Its Fall and update time

It seems odd that its aumtum already. Time has been flying by me lately. No doubt its because of all the changes that we've been through as a family the past year. De-schooling is a process that can surprisingly take awhile. Just sitting down and relaxing, not worrying about being somewhere or doing something according to someone elses schedule. Its liberating. Really!

Odin has been growing and changing so much over the past summer. I have a hard time remembering all the cute things he says because he says so much these days. Even though he was late talking, he sure caught up and surpassed his peers. His articulation is still poor, but he's improving I think. (I was told he wouldn't improve at all without some serious speech therapy, but the waiting lists are so long it'll be years before he gets in anywhere.)

After a few short months of peddling his tricycle, he spent a few weeks with training wheels and only two sessions of trying to ride without them.. and he got it. The rest is history. (or so they tell me.) Its amazing the emotions you can feel as you stand there watching your baby ride away from you that first time.. knowing that you can't possibly keep up to save them if they should happen to fall... because they've got it.. they're riding. A piece of my heart rode away that day, and I feel such pride when I watch him. So meticulous and careful. He looks both ways, he stops on the side of the road when a car happens to drive down the circle. He even falls with grace, rarely crying.. but just getting up and brushing himself off and hopping on to try again. I am so proud of all his accomplishments.

Air-writing stuck around for over a year. He wrote all the time. Spelling in the air near constant. He seems to have found some freedom from that now. The spelling has all but stopped, and his interest has been on his new skill of bike riding. Its hard to see his obsessions change because I get comfortable with his rituals and routines probably almost as much as he does. Its unsettling when suddenly he doesn't pick up a pen and paper for weeks at a time. Yet I know its a good thing for him. It means he is learning and exploring at his own pace and that makes me happy. To solidify our goals as a family.. I officially gave up his spot in the preschool program. He has no idea he was signed up to go so he wasn't upset at this decision at all. I know school isn't the place for him, and I'm not sad that he isn't experiencing it. He has all the time in the world to attend a school if and when he chooses, but only one childhood to learn at his own pace.

Ivy is de-schooling well. She is finding her own rhythm to things and it makes me happy to see her coming out of her shell more and more every day. I have to remember that 9 was a hard age for me.. it helps me have patience with her on those days that get to be just a little bit too long.

Piper mastered learning to ride a big girl bike the same summer as her brother. As you can imagine this means they are both further away from me  much of the time. Its hard parenting kids that are on the other side of the park. I've done a lot of walking around this summer, and a lot of calling for kids.

Persephone just started wanting to play with all the other kids outside, and its been hard giving her that freedom. She's still only 2, for another few weeks anyway....

Now that we've moved things are starting to feel a little bit more like home. I don't do change well at all. I think this past month 1/2 have been the hardest on me and the kiddos because of this. I don't go with the flow without a big fight about why the flow changed in the first place. I'm working on that. :)

Oh! Bedtimes in our house have finally moved to nighttime. The younger kids are in bed around 8 or so, and Ivy goes to bed between 9 and 10. She's allowed to stay up in her room after that time as long as she's quiet. Mornings consequently have been starting around 9 and 10 for Chris, and me? I've been sleeping in! I don't know why but most days I'm not up before 11am. And I'm going to bed at a decent hour too. SOMETHING is up with my body. I'm not sure if its from stopping the meds or what but things are out of whack in pretty much every area. If the hpt hadn't come back negative all 7 times I took it I would swear I was pregnant. Thats how messed up things are. And by messed up I also mean absent. For the past 3 months. ...  more on that later I guess.

Ivy wants some mama time so I'm gonna go snuggle with her for a bit.

Finally

After nearly 4 years waiting, I received my sons neuropsych report last month and he has officially been diagnosed with Autistic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, and ADHD.

We've been doing some intellectual testing, and speech and language testing. His numbers are so high that I was told he is in the genius range. At 4 years old he is spelling and writing at a 4th grade level. Of course his skills are high in some areas, but lower in others. His "splinter skills" are something we celebrate with excitement. Instead of focusing on what he can't do, we choose to focus on what he can do.

In the past week I found out he was approved for SSI and also that we finally are able to move into a 4 bedroom unit only three doors down from here. Its what we've been waiting for the past four years, so we're very excited! Finally there will be a bigger kitchen, our own porch (without neighbors on it) and a bedroom for Ivy. (Odin when he's bigger and needs it)

Right now I feel like I'm in the middle of chaos. There have been so many changes lately that my head is spinning. Even the good news like moving into a 4 bedroom is hard to deal with without a time frame.

My inlaws finally moved back home and now live in the same town we do. Once they're settled in, they should hopefully be a great resource for us.

 Meet our new puppy, Sage. With some training we're hoping that he will make a good service dog. However we're admittedly very tired and burning out with puppy training. It doesn't help that Odin is scared of the dog, so instead of bringing happiness and helping to calm him down, the dog causes him to get upset instead. We still aren't sure what to do, but we're plodding along day by day.

Sierra graduated from 8th grade in June. Seems like just yesterday she was in 3rd grade and now here she is.. a freshman in high school. Time really does go by quickly thats for sure.

Alright, I'm off to clean the house before we head to Rotary park for the day. Its finally summer and I plan to enjoy it. :)