just hanging out, plus an update on Jed

With January over, I am feeling like we may make it through this winter alive. While it definitely hasn't been as severe weather-wise as last year, it has been very cold and windy. I have mostly hunkered down. There hasn't been enough snow to go snowshoeing. Dave has skied to work a little bit and did take Hank skiing on MLK day while Jed was in school. I am finding that with Jed in school all day, once he gets home, I just want to cuddle up on the couch with my men and snuggle. That could also be a side-effect of this little thing we call Depression. I would like to address that in another post but am not really up for it today. 

Meanwhile, here are some cute photos of our normal goings-on.

 Hank lost George a couple weeks ago. We searched and searched, but couldn't find him. Hank had taken him to a MOPS meeting, but I was fairly sure we'd managed to make it back to the car with George. My girlfriends and I typically have lunch together after MOPS, and I couldn't remember if George had come to Taco Bell or not. So, I asked around and no one had seen him. I had a friend scour the nursery area of the church that graciously hosts MOPS, but no luck. As the weekend passed, I began thinking of buying a new George. And then, Monday morning as I was sorting laundry in the basement with Hank, we found George hiding out under the futon. Hank was SOOOO happy to have him back!

 These 3 are the very best things in my life. I am so grateful to have them in my life. Dave makes up for so many of my short-comings and the boys are (usually) so good and funny, and all three are absolute joys.

 In an effort to induce ourselves to workout in the mornings, Dave and I put a timer on a lamp in our bedroom, because Hank would hear the alarm go off and come to the basement right behind us around 5:30. We may have abandoned the alarm, but Hank is still the rooster of our family, often coming in to see us around 5:40. I am definitely not in love with this. As you can see, I try to milk every last moment of sleep for all it is worth. Hank and Dave have fun snuggling together though.

 Hank is absolutely so in love with his cars right now. He lines them up like this, and also front-to-back, and tells me they are racing in the "World's Grand Free" (instead of Prix). He loves to turn them belly-up and tell them "good night! Sweet dreams!"

Here we are, watching football two Sundays ago. Jed has become quite the fan of "the football" and loves to cheer when I do. Sometimes he will cheer for the opposite team just to be silly.

We had Jed's IEP meeting on Tuesday to discuss the results of several different tests he's had. He has seen the school's counselor, his speech teacher, the district psychologist, and the occupational therapist and been tested multiple times to determine where he falls on the Autism Spectrum. One of the difficulties of Autism is that children who have it typically do not test well, and therefore appear to struggle. While Jed does fall on the Autism Spectrum, he is on the less-severe end of things, and for that we are profoundly grateful. All of the evaluators said how likeable and sweet Jed was. It was noted how much progress has been made since the beginning of the year, and since Jed began head start in 2012. We have been assured that while Jed may always have some quirks, teachers and therapists are very confident that Jed will be able to function very normally in school and will probably not need therapy once he enters middle school. At the current time, he will continue receiving speech therapy and will begin occupational therapy to strengthen his fine motor skills, but he is able to exit the special reading program!

This meeting surprised me, in a good way. No one wants to hear the words "your child has autism," but when we did, I was amazed at how...unamazing it was. While I used to ache at Jed's differences, I have since learned to deal with them in an unembarrassed way. I don't know if it is because of the progress Jed has made (which is really considerable, when I think about it) or that I have let go of so many of my worries regarding how we are perceived. He is who he is, the wonderful, amazing, delightful boy that Heavenly Father gave us, and I am more than okay with it. If he doesn't like to touch sticky things and has a hard time sharing or fully participating in playground games, it's FINE. I feel like my acceptance and better capability at dealing with the problems that do arise are answers to prayer, and I am so incredibly grateful for that. More than that, I am so grateful for Jed. He is teaching me patience, faith, and humility, lessons that I desperately need to learn. He is also teaching me to trust in the Lord and His timing. When I sorrowed at the loss of MY wonderful life in Crockett, I never dreamed at the blessings the Lord had in store for Jed here. How selfish I was! The Lord has placed an incredible team around Jed. I almost cried, looking around the table at the remarkable people who know Jed and work so patiently with him and want his success as much as Dave and I do. They praise us for the work that we have done with him, but to me it is just normal parenting. I would be lost without them to help guide us, reinforce what we try to do, and cheer with us when Jed makes great strides. We are so very, very blessed.