More Easter

I think Easter is officially my favorite holiday, it represents Hope and the Atonement and everything that makes life meaningful and I love the opportunity that the holiday gives me to focus on that. It was so much fun to decorate last night, knowing that it would make the kids happy to wake up and see something out of the ordinary in the kitchen. I was hoping this would help set the tone of good moods for the day and it did...

Not my favorite picture, but getting the two of them in a picture together is pretty difficult and I wanted to document the day and this is all I have, so here it is...

Randomness and A Little Bit of Easter

This little corner of the couch is Lola's favorite place in the entire house... Whenever she climbs in to it, she giggles to herself and gets a big smile on her face...

She loves it so much, she thought it would be nice to share it with her baby...

Cole loves cupcakes, just the frosting, but I thought it would be fun to help him decorate some for Easter... I LOVE being able to do things like that with him. His therapy has helped him so much to be able to follow some instructions...

It was very windy the other day and we were outside playing and Cole decided to run back inside to grab the kite he had made earlier that day in school... It is always amazing to see him make connections between things like the wind and getting his kite. It really is a blessing parenting a child with a disability... when you don't have any way of knowing what skills they'll be able to obtain and you see them make so much progress, it feels like you're a part of a miracle.

Lola easter-egg-hunted solo today. Apparently, Cole wasn't such a fan of the wind today, but Lola was quite the little pro. She didn't even have to be shown what to do, she just got the concept. Watching her develop is amazing! She is learning to talk and I am loving every minute of it. I remember waiting for Cole to start talking and he never really did, so every word out of her mouth fills me with so much hope.

Life As We Know It

Life with Cole is never dull... Sometimes I get so caught up in the whirlwind that is our daily life and I forget to take a step back and see how far we have come together. Having a child with autism is HARD, I would never deny that, but overall it is a blessing. For Cole's sake, I really wish I could take it away, but I know that he is who he is supposed to be and I am so grateful for all of the miracles that I get witness as he progresses.

This is about as close as playing together as these two get... but even this is major progress. For a long time Cole could not be in the same room as Lola without panicking, but the more predictable she becomes, the easier she is on Cole.

This is Cole on Christmas morning. This was the first year that he seemed at all aware that it was a special day. We had been building it up, telling him that Santa Claus was coming and that he would bring Cole cookies, because nothing gets Cole more excited than cookies... and when he saw the plate of cookies on Christmas morning, I think he made the connection I was trying to help him make.

He LOVES having family in town. He loves nothing more than a room full of people (adults- kids make him nervous), all paying attention to him, and family is definitely good for that. He particularly loved having Marcus in town over Christmas break... If you know Cole, then you know how amazing it is to see him this calm...

I love his face in this picture... I feel like it captures who he is. He is SO sweet and just wants to be good. His frustrations come from his difficultly understanding the expectations that other people understand innately. I am so blessed to have him and Lola in my life... I know that they are helping me become the person I was always meant to be. Life is good.

Lola

It's crazy to think that I haven't posted in a year! I was getting on to do a long overdue post, but I didn't realize it had been that long... Time flies I guess:) I thought this little girl deserved a post all her own. I am so glad that she came to our family. It is hard to picture life before she was around.

I love her face! She is so sweet... Sometimes I feel bad that she has it pretty hard in some ways, but I know that she was meant for our family. She has such a strong spirit and she is so full of life and personality. I love watching her emerge as she gets older...

One of her favorite past-times... exploring. She loves to play around the entertainment center and pull out dvds, empty full containers of wipes and use the tv stand as a teether. Lola loves to be busy and she wants me to do everything with her, so she keeps me busy too:)

This was taken on her first birthday... I love my little girl. She is such a gift!

7 Weeks

As of yesterday, this little girl is officially 7 weeks old, but it is already hard to remember what life was like without her. She loves tummy time, baths, clean diapers, hearing the sound of her brother's voice, (don't we all:) and sleeping in her dad's arms. Lola is so much different from Cole... It is so interesting to realize how particular babies are, even at such a young age. She doesn't seem to share Cole's love for music, which I thought all babies liked, but apparently that is not the case. Lately, I hear Cole singing to himself before he falls asleep. He takes tunes from songs he knows and throws in his own words. He also loves singing at church, the words aren't always decipherable, but he seems to know what he is saying. Therapy is going really well for him... he loves the people he works with and he is communicating a little bit more all the time. I am so grateful for the therapists and teachers that work with Cole... It is amazing how people who were strangers a few months ago, were able to come in and form a bond with Cole and help him in ways I was unable to. He is a lucky boy to have so many people that care about and love him.

She Is Here!

Lola Lynn was born at 5:04 pm on the 9th of February...

Here she is checking me out for the first time...

And I think she has decided that she likes me:)

She is so sweet and I am glad she is finally here! I cannot believe how much life can change in just 5 days. Cole is adjusting better than I expected him to, but I think it is just going to take him some time to get used to all of the newness.

First Day of School

A very tired Cole started school this morning... I cannot believe having him all to myself every day has already come and gone. I am very grateful though for the programs that our school district has and I know once he adjusts he will love preschool.

This is just another random picture from his birthday last week... I love his little face. I am so glad that he gets to start school before Lola arrives sometime in the next couple weeks... I really didn't want him to associate being sent to school with Lola. He is going to be such a sweet big brother. Lately he has been kissing my stomach and saying, "baby?" He is the best...