Hotel Living

Wears JT out!

Getting Established

In case anyone out there doesn't know, moving sucks. Bad.

I'm not saying I don't like it here (I love it). I'm just ready to live in a house and have my stuff. Hotel living is pretty fun, and I really can't say enough WONDERFUL things about Marriott Residence Inn... I'm just missing 90 percent of my clothes and everything else!

I have also started talking to the school district... With Audrey, registration will be a breeze. But the special ed department is already giving me problems. Not a good sign.

Really? It seems so awful that anyone would make it harder for disabled kids to get what they need. Our families have plenty of other issues to work through... And then we have to learn the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act) so we don't get screwed (as in, our kids get screwed). This happens more often than not. I truly believe people who screw kids with disabilities and their families have a special place reserved in hell. You just can't go much lower than that.

So, my agenda for the weekend is to learn our IDEA rights in this specific screwing-situation so I make sure JT starts school here with his peers.

And if that doesn't get them moving, we'll have to hire an advocate. Not happy about that.

Super Sweet

Day 2 in Cary, NC...

My babies are WORN OUT! We went and looked at what is possibly going to be where we live. Then we checked out The Hubs's store. He was trying to be inconspicuous, but the salesperson totally called him out when she took his card for payment... Hilarious! After, we played in the pool - which was SO much fun!

Tomorrow I have so much to do... Contact the school district, find cheerleading stuff for Audrey, look up the Autism Society around the Raleigh area.

My overall impression of Cary? Beautiful. Everything around here is hidden by trees - no big signs, you can't see most buildings from the road! But all the green is gorgeous.

I think we'll be happy here. We have each other.

As Natasha Bedingfield says, "Got my dreams got my life got my love, got the sun shining down from above... There's so many beautiful reasons I have to be happy."

Car Ride - Funny!

First off... Our kids were awesome until the last hour in the car. They deserve TONS of credit for that - that's 9 hours of good and less than 1 hour of not-so-good.

Second, 10 hour car trips with 2 kids and 2 cats SUCK. I do not want to do that ever again - or at the very least not anytime soon.

The pic illustrates 90 percent of the drive for JT and Beezy. They LOVE each other!

So, today is exploring and playing in Cary, North Carolina - our new HOME!

Our News!

We finally got the official confirmation yesterday - The Hubs got promoted!

Monday he takes over as the store manager in Cary, North Carolina.

We are so excited! However, I have to scramble to get both my kids registered for school - Audrey in kindergarten and JT in Early Childhood Special Ed. Then there's the whole we have to leave here by Saturday - so everything has to be ready for the movers before then... Oh my!

This is truly an awesome move for our family :-)

Our Hiking Expedition

The kids and I met the Coffey's - Amy, Connor and Grant - at Bowie Nature Park in Fairview. We had a great time :-)

Here are the kiddos along the way -

Teaser...

We are going to have some BIG and EXCITING news sometime next week. I am about to explode from having to keep a secret... But I am sworn to secrecy ;-)

Stay tuned and check back next week!

Audrey's Birthday Date

Audrey wanted to go on a date (haha) with her friend Grant (she calls him her boyfriend... and she's 5!). They went to Dippin' Dots and saw a magician!

Here are some pics of the cute duo:

Audrey

I can't believe Audrey is 5 today. I remember this day (and the one before) back in 2004. I was 37 weeks pregnant, huge and I was having a horrid day. I had been in Jacksonville to see The Hubs during his lunch (he worked at Wal-Mart at the time). I shopped for groceries after lunch, and I felt sicker and sicker. I had to do deep breathing the whole way home (30 minutes!) just to get there. I parked my car, sprinted inside and 'lost my lunch'. I didn't feel better.

I decided I must be dehydrated, so I called my doctor. He told me he'd meet me at the hospital (I didn't question at the time why he'd be there for dehydration). I called The Hubs, and told him I'd just go alone... But he wanted me to wait.

I was awful by the time I got to the ER. My stomach was MAD. I thought my contractions were 6-10 min apart. (Turns out they were 1.5 to 2 minutes apart. Whoops!) As I was squirming, two ladies in the waiting area told me I was in labor. I laughed.

They put me in L&D and hooked me up to all their gadgets. The nurse called my doctor, and came in to tell me I was having a baby. I told her that I was NOT, and besides, I didn't even have the car seat installed! She laughed and calmed me down.

Needless to say, Audrey Michelle Duzan was born at 4:30am on July 11, 2004. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was absolutely in awe, and totally in love.

Today, Audrey is not that little baby. She has grown into a sweet, caring, gorgeous little girl who surprises me every day with her intelligence and compassion.

I can't describe how lucky we are to have Audrey. She adores her brother, and helps him with everything. I don't know where JT would be without her. She is one of the big reasons he is doing so well.

Audrey is our princess. I always tell her she's my heart, and she truly is.

Audrey - Happy #5. You are a dream come true little lady. I am so very lucky to be the mommy of such a special girl.

Audrey's B-day Dinner

We headed to Logan's for Audrey's birthday. It was awesome! They didn't sing - they shouted 'Yeehaw'.

Audrey said it was a cowgirl birthday song.

Happy Trio

Here's a snapshot of me and my 2 favorite people in the world.

Side note: JT actually stayed for a few pics... Crazy good!

JT has been doing awesome... While he's not requesting things consistently, he does at times. Yay!
He sat on the potty this past weekend - once because I put him there and once he just climbed on. He labels everything, and will repeat words often.

He pretends to be a monkey (saying oo oo aa aa and jumping around) walks around making an elephant noise and holding a toy elephant (he occasionally says eh-fun).

Right now he's on the floor pushing his car around saying car and coo(l).

He plays with baby dolls - he has one in a carrier and says beebee... Makes it kiss other babies... Then tries to get in the carrier too.

Pretend and appropriate play - HUGE!

I love looking back at all he's accomplished since his eval in March of 2007. At that point, they said MR (mental retardation) was possible/likely. I no longer believe that's an issue.

I honestly don't know what made the difference for JT. One day last December, he taught himself the alphabet with a wooden puzzle. since then he has been ON FIRE! Surely school has fed that progress - he learns so much there (and gets to play with other kids). We didn't change his diet or feed him supplements. We didn't start any sort of therapy. He just started really progressing.

On my support board, we discuss things like this constantly. I think children with autism progress no matter what you do - like any other kid! Diets and supplements only work if the child has a deficiency or allergy - its not magic (we tried the diet... JT must be fine, because there was no change).

Anyway, off the soapbox. :)

Hooray for JT and super hooray for the continued progress. We are so blessed!

Firework Fun

Audrey + Beezy

Audrey's picture of her and her kitty. Love it!

Happy Birthday America!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

We're celebrating with hamburgers and fireworks... BBQ and explosions... Can't get any better than that.

As a side note, our nephew is in the hospital after getting a pretty bad staph infection. Apparently he had to have surgery and has to have IV antibiotics for a few days. He's only 4... If you get a chance, pray for the little cutie.

Stay safe, and have fun!

Sooooo Tired!

Somebody fell asleep while watching tv this afternoon. And that somebody is *really* cute!

Trains & Magneatos

JT combined his 2 favorite things - trains and magneatos - to make a very creative vehicle.

He still drives it around saying 'Chu-Chu-Choo-Choo!'

I think its pretty cool!

BENIGN!

The pathology came back, and Bob was a "well-differentiated schwannoma" - which is BENIGN!!!!

Greatest news ever.

I celebrated by going for a run last night... After 8 months and 3 surgeries, I am taking my body back. If they want to take anything else out, they're going to have to catch me!

Ah, the beautiful pain of running. How I have missed it.

Love to all!