Today was hard

Long story short me and my 600+ coworkers at the Columbus Library were furloughed during this whole Coronavirus pandemic.  This means that both me and Tom are out of work until further notice.  I hope and pray that it all works out.  I'm loving spending time with my guys though and hope to have Tommy potty trained by the end of this.  Unemployment here we come.  Good night.

Tommy lost his first tooth today

I don't want to forget this day.  Tommy lost his first tooth this morning and bonus he swallowed it.  Lol.  We are currently out of wipro because of the coronavirus which has become a huge thing.  I'll post a few current pics of Tommy to remember this day.  We also hope to have him potty trained soon.  It's a struggle without him being able to tell us when he needs to go.

Pictures of Tommy 2018 to now

Also

It has been recommended that Tommy attend an all day special needs preschool for the 2019/20 school year.  His teachers are recommending REACH through Sullivant Elementary School.  I'm a little worried but think it could also be great for him and for me.  I hope to tour the school and meet the teachers soon so we can get him on the list to go there in the fall.  I'm going to post a few pics as well because it's been too long since I've written.

I attended an OSU focus group about kids with autism as it relates to social and communication skills

I don't want to forget this day because it was an absolutely powerful day.  I was asked along with other moms/care givers to attend a focus group about social and communication skills with our children on the autism spectrum.  I agreed not only because I figured I would have some insight and suggestions but also because I feel alone a lot of time in a world where everyone's kids are on target with their development and speech.  It seems like I've lost a lot of friends and family members too who maybe don't understand or don't care to.  Maybe it's just that they're too busy or we've just simply grown apart.  For whatever reason I wanted to jump at the chance to be in a room with other moms who totally understand where I'm at with Tommy.  It turned out there were 4 of us in the focus group today.  Two moms were parents to 4 year olds, one was a parent to a 5 year old, and I was there who have Tommy an almost 4 year old.  It was such an amazing and outspoken group.  I felt like we all connected right away and we agreed we would keep in touch, do play dates, etc.  I hope that these things come to pass and I have some new awesome moms to talk to even if it's just in texts here and there.  I'm so thankful.

My aunt Nancy Rice

My husband Tom

Tommy updates

So in 5 days Tommy will be 26 months old.  Yeah I know you're not supposed to refer to his age in months after he's 2 but oh well.  Tommy is a great little 2 year old.  He's so loving and has a great sense of humor.  He is currently working with Help Me Grow to help with his speech because other than blabbering and saying mama he's not talking yet.  His therapist's name is Stacey and he loves her which is a huge relief.  She will be meeting with us every 2 weeks for a few months.  He goes to my mamaw Kathie and aunt Stephanie's house 3 days a week and really loves them to which makes me so happy since my dad has passed away.  They have watched him since he was 10 weeks old.  I'm so thankful that all of that worked out that way.  Tom and I can't believe how greatly God has blessed us sometimes and even after 2 years we sometimes can't believe that we're parents.  I'm writing this on one of my 11 hour work days and really just can't wait to go home to Tommy and my awesome husband.  I'll write more later about Tom and his past couple of crazy months.

Farida

So in March I took Shawn to the Newsboys concert here in Columbus for his 21st birthday.  It was an amazing concert with so much worship and great entertainment.  It was also this night that I decided that I would sponsor a child from https://www.childfund.org/.  I had sponsored a girl before from another organization but it didn't work out.  I just randomly picked a packet and I feel like it was meant to be.  Her name is Farida and she is 8 years old.  She lives in Kampala, Uganda with her mom and two younger siblings.  Her birthday is June 28th which is great because we share June birthdays.  She also speaks and writes English which means her letters to me will not need translated but come straight from her.  I'm excited to try and help this family and you never know one day I might go to Uganda to visit.  I am attaching her letters to me so far.  It was great to get that first letter and picture of her family.

Ok, I'm really going to try to be better about posting things

Tommy is 19 months old now is is such a blessing.  Tom and I thank God every second for him.  He lights up the world.

Here he is at Blendon Woods Metro Park.  We have recently rediscovered our love for this place.  Every time we go we drive until we find a place to ourselves which never seems to be difficult.  I kind of wish we lived closer.  It also wouldn't hurt to be closer to my best friend Erica as well.  My brain is totally tired at the moment because it's Wednesday and every Wednesday I work open to close which is 9 am to 8 pm.  I only hope that I get to make it home before Tommy goes to bed so I can get my hugs and kisses.  I promise to write again soon.  That's all I can think of at the moment except that our house is up for sale and we hope to sell it soon.

Tommy Update

Tommy now has 5 teeth and is 29 inches long and 22 pounds.  He is such a happy boy and says "mama", "dada", and "nana".  He makes lots of sounds and is learning new things everyday.  He tries his hardest to lay on the cat much to Teddy's dismay.  I will try to post again soon.  Oh, he is crawling like crazy and pulling himself up on everything he can.  His favorite baby foods are sweet potatoes and butternut squash.  He loves his mamaw and Steph who watch him Monday-Wednesday.  We went to JcPenny for Christmas photos which would've been great except he like us didn't care for the photographer.

Tommy has 2 teeth now btw

Just wanted to make sure I document that

Tom and Shawn went on a road trip

So,  once again I'm in Columbus while family goes elsewhere.   Tom and Shawn went to Bowling Green, Kentucky to the annual Buick meet.   This year is the 100th or something.   Obviously, Little Tommy and I didn't go because the racetrack and such wouldn't work out for us so we decided I would stay home.   I made plans with Erica and had a great day with her.   Then i had MCL with mamaw.  It was after that it was weird to come home to a dark empty house.   Tommy though is the sweetest baby ever even though he's fighting a small cold right now.   On the plus side other than waking up a few times wondering where Tom was the baby and I slept fine.   Today we didn't do much but did visit Tom's family at Worley terrace.   Now we're home and waiting on Tom and Shawn to get here.   I pray for safe travels as they make it back to us.   Last I checked they were 3 hours away in Louisville.   Thanks to my mamaw and my awesome friend Erica these few days haven't been terrible.   Having my baby boy with me always makes things better, too.  That's all for now.

Diaper rant

Tommy was having a problem for a while of peeing through his diapers overnight.  He sleeps from 8 to 6 sometimes so I wanted to make him more comfortable.  I wasn't worried about the mattress because it's waterproof.  I tried a few different brands but he was too small to wear most of the actual overnight diapers.  I talked to my friend Emily who advised me to get the Pampers Baby Dry diapers.  Her reasoning was that the characters were wearing pajamas so therefore they're for night time.  LOL.  Well, needless to say we haven't had a problem since so thank you, Emily!

When Tommy doesn't like a kind of food he gags

I was trying bananas for the first time and he started gagging.  I thought hmm, that's weird and I looked at the ingredients.  It was bananas and lemon juice.  I thought hmm why lemon juice.  I figured ok I'll try bananas without the lemon juice added and sure enough he loved them.  No more baby food for us with added lemon juice.

Tommy's first photo shoot went well. Here is the proof

Tommy got his first tooth

I was checking his gums and he bit down and sure enough a tooth is through the gums.   Just wanted to document this so i wouldn't forget when it happened.   Well,  off to bed.

So appreciative of my aunt and my grandma

When I was a really young girl I didn't know who my dad was or my dad's family.  Luckily around the age of 7, my cousin told me who my dad was.  I actually knew of him because he hung out at my aunt Ann's house.  I later found out that she was my great grandmother, not my aunt but that's another story altogether.  It wasn't long after my dad found out I knew who he was that we started hanging out all the time.  We went to races, worked on cars, and took little road trips.  I really loved hanging out with him even though he was sick a lot and we worked on cars and talked to his friends a lot.  He was very fun to be around.  I really loved it when we would go to Rocky and Bridget's house in Circleville, go swimming, and go to my dad's family's house.  My grandma Kathie and aunt Stephanie were exceptionally funny.  My dad introduced me to one of his friends I frequently talked to and we started dating.  In 2005, we were married and my dad stood up with him as his best man.  All three of us continued to hang out and my dad actually lived with us for a time.  Dad passed away May 29, 2014 from complications like pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and lots of other illnesses.  Shortly after we buried my dad, I found out that I was pregnant for the 4th time (see other post about my pregnancy).  I was starting to worry about child care and my grandma said that she wanted to watch him.  This made me so happy because I want him to grow up around her and my aunt Steph.  They frequently watch him now and he gets to see his little cousins as well.  I'm so appreciative and hope he gets to stay with them for a long time.  I love them so much and hope we are closer than ever now that dad is gone.  They are a true blessing because I don't have to worry about him.  i know he's just fine and being spoiled over there.

Today Tom's mom turns 73 wish I didn't have to work all day

I am really happy that Tom's mom has made it to her 73rd birthday. It was scary there for a while with all of her health issues. She had 2 strokes that we know of in early 2014. We really were wondering how things were going to go and if mom could continue living on her own. As it turned out Nona, mom's best friend from Schottensteins was able to come and stay with her. She stayed with her night and day and only went home on the weekends. I don't know what we would have done if it wasn't for her being there for her while we worked. After a while Nona was dealing with things at home and told us that she would have to go back home. Mom would have to live on her own again but was she capable? She was one of the very lucky few who had God on her side because her strokes weren't bad enough to impair her too much. She did have a pretty severe case of Aphasia which was from the damage the stroke caused in the part of her brain where language is affected. She was very frustrated and seemed to get out of breath a lot after she came home. She has since started crocheting again and is one of Little Tommy's favorite people. He loves her so much and has really given her a whole new reason to live. This is just an opinion but it comes from my heart. I just saw this today 8/24 and realized I didn't publish it. Oops, but it worked out because now I can update with how her birthday went. We took her a gift and pizza after work and all hung out together. She was very happy. I love my mother in law a lot.

Tracking Shawn and Chris on their road trip

So, Shawn and Chris are going on a road trip to pick up Rosemary from badger camp in Wisconsin. They are on the road now and I've decided to track where they are. Here are the check ins I've seen so far: 1/ I-70 west at the Indiana state line 2/ Indianapolis, Indiana 3/ Montmorenci, Indiana (210 miles away!) (11 am) 4/ Wolcott, Indiana at the rest area (220 miles away) (11:32 am) 5/ Remington, Indiana (230 miles away) (11:50 am) 6/ Midlothian, Illinois (270 miles away) (1 pm) 7/ Western Springs,Illinois (290 miles away) (1:20 pm) 8/ Schaumburg, Illinois (300 miles away) (2 pm) 9/ Gilberts, Illinois (320 miles away) (2:30 pm) 10/ Machesney Park, Wisconsin (350 miles away) (2:53 pm) 11/ Milton Junction, Wisconsin (370 miles away) (3:32 pm) 12/ Utica, Wisconsin (380 miles away) (3:44 pm) 13/ McFarland, Wisconsin (390 miles away) (3:50 pm) 14/ Beloit, Wisconsin (4:20 pm) 15/ Madison, Wisconsin (390 miles away) (5:05) 16/ Dekorra, Wisconsin (410 miles away) (5:15) They're almost to the Wisconsin Dells! They went to Green Bay and toured Lambeau Field. I'm super jealous and can't wait to take Little Tommy and go on a road trip up there. They picked up Rosemary yesterday in Prairie du Chien and checked into their hotel in Northbrook, IL. Today they are visiting Chicago and then coming on home. I've really missed my brother and can't wait to see what he brings home for us. I will also be happy to see Rosemary and to have all three of them safe here in Columbus.