One of Caiti's Many Talents

I Love Someone With Autism Video 2011

I love someone with autism 2011 - Video from People CD Inc. on Vimeo.

Jason is Three Today!

Today is Jason's third birthday.  It was hard for Kevin to be gone on his birthday.  He was at Basic Training when Jason was born and was deployed on his first birthday.  But at least his present was there, right?  Kevin got Jason a basketball hoop that is more his size.  Jason loves the one we have for Garrett but he needs help to shoot the basket, so we thought this would be more fun for him.  :)

 As you can tell, the theme of our party was centered around Kevin's gift.  We had basketball candles, plates, cups and banner.  We even had bubbles in a basketball-shaped container for prizes. Yes, I'm so proud of myself.

 We loved that we could easily find Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free brownie mix at the grocery store, so that Garrett could stick to his diet.  It tasted great.  Hooray for a GF mix that was yummy for a change.

 We had very fun party guests: Garrett, Kristen (Garrett & Caiti's ABA tutor), Aunt Michelle and of course Jason and mommy.

 

We had some fun games planned, but little Jason was super exhausted after his first day of school, so after opening some presents and taking a few turns shooting baskets, Jason finally got that nap.  :)

 I say this all the time, but I'm so grateful for our little surprise baby.  He is just what our family needed to be complete.  I love him so much and I'm grateful every day that Heavenly Father sent him to our family.

Jason's First Day of Preschool

Today was Jason's first day of preschool.  It was also his third birthday, but we'll talk about that in another post.  I was very excited for Jason.  We had a nice morning together.  We went to Target and got him a car seat for the bus.  (Although I later found out that the bus isn't scheduled to start picking him up until May 2.  Grrr.)  We also stopped at Party City and got some fun supplies for his birthday.  When we got home I had him put his backpack on so I could get some pics.  He was so excited but then got super mad when I made him go back inside to put on his jacket.  Someone wanted to go!!!

We got to the school kind of early, so I got to take some cute pics of my favorite little buddy while we waited.  I just love my snuggle bug/warm fuzzy.

 We were very excited when we found out Jason's teacher was the same teacher Caiti had for preschool.  She is such a sweetie and very good at what she does.  Jason was too...you just can't tell from this pic.  (He's going to have to get used to going to school when he wants to be having a nap.)

Now let me just pretend I'm fine and I don't want to get in the car and have a good cry.

Who Needs a Gymn?

Garrett and Caiti have been helping Aunt Michelle with her strength training.

Boots

We heard Garrett before we saw him. He found his buddy Jen's boots. :) He looks pretty cool!

Jason's Last Day as a 2 year old

For Jason's last day as a 2 year old, we went with some friends to Birch Aquarium.

We got there a little early, so we were able to enjoy some juice and bagels while we waited.

Jason was very enthralled by all the neat fishies he saw. :)

Jason started to get a little sleepy, so we decided to go home for a nap, but first we stopped at the gift shop for a souvenir. No surprise what Jason wanted.

Goodbye Party for Jason with ACE

Jason has been in a study since he was less than a year old with UCSD entitled Infant Development and Autism.  As part of the study, he has received early intervention services through ACE.  We really have enjoyed meeting all the great tutors and supervisors and have noticed a lot of progress since he started with them.  Unfortunately, they only provide services until he is 3.  So, he no longer gets to see all his buddies. 
Today was their goodbye/birthday party for Jason.  All but two of his tutors came along with his supervisor.  They are some of his favorite friends, and we will all miss them.

They brought baloons and yummy cupcakes which we thoroughly enjoyed.  I even forgave them for getting ones with red frosting since they had awesome Sesame Street rings on top.

  The kids loved playing with their buddies and enjoyed the fun baloons.

Jason's favorite part was fingerpainting.  He concentrated very hard and made his own beautiful masterpiece. 

 Jason's painting will be hanging on the walls at the USCD Autism Center along with all the other cute kids who have gone through their program.  We will miss these guys a lot, and are grateful for the opportunity that was given to our family.

Caiti's New Bedroom

We ended up having to throw out Caiti's old matresses.  Once her bedroom (the master) was empty of a bed, I thought, "Why not finally make the trade and have the master bedroom be Kevin's and my room?"  So, with some help from Nicole, we switched rooms.  No need to share pics of my boring room, but I thought Caiti's turned out pretty cute and was just the right size for her...and all her friends.  :)

I was nervous for Caiti's reaction to a new bed/bedroom, but surprisingly, she was very cute and happy when we put her to bed in her pretty new room.

Spring 2011 - Visit from Nicole, Camden and Noelle

The Froerer clan (minus Jake) was able to make it out for an almost week-long visit.  In my brain I called it a mini-family reunion of the West Side Slacks.  I enjoyed seeing my adorable niece and nephew and spending time with my wonderful friend/sister Nicole.  It was a bummer because Noelle got the crupe really bad on the way here, and they ended up having to take her to the ER or Urgent Care on three or four separate occasions.  The cute thing about Noelle was that she was super sweet and happy anyway.  I loved getting to know my cute little niece a little better.

A lot of their trip here was spent just visiting and playing at my house.  I loved the time together.

Aunt Michelle brought fun bunny ears for the kids, but Nicole and I ended up adopting them.  :)

Camden and I also made up a super cool game where you used a fishing pole (with velcro) to catch fish...or any of the plush Ikea foods.  :)  We thought that was super funny and entertaining.  Even Noelle was enjoying that game by the end of the trip.  I might go play it by myself right now.

Aunt Michelle, the Froerers and my kids and I also attempted a trip to the Mormon Battalion visitor's center.  That was fun until Caiti decided to throw a tantrum the whole time and Garrett thought the ore mining part was a bathtub. 

Needless to say, we left early, but I was happy Nicole got to go on the tour with Michelle.

I was able to spend some alone time with Nicole and Noelle.  We went to La Jolla and saw the Children's Beach where the seals were.  That was very cool.  But of course I forgot my camera.  I had fun with Nicole.  I don't think Noelle had much fun though cause she felt icky.  Poor little girl!
Garrett, Jason and I were able to accompany Nicole, Camden and Noelle on a trip to Balboa park.  I was excited because I had never been there before but always wanted to.  That is a beautiful place to go on a walk.  There are a lot of gorgeous, old buildings, tons of museums and a very fun playground.  Of course, the playground was free, and that was where the kids wanted to be anyway, so we spent the majority of our time there.

Nicole's family and I also went on a different day to Birch Aquarium.  My favorite part of the whole aquarium was watching Noelle point at the different sea life...oh and petting a sea cucumber and sea urchin.  :)

I try not to be sad when they leave, but they are such a fun presence.  I'm grateful they try to make it out here and visit at least once or twice a year.  :)  Can't wait until the next time.