The look of RTS

My fellow blogging and RTS friends have inspired me to post of pictures of Austin's physical traits that make him so unique. You can check their pictures of their kids out at New Kind of Normal and A is for...(at the right side of my blog)


The "classic" RTS thumbs (although some are angled, Austin's aren't)


Large big toes


Low set ears and thick hair


Austin's crease between his first and second toes (otherwise known as his foot's buttcrack LOL)


Austin's tiny (size 8 at 6 years old)chubby feet


Austin got a kick out of me taking pictures of him...either that he was laughing at his Veggies Tales!

Lots of pictures!

Not long ago, a mom's group that I attend (and am the financial coordinator for) held a family picnic at a local park. I just received the pictures from the outing and they came out great! Thanks Sabrina!

First day of summer vacation!

Here a picture I took of Austin as we were waiting for the bus to take him to school for the last time this year! He's getting so big! I took a picture of him in the same spot on the first day of school but can't seem to find it on my computer so this will have to do! I couldn't pick which one I liked best so here are both pictures!

To start our first day of summer vacation, I took the kids to our local zoo here in Watertown. Austin was given a one year family pass for his birthday so we're getting good use out of it! It was a beautiful day despite the fact the kids did drive me crazy a bit. =) Every time I stopped to show them an animal they'd try to climb out of the double stroller (jogging kind). When I would let them out to explore, they're both run in the opposite directions! Whew! I didn't get any good pictures but hey I tried!

Andrew checking out the turkeys that roam around

2 days left of school!

Austin's last day of school is Tuesday. Bittersweet for many reasons but I'll get into that another day! For one of the end of the year treats, his kindergarten class took a trip to the Old MacDonald Farm (petting zoo/farm). It didn't dawn on me (bad mommy) that Austin would be outside from 9am-2pm for this field trip. Needless to say, he came home with his very first sunburn. I felt pretty bad but luckily it was just on his nose and cheeks and just a slight pink. Not bad though, 6 years old and he got his first touch of color. =) It always amazed me that even though Austin's complexion is pretty darn white, he's never had the slightest bit of a sunburn.

Then a thought occurred to me: Is it possible that Austin's life has revolved around therapy and such that the poor boy doesn't have the opportunity to get some color? Have I sheltered him from the elements just so he won't drive me nuts? (Austin is not a fan of the outdoors-not much he can do)

After lots of prayer and discussion, Ben and I decided to keep Austin out of summer school this summer. This will be Austin's first long stretch without therapy that he's ever had. Sometimes therapy just drives me batty and I know it gets on Austin's nerves as well. Why not have a summer to be a little boy on summer break just like everyone else? I think Austin deserves it. Who knows? Maybe he'll get a small tan. =)

You know you have a child with special needs when...

Copied this off of New kind of Normal's blog

You compare ER's instead of grocery stores.
You compare your child's oxygen saturation's.
You view toys as "therapy.'
You don't take a new day for granted.
You teach your child HOW to pull things out of the cupboard, off the bookcases, and that feeding the dog from the table is fun.
The clothes your infant wore last fall still fit her this fall.
Everything is an educational opportunity instead of just having plain old fun.
You cheer instead of scold when they blow bubbles in their juice
While sitting at the dinner table (that's speech therapy), smear ketchup all over their high chair (that's OT), or throw their toys (that's PT).
You also don't mind if your child goes through the house tooting a tin whistle.
You fired at least 3 pediatricians and can teach your family doctor a thing or two.
You can name at least 3 genes on chromosome 21. (You really know your toast if you can spell the full names correctly)
You have been told you are "in denial" by at least 3 medical or therapy professionals. This makes you laugh!
You have that incredible sinking feeling that you've forgotten SOMETHING on those few days that you don't have some sort of appointment somewhere!
You get irritated when friends with healthy kids complain about ONE sleepless night when they're child is ill!
Your vocabulary consists of all the letters OT, PT, SP, ASD, VSD, IFSP, etc.
You keep your appointment at the specialist even though a tropical storm is raging because you just want to get this one over with.....you waited 8 months to get it.....and besides, no one else will be there!
Fighting and wrestling with siblings is PT.
Speech therapy occurs in the tub with a sibling.
When potty training is complete, you take out a full-page public notice in the Washington Post.
When the Doctors/Specialist/Hospitals etc. all know you by your name without referring to your chart.
You keep a daily growth chart.
You calculate monthly statistics for the number of times your child vomits, and did this for more then one year.
You phone all your friends when your child sits up for the first time, at age two.
With a big smile on your face you tell a stranger that your four year old just started walking last week.
His medical file is two inches and growing.
You have a new belief...that angels live with us on earth.

(author unknown)

FINALLY well enough for school

After missing an entire week of school last week, Austin is finally back. The school year here ends next Wednesday, the 25th, so I'm glad he's able to get back into the routine of things. Ok, I'm WAY more than glad. I was going stir crazy being stuck in the house!

Austin's fever broke Friday morning but a cough, very runny, nasty nose, and watery eyes developed. Yep, no school again. He was sooo tired and didn't want to do anything. Saturday he was slowly getting back to his old self so Sunday we finally were able to attend church again. Austin was thrilled! As of today, he still has a tiny cough and runny nose but we're fairly sure it's allergies. =( Yucky tree pollen!

Is there an end to this yuckiness?!?

After going most of the day yesterday acting completely normal, I was thrilled at the possibility of Austin returning to school today. I made a list of things I needed to do and places to go considering I've been stuck in the house since Saturday (when I got sick). Plans changed. Austin fell asleep and an hour after the medicine wore off his fever spiked again and he threw up ALL over the recliner. Not a happy mommy. I took him upstairs to give him a bath and decided to wake Andrew up and throw him in as well since nap time was over. I bathed the kids, grabbed Austin, dried him off, and then he threw up again. That's when I burst into tears and lost it. =) Andrew was in the tub crying cause he wanted out like his brother, Austin was shaking and covered in vomit, my recliner was still covered in vomit, and I had 2 loads of puke covered things. Understand why I lost it now? Thankfully, my parents were minutes away from my house at the time and they stopped in to help. Mom cleaned my recliner for me after getting Andrew out of the tub and Dad held Austin while I called the pediatrician.

Would you know she said everyone is getting this nasty bug?!? She said my description matched everyone elses. So I started Austin on a clear liquid diet and started rotating Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours (ped. wanted this done for 24 hours through the night). So, now I'm sleep deprived as well! Austin is on his last dose of medicine so when this wears off we'll see what happens. If his fever returns, he's to go to the dr. and I'll be on my way to the looney bin!

Yet another day home from school

Austin is on his third day home from school and he's sick of it. Frankly, I'm sick of his endless pleas for Veggie Tales. =) He woke up with a low grade fever ( but much better than the 102.5) and as soon as the tylenol kicked it he immediately began acting like the old Austin. His eyes are 90% better and he's back to smiling and being his silly self. If his fever doesn't return within the next hour (which is when his tylenol wears off) we're on our way to a sick free house again! As it looks right now he should be able to go back to school tomorrow as long as that fever stays away.

Austin Update

Well the inevitable has happened...Austin caught my stomach bug. He's been battling a fever for almost 24 hours now and not long ago he threw up all over the floor. =( Poor kid! Let's just hope and pray Ben and Andrew don't catch it as well. Off to clean the floors...ugh.

Prayer for Austin

Kept Austin home from school today to recover from his pinkeye and thank goodness I did. He fell asleep on the living room floor (not unusual for him) but ended up sleeping an hour and a half (unusual). I woke him up to discover his has a fever. I'm hoping he won't throw up like I did (especially since it ends up everywhere) so keep him in your prayers.

Lake George, NY

Ben took this picture of Andrew playing in the dirt while we were waiting for the parade.



Here's a picture of Ben and the boys at the Americade motorcycle rally. This was taken on Friday before the heat wave (notice the jackets?). There were twice as many bikes on that lawn the next day!


This is one of many pictures I took for my parents for their Christmas card this year!

healthy again

Well I'm back to my old self again. Had a 24 hour stomach bug. Ick! Along with that, Austin had to stay home with me yesterday cause he has the dreaded pink eye. Thankfully, my friend Jennifer took Andrew to church for me so I could get some rest. My husband would have gladly taken him but we all woke up 10 minutes before he had to be at church. I thank God every day for Jennifer! She even brought me chicken noodle soup, gatorade, crackers, and a sierra mist! Big Hugs!

The trip to Lake George was really nice. Our family had a great time seeing all the motorcycles! It was incredibly loud! You literally had to yell to one another when walking down the street cause there were so many! I was told roughly 50,000 touring bikes come to it every year. It's the biggest touring bike rally in the U.S. or is it the world? Don't know. Pictures will be up soon. Oh by the way, it was 92 degrees in Lake George on Saturday (we left that evening) with high humidity. Heat index was 95...felt like the Arizona heat. How's that for NY weather? UGH!

blah

Getting over the stomach bug that kept me home from church today...along with that Austin has pinkeye. Can't wait to get my strength back.

North Country Store

This morning my friend, Jennifer and I went shopping at the North Country Store(Route 11 Philadelphia, NY). It's a Mennonite run store with all homemade products for very cheap. I'd always known it was there but never actually went in so today was the day. Let's just say I'll definately be back! The store had all sorts of good and healthy stuff for great prices! If you have one in your area check it out! I normally pay $4 and some odd cents for a small jar of crushed red peppers (my husband eats them on everything) and at the NC store I bought 2 tubs for $1.19 a piece! WOW! They had maple syrup, cake mixes, candy, dried peas (which Jennifer bought and I loved even though I hate peas!), candles, flour, sugar, etc. Look one up in your area!

Busy busy week

Wow, summer is going to fly by. My family has always been into traveling but I think this year takes the cake. I just got back Sunday from visiting family in Maine and New Hampshire. Oh by the way, did I mention we drove (my sis and I) with a 2 1/2 year old and an almost 2 year old? Crazy! Here is a pic of my niece "A" with her stickers...whatever keeps them occupied right?



Once in Maine, we attended my cousin's wedding and visited with more family for a couple of days. My Aunt and Uncle run a daycare out of their home so A and Andrew loved it there. They had lots of new toys to play with and they didn't fight with each other one bit! On the way home was another story...they were done being in the car and unless Veggie Tales was playing on the portable DVD player, they were screaming. =)

Tuesday, was Austin's kindergarten concert. It was adorable although Austin didn't participate much. His teacher helped him do the hand movements and at the end he presented flowers to his music teacher all by himself. Here's a picture of his teacher helping him walk back to the class (he got a little sidetracked!). Sorry it's so dark. I was holding Andrew on my hip and taking a picture with the other hand so I was just glad it wasn't too blurry!



Yesterday, Andrew woke up from his nap with his socks on his hands...thought it was cute! Can you tell he's not quite awake yet? =)



Now, we're traveling yet again tomorrow around lunch time. We're picking Austin up early from school and we're all driving 3 hours to Lake George, NY (where my hubby and I honeymooned) to attend the Americade motorcycle rally. My parents ride a Harley and go to this family friendly rally each year and this year they wanted us to come too. Oh and yes, Rachael Ray grew up there as well. =)

Busy!

As soon as I get the chance I'll update!