HOLLAND

So I borrowed this from another blog, but when I read it, it totally made me cry! It really does explain the emotions and feelings you have when you're a parent of a special needs child. Today it really hit home with me because we are going through the emotions all over again that we did with Cassius. I heard, "Atticus has PDD-NOS" today and I thought "Why Me Again?" So, I reread this and it made me feel so much better!

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip-to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland".

"Holland?!?!" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you have been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around...and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips...Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, go away... because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

NEW PRESCHOOL & THE PINGREE

So Cassius started his new preschool Friday. I took pictures Friday and today, but no such luck! I guess these ones will have to do... I am so happy that he has a new school to go to! He has been out for almost 2 months and it has been hard on him!

He stared this place called the 'Kids World Preschool' and it has been great so far! His teacher really gets Autism and Cassius just loves the kids! He actually will play with them all!

Cassius calls his teacher "DAD" and says, "Bye-Bye Dad!" His teacher was a little weirded out by it, but I'm sure he will get used to it. (Cash thinks all guys are supposed to be called dad and women are mom)

And today we just found out Cassius has been Accepted into the Carmen B. Pingree school for Autism! Yay! We are so excited for him and hope that it helps!!

NEWLY DECORATED BATHROOM

So, this morning I woke up and my bathroom was newly decorated! I cannot believe I slept through 2 boys taking crayon to everything, but I guess I did! ( I couldn't figure out who was the culprit, so I am assuming they were in on it together:-) Good thing it was easy to clean up! (Thanks Mom)

This week has been so great! Cassius is getting into new therapies and we are very excited for that! Tomorrow he starts his new preschool! Yay!

MORE ELDER VALDEZ PICS

Here's some more pics of Tony!

ELDER "T" IS COMING HOME!

So today my mom got the "letter" of my little bothers release date from his mission! He will be coming home approximately August 5th! (I'm changing this because he sent an email and isn't quite sure when the exact date will be. We are so excited! He has baptized so many people and has had a great mission! He is currently serving in the New York, New York South Spanish speaking mission.

• Here are some of the reasons why my little brother is so AWESOME:

• He has a strong testimony of the church






• He has been a great example to me and I look up to him






• He has a huge heart and has been so compassionate towards his nephew with Autism (He even asked if he could change his mission to the signing mission so he would know sign language when he got home).






• He has a huge smile and can make friends with anybody he comes into contact with






• He has a great sense of humor and we can joke about anything






• He got the Bill Gates Scholarship (10 years of free college anywhere USA, money to not work and free dorm living expenses so he can focus on studying :-) Amazing!






• He got accepted to UC Santa Barbara on his mission!






• He is a very frugal person, which is wish I could be! He boycotted Wendy's when their junior bacon cheeseburgers went up in price and he wouldn't eat there until the price went back down.

There are so many things I love about Tony, but the thing that recently touched my heart is that he is going to come back from his mission and go back to New York in a couple a weeks to be with a lady that he baptized when she gets her endowments! I am thankful that we have the church and that Tony and myself were baptized on the same day! Thanks Gabe for bringing my mom and all of us back into the church when we lived in Indiana and being a positive influence in our lives!

CASSIUS' SWIMMING LESSONS

So I signed Cassius up for swimming lessons recently and was so worried that Cassius wouldn't stay focused enough to do it. He has had a blast doing it and is getting great social interaction! His instructor there has done her best to keep him apart of the group and to understand everything. I went back and forth on whether or not I should tell she and her aides that he has "Autism" because I felt that I didn't need to put a label on him everywhere he goes, but I felt so bad when they would ask him questions and he would reply, "Bob Bob" for Spongebob. So I told them...

They have been awesome with him and even do sign language with him! So, if any of you want to know where to take your child with Autism for swimming lessons, contact me. Here's some pics of his first lesson and leaving the house to go!

GIGA BALL

So if y'all haven't seen one of these balls before, they are great!!

It takes 10 minutes to blow up with a pump and it's huge! I saw this Giga Ball at the Autism Carnival last year and got one immediately afterwards for $60 bucks! (At Target, I love that place:-) Totally worth it! It has 2 holes on either side of it to get in and out of it, it can hold up to 150 lbs and kids love it. They just roll across the yard or any flat surface. I took it to a moms group this winter and we had to drag kids out of it...

Here's some pictures of Cassius, Atticus and Uncle Nick rolling around in the yard. I just love this weather!