Gift Suggestions

Ok so Austin's birthday is right around the corner and I'm at a loss. This supposedly 'joyful' time of the year is stressful for me. What do you get a little boy who doesn't really play with toys?!? He loves to watch Veggie Tales, Elmo, and the Cars movie but I hate having him in front of the tv so much. I want him to play! He used to enjoy books (as most kids with RTS do) but it's hard to keep his attention long enough to listen to one. Ben and I bought him a sandbox this year and I know he'll love that. He loves to run his hands through the sand and make a royal mess. =) Everytime I research a toy related to kids with special needs, I come up empty or find things he'd love but are outrageously expensive. Someday I'd love to get him a hanging chair for his room so he can spin all he wants but it's out of budget at the moment...hmm...maybe Christmas? He's very fearful of being off balance so a bilibo chair wouldn't work...

Well, I'm going to go back to the drawing board and research so more. Would love any and all input I can get!

trip to the museum

This past Friday, Ben and I took the boys to the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse. We had a lot of fun and I took a few pictures although they didn't come out great. It's hard to take pictures when Austin's wandering around looking at all the flashy stuff!


Andrew playing (really loudly) a xylophone


Fun mirrors!


Ben climbing the rock wall with our friends


Andrew and Ben going into the HUGE playplace

Ok so I just realized I didn't get a single picture of Austin! Poo! He mostly sat in the stroller and watched everyone else play...but there's always next time!

Easter and a baby

What an eventful weekend! Saturday morning, just shy of her due date, my new little niece entered the world (8 lbs. 15 oz. 21 inches!). Her arrival threw our family's Easter plans off a little but we didn't mind! We still held the Easter egg hunt at my parent's house as usual. We just postponed dinner til Monday when my sis and baby 'B' came home from the hospital. After dinner I took pictures of Austin and Andrew holding 'B' for the first time. Austin was just tickled pink that he got to hold her! He really surprised me by being extra gentle, kissing her head over and over, then gently touching her nose and eyes. Then he looked up and signed 'all done'. =) Andrew wasn't as interested. He just wanted to run around and play with his cousin 'A'. I made him sit down and smile but he barely cooperated with that!



Speaking of cooperation, we didn't get any family Easter pictures this year! AHHH! We always take a picture of our family at church but for some reason it totally slipped our minds! I did get pictures of the boys while they were playing but nothing great. =( Poo!



This year our church did 'Cardboard Testimonys' for the Easter service. If you haven't heard of them and want to find out just what they are, click here. It's an amazing way to easily share what God has done in your life. Austin and I participated in it. One side of my cardboard said " 3 miscarriages, 1 special needs son, 1 typical son". The other side said "Mother of 5, 3 in the arms of Jesus". I had Austin come up on stage with me. =)

I'm not going to bed...I'm not going to ZzzZzz

Austin was up until 10:15pm last night playing in his room. I figured since he's officially on spring break, why not? At least he was playing with his door closed! He's usually asleep by 8pm so this was really late for him! When Ben and I went to bed for the night, we went in his room (he sleeps like a rock-nothing wakes him!) we found him sleeping on the floor with a Cars book open next to him. =) And yes, he slept in this morning!

Austin's school picture