It's been a while, like years. I have another fitnfabulous4timemom blog, but this one is devoted to my family.
I think where we last left of my family was living in Normandy Park. Parker was diagnosed with autism. Since then, we have moved to the West Hill of Kent (because we like the drama of higher crime rates, and because our awesome, huge house was affordable). All four of my kids were diagnosed with a genetic anomoly. Apollo was diagnosed with autism. Parker and Apollo have two genetic anomolies, and Bryce and Halea only have 1. It was sort of a blow to our family, and I've spent the last year trying to wrap my mind around what this means. In some ways it's great to know what causes all of the symptoms I see in my kids. We have an answer as to why Parker jumps and squeals while he's watching TV and why Apollo has such emotional outbursts causing everyone around him to pay when he doesn't get his way ~ as well as why they talk over each other to get their point across. That's autism. In their own worlds, they only hear themselves, unaware that they have three siblings trying to relay what's happening in their own world.
Since moving, Bryce has really grown up. He's doing really well in school, he's managed to keep himself out of trouble, and he's a really fun person to be around. He's lighthearted and really funny. I see the transition of becoming more of a friend than a mom to him. He seeks Ryan's and my guidance on issues and he trusts that he can come to us with anything. It was so hard with him between 9-14. He'll be turning 16 in June and I feel so blessed to have the strong relationship that I do with him.
Parker is awesome! He has always been awesome. He's always had his own ideas about how things should be. He's phasing away from legos and that makes me sad. He has always loved the idea of blowing things up and causing mass destruction. He seems to be getting away from that a bit these days ~ Yay!!! He's in a special ed program at school. It's been a hard transition. I notice that he is less normal since being in this program as he doesn't have the peer modeling component of normal kids to emulate. He notices that other kids don't love him like they used to and that's hard for him. At his old school everyone knew him and adored him in all his weird ways. He's going to be 10 this year and there's something about preteen walking around in his undies that is less cute than a 5 year old doing the same thing. Thanks to Murray Goldberg on The Goldbergs, Parker learned to "park his pants at the door" and he remains that way any time he's at home. He aspires to have an RV that he parks in our driveway as an adult.
Apollo is my little love ... an no one else's. I call him my sweet treat. He's a bit of a jerk to other people. He just says whatever is on his mind not really acknowledging that it might be hurtful to that person. He's very literal, too. He likes to pretend that he's a puppy and wags his bottom if he's happy. He's in a general ed class where he really doesn't fit in, but after what I've seen happen with Parker once those peer mentors have been lacking, I'm reluctant to put Apollo into a similar setting. Which is why I'm considering homeschooling the three youngest kids.
I'm terrified to homeschool my kids. I've finally gotten to a point where I have my days free from 8:30 until 2. Most days, though, I'm called to pick someone up for various reasons. The little ones hate school. It's a battle to get them on the bus most days. It's difficult for them to articulate why they hate school so much (there's the autism again), but they do.
Halea is a beaming, beautiful butterfly, just like her name. She is perfectly girly, but has a stubborn streak that I think will help her as an adult. She wants things her way and will fight for what she wants. She never stops talking. Seriously. I love what she says, though. She has friends at school. Everyone adores her. They call her princess or butterfly ~ both perfectly fitting. She says she wants to be where her brothers are, so if they homeschool, she wants to, too. She's doing so well that it would be sad for me to have her miss out on the social part of her school experience. She and Apollo will be starting gymnastics in a couple weeks, so perhaps there will be some social connections made there.
Ryan graduated from nursing school and worked at a mental hospital in West Seattle for two years. Then he got on with the VA last September. It's been a hard transition for him as the vets at the VA are much less crazy than what he's used to dealing with. The VA has many opportunities all over the country for work, so we've considered taking 6 month stints of work in other places to see our beautiful country a bit more. Homeschooling would make that transition much easier.
I've been busy! When we moved I quit my job with the Highline School District to focus on being home with the kids. I miss my job, but I'm busy with the kids and the Y keeps me busy. I was able to get ACE certified as a Health Coach, so I'm doing that now. I still teach fitness classes, but my love is health coaching. I help people set small goals to get them moving in the right direction toward a bigger goal (weight loss, better health, etc). I love impacting people's lives. I can spot someone who will be successful with in the first 20 minutes of a conversation with them. It's pretty cool to hone that skill. I spent the first 8 months in our house remodeling it. It was incredibly taxing and I feel like I aged ten years in those 8 months. I've gained 20 lbs while living in this house. I don't love that, but I'm ok with it. I've run a marathon, several 1/2 marathons, and last October I did a Srint Triathlon where I placed in the top 5 against teams. I'm not sure if I placed 1st or 2nd as an individual. Pretty cool. So those extra 20 lbs aren't holding me back from doing the things I want to do. Right now I'm training to walk the Rock N Roll marathon in June (walking rather than running due to a hip injury). I'm looking forward to it. Two weeks later Ryan and I will go to Vegas to celebrate his 40th birthday, and three weeks after that we will do the Wipeout run. It's going to be a great summer!
