Walk Now for Autism!

I am registered and will be beginning to work on my fund raising for this year's Walk Now for Autism event at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock. This is such a great event - a great cause and a really fun day for the whole family. For those of you local to Austin, I encourage you all to come out and join in the festivities on October 11! For those who are not local, please consider making a contribution to this worthy cause. Corey is one of countless kids and adults challenged by autism, and every little bit we all do to help find the cause(s) and improve treatment, etc. is hugely important. You can find my walk website here: http://www.walknowforautism.org/austin/chrissyweber

Here are a couple of photos from last year's walk.

Happy Valentines!

After a tough week last week with "sickies" we are all on the mend and ready to celebrate V-Day. Mia had a party at preschool yesterday and had a blast, plus got some cool loot along with Valentines greetings. Today Mia and I headed over to Fern Bluff elementary and joined in the fun at Corey's party - the kids got to have fun using cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes in jello jigglers and enjoyed the (gf/cf/sf) cookies Mia and I made yesterday. Corey and Mia were so happy to enjoy the festivities together - they always seem to want to sit together at these parties. Awwwww!

Superbowl Sunday

Joe is on the road again through Friday. The good news is the trip is to SoCal, so he can able hang with some friends and family while he is there, and go to a friend's superbowl party. The kids and I will be heading over to Lourdes and Steve's house a bit later for their Superbowl party. Steve is a die-hard Steelers fan, so I made him a Steelers cake for the party - I think he will be tickled. The cake also happens to be gluten free/casein free/soy free, and still delicious. Here is a pic of the cake...



What a fun time! Lourdes and Steve are wonderful hosts and pampered the kids and I - Lourdes didn't let me lift a finger, and she makes a fine cosmo... Wow - what an ending to the superbowl! Steve was stoked about the cake I made, so that was cool, too.

















We are home now, the kids tucked in bed - boy were they tired. Of course, Corey was extra tired since he got up at 4:30 this morning. Eeek!

Just good clean fun...

Corey still prefers baths over showers. Spectrum kids often have sensory issues, and showers can be a more than a bit overwhelming, between the noise of the shower and the sensation of so much water hitting all over the place. Besides - baths are great. Corey is working on overcoming his discomfort/anxiety surrounding haircuts, hair-washing, etc. He is slowly but surely doing better, and last night he and I had such a fun time with the bath, and washing his hair. We like to do things like singing learning songs, etc. while he bathes - gotta love good clean fun, right? Checkout the super cool mohawk...

The party...

Mia had such a great time at her bday party today. Hoppin Hippo is such a great venue for a young kid's bday party - lots of different things to play in/around and not so huuuuge that you can't find your kids. Everyone had fun and Mia was loving having so many folks there for her bday party. The other big thing was that Mia's Aunti Marti came in to town yesterday to spend the weekend, and join in the party fun. We didn't tell her until we were on our way to the airport to pickup Marti, so it was a big, fun surprise. As per Mia's request, we made a princess bday cake (gfcf, of course) and it turned out yummy - yay!

Happy Birthday, Mia!

Today our baby girl is 4 years old! She started off the day with presents and is now off to preschool. She is going to have a class party at school, complete with cupcakes, and after school the two of us are going to get pedicures. Yes - she is living large today.












































































A mani/pedi for Mia today - What a princess!

Happy New Year. The kids and I have been spending some quality time while Joe gets back into the travel grind. We miss him when he is on the road, we have a good routine down. We have been enjoying some beautiful days - going to the parks and playing outside in the neighborhood. It is always amazing to watch my children grow and learn - they surprise me every day. Corey is showing me so much lately. His playful side is coming out more and more and his imaginative play - this is tremendous in the world of autism. The other day in the bathtub, Corey told me he was pretending to be a snake and proceeded to lay down on his side/tummy, wiggle and hiss like a snake. He was having fun with it, and having fun making his mommy laugh. He is also doing great in school, learning by leaps and bounds - we are so proud of him. Our Mia is such a smart little thing and is loving going to her "big girl school" and loves to "teach" me about the stuff she is learning. She is so funny in how she loves to be a princess, but also tells me she is "girl incredible hulk" or a power ranger.

I have also been having some fun reconnecting with old friends recently. Turns out, there are 4 people from my jr. high and high school days now living in the Austin area like me. What are the odds of 5 Glendale kids ending up here? I had a great lunch yesterday with my friend Heidi - hadn't seen her in 20 years. We are so happy to be reconnected and are looking forward to hanging out more now that we are "neighbors" again. Another friend, Robin is planning to set up a "reunion" of sorts for all of us Glendale kids sometime soon. Wonder if there are any others in the area, beyond the 5 of us?