Adoption and ABA Therapy

Well I am getting started on the adoption process and at the same time getting started on my foster license. It's alot but it will be well worth it when one very beautiful bouncy little boy is legally mine. It's just a lot of paper work and classes but nothing to horrible. I went out and got a couple of things that I needed for the house (smoke alarms, fire extinguisher, ect) to make it suitable to pass the home study. Now I just have to worry about getting renters insurance (which I should have gotten a while ago) and getting all the paperwork together, and completing the classes. I would say the adoption should be final somewhere around Feb or so. Aiden will be just over a year old by that time.
There is still a lot that I have to learn about the whole process and reading other foster/adopt forums online have really helped. You can read and read about something but you don't really get a feel for it until you read someone else's experience's. It's all still a little confusing only because every state has its own requirements, its own name for the foster parenting classes and adoption classes, and so many laws that you should know.
Once I get my foster parent license I plan on keeping it updated because it might be something that I would like to do in the future when the kids are older. Like in a couple of years. Hopefully I will have met someone by that time but honestly I really am not looking. I have my hands full with the kids, the adoption, starting Alex on 20 hours a week of ABA therapy, Aiden has occupational therapy once a week, Alex has speech therapy once a week, doctor appointments, getting Alex to school 4 days a week, and just trying to keep the house clean that I really don't think that I have the time to put into a relationship right now.
But I am happy for now being a single mom and if that is forever than so be it.
I can't wait for Alex to start therapy and for Aiden to be mine forever. It is all alot of time but both are well worth it for the boys.

More good news

Alex's IEP meeting was last week and it was great. It was much more informal than the first one was and everyone was on the same page which was so great. Everyone showed up that I expected to be there, including his father. Alex has alot of goals for this year and the supports I felt he needed to reach those goals. They are expecting him to be able to be mainstreamed by kindergarden which is really awesome. Everyone basically seen the same things I am seeing at home but remarked on how far Alex has come, which is great. It wasn't all about what he couldn't do which I don't think I could have handled right now. This year we are going to work on the social aspect of speech, getting Alex to interact with his peers, helping him to express his emotions and why he feels that way, help with understanding when he needs deep pressure and being able to ask for it (or ask for permission for a hug), working on his attention span and getting him to do the things that he doesn't particularily enjoy to do (like working on fine motor skills), ect. It is really great that I didn't have to fight for the services and supports I really felt he needed. I don't know, it just feels like everything is finally falling into place. The school is doing what they can to help my little man and he will be starting ABA really soon. I just can't help but have a feeling like something bad is looming around. Because it seems like when everything is going really well, something really bad happens. But we will hope that doens't happen here.

All Moved In, Some Great News, Everything Falling into Place

Well we are all moved in. The kids are handling the transition well. I thought Alex would have a tough time but he is doing so great. He loves having his own room again. I really like it here, it is so peaceful that at times I forget that I am living in a bigger city.
I got a call yesterday from Alex's case worker. He was on the waitlist for the state funded ABA therapy since July 2008 and I was told that it would take 2 years to get off the waitlist. Last time I talked to his case worker which was May or April, I was told that it was going to be ATLEAST another year. But I got a call yesterday stating that he is off the waitlist as of the 19th. I was almost in tears. School, occupational therapy and speech therapy have done wonders for him and I can't wait to see what ABA therapy will do for him. He has come such a far way in the past year and a half, It has been just great. He will be recieving 20 hours a week, which will only add stress to our already hectic schedule but it will be well worth it.
They come into the home so atleast I won't have to trudge both boys out into the winter weather to get to therapy so that is a plus. AAAHHHH I am so excited that Alex will have the opportunity to have ABA therapy.

We found a place, we found a place.

Can you tell I am excited? We have been staying with my sister, her fiance and their 2 kids for over a month now and while everything is going well, it is just to crowded. Well I got a call tonight from the guy that showed us a place on Monday. He said that we were approved and that we could start moving in this weekend. I am so excited. To have my own place again will be great. Living here is nice but Alex gets overstimulated, which makes him hyper when he is around my neice (she's hyper too) so it has been a little crazy living here.
It is a smaller 3 bedroom but for the price it is well worth not having all of the extra room. Its an upper which I wouldn't have preferred. But it is nice. It has this awesome old time bath tub in it. It is very cozy. You can control the heat for each room. I can't wait to move in. YEA!!!!

Yesterday was fun but exhausting

My day started out by getting up at 630 so we could be out of the house for like 700-710am. We got to the park where they were going to have the autism walk at about 800. It was cold and foggy but it was for a great cause so it was well worth it. Aiden stayed with my sister while we went because he was starting a cold and I didn't want to aggrivate it by having him out in the cold so he stayed with auntie while we went. So it was me, my 10 year old niece Tia, and Alex. Then my other sister met us there with her 4 year old daughter. We bought some raffle tickets before the walk. When the walk started I was just hoping I would make it to the finish line. It was 2.1 miles and I am not in the best shape. Besides the fact that I broke my little toe last week. The walk started and I finished fine, no problem.

After the walk there were bouncy houses, face painting, tattoos, ect. there for the kids. They had so much fun. There was even an ambulance and a fire truck that the kids could check out. I ended up winning a really pretty autism awareness bracelet from the raffle. It started warming up too which was great.

We came home after that, and ended up going to the orchard with my mom at around noon. They were having a free day, and apples were being sold for really cheap so I figured we could go. It was a blast. They gave out free carmel apples, hay rides, free bussing to the other free event that was going on down the road, free food, ect. It was so much fun. When we on the hay ride, Alex started singing, "The farmer on the dell. The farmer on the dell." It was so cute and the first time he has just started singing, and the first time he has sung that song. I was so proud. It was such a fun time but it was starting to be very warm outside.

After we were done at the orchard at about 3pm we came home to wait for my cousin. I haven't seen this girl in about 12 years. I barely recognized her when she arrived. It was so good to see her. We hung out at home for a little bit so she could visit with Annie, then took off to take Alex over by his grandma's for the night, and then to see my other sister. Her and my cousin used to be very close when they were younger. We were over there until like 730, then I took my cousin home. She lives about 45 minutes away. I finally got home about 1030 and fell into bed. I was so tired from all of the walking, sun, and fun. But it was such a great day and the kids had a blast, which is all that matters.

I was glad that I got to see my cousin and am getting back connected with that side of my family. It was actually my ex-step fathers side of the family but we all grew up together and just lost contact after we moved away and my mom and step-father split up. My aunt on that side who I haven't seen in 10+ years stopped by to visit on Friday. It was so great to see her too.

I've really been neglectful of this blog

I am making a pact to write more often, atleast once a week. I've been so neglecting of this blog and probably don't have anyone reading this but I should write more often atleast for myself.
Things have been great. Both boys are doing wonderful. Alex suddenly developed feelings. He gets mad and pouts now when he doesn't get his way. It is so cute but I am careful to acknowledge his feelings and make sure that he knows that it is ok to be mad/sad/etc and am trying to show him how to work through the feelings.
Aiden is almost crawling. He takes solids now without gagging, well atleast most of the time. He is almost done with the helmet. His torticollis is completely resolved. Overall he is doing so well. I couldn't be prouder of him and all he has overcome. He is almost right there with his peers which is great. The fear of him being autistic is almost gone, it still lingers in the back of my mind but I don't dwell on it too much like I used to.
I am going back to school. I went for a year and a half, until last fall, when I failed all of my classes. Then I didn't take any classes last semester but am jumping back on the horse so I can get my degree. I am planning on changing my major next semester from Casino Management to Business Management because a Casino degree can only be used in a Casino and Business degree can be used virtually anywhere.
Well that's it for now. I'll write more later.

My much needed update on the kids

It's been a while since I wrote, I know, I have been slacking lately. I have been really busy trying to get packed up to move, alot more issues with Aiden, and Alex still in therapy and now playing baseball with a special needs team. It's exhausting keeping up with them.
Alex has been doing remarably well. A couple of weeks ago his speech therapist said that he was pretty certain that if I took Alex back to the autism doc that the doc would change Alex's diagnosis from autism to aspergers syndrome. That is such great news. I mean aspergers is still autism but a very mild form, which means we are making progress. Alex has made tons of progress this past year, and to have a person who works with so many children with autism even suggest that one day Alex might lose his diagnosis is just great. Alex has become social, though not in an appropriate way, but he isn't in his own world all the time anymore. He has done a complete 360. His speech is improving everyday and his stuttering has pretty much stopped. Which is just so great. He has other issues that keep coming back when he regresses with change but we are working on those also (like the head banging, spinning, heel walking, etc).

Katie has moved back in with her mom and I couldn't be prouder of both of them. My sister, her mom, has completely turned her life around. I am positive that she will make it. Katie handled the transition very well. She loves being back by her mom. I miss her so much, not that I never get to see her or anything like that, I just miss having her here all the time. Her room looks so bare without all of her clothes and toys. But at the same time I know it's where she belongs. Every child deserves to be with their mom and it wasn't fair to her that I had to spend so much of my time working with the boys and their issues. Not that I was neglecting her in any way, just that she deserves better and my sister can work with her and her issues alot more than I could.

Aiden is my little issue man. He just has issue after issue. Last I wrote he was going to be seen by a pediatric opthomoligist. The optho. said that his eyes looked great and to bring him back in 6 months. So now the worry is back to autism. He has finally started to track and actually attends to objects now. Its so great to see him making some progress. We have attempted to start solids and it just wasn't right. I have never seen a child respond to solids the way he did. So I talked to the occupational therapist who is coming in once a week to work with him. At first she didn't seem overly concerned but once I asked her why he spits up so much while he is eating her opinion changed. I learned that his suction is that of a newborn (by this age when you take the bottle out you should have some difficulty getting it out, but not with Aiden). She also stated that he has an overactive gag reflex which is probably the reason for not doing well with solids. She is going to bring some stuff next week that should help, but there are no guarentee's. All these issues sort of point to autism that it is scary. His motor skills are great, just like Alex's were, it's just the social issues, the adversion to food, the constant need to be stimulated, etc. I guess only time will tell though, but I hope it's not autism, having one child on the spectrum is hard I couldn't even image it with two.