Let it snow...

The snow has FINALLY hit here in Wisconsin, and I can't believe it took till halfway through January to do so. Jack played outside for recess at school today, and decided that he wanted nothing more to do with the snow. A promise of hot chocolate afterwards got him back outside, though. :) The fresh air and outside play did us all good!

Post-holiday...

Well, I was waiting for the shoe to fall...and last night it did. Jack and Donnie spent the day with my dad while I worked, and it was Jack's first day back to school after winter break. When I got home at 6pm, it was meltdown after meltdown until bedtime. Everything was wrong, everything caused an issue. I knew it was going to happen eventually, that we'd feel the backlash from the holidays and routine upheaval...but man it's still not easy.

Parenthood.

I watched episodes 1 and 2 of "Parenthood" last night. I'd never seen it before, but people had been telling me that they do a good job of portraying a family dealing with an ASD diagnosis. Well, they were right. I cried. The moment when the parents accept that their child is different...that was so true. As a parent, your child is always perfect. But if your child has any sort of disability, you have to at some point accept that "something is wrong" and get your child the help they need. That moment of acceptance is possibly one of the most difficult things I've ever had to go through. Thankfully, as on "Parenthood", I had a supportive husband on the same page. I can't imagine going through that alone.

We had the holiday season come and go mostly without incident. Jack had a couple meltdowns on Christmas Eve due to the excitement and people involved with the party at his grandparents' house. He just gets overwhelmed by it all. We did a lot of traveling and saw a lot of family. Our routine and schedule got thrown out the window for about a week, and we're paying for it now. It takes Jack quite awhile to get back in his home groove after holidays or vacations. He and Donnie really enjoyed the holidays overall, I think. Family was very generous and the boys got some wonderful gifts. Jack's LeapPad, balance bike and hopper ball are some of his favorites, while Donnie prefers his blue dinosaur and blocks.

We had some progress with pottying before the holidays, and we were really optimistic -- once Jack even went into the bathroom on his own, took off his own pants and diaper, and went in the potty all by himself! Since the holidays he completely regressed, but at least we know he's capable!

We also switched Jack away from his gluten free diet for the holidays, and we haven't seen a significant difference in his behavior (besides the expected holiday transition). We're not going to tell his teachers at school, and then see if they notice a difference after a couple weeks back as the real test. If we don't have to keep him GF, it would be far easier for our family and our budget. And tastier...because let's face it, some things are just better with gluten (like sugar cookies...my GF ones failed).

My work schedule has gone to Sunday through Sunday, then Tues & Weds. In February, I'll be off of the every other Saturdays. I'm really loving working in a 'big girl office'. I have meetings, projects, deadlines...I'm still pinching myself and can't believe I've got a real career. I'm so excited and happy with my job, and I love my coworkers and the company I work for. Being away from the boys is hard, but it helps to have something I really love to do.

We're finally starting to start down the road to buying our first home, and that's another really exciting step. We're going to see what our taxes look like, talk to our mortgage broker, real estate agent, etc. We'd like to move back home to Middleton/Cross Plains, ideally. Charlie and I both know the schools are great, and the commute isn't too bad. It's close to family, which is super important.

All in all, it's been a busy busy time for us. Lots of good things.