Ball Game!

It's not often that Asa gets to go to the ball field. He doesn't tolerate many weather conditions....too hot, too cold, too windy. He doesn't like crowd noise. He doesn't care to watch a second of the game!

This year we've tried to involve him more. We've found he can't do double headers or late games! So far he has had some fun too, though!

Our city has a SN athletics organization. They offer a ton of sports but Asa has been so sensitive that I haven evn tried to sign him up. Maybe I should rethink that!

Despite how chill he looks here, most of the game was the opposite! It's pretty cute how he folds up to hold the iPad though!

This is our set-up. We must be a sight.....especially when Asa starts squealing and screaming! Good times though!

Double Digits

Our sweet, spunky, 3rd born, Gracie, turned 10 years old today! Double digits! She was pretty excited about it and had a party all planned since January! I let the date sneak up on me (did anyone else lose a whole week in April?) and didn't get invites sent out until the last minute! Thankfully, she has some good friends who showed up with last minute notice!

Check out my poor nephew, Jack, who was the only boy at the bowling party! He may not appreciate this at 10 years old but in a few short years he'll feel differently!

We retold the story of Gracie's birth. I remember when they brought her back to our room after her clean up in the nursery. Anna strongly favors me. Cade strongly favors Barry. Gracie never favored just either of us. After a few weeks and she still didn't have a "pop" of anyone stick out. I wondered if she might have been swapped in the hospital and even if she was would I want to know?! This was my "Pre-google" days or I'm sure I would've googled "home DNA testing"! I'm sure a lack of sleep and crazy hormones had nothing to do with my midnight creation of a Lifetime Movie of the Week in my head!

Fast forward 10 years and this girl is like my little clone in many ways! Anna may favor me more but Gracie acts just like me! Heaven help her daddy! She is soooo funny and makes me laugh all the time! She made me stop posting all her quick wit life insights on Facebook. I could probably start a fan page and make some money off her silly stuff!! She is so brave and tough! none of Asa's medical issues have made her bat an eye. And once, my nephew took a bad fall and was bleeding but she was right in there, blood and all! She is a tomboy and loves climbing trees, 4 wheeler riding and her jeans and tshirts. She also likes to play Barbies, sing along with One Direction and paint her fingernails. She loves soccer, basketball and softball. She loves to try new things and thinks she's the best at EVERYTHING she tries....she gets THAT from her daddy!

I have loved homeschooling her this year! There's a few parts of "school" she doesn't like at all but a lot of stuff she just eats up! It's a lot of fun working with her daily! Definitely one of the best decisions we've ever made! And even in the frustrating lessons, being together makes it completely worth it!

How precious are these two girls?!! She's 10 today but will be 16 in a blink of the eye!

Just so you don't think she's losing all her tomboy and turning into a girlie girl.....as we dropped off one friend after the party, they headed out to do some target practice shooting! Sweet girls!

As a bonus, Gracie got to go watch our Lady Vols play softball! She even got to get her glove and a ball signed by some of the players.

Hot

Asa's had a tough week or so! It's only mid April and the temps have been in the 80s. He school has an old boiler and the AC hadn't been turned on when the first hot temps started. He overheated a few times at school or I just didn't send him because the AC was not on. It took several emails and visits from Maintance but Asa went back to school today. He sure loves school!! 

This picture was taken around 8am on Wednesday. He had gone out on the deck and stayed out of the sun but he was already getting sweaty. I asked him to smile for his teacher and I got this pose. Right after I put my phone away he blew a big kiss too. 

On Tuesday, I took Asa to school but by 9:30 he was too hot so I picked him up. We killed time and ran errands because Asa had hippotherapy at 4. One of the errands was a visit to the school Asa will go to next year. My first question was what type of AC they have! Asa will be in a self contained class with K-5th grades. There's 15ish kids, one teacher and 3 aides. There were 2 Ks in the room when we visited. The other grades were out with their other typical peers in their grade level. We walked to the playground and met the other 2 aides and some 5th graders. 

Asa made himself at home! The teacher and aides seem great and seemed to go above and beyond for the kids. I did have some reservation though. First, that's a huge age range! Asa's a small 5year old. More like the size of a 3 year old. Some of the 5th graders are big! Yikes! Secondly, it's a looooong walk from Asa's room to the lunch room, typical K room, gym and playground! Having said that though, I have no doubt that Asa will be fine! This time last year Asa wasn't even walking! Who knows how much endurance he'll build up over the summer! Every time I try to prepare teachers for his behaviors, he does a million times better than I could imagine. He seems to know how to rise to the challenge! 

I didn't ask if the kids have a nap time. I'm sure Asa will let them know when he's too tired anyway! It's going to be a new chapter in our adventure for sure!

He's so cute on the horse! And he worked soooo hard this week! Again, each week gets better and better! 

Oh and since I complained about the heat, today has hovered around 50 degrees and strong cold winds! Who really needs spring anyway! Ping ponging between winter and summer is fun......NOT!

Odd

I've noticed a few pics of odd things Asa's been doing. This jaw pose is his "normal" pose. He routinely does this while riding in the van or watching tv. Maybe it's just me but I can NOT get my bottom jaw over this far!!

We recently taught Asa to give a thumbs up. And by "we" I mean Suoer Why?! He loves that show and "talks" to it right on cue. So funny! Anyway, I noticed that this boney place pops out when he gives the thumbs up. 

Just some pics I want to document in case I need them later! 

We've had some super nice weather lately! Asa has loved being outside. He has driven his Power Wheels a million miles! I think he has allergy issues though. He ran a low grade fever Thursday and had runny eyes with sneezing and coughing. I started giving his allergy meds again. They seem to make him sleepy though. He was crabby after lunch today! He's spent the last few days taking 2-3 hour naps in the afternoons and sleeping 12 hours at night! When he's rested he's ready to play hard though!!!

Hippotherapy

Cade and Gracie had ball games Saturday. It was a long day but we wanted to give Asa a chance to blow us away with how great he could handle stress. And he really did do great but he couldn't make it the whole day. This is how he spent half of Cade's game. Sitting in my lap, laying on Gracie and an umbrella to keep the sun out of his eyes. How much game watching do you think I got to do?!

Asa had hippotherapy today. It was at 5 pm instead of 4 pm. We ran in Sam's and I thought I'd give Asa a little of my Dr. Pepper to have alert during therapy. A tired Asa is a very cranky Asa!! He didn't want a little watered down Dr. P in his cup but he wanted MINE!!!! And he did really good during therapy. Maybe he needs a caffeine fix every afternoon like me! 

Just in case you think hippotherapy is only about riding....

Asa is sitting backwards on the horse while he places block shapes into the sorter. And if you notice he has to reach to get them in too! 

Here's a few videos. Asa is squealing and happy in one. The guys leading him were the best cheerleaders! I don't think I got video of them cheering him on. At one point he was on his hands and knees and in a tall kneel on the horse and these guys were so great with him. Those are very hard skills for him!! In one video they stop and clip colored clothes pins to the saddle. Then Asa has to pinch them open to get them off. And she was quizzing him on colors too!! Can you imagine all the work! It's amazing!!

Horses again!

Asa had his second hippotherapy session today. Last week was cancelled because it was COLD! And it was our Spring Break! Anyway, his reaction this week was more "typical" for Asa! He got overstimulated when we went in. It takes a lot of volunteers to run the program but that also means a lot of folks standing around waiting for their turn too! He was getting impatient and then they put his helmet on. It was still a little bit so he got more impatient! Then as he was on the deck the horse got nervous and they had to work that out which made him more impatient! Once he got on his horse he was pretty good though! It's such hard work! I also taught him the sign for "horse". When we talk about the horses he will sign it! So smart!!


 We had Spring Break last week and it was such a good week! Don't get me wrong, the weather was gross for a few days but we had some nice days too. It was just nice to be home and not running all around! While the weather was nice Asa rode his Power Wheel for 2 days straight! :) He has gotten really good at steering! Like all boys he likes to get into trouble! At first I thought he was accidentally getting stuck in the woods but turns out he LIKES getting stuck! He also like crashing!


 Since we were stuck snide a few days with gross weather I tried some potty training. Asa didn't leak a drop into the potty and I took him a lot! I started trying because a few times we'd take his diaper off and let him air out. He'd sit down and pee in the floor! Maybe I should just cover the carpet with plastic!! Oh well, maybe summer break!