Here's a link to a very interesting article about Autism's "language". Autism spectrum disorders range from someone with severe disability and cognitive impairment like the woman in this article, to the socially awkward & eccentric with Asperger's Syndrome, like Jaden.

Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know

Willow's 1st Birthday!

Saturday, our family headed to Yadkin Valley, North Carolina to help celebrate my best friend's daughter's 1st birthday. I've mentioned Willow & Misty here before. Misty is not just my best friend, she's my sister! And to be able to travel down to their home and be a part of this wonderful milestone in their lives, means to world to us! Curtis & Shane are also really good friends and it's nice for them to be able to hang out some too. Of course, the kids absolutely LOVE it there! The Matthews family live in a beautiful, loving & warm home - they have a dog & a horse and live next door to a very sweet lady who owns goats, sheep, ducks & chickens - what more could a kids ask for?!

Saturday, we just visited and got settled in. Misty & I took all 4 kids next door to check out the farm and to take a walk through their big field (we do that every visit), while the men got in some target practice with Shane's guns. The kids couldn't wait to play with Willow - we brought a trash bag full of toys for her - all our Little People & Weeble Wobble towns that of course my kids have outgrown. The last time we saw our friends, Willow wasn't even crawling yet. Now, she's almost walking! (She could walk if she'd just let go and try - she's still in that 'oh no, you let go of my hands so I'm just going to sit down' phase.) The men grilled burgers and dogs for dinner and we had a great time just hanging out.

After putting all the lil ones to bed, Misty & I started on Willow's birthday cake for her party the next day. Willow loves babies - she squeals every time she sees a baby in her books. For her cake, we made a 2-tiered funfetti cake with a baby sculpture on top (that we were not planning on eating the baby - kinda morbid for a 1yr old's party, eh?) . Misty has done some cake decorating of her own, so she knows the basics and has an interest in it already. She decorated the 2 tiers and the smash cake entirely on her own. She also molded the baby's legs and one arm out of rice krispies. She made the paci and helped with the construction of the baby. It was fun doing this together - we opened up some wine and stayed up until 1:30am. I really miss spending time together! We went from working together every day and spending our entire commute to/from work on the phone together....to living 4 hrs apart and both being so busy with kids/jobs/lives that we don't get to talk every day like we'd like. I love her to death and hope that one day we get to slow down and enjoy each other more, maybe even live closer.

Misty did a spectacular job on Willow's party! She made spaghetti & meatballs for everyone and had the place decorated so cute! Willow was a lil princess and was totally spoiled with gifts! Misty's mother-in-law had all the kids put their hand prints on a poster for Willow & she had made a tiny pinata for the party. It was all so fun!

We got home late last night and are already excited for our next visit. Actually, the Matthews' will probably be coming up our way next time - wait until Willow sees all the fun stuff we have for her to get into at our house! ;0)

She's 4 today!

our baby, our little girl, our youngest babe, is four today!

this is so hard for me - even harder than i expected....each of my children's birthdays bring up a mix of emotions....joy for the celebration of their big day, and joy for the constant growing/learning/becoming.....but also sadness that my babies are really no longer babies.....each birthday, i continue to be amazed at how quickly the last year flew by.....i try more and more to commit these fun & quickly fleeting years to memory.....wondering if it will ever get easy to watch my children grow & become less dependent on me.....i hope not

but it's especially hard this year with Corinn.....she's my last.....but the most independent of them all! being the youngest, she's done everything way earlier than the rest.....she was walking at 11 months.....going potty & never looking back 2 months after her 2nd birthday.....and now writing letters & recognizing letter sounds.....attempting to form words! insanity!

but i celebrate this day! i am thankful for our family and the love that we share.....it's so fun waking the kids up on their special day, singing happy birthday as a family as loud as we possibly can.....and to watch the excitement when they're making each other birthday cards......birthdays are special in our house! :0) here's Corinn's wake up this morning

here's a pic of the cupcakes i made for Corinn to take to daycare today.....it's going to be especially fun, because school is closed today in preparation for the nasty weather (that was supposed to start at 7pm last evening and still hasn't really amounted to anything).....so Gabrielle will be at the daycare all day too! i can't take credit for the design of these.....the basic idea came from the nick jr. website.....i just made them 'my way' ;0)

Corinn's birthday party is scheduled for next weekend (and u know i'll post pics), because we're traveling to NC this weekend.....she's so excited about her Dora cake! mama's not as excited since she's already made about a thousand Dora cakes, but hey.....it's my baby girl's birthday - if she wants a Dora cake, she's getting a Dora cake! :0)

Autism Bites T-shirts

these are too cool....designed by a family with 6, yes I said SIX autistic kids....bless their hearts! here's a link to their blog

i think i'll probably get these 2 for jaden...
.....and here's a link to where u can get the shirts....a portion of the profits goes to the AutismBites Foundation to help parents of autism......i already use & love cafepress.com.....it's where i got my too cool T-shirts & messenger bag...

transmission failed...

unfortunately, i'm not referring to a fax or email or that type of transmission.....i'm talking about the transmission on my mini-van.....grrrrr

saturday morning, after delivering 1 of 2 cake orders for the day, i stopped by starbucks for my morning coffee (that's so not a usual thing for me - i just hadn't had my morning coffee yet and had some time to kill).....in attempting to pull out of their parking lot, i found out that my van wouldn't go into reverse......thankfully, my parents were nearby and with jaden's help, my dad pushed me out of the parking spot.....i was still able to drive it home, and even deliver the 2nd cake order (i was only 10 minutes late getting it there).....but then pulled it into our driveway to sit until we can get it to the shop

we hope to get the transmission replaced by the end of next week, but as i'm sure you know, this is a pretty costly repair! we've had plans to travel to NC this weekend for my BFF's daughter's 1st birthday (of course, i'm helping out with the cake) for quite some time, and this unexpected expense couldn't have come at a more inconvenient time! i thank God for my aunt Tracy and her extra car that we are borrowing in the meantime - it'll be a cramped trip with the 5 of us in her light blue Buick, but at least we're still able to go.....this too shall pass! :0)

gorgeous February weather!

I took off work last Friday & our company was closed on Monday for President's Day, so I had a long weekend. My girls' daycare was closed those days as well, so I had some company. Jaden & Gabby were of course in school, but Corinn & I had a great time hanging out. This Friday, Corinn will be 4 and mama is having a hard time coming to terms with her youngest growing up. So that made our one-on-one time even sweeter!

We cooked (Corinn's absolute favorite thing to do!), played games, enjoyed the warm weather by playing & having a picnic lunch outside, dug for worms for our aquatic turtle, and picked up Jaden & Gabby from school (Corinn also LOVES going inside the school).

Here's Corinn dancing in the wind - enjoying the gorgeous February weather we had over the long weekend (and as I type this, it's currently snowing up a storm outside - make up your mind already!). She loves her ballet class and cannot wait to take other dance classes in addition to ballet next season - she's a natural! ;0)

Autism Show on Larry King Live

I read on a friend's blog that there is going to be a show about autism on Larry King Live this Thursday evening. This is what Larry King's website is saying about the upcoming 'Autism Show':

"The heartbreak ...and hope of autism. Jason "J-Mac" McElwain inspired the worldwith his incredible shot-making at a high school basketball game. Larry talks tothe teen and others about the disorder. Holly Robinson Peete, Doug Flutie andToni Braxton join the discussion to bust myths and present breakthroughs. It'san uplifting hour with those who know!"

Unfortunately, I don't have cable. I'm hoping my mother or sister can tape this for me (hint, hint). If you go to the website for Larry King's show there is a link to send an e-mail for Thursday's show if you have any questions for the guests.

Do you think there's any chance of them putting some other points of view on the show besides the typical celebrity "autism is a tragedy" or "this is how we're coping" type shows we have seen in the past? I sure hope so!

They can write out their own Valentine's!

this is the first year that all 3 of my children can write out their own Valentine's!

of course, Corinn is only copying the letters from her list, but she can recognize each name and knows who that Valentine is addressed to - and writing her own name is a skill she mastered months and months ago

of course, they only have like 3 million Valentine's to fill out, each! you know? with their regular class, daycare classes, Jaden's resource class, etc....so if we keep up the pace and write up about 5 or so a night (Jaden's getting about 10 busted out) before they tire and start complaining that they're 'messing up'.....we should be finished by the time Valentine's Day gets here! ~lol~

oh, and of course when filling out Valentine's....you either have to wear your PJ's or some dress up ballet/princess clothes! ;0)

Parent/Teacher Conferences

I had my parent/teacher conferences yesterday with Jaden & Gabrielle's teachers and everything went great!

Jaden has been struggling a little more lately, now that the curriculum is getting increasingly more difficult. But he's holding his own and is still making great progress. He's reading at the appropriate level and has always excelled in math! He's made the most progress with his social skills. Last year (and the year before), he would only really join in and play with the other kids on the playground or during free time if invited, or if the other kids went out of their way to include him (classic Asperger's). But this year, he's seeking out others and initiating play! Jaden has always been super friendly and will greet everyone....but when it comes to play time, he likes to go off on his own, into his own world. So the fact that he's wanting to have that interaction with the other kids is huge! He's having a hard time being flexible with his routine again. Routine is big with kids in general, but especially for kids with AS. They have a certain expectation of how things should go, and if there's a conflict or change of plan, that can really throw them off track. Sometimes for just a few minutes, sometimes for the entire morning/afternoon. Jaden had gotten really good about being flexible and being able to deal with change in routine. But this year, he's struggling again and getting upset if he's missed something or not finished when the rest of the class is ready to move on. It's not like the teacher can make everyone back up and wait for Jaden or make sure Jaden has heard/read what they have (like I can do at home sometimes). His teacher and I think this is probably due to the fact that 1st grade is so much more challenging and Jaden is really maturing as a student. He's finding his nitch in the classroom and is becoming more independent - and with that comes struggle. We've got some ideas on how to work on this. But overall, he's doing well and I thank God that he's able to stay in the regular classroom. I attribute most of his success in school to his wonderful teachers & their patience/love for Jaden, but also to the fact that he's in a regular classroom 90% of his day and is able to learn by watching/interacting with his peers.

Gabrielle's conference was absolutely delightful! According to her pre-K teacher, Gabby is actually past the level of where a kindergartener should be at this point in the year! That's my girl! The other kids in her class are starting to associate letters with the letter sounds right about now - Gabby is actually putting letters together to form words! Every Monday, they write in their journal about their weekend. They draw a picture and are asked to try and write a sentence at the bottom, describing the picture. Most of the kids in her class write the first letter of each word in their sentence, which is great. But Gabrielle would actually write words that I could decipher and tell you what the sentence is supposed to say. Some examples - she wrote BRBE for Barbie and BCH for beach. Also, they haven't even started working on number recognition yet, but of course Gabrielle can recognize all of her numbers and can count clear to 100! They only need to count to 20 by the end of the year! ~lol~ Another comment I keep hearing from her teacher is how helpful she is. Once she's finished with her assignment, she always offers to help out others. And Gabrielle is super creative - her teacher says that she's always looking outside the box. They were studying shadows & using the projector to make shadow puppets. All the kids got to come up and make a different shadow for the class to guess. Gabby gets up there and actually brings props - she got a tissue box & some other things off her teacher's desk - she was trying to set the scene (the ground, trees, etc.)! I wonder where she gets that from?

I can't believe how blessed I am!!!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Curtis & I had a great time on our date last night - celebrating his 37th birthday! He didn't care about missing the Super Bowl, he said he'd have more fun with me! But then again, the Redskins weren't playing...

Curtis doesn't like cake, so the kids made brownies (his fav!) for daddy when they were at Nana's (while mommy & daddy were on their date). They were sooooo excited to give them to him and to have him open his present!

I love how the kids really get into special events and holidays now that they're getting older. It makes everything that much more fun!

Happy Bday Baby!

Chromosome Abnormality Linked to Autism

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine links an abnormality in Chromosome 16 to Autism. While the study found this evidence in a very small number of subjects, researchers claim this finding is evidence that our genes are one of the causes of Autism and could lead to the discovery of other genetic links as well. The specific defect is a deletion or duplication of a section of Chromosome 16. And not necessarily directly inherited from either parent - instead developed spontaneously sometime after conception. Possibly due to interplay of various genetic factors inherited from the parents, although having family history of Autism puts fetuses at higher risk of developing the defect. Doctors believe that approximately 90% of all cases of Autism are inherited. Researches claim a pre-natal test for the deletion is years away.

Read the full article in Business Week online....the article contains a link to the actual study in the New England Journal of Medicine, if you want to check that out.

Even though we don't know of anyone with Austism in our family history, this study confirms my long-held belief that Jaden is a product of our family's DNA. Of course I admit, I've had that thought - "Could I have done something differently? Was there something I did/ate/didn't do when I was pregnant with Jaden that caused this?"....but I've always known in my heart that God created Jaden just the way he is. He's a true blessing, and I wouldn't change anything about him!!!

Do I think potentially autistic babies will be aborted? Probably not. If, as the study states, 90% of Autism is genetically linked, then those who face raising children with the abnormality are likely already dealing with it in themselves or other family members. Education is key - the earlier the diagnosis, the earlier the families can become educated about kids on the Autism spectrum & their needs - the better off our children's lives will be!

Autism is a quirk, not a death sentence. Let's keep it in perspective.

Winter fun...

Before all the snow, we got to have some fun at Nana & Grandpa's house, building a fire, roasting marshmallows, drinking hot chocolate, riding 4-wheelers, etc....we all love this kind of stuff! :0)

Then, the kids' prayers were answered and the snow storm came! ~lol~ That day (last Thursday), I came into work for just a few hours and then regreted it - thank God my brother works part-time for VDOT and was able to come and scrape the big hill near my girls' daycare.....otherwise, I would have never gotten home! Once we did make it home safely, we immediately got all geared up and went out to play. The snow was still coming down hot and heavy....that made the experience all the more fun! Daddy finally insisted everyone come in after about 2 hrs of play.....dry clothes + warm soup & grilled cheese = a really hard nap for all! ;0)

How Jaden dealt with a bully...

actually, I wouldn't really classify this kid as a 'bully'.....but he's a kid at Jaden's after-school daycare that likes to call other kids names & pick.....he's no real threat - and Jaden isn't feeling bullied by him for real.....he's good at ignoring stuff like that.....plus, the really hilarious part is that this kid is calling Jaden 4-eyes....Jaden doesn't even wear glasses! go figure!

I thought it was so cool when he came home with this book he made.....he makes 'books' at home & at daycare a lot.....he'll illustrate and ask you to write in the words for him....I usually make him try writing the words on his own - because I know he can.....but I guess it's easier for daycare to just do it for him.....regardless, I LOVE this story!

the most thoughtful gift!

You've probably heard me mention Cindy in my cake posts. She's a good friend that I work with at my "real" job, who also decorates cakes on the side. I usually talk her in to coming with me to help set up my wedding cakes and when I'm crazy booked with orders, she acts as my "sub-contractor" and will bake for me.

Well, here's the Christmas present that Cindy gave me this year. I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the box! It's 8 packs of circle cake boards, varied in size - and she covered ALL of them in foil for me!!! I know most of you can't comprehend how much of a money and HUGE time saver this is for me....but that's 85 cake boards right there!!! And all I have to do is grab one and throw a cake on it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Cindy for the most thoughtful gift ever!!!
♥Sharon

New Year's re-cap

I know I've been really slow about my blog posting lately - but of course, things have been pretty hectic following the holidays. I'm sure most of you are feeling some of the same stress.

Anyway, my step-sons came down the weekend after Christmas and we had a really nice (but short) visit. After opening their presents on Saturday, they went with their dad to his 2nd bouncing job for one of the local rock shows/tours. This one wasn't as wild as Curtis' first experience. But it was definitely a first time experience for the boys. Curtis Jr. did some crowd surfing and got in the mosh pit. He said it was crazy, but he loved it! Corey didn't go all in, but he still had a good time. They both are super excited about coming down next weekend for another (not as tame) show, and they're even talking about bringing friends! I guess coming to the country for a hard core, rock show is fun for a city kid. *Don't worry - youngins are allowed in, they just get their hand stamped and aren't allowed to drink. And of course Curtis is there and the other bouncers know the boys are Curtis' boys - so there's plenty of people looking out for them. :0)

Sunday, we hit the skate park so that the boys could really try out their new gifts. The other 3 kids took their scooters and Jaden took his lil skateboard too. I was impressed with how good the boys are, especially Crutis Jr. with his jumps
& tricks. Jaden & Gabby were surprising me too with riding down the ramps. Curtis Jr. commented that Jaden would be off the hook on his board if the boys lived down here and could spend time teaching him!

After the skate park, we went to the movies. We all went to see Alvin & the chipmunks (except Curtis Jr. really wanted to see American Treasure, so he went to that one alone). It was a cute movie & the younger 3 kids really enjoyed spending quality time with their big brothers.

Curtis had to take the boys back Sunday night because Curtis Jr. had to work on Monday. Yep, I have step-sons that are working, about to drive, etc.....it's so weird!

We had time off on Monday and Tuesday and it was really nice having some down time - no work, no cakes, no school, just chill time! :0) We spent a lot of time being crafty, cooking, playing games (inside & out) and just enjoying each other's company!

I kept my nephew, Matthew on Monday and we had a great time with him. He's at that fun age - exploring everything, now mimicking everything the big kids do, playing games, etc. Mark & Mindy came over for New Year's eve (I think this is the 3rd year we've celebrated New Year's with them). Corinn stayed the night with my parents (it was her turn for quality time with them), so Jaden, Gabrielle & Halle (Mindy's daughter) got to stay up and bring in the new year with the grown ups. My kids are sooo not used to being up that late and it was hilarious to see how silly and giggly they were at midnight.

All in all, our holidays were great! I'm sooo happy to be celebrating another year with my hubby & kids! We're so blessed and I thank God for all the wonderful people in our lives!

Christmas re-cap

We had a wonderful Christmas, and we hope that you all did as well!

The Sunday before Christmas was our big kick-off. It was the first year that all my family gathered at my parents on a day other than Christmas day. With everyone getting married, having kids & our families growing - there began to be scheduling conflicts....so the Sunday before Christmas ended up being the most convenient time for everyone.

My parents always spoil their grand babies - this year, they got the big kids (Jaden, Gabrielle & Deandra) those talking parrots....now there's 2 in my house - lovely! And they got some power wheel 4-wheelers for the little ones (Corinn, Bryan & Matthew). Since they bought the 2 real mini 4-wheelers a year ago, the little ones have been feeling left out....these power wheels look just like the real thing to them, and they're just the right size!

Then on Christmas eve, we always visit my grandparents & my aunt Tracy & her fam. At grandma's, we get our grub on and all the cousins have a great time just getting together and playing. We do a small gift exchange, but this get together is more about the family time. Aunt Tracy totally spoiled us this year too though! She had dolls custom made for the girls....I gave her some of their baby/toddler pictures and she had someone make the dolls in their likeness. Corinn's looks so much like her, it's scary! She hooked Jaden up with some dragon & lizard stuff (you can't go wrong with that), and she made Curtis' day - he got some new Timbs. I got a D&B wallet to go along with the D&B bag she got me last year - can you say best aunt ever?!

Christmas day was pretty chill - which was nice. Since we had already hit all the family get together's, we just got up and opened presents, had breakfast and then just hung out the rest of the day and played. Nana & Grandpa came by to check out the kids new toys and to play for a little while too, and then we went back to aunt Tracy's for a mexican dinner (cause come on, aren't you tired of ham & turkey by the time Christmas day rolls around?!). It was really nice not having to rush around and visit everyone - quality time.

We're picking up Curtis Jr. & Corey tomorrow morning and they'll get to open their presents from us and my parents this weekend. I'll post those pics next week.

On a sadder note, Curtis' grandfather passed away on Christmas day. He had been ill for some time and I was actually surprised at how frail he looked on Thanksgiving. He had a heart attack on Christmas eve and Curtis' dad called with the sad news Christmas morning. We'll sure miss him and I'm sad that we didn't get to see him for one last Christmas. Especially since he had requested a traditional fruit cake from me this year. I had never made a fruitcake before, but I was determined to get it just right for Eddie. I was planning on delivering it along with all of Curtis' family's gifts this weekend. Instead, we're driving up to northern VA, picking up the boys and heading to Eddie's funeral. RIP Eddie - I still made your fruitcake....and one day, we'll sit down and try some together in heaven. ;0)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This weekend, our family was really in the holiday spirit. On top of the beautiful ice storm that we got, a lot of our family activities were Christmas related.

Friday night, after we all had our PJ's on.....we realized we hadn't put up our outside lights yet. So we put on our coats and shoes and got to work. Mommy & daddy did most of the work - but everyone enjoyed just hanging out on the front porch together.

Saturday was the ice storm. It seemed like we waited all day for it to begin - but boy, once it did....what a pretty storm! Before it got to us, we enjoyed a little bit of outside time, wrote our letters to Santa, and just did some fun crafts and played games inside where it was warm.

Church was cancelled on Sunday, but we still had plans to join 2 families for their annual Christmas story reading and dinner. I work with Sue, who reads the story every year....she invited us to join her & the Lohr family who owns the farm. We had a yummy dinner together and then headed out to the barn to hear the Christmas story. It was cold & stinky, much like it probably was the night Jesus was born. After the story, Mr. Lohr let the kids bottle feed the calves and we got to check out their new batch of chicks in the chicken house. Then we went inside to warm up and make gingerbread houses....well, graham cracker gingerbread houses. The kids LOVED the entire evening and we can't wait for next year!

At a girl!

As a baby, we'd just throw Corinn on Santa's lap and snap the picture - with her screaming and all. Here's just 2 years ago (2005). *ps. That's my uncle that she knows and loves in the Santa suit too!

When we saw Santa last year, she agreed to stand in front of him for the picture - but she was keeping her eye on him over her shoulder at the same time. (2006)

But for months this year, Corinn has been telling us "I'm not scared of Santa any more. Or the Easter Bunny either.". She's always been afraid of anyone in costume - clowns, characters at theme parks, etc. Gabby was as a baby too - but by about 2 or 3, she got over her fear.

So, we kept reminding her about how brave she was going to be when she saw Santa and we'd talk about what she'd tell him she wants for Christmas, etc. Never the less, she clung to me as tightly as she could when Santa came in ringing his bells. She had totally forgotten how brave she was going to be and was shaking in fear again!

So at first she agreed to stand beside him for the picture - and even kept smiling when he put his arm around her (I totally expected her to freak when he did that for the pic)!

I was cool with that. I got my pic. :0) And she even whispered what she wanted for Christmas to him - of course while standing about a foot from him.

But after we had sat down and had snack, and the line of kids that was waiting for their turn with Santa had died down....Corinn decided she wanted to go back and try again. Check this out!

I even got a better pic! :0)

A night out with my sis...

For my sister's bday, she was given tickets to see The Machine (a Pink Floyd tribute band with a laser light show) last Thursday at JMU. She invited me to go along. :0) It was cool, but after about an hour of Pink Floyd, we headed to The Pub for a comedy show which was super funny! I had a lot of fun and it was nice getting out of the house and away from the kids.....Kelly & I hadn't hung out like that in quite a while. Thanks girl!

Decorating the tree...

Wednesday night, the kids decorated the tree. I had already put on the lights and they did the rest! They were so proud of how it looked! And they did really well at taking turns and helping each other out. They're getting so big! Every year, I always end up having to move the ornaments around (mostly up higher) after they're done decorating and in bed. But this year, I don't have too much of that to do.