Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it's been since October that I have posted.  We have been so busy which is why I havent had a lot of time to post, so here is a little overview/update of what's been going on lately.  Having justin back home has been great! We had a wonderful thanksgiving which we spend at home with my parents and sister who came down to Texas.  This past weekend was full of fun holiday activities which included my first Santa run 5k, respite for the kids & a visit to storybook ranch to see Santa.  

The 5K was a great event to get me back on tract (thanks Candace) with my workout routine which was very sporadic and practically none existent while Justin was away on his last trip to Asia.  I have really enjoyed getting back to the gym and adding a few early morning running sessions into the routine. I signed up with a few fellow warrior moms (which is our nick name for autism moms) I know & got to meet a few ones as well. Autism isn't something you want in your life but it has introduced me to so many new and wonderful friends who make this journey a lot less bumpy & give you a reason to smile:

The kids attended a respite on Saturday afternoon and while they had fun at church justin got some alone time at home & I spend the afternoon with one of my best friends Heidi having a late lunch & coffee. 

On Sunday we went to the annual Christmas event ,'visit with Santa' at Storybook Ranch put on by the organization Especiallly Needed. Both of these organization are wonderful & the events and services they provided for the special needs community is such a blessing. This is Jack's 3rd year going to the Santa event & we are happy to say we had another successful picture with Santa.  This was also the first year Peyton got her picture with Santa (the first year she was to young and not having any of it, and last year she was out of town visiting her aunt and uncle with justin). We arrived at our scheduled time, which is one of the best parts about this event not having to wait in a long line to see Santa. We took the wagon ride down to the old western town were Santa was set up, but Peyton gets nervous sometimes in new  places & is not a fan of places that have loud or unfamiliar noises, & this had both.  So I took Jack inside to do pictures while justin & Peyton waited outside. When we were done Peyton was looking inside through the door from the porch & waving to Santa. He didn't have anyone waiting to see him so he slowly came outside to see her.  She was hesitant at first but after a few minutes talking to him & giving him high fives she let him hold her :) 

This is the last week of school before Christmas break, and with the snow days last week I am looking forward to a nice "normal" yet busy week before the holiday break begins. Today Peyton & I went to gymboree & over to home good to grab one last Christmas present. We have two cookie exchange play dates this week and I am really looking forwards to my moms night out for our holiday dinner/ white elephant gift exchange Wednesday night! Jack has his school holiday party on Friday morning, and we are hoping to take the kids out one night this week to look at Christmas lights.  Our family will start arriving this coming weekend, my parent and sister this Saturday or Sunday (if the weather in Springfield cooperates) and Justin's patents get in on Tuesday. We are looking forward to the kids getting to spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with both sets of grandparents his year. I hope everyone has had a great December & I will hopefully post again sooner rather then later ;) with lots of fun holiday pictures. 

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Parent Teacher Conference Day and a few other things...

The past two months have been a whirl wind.  Justin has been back on the road for all of October and was back home from traveling for only a week in September.  We have had a few visitors the past two months and life in general has kept us pretty busy.  My dad had a minor health scare in the form of a TIA but he is doing really well and we are looking forward to having a visit from them this coming weekend.  My sister and her boyfriend Sean came in town for a quick weekend visit last weekend, and Justin's mom was here back in September.  Its always nice to see family and since traveling can be challenging we greatly appreciate everyone's willingness to make the trip down to Texas when its possible.
 
Jack had off school today for parent teacher conferences.  My conference this morning was very positive and it is nice to see how well Jack has adjusted to his transition to Kindergarten.  He love his new team of teachers and I am right there with him.  She has been working on his ABLLS which is the yearly assessment the school district uses to track his progress and to determine and write new goals.  We have a IEP meeting scheduled for the 19th of November which will be when we look through the finished ABLLS assessment and get all his new goals put in place. 

Jack keeps busy with school, ABA therapy and his social group, and Peyton and I have been keeping busy going to Gymboree, breakfast meetups and play dates with our friends.  I know I haven't posted in quite some time but everyone can thank my sister for introduction me to Instagram ;) We have been doing some fun fall activities which included decorating our pumpkins this past weekend.  I am also planning to take both kids to a pumpkin patch this week after school.  I will try and post again soon with more pictures of our pumpkin patch adventure and Halloween. 

 

 

Here are a few picture links to some albums of things we have done the past few months including Jack's Fund run at school which he participated in and came in second place for in fundraising :)

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

Jack's Fun Run

Tucker Hill Pumpkin Patch with Peyton

Gymboree with Aunt Stacey

Jack reading his Halloween card from Neenah and Papa:

First week of school, Korea & Labor Day

So the title might look like one of those "one of these things is not like the other one" statements, but it's the best description of what's happening in the life of the Griggs Family right now. 

Jack is currently finishing up his first week of kindergarten and over all it has been a really great week. He has been doing really well getting up in the morning & been a willing participant in the getting dressed process, which at the end of last year was starting to become an event I would possibly need to start stretching & warming up for.  He has only had a few minor crying & resistant moments thought out the week. We got a wonderful note on Wednesday that eased my mind that the transition from ppcd to kindergarten is going well.  The true test will be to see how things start going when new demands & skills start to be placed on him.

 

First day of school:

Note from the teacher:

Justin's CT scan last week showed that the majority of his blood clots have been absorbed & that his lungs look good. The clots didn't cause any permanent damage to his lungs and he was given the all clear to start traveling again so he left this morning on a direct flight to Seoul, Korea.  He will be starting his trip there, then he will be going to Tokyo, Japan & then back home to Dallas September 20th. He is excited to be back on the road so he can finish his project. The kids & I will miss him especially Peyton who had become quite the daddy's girl, but I'm sure now with school back in session the time he is away will fly by.

We are looking forward to the arrival of my parents & sister who are coming down to spend Labor Day weekend with us. Jack has off school on Monday so we are looking forward to a few outings over the weekend including the trampoline park Monday morning. 

I hope everyone has a fun & safe Labor Day weekend!

Peyton is still having Gymboree fun while Jack's at school:

Last day of summer vacation

Today is the last day of summer vacation, school starts on Monday, & I can officially say "I made it!" I posted a few times at the beginning of the summer break but have since been a little MIA. 

Justin was traveling for most of the summer for work, while the kids & I tried to keep busy & have fun. Jack had one on one therapy twice a week and also attended a summer social group on Tuesdays & Thursdays that was run by his ABA therapist. We did a Gymboree class on Mondays and had fun at a local trampoline park every Wednesday. We made a few trips to Jack's new school (with his friend who is also entering kindergarten and will be in the same class) so he could have the opportunity to check out his new surrounds & hopefully have a smoother transition into kindergarten. We had a few people come to visit us including my mom, Justin's sister Joyce and her husband Michael & my sister Stacey.

Justin returned from his second trip the beginning of August & was going to be home for a week then head out on his third trip over to Asia, but at the beginning his second trip he started to not feeling very well. He thought he had pulled a muscle in his back while working out, but as time passed he continued to feel worse not better.  He had a very long trip home but made it back on Friday night. The next day he went to the urgent care clinic, but they sent him straight to the emergency room. They ran several different tests & he was finally diagnosed and admitted for multiple blood clots (pulmonary embolisms) in his lungs. Thankfully I have some wonderful friends & a great neighbor who helped me out with the kids until Justin's sister Joyce was able to fly in on Sunday morning. Justin thankfully was only in the hospital for one night and was able to come home to rest & recover. He was able to return to work the following Monday. The doctors can't be sure why the clots developed, it could have been the long plane trips or he could be genetically predisposition to clotting. He will be having more testing done in a couple of months to find some answers to determine his further course of treatment. His body now is continuing to heal. He had another test yesterday to see how that process is going, he will get he official results next week, but the dr said things looked good.  

He was been given the ok to travel again so he will be leaving next Friday for Korea to continue his training project for work.  

This week has been full of last time summer activities, and focusing on back to school. Jack had two opportunities this week to meet his teaches & see his new classroom. The first one was on Monday morning did not go as well as I had hoped. The second one happened yesterday afternoon & to my surprise it went extremely well. He didn't try & "flop"  when we walked into the school, he didn't have a single meltdown, and he seemed completely comfortable in his new classroom.  He has two friends from Lawson also starting K with him, and the teacher:student ratio is the same as it was a Lawson.   There is his new lead teacher Ms. Brandi, two assistants Ms. Jackie & Ms. Maria & a speech therapist who will be in the room occasionally to work with individual students for speech. 

I'm very exited for the new school year & I spent some time this morning getting on email lists, updating his registration forms & filling out paper work to send back the first week of school. 

I want to wish all the kiddo's going back on Monday or who have already started a great year!

I will try & post some of our summer pictures I took very soon & as always ill try and post again soon.

Here a couple to tied you over :)

THe 4th of July and Justin's week home!

The 4th of July this year we got to spend time with my mom and my dad.  My mom had flown in earlier to give me a hand since Justin has been gone and my dad drove in on Wednesday to come spend time over the holiday weekend (and to take my mom back home:) We give him a big thanks for surviving on his own while she was here spending time and helping us out!  On the 4th of July McKinney has a big celebration that starts with a parade in the morning, a car show in the afternoon and a big firework display in the evening.  This year since I had the extra help I was able to two out of the three events.  Me, Peyton and my dad went to see the parade in downtown McKinney since she is my child who can handle waiting for things to start and doesn't mind sitting still.  She really enjoyed seeing all the dogs and horses that were in the parade, but she could have done without the loud motorcycles. We then came home so she could have lunch and take a nap and the later that afternoon me, my dad and Jack went back to walk around and check out the car show.  Jack was very interested and loved walking around and looking at all the different cars.  He found his favorite car dealership had a few cars in the show (Bob Tomes Ford) and was very excited to that and also loved the Mustangs.  We didn't stay long because it started to get warm being directly in the sun, but over all it was a beautiful day and wasn't unbearable which for July 4th in Texas is saying something.  We came home and had a little cookout.  We recorded the fireworks on TV for the kids to watch later but neither on of them were very impressed.  Maybe next year will be our year to brave the fireworks, and then again maybe not...

Parade time with Peyton:

 

Car Show time with Jack:

 Just saw the Bob Tomes sign:

 "mom, I don't pose for pictures..."

Justin come home on July 5th and despite the first few day of fighting the jet lag he jumped back into things pretty quickly.  The kids were both so happy to see him and I let them stay up a little later then usual so they see him when he first got home.  Peyton got so excited she ran up to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss, and Jack got the biggest smile on his face.   My parents were in town until Sunday so Justin and I got to spend a little time together without the kids.  We went to a late dinner the night he got home and even got to see the new movie World War Z, which was pretty good.  The kids and I kept our same weekly routine, Jack got to go back to social, and Justin went into the office to catch up on his work here in Dallas.  We tried to eat some of his favorite foods while he was in town since the food in China can be interesting :)  He had to get up really early this morning and left at 4:30 to start on his journey back (thank goodness for the car service).  He  has already landed in Chicago and will be boarding a plane for the long trip back to Shanghai very soon.  This trip is not as long as the first one and he will be coming back home  on August 2nd. The kids and I are getting excited to seeing Justin's sister Joyce and her husband Michael.  They will be arriving on Friday so we have some company for a few day's while Justin is away these next three weeks.  

Today we are enjoying a nice rain shower which is suppose to bring with it cooler temperatures, so maybe we will have the opporutinty to get outside a little more this week.  I hope everyone has a great week and I will post again soon. 

    Here are some picture of Peyton helping me make guacamole for dinner, she is turning into a my great little helper:

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day Update...

It has been over a week now that Justin has left for China.  His week in Hong Kong went well and he is now in Shanghai experiencing his first Monday morning of work there ( he is 13 hours ahead of us). The time change makes it a challenge to talk a lot, but luckily we have been able to speak often and email if talking isn't an option. 

The kids and I had our first full week on our summer schedule and it was a busy one.  Peyton is really enjoying our Monday and Wednesday morning activities of Gymboree and the Trampoline park and Jack warmed up to both pretty quickly both days.  I anticipate with going to Gymboree twice a week (once for class and at least once a week for open gym time) and the trampoline park once a week he will start to really enjoy each of those morning more and more.  He had a good first week of summer social.  They start out at the park each morning then head back to Kerry's house for structured social learning activites and also gets to enjoy some water fun. Which for a boy who loves being out side makes for a good day.  Friday is our free day of the week when we have no pre-scheduled activities planned.  This Friday we had a play date with my friend Jessica and her son Heath.  Peyton was having so much fun she skipped her nap.  The fun lasted all day so we decided to go out for dinner at Whataburger, and then we headed over and played at the open gym.  I was so surprised that girl just kept going and going, my little energizer bunny children :)  She ended up paying for her lack of nap that night, she was overly tired and didn't sleep very well (such the opposite what you expect to happen), but made up for it with Saturday's nap that lasted for just over 3 hours. 

I had some great help this week from my wonderful neighbor Jessica who watched Peyton for me a couple time so I could get to the gym and go to an appointment.  She also brought us dinner Monday night and surprised us with a fantastic bag of goodies for me and the kids.  Peyton always loves to play at Jessica's house, she loves playing with Lydia and really enjoys when Jack entertains her with his balloons :)  Today was also the first time we used Rachel who is someone that Justin found who works at fossil that is willing to baby sit for me this summer.  I had her come over this morning for a few hours to watch the kids while I ran some errands.  It was nice to get out of the house without the kids.  Those trips to Target without kids is truly a mini vacation ;) We finished up our Sunday with an invitation from my friend Celina to come over and go swimming with her and her son Tanner.  Jack and Peyton both had a blast at the pool, and since Jack decided to take a nap today (is there a blue moon or something??) I am hoping it helped wear him out a little so he isn't up to late.

I hope everyone had a really nice Father's Day!  We missed spending the day with Justin but I was able to make him a fun little digital gift he could watch and hopefully it made him feel loved today.  We will be excited to see him July 5th when he comes back home for his week in Dallas. 

Happy Father's day to my Dad too who I am looking forward to seeing over the 4th of July holiday! 

Here is a link to the video I made for Justin if anyone is interested but I'll warn you now its kind of long (16 min)
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6MU3XcwrZzWdGU0WklPZ3FQRWs/edit?usp=sharing

Gymboree Fun!

Color Time!

Skype Time with Dad!

Trampoline Time!

 

Jack's last day of preschool and Justin's on his way to China

 

Jack's first day at Lawson August 2011
 

Jack's at his end of the year party yesterday with his teacher Lynn

 

I may not have been the best blogger the past two months but I have some very exciting updates for this post.  Jack is attending his last day of preschool (PPCD-STC) class today at Lawson.  He started there when he was just 3 years old and is finishing up a big 5 year old! He was non-verbal when we started and now he lots of words and is starting to use them to form simple sentences and can with a partial visual prompt tell us "I want..." and has started to spontaneously ask his therapist and sometimes us for things he wants ( I want to go to dirt piles or I want to go to Target).  His receptive language has also improved, he is doing better at following one step directions and can follow some two step directions in context of an activity that he is doing.  He has learned to use the bathroom and his play skills have become much better too.  He still doesn't understand or know how to be social with his piers but that will be something we will be focusing on improving this summer with the ABA social group program and some other fun summer activities we have planned this summer. 

Yesterday was his end of the year party and it was fun watching how happy he was at school but sad knowing is was time to tell all his amazing teachers good-bye.  I am nervous about our transition to kindergarten next year but we had our transition ARD (IEP meeting) and I believe we have a good schedule for him next year which will include some inclusion time for him during lunch, recess and specials (ie PE, Library, Gym, ect) with the support he needs for success.  His new STC teacher seems great and she has several years of experience which will help him continue to make progress on his goals. 

We also had to say good bye and good luck to Justin this morning he is taking multiple trips this summer for work to do some training for Fossil in China.  His first trip that he left for today will have him in China until July 5th.  He will then be back in Texas for about a week and then will be heading back east.  The first trip is the only one scheduled so far but they will be able to figure out the rest of his schedule once he is over there and can assess the time frame of what the training schedule will need to be.   This is a very amazing opportunity for him and his career so the kids and I will miss him but we know he will do a terrific job and hope he has a fun time experiencing the Chinese culture.  I guess we both were destine for China adventures in our life time :)

The kids and I will be keeping busy this summer.  Jack's summer schedule will consist of Summer Social on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 8:30-2:30, ABA on Monday's and Wednesday's (12:30-2:30) I will be doing a Gymboree class with both kids on Monday mornings at 9, and we have a new trampoline park we plan to frequent on Wednesday mornings.  We will be trying to spend time with friends and hopefully get some pool time in there occasionally to get a break from the hot Texas summer.  Tomorrow is the first day of summer and we are meeting several friends and a new park that just opened up in Frisco that was designed especially for kids with special needs. 

I hope that everyone has had a good end to the school year.  I am planning to try and get back into a good routine of blogging and I will try and keep everyone posted on Justin's adventure and our own summer time adventure here in Texas!

Jack and his teacher Tyler

 

Jack with is teacher Stacey

 

Good Bye Daddy!

 



Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend.  We had a very relaxing weekend that included an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, Justin getting to go to our regions Sweet 16 and Elite 8 basketball games at Cowboy stadium and Jack and Peyton dying Easter eggs.  We got a few really cute pictures of the kids at the Easter egg hunt and they both had a great time putting the eggs in there basket.  Jack got the hang of it very quickly and I am sure if Peyton had realized there was candy in the eggs before we got home, we would have come home with about twice as many eggs, lol.  The wait to see the Easter Bunny was a little to long and we weren't sure if Peyton would enjoy seeing a gigantic bunny rabbit so we decided to hold off on that activity until next year.