The Cox Family

Life gets away from me all the time! I plan to catch up this little blog with pictures and all (for my own journaling reasons) at some point...but for now I'll try to do a mini catch up. We have had some major things going on! First of all, in January, Preston was diagnosed with autism. He is considered very high functioning. I had suspected that diagnosis for a while, but it just became more evident after he turned 3 in July and seeing the differences in him and Aedan as Aedan has gotten older. He lacks severely in social skills and has many sensory issues that I didn't even realize he was experiencing. Those are just the major points. I think as he gets older he may be considered more Aspergers...but apparently they are doing away with that diagnosis and will just consider someone being on the autism spectrum, or not. I could go on and on...but I won't, for now. :) We have him approved to attend special education through the school district to give him services he needs...but it won't start until August 2012. And that brings me to our next major change in life...and that is...we are moving! Not just moving to a new neighborhood or house...but a major move...to Pittsburgh, PA! The reason for the move is so David can attend nurse anesthesia school. We decided on 3 different programs for David to apply to--based on the programs and being able to start this year. One program was in Texas, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Michigan. David interviewed for the Texas program he wanted (at TCU) back in November, but didn't get in. :( The next program he interviewed for was in Pennsylvania in February and he got in! He was also impressed with the program...so he didn't even interview for the program in Michigan...which he was scheduled to interview for in March. Anyway, so the program is in Pittsburgh at Allegheny General Hospital through LaRoche College. It's an intense 24 month program with class and clinicals and study time making it 90 hour weeks of work. Needless to say David will not be able to work during that time. The program starts at the end of August this year. We decided to rent our house because we plan to come back home after school is over. So we decided to go ahead and put it up for lease at the beginning of April...and it leased quickly! We are using a property management company to handle everything. Although our property leased quickly, the house we are going to rent in Pittsburgh is not available until July 1st. Sooo...in the meantime, we are living with my parents. We moved out of our house last Wednesday and we will stay here until the end of June. Life is a bit crazy...but I'm ready for our next adventure in Pittsburgh!

Aedan had his 2 year well check today. He is still a little kid with a big head. :) He's been consistent though! He passed mostly everything, except he needs to work a little on his fine motor skills. He can kick a small ball, but he hardly ever does it and I need to work with him on using his eating utensils better. He can use a spoon just fine...but not his fork as well. He's also a pretty picky eater...so he prefers a lot of finger foods. He colors with crayons well and loves to stack those big legos and make towers. He also has no problem picking up small objects and he enjoys throwing things. :) I do worry about him possibly having sensory issues because he seems pretty sensitive to touch...like if I'm changing his diaper or helping him get dressed then he always says "ouch" even when I'm barely touching him. He loves to cuddle and be held though...so I'm not sure. And he never has problems with tags on his clothing or socks. Aedan is very social, but shy, if that makes sense. He loves playing with Preston and his friends, but he's shy to strangers and new situations for sure. He's very expressive and talks. so. much! Especially if Preston's not around. If I take him someplace--just us two--then he jabbers on the entire time and points out everything and talks about it. He's so cute and loving...but he can also be such a stinker and instigator!! Especially with Preston. He knows how to push his buttons. I guess brothers do that, though. :) Here are his stats:
Height: 33 inches
Weight: 27 pounds
As always, his head if off the charts just following its own curve.
We sure do love our energetic, loving, cuddle bug!! :)

  Sometimes things really don't go as planned. I'm learning it's even more true when you're a parent to young children! This weekend David's cousin, Chase, got married in Lake Jackson or Clute, TX. That's where his bride, Robyn, is from. It's about 45 minutes outside of Houston. We decided it would be fun to go as a family. It's about a 5 1/2 hour drive for us. We left Saturday morning with only a few stops along the way and arrived at our hotel with just enough time to get dressed and get to the church. The boys did well and were cooperative. I was happy with how well they were doing! Then it was ceremony time. When we got there we got to see David's Uncle Paul (father of the groom) and it was time to go in. We decided to sit in the back so that we could easily take the boys out if we needed to. While we were waiting for the ceremony to start Aedan became unusually restless and grumpy. The boys made it through most of the ceremony, but David had to take Aedan out towards the end. The ceremony was beautiful! Everyone looked great and Robyn was gorgeous! I was looking forward to seeing them at the reception that was to follow. But Aedan had other plans! As we were loading the boys in the car, Aedan suddenly started projectile vomiting. :(( It was horrible! We quickly got him out of the car and stripped off his clothes and wrapped him in a blanket. There he continued to throw up. :( At that point we were like...okayy, not going to the reception! We got back to our hotel room where Aedan continued to throw up. :( We both felt it was better to get home instead of stay in one room with a sick baby all night. The hotel gave us a bunch of extra towels and I got Aedan all cleaned up and changed and we picked up some Pedialyte for the drive home. Preston fell asleep pretty much right away and slept the whole way. That was seriously a blessing! I sat in the back and took care of Aedan. Poor baby would fall asleep and then wake up, throw up, drink a little pedialyte....and then repeat. David made that drive home in 4 hours! Once home Aedan slept on a mattress pad cover on our bed and didn't throw up anymore. By the morning he seemed a little better and only threw up once and hasn't done it anymore today. Anyway, obviously it stinks when your kid is sick, but it's so much worse when you are on the road! :( We felt so sad for him, but I'm so glad he is doing better already. Here are a few pictures we took with our phones...

  We have had a pretty mild winter so far and today was no exception. The weather was beautiful so my mom and I decided to take the boys to the Dallas Arboretum. The boys had fun running around...and I did not have as much fun chasing them, hehe. :) But it was nice to go and even nicer for them to get out some energy. It's fun to see how close they are. They are truly best buds! :) Here are some pictures I took on my phone...

   I have a new nephew!! David's sister gave birth to Jayce Alexander! He was born in the morning on January 9th weighing 8.5lbs...and I don't have all the other stats, but he's perfect and healthy and he and his momma are doing great! Here's a picture of him today going home from the hospital. He's such a cutie-pie!! <3 <3 <3 Congrats to Emily and Gumaro on your little miracle! :)

   This weekend David went with his friend, Aaron, and Aaron's dad out to West Texas to go deer hunting on a land lease they have. Also while they were there, David helped them clear out everything from the land because Aaron is starting Nurse Anesthesia school and won't have time for the land for the next couple of years. So they worked hard but also had time to hunt. Here is David with his deer...

   For New Years David and I both worked. The joys of being hospital RNs...gotta cover those holidays. On New Years Eve we had my parents and brother and sister-in-law over at our house in the afternoon and  we had dinner and watched movies. My mom stayed the night with us and David and I headed out to work around 6am on New Years Day. I remember having a very busy shift! My mom watched the boys until the afternoon and then David's aunt and grandma came over to watch the boys until we got home. David got home around 8 and I got home around 9pm. So that was our New Years! :) I do have some random pictures of the boys hanging out at home from this week to share...