Monday, March 28, 2011
Incredible Support
We do a lot of fundraisers for Autism Speaks and did one last year for TouchPoint Autism Services, and it still continues to amazes me everyone's generosity. Our family and friends are nothing short of amazing. This really means a lot to us, and it is so important for us to be strong supporters of organizations that are fighting and helping our children with Autism. Yesterday we kicked off our America's Incredible Pizza fundraiser, and it meant so much of us that our friends came to support us. We had a great time and enjoyed getting to see everyone there. This fundraiser is for the Team Up with Autism Speaks, for the Go! St. Louis Marathons. We are less than 2 weeks away from our marathon (for Craig) and half marathon (for Dani). Our time for fundraising is quickly coming to an end. Every 15 minutes another family hears the news that their child has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Speaks works to fund Science Research, family advocacy, and Autism Awareness. Craig and I each have a $500 fundraising commitment. If your heart moves you at support Autism, please see our fundraising pages here: Dani's Page Craig's Page Thank you again to our amazing friends and family for their continued support!!!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Greateat act of kindness I've ever received.... and it was from strangers
It's really funny because I posted this morning about the boys and their sensory processing disorders and how we've overcome the challenges from them and that they boys are pretty much over being scared of going places..... boy was that premature because tonight was a whole different story. I think God has a sense of humor, and I could just imagine him letting out a chuckle this morning after I said that we past through that trial of their SPDs and the tantrums from them and that we made it through. I'm sure he was thinking, just wait to see what I have in store for you tonight if you think you're done. :)
So tonight we had tickets to the Blue's hockey game. The game plan was that I was going to take the boys to the game and Craig was going to meet us there later into the game, after he got done with a dinner meeting he had for work. I was so excited to have a date with my baby boys. The boys talked about hockey all day today. They were just as excited as I was.
We got to Scottrade Center about an hour before the game started. Walked over to our section of the arena and walked towards out seats. Panic started to set in with Christian. There was a previous Blues/Oilers game going on the jumbo trons and the volume was loud, but not that loud, yet. He was starting to cry in fear and he didn't want to go down the aisle to our row, he just wanted to stand against the back wall. The only thing I could think to do was pick him up and make him come sit in the seat. I couldn't just let him stand in the aisle, and Daniel was anxious to sit and start to eat. So that's what I did. I picked him up and carried him to our seats. He was kicking, screaming, crying, panicking over the noise and the lights. He was terrified and I was beginning to cry in frustration. I thought we were over this! I called Craig immediately and told him he needed to get there ASAP.
Immediately, three of the female employees came over to see what they could do to help me. They got the boys some hot dogs, which Daniel started to scarf down, but Christian couldn't calm down. He got out of my arms and raced back up to the top. One of the ladies was standing up there, Sarah. He clung to her and wouldn't let her go. She said she was going to carry him over to the stair area and find him some ear plugs if I wanted to get Daniel and come meet her over there. Jennifer, one of the other employees offered to watch her sections and Sarah's sections while Sarah assisted us.
Sarah took us over to the security guards that gave us ear plugs, but Christian hates people touching his ears, so that wouldn't work. She then took us up to the Bud Light Zone, which was like a secluded restaurant area where we got see the ice rink, but with reduced noise and lights. It was more enclosed. As soon as we got up there, Christian calmed down. He stopped crying, and he eventually was willing to go over and watch the players warm up on the ice. Craig finally got there and he stayed with Christian up in the Bud Light Zone while I took Daniel back to our seats to watch the game.
I was so completely overwhelmed by the kindness of these ladies. They went so far and above the scope of their jobs to help me and help us enjoy the game. I'm use to people staring at us, getting dirty looks or even them saying something but never has anyone ever offered to help me or make sure everything was ok. Imagine the overwhelming feeling of 3 people rushing to my aid. They were so kind and I'm not sure what I would have done had they not helped me.
Christian eventually slowly made it down from the BL Zone back down to our seats. The ladies came over every few minutes to make sure the boys were ok and make sure we had everything we needed. They made sure we got to enjoy the game. They made sure we enjoyed our evening.
They truly cared and were beyond kind to us. I just couldn't begin to thank them enough for what they did for our family this evening. They didn't judge, they were quick to help.
I think I cried in joy the whole way home. My heart of over filled with gratefulness for these women and for God placing these perfect souls in the right spot tonight to help me. I also got a little dose of humble pie, as I don't accept help easily, but I was in a situation where I really needed it, especially since I'm only 6 weeks out from my shoulder surgery, and I have limited movement in my right shoulder.
Thank you so so much to Sarah, Jennifer and Barb from sections 117, 118 and 119!! (And hopefully they'll get to see this, as we exchanged information and I made new friends. :)
Romans 12:10 says 'Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves'
These ladies did just that tonight. Thank you again for your amazing acts of kindness to my family tonight!!
As for Daniel, he loved every minute of the game. He clapped and cheered and ate his little heart out. Luckily we were sitting in the club seats, so Daniel could eat as much as he wanted (boy I sure hope he doesn't expect that every time!! LOL). He ended up eating a hot dog, a bag of chips, 3 ice creams, a half of box of popcorn and drank a bottle of water. I don't know where the kid puts it!! We had an amazing time tonight!
And for anyone who knows my children, they fall asleep anywhere!! Yes, Daniel crashed in 3rd period. He snuggled up in my arms an fell asleep. :)
So tonight we had tickets to the Blue's hockey game. The game plan was that I was going to take the boys to the game and Craig was going to meet us there later into the game, after he got done with a dinner meeting he had for work. I was so excited to have a date with my baby boys. The boys talked about hockey all day today. They were just as excited as I was.
We got to Scottrade Center about an hour before the game started. Walked over to our section of the arena and walked towards out seats. Panic started to set in with Christian. There was a previous Blues/Oilers game going on the jumbo trons and the volume was loud, but not that loud, yet. He was starting to cry in fear and he didn't want to go down the aisle to our row, he just wanted to stand against the back wall. The only thing I could think to do was pick him up and make him come sit in the seat. I couldn't just let him stand in the aisle, and Daniel was anxious to sit and start to eat. So that's what I did. I picked him up and carried him to our seats. He was kicking, screaming, crying, panicking over the noise and the lights. He was terrified and I was beginning to cry in frustration. I thought we were over this! I called Craig immediately and told him he needed to get there ASAP.
Immediately, three of the female employees came over to see what they could do to help me. They got the boys some hot dogs, which Daniel started to scarf down, but Christian couldn't calm down. He got out of my arms and raced back up to the top. One of the ladies was standing up there, Sarah. He clung to her and wouldn't let her go. She said she was going to carry him over to the stair area and find him some ear plugs if I wanted to get Daniel and come meet her over there. Jennifer, one of the other employees offered to watch her sections and Sarah's sections while Sarah assisted us.
Sarah took us over to the security guards that gave us ear plugs, but Christian hates people touching his ears, so that wouldn't work. She then took us up to the Bud Light Zone, which was like a secluded restaurant area where we got see the ice rink, but with reduced noise and lights. It was more enclosed. As soon as we got up there, Christian calmed down. He stopped crying, and he eventually was willing to go over and watch the players warm up on the ice. Craig finally got there and he stayed with Christian up in the Bud Light Zone while I took Daniel back to our seats to watch the game.
I was so completely overwhelmed by the kindness of these ladies. They went so far and above the scope of their jobs to help me and help us enjoy the game. I'm use to people staring at us, getting dirty looks or even them saying something but never has anyone ever offered to help me or make sure everything was ok. Imagine the overwhelming feeling of 3 people rushing to my aid. They were so kind and I'm not sure what I would have done had they not helped me.
Christian eventually slowly made it down from the BL Zone back down to our seats. The ladies came over every few minutes to make sure the boys were ok and make sure we had everything we needed. They made sure we got to enjoy the game. They made sure we enjoyed our evening.
They truly cared and were beyond kind to us. I just couldn't begin to thank them enough for what they did for our family this evening. They didn't judge, they were quick to help.
I think I cried in joy the whole way home. My heart of over filled with gratefulness for these women and for God placing these perfect souls in the right spot tonight to help me. I also got a little dose of humble pie, as I don't accept help easily, but I was in a situation where I really needed it, especially since I'm only 6 weeks out from my shoulder surgery, and I have limited movement in my right shoulder.
Thank you so so much to Sarah, Jennifer and Barb from sections 117, 118 and 119!! (And hopefully they'll get to see this, as we exchanged information and I made new friends. :)
Romans 12:10 says 'Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves'
These ladies did just that tonight. Thank you again for your amazing acts of kindness to my family tonight!!
As for Daniel, he loved every minute of the game. He clapped and cheered and ate his little heart out. Luckily we were sitting in the club seats, so Daniel could eat as much as he wanted (boy I sure hope he doesn't expect that every time!! LOL). He ended up eating a hot dog, a bag of chips, 3 ice creams, a half of box of popcorn and drank a bottle of water. I don't know where the kid puts it!! We had an amazing time tonight!
And for anyone who knows my children, they fall asleep anywhere!! Yes, Daniel crashed in 3rd period. He snuggled up in my arms an fell asleep. :)
Fun Fridays
Around here, we call our Fridays, Fun Fridays. The boys have occupational therapy every Friday afternoon at Children's Hospital. So we go and do something fun for the morning until it's time for therapy. We typically end up with a play date with friends or doing something in Forrest Park, since it's so close to Children's. The boy's favorite thing right now is the Science Center. Boy do they love the Science Center, and since it's free, I do too!! :)
Fridays have been a huge learning and growing experience for all 3 of us. It's amazing to see how God uses different experiences to make us grow, and you wouldn't think a Fun Friday would do that, but it has. Fun Fridays started back in August, when the boys started going to occupational therapy. At first, Fridays were our favorite day of the week. We did something different every single week, and we all loved it. Then in Early October, Christian developed a sensory processing disorder. Daniel already had a sensory processing disorder, which is why he needed (and continues to need) occupational therapy. When Christian's SPD developed, Fridays were no longer fun for any of us, it was more like torture.
What would happen is that Christian would hear a loud noise, and unusual noise, see something he wasn't familiar with or if something wasn't well lit and he would go into a full blown melt down. And with him being the big brother, Daniel would follow suit because if it something his big brother was afraid of, then he needed to be afraid too. Trying to get out our front door was so difficult for us because the boys could hear the traffic from the highway, and it was like torture to their ears. They'd go into a panic, and it was take all the strength I had to wrangle them into their car seats so we could go somewhere. As if that wasn't exhausting enough, I'd still attempt to take them somewhere. I was NOT about to give up on our Fun Fridays, but they were slowly breaking me. I'd just pray and pray for a good morning with no panic attacks.
We'd go somewhere like the zoo. That turned out to be a bad idea as there was construction going on, and the noise of the trucks was sheer torture for them. The Magic House has dimly lit areas, which would cause a screaming frenzy. Science Center wasn't well lit, and there are those scary moving dinosaurs, which they use to love. Anything outdoors was out of the question because if the boys heard an airplane, large truck, motorcycle or any other loud noise, a meltdown would occur. Anytime we went anywhere, I was a nervous wreck, waiting for the moment a panic attack would happen.
God really used this time to challenge my patience with the boys and to better learn to comfort them. It's not that they were behaving badly or unruly children. They are hyper sensitive to noise, and the noise level is magnified for them and their brains can't fully process these noises, causing a panic. I couldn't tell them to knock it off or to stop crying. I had to hold them tightly, do my best to remove them from the situation as quickly as possible and assure them that Mommy and Daddy keep them safe, tell them those noises can't hurt them. We'd also end up sitting somewhere praying together, which always calmed all 3 of us down.
During this time I had to (attempt to) stop caring what other people were thinking as they watched my kids go into full-blown meltdown mode (as I'm sure they thought I just had bratty kids). I'm still not at the point where I really don't care, but I'm growing. I had to learn to stay calm and be patient with both of them screaming in terror of the noise they heard. This was not easy and my heart was resilient to what God was doing during that time. In fact, at the time, I didn't realize God was working something in my life, I just blamed the sensory processing disorders. By the time we got to therapy every afternoon, I was crying myself. Angry, frustrated, emotionally spent. Why? Why did they have to have such a hard time when all I was trying to do was have fun with them? I felt like a terrible mom for still making them do something every Friday when it always ended in torture for them.
A couple months passed before we found relief. The boys finally started to remain calm when they heard a noise. They started using the self-soothing techniques we taught them. They'll hear a noise, and start to repeat "I'm safe. I'm safe. Mommy and Daddy keep me safe", which is rather cute to me. They still freeze in their tracks and won't move until the noise is gone, but they no longer meltdown, for the most part.
So perseverance (which I only had through God's grace) paid off, and we continue to have our Fun Fridays, which are a little more fun now. If I had my way, we wouldn't have gone through those difficult months, but God's way is so much better than our own. His plan molds our characters and uses difficult times to help us grown. I tell ya, I think God is going to give me patience of steel by the time these boys are raised. ;)
'Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand' Isaiah 41:10
P.S. For any of my friends that had the pleasure of being a part of my nervous-wreck-of-a- mommy time for those few months, I thank you for still continuing to be my friend now! I'm sure I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around, and at the time it wasn't easy for me explain what was going on. :)
Fridays have been a huge learning and growing experience for all 3 of us. It's amazing to see how God uses different experiences to make us grow, and you wouldn't think a Fun Friday would do that, but it has. Fun Fridays started back in August, when the boys started going to occupational therapy. At first, Fridays were our favorite day of the week. We did something different every single week, and we all loved it. Then in Early October, Christian developed a sensory processing disorder. Daniel already had a sensory processing disorder, which is why he needed (and continues to need) occupational therapy. When Christian's SPD developed, Fridays were no longer fun for any of us, it was more like torture.
What would happen is that Christian would hear a loud noise, and unusual noise, see something he wasn't familiar with or if something wasn't well lit and he would go into a full blown melt down. And with him being the big brother, Daniel would follow suit because if it something his big brother was afraid of, then he needed to be afraid too. Trying to get out our front door was so difficult for us because the boys could hear the traffic from the highway, and it was like torture to their ears. They'd go into a panic, and it was take all the strength I had to wrangle them into their car seats so we could go somewhere. As if that wasn't exhausting enough, I'd still attempt to take them somewhere. I was NOT about to give up on our Fun Fridays, but they were slowly breaking me. I'd just pray and pray for a good morning with no panic attacks.
We'd go somewhere like the zoo. That turned out to be a bad idea as there was construction going on, and the noise of the trucks was sheer torture for them. The Magic House has dimly lit areas, which would cause a screaming frenzy. Science Center wasn't well lit, and there are those scary moving dinosaurs, which they use to love. Anything outdoors was out of the question because if the boys heard an airplane, large truck, motorcycle or any other loud noise, a meltdown would occur. Anytime we went anywhere, I was a nervous wreck, waiting for the moment a panic attack would happen.
God really used this time to challenge my patience with the boys and to better learn to comfort them. It's not that they were behaving badly or unruly children. They are hyper sensitive to noise, and the noise level is magnified for them and their brains can't fully process these noises, causing a panic. I couldn't tell them to knock it off or to stop crying. I had to hold them tightly, do my best to remove them from the situation as quickly as possible and assure them that Mommy and Daddy keep them safe, tell them those noises can't hurt them. We'd also end up sitting somewhere praying together, which always calmed all 3 of us down.
During this time I had to (attempt to) stop caring what other people were thinking as they watched my kids go into full-blown meltdown mode (as I'm sure they thought I just had bratty kids). I'm still not at the point where I really don't care, but I'm growing. I had to learn to stay calm and be patient with both of them screaming in terror of the noise they heard. This was not easy and my heart was resilient to what God was doing during that time. In fact, at the time, I didn't realize God was working something in my life, I just blamed the sensory processing disorders. By the time we got to therapy every afternoon, I was crying myself. Angry, frustrated, emotionally spent. Why? Why did they have to have such a hard time when all I was trying to do was have fun with them? I felt like a terrible mom for still making them do something every Friday when it always ended in torture for them.
A couple months passed before we found relief. The boys finally started to remain calm when they heard a noise. They started using the self-soothing techniques we taught them. They'll hear a noise, and start to repeat "I'm safe. I'm safe. Mommy and Daddy keep me safe", which is rather cute to me. They still freeze in their tracks and won't move until the noise is gone, but they no longer meltdown, for the most part.
So perseverance (which I only had through God's grace) paid off, and we continue to have our Fun Fridays, which are a little more fun now. If I had my way, we wouldn't have gone through those difficult months, but God's way is so much better than our own. His plan molds our characters and uses difficult times to help us grown. I tell ya, I think God is going to give me patience of steel by the time these boys are raised. ;)
'Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand' Isaiah 41:10
P.S. For any of my friends that had the pleasure of being a part of my nervous-wreck-of-a- mommy time for those few months, I thank you for still continuing to be my friend now! I'm sure I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around, and at the time it wasn't easy for me explain what was going on. :)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Christian's First day in T-Ball
We've been excited for quite some time now for the day Christian would get to start playing baseball. This Saturday couldn't have come at a better time either.
The last couple of weeks have been extremely difficult for us. We've been in and out of teacher conferences, IEP meetings (Individualized Education Plan, that's plan the school puts together for how they will address the boys' issues) therapy sessions and therapy evaluations. It can really bring a parent down to hear so many negative things about your children. Not they they are trying to be negative, it's part of all their jobs to be addressing the needs of the boys. Constantly hearing that your child has this or that wrong with them can drag you down majorly. I was hitting rock bottom last week.
Then Saturday rolled around, and we got to take Christian to his first day in t-ball. We were really nervous when we first got there; we are always really nervous when we know Christian will be in a new situation. We don't' know how he is going to react, if other kids or parents will notice if he is acting different, if he'll hear an airplane and panic or if he'll have one of his other meltdowns.
We walked up to the group that were gathering around, waiting for the coaches to do roll call. Christian walked up to a little boy and said, "Hi, what's your name? My name is Christian Siebert." This coming from my child in which we are being told is "anti-social" in school. What a joy it was for us to see this! And I'm beginning to to have a hard time believing Christian is anti-social in school, but totally social with us in pretty much any situation we place him in. hhmmm?
Then the practice actually starts. Christian gets out there an he is good! I mean really good! He throws the ball well, caught a couple throws from his team mate and he hits like Albert Pujols!! We had multiple parents comment to us on how good Christian was. We just can't explain how this made us feel to watch him to something so well and not be told he is doing something wrong. It lifted our spirits so much. It was the perfect morning to have after the last week we had.
We can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds for Christian!!
Blogging on my boys
Well, I've decided to blog on my boys. All our families are a long distance from us, so I thought I'd blog about what is going on in ours lives to keep everyone in the loop with them. I'm sure it's not easy for any of our family members to not get to see the boys often, especially since Craig and I both grew up close to our families, but at least we can try to keep everyone connected to them. Great thing about modern technology!! :) Enjoy!!
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