star wars

in june there is a 5K to raise awareness for autism. it's called "autism speaks". i currently am a school counselor at the western pa school for the deaf and we have several autistic students there. the students range all throughout the spectrum and each has a unique contribution to our school. this walk not only raises money for autism research but it also educates people about autism.

however, this walk is not a strictly professional activity for me. . .

my cousin patrick who is a year older than me, has a son, brenden, with fragile x syndrome, which is a genetically linked autism spectrum disorder. my cousin has been an advocate and spokesman for autism since his son's diagnosis.

http://www.autismwalk.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1512&px=2037759

if you can give money...please do...if you want to walk, run, skip, jump--sign up, if you will pray for a cure or greater understanding...it would be fab...

merry berry month of may

getting a bath outside....the tub was dirty and this looked liked fun...we've had a wonderfully 80 degree may...humidity was quite bearable (sp?) and we've enjoyed red faced sweaty days....

my favorite picture of my two guys

i know that when you preface a comment with "i'm not lying..." people tend to think that you are....however, i'm not lying max drew this picture with sidewalk chalk...can you see that it's a horse....more specifically....a unicorn...no help from us!!! he is a budding young artist....

it's my party and i'll cry if i want to

this is my neice nina. we thought it would be funny to stuff her bra. we thought it was funny but she didn't...

mama, dada, and maxi

in dc at graduation...what a lovey....

first ride

this picture is washed out but i LOVE it. this was his first ride on an escalator and he grinned from ear to ear. he thought it was so cool!! the only bad part was the exit when his not so bright mama didn't teach him how to step off...what a catastrophe...no injuries but he was a little in shock...

the time has come...

this is my toddler max. i saw this picture and almost started crying. he has grown up so much in the past few weeks. he loves reading, ernie (as in and bert), he LOVES being outside, giving kisses, playing with animals--both plastic and alive. he has become so much fun to be around. gone is the little blob that he was for so long. we are headed to DC this weekend for my graduation. i remember when i was pregnant with him that i thought...wow, he'll be almost 18 months old when i graduate. well my math was significantly off--i'm graduating on Thursday and he'll be 15 months old. what an amazing journey this has been...thank God that he knows about perfect timing because if the decisions were in my hands, I would be pregnant right now. if it had been up to chris, we would have three babies right now. whew. thank God for His timing...

all star

mr maxwellington loves all kinds of sports. he hits golfballs with clubs, he throws baseballs, he kicks soccer balls, he always has a bat, club, or broom in his hand. he loves sports and chris is thrilled. they play outside a lot of the time with all his different sports equipment. he is growing up so fast and becoming such an incredible person. he is 15 months old and is only saying a precious few words but boy do those words have alot of meaning. "What does a sheep say?" "Baa". "What is that in your hand?" "Bahh" "What does a cow say?" "Boo" He has mastered the "B" sound...No worries....he'll be a chatterbox soon...

learning to eat with a spoon...

i think i can i think i can i think i can
who cares about spoons anyways

the next baby...

this is my sister in law olya. she is due in june. that is the third baby in our family in18 months. we operate from zero-60 in our family. christian and olg found out that the baby is a girl and they are doing the dance of "whatever shall we call her..." in the lead is leona--one can only hope! what a babe!

water play

max loves to play outside and really loves to play in the water. the love of water started when he was about four months old and decided that the bath was the most relaxing place on earth. we took swimming lessons in january and he cried when we pulled him out of the pool. (a man after my own heart...) what a sweetpea. well, now his obsession is dumping water between different size pitchers. so cute...

need i mention that we are finally experiencing what may be known as Spring...at last, no more gloominess. also, would you believe that the first sunny day was also the same day as my first migraine in highschool?? never before have i EVER cursed the sun...but i did yesterday....