Cenley is in Soccer

I have wanted for some time now to get Cenley in some activities! She loves to dance, jump, flip and run! So what to choose, what to choose?? We started out with Soccer this time. She said she wanted to play but when the first practice day arrived she said she was too little to play :). Getting nervous I think. I had to take Cooper to his last day of a class he was taking so Daddy got the privilege of taking her to her first practice.  He said the first 10 minutes she wouldn't join in but finally did and LOVED it. She keeps asking me when she can go back to "basketball."   I asked Clay to take pictures and he sure did, he took 200! Love my photographer!!

So here are a few of her first day!

Dreams

A long long time ago Clay and I used to visit this beautiful Lake called Smith Lake.  We were dating and if I was going to be dating him that meant I would have to adjust to spending weekends and every evening on a lake. That's how it was, our off days were on a a boat and Clay was wakeboarding. We camped, roughed it

and enjoyed life with our 2 dogs. :)  Clay had always told me he wanted to one day live on the Lake and slowly his dream became my dream.

But, as life became real we were married, had 3 kids and up and moved to California! We had to sell the boat and do the Baby and mini van thing for the past 7 years. Fun years but no time or money for a boat.

We have continuously talked about our Dreams and Lake Life, and have made part of that a reality. We found the perfect house for us on Smith Lake. Although we will only be able to visit once a year, we have a place now in Alabama we can call home!   So...our first visit as a family was Last month and it was wonderful! We were able to visit with a lot of friends and family. 2 weeks was not nearly enough time to see everyone and we do hope to catch up with more friends next time!

My Cohen

I can't believe Cohen will be 5 years old next month! Sometimes it feels like it and sometimes time just seems to be flying by!  I have so much Love for Cohen it is really indescribable.  Something I have only shared with a few people I am going to share now. I really had such a hard time bonding with him as a baby. I don't know why, I wondered if it was because he was immediately taken from me and in the Nicu for a week or if it was because he was my second and I couldn't completely focus on him. Or was it that I didn't understand him, the way he never looked at me or react like Cooper had. I don't know and I don't care anymore. Our first 2 years were so amazingly hard and I felt like I was doing something wrong because of the tantrums and all that came with his Autism. But, now that Clay and I really "get" him so much more and he is able to express his feelings with us now, my heart just overflows with Love I didn't know I had. He is the most wonderful, smart, loving, funny little boy and I am so proud of who he is and who he is becoming.

We are still doing Lots of therapy. 5 days a week of preschool (3 hours) which he Loves.  9 hours a week of ABA therapy (at our house) and 1 hour a week of occupational therapy.  The ABA therapist have goals set for him that extend for about 3 months and if he reaches them they add new goals.  He has been mastering the goals each time. He is writing his name, learned his Address, asking questions. The hardest part is trying to get him to carry on a conversation but it is slowly coming.

Cohen learned to Swim this past weekend. Wow!!! I have been so nervous about Cohen in water because he is completely fearless at the Beach and around large areas with water. But, now that is conquered.  Cooper is so proud of his brother and is trying to teach him to dive :). Cooper says we now only have Cenley to "train."

Cohen and Cenley are little best friends lately. They dress up EVERY day as Mario and Princess Peach and they call each other by those names when they are in costume. They play pretend tea parties and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I just love these times.

We continue to do a dairy and gluten free diet for Cohen and we do our best to do the same for ourselves. we know that this has helped speed along some our goals.  Thank you all for loving us and loving him.

Reminiscing

With all of the "winter weather" back home in Alabama! I have been thinking about all of my friends and family so much! I miss everyone back home and am so proud of how everyone has taken care of each other. One of the things I miss so much about the South!  Everyone really comes together to help each other out, if they know you or not!  I do think our friends here would do the same , but there is something about the South that I miss so much!!

The last time we "lived" in Alabama Cooper was 3, Cohen was 2 and Cenley was not quite 1. All were babies!!!  The time has really flown by! I was just looking at pictures we taken not too long before we moved. I actually found one where we had some Snow! :) Thought I would share. And, the top 2 pictures I had to add because they are of Cohen as a baby,  playing trains nonstop at about 7 months and hasn't stopped yet!! :)

Polar Express

Cooper's Class had a full day of Celebrating Christmas for their party day!  They have a Polar Express Day! The kids wear their pj's for class and go to all of the 1st grade classes doing different crafts in the morning. The classes all performed Christmas songs for us, which was really cute! I am
helping be "room Mom" so the other Mom and I prepared small treats for class when they came back. I made popcorn bags with "tickets" to the Polar Express and graham cracker trains with cool whip and candy. The class watched a portion of the polar express and had their treats. I like the idea of celebrating all day being that the kids are already full of energy and excitement! :)

FROZEN

We don't take the kids to very many movies. It's just easier and less expensive to do it at home. But, we decided to take the kids to see Frozen. I could tell it was something we would all enjoy. So, I decided to make a big production of it. I dressed the kids up cute and we all went to the first one fo the day, hoping for a smaller crowd.

The kids all did great and loved the movie. We pack drinks and by popcorn and it really helps them sit still longer :).  Really fun family trip!

I am Back

Well I have been missing in action from the blog world for a while, but I have "thought about" posting, doesn't that count? I really think this is one of the best ways for me to update all of my family/friends and family about our lives and I need to take advantage of it.

I will start today with just trying to update on all the kids!

Starting with Cooper...
Cooper is doing great in school, I think he is caught up now on some things that I was concerned with, reading and writing. He is doing so much better and doing GREAT with math. (gets that from his Daddy)  Still working on trying to "focus" at school but I think that will come.  I hope...  Cooper is about to start Basketball for the first time with Upward Sports. He has wanted to play for a while, and i am thinking this will be good for him.  He is also doing Awana at Church. He looks forward to it every week, and does great learning his verses.  I am very proud of Cooper and I can see him shaping up into a great young man!

Now Cohen...
There is so much to say about the changes we have seen with Cohen. Truly Amazing!  Cohen is now potty trained, Praise Jesus! I still have to "remind" him at the times to go, but he takes care of all the steps which is wonderful!  We have 5 days a week of therapy. We have some Awesome, caring and loving people in our lives. 3 days a week we have ABA therapy and the therapist come into our house and work with him, which is a total of 9 hours.  The other two therapies are Speech and Occupational for 1 hour each. With the total overhaul in our diets and all of the work he is doing it is completely coming together. Cohen is telling us his feelings with sentences and asking for what he needs. We still have melt downs and lots of sensory stuff to work on, but it feels so good to have the ability to talk with our son and have some understanding of his needs.

And lastly our Princess Cenley...
This girl is one of the sweetest, wildest, most strong willed girls EVER! :) She loves her family, her pets and her friends and likes to "take care" of them. I would say she is a TomBoy Princess.  She loves to get dirty and play in the dirt while wearing a Dress! I am seeing her turn into a more grown up girl, I see her finally trying to help me with chores, clean up her room and she enjoys having her hair done (Finally).  Although she is very feisty she is also a sweetheart and we love her very much!!