Thankful

I was emailed by Autism speaks and invited to share what I am thankful for in regards to my autistic child. They are collecting stories from people who have been affected by the disorder. This is what I wrote. I have no idea if or when or where it will be on the site. If I am able to find it I'll let everyone know.

I am so thankful for my beautiful son Ethan and for the opportunity I have to be his mother. I'm thankful for the progress he's made and all that he's worked so hard to accomplish. I'm thankful for my husband who truly is as invested as I am in Ethan's success. I'm thankful that Ethan has an older sister Lorin with unending patience and a younger sister Brynn who adores him. I am thankful for many wonderful and patient teachers, therapists, doctors and school administrators who have bent over backwards to give my son everything he needs to succeed in life. I am especially thankful for a pediatrician who actually listened to my concerns and a special ed kindergarten teacher who loved Ethan unconditionally. I am so thankful for the friendships I've made with other mothers of autistic children and for the support it's given me. I'm thankful that God has given our family this opportunity to grow and learn and have experiences we might have missed out on if autism weren't a part of our lives. I am so thankful for all of the progress that has been made in Autism research and the mysteries that continue to be unfolded.

Also I have been considering starting an autism blog. Input please, good idea or not?

On other news, at Lorin's school every year around Thanksgiving they have the Turkey Trot. Each grade has a race to win what? A turkey. The PE teachers pick the best in each grade to participate. Lorin was chosen and she ran in the race and that girl brought home a turkey!!! SHE WON!!! Unfortunately I already bought a turkey because they are cheap this time of year and we will be spending thanksgiving with Steve and Arlene (this is not unfortunate, we are rather looking forward to it) so we won't even be cooking our own Thanksgiving turkey. Now we have a plethora of turkeys. I see lots of turkey sandwiches, turkey noodle soup, turkey casseroles, turkey empanadas, and any other turkey concoctions we can come up with in our future.

The turkey is so huge she has to use her leg to prop it up!

I just thought this was cute. Ethan set up the toys just how he wanted them and taped the paper to the door and had Gary write in bubble letters exactly what he wanted his "guys" to say.