Happy New Year!

Andrew and I enjoyed playing outside in the snow this morning so I thought I'd share some pictures!

**A few explanations! Yes, Andrew is wearing Ben's hat. It shrunk. A lot. It barely fits Andrew's head! Andrew has MANY other hats but insists on wearing Daddy's. =)

Yes, Andrew is also wearing Austin's snowsuit. Austin hates the cold and the snow and I'm not about to go buy Andrew a snowsuit that will last only one year. Soo, he's wearing a 5T (he's a 3T) snowsuit with the sleeves and legs rolled up! Works for me!

And for the many, many people who ask/comment nearly every day. No, Andrew's not cold, have a fever, etc. He has eczema on his cheeks so they turn red in cold weather. =P







Where's Austin you ask?



Inside, where it's warm, watching a Veggie Tales movie. =)

Success!

This year was a definate success for finding a toy for Austin for Christmas! Each year (and birthday as well) is soo difficult. Austin doesn't really play with toys and would much rather watch tv all day long (which to his dismay is not allowed LOL). So yes, DVD's are a hit with him. Find a perfect toy? Now that's another story.

This year Austin received two gifts that he LOVES! I thought I'd pass the ideas to other families with children with RTS.
The LeapFrog Text and Learn


Austin loves that it talks to him, has dancing objects on the screen, and is handheld (not too heavy). The only downside is there is no backlight so you can't play it in a semi-dark room.

His other favorite gift: his red bean bag chair (Thank you Tena for the idea!) He loves it when we hold him up high and throw him down on the bean bag. =) He also loves flipping upside down on it and laying on his belly.





Here are some random pictures for you to enjoy!





Merry Christmas!

My son is a tattletale...on himself!

Conversation between Andrew and I:

(I was upstairs showering and Andrew threw open the door exclaiming...)

Andrew: Mom! Austin's mad!

Me: Why is Austin mad? (I can hear him crying downstairs)

Andrew: He's crying!

Me: I know that. I can hear him. Why is he crying?

Andrew: I hit him on the head. (smiling)

Me: You hit him on the head?!?

Andrew: yes mom!

Poor Austin. Andrew picks on him all the time!

Here's the update on my 'decked wall'! Can you spot your Christmas card?

Decking my halls

This is what I do with all my Christmas cards. Can you spot the one you sent our family? =) If you click on the picture you can see the cards better!

What mischievious boys do on a gluten free diet...

This morning I purchased a dozen donuts for my Sunday School class at church. I brought the leftovers home and put them on the counter. I'm not sure how many he ate (no more than 2 I'm thinking) but when I went to check on Austin this is what I found. So much for a gluten free diet today!







Sorry for the dark pictures, my battery was dying!

Gluten Free update and HELP!

Many of you have asked how the Gluten Free diet is going so here it is!

Austin is still on the Gluten Free diet although I have to admit I've had SEVERAL days where I either wish he wasn't or that I feel bad that I'm making him do it. Some days are really easy and other days are really hard. We've recently had quite a few birthdays in my family (with mine coming around the corner!) so I made Austin the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownies. He loves them! He actually gets mad at me when I cut him off from the chocolately goodness. =)

Austin is only on the Gluten Free diet at the time. I'll do this diet for a time and then *hopefully* we'll add in the Casein free diet as well. (No milk/dairy) I have read that the casein free diet may help with digestion and self stimming but haven't really seen anything about the GF diet doing that. Austin stims a lot and sometimes we stop him, sometimes we don't. It all depends on how distracting it is for the rest of us!

I haven't seen a ton of changes in Austin since I started the GF diet but all books/articles state that it can take up to a year to clear all Gluten from your body so I'll give it at least a year and go from there. His teacher has seen changes in him at school though. She claims he's more attentive, willing to sit in his chair, and able to follow directions better. He's also started making some new sounds/pitches with his voice recently so that could possibly be from the diet as well.

On to other things...

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Several months ago, Austin started yelling at the TV. It's not 'inside' voice level that you can tolerate either. It's the top of your lungs (or close to it) yelling with all his might. Thankfully, Andrew is gracious enough to keep quiet and has yet to tell his brother to be quiet or to complain that he can't hear the movie. Mommy on the other hand is quickly losing her patience and her mind. I cannot stand him yelling at the TV. He does it every 5-10 seconds for the ENTIRE movie. We've tried redirecting him, we've tried pausing the movie and talking to him, and we've tried sending him to his room. Nothing works. Plus pausing the movie isn't fair for Andrew. I seriously am contemplating getting those noise reducing ear muffs.

Seriously, it's that bad. I get a headache and my patience gets paper thin. We purchased him a weighted vest (more on that later when I have a bit more sanity) but we haven't seen the slightest change with his yelling. Any and all comments are welcome!

*The video is of quiet yelling. To get a true impression, turn your volume up all the way. =) And no, he doesn't always sit this close to the TV. I've just reached the end of my patience and don't care at the moment! ;)

THANK YOU WALMART!

Okay so keeping up with the gluten free diet is hard. Not only do you have to give up what you love but it's stinkin' expensive. Seriously, I pay $6.50 (unless it's on sale!) for bread mix for my bread maker. Ben and I were in Walmart here in town (they're nearly finished converting our Walmart into a Super Walmart) checking out the new layout and food displays that they've been working on. Would you believe I saw a sign that read 'Gluten free'! The other Super Walmart near our house doesn't carry but one or two gluten free items but this new Super Walmart has a whole section for it! WHOOO HOOO! Go ahead, ask my husband. I did a happy dance right there in the middle of the aisle. LOL The bread mix I mentioned above is going to cost me $4.88 at Super Walmart! Not only that but they had 10 (or more) different kinds of cereals and a bunch of other items I didn't know existed. I'm so thrilled to know I can now shop at ONE store for ALL my needs. I usually shop at Walmart or another grocery store and then head to the health food store for Austin's gluten free food but now I don't have to!

Can you tell I'm really excited?!? Hee Hee!

Thank you Walmart!