Happy Birthday to Mariah! Finally she's 4!

Mariah has been planning her birthday for at least the past 11 months, and finally she is 4! Mariah is full of cuteness, smartness, and a whole lot of SPUNK! This lovely barbie cake from Wally World was literally half frosting (no kidding), so we are all waking up from our sugar comas this morning. We love you Mariah!

When Aunt Rachel comes to town...

When Aunt Rachel comes to town, it's party week! We love it! We all but clear our schedules, and we live as tourists of KC for the entire week even though we all grew up here. This week has included a trip to T-Rex/Legends, a trip to the Independence Visitors Center, a trip to Deanna Rose (sad we missed that one due to a puking kid), big family dinners at mom and dad's, and a slumber party for the kids at Grandma's tonight. I keep forgetting my camera, but I remembered it for our T-Rex outing. Here are a few picts!

"The cow says moo"

It took him a few tries, but he finally got it! First he said, "The cow says go" then "the cow says boo", then we finally get to "The cow says mooo". Yeah! I can't believe we are getting two word combos and now even sentences!!!

Congrats Saige!

Congratulations to Saige for winning the "Respect" award for the second year in a row! We sure are proud!

" I love you!"

Refer to the previous post. This is a kid who one year ago made no eye contact, had no words, scored at a 9 month old level for communication (15 months behind his actual age at the time), scored at a 5 month old level in social-emotional skills (19 months behind his actual age at the time), and wasn't even aware of another person in the same room with him.

Listen closely and you can hear him say "I love you"! My heart still jumps every time I hear him say this! And yes, sometimes I cry too! :) Happy tears. We love our little boy!

Awesome progress!

Wyatt has had some fantastic progress lately! In June we started him on the Gluten Free Casein Free diet (yes the one Jenny McCarthy talks about, yes there are no completed medical studies "proving" it's effectiveness, yes it may have been a shot in the dark). His progress speaks for itself, or shall I say Wyatt now speaks for himself! :) The diet is no "magic cure", he also has received HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS of hours of therapy as well. The diet seems to make him more available for learning, more attentive, it just seems his head is clearer therefore he is able to take information in better. Before starting the diet in June, Wyatt had maybe 5 words that he said only occasionally, now three months later I have a list of over 80 words that he uses regularly, he completes simple sentences, he imitates sounds, he can tell you a cow says moo, he can find his box of cookies...bring them to me...and say "I want a cookie". AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING! This video shows just a small part of his progress. If you listen closely, you can here him say "I want a cookie".

Very interesting article

http://www.smithvilleherald.com/200909095791/news/schools/district-eyes-full-day-kindergarten.html

Interesting not only because it means Smithville Schools may FINALLY have all day kindergarten in the near future, but also because Micheala has her picture in it!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

We call this hair-do their "Mickey Mouse do" for obvious reasons. :)

It's my favorite!

Am I missing something??

A few teeth! Saige lost both of her front two teeth in the same day. She got an extra bonus from the tooth fairy that night! I just love the toothless look of a seven year old.