True Story: Halloween Kovar Kids

You probably haven't noticed this, but I love to take pictures of my kids for holidays.
Okay, so it's obvious.

But taking pictures of an autistic child, a toddler and a baby -  all in the same place, at the same time, not melting down, not hungry, not tired and actually willing to smile - is challenging.  Very challenging.  So challenging at the stages they were all in this October that I was 100% positive that it would not work out on the day of Halloween.  Surely on Halloween, we could anticipate meltdowns from all three due to anticipation, over-sugaring and overstimulation.

(Yes, my prediction was correct as evidenced on the 31st.)

I am so glad that I can take decent pictures of them, because if I had to rely on studios, we would not have many pictures with them all together in the frame.  You will notice in posts-to-follow that we failed to obtain a single picture of all three costumes together.  Not even a bad picture.  They would not get together in the same frame with those costumes on.  Period.

This year, I decided we had a two week window to get Halloween pictures done.  For two weeks I kept the boys' Halloween shirts and Macie's Halloween dress and headband downstairs on the counter.  There they sat, ready to grab and throw on the kids when the miraculous alignment of picture-perfect happiness would occur.  I straightened my bed every morning, and cleared off the neighboring night stands, so that my scene would be set.  (Really, these are things I should do every morning... but I don't.)

The first week gave me nothing.  I thought about putting the outfits away.  One morning I came downstairs without making the bed, and didn't go back up and do it when Macie took her first nap either.  In fact, I thought about crawling back in bed instead.  Did I mention the autistic child, the toddler and the baby?  Some of my days are so challenging that it takes me a couple to recover.

And then it finally happened.  Charlie had a great day at school and did his homework quickly.  Ephram actually took a nap that morning so he was not experiencing his afternoon cranks.  And Macie woke up from her nap just as their snack was starting.  So I nursed her during their snack and then grabbed the outfits and put them on.  Even the discovery of Ephram's dirty diaper did not stop us.  I had to bribe Charlie with a dollar.  (Usually it is Ephram that takes the bribing, but he ran away before I'd even got his pants on and went to my room where he started self-posing this time.)  They gave me 23 full minutes of photo-taking bliss - yes this is my bliss.  Then Macie let me know that we were done.  Five minutes later she was peacefully sleeping in her swing.  Success.

And that is the true story of how I got these precious pictures.  So, next time you look at pictures of my kids and think, "Wow, they look so happy.  They're always smiling."  Just know that I may have worked hard to make that happen.  I may have waited them out.  It may (probably) be set-up.

Just being real.  Because blogs are so often un-real perfect presentations of our imperfect lives.

Here are my littles, ready for Halloween, six days early.
(And Boone, too.)

Ephram Colors

Ephram really wanted to get this coloring book at Costco in the beginning of October.

Even though he was not big into coloring, I bought it. 

I figured that, whether Ephram used it or not, Charlie would love it.

And then Ephram started asking to color in it.

And I looked at his coloring.

And noticed that he was doing a great job.

And even coloring in the lines.

(As much as a two year old colors in the lines.)

But he really surprised me when he started to attempt to trace Pluto's thought cloud.

Somehow we've jumped to the next stage of art for this boy.

And he loves to color again.

(He's always been more of a pasting and taping kind of kid.)

It is so exciting to watch him develop!

It's A... Spaceship?

Andy is the best father for many reasons, not the least of which is his imagination.

My kids are so lucky.

I hope someday they realize it.

Not every father will get down on the floor and play with his kids every day.

And few fathers would turn your every day geo ball into a spaceship.

And not any spaceship... but one that abducts cars.

And carries them in the sky to a far away planet.

Just to deliver them safely back home minutes later.

Yep.

They're so lucky.

Macie Eats!

We follow the guidelines for introducing food to babies pretty closely because I am always concerned about the potential for allergies with my kids.  I have food allergies (pork, and I recently added wheat) and two of my nephews from different sisters have some severe allergies, including peanuts.  Ephram is allergic to milk and we think that is all.  Macie doesn't have the skin issues that Ephram had when he was a baby, and she hasn't reacted as strongly to what I eat while I'm nursing her.  However, I still didn't want to feed her before she hit the six month mark.  And then when we hit six months, she didn't seem quite ready.  (Remember, adjusted age she was only four months.)  So Macie tasted her first food just 5 days shy of seven months old on 10/24/12.  The food: rice cereal.  The baby: happy.  I think she was just as happy about having her own seat where the family eats as she was about the food itself!

Andy's Washington Birthday

When we were in California, Andy's actual birthday proceedings were a little bit rushed.  Sure, he got to spend the day in Disneyland.  But, I feel like everyone is entitled to a birthday dinner and a night all about them for their birthday.  So, about a week after we got back to Washington, we celebrated #36 with the best husband and dad ever.  He even got the traditional balloon, (we never got around to buying him one when we were at Disneyland!)

The Faces of Ephram

Here is a small sampling of some of my favorite Ephram-expressions, from the "stay away from my crazy bread" face to "I'm not sure if this is okay for me to be doing" with a couple smiles of silliness thrown in for good measure.

Charlie the Speller

Here is Charlie with his very first ever spelling test.

He got a "4", which is a perfect score.  We always knew Charlie was a good speller, but it turns out that he also really likes the accomplishment from getting a perfect score on a test.

And, since I am posting this over two months later, I can tell you a little more.  Charlie has brought home six more spelling tests.  All of them are perfect.  In addition, his teacher starting doing dictations about a month ago to review past spelling words, and all of those have been perfect too.

Some autistic children are gifted with an exceptional talent in one area.  Charlie doesn't have an off-the-charts IQ, nor is he considered a prodigy in anything.  But, I am so impressed with his language-ability.  Spelling comes naturally to him.  This is probably because of the hours he spends reading almost every day.  He loves, loves, loves books.  When they tested at school, he tested at 3rd grade, 6 month for his reading level.  He can read just about anything and even goes to a dictionary if he doesn't understand a word.  He surprises me because he can also recap any story that he has read in his own words.

Mostly, though, I'm glad that he knows that feeling of getting lost in a book.  One of the best feelings in the world.  When Charlie reads, his body calms down.  He says that it makes his mind quiet.  He truly loves it.  And, if my son needs to work so hard to live in this world that is different than the one in his head, I am glad that he has this escape.

CA '12: Giving Macie Drew a Name and a Blessing

Out of all of the things that we did in our whirlwind of a trip to California, nothing touched me more than a Sunday morning in church when my father, brother-in-law, and Andy's high school friend (among others) put their hands on my baby's head and gave her a name and a blessing.

Sure, I had a beautiful dress.  (Thank you Zulily.)  But I'd seen the dress before we left for California.  I'd put it on her and taken the token pictures when I saw just how beautiful she was.  I took the time to crochet some booties for her to wear, and put those on her as well.

 But there was just something special about that morning.  My sister's family had stayed for the blessing and my grandma had driven up from Vista.  I handed my baby girl to my dad and watched him walk with her to the front of the chapel.

And she was there, she was healthy, she was happy.  She cried not one peep during the blessing.  My dad said that she just stared at him all the way through.

Sometimes I think that I live with an angel.  I know for sure that she is very special.  Sure, all parents say that.  But there's something about my Macie Drew.  Something about the way she has changed me, my family and touched so many just by surviving and thriving.

And then my dad started talking.  There's something you should know about my dad, too.  He can talk.  He is gifted with words, and though he's not much of a talker, when he speaks it is usually moving.  And he spoke about her start, and her fight, and her spirit.  There was something about that moment and hearing my dad speak about what we'd been through that made it soak in, in a way that it never had before.  She is a miracle.  She is so special.  And I know that she is going to continue to touch others.  I just have a feeling that this will be her gift, to help and to impact the lives of those around her.

To be honest, I don't remember the words of the blessing.  I just remember that overwhelming feeling.  I know that she is supposed to be here.  She's my Macie Drew.

A special girl and a special day.

CA '12: Kovar Night Out

The Bowers kids wanted to do something fun with their cousins, so the entire family went out to one of those pizza/arcade places on another night.  It was a lot of fun!

We took up quite a bit of space in one of the rooms.  It was a good set-up and we were able to do a lot of visiting.  Charlie was really excited to sit with his boy cousins and without his parents.  I think it's the first time he has been allowed to sit at a "kids table."  We have some work to do on this!  Macie was asleep at first, but when she woke up Aunt Kristina and cousin Gillian were happy to entertain her.

Andy, Uncle Kris, Uncle Todd and Grandpa took all of the cousins to the arcade to play.  Kristina and I stayed behind with Macie to visit.  After awhile, Andy brought a very excited Ephram into me.  He had hit the jackpot on one of the machines.  Andy said that he was so excited when the tickets started coming out that he did a little ticket dance.  It was quite the stack of tickets.  I went back out with them so that he could show me just how it'd happened.

Then it was time for the kids to turn their tickets in and choose their prizes.  

Meanwhile, Macie had woken again and was being pretty cute.

The kids showed Grandpa everything they had chosen and we stayed awhile to watch Martin and Evan play a game.  

And then Macie was very not happy and Charlie was in overstimulated sensory meltdown, so it was time for us to say goodbye.  We are so glad that we were able to spend some time with Andy's whole family and hope that it won't be too long before we are all together again.