Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas 2009! (Warning! Picture Overload!)

Jeremy and I before leaving for his company Christmas party

Braden and Grandma Francie making a gingerbread house. He spends most of the time sneaking the candy into his mouth than putting it on the house. :)

Every year we have a sugar cookie night where we bake tons of cookies and have the whole family over to help frost them. Here's me making the cookies. (above)

Here's everyone working on their cookies. Half of them get eaten during the frosting process.

Braden "tucked in" his stuffed dog next to him and they both fell asleep that way! So dang cute!

What do you do with such a cute kid!?

Braden working on a gingerbread train that was given to us by one of our therapists.

The finished product

Loved this shirt and HAD to get Braden wearing it. If you can't read it, it says "Naughty. It's the new NICE!" So cute!

We go to my mom's every year on Christmas Eve. We had a lot of fun this year. There was SO much dessert it was rediculous! (rediculously delicious that is!) My mom made a cream puff wreath topped with cherries (above). Something she hasn't made since my 18th birthday, but it's one of my FAVORITE desserts that she makes. and it's so pretty too!

Me and my sister Sarah. Sarah baked a TON of cookies for dessert and they were so yummy and I ate so many that I thought I would turn INTO a COOKIE by the end of the night!

Sarah, my mom and me.

This year, we had a "Dollar Store Christmas". We had to buy each person one gift from the dollar store (there are a LOT of people in my family, so this seemed like a fun, yet inexpensive way to share with eachother). (above) Everyone after opening their gifts.

Everyone just hanging out.

This year, Sarah was able to come and spend Christmas with us. (YAY!) I love her so much. She's my best friend and she's an amazing person. I'm so glad she could spend this special holiday with us. Every year our family has a tradition of buying eachother new jammies and we open them on Christmas Eve and wear them to bed. This is Sarah and I in our new jammies.

Christmas morning.

Braden was still half asleep when he came out of his room and at first he just sat on the couch with the funniest sleepy face just staring at the presents.

He got the hang of opening present very quickly. He's been asking us every day since Christmas "Open Presents?". He got a lot of great toys this year. He got an airport, a leapfrog, a new set of bath toys, a transformers "bumble bee" helmet, and a buzz lightyear (among other things, but I don't want to list everything). He's really been enjoying his new toys.

Braden opening his airport.

Okay, don't pay attention to the funny look on my face cause I was probably in the process of saying "Wii" when this picture was taken. Anyway, Santa brought our family a Wii this year and we've been having tons of fun with it! I love it! It's the only time I can kick but in sports that I KNOW I suck at in real life!

We head over to Jeremy's mom's house on Christmas morning for Breakfast and presents. I really love the fact that I am able to spend Christmas with both families every year (my family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve). (above) Brian, chillin while we open presents.

Braden, Wyatt and Sienna, all facinated with Braden's new Buzz Lightyear.

Nichelle, Sienna, Makaela and Braden. I got all the cousins (Makaela, Sienna and Wyatt) new jammies for Christmas this year, and I think I'll make it a new tradition! I loved seeing them in their cute jammies or "jam jams" as Braden calls them. It was a wonderful and busy Christmas this year, but it was awesome because Braden is talking so much more than he was last year and we finally got to feel like we could share this special time with him and I think he really loved it! What a blessed year we've had!

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Monday, December 21, 2009

BEWARE of the White Elephant?

So... We had Jeremy's big family Christmas party on Saturday. And as we do every year, we did our white elephant gift exchange. Little did I know how dangerous this game can be! As you can see from the picture above, we didn't get an "ordinary" gift. That's right folks! We ended up with a dwarf HAMSTER!!!! I've never had a pet like this in my life! neither has Jeremy. Needless to say we were pretty shocked about recieving this "gift" and unfortunately no else in the room full of people wanted a hamster, so we brought him home. Braden of course LOVES the "mamster" and we've now named him "Rhino" after the hamster in one of Braden's favorite movies (Bolt). The picture above is not of OUR hamster, just one I found on the internet during my research on how to care for hamsters, but this one looks exactly like ours. I'll try to get some pics of "Rhino" and post them at some point. But I just had to post about this because it's pretty funny. Who ever expects to recieve a live animal in a white elephant? I'll definitely be more careful when I participate in these games in the future! :)

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Friday, December 11, 2009

Girlz Night!



Me, my mom and my sisters have started a little tradition we call "Girlz Night" once a month. This month, I HAD to get them prepared for Christmas with "Christmas toes". I've been practicing doing my own pedicures and I think I'm finally getting it! YAY! (I only charge $15 if you want one! :)) I forgot to take a picture of everyone's feet, but I got my mom's and mine (above). Anywho, I really like this tradition of just hangin with the girls, it's so fun!
Not much else going on in our world, except that we've lost our habilitator (the girl who comes and works with Braden every day) and I'm so sad about it. She was so good and she's been with us for over a year. Now I feel like we're starting over! Braden has been making so much progress with her, and I'm afraid that getting a new person will set him back. If any of you know of someone out there who does habilitation and they're GOOD at it and are use to working with Autistic children, and have afternoons open, please have them call me! :)
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Friday, December 4, 2009

Sugar is EVIL!

I didn't use to think about sugar. I didn't really care what it was made of or what it did to my body. THAT has all changed! Sugar has become my nemisis! I have a condition called insulin resistance, which means that the cells in my body resist the insulin (produced by my body) that trys to get into my cells and help regulate my blood sugar. Then what happens is my brain says "hey, there's too much sugar in the blood! We need MORE insulin!) So my pancreas goes to work! flooding me with insulin to try and get my cells to accept it. The RESULT of all this is: I gain weight, LOTS of weight! And eventually my pancreas poops out and says, "I quit! I can't keep producing all this insulin!" and I get type 2 diabetes, which so far, thank goodness, I've been able to avoid.

When I was a teenager and until shortly after I got married, I was skinny, I weighed around 115 pounds. (I also THOUGHT I was fat back then! That's just proof that teenagers are stupid! and yes, I am saying I was stupid). When the gene that carries this condition kicked in around 3 months after I got married.... BOOM! I started putting on weight like a pig before Christmas! I gained probably 30 pounds in a matter of 2 or 3months, even though I hadn't really changed my diet. This insulin resistance also caused ANOTHER gene to go "active", and I developed PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom, we'll discuss THAT ONE another day). SO, I was fat and had broken ovaries, but of course I didn't know it until 3 years later when I was finally diagnosed by a brilliant reproductive endocrinologist (who is also resposnible for helping us get pregnant with Braden. I owe him A LOT).

SO, why does this make sugar my enemy? Because if I eat ANY form of sugar (includes refined carbs and potatoes) I put on weight. It's that simple. I don't even have to eat a LOT of it. So, since the end of July I've been doing what most people probably consider a crazy, fad diet. It's called the HCG diet. I'm sure you've heard of it, or at least seen the signs on the side of the road that say "lose 30 pounds in 30 days!". I was a total skeptic when my mom started this diet. I thought she'd gone insane and I would have to get her psychological help because she wasn't really that fat (compared to me). But she lost weight, and then more people in my family were doing it, and THEY lost weight. The REAL test though was when my sister (who also has insulin resistance and PCOS) did the diet. I wanted to know if it would work on someone like that because we'd both tried dieting before and it NEVER worked. Well, she lost weight! Even though I thought it was crazy (you have to give yourself injections everyday for at least a month, and I HATE needles), I decided to try it. It's changed my life! I don't think I ever really understood food, and how I relate to food. That has changed. I know who my enemy is now! I've lost 40 pounds and I no longer have to take medication to maintain my weight! I simply have to stay away from SUGAR! As I said, before. It's EVIL!!!! You're probably thinking that I'm picking on it or giving it a "bad rap". NOPE! It really is evil, it sneaks into EVERYTHING you eat, and it hides behind many different aliases, like high fructose corn syrup, glucose, fructose, sucrose...the list goes on. It's SNEAKY! And, during the holidays, you see it in ALL it's glory! COOKIES, PIE, CANDY, MORE COOKIES, DESSERTS, CHOCOLATE, did I mention COOKIES? Do you have any idea how much sugar is in CRANBERRY SAUCE?! And there's a candy dish lurking around every corner, waiting to ambush you! Sugar know's what it's doing! It's a constant DAILY battle between us, and I'm determined to win! SUGAR! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!!!!
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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Blogging!

Ok, so I've been thinking about it, and I've realized that I don't really share much about myself (my feelings on life, stuff like that) in my blog. I mostly do updates on how Braden's doing and post pictures and stuff. So, I'm going to start doing something a little different with my blog. Instead of posting only every so often, when something new happens (which isn't too often anymore) I will try to do a new post EVERY week (TRY being the key word there). It might be an update on Braden, or just a description of how our week went, or just me talking about things I've been thinking about. It's time to "get personal"! :) Also, I will probably separate "event" posts from my "rant" posts, so If you check my blog, there may be more than one new post to see (so scroll down!)
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Thanksgiving!

Braden on the airplane


Us in Chicago at Navy Pier. What a beautiful skyline! I'm not really a big city person, but it CAN be pretty sometimes.

At the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. They had a "christmas trees of the world display and they had probably 50 trees decorated to represent different countries. It was pretty cool. Although I thought the USA tree was decorated a little lamely. All it had was flags and stuff. I thought they really should have just put a mish-mash of everything on there cause America is made up of so many different people from different countries.

Jeremy and I in front of the submarine. I don't remember all the "facts" on the sub and what it was called and how it got captured and what not, I just know it use to belong to the Germans. And it was much bigger than I thought it would be.

Braden loves PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES. He also REALLY likes tractors and he HAD to sit in each of the tractors in the farming section of the museum.

Braden and I on a train platform. (that little booger NEVER looks at the camera when you want him to!)

Braden and I in front of the steam engine. Between this and the giant model train set they had running, he was in heaven. Not to mention that there were like 4 full size airplanes suspended from the ceiling in this same room. Needless to say, once we hit this room, he didn't really want to go anywhere else (he did perk up when we took him to the race car exhibit though).

Braden giving Sienna some love. (So cute!) He's such a sweet boy, and even though he plays pretty rough, he doesn't have a mean bone in his body! Of course that doesn't mean he can't throw a few punches and kicks when he's REALLY frustrated, but who hasn't kicked a hole in the wall when they've been mad?? It can't be just me. :)

We took a quick family picture at Jeremy's mom's house on Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We flew to WI for Thanksgiving this year, and we spent the holiday with Jeremy's Grandma. This was mine and Braden's first time meeting her and Jeremy's first time seeing her in the past 20 years! Braden did awesome on the plane and I think he really liked flying. He was very excited when we told him we would be getting back on the plane to go home. He kept saying "go back airplane" all the way to the airport. Jeremy's Grandma is a very sweet lady and it was fun getting to know her. We spent our first two days in Chicago and went to the museum of Science and Industry there. It was pretty neat. Braden of course loved the airplanes.
And now... for my Thanksgiving schpeel!
Things I'm Thankful For:
I'm thankful for a loving husband. I'm sorry ladies but I KNOW I got the best one out there! He cooks, he cleans, he helps with Braden SO much, and he's cute to boot!
I'm thankful for my amazing son and the opportunity I have to share in his journey on earth. I'm pretty sure he was sent here to teach ME and help me grow because I know his soul is perfect in every way and heavenly father, in his infinate wisdom saw that I needed to be with this special spirit.
I'm thankful for so many things in my life. Most of all, my family, and Jeremy's family. I love them so much I can't stand the thought of losing any of them!
I'm thankful for the gospel and the joy it has brought into my life. And the peace I have of knowing who I am and where I come from.
I'm thankful for the savior and his atoning sacrifce for ME. (He KNOWS I needed it!)
I'm thankful that Jeremy has a job and I'm able to stay home during the day with Braden.
I'm thankful for my massage clients.
I'm thankful for modern conveniences! (toilet paper, indoor plumbing, modern medicine, grocery stores...to name a few)

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

An Update is Coming!

I will update soon. I promise!
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Monday, November 2, 2009

Walk Now for Autism 2009!

Jeremy, Braden and I with the "Star.Wars" characters. Braden's attention was obviously rivited on the storm troopers instead of the camera.

Braden with Baxter the bobcat.

Jeremy, Braden and Gonzo (everyone's favorite d-back!)

We let Braden get out and walk around for a little while with his mickey leash.

Hanging out waiting for the walk to start.

Sienna

Everyone coming in to the finish line! It was a 5k walk (3 miles) but seriously, it felt like 10!!!

The reason we do this walk! (My sweet little boy!)

The whole walking crew! Tai, Brian, Jeremy, Mike, Francie, Tony, Nichelle, Andrew, Mark, Emaly, Makaela, Me, Sarah, and of course Sienna and Braden in the front.
The walk was great this year. We had a lot of people out to support us. Thank you so much to all of you who walked with us. I have to say a little something about why we do this every year. Braden is autistic, he was diagnosed at 18 months old. We've been working SO hard ever since, to help him come out of his world and into ours. We couldn't do this without the programs from SARRC and DDD. Braden has come so far! He's made SO much progress. Especially in the last several months. He's starting to talk so much more. He'll tell us yes, or no when we ask him questions, and he's starting to put more than one word together. I'm sure that he'll be using sentences soon! It's amazing! So many people take for granted that it's so easy for them to teach their children simple concepts, but for an autistic child everything is done "one piece at a time" like putting together a puzzle. That is why the universal symbol for autism is a puzzle piece. I can't even begin to list all the ways autism has changed my life, and the lives of my family. Without the support of our family and friends, I don't know how we could do this everyday. It truly does "take a village to raise a child". Braden has so many people who love him and do everything they can to help him succeed, HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY FAIL!!!!? We love all of you and can't thank you enough for your support!

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Halloween!

Jeremy and Braden Cleaning out the pumpkin so I can start carving it.

Me and Grandma Francie carving, and Brian just being Brian.

STILL carving. I think maybe I'll choose an easier design next year! :)

Our yummy Halloween spread... Cheeseball head, Witch hat cookies, Pumpkin rice crispies (you can't really see them) and Eyeball punch. We had LOTS of other yummy foods too. Definitely a BAD night to be on a diet! :)

Makaela, Jeremy, Sienna and Braden ready to go trick or treating.

Andrew, Sienna and Braden

Jeremy always wants to be something gross or scary. I don't get it. I guess it's a boy thing.

Me, and "Lady Zorro" (aka Sarah)

Me, Jeremy and Braden out trick or treating. We went a LOT longer this year and Braden did really well. This is the first year in a long time that We've ALL dressed up, it was pretty fun!

Braden the pirate

Some of our neighbors got REALLY creative this year.

Back at home, Braden's broken into his candy AND decided he wanted to wear my hat.

Sienna decides she want to try being a pirate

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