but over all so much fun. We got to go to the ocean and keep in mind Grayson has believed every body of water right down to the bathtub was the ocean. He was so amazed and had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. He yelled out as soon as we got there "WOW!, look its giant big ocean water!!!". He jumped in so fast and loved that the water came to get him. He kept saying "watch out Mommy, It's gonna get us, we gotta hurry!!!" and ran into the waves full blast. When we went to the San Francisco Bridge he was so amazed by the size and kept telling me he saw a giant bridge. He also loved the tunnels we had to go through to get there. My favorite part of the whole trip was the fact that he wasn't Mario he was Ben 10 and he kept telling me Mario was at home with Daddy. The first thing he said when he woke up at home this morning and jumped in the shower with Daddy was look I'm Mario we found him. He is such a little man and never stops surprising me. I am so glad we went and really wish my Hubby didn't have school so he could have come. But, I have never been so happy to be home. I love my family and am so thankful I had the chance to spend so much time with them this week. I got to talk to my sister Julie the whole way to California and I don't get to do that nearly enough. The ride home my Daddy talked to me and told me so many great stories about his childhood, good times with my late mother, things about me I didn't remember, and the 20 question game (he always won, because he is to smart for me). I had so much fun and grateful we had the chance to go. Thanks Daddy and Julie!!!

The back yard of the time share.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND:

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this…

When you’re going to have a baby—or adopt one, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David. The Gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The flight attendant comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”

“Holland?!?” You say. “What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I am supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever, go away…because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.

This essay was written by Emily Perl Kingsley. She is a writer for Sesame Street and is the mother of a child with down syndrome.

I love Grayson so much. I would go to the ends of earth for him. He is my hero and the reason I wake up everyday. I love celebrating all his little accomplishments, and watching him when he gets so proud of himself. I love watching him teach people that you can expect the unexpected. He seems to make it his life goal to prove people wrong. Grayson I love you and even on the tough days I wouldn't trade you for anything.

At Day at Kennicott.

We had the best time at Kennicott. Mel (Robert's Dad) works there and it was the employee family day. We got to see the trucks up close and even get in one. Grayson was so amazed and insisted it was decepticons everywhere. We started down in the pit with the trucks and then had lunch and then took a bus up to the visitor center. They gave us bags full of little gifts and served Popsicles at the end. It was fun to see everything and watch Grayson, our nephews, and niece see everything. It was a really fun day with the family. We have the best life and are so lucky to have everyone around us. Thanks Grandpa for such a fun day.

Bee's Baseball (Grayson pitched the first pitch!)

Grayson did it and he was such a rock star! We are so proud of him and how far he has come. This game was to raise money for the school that has changed our lives. I look back to 2 and a half years ago before we started Pingree and remember how scared and lost we were. When Grayson got diagnosed with autism we were told he may not ever talk, we had meltdowns over and over, Grayson was so aggressive and tried to hurt himself and everyone around him. As a mother you feel so lost and alone. I didn't know how to reach out to my little boy. We started Pingree and they not only helped him but, they helped us. Grayson never stops talking and is always able to come up with new ways to make me laugh. He is potty trained and loves to cuddle. He is a video game addict and better then your average adult at them. He loves meeting people and asking them "what's your name? My name is Mario!" with a little spin and then a jump just like on the game. We got the chance to see him show us how far he has come at the Bee's game. He was so excited to be right on the Field and when our family cheered for him he was so happy. He got to the plate and threw the ball. It missed the catcher but, didn't stop him from jumping up and down yelling "yippy we did it, lets do it again!" When we got to the part when we meet the Bee he was so happy. He ran up and gave him a huge huge and asked him to sign his ball. Grayson we are so proud of you and love you so much! I can't wait to see how far you come in the next 2 years. Thank you to everyone that has helped us reach Grayson and helped him come out of his world into our.

Real with Grandpa & Grandma Christensen

We got to go to the Kennacott night at real thanks to Grandpa. It was so much fun Grayson won a ball and was so excited "yippy I the winner..waahoo!" All the food was free so we got the chance to try things we would normally never spend the money on. Grayson picked a cookie the size of his head, he loved it! We had such a blast as a family. Thanks Grandpa!

The Zoo...Grayson's Happy Place

The Zoo is pretty much a weekly event for us. Grayson is so happy there he always has a smile on his face. We have to go in the same order and see all the animals of course. If we can get out of there without buying a toy (anything with wings) it is a really good day. His favorite thing to do is walk around and see the animals and then go to the bird show(one of his favorite) then hit the carousel. After all that we need to go on a train ride, see the bats, and then at the end it's recess(the playground) The last trip took just 5 hours. He is always happy there so it is well worth it. I can't wait until next week!