No Self-Injurious Behavior for a MONTH!!

I just checked my notes and his most recent SIB was April 24! That means no self-injurious behavior at school or at home for a MONTH!!!!!!! The last time this happened was before it all started when he was about nine years old!!

Mother's Day 2016 Song from Younger Daughter

So sweet. <3

Miraculous Graduation and Wedding Weeks

One year ago we made a road trip to Utah in which our son did great in the car but had a couple of intense tantrums in the hotel and while visiting relatives. We took the same road trip a couple of weeks ago and he made many transitions in and out of the car, visited relatives, attended a graduation ceremony, and stayed in a hotel, all without a single tantrum and most of the time with a smile on his face. He was incredibly easy-going and resilient. I don't think we've ever been on a tantrum-free trip with him. Yippee!

Then a week later he had an AMAZING day on my daughter's wedding day! Just as we couldn't have come up with a better son-in-law if we had custom-designed him ourselves, my son's behavior and happiness on April 29 were beyond my wildest expectations. He handled a house full of girls getting their hair and makeup done. Then he got dressed in fancy clothes. Then he had to get out of his chair a bunch of times and stand up and hold still at the temple for family photos and seemed to actually enjoy it! He KNEW he looked awesome in his bowtie and fancy clothes! And then he absolutely thrived and rocked out at the reception, dancing vigorously and not once being bothered by all the people or the music! What a wonderful day!

This weekend he had two seizures 11 hours apart. Yes it was upsetting and concerning. But Heavenly Father timed them on the weekend that would be most convenient and least distressing. Last weekend was my daughter's wedding. The weekend before was our road trip to graduation in Utah. And next weekend I will be flying to Utah for the Utah wedding reception. God is so very good to us!

Birthday Rap from My Little Rapper

I miss my big kids so much and when they record something for me I want to listen over and over. My youngest daughter wrote and recorded this for me for my last birthday and I am posting it here so I can find it again.

https://rapchat.me/share-rap.html?rapid=651B22EB-035E-40CB-B148-DC1FF43C60CA


Sent from my iPhone

Immediate Blessings After Seizure

Happy Easter! My son had a seizure as we were getting ready for church this morning but he was stable enough to stay in my husband's care while I attended the 11:00 service of another ward which meets in our building and was full of old friends. How blessed I was to get to hear Grant bless the sacrament, watch Connie lead the choir, and hear Liz and Greg's powerful Easter talks. Most touching to me were their personal witnesses and experiences. As Liz told of having the sacrament brought to her and her widowed sister who had spent three weeks in the hospital dealing with complicated health issues, tears came to my eyes as I was reminded that the Savior is right there with me in my challenges. Greg told of his aunt, a daughter of Harold B. Lee, as she was dying of cancer, testifying to him that she WOULD see him again. (Greg is not a big cryer so it meant a lot to me to see his emotion when he shared this.) Then he was able to attend the funeral which included Presidents Hinckley and Monson. Greg read from his journal entry of this experience including President Hinckley's powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. Greg is my beloved former bishop who gave me inspired priesthood blessings before we adopted our son. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing in giving me today's trial and then immediately blessing me with inspired words from old friends.

In addition, I had a wonderful phone call from a member of my daughters' ward in Utah who needs a mentor so we talk on the phone once a week and she appreciates me SO much. In addition, she shared her observations of what wonderful women my daughters are and how blessed she feels to have them as friends. I felt blessed to fill a need for this young woman as well as feeling closer to my girls in the process.

I miss my grown kids so much it hurts, especially on Sundays and holidays, so I wanted to write about all the ways Heavenly Father is blessing me and showing me that He remembers me.

On His Fourteenth Birthday

Birthdays are bittersweet with a severely developmentally delayed child because although he IS growing and developing in miraculous ways, with the help of the supplements, diet, and therapies he is getting, it still smacks you in the face when you think about your child being fourteen and still needing so much care. 

But I must set that aside because this birthday was full of miracles! I have always sent some sort of decorated fresh fruit treat to school on past birthdays and done a minimal celebration at home, not having any idea whether he understood or cared. This year I decided to have a Ninja Turtle theme and sent bags of oranges with Ninja Turtle tags on them to school, and had a Ninja Turtle cupcake tower at home with green fruits and vegetables on it that we ate with mini swords.

So the big news is, THIS YEAR HE CARED! He was into his birthday! The school told me he laughed and smiled when they sang Happy Birthday to him! And he did the same thing at home when the guests at his home party sang to him! It is usually so hard to get him to smile for photos but this time he was smiling easily because he knew what was happening and LOVED IT! 

Praise the Lord!