So, when the congregation was reading about not coveting your neighbor’s wife, or manservant, or maidservant, or his ass…etc…Aaron looks at me with a huge grin and says, “Or his donkey!”

Good, he HAS been paying attention =)

I know the common thought is that autism is caused by the mercury in some vaccines.  But for the record, no mercury has been used in vaccines (except some flu vaccines) since 2002.  Yet,  austim continues to be on the rise.  Even Gabe, who was born in 2002, had very little exposure to vaccines that year, and has autism. I’m thoroughly convinced that vaccines were ruled out of the equation years ago.  Anyways, those are my 2 cents.

To those of you who have been praying us through this difficult and sometimes painful journey, thank you so much.  I know for many of you, dear friends, this is not the outcome you were hoping for, but thanks for praying for us just the same. We love you dearly and will miss you greatly as we will not have the same amount of contact.  Please know you are all invited over for playdates whenever you have the inclination to come over.  We’re just a phone call away!

On  separate note…We did get the results of Gabe’s EEG.  They weren’t anything surprising.  While he was awake, his brain patterns were a little slower than a child his age would normally be, which accounts for the autism and related developmental delays.  While asleep the brain patterns on the left side of his brain showed abnormal activity which are consistent with a child at risk for seizures, which accounts for the epilepsy.   So, this is good, because it means nothing is getting worse =) So, we’re keeping the same anticonvulsant regimen and he’s getting all the early intervention therapy he needs.

I do want to publicly give thanks to the Lord that he has provided a means of encouragement and counsel for me through this.  Dr. Laura Hendricksen, who is a nouthetic counselor with IBCD (Institute of Biblical Counseling and Discipleship) has had a slot open up in her schdule to see me and Gabriel every other week.  She is a trained psychiatrist who used to have her own practice, but left her practice to help her own severely autistic son through his therapy.  I am very blessed to have someone counsel me who is not only a godly and biblically sound counselor, and medically trained to understand Gabe and his needs, but is also a mother who has gone through what I’m going through to a more extreme extent.

Gabe is such a blessing to our family and is such a sweet and loving child, and while I wouldn’t want him any other way, I’m glad there is help out there for him to have a happy and easier life.

I hope you all won’t mind a shameless plug for my hubby’s  tutoring services.

Josh is a Spanish teacher at a charter school. He has a M.Ed, single subject Spanish credential (BCLAD certified), and is multi-subject credentialed in the state of California.  He has  4 years teaching experience in both the public and private school atmospheres as well as private (individual) tutoring experience, and seminary experience both in-class and through distance education. He has been studying/teaching Spanish diligently for over 15 years. He also has been studying theology and world religions for 12 years. Below is a list of subjects and grade levels he is qualified to tutor:

All ages ESL
Pre-K through college level Spanish
Pre-K through college level Bible
Pre-K through college level systematic theology (including Apologetics)
Pre-K through college level philosophy
Pre-K through college level world religion
Beginning Latin
Beginning Music Theory
Beginning Logic
Pre-K through 6th grade general education (with specialties in English, Reading, Writing, and Spelling)
Speech and Debate

With tutoring at a distance,  you choose the subject you’d like your child(ren) to be tutored in.  Josh (Mr. Brisby to the kids =), will then develop a placement test for your child(ren). Then based upon the preexisting knowledge of the child(ren), he will send weekly worksheets via e-mail attachment (the number of worksheets per week depends upon which Track you choose) . Your child(ren) fills out the worksheet as best they can,  and sends it back via e-mail to Mr. Brisby. Through e-mail correspondence,  Mr.Brisby will discuss the graded worksheet, and discuss the answers, as well as how to improve,  with your child(ren). You will also have a weekly phone consultation (duration of consultation depends upon Track chosen) in which either you or your child(ren) can have questions answered and advice given as pertaining to the tutored subject. The phone call will be initiated by Mr. Brisby so you won’t have to concern yourself with the long-distance cost of the call. Consult times are flexible. At the discretion of Mr. Brisby, some subjects may include reading assignments.

Track A includes 3 weekly worksheets, unlimited e-mail correspondence concerning worksheets, and a 45 minute weekly consultation.

Track B includes 2 weekly worksheets, unlimited e-mail correspondence concerning worksheets, and a 30 minute weekly consultation.

Track C includes 1 weekly worksheet, unlimited e-mail correspondence concerning worksheet, and a 15 minute weekly consultation.

Anyone interested may e-mail me at fouratthemoment at yahoo dot com.

My appointment went well, I am 29 weeks along and little Isaiah, a.k.a Izzy, is doing great.  I’m a little anemic, so I need to eat more leafy greens.  I’m already looking forward to being done with this pregnancy and holding little Izzy in my arms.  I’m also looking forward to having the option to put him down when I want to. He’s getting really heavy and my back’s been complaining.

Would you all mind saying a prayer for Gabe this Monday (well, you don’t need to wait until Monday to pray =)? He has another EEG. It’s just a routine follow-up to last year’s EEG, which of course showed abnormal activity on the right side of his brain (causing the seizure activity).  I have reason to believe that he has been having “silent seizures”.  Maybe this EEG will tell whether he is or not. I’m not sure.

So, Sunday night, we’ll be keeping our sweet 4 3/4 yr old up until midnight, then waking him up at 4am, and keeping him awake until his EEG at 2pm, at which time he’s supposed to take an hour long nap on an uncomfortable bed in an unfamiliar place for the  EEG technician.  Keep in mind that this sweet boy does NOT take naps. He has maybe fallen asleep during nap time all of about 5 times in the last year and 1/2.  But he needs to be asleep for the EEG, and he needs to STAY asleep for an hour. So, prayers are truly appreciated. Please pray that Gabe will fall asleep at the appropriate time, and that he will stay asleep for the length of time needed.

Please pray for me also, because I will be getting as little sleep as Gabriel, and being very pregnant I need my rest =) I will be driving to San Diego (almost an hour commute) while tired. Pray that I will not be irritable with others, and that I will have the energy to drive safely and function well as a wife and mommy.

So I asked Gabe, ” Should Mommy have more babies so more kids can wrestle daddy?”

He grins and says matter-of-factly, “Yes.”

This year we had a friend and his daughter over to celebrate with us. After they left, we all played outside in the backyard while daddy enjoyed a cigar. Emmie (2yrs) came to him with a yellow piece of candy and asked him to open it, so he did. Then he asked her, “Does it taste like lemon?” She said, “Yes.” A few minutes later Emmie came back to Josh and pointed at his cigar and asked, “Does it taste like lemon?”  

They were gone for over an hour, and when they came back my dad came in and asked my mom, “Deb, where’s my shotgun?”  I laughed, because that’s just my dad’s sort of humor. I knew things had gone well.  Josh came into the kitchen where I was washing dishes and officially asked me to be his girlfriend.  Of course I said yes =)

This is great!