I feel compelled to write a little about vaccinations and how I personally feel about vaccinating children. The reason being that several of you have contacted me regarding my recent posts - stating that you have chosen not to vaccinate your children. In my personal opinion - and please remember, this is my opinion, I am not a doctor :) -- you need to continue to vaccinate your children, you just need to be smart about it. This means not allowing your 3 month old baby to have 4 or 5 shots at one time. This means spreading out your child's shots. Talk to your pediatrician. Even though they will never agree that vaccines can cause autism or can be harmful neurologically to your child, most will be willing to work with you to spread the vaccines out and make them "safer " for your child. I am definitely still a "pro-vaccine" parent - I just believe that as parents we need to be educated in the decisions we make about vaccinations. There is a great book called "Evidence of Harm" that is all about vaccines and what is in them and why as parents of children with autism, many of us believe that vaccinations have played a role in the autism. It talks a lot about "one size fits all vaccines" that do not take the childs weight and size into consideration -- and if you are considering skipping vaccinations with your children, I would strongly suggest that you read this book.

We still vaccinate our children - and I still remind my friends that there is a greater risk by not vaccinating your child than be vaccinating them or by vaccinating them on a 'smarter' schedule. If I can help you find the information you need - please let me know - I would be happy to. I am the parent of a child with autism, and I would not wish autism on any child, or on any family -- but I still think children need to be vaccinated - we just need to see some changes in the vaccine schedule.

http://www.sarnet.org/img/gradusatoday.jpg


This link is an add in today's USA Today which coincides with the release of Jenny McCarthy's new book Louder Than Words. Check it out.

Why does it seem that weeks go by at a time before I get back to this blog? It is the 4th week of school already. That alone is hard to believe. There is a lot to keep me busy - even with the girls in school all day. I never realized how much I wasn't getting done until I had the time to do it :)

Katie is recovering from an ear infection (common to have lots of them in autistic children). Thankfully she is responding well to the antibiotics and she is in school. Mary received a note home today that she has already benchmarked all of the first quarter reading requirements for 1st grade. I would hope so considering that she is reading everything she can get her hands on. Bill and I are thrilled that she has taken so easily to reading. Bill & I are both avid readers, so it is nice to know that we have passed that on to her at an early age.

I just finished Jenny McCarthy's new book "Louder than Words" - after seeing her on Oprah I just had to get my hands on it. Once you get past her use of some fine 4 letter words, it really is a great book. It's funny - I remember watching her on MTV years ago - and now she is this mom who is fighting for her child's life -- it just shows you that autism can touch anyone - and that being a mother of a child with autism is really all about deciding that you are going to fight for this child. I was really moved by her dedication to Evan - and her desire to help mothers find the best options for their children.

Well, I'm tired - I have caught a cold from Bill & the girls. It seems I am always the last to get sick - so when they all are feeling better, I am crawling into bed.....

Goodnight.

A week has passed and things have calmed down a bit Now I'm not stressed - just tired. The weekends seem to fly by so quickly - we had an activity every night last week - after awhile it's like "Okay, I just need to stay home one night" :) Anyway, I think this week is going to be a little less hectic. We have the open house for Mary and Katie's school on Thursday... they, especially Mary, seem to be excited.

Here are some new pics too - some from soccer - I'll try to get some better ones. Yes, she's orange again this year -- yikes - I was hoping for something a little calmer! Katie's pic is in her Clifford hat that they made at school. It makes me laugh because she usually won't wear anything on her head, but she loves the Clifford hat! See..school is doing wonders for her :)

Can you say "STRESSED OUT" - For those of you who know me, have lived with me, gone to school with me, etc, you know that I am a creature of stress - and in my adult life I have continued to be a pretty stressed-out person. I attribute a lot of that to my personality, but especially in the last 5 years I think it has stemmed from my difficult pregnancy with Katie and her resulting autism diagnosis.
If you have never lived with an autistic child I will just tell you that there is no good way to describe it. It is a 24/7/365 job - it is constant, unrelenting and at times, physically and emotionally draining. Bill & I live in a constant state of tiredness, although I do for the most part get a lot more sleep than I did in college. We are 24 hour policemen, security guards, fire-fighters, cooks, maids, butlers, chauffeurs - like a lot of parents - just to a different level. I live in a "Katie-proofed" home - but it is far from stress-free. The fear of having her escape the house to run away and never again be heard from is a real life daily fear and struggle.
We are thrilled to have this new class at school for Katie. I think the all-day class will be good for her - and good for me. With the way my work schedule is set up I will usually have 2 weekdays at home without kids to get things done. My house (theoretically) will be clean and thus my stress levels should drop.
Well stress equals tired and sleepy - so I should probably go...lots of pictures to post tomorrow. Good Night.

This is so weird - it's 10am - my house is clean (I've even shampooed -- sp?- my carpets - surfed facebook, done the laundry, dishes, etc) - and it's staying clean. Yes, the girls are both at school and I don't work until tonight. This is a weird feeling that I will have to get used to. I need to go to the grocery store this afternoon - and get caught up on all of the things I had fallen behind with while I was working full-time and while the girls were home all day. This is a weird feeling - but one I can probably get used to. :) The only problem is I tend to miss them by lunch time --- LOL!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! YEE-HAH!!

From the pictures you can tell that Mary was a little more excited about it than Katie. Poor Kate - she didn't even want to get on the bus -- but once she saw her busdriver and aide and realized that this was an "ok" thing - she got on. Mary on the other hand was super excited and was ready to go see all of her friends and meet her new teacher. Now I have the whole day off to clean my house, run errands - and of course, stop into school and see how Katie is doing in her new classroom. I am hopeful that this is going to be a great year for both of the girls.

PERSPECTIVE...

I must say that today I have gained a new perspective on a lot of things, and I just felt like I needed to share.

I guess it hasn't all happened today, but it seems as though I have realized once again how precious life is and how much I love Bill and the girls. A wonderful woman whom I went to Moody with was just recently diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She has two young daughters and a husband (whom I also knew at Moody). I have been so touched by how many MBI'ers have come together (with much thanks to modern technology and the internet) and are praying for them and rallying around them. It's really amazing to me that even when you have not been in touch for a long time that there is something about the bond of being a child of God and knowing His love and knowing right now that they need a huge outpouring of HIS love and healing - and knowing that He will give it to them. It is the love and comfort that we all know is there everyday, but seems to meet us right at our point of need when the situation arises.

On a much lighter note, when I came home from work tonight I was so blessed to see that my wonderful husband of 10 years now had cleaned the basement playroom which had pretty much turned into a disaster and I was seriously dreading having to make it my first project to tackle once the girls were back in school. Thanks, Bill. I love you!

School starts in 36 hours. Yee-haaaah!!!! All day, both girls, wow! I'm feeling old.