Celebrations, Social Events, and Therapies

The weeks are full right now, with many things happening all the time! I'll blog the past two weeks based on categories instead of daily, it feels simpler. Our little baby is growing and I had bloodwork and my 16 week appointment. They weren't able to find the heartbeat on the doppler, which is always a little nerve-wracking, but the OB pulled in the ultrasound machine and I got to see a sneak peak of baby who is looking much more like a baby now! Hugh is my appointment buddy and does really well, until I have to sit on the exam table and then he wants to join. Luckily, right now, my tummy is small enough, he still fits fine. 

With the great weather, we've been outside as much as possible to enjoy all the moments! I've planted my garden starts for tomatoes, peppers, and jalapenos. I had little helping hands, so we'll see what comes up! I am excited to fill my new garden grow boxes that were a birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa. The popcorn on the trees has brought new energy to the popcorn popping song, and Hugh points out every tree he sees that has popcorn, which is fun! 

Jay and Matthew

Hugh wanted to be my little helper!

Grow boxes in place!

Hugh has big aspirations to climb!

This was the most entertaining thing at the park, the bike fixing station

Hope and Hugh waiting to pick up Jay at school

Hugh helping me put together my grow boxes, look at that concentration!

My birthday presents from the boys and Matthew arrived late, so I got to leave my birthday sign up for a little bit longer than usual and extra celebrations. I opened my presents over a couple different evenings and the boys really thought that was fun! Matthew gave me some gold hoop earrings, a hair cutting apron, a new water bottle, and a label maker. Jay and Hugh added some cake decorating tools and it will be fun to use them in the future! I also cached in my free Nothing Bundt-bundlet cake and a free pizza from Old Chicago. Both were yummy! Grandma and Grandpa came on the 13th to celebrate Grandpa's birthday and mine. They grilled steak, made baked potatoes and sweet potatoes, and a yummy jello. Matthew made my birthday cake to go with it, and it was amazing to have a wonderful dinner without any of my own efforts! I felt loved and celebrated and so grateful! We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa, and it always goes too fast! 

Happy birthday to me from Nothing Bundt Cakes

Baker Matthew working on the cake

Frosting time! 

Jay and Hugh waving their palms!

Grandpa, Grandma, Jay, and Hugh

Happy 33 to me!

Jay, Me, Hugh - they couldn't stop looking at the candles

Family photo! 

Grandpa, and us because it was his birthday celebration, too!

Presents!

I've been logged many social events the past couple weeks as well. My friend Breeanne and I have continued our walking trend and we're hitting about one morning a week, which is really great! Hugh had a major poop episode at her house last week, which is the WORST! Breeanne was gracious and let us use wipes and extra clothes from Milo. I also set up a ministering park visit with Nancy and her little boy, Rio, who just turned one. We had a nice visit and she walked to picked up Jay from school, which made Jay very excited! He loves when extra people come to get him from school. I was also able to meet up with my friend, Rebecca Szpak, from Lockheed, for brunch. We found this little place that's half way between our houses and we met up there. I had the biggest chocolate chip pancake I've ever had! It was bigger than a dinner plate and bigger than most GF pizza's you can buy. It was super yummy and Hugh loved it too! I should have snagged a photo before I ate it! Hugh was a trooper and ended up loving Rebecca, of course! It was wonderful to catch up with her. She's a fellow coach, and she's naturally amazing at showing empathy, listening, and making a person feel seen and loved. We were able to walk around a nearby park and then split ways so I could get Jay from school. Our catch up was much too short and had been too long since the last time. Her son's best friend's dad works at KPMG and is a member of the church. I hope maybe they'll be able to get the Szpak's baptized, they'd be amazing members! I had another ministering catch up with Michelle at Smoothie King. I used to minister to Michelle, but, she hasn't been on my route for some time and we still love to catch up. I met with her in the evening, and left the boys to be put to bed by Matthew. It was a nice escape for me and she has an adult son who is Autistic and is so kind and always so supportive of what we're doing to help Jay. Finally, I taught my friend Katie how to make crepes and we had crepes with our other friend, Anna. They are both within a couple years of being married, although close to my age. They are wonderful women who value the Savior and the Gospel and make visiting a lot of fun! 

We also had Stake Women's Conference at the beginning of April. Although it was a busy, busy time for Matthew, he kindly watched the boys that evening so I could attend and worked the extra time to make up for it. We had yummy treats and a keynote speaker. One of my take-aways was about the "enabling strength" we receive because of being covenant bound to the Savior. The verb enabling means it's a constant flow, and it's something beyond what we can do on our own. Strength is where our effort comes in. Our constant desire to be strong in the faith and hold to what we know is true. Attached to the word enabling though, enabling strength takes on a new meaning. It's a strength beyond anything I could even train for, work for, or receive on my own. I am incredibly blessed to have that strength as a gift for when I am seeking to do my very best, and the Lord gives me beyond what I can comprehend. 

We've been full speed ahead on supporting Jay in many ways. We were honored when he was named Student of the Month for his class and he got a special t-shirt and paper award. It was for his ability to work hard on building skills and also having fun while doing it. That's a good way to describe Jay, he works SO hard and doesn't give up easily! He had a Physical Therapy evaluation and a Behavioral Therapy evaluation this past week. Physical therapy will really be working with him on balancing and using one side of his body, along with coordinating movements between hands and feet. Physical therapy is right up Jay's ally, so he's excited with Ms. Elena comes! Behavioral therapy was mostly questions for me and a few for Jay. Katie did the evaluation and was actually able to complete a lot of it without even having to ask us because of the time she's already spent with Jay. She did attend school and watch Jay there, and she said he did really great! Speech therapy with Hanen has been a bit of a disaster the past couple weeks. The boys were in extra bad attitudes when it was our 1:1 virtual session with Autumn. She was gracious and gave us much time and space to try to calm down the weeping children. We ended up doing another session Thursday and will do a final one next week to try to get some flip-charts put together to help Jay increase vocabulary. 

Can you tell Jay was a little confused about why he was getting his picture taken for Student of the Month?

Jay's cute grad picture

Jay actually made a silly face, unprompted and I caught it on camera! Amazing!

Jay did this triangle tunnel all on his own, I was so impressed! 

Matthew finally got a couple days off and it was wonderful! He took part of Friday, the 18th off, and then Saturday he didn't have to work. Friday we were going to go to the temple, but the weather wasn't looking great with rain/snow, we were nervous to make the drive. The weather did clear enough for us to go to Mead to watch Allen perform in the Lion King school play. He did awesome in the Ensemble and the program was amazing! I've never seen a children's play so well done, and Jay and Hugh did amazing! They watched and watched, and loved it! We were so grateful! We joined the Bryce's for a treat at Dairy Queen, which the boys thought was a very fun treat! 

Hugh's favorite spot is to sit on the counter and he wants to lick everything when I'm done with it!

Hugh loved our ice cream treat!

The Dahls invited us to a Passover dinner at their house with Katie's parents and her sister. The boys were so excited to be able to play at Sister Dahl's house and we had a great time! Ben had done a ton of research into the Passover readings and slimmed them down to only about 15 minutes. We would read various parts, and then use something off the Seder plate. We had the bitter herbs, horse radish, apples and nuts, and a few other things. We had unleavened bread as well, which was just a huge maza cracker. The boys did really well and it was neat to put all the things from the Passover together with our beliefs of Jesus Christ. Ben and Katie did an excellent job! We enjoyed a regular dinner afterwards and we brought some "unleavened" chocolate cake which is one of my absolute favorites. 

Easter was fun this year! Jay and Hugh have really gotten into our scripture reading from our paper chain countdown, thank you to Kara for giving that to us! And, I printed off a little journal for them that gave us a few things to talk about related to the Savior. On Palm Sunday, I helped the boys make little palm leaves with their handprints and then we watched the Church's video of the Savior's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The boys loved waiving their palms and then we listened to a few nice Easter songs. We weren't consistent on using the journals, but the boys did enjoy opening them and coloring them. We had a really nice talk one evening while they were coloring and shared some simple truths about Jesus. I think right now, it's about the moments of teaching. Moments where we can testify of truth. Sitting down, having deep conversations about truth, are not where our family is right now and moments come and go and when we use them to testify, the Spirit is strong! Easter Sunday, we did a little egg hunt for the boys in the backyard and enjoyed a beautiful sacrament meeting. We read the scriptures about Jesus rising from the grave and sang a couple of Easter songs. We joined the Bryce's and Merrill's in Longmont for a delicious Sunday dinner. Jay did fairly well playing, but was a bit of a handful by the end. It's always wonderful to be with family and we are so blessed to have so much family around us! Jesus lives and He is the reason family means so much and we can have our families for eternity! What a blessing it is to be able to sing praises to Heavenly Father and our Savior! I love music and the powerful testimony that comes along with it, so we listened to a lot of Easter music this year. 

Hugh finding an egg at the park

Jay hunting!

Hugh was wiped out after the park play and neighborhood hunt, he fell asleep on the rug!

Hugh and Jay on Sunday morning before the egg hunt. 

"I found another one!"

A bright, sunny, beautiful Sabbath morning!

This was the one shot after church I got of trying to get them to stand by each other for a photo.

Hugh

Jay

Hugh, Dad, Jay

Hugh, Me, Jay (Jay's trying to kiss my cheek)

Me & Matthew

Last note, we've started to go for walks after dinner and it's Jay's very favorite thing! Jay loves riding his scooter and he's doing very well at stopping and waiting. Hugh is learning how to "zoom" on his bike and think's it's great to be a big kid and not ride in the stroller! Matthew and I do our best at keeping up on foot, but soon we may have to transition to wheels of some sort. It's been a great way for us to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and time together as a family! 

Jay

Hugh - he doesn't take this on a walk, but is learning to pedal, which is so fun!

Spring Break 2025 & Birthday Fun

Spring has sprung here and I love it! Spring brings new hope, new life, and warmer days! We began our springtime with potty training Hugh. After he drank his first water/juice combination, I felt like I was waiting for the ticking time bomb. I watched my clock a lot and took him often. He did AMAZING! The first time he successfully went pee on the potty, he was ecstatic and so was I! He loves candy and stickers, so he was thrilled to be able to get a little jelly bean and a sticker on his "Potty Train." Day 1 he had a few accidents, but largely success. Day 2 was about 50% success as I reminded him less and let more accidents happen. Day 3 was almost 100%! He finished his train of 30 successful trips to the bathroom on Saturday evening, three days after we started. I was shocked! He got the ice cream that was part of his last train car and he loved it! He continued to do really well for a few days and then a small regression. He's back on track and communicating when he needs to go and I am so happy and so grateful! Jay has thought potty training Hugh is awesome. He gets a treat and a sticker and has been doing really great himself! 

First success = so much happiness! 

He couldn't believe it, and neither could I! 

Hugh loves climbing up on Jay's bike, he thinks it's the best!

Jay's getting so much better at pedaling, it's fun to watch. 

Hugh, cruising on his bike!

Hugh putting his last sticker on!

Woohoo for ice cream!!

He thought it was great! 

Friday evening, March 28th, we drove down to Parker to see Tanner open his mission call. He flew home from BYU to be able to do it with family. I've never seen anyone open a mission call in person before and it was such a neat experience! He's going to Richmond, VA Spanish Speaking, and we're so excited for him! They boys had a great time playing with cousins and all the toys at Mike and Jenna's. We also got to sing and celebrate Grandpa's birthday! We loved the time with family, even though it was a very late night and a late trip down. We were blessed on the way home to avoid a bad accident on the interstate. It looked like it happened only a few minutes before we got there, and we felt we were watched over and delayed at Mike and Jenna's intentionally. 

Saturday morning Katie Dahl came to our house to hang out with us. We made some yummy crepes for breakfast and we were able to share our last one with her. She had a plan to help us work on helping Jay have a safe body, so we played and worked on good behavior. She does an amazing job with Jay (and Hugh), but Jay's in her wheelhouse of expertise. We had fun playing all sorts of things throughout the morning and we were all very tired from the night before so it was good to have a friend there to help us all have a better morning! 

We started Music therapy over the past couple weeks and have now attended three times. This is a therapy covered through the State as a special therapy for Jay. Jay's first session was wild. There were so many instrument choices and books and toys everywhere that he was ping-ponging everywhere! He couldn't focus on anything for longer than a few seconds, and that's what he did for the entire hour we were there. I was exhausted just being in the room and trying to keep track of him and Hugh, let alone seeing how the therapist handled things. The second week, she cleared out a lot of toys and instruments, so there was much less to choose from. He did a lot better and focused a little longer. Week three, similar to week one, but wanted to go home sooner. I am willing to stick with it for a few more weeks to see if he can adjust. I think music could be an amazing outlet for him, but it might not be his thing, and that's okay! Hugh loves the time in the music room and plays all the instruments with Jay, it's very fun to see and observe.  

It was kind of fun to have Jay home for the week of my birthday and enjoy a little more relaxed schedule. Monday we met up at the park with Steph and her kids, and Jenna and Ty. The park was in Central Park area, and it was big. I was a little worried about the size, but Jay did pretty good at staying in the boundaries and at times I left Hugh with Jenna or Steph as I followed Jay. The park made me miss Germany and the parks we had there. This park was the most similar I've seen since Germany. It had some inground trampolines, a sand box, slides built into hills, and a little water pump that kids could operate. I realized after some reflection that it wasn't quite as cool because it was all manmade and not surrounded by beautiful big trees. I've been missing our chance to go to new parks though, and this was a fun one to add to our list! Jay and Hugh didn't play much with the cousins, so we spent a lot of time on our own. Hugh did use the port-a-potty, and didn't have an accident in the few hours we were there - amazing! We had our picnic lunch and enjoyed the time outside on a beautiful day. 

Jay 

Hugh

Hugh and Henry climbing up the big slide tower, both of them turned around shortly after this. Hugh did complete the climb one time, but then wouldn't go down the slide so I had to go get him. 

In ground trampolines! They knew exactly what to do! 

Hugh enjoying the bouncy ride

Hugh loved this spinning seat! He'd get going really fast and just laugh and laugh!

Hugh digging in the sand.

Jay ziplining!

Hugh trying out the rock slide

Go Jay!

Jay figured out how to push by using his foot and still ride, kind of like a scooter.

Jay, Henry, Ty, and Hugh enjoying the bumpy slide!

Later that day, Matthew and I got to go the Avs gave in downtown with KPMG. We had a seat in the box and a babysitter here at home with the kids. We stopped for dinner at Illegal Pete's a fun Mexican food joint. We had a few snacks in the booth, but most of them weren't gluten free, hence dinner before. Illegal Pete's was really yummy and it was fun to eat out with Matthew. We had fun visiting with his coworkers and we got to see a great hockey game! It went into overtime and a shoot out, which neither of us had ever seen before. The boys seemed to do good for Lila and Hugh even went on the potty for her! 

Go Avs!

Wednesday was my 33rd birthday! The matching double digit birthdays don't come around often, so 33 is fun! Wednesdays are our days FULL of therapy. It starts at 8am with massage therapy for Jay, then straight into my Hanen speech therapy class for 2.5 hours, naps, and then music therapy. It always feels full, and my birthday was no exception. Katey got to our house around 9:30, 30 minutes after my class had started and the boys were already falling apart. I kind of left her with the burning fire and went downstairs to the office. She took it in stride, as she always does! The boys enjoyed a morning at the park and being with Katey and Hope! During naptime, Katey made me lava cake! She had a mini one and I did, too. She even left me with three more to make another time! She's the best and made me feel so special and loved! We had time to chat and relax and eat cake, it was beautiful. We went to music therapy that afternoon, and then counted the minutes until Matthew got home from work. Katie Dahl watched the boys while Matthew and I went to dinner at Red Robin. I love their free meal birthday deal and with a free babysitter that the boys LOVE, it was perfect. Katie helped the boys make little birthday signs for me, and they were so excited to deliver them when we arrived home. An evening out with Matthew, without other social obligations, was amazing! We needed an evening and it was a blessing. Aunt Gaylynn and Uncle David called shortly after the boys got into bed and I was able to spend time talking with them so my evening wasn't totally alone. So many people called and reached out, I felt special and loved! 

Thursday was a social filled day. I started with going on a walk with my friend Breeanne and then to brunch with Renee. Jay rode his scooter most of the walk and did awesome waiting at crosswalks! I was worried, and he surpassed my expectations. Milo rode in the stroller in Jay's seat for a lot of the walk, but Jay was happy to share. It was a wonderful and uplifting visit with Breeanne and we got out for the best part of the day. Renee got me flowers, chocolate, and treated us all the "brunch" at Chick-Fil-A. She was there with her two kiddos and Jay and Hugh did fairly well. The play area was small and a bit crowded. Just as Jay was starting to be done playing, Hugh was warming up. It was nice to get out of the house and I appreciated Renee's kindness for my birthday! 

My lava cake and pretty flowers!

Friday was a big day! It started with hosting gluten free cooking club. Katey came again and helped watch the boys so I could host in peace. It was a special treat and something that doesn't happen very often! I taught the ladies how to make blueberry muffins and crepes. I don't make either recipe very regularly, but I thought it would be a fun treat. I enjoyed having all the ladies here and we made some yummy food! That afternoon, I woke the boys a little early from naps and we drove down to Littleton. We hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's for about 45 minutes, then picked up Matthew from the train. We enjoyed attending Michael Armstrong's baptism, and felt so grateful we could be there! The boys have recently loved learning about baptism, so it was extra fun to see one in person. The service was really nice and we're proud of Michael for choosing to follow Jesus! We played a little basketball in the gym afterwards and it brought back memories of when Matthew and I first started getting to know each other. We played basketball there several times. I sank a bunch of 3's and we left before I got too tired and started missing more. The pizza party at Grandma and Grandpa's after the baptism was very fun and Jay got to play with Ty and Henry. Hugh warmed up too, although he's the youngest of the crew so he hung close to me most of the time. We were very blessed to have clear roads on our drive home and avoided most of the snow/rain. 

Saturday we hosted the Merrill's for General Conference since Jason and Matthew had to work. We went for a short walk between sessions and to the park before the evening session. We had coloring sheets and placed stickers on the pictures of the 12 apostles or First Presidency when they spoke. Unfortunately, we had some internet issues at the beginning, so we missed the first couple talks and there was a significant amount of noise so that caused me to miss mostly the rest. Jay has been struggling with social situations like this and Saturday was no exception. It was really hard and breaks weren't really helping. I was grateful for Katey's grace and love and support as by the end of the day I was exhausted and totally overwhelmed. 

Jay, Hope, Hugh, Abby, and Tia

Tia, Kade, Hugh, Hope, Abby, Jay, and Kylee

Abby, Kade, Katey, Tia, Kylee

Kade living his best life resting on Tia, with Kylee

Abby and Kade thought pushing Hope and Hugh was so fun!

Sunday was a much better day. Likely because I had Matthew to help all day, and we were able to tune into the full sessions with less noise. We enjoyed a family walk between sessions and we were so grateful for some warmer weather! I loved all the messages of hope and encouragement I heard. I also appreciated the reminders to become more charitable and look outside yourself to help those around you. I am so grateful we have the ability to listen to the talks again and to read them! I missed so much and feel blessed to have a second chance at learning! 

I've been working diligently to complete my CPR certification and have been doing it mostly in the evenings while Matthew works or at naptime. I am finally done! I will say, I hope I am never called upon to do CPR, but the information was good. We are working towards hiring a Behavioral Therapist for Jay, someone to come into our home to help us and also to attend school with him in the Fall. We feel strongly we need someone who understands Autism to be working with him on a regular basis, so we are taking the steps to try to make it happen. As we decided to move forward with Behavioral Therapy, doors have opened so quickly and we feel Heavenly Father's blessings upon us! We also feel blessed to know Katie Dahl and will be utilizing her as Jay's main therapist with an additional technician to help most days. The principal at Jay's school is on board with letting a therapist come in, and is so supportive of us getting Jay the help he needs. Some people wait up to a year for behavioral therapy, and it's a miracle. We know Heavenly Father is aware of us and guiding us and it's a testimony to us that Jay is a very special boy who is seen and known by Heaven!

Here are just a few pictures of life. Trips to the park, the boys playing together, helping, learning new skills, etc. Life is so busy, every week brings a new schedule, but we are making it and enjoying every moment that we can along the way! 

Hugh!

Swinging and holding himself is a new skill, he was doing great!

Jay and Hugh

Jay loading up dead grass. He's been loving raking it and cleaning it up.

Hugh, so expressive! Always ready for quick funny face and giggles.

In my class I learned to fold a towel swan, and you can see Hugh outside in the sandbox.

Hugh also loves coloring, which is fun! 

Jay was excited about his crown from school about the Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Jay climbed on top of this and wanted to show Daddy!

Jay one morning during my workout. He hung out under the blanket for a while working on his lite-bright.

Hugh and Jay helping me with laundry. 

Playdough can sometimes save the day, and when it does, I am grateful!