We just got back from camping at Edisto Beach and Beaufort on Friday afternoon. Kayla’s sister mentioned that she wanted to take Kayla to the upstate to her aunt’s house Friday night and then go to a Southern gospel hymn sing on Saturday. I began preparing Kayla for the possibility (the choice would ultimately be hers!), on Friday morning while traveling the road to home. At first she gave me a adamant NO! by shaking her head. I always try to make her sign “No, thank you” so it seems more kindly given. She did just that a few times upon my mentioning the trip/visit. When we got home, I told he ..read more

I don’t know about your child with Special Needs, but MINE has a hard time adapting to change! So this year of Covid has been one to remember. Kayla LOVES to shake hands with everyone at church! We have worked on fist and elbow bumps, but it’s not the same to her. So we are really going through the hand sanitizer. Clean hands have always been important, but more so in this time of uncertainty. I am more protective of Kayla because I know that IF we end up in the hospital our lives will be super stressed and if she ever goes on a ventilator, I’ll need to be on one too! Meanwhile, Kayla rides in ..read more

We are back to summer time!! Kayla is counting down the days to getting in the pool. We have a little problem, the pool is not up yet and is still in the box. She points to the box on the sidewalk, signs “PULL” and signs “daddy work”. I have told her we have about 10 days left, but with the temperatures soaring next week, we may have to bump that number a little. That girl LOVES her pool and will spend 5-6 hours minimum in it each day, if she gets her way, and why wouldn’t she ..read more

Our friend, Ryan, is a 2019 High School graduate!! We have known him since 4th grade and we were invited to his graduation party recently and had a great time. We had a blast as we ate cake, took pictures of Ryan in his cap and gown, and watched him open his gifts. I know he and his mom worked very hard to accomplish this goal for many years. A shout out to Ryan is in order ..read more

Last week we made cookies to give our friends. I mixed and rolled out the dough and asked Kayla if she wanted to cut out the bells on the dough. She took the cookie cutter and pressed down into the dough and was successful with 3 bells until sensory overload became an issue and she began to look toward the ceiling and shaking her head and banging out lots of bells on top of one another. I had to roll the dough out again and guide her through the process. She watched while I removed them from the oven, mixed up the icing and completed the project. She managed to sneek 2 cookies and eat them bef ..read more

Well, it’s time to let you know that all of our days are not enjoyable.  As soon as the pool is taken down, or closed for the winter, Kayla is in the mood to get all of the Christmas decorations down from the attic and into the front yard.  She KNOWS that pumpkins and fall leaf decorations mean its nearly time to bring on the greatest holiday of all.  Kayla started asking (in sign language) around September 15, so each day we discuss what has to happen BEFORE we are ready and how many days are left until we decorate. Each day the emotions escalate as do the frustration levels.&n ..read more

Since Kayla has never uttered intelligible words, we often assume what she is thinking.  Here is what she leaned over to do in a restaurant recently while getting to know her brand new cousin.  Maybe she is saying, “I love you little boy!!  I am happy to be your cousin and in your presence.  I can’t wait for you to get bigger and climb all over the place, and scoot and run and jump and talk to me  just like your big sister does. I cannot tell you in words how much I love you, but I do and maybe this picture will show everyone that a kiss is worth a thousand words ..read more

Kayla was so excited to meet her new second cousin in person.  She loves watching  but seldom wants to touch.  She likes sitting next to whoever is holding him at the moment.  This time it is Kayla’s mom (the great aunt) who received the honor.  He is growing so fast that the next time we see him (Thanksgiving) he will probably be sitting straight up ..read more

Kayla enjoyed eating at the Greek festival last weekend.  The weather was just right to sit outside and chomp down on some Greek fries.  The Baklava was too sticky to manage so mom got to enjoy that along with Greek chicken, salad and cheesecake.  We will try to get to some other country’s foods soon since the President is speaking at the UN and we don’t want to hurt feelings of those who are from other places ..read more

Kayla visited the Ark Encounter in Kentucky a few years ago.  Here is a picture of her there beside her brother and sister-in-law.  There are SO many things to see and questions to be answered, like, “How did Noah get all those animals to fit?” Or, “How did they handle the feeding of the animals and getting rid of their waste?”  “How did they plant a garden when they went out of the Ark after the flood waters went down?”  All of these questions are given possible answers throughout the visit. And there is a petting zoo, and a great restaurant as well as the Creation Museum ..read more