Just Rambling...

I'm going to start from well, from about Friday, March, 19th, and continue from there...

March 19th... We had a fun day at the lake, and then we went to Tractor Supply to see the baby ducklings and chicks. So very sweet. I just wanted to take them all home with me. We went to wal-mart, and hung around til' the New Moon release at 12:01 AM, March 20th. I went to get in like about 5 minutes after they started letting the movies go. There was a line literally from the register in electronics all the way along the back wall through the toy section. & guess what?! I did NOT have to wait a single minute in that crazy line! & No I did not have a reserved copy. I saw one of the workers putting the movie up on another shelf, on the opposite end that the line was, and asked him if I could go ahead and get a copy, and sure enough he handed right to me!!! YAY!!! The only waiting I did was at the check-out line in the front of the store because they only had 3 lines open, and 2 of the 3 were those 20 items or less, and like usual, we had more than 20 items because we went in for groceries. I don't know what Wal-Mart was thinking, 3 lines... and there were at least a hundred people waiting in these ridiculous lines. I got home at 12:30 though, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

My lil' boo found him a plush duck that night too, and he's been sleeping with it ever since *he requires it to go to bed with him*. I also picked him out a shirt that says "Irish Girls Love Me". It's so cute. Really wish I could find him one that says "Asian Women Love Me". lol



This past Saturday, the 27th, Jodie, Joshua, & I went to Tallahasse, mainly to just get out of the house, and for Jodie to get a couple new handles for his Stiletto hammer (which only a FEW select stores in a hundred mile radius carry them, I think we figured about 3!). We went to Lake Ella and ate lunch, let Joshua play, and we took a stroll around the lake. After we left, we went to Chucky Cheese, which was a nightmare on Saturday afternoon because it was packed, but we made it work. Joshua had a great time, which is what mattered most. Sunday, we went and spent the day with Jodie's mom, and step-sis & step-bro, and we had fun. Jodie gave his grandma the book he bought her at Books-A-Million the day before. It was a pretty good weekend, but it seemed just too short. As of Sunday, it is only 2 more months 'til our 4 year anniversary! YAY!

Today, we went out to Ochlocknee to see our horses, and the NEW baby that was born at 2 am. We've never seen a newborn baby horse before. And she is so darn cute!!! The lady who gives Joshua riding lessons said that her name was probably going to be "Spice Girl", but would probably call her "Spicy". The new baby is Expresso's half-sister; they share the same dad, Starbuck. I just can't believe how soft her fur is, it feels like silk. And of course all the horses were jealous because everyone was focused on HER and not them. It's amazing how small she is compared to her parents and all the other horses, but I guess all babies are like that.

*Not Even A Day Old*

Joshua is still working on Potty Training. He still hasn't gotten the whole idea, of not going in his pants, so we still have to let him run around without bottoms during the day at the house, but he's definately doing so much better that he has been. He even stood up to pee one day like a big boy! I'm so proud of him, and I know he's proud of himself too! Joshua is also doing REALLY well with spelling, you can give him each letter of the alphabet and he can spell out & say each word without looking at ANYTHING!!! It's really amazing. ELEPHANT, ORANGE, & XYLOPHONE are 3 of his favorite words to spell. His therapists say that it's an autistic thing. Children with autism tend to read and spell a lot sooner than other children because it's concrete thinking, but they have trouble naming objects if the word is not spelled out for them. I'm just glad he's enjoying what he's doing, and I can't wait to see what else he's going to suprise me with!

*Joshua in his NEW Thomas pjs he got tonight*

Making Progress To Better Things!

If any of you noticed my feed yesterday on Facebook, you will know that Joshua has opened his eyes up to a whole light about the POTTY! I have been waiting so very long for him to get interested, and I've tried several times with no luck. I've tried everything I could think of to get him to learn to use the potty like a big boy, and finally I saw where one of my friend's had a hard time getting her little boy to use the potty, which resulted in her keeping him bottomless thanks to some of her friends' advice. I figured that if she had luck, may be I would get lucky too, and sure enough Joshua used the potty everytime yesterday while he was bottomless. It started Tuesday night when we were at my grandparents' house, and Joshua had somehow poked a hole into the pull-up that he was wearing and the jelly bead things had started falling out of it. (For those of you who have been wondering what that jelly beady stuff is, I found out on an episode of "Weather Proof" on the Weather Channel, and it is the exact same gel as they spray on houses to prevent them from being badly damaged during wild fires. I thought that was pretty interesting.) Anywho, back to what I was saying, I had to take his pull-up off and leave him with nothing while I ran out to the truck to get him another one. When I came back in, he was holding himself and saying, "Uh oh! Uh oh!", so I ran him to the bathroom figuring that may be this was his chance to catch on, and sure enough he did. He was so excited and began cheering, "YAY! Good job!", so very cute. That night I decided that this was the best time to start him on the bottomless idea, so the next day, St. Patrick's Day, he went without bottoms all day except for when he had to eat (I'd hate for him to have an accident while he's trying to eat). Let me tell you, he had ZERO accidents the whole time he went without bottoms. He still hasn't gotten the whole, don't go in your pull-up yet, but he is definately doing a lot better, and he's been enthusiastic about being a big boy!

*It's Potty Time!*

As for me, I've put myself on a diet. Basicly, it's eatting healthier and portion control. I started this about this time last week, and I have since then lost 4 lb., and as soon as it dries up outside, I'm going to start walking for atleast a hour every morning. I've got a large amount of weight that I'm hoping to lose, and hopefully it will be gone by the end of this year. I'm really crossing my fingers because I want to be happy with my body again, and be comfortable in it. It's just gonna be a long road getting to the finish line.

* The First Time He Has Actually Shown Interest In Swinging By Himself!*

*His FAVORITE Thing In The World!*

Before Joshua was even born, and only a baby inside my belly, I have been telling him that I love him and of how much love that I have for him. I have been dreaming of the day that Joshua would say it back, and just last week I finally heard those two sweet little words come from his lips. "Love you", which comes out as "Lub you", and it is the sweetest thing I ever heard. I was so happy and I am so glad to hear it every single day since then! One of the best days ever since I became a mommy!

Since then, he spilled out his first sentence, to an unexpecting girl at the grocery store, last Friday, "Hey! How are you?", unfortunately I did not witness this statement because I was shopping for groceries, and Jodie and Joshua were roaming around the store. Jodie thought it was the cutest and funniest thing ever. I did not get to hear Joshua's statement, until a few days ago. It was the first thing he said when I went to wake him up Monday morning. Awww!!!

Also, last Wednesday night, we were sitting in my mom's room settling down for bed. Joshua had his teddy bear that says each letter of the alphabet, and after each letter Joshua would say a word that began with each letter WITHOUT looking at anything. He has trouble with Xylophone, but we know that is what he is trying to say. He has learned ALOT of new words from his new V-Tech laptop that he got for his birthday, and he can even SPELL them!!! Amazing!

Some of you who don't know what's been going on with Joshua would not see these things as important as we do. The fact Joshua is even talking as much as he is lately is by no less a miracle in my eyes. Some children with Autism go YEARS without speaking, and I am so blessed that Joshua is not one of those children, he's high=functioning autistic. He has his days where he will not speak a word still, but not as bad as it has been in the past.

We went to Panacea a couple of weekends ago to celebrate my grandmother's belated 68th birthday. We've been going there for years for great seafood at The Coastal Restraunt. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food is excellent. Joshua put away more food than anyone at the table. I swear he turns into a blackhole sometimes the way he eats. I really do not know where he puts it all. He's such a picky eater (one of the issues he has because of his autism), but when he gets something he absolutely LOVES there usually isn't much of a worry of whether he will eat or not. My family used to go there years before I was born, my great-grandmother even had some property in Panacea years ago, and I have been going down there since I was a little girl, and Joshua had his first trip down there and camping trip when he was 3 1/2 months old.

*Joshua At One Of The Beaches In Panacea*

*My Grandparents At The Coastal*

*Waiting On Some Great Seafood*

Joshua doesn't know it yet, but we're planning on a trip to North Carolina at the end of July as we have been doing for the last 3 years, and a certain somebody, named Thomas, is coming to Bryson City, NC while we're up there on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. So we are crossing our fingers that nothing will interfere with our plans, so Joshua will finally be able to see Thomas the Tank Engine in person. He won't be coming to the Sam Shortline Railroad in Albany, GA 'til late October, so we have been looking for a sooner date. Six Flags actually has a Thomas theme park with their own Thomas train, but that is about all Joshua could enjoy there because of height limitations on the other rides, so Six Flags is out. So Bryson City it is unless, like I said, something comes up that will prevent us from going. : ) I can't wait to see the look on Joshua's face!! YAY!