Jessie's hair is back. :)

I forgot to update a picture of Jessie's hair since she has gone back to blonde although I just realized she's in Bryan's birthday picture from a previous post.  Oh well.  It looks really nice although a little darker I think and she's upset there is more strawberry blonde in it than she would like...but it will just have to grow out.  It looks wonderful and it is so nice to see her back as her normal self.  :)

The 40 things I love most about Bryan!

1. my song
2. our children
3. your passion for all kind of music
4. your work ethic
5. your honesty
6. your taste in jewelry! :)
7. that you always put your family first
8. your drive to stay fit
9. your amazing brain
10. your generosity with me
11. your trust in me to "run" our family
12. your love of Disney!
13. the way you light up when you watch one of the kids accomplish something
14. that you always invite the kids along with you when you run errands and love spending time with them
15. your sense of humor
16. your sarcastic outlook that compliments mine
17. your soda addiction because it makes mine look mild. :)
18. that you hate veggies too!
19. your hidden talents that you pretend you don't have...like your ability to draw and write
20. the beautiful poems you've written for me
21. knowing that you can handle any problem that comes up and the feeling of security it gives me
22. hearing you play the piano
23. your persistence to reach all your goals
24. that you have more clothes in your closet than I do. ;)
25. that you always stretch yourself and are always reading different kind of books
26. my favorite gift you've ever given me...Evan's therapy scrap book.
27. that you are generous to your family when help is needed
28. that you passed your musical talent on to our kids
29. your unwavering commitment to exercise
30. that you are willing to try new experiences...like swimming!
31. your love of scuba diving and excitement for the kids to share it, even if they don't. :)
32. your strength, inside and out
33. our similar feelings and views on religion and politics
34. your support of all things Evan, even if it took us a while to get there!
35. your commitment to our marriage
36. your love of cruises
37. your willingness to apologize
38. that you are even more handsome now than you were when we met
39. your patience with me when I am having a bad day...or even week.
40. that you have been an amazing partner, friend, love, and confidant for over 20 years!

I love you Bryan!

Happy 40th birthday!!

February is already flying by!

It's Feb. 12th and we are already approaching Bryan's big 40th birthday and Valentines Day. Big weekend and I wish I was a little more prepared. I've thought a lot about it but seriously...at this point there isn't one thing that Bryan needs, or even wants, that he can't or doesn't just go out and buy himself. My brother suggested a trip to San Francisco which would be amazing, but we just went to Vegas less than two months ago and I can't imagine Bry taking time off again so soon. Besides, our Europe trip is coming up!!! Yay! Counting down and so excited! May 25th is coming and we are so pumped!

At this point I guess the b-day/valentine weekend looks like it will consist of dinner and a movie. I wouldn't mind seeing Avatar. We'll see if I can even drag Bryan to the movie theater at all! :) Jessie is heading home which I'm sooo ready for! Two weeks can really drag sometimes. She did make a big decision and will be back at Mizzou this fall. As sad as that makes me, I am happy she is going to go back. It's a grown up decision and as much as it's been hard for her to be so far away...is 4 hours considered far? :) ...it's a much better school and she'll be able to go further by staying. We WILL have her home for the summer though so it's not all sad! :)

The therapy situation with Evan has moved forward as we thought. Our last team meeting working with Matt will be in a few weeks. Evan is doing fine although we've upped his medication and he about drove me insane Wednesday evening. He was just wired! Lots of light flipping and overall being demanding. He just won't take no for an answer! One thing I can say is that he is persistent. That boy can ask for chocolate milk for over an hour without giving up...that's for sure!!

Well, it's been a good month so far but I think we are all ready to move forward into Spring. Too cold and we're just ready for more light in the evenings!

snow!

Well, after much anticipation and a lot of waiting it finally arrived! Snow everywhere! No, it's not like Utah snows but for Missouri it's a pretty decent one. Evan has been asking about playing in the snow since Thanksgiving when we visited the family for the holidays so he is thrilled! In fact, all morning he's been asking to go outside. Hadley has been amazing at helping me distract him. I don't know how much longer it will last though...he's ransacking the mud room as we speak and searching for his coat. :)

I have to just say that I am so impressed with Hadley! I couldn't have asked for a more helpful and wonderful sister for Evan! She spends so much time talking to him and explaining things to him when he's upset. I know she's definitely the expert when it comes to dealing with him. She's a natural teacher and thrives on taking charge. (Maybe that's from being one of the youngest and this is her only opportunity?) She's just a life saver so much of the time and I'm so thankful she's my little mother!

Other than playing in the snow we actually are going to be heading down to the mall today to try and support Lodema and Briana with their yard sale Briana is holding to raise money for the people of Haiti. I can't believe how much time and work has been put into this project by both of them!! It's amazing and I am so impressed. I'm not looking forward to driving today but Lodema has been such a huge help to me so many times that I'll risk it. :)

Other than that the big event happening in the family is Jessie and her hair. haha. She ended up coloring her last week with a friend, Megan, and went brown. It didn't go well in Jessie's mind and she's been trying to wash it out ever since. Unfortunately, it was a 20 wash dye and it's just not working. She now has reddish brown hair and is panicking. Linda, our hairstylist, is fitting her in today at 1:00 to try to get it back to it's blonde color so I hope it works. Of course I'm going to add some pictures! lol!

changes

Well...today has been quite an interesting day. You know how there just seems to be one of those days every once in a while that is life changing. Things seem to go along like normal for a long time and then all of a sudden it all comes together and one day it just seems to take a different direction. Today seems to be one of those.

I received a phone call this morning. Tracy from the Regional Center (a girl I went to school with at West County believe it or not...small world!) called to tell me that the coordinator we have been using for over 3 years will not be getting the certification we had expected. Basically, we are without a leader. It's actually been a long time coming and we have been paying Matt out of pocket since August, but all in hopes that his funding would go through anytime. Looks like that funding won't and it's time to make big decisions. What is strange and amazing is that we've been moving toward an end to our ABA team for a little while and just yesterday had a meeting with our "girls" and had said that we were slowing down and making it a goal that ABA will end permanently at the end of summer. I think now it will be end of this school year. Evan still has a way to go but he's doing so well. I don't know if it's going to be possible to get him to a point where we can "fix" everything and who knows where that line is anyway. He's still not completely potty trained which is our biggest hurdle right now, but that is because he doesn't want to be potty trained. He's perfectly capable but unwilling. He is a quirky little kid who still flips lights and zones out when you start asking him questions but I can't think of any programs we can do with him that will help those issues. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that there will be a point where we have to just say we've done a great job and put 100 percent into this. Now we have to just work with him as parents and do our best. Hopefully we've gotten there and I'll be able to look back and feel confident and comfortable with ending it in May.