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Apr 30, 2012

Mesh Laundry Bin

As an autism mom, I'm grateful for my mesh laundry bin.  I don't use it for laundry, I use it to put all my kids outside toys in...and it works awesomely and doesn't collect water when it rains.
However, my kids are grateful for the mesh laundry bin because then they can dump all the toys and use it as a tunnel.  See, kids with autism see things differently...they make things funner!

Apr 24, 2012

Fingernail Polish

As an autism mom, I'm grateful for fingernail polish...not cause it makes me feel pretty...although when I actually take the time, it does.
As I have mentioned before, Caiti would rather be in her birthday suit than in uncomfortable clothes.  We follow her around redressing her all day.  However, I think in her own rebellious way, she has decided that if she can't be naked, then at least her toys can.  She even made me cut the glasses off of her Simon chipmunk (from Alvin & the Chipmunks).  So silly.  
Anyway, on a different note, Garrett is learning to tell boys/girls apart during his therapy.  They have done this with pictures, etc.  I love how he would get girls right most of the time but always call me a boy.  A little off topic, I know.  Anyway, his tutor asked if we had any figurines they could use in therapy for telling the difference because he does better with 3D objects than with 2D objects.
Here is where my grattitude for nail polish comes.  I have plenty of Barbies for the girls.  However, they are all naked, thanks to Caiti.  I know they are working on telling girls from boys, but not down to the nitty gritty details under the clothes.  ;)  Anyway, I saw a great idea on pinterest (of course) where you can use nail polish to paint spandex-type clothes on Barbies (see below picture).  It totally worked too.  So we won't be teaching Garrett the gender differences that he doesn't need to know, AND Caiti can't take these clothes off of her Barbies.  Yay!

Apr 23, 2012

Window Stoppers

Today was the second time one of my kids decided to take a trip outside via their window.  Sigh.  I'm glad Caiti is a loud little girl so I could hear her jabbering and know she was safe...not that I could figure out where she was, until I saw her open window (which I had opened earlier to air out her room) and glimpsed her playing in my neighbor's flowers.  Heart attack!! Anyway, as an autism mom, I'm grateful for my friend, Megan, who picked me up (after Garrett did the same thing but went to the park), took me to the hardware store and bought me these:

They are such a good invention!!!!  When I don't have the window intentionally open, there is no way my kids can get their windows open and go off on their own adventures.  :)  I can also put them on the top runner of my sliding glass door when it is rainy, etc., and I don't want my kids playing outside.  Just love these!

Apr 13, 2012

Abby Cadabby

As an autism mom, I'm thankful for Abby Cadabby.  She is one of Caiti's favorite friends, and when she has her around, she is so  happy and talkative to Abby in her Caiti language.  It makes my day every time I see her being so cute.  This morning, she woke up and walked out of her room holding Abby and saying "Tweet, Tweet..." which I can only assume she says because Abby flies and so do birdies.  Such a sweetie!  I'm lucky God blessed me to have Caiti's sweet spirit in my home.

Apr 11, 2012

Light it Up Blue

April is autism awareness month.  I loved this "picture of the day" from autism speaks.  They have a light it up blue campaign every April for autism awareness.  As an autism mom, I'm grateful for all the organizations/people out there that are working towards autism awareness.
It's crazy that I hadn't even heard of autism until my nephew Ford was diagnosed with Asperger's.  At the time, he was the only kid I knew on the spectrum.  When I met Kevin, I was introduced to his nephew, who has severe autism.  So I knew one person on each end of the spectrum, but didn't know what the middle looked like.  Now I have three kids with autism who are as different as can be from each other and are in between my two nephews.  As they say, if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism.
I was shocked to read that autism is now present in 1 in 88 children.  That is why awareness is so important.  I found this chart on autism while browsing pinterest.  I think it's so helpful for parents who may be wondering if their child has autism or what it is that makes them different.

Apr 4, 2012

Jason's shorts

As an autism mom, I'm grateful that I just bought Jason a bunch of shorts; funny thing is, the reason is so that I have some clothes that Caiti can't take off.  Who knew that his shorts would be my way to keep my daughter clothed during spring break.  This also makes me grateful that my little Jason is growing so fast, so that his size 5 shorts would snuggly fit my size 6/7 daughter.  ;)