He has come a long way...

We went to the zoo yesterday and I had to share these photos with you. For those of you who have been reading this blog since we have come home, you know that Josiah had a really hard time at first. He was the baby for 5 years. All he knew was being the youngest then he was thrown into being a big brother of TWO toddler sisters. It was not easy on him. I am pretty sure I would have a hard time too. I am so thankful that is behind us and he can embrace the sisters God has given him.

This was ALL them. I didn't stage any of it, but my heart was melting as I witnessed the love these two have for each other.

Josiah you are an amazing big brother and your little sisters think the world of you!

Springtime F-U-N!

The other day the kids were biking out front and thought it would be fun to try to climb one of our trees. So one by one I lifted each each child up to the first branch and this was each child's reaction...

Isaac, 8 years- he thinks everything through and realized that climbing a tree could result on bodily injury, so he asked to be let down and I hadn't even let go of him yet.

John, 7 years- unlike Isaac he doesn't think through things at all and sometimes doesn't enjoy the situation he puts himself in, but thankful he loved climbing the tree. He had great fun trying to get as high as he could!

Josiah, 5 years - He is a natural dare devil. He will take on any adventure and not think twice about it.

Hannah, 3 years - this child knows no fear! It was her idea to climb the tree and she got VERY high. She was so proud of herself!

Chloe, 3 years - she wouldn't even let me let go of her. She is my fearful child and doesn't like heights at all.

Hannah blowing a dandilion... Monte HATES dandilions, so she got it from the neighbors yard (with their permission).

She may not like heights, but she can ride a tricycle with great determination!

The Lord has blessed us with five VERY different personalities! I LOVE my kids!

My handsome boys...

It is a beautiful day here in central Indiana, so I thought I would take a some pictures. It is a lot funner than yard work! The girls were busy playing so I thought it would be a good time to take some of my guys. Here are some of my favorites! Anyone who can correctly guess which boy is going through his AWKWARD stage will get... nothing, but it should bring a good laugh!

I just love these three boys!

Update on John: John started getting a headache when he was getting his MRI last Thursday, so the technician had to stop the test. He was also getting a little antsy, so she thought it would be best if we came back another day and have him sedated for the MRI. I was hoping we wouldn't have to sedate him, but it should be easier on him. I think he was nervious and that is what gave him a headache, because it went away fairly fast. The next MRI is scheduled for this coming Friday. Thanks in advance for praying for my blondee!

Christmas in Oklahoma

Originally we were going to leave for Oklahoma on the morning of Christmas Eve, but when we found out that they were going to be getting blizzard like conditions that day we decided to leave the night before. We stayed for two days and got home Saturday evening. It was a short trip, but since Monte has used up all his vacation time, there was no way around it. It took us 21 hours round trip, not too bad.

Here are some pictures of our time at Monte's Mom and Step Dad's.

Hannah spent her first day with a fever. That was her only symptom and she was fine on Christmas day. Monte and I had to brave the "blizzard" to get her more medicine. We'll venture out in any weather conditions for some alone time.

Playing in the snow. We haven't had this much snow in Indiana yet. The kids had a blast. Well, everyone except John. He likes the snow, but it was very cold and he is not a fan of the cold. He was already inside by the time I started taking pictures.

My Ethiopian princesses LOVE the snow. I couldn't believe they were out there longer than their brothers. It was 20 degrees and windy when I took this picture.

Spending time with cousins (and Papa)...

Monte's BIL is looking at our photo journal of the journey to our girls.

Getting ready to open up presents... can you tell it was during nap time?

My boys and their Legos...

This week is a busy week. I am getting ready to start a new curriculum with the boys. This means... a lot of work for momma. Also, we are having Josiah start his gluten free diet again. This time we are including John. Josiah was on the diet for 18 months (he has been off of it for 18 months) and for a while now we have felt that he needed to be back on it, but honestly I couldn't do it. It is a lot to take on. I feel that I am finally at a point where I can do it and do it well. I know that we'll see improvement from both of them in the coming weeks. Neither boy is allergic to gluten, but it effects Josiah's behavior and I believe it also effects both of their attention spans. We will also be limiting their sugar intake and eliminating red dye. Never a dull moment in the Alexander household!

Have a great week and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Being Thankful...

This month in school we have been talking about Thanksgiving and what it means to us as Americans and how much we truly have to be thankful for. I have often wondered, why me? Why was I born in America? One of my favorite verses is Luke 12:48b "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required." I LOVE that verse. I believe a lot is required of me, because I have been given a lot. No, I may not have a lot in America's eyes, but I know compared to others around the world, I have more than I need.

We have also been talking about adoption awareness month. 147 MILLION is a big number to understand. I am not even sure I can wrap my mind around that number, but that is how many orphans there are in the world. Isaac and John do understand what a huge number that is and it breaks their hearts to know that many boys and girls don't have a Dad and Mom or a place to call home. It brings them to tears. I pray often that their hearts stay tender, because the Lord will do amazing things through them. I also tell them that adoption does not stop with Chloe and Hannah. We are called by God to care for orphans. My boys may not be called personally to adopt and I am fine with that, but I am not fine with them doing nothing. There is so much that we can do the help the 147 MILLION orphans in this world. We can pray for them and the ones called to adopt, sponsor a child, donate time/missions trip, and give money to a family that is adopting. That is just the start...

My handsome boys... starting at the left... John, Isaac and Josiah

In honor of Thanksgiving I asked the boys to name things they are thankful for.

Isaac Arlen, age 8

1. Our house

2. That we live in America

3. That we are free to worship God

4. Food

5. That we adopted Hannah and Chloe

John Douglass, age 6 1/2

1.Food

2. The holidays

3. Toys & Clothes

4. The Bible

5. Great Grannie (that we'll see her in heaven one day)

Josiah Richard, age 5

1. Turkey

2. Ethiopia

3. Jesus

4. Our pets

5. Family

I would love to know, what are you thankful for?

A Trim and Pedicure

Do you remember when I told you all about how Josiah was having a really hard time with his new sisters? The post is here. He was the baby for five years and he played the roll like an Emmy Award winning actor. Then his precious baby spot was taken. It was not taken by just one sister, but two. Also, they were not babies that he could hold and cuddle, they were toddlers. Toddlers who like to get into his toys, especially his beloved stuffed animals, and chew on them (that is what he told me over and over again). Bless his heart, he did have a ruff go of it, but I am happy to report that he has adjusted. I now find him playing more with his sisters than with his brothers. They really enjoy each other's company and play very well together. They do have days where they don't get along, but don't all siblings?

Today the girls thought that Josiah needed his hair trimmed and a pedicure. Chloe is obsessed with hair. She is happiest when she is pretending to do comb and cut our hair. It seriously is the cutest thing ever and it does her Nanna's heart good (she owned a beauty salon for 25 years).

Yes, I do believe Josiah is putting on lipstick. Good thing Monte rarely reads this blog. :)

Then Hanna took off Josiah's socks and propped his feet up on a light saber and preceded to pretend to paint his toes.

Now Josiah is refreshed and ready for the weekend!

What a difference a day makes!

My cousin, Dawn and her family are here for a visit. They braved the chicken pox and drove 20 hours one way, from Maine, to spend two days with my family. That is love!

They are staying at a hotel and shortly after they left last night I was rocking Chloe Desalech to sleep. Josiah came to the side that Chloe Desalech was facing and starting signing to her. He sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "The B-I-B-L-E" over and over until she fell asleep. He then gently touched her cheek and went on his way.

Thank you Lord! I saw a glimpse of what I have been praying for. What a perfect end to a wonderful day!

Hit the ground running...

Josiah turned five on Sunday. I am so thankful we were home for his birthday! If it wasn't for the July 4th holiday we would of been in Ethiopia this week. He has really been looking forward to his gymnastics birthday party. I knew that Monte, the girls and I would be exhausted, but it is his birthday. I couldn't say no! There were about 20 kids there and they had a blast.

My parents left this morning, so today was my first day on my own. I took the kids 45 minutes away to a doctors appointment that isn't until tomorrow. Or at least that is what they said. I KNOW I was told today. Oh well, I get to do it all again tomorrow... fun fun!

Here are some pictures of Josiah's party and of our princesses!

Chloe Desalech and the bike that Nana and Pappy bought her.

Hanna and her bike. The girls also have on their outfits from Dawn P. THANK YOU DAWN!!

The Alexander children at the 4H fair tonight. Wowzers is it hard to get them all to look at the camera at the same time. This is the best one!

Progress

I had to share this picture. Josiah doesn't practice his letters on paper a lot. He still experiences some sensory issues, so I have a plastic storage container that has a flat bottom and I put salt in it. I have him write his letters in there using his finger. He has been doing very well. The other day I asked him to write his name on the dry erase board. I already knew he could write the J and O, but I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to write his whole name with no problem.

He was very proud and wanted me to take a picture!

Too Cute!!

Last week Josiah took a bite of something that was hot. When he swallowed I could tell that it was still hot going down.

Once it was down he grabbed his chest and said, "Mommy, I think that burned my heart."

I could tell his brain was thinking really hard and then all of a sudden his eyes got really big and almost screaming he says, "Mommy, I think I just burned Jesus!"

TOO CUTE!!

My 4 year old skinhead

I have always cut the boys' hair. I even cut Monte's. My mom was a hairdresser all my growing up years, so I feel comfortable doing it. I have only really messed up once when Isaac was just a toddler. I had to take him into Cookie Cutters (a kid's hair cutting salon) to have them fix it.

Well, my good record ended today. After school I decided that it was time to cut the boys' hair. I always do the same cut on each of them, so I decided to try something different with John and Josiah. I used the trimmers on John's hair, something I never do. It came out cute.

It was then Josiah's turn. I decided I was going to try the bowl cut like the Amish do. I have always thought it was cute and have noticed that it is starting to come back into style. I did it and well... um... it came out ok, but it wasn't for him. I think he may be too old for the cut. I am not sure. But anyway it didn't look good on him. So, I took the trimmers and was going to do his normal cut and this happened.



I forgot to put the trimmer shield back on...

Can you say MORTIFIED?

OH MY WORD...

I tried to call my mom to ask for advice. I couldn't get a hold of her, so panic set it. I knew what my only option was, but I couldn't think straight. I called Monte and told him what happened. He said, "It is only hair, it'll grow back." I really don't think he can visualize how bad it is. He'll know when he gets home tonight!

OK fine... I grabbed the clippers and finished saving his head. The whole time I kept saying over and over again "Josiah, I am so sorry." Poor kid...



I took him to the mirror after it was done and his word was... "COOL!"

Nice, I now have a 4 year old skinhead!

This may not work out

All 3 boys are playing Flag Football this summer/fall. Josiah has wanted to play something for a while now and we told him that once he turned 4 he could. He was so excited to turn 4 and to start playing football, like his brothers.

Well that excitement didn't last long...

He *HATES* it with a passion. He never wants to go to practice and refuses to catch a ball in fear he'll get hit. We have told him that he will not quit. We keep saying, "Alexander's ARE NOT QUITTERS!"

Then this happened...

Last week they FINALLY got their belt and flags and couldn't wait to practice with their belts. We literally have to wrap Josiah's belt around his waist twice and his flags almost touch the ground.

So we took them outside last night and had them line up. They would take turns running the ball and trying to get a touchdown.

The first two times Josiah ran I told the oldest two to take it easy on him and let him score. The third time, I told them to go ahead and grab his flag.

SO...

Isaac grabbed Josiah's flag before he could get a touchdown. Josiah threw himself to the ground crying and carrying on about how Isaac stole his flag.

WELL THAT IS NOT GOING TO WORK DURING A GAME...

We tried to explain to him that was what Isaac was suppose to do, but Josiah was not convinced.

Then it was Isaac's turn to run and I could tell that Josiah really wanted to get his flag, but Isaac quickly got a touchdown.

Josiah again started crying telling Isaac that he needed to slow down, so he could get his flag!

NICE...

This is going to be an interesting season. Their games start this Saturday. I'll let you know how he does. We will have to pull him if he is going to throw a fit each time someone takes his flag.

Taking matters into his own hands...

For those of you who are sensitive to different ways of disciplining, you may not want to read this post.

Consider yourselves warned...

Monte and I DO NOT tolerate "potty talk" or any other rude or hateful language. The boys are usually pretty good about this because they know if we hear something that is unacceptable they get a dab of Tabasco sauce on their tongue. For young children this is not a fun thing and let me tell you, it works like a charm. We really don't have to do it often, so I believe that is called successful disciplining!

This past week Josiah had not been being very nice with his words. It was all directed at his brothers and so the Tabasco sauce came out. A lot of times Josiah will speak without thinking it through first (he SO gets that from Monte... ), so he ended up getting Tabasco sauce twice.

The next day Monte went to the fridge to use the Tabasco sauce on his food. It has many purposes.

He couldn't find it, so he asked me. I remember putting it in their after dealing with Josiah, so we asked the boys.

Josiah comes around that corner and said, "I put it in the freezer."
I asked, "Why did you put it in there?"
Josiah answered, "It was too hot."

He put it in the freezer thinking it would cool down (like we do when their food is too hot).
He thought it made perfect sense. So next time when he gets Tabasco sauce on his tongue it won't be hot. Because it'll be fresh from the freezer and nothing is hot that comes from there.

Goodbye summer, you will be missed...

I am not the type of person who looks forward to fall. I don't because I know that winter comes soon there after and I am not a fan of winter. Now maybe if we lived in Arizona or Florida I would like winter, but not here in Indiana.

So we will be swimming for the last time this weekend. Our days are getting shorter while are pant lengths will be getting longer.

Goodbye summer, you will be missed by this mama!

In honor of the last days, here is a recent video of Josiah diving in the deep end of the pool to get a diving ring.

Another swimming video

I wanted to post a video of Josiah swimming since I haven't done that yet. I took this video at the beginning of their swim last night. By the end of the night Josiah was jumping further out and then swimming to the side. Keep in mind this is in the deep end.

Josiah Richard

My dear sweet baby boy,

I can't believe it has already been four years since you entered this world and I met you for the first time. You were such a wonderful addition to our family.

We love having you around, you bring us so much joy! This past year has brought a lot of positive changes for you! You exceeded all our expectations and ended up going to developmental preschool for only one semester. We are so proud of you. So now stay at home with Mommy and are doing very well.

You talk all the time. You often tell me "Mommy, I love you. You are the best Mommy in the whole wide world." You melt my heart each time those words leave your lips. You are still a cuddlier. You can't get enough kisses and I am thankful for that.

You are very strong willed, but as a parent I don't think that is a negative characteristic. I appreciate your spunk. You do often have to be told (or shown) who is the boss, but you know we mean what we say so you don't fight us much!

You still prefer to play by yourself and I often find you "reading" books. You can't get enough of them. You would have me read to you all day long if you got your way. I have many pictures of you fast asleep with a book draped across your face. Sweet memories!

You love to play dress up and your favorite costume is your Spiderman with the built in muscles. You wear this almost every day. When we got home from a week and a half in Maine you ran upstairs and got your costume on and told us how much you missed it!

You had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese last night and you just glowed the whole time. You have been wanting a birthday party there since it opened last year and the day finally came! You had seven friends come to the party and it was perfect!

I hate to have you grow up and it seems like you do it faster each day. I love being able to stay home with you and spend precious time with you. I am looking forward to what new things you will do this coming year.

I am truly proud to call you my son. I love you, Josiah Richard.

You know it has been a long day when...

You tell your three year old to go get a nighttime pull-up on and he comes down the stairs with it on his head.

Nice.

He makes it SO obvious sometimes!

OK, so I got this letter in the mail yesterday and am still in awe of its contents. Here is a part of the letter. Keep in mind that Josiah did attend the public school's developmental preschool for the first semester this school year.

Mr. and Mrs. Monte Alexander

The Avon Community School Corporation Transportation Department has initiated its bus route planning for the 2008-2009 school year. Since a significant number of high school students provide their own transportation, we are requesting your assistance in developing bus routes for the upcoming year. (at this point I am becoming perplexed… but I continue)

According to our 2007-2008 routing records your high school student, JOSIAH, does not currently ride a bus.

We can stop there… YOUR RECORDS? Who the heck keeps these records? HIGH SCHOOL? I did take a nap yesterday, but it wasn't for THIRTEEN YEARS!

Based on JOSIAH’S birth certificate, he is THREE YEARS OLD!!

I am not here to blast the public school system. There are some wonderful teachers out there and I have many friends and relatives that are teachers. I am thankful for what they do!

The thing I want to point out is something different. Yesterday, just a couple of hours before I received the letter I was emailing a friend. In the email I was telling him that I didn’t feel cut out to homeschool and question the Lord a lot for laying homeschooling on my heart. I often feel like my kids are going to fail at life because of my inability to teach them.

This letter came at the perfect time. No matter how crazy it seems, the Lord knows me and knows how my brain works. I needed this letter. I needed it to confirm to me that we are doing the right thing by homeschooling.

I am sure I will need a lot of these types of letters in the coming years. When I am feeling inadequate to teach, the Lord will once again do something to show me this is exactly what His will is for our family. He is so good!

First one to get Mommy a Diet Coke gets a quarter!

In the middle of the night, I had to take Josiah to the ER. He woke up with the croup and was having a really hard time breathing. He has had the croup many times, but this is the firs time he was laboring to get a breath. They gave him a breathing treatment, steroid, took a chest/neck Xray and sent us on our way when everything was fine. By the time we got home he was WIRED from all the medication, so we didn't get any sleep.

Fun Times.

We were able to nap this afternoon and he is running around like he got a full night of sleep. I can barely walk from my computer desk to the fridge (to get a Diet Coke) without feeling lightheaded from lack of sleep. So because I am smart I am having my boys get them for me. Sounds like a great idea for Works for Me Wednesday!!

Why is it that kids just rebound like that and I feel like I have been run over by a Mac truck?

Our Autism Story Part IV

I am sorry that it taken me all month to post what I thought would take a few short days. These posts taken a lot out of me emotionally, "going down memory lane." So thank you for being patient and praise God for a happy ending!

Our Autism Story Part I

Our Autism Story Part II

Our Autism Story Part III


First Steps ends services once a child turns three. At that time, if they qualify they go into Developmental Preschool through the public school system. Josiah was making wonderful progress, but we felt it was in his best interest to continue with the developmental preschool. He had to be assessed and that was done in June. Can you believe that he did not qualify for speech therapy? He was at age level, glory be to God! In the short time that he had been talking, he learned all his letters and their sounds, his colors, shapes and recognized his numbers up to 12. He did qualify for a “label” of developmental delay and started school in August.

He did very well at school and loved riding the bus. As a homeschool mom it is hard to let your child, especially a three year old, get on a school bus and leave you for four hours each day. It got easier with time, but I still missed having him at home and working with him like I used to. I knew he was in good care and he was still making great progress. Those two things put my mind at ease.

We had a teachers conference in October. I was not prepared for what she brought to the table. She told me that Josiah has met all of their/our goals for him and she does not see him needing any other services. She said that she had been around a lot of autistic children and she just didn’t see it in Josiah. She wanted him to be in the least restrictive environment (don’t we all?) and she felt that at the preschool he was being restricted, because he was the most advanced child in the class. He did need to be reevaluated before he could be dismissed. This process took a couple of months. When they gave me his results at a meeting, I was blown away. He was beyond his age for speech and was at age level in all the other aspects. So at this time he was dismissed from school. It was sad to say goodbye, because these teachers, therapist, bus drives had done so much for my son, but I was more than happy to bring him back home with us.

He has been home now for 4 months and is still doing well. There are only a couple of areas that I notice a difference in Josiah. One is when we are with other kids and he chooses to play alone. He does play with his brothers, but when it comes to socializing with other kids he has a harder time. The other is the fact he gets fixated on one subject and that is all that he talks about. Right now it is going to Florida and riding on the Spiderman ride. I think we talk about it five times each day! Both of these aspects make Josiah a unique individual and I am not concerned at all, because I know it could be so much worse.

I look back on his life and am amazed at how far he has come. I truly believe it is only because of the grace of God he no longer has autism. I can’t imagine what our life would be like now if it weren’t for all the prayer and early intervention that he received. He is still on the special diet, but doesn’t react nearly as poorly if he gets wheat or dairy in his system. He has started to read and is doing it on his own. I think it helps that his brothers are learning to read! He also knows all of the continents. He talks nonstop and loves to argue about everything. He is a very smart little boy and loves to learn about new things. I plan on keeping him home and homeschooling him from here on out.

If you have any questions about autism, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, gluten/casein free diet, DAN or anything from our story, please contact me!