steps... baby baby steps

Happy Veteran's Day!  they don't look anything alike, do they?  Semper Fi. My Father, my brother.  amazing, the sacrifice and service they willingly gave for our country.  

This weeks lunches- grilled chicken, roasted mushrooms, cauliflower and carrots, and a few grapes on top! Seriously delicious and has helped me stay away from the junky quick choices that I had been making.  planning ahead. so tricky for me, but the only way I know I'll follow through! 

working it out! 543 Calories burned at B&G tonight- not the panting, sweaty kind of burn, but the 'my muscles are shaking and i'm totally going to fall over' kind- you know, core, balance... all my favorites ;-) look at that sweet baby girl.  totally destroying her school craft, totally digging lining up her stars.  love that baby bit!

coffee... with peppermint mocha creamer. I guess my taste buds are changing- I'm enjoying the warm and the relatively low calorie sweet indulgence! 

Last weekend, as my children were NOT sleeping, I found a sudoku book at the home we were staying and remembered how much I enjoy these puzzles.  Tonight I picked this little gem up at dollar general... my attention and problem solving skills need some serious work, I'm currently struggling with the very first, 'very easy' puzzle.  oy.  

and off I went, galavanting around ye olde Pintrest for the last few hours. headed to bed-  

xo 

November----- WHAT??

The days and months are flying past and I can't. flipping. believe. it's already November.  The second week of November to be exact.  and, you know, I've got plans for November.  So- back to the blog!

Here are a few of my goals- 1. exercise 2. smart nutrition 3. visual schedules 4. get rid of excess STUFF.

alright, now that we're mostly caught up, I'll be back tomorrow.  Moving forward :-)

Fragile X Awareness Day 2014

Fragile X Syndrome

night time verse to my precious son

Tired boy.  busy days. swimming, splashing, swinging, rocking, laughing. hugs. many many hugs. 

gentle hands-

Touch my face to direct my gaze. 

Pull me down to smell my neck- is it me?  momma.  kisses with your forehead. 

busy feet-

so busy. spinning.  quick quick quick little steps- fast feet.  callus behind your second toe. soft skin, so very very soft. hard world.  callus on your foot.  callus on your hand. 

sweet voice-

no words.  no consonants.  up up up MMMmmmmmMmMMmM

AH!!! AH, AH, AH!!!  in my dreams I hear your voice.  i hear your words.  in my dreams

beautiful eyes-

 look inside.  my heart, you see my heart.  see your happy, see your sad- in your eyes.  look.  please, please look at him.  He sees you. He hears you.  He is here. see his eyes?

don't stop.  won't stop.  keep going. make you happy. make life amazing. make life sweet. 

all my love. all my heart. all my life.

Tuesday, July 22nd is National Fragile X Awareness day.

For more information, please visit www.fragilex.org 

Day 16, 17, 18, 19 of 35

Hello!  We are officially on vacation!! and by 'we' I mean 'they'- this is when a job in the school systems really seems appealing ;-)  

Any way, The kiddos have started vacation and I've gotta tell ya, we are pretty sad to be leaving behind our amazing teachers!!! This school year- while really, really hard in the beginning for our baby girl, was truly the best year Abe has ever had. We had teachers, aides, and therapists that pushed him and loved him- the perfect combination.    Bohdan has great years every year- the amount of knowledge he gained in 1st grade blew me away.  We are thankful that his teachers push him to learn and demonstrate his knowledge in such creative ways.   Aurelia ended on a really good note- it  took 100 days of school for her to make it into her classroom without a complete meltdown, therefore, we're calling the rest of this year a success!  

Here are a few of the bracelets we made for our teacher friends- the kids picked out the colors for each one! Aurelia loved the neon beads :-)

Here's one pile of the sugar scrub we made! Seriously delicious smelling ( we used Young Living Lemon Essential Oil ) sugar, and olive oil- 

The kids all helped stir and scent the sugar! 

We included a summer cd full of all of our favorite dance tunes from the last 6 months or so, as well as a few gift cards to necessary places like Orange Leaf etc :-) 

We were able to thank 24 different individuals this year- it seriously does take a village to raise a child, especially a child with special needs!  

I've been sweating!!

p90x class

stair climber and chest/triceps

 running and back/biceps!  

Leaving you with a little Pinterest love- 

source for all pins. 

see you soon!

xo 

Day 14 & 15, and a BLOG tour!

What a busy week!  Clearly, I'm not hitting the nail on the head with a blog post every day... and I'm ok with that.  At this point in the year, to get to the end of each day with my wits still (mostly) about me, takes a boatload of work.  This challenge inspires me to MOVE every day, to think about what I did and find the positive, the sweet, in the midst of the crazy.  

my baby love has been up all hours of the night, and trying her best to catch up during the day.  Someone is always willing to snuggle up with her! 

Summer time is feeling hard right now.  Summer is for friends, for playing and laughing and enjoying each other.  We're going to make it amazing.... we will.   I'm grieving the loss of childhood playmates for my 2 special loves.  Bo, we call him the mayor.  He knows everyone and plays with everyone- sometimes multiple friends in multiple spots each evening!  and I LOVE this for him... it's not so much the case for

my other two. 

playing with friends in the back yard

do you see my little one?  

We have strong support. crazy strong support.  Amazing family.  Peers that take an interest in our kiddos... but its not the same. and I have to move past this hole that I can so easily trip and fall into, this hole of guilt and grief, and figure out a way to have playdates that are truly fun for my babies.  

Abe and Aur are involved in every gathering here, children or adult, and Bo and his buddies do include them- or mom and dad weave them in to the storyline of whatever adventure is taking place... still not the same. 

So.  this leads me nicely to  the book that my sweet friend, Cindi Rogers, has written.  

Click HERE to go to Amazon!  

I first met Cindi in real life at Advocacy day 2012

And we've been birches ever since <3  

together in Miami

We visited them in their 'Rocket' and shared some delicious cupcakes- here's Jake, Bo, and Aurelia getting ready to eat! 

Abe loved Joe!!

and Abe loved Jake :-)  

One of the most important lessons I've learned from Cindi is to get my 'Poop in a group', her kind way of saying that, as parents, we need to 'Get our Sh*t together!!'  This is the only life our babies have ever known... they don't know their life is different, and they certainly don't know it's 'hard', it's up to us to figure out how to make it the very best it can be! 

I'm so thankful that I have the privilege of knowing and learning from Cindi, and I can't wait to see her again in California at the International Fragile X Conference.  

Thank you, amazing momma, for putting into words this heartache and struggle.  For encouraging us to find and use the resources around us to have a happy, wonderful life. Thank you for reminding us that we have the power to change any situation we find ourselves in- bit by bit, we can make this crazy life sweet.  

xo 

Day 10, 11, 12, 13 of 35

It was a downhill slide.  No sleep for Abe 1 night, no sleep for peanut the next, Bo not feeling well and not sleeping well the night after that = 1 tired momma.  

I had a student start with me, a short placement- just 4 weeks, which is always fun, but a LOT more prep and planning than normal.  I love having students- it's so cool to see the ' I GET it!' look flash in their eyes :-)  I truly do love the work that I do, and feel pretty lucky to work with the next generation of SLPs!  

So.  I've been walking.  this tired business makes me feel like anything else is simply more than I can handle right now- my feet hurt, my legs ache, hands, blah blah blah. And i have no pictures of sweaty tomato red faces <--- you're welcome ;-)  

Abe had a wonderful Miracle League game- BJ was his buddy for the day, so sweet these boys of mine!  

Aurelia had t-ball practice... where she played with rocks and zebras etc :-) 

Bo is mine craft obsessed!!! He's usually running around outside, spraying me with water guns and generally being 7.  The only time he's still enough for a photo is when he has a 10 minute iPad break!  

So, Today I came home and took a nap. I'm hoping to be in bed by 10 for a solid 6-7 hours of sleep!  

Tomorrow, back to exercise!  

Day 9- did I JINX myself??

oy, ug, blah- so I went to bed last night at 12, Abe woke up at 1230... and he didn't go back to sleep until 9pm tonight.  So I'm running on 30 minutes of sleep out of the last 42 hours. not so much a good thing. 

planted flowers, played water, visited friends and family- 45 minutes of serious digging, I'm calling that my exercise for today. 

source

I'm completely fixated on red converse shoreline sneakers.  

yep, instead of going to SLEEP, i'm looking at shoes and watching the women's softball college world series.  what's wrong with me?!?  

oy, but I'm fading fast.  here's to Sunday!

see you then

Day 7 & 8 of 35

Fireman Rescue Patrol Aurelia--- ready to roll! 

sweetest baby girl! so proud of her on this tricycle!! we just have to figure out how to steer :-) 

I had the morning off, so not only did i get to take my big boys to school, I was able to chill with my sweet lovey after pre-school!  

she's so sweet!!

I think i must hold their face in my hands, every single one of my babies kisses me like this.  

summer time for sure!  outside! with hats on :-)

oh man- I'm looking tired, folks! Today I walked 4 miles,  yesterday I went to the replex and rode the stinkin stair climber... rode?  climbed?  struggled on ??? any who, it was tricky and i remember my love/hate relationship with that business!! it's hard!!!!!!

Here's to a busy, busy weekend ahead!  I'm going to try and sleep a little bit more... um, you know, yeah, that's most likely not going to happen, but it's a sweet dream!  

Moving forward to week 2!! I've got some plans, some thoughts, some hopes and dreams for the next 7 days ;-) see you there