Poor Garrison and Naddie

Garrison has had a very rough couple of weeks. Last week, he was sick for 4 days straight (Saturday-Tuesday). He had a bad cold that had him coughing like crazy. He felt just awful. Then this week, he suffered all weekend with an ear infection. He missed school on Monday and then came home after about 30 minutes on Tuesday. His antibiotics have finally kicked in so he is doing much better. Here is hoping that nothing will happen this weekend.

Yesterday, Natalie broke one of snowglobes. I was so sad. It was a Kermit the Frog one that Rachel had given me for Christmas 2 years ago. I got it all cleaned up and put all of the broken glass into a box that is in our room. Well, I should have been smarter and taken that box out to the garage because somehow she thought it would be a good idea to stand on it and get to more of my snowglobes. So she cut a pretty good size chunk out of her big toe. I have never seen something bleed for so long. It wasn't the kind of cut that the doctor would be able to stitch so we opted not to take her in. Buddy super glued it shut (that is what he always does when he slices himself) and the bleeding finally stopped.

Other than that, life has been good. The days have been warmer and we have loved that. This has been the coldest winter in Texas for many, many, years. We even hit negative temperatures with the wind chill this year. Of course it is the year we move here! Better than what Omaha and Flagstaff have had to endure! We are gearing up for Garrison's birthday next week. Holy cow, he will be 11. Almost more than I can handle. I hate that my kids have to grow up. Just not fair!!

Our Story in a Nutshell...

Rachel's teacher has a friend who wrote a children's book. She is looking for a children's charity to donate the proceeds to. Heather (Rachel's teacher) called me and suggest I send her our family's story about Garrison. So I did. Here is what I wrote....


Hello Susan! My name is Heather Hopkins and Heather Rogers is my daughters teacher. Heather told me about your book and that you were looking for a charity to perhaps donate some of the proceeds to. She suggested I contact you and share our story.

We have a beautiful 10 year old son Garrison who is Autistic. Garrison was diagnosed with autism on December 2 of 2003. In 2003, there was not nearly as much known about Autism as there is now. It was not nearly as common. That day changed our lives forever. Not just the lives of my husband and I but also the rest of children as well. Garrison is not considered high functioning nor is he on the most severe end. He has made some great progress with a lot of hard work and great people who have blessed our lives. I personally think it would be a wonderful thing to find a cure for Autism however, my #1 concern is raising awareness.

I cannot tell you how many battles I have had to fight, how many judging looks and comments I have had to endure as people have observed my son. The staring is ridiculous. You would think that he had a third eye the way people stare at him as he jumps up and down and squeals repeatedly. The laughing sometimes is more than I can bare. I desperately want people to learn more about this disease that now affects 1 in 110 children. That is an astounding number.

Autism Speaks is probably the most well known and respected program out there. I would love for you to do your own personal research and see just how devastating the lack of knowledge can be to a family who lives with Autism.

I adore my son. I love him just the way he is. I often tell people that if God himself came down and offered to take the Autism away, I wouldn't let Him because there is nothing wrong with my son. Garrison is perfect just the way that he is. I am grateful for his 3 younger sisters, 2 of which are old enough to understand their brothers differences. They are incredibly protective of him and help him with everything from brushing his teeth, to making sure he makes it to his classroom at school, to calming him down in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

Susan, I am a very blessed mom to have been entrusted with such an angelic little boy. I want anyone and everyone to know how amazing these children are. I hope that Autism is something you will consider learning more about. Thanks for listening.

Heather Hopkins

Life

It would seem that I am a little too involved in Facebook to ever post on here but I promise to be better this year. I personally feel this is a great way to "journal" for my family. I really need to be better. As far as events in our lives, nothing too crazy. I am working very hard on my jewelry business. I LOVE selling this product..I just need to get some parties going. The owners of the company actually sent me an email and asked me if I would be willing to participate in our annual seminar in February! Wow!!! I am so excited to do that. Now I just need to ensure that I can earn enough money to go! So if ANYONE out there is willing to have a party or catalog party for me this month, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Plus..you earn DOUBLE the hostess benefits if you host a party in January! So it is a win/win for all involved.

Kids are doing great! They love it here and I pretty much love anywhere that is not NM so we are all good. Buddy likes his job and we love our house. We are excited to paint!! We have never painted a house before because quite frankly we haven't lived anywhere long enough to do so! So we are excited to paint over these next few weeks. I promise that I will post pictures when I am done! I don't want everyone to see my house until it is where I want it to be!

So here is to 2010!! New possiblilities and great things coming I am sure!!!