The Best Gifts of All...

As Christmas approaches, I have to admit that I've been selfish with negativity about this holiday season, i.e, the budget, the lack of time to shop for everyone, and when we finally do get to shop...all the wrapping! But, in reality, none of what I have mentioned is important. What is important is that we are all healthy (not counting my sinus infection) and I look forward to being with my family. The best gift that I have received this year is the progress my son Sam has made over the past year. He conquered and mastered just about everything that he has been taught at school. He's learned to say "I Love You" and the best for me is that he's learned to say "Nonny" (that's how Sam says Mommy). He hugs, kisses, smiles, laughs, imitates, plays with peers, counts to 20, recites the alphabet and so on. I realize there are times when Sam's behavior can be extremely trying...to the point that I feel like throwing in the towel. But, as I sit here and write about my son, I remember how badly Adam and I wanted children and how hard we tried and the end result was our beautiful twins. Sam was dealt a crappy set of cards given the fact that he has Autism as many children that we know also have, but honestly, things could be a lot worse than what they are. I don't want any gifts for Christmas this year, because I've been given the best gifts already...Sam's amazing progress, a beautiful new Granddaughter Emma, and the best family & friends anyone could ever ask for. Merry Christmas to you all....

Patience Tester...

Sorry folks, no new pictures to post this week. I should get some good pictures of Sam & Gabby though this coming weekend when this "Griswold Family" goes in search of the perfect family Christmas Tree. It usually takes me a couple of hours to find the perfect tree, so if you happen to be near Dzen's Tree Farm in South Windsor, stop by and have a Mimosa with Adam and I. Yup, we will even be tailgating at the tree farm! Sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do to get through situations where you don't know what's going to happen. And no, we are not drunks. Not sure however, if we will be going on Saturday or Sunday.

Tomorrow morning is Sam's monthly review at school. I'm certain he has made even more progress as I see him grow in so many different areas everyday. I'm always noticing something new that is so truly wonderful! He's now counting to 20, which I think is amazing!! His potty training is going very well with no accidents at school at all anymore (he still hasn't given them the Sammy Special yet). He's an eating machine too. The child can consume a 6 pack of Trix Yogurt in about 15 minutes. His behavior continues to be a challenge for us. It's even more difficult to bring him to ANY stores these days without bringing him out kicking and screaming...so we don't. As I stated in his title this week "Patience Tester", he is truly the best one that Adam and I know. He will do anything bad to get our attention. This includes taking pictures off walls, writing on walls with markers, destroying anything that he comes in contact with the quickest. These days there have been many, many "time outs". And...he loves to tell us NO! It's not just NO. It's note, note, note (that's how Sam says no). Extremely Fresh!!! His behaviorist is taking data on him and we will come up with some kind of plan (soon I hope) to stop this behavior before it gets even worse than it is now. We're kinda pulling our hair out over here.

Sam has been checking the weekly flyers for bargains and what toys he would like for Christmas. We will be making a stop soon to see Santa to give him both Sam and Gabby's lists. I'll let you know how that one goes.

If you all can, say a little prayer for our little man Sam and that he will soon get past the behavior issues he's got bottled up and that a smile will cover his face more than tears...

Busy Bodies...

My apologies for not posting since Oct. 30th. Has it been that long? Craziness is one word to describe the Sheidy house these days. Because of all the chaos in our lives, I am saddened to say that I will be leaving my job at Nature's Grocer with Wednesday, Nov. 26th being my last day there. It was a very difficult decision, but I feel like I'm not taking care of my family the way I should. The housework isn't getting done, I'm not preparing good meals anymore and I haven't been able to give my family the best of me since I'm so tired all the time from running around. So, back to being a 100% stay-at-home mom.

The kids had fun Halloween night. Gabby was pulled around in a wagon to all the houses in our neighborhood since she was still recovering from her surgery and Sam darted from door to door looking for the goods. He donated all his candy to Gabby and his Daddy since he doesn't eat candy. I am happy to report that Gabby is completely better and has an appetite like never before. She's doing great!!!

Sam is still moving forward with his progress. He can now count to 20 and is staying dry all day at school. We've started to work with him at home using the potty and he's doing great. I look forward to ridding this house of pull-ups and diapers!! Sam's behavior on the other hand has become an issue at both home and school. We had a meeting that lasted almost two hours with his teacher and behaviorist on Monday to try and figure out how to nip it in the bud now. Adam has been having to take him out of stores kicking, crying and screaming lately. It all comes down to Sam not liking the fact that he can't have everything he wants when he wants it. He's also an attention seeker. If Adam and I are talking to each other and are not paying attention to him, he will start ripping things off the walls. Not good! Kind of sounds like the terrible two's to me even though he is four. Hopefully with me being home after next week, things will change...I can only hope.

Sam and Gabby are both looking forward to Christmas. Sam has been asking for presents and Gabby is hoping to not have anymore accidents in her pants so that Santa will come. It seems to be working!

Enjoy the new pictures and I'll post again soon!

A Little Bit of Everything Going On...

My posts are always for Sam since this blog is about his journey. I will update on him today, but I want to devote this blog to Sam's twin sister Gabby.

Gabby has had an extremely rough week this week. She went to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center Monday morning for a scheduled Adenoid and Tonsil removal surgery. When Gabby came out of surgery and was in post-op, her oxygen levels were low and a chest x-ray was done. Her chest x-ray showed pneumonia in her right lung. The doctors think that she may have been starting a cold before having the surgery (Adam and I believe she was perfectly fine) or that mucus or blood got into her lung during the surgery. So, Gabby had her first night stay in the hospital in ICU where she could be closely monitored. She was only given oxygen just one time during the night. After a long day in ICU, she was then moved to the 7th floor, which is where the little people are that have IV's. She was a stubborn little girl not wanting to eat or drink. We did manage to get her to eat a Popsicle and take some sips of cold water and juice and that was her ticket home. We came home last night, and a rough night it was. She's been pretty nauseous. She was sick within a half hour of being home, twice overnight. She is drinking fluids and is sleeping quite nicely now. A nice bath is planned for today and I'm hoping that she will perk up. I'm not sure if she will be able to go out Trick R' Treating for Halloween tomorrow night, but Sam has offered up his goods to her. What a nice brother! Please say a prayer for Gabby that she starts to feel better quickly. If you could see her, your heart would break.

Sam has been incredibly good these days. He was so well behaved at the hospital when he would come to visit Gabby. He liked putting himself in the closet in her room and enjoyed a nice pizza meal with his Dad down in the cafeteria. Sam's review at school last Friday went very well. It's amazing how different he is at school. He listens and does exactly what he is told without any mouth! I am definitely setting up a video camera in our house so they can see how Sweet Sam isn't always so sweet. He's been playing us for a long time. For the past week, he seems like he is very "happy go lucky". With all that's been going on around here, his behavior has been awesome and he has managed the changes very well. He spent time at his Auntie Lisa and Uncle Francis' house Monday night and his Auntie Lisa picked him up from school yesterday and brought him to her house again. He did fantastic!

My next post will be about Halloween. Sam is going to be a Fireman and Gabby is supposed to be Fairytopia Barbie.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Growing So Fast and Becoming So Handsome...

We've been extremely busy here these days at the Sheidy house. I'm sorry I've been behind on my posts. Between working 4 days a week, traveling the kids back and forth to Hartford to school everyday and Adam working day and night lately, I just haven't had the time to sit and write about what's going on in Sam's life these days. We are honestly exhausted. And...with all this...Adam and I found time to be on the fundraising committee for Jocelyn's Run. Jocelyn is the school nurse at Sam's school who will be running the NYC Marathon on Nov. 2nd. Her purpose for running is to raise autism awareness and to raise money for Sam's school. Jocelyn set a goal of raising $10,000. So, some of us parents and staff members of the school came together to help her out and we held a Silent Auction and Children's Art Sale at Real Art Ways in Hartford last Saturday night. What a huge success since $10,000 was raised that night alone!!! Jocelyn has not only met her goal, but has blown it away by raising almost $24,000!!!!! AMAZING!!! It was a great night and a lot of fun. A big thank you to Sam's Auntie Lisa and Uncle Fran, Uncle Jay and Michelle and Grandma Sue for coming to this event with us. We hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did. And also a big thank you to Sam's cousin Missy and Henry for watching the kids for us. We very much appreciate it. It was great finding Sam in his own bed when we came home, which we haven't seen in a couple of years. I should have taken a picture because it didn't last long!

Sam hasn't been having any accidents in his big boy underwear at all at school. He's staying dry and peeing on the potty all day long! I can't wait to get him going at home. I am so proud of him! His speech also continues to improve daily. His meltdowns at stores however, are very difficult to control with tantrums lasting at least 45 minutes at times after I take him out of the store. I've encountered many stares from people and fight to keep from blasting them. But, I've been controlling myself and biting my tongue and walking out of stores much faster than usual. I wish with all my heart that these times for Sam will get better and people will stop staring because it makes it a lot harder for us parents.

As you will see in the new photos, our little man is getting so big. He finally got a big boy haircut that I just love! I took him to Scissor Kids in Glastonbury and asked his stylist to give him a real style. So, it's now a little spiked in the front and I even get to put pomade in it to spike it up!! He reminds us of the little boy Julienne in the movie "Big Daddy". He's so cute!!!

Sam has a review coming up next Friday at school and I will update on his progress next weekend.

If scroll down and look to the right of this blog, you will see some new photos of us mothers of the children at Sam's school. I am truly blessed to have these wonderful mothers to lean on and for me to be leaned on. The picture that has four of us in it are my closest friends...We are the "Tattoo Mama's of Coltsville". For those of you that didn't know this already, we went to Body Graphics in South Windsor and we each got the Autism Speaks puzzle piece logo tattooed on us. Mine is on my ankle and although it hurt like crazy, I don't regret it one bit!

Dentist Visit...

I took Sam in for a dental check-up today. Although he wanted nothing to do with laying on the exam chair, he did extremely well sitting on my lap during his exam. He's doing a great job with brushing his own teeth and earned an awesome Winnie The Pooh toothbrush. I am often amazed at the simplicity of Sam's life and how much little things mean so much to him. Because he did so well at the dentist and Gabby did great at her pre-op appointment (she's having her tonsils & adnoids removed on Oct. 27th...ugh!!), I let them each pick out a toy from the toy aisle at Walgreens since there were things I needed to get there. As usual, Gabby has to find the most expensive things, but settled on a nice little art set that included some water colors and nice princess pictures. Sam on the other hand, had originally chosen a battery operated train, which I really didn't mind getting considering it only cost $9.99. When we reached the registers to pay, he noticed some postcards on a rack and there was one of the city of Hartford. He dropped the train and had to have the postcard since that is where his school is! That's all the child wanted was this simple .49 cent postcard. How much richer would we all be if we were all that simple? Kind of makes you think... I love you Sam! P.S. Great job peeing on the potty at home last night!

Peeing on the Potty...

Yes, your reading this right! The toilet training process has begun at school for Sam and I am so happy to announce that he is indeed...peeing on the potty at school! Notice the stickers on his shirt. Each time he goes at school, he is given a sticker. He has come home loaded up with stickers this week. Although I haven't been given permission yet to start the potty training process at home, he is staying dry all day long and is very proud of himself. He is put on the potty every hour and every hour he is relieving himself! Yay Sam!!!!!!! Way to go buddy!!!! Now, I am looking forward to getting past the peeing part and moving on to the Sammy Specials. That will be a major party to host for him!

What's New In Sam's Life...

Well, so much for posting at least 3 times a week. Some family chaos that was started last week didn't help much. My mind was elsewhere and couldn't focus. A post is long overdue and there is so much going on in our little man's life.

Sam's speech continues to progress and for those of you who haven't seen him in a while, you would be amazed. He's even fresh!!! He had a visit to his neurologist last Monday and although his eye contact seemed to be lacking somewhat since his last visit, he seems to be making up for it in other areas. I also had his annual PPT meeting with his school and the Director of Pupil Services for the Town of Tolland last Thursday to decide Sam's fate as to whether or not he stays at Coltsville. Thankfully, Sam will be staying at his school for at least another year. We couldn't be happier. If Sam's teachers read this.....WE OWE YOU BIG TIME. THANK YOU!!!!!! Sam's teachers are amazing. And, he still is "in love" with Talia. This week is a big week for Sam at school. His teachers believe that he is ready to start the toilet training process. I'm glad it's happening there and not here. I'll just be doing a lot of laundry! Adam and I purchased Sam his first packages of "big boy" underwear this weekend along with a lot of sweatpants and sent them all off with him to school this morning along with water shoes. I was anxiously awaiting to hear how it went today, but they didn't start and will at some point this week. I've been busy with the fundraising efforts for Jocelyn's Run and soliciting donations of goods and services from local stores. I never realized just how difficult it is to do this until now. But, the efforts of the entire committee that Adam and I are on is certainly paying off. It's going to be a great night with lots of great stuff to be auctioned off with all the proceeds going directly to Sam's school. Keep the date of October 11th handy in case you want to attend.

I believe I've covered everything...I hope so. I don't want to miss sharing anything that happens in Sam's incredible recovery.

2008 Maine Vacation...

Loving the Quad!

Enjoying the pool with Gabby, Mom & Missy


Playing "Fireman Sam"

Fishing with Gabby

On the kiddie ferris wheel

Enjoying the Rides at York Wild Kingdom

Feeding the goats!

Not enjoying the butterflies

Dad's time with his joy's

Sam & Gabby with their new friend Ashley

Being cool on his bike

Notice the shirt "My parents are exhausted"

Sam ended his 3 week vacation from school (3 long weeks I should say) with our Maine vacation this past Sunday. Everyone was tired (including Brodie) and mosquito bitten. Poor Sam got the worst of the mosquito bites. He's still itching from them! We had reserved a campsite for us at Beaver Dam Campground in Berwick, ME for us to stay with our pop-up, but I have to say, we really only slept there. Although it was a very nice, well kept campground, there wasn't much there to keep the kids occupied. One of the best features the campground had to offer on their website was competely dismantled...The Hayride! I had the kids all worked up about it too. Plus, we came to the conclusion that the pop-up was just too small for all of us to be spending a week in. The result of that was us buying a 32ft travel trailer while we were up there. Yes folks, Adam and I have lost our minds if you haven't already guessed. So, we spent all of our time at Uncle Mike and Aunt Doreens house, which I certainly didn't mind at all. I looked forward to going there. My vacation week started out kind of rough, but ended up just great. I had lost a filling in my tooth not to long ago and have neglected to have it refilled. So, I had a great deal of pain, unbearable I should say, especially at night when I would lay down to sleep. I took a Tylenol with Codeine and ended up having a very bad reaction to it and was extremely sick the next day. At that point, Aunt Doreen took me to a dentist to get a temporary fill. I left the dentist with some pretty good prescriptions. One of the prescriptions was penicillan and it had it's own side effect, which started another problem that I won't get in to. Anyway, we did make it to Yorks Wild Kingdom with Uncle Mike and Aunt Doreen thanks to my cousin David for getting us the tickets. The kids had a really good time, enjoying the amusement rides the most. It's a good thing we walked around the zoo area first, because we would have never made it in there if we did the amusement area first. Sam really enjoyed the petting zoo where we were able to feed the goats by hand. I thought for sure he would be afraid, but he wasn't. He was so cute! Gabby is a butterfly freak and they had a butterfly house with butterflies flying all over the place. Sam didn't like that too much, so he clung to his Dad. And of course, he LOVED the rides. He pretty much went on all of them. He did have some meltdowns about having to wait in line, and when he got to be too much to handle, we decided it was time to go. Yorks Wild Kingdom is a great place to bring kids and I look forward to going back again next year. My aunt and I had our "alone" time, which included pedicures, manicures and lunch...Awesome! And as usual, Adam and Uncle Mike went fishing for the day. Aunt Doreen bought Sam and Gabby their very own fishing poles (Sam's is Lighting McQueen and Gabby's is Barbie) and Adam took them down to the pond to try them out. Gabby did great fishing, but Sam was concerned about Brodie swimming in the pond and didn't fish. Our week ended with Sam's Uncle Kevin, Auntie Maryjo, his cousins Timmy and Missy and her new hubby Henry coming up for a family picnic. That was so much fun! Definitely a time that won't be forgotten. Once Sam's 3 week vacation was up, he was definitely ready (as far as we were concerned) to return to school. He's been a tough little cookie showing a lot of attitude these days. His behavior has become quite concerning to me with his tantrums and we've got to nip it before he gets worse. He's talking more and really understanding things that we say even more these days. When I was driving him home from school today, I looked in the rear view mirror at him and noticed that his hair was getting a little long. So, I asked him if he wanted a haircut tonight. He sternly said this: "Note (that's Sam way of saying No), Not Today". And it's things like this that are coming out of him more and more. Unfortunately, we are seeing a lot of repetitiveness lately with him wanting to watch the same movie clip over and over and over again. I truly believe that 3 weeks is much too long for a child with Autism to be away from school. They regress so easily. He went back to school yesterday along with Gabby and is falling back into his routine nicely. Sam has a visit with his neurologist next Monday and his PPT meeting next Thursday at his school. That meeting will be the fate of how much longer he can stay at his special school. Pray that he stays another year. Although he's made tremendous progress, he needs to continue this progress and can only do so by staying where he is.

Vacation...

We leave for Maine today for a week and 2 days...in our new (not really new) 1999 Chevrolet Suburban, aka...Tank! Adam wants to find a bumper sticker for it that says "The Griswolds". How clever of him! The Ford that we had for sale for about 6 months sold last weekend...perfect timing right? We spent this week scrambling to find something to replace it so that we could tow the camper up to Maine. Low and behold...The Suburban! I personally LOVE IT! And as most of you know, we are famous for not keeping a vehicle around very long, Adam insists that we might sell it in a couple of months. We'll have to see about that! We are all very excited to be towing our little pop-up home on wheels to Beaver Dam Campground in Berwick, ME. This will be the Sheidy's first time (with kids) staying at a campground. The weather up there is looking fantastic as far as I could see on The Weather Channel. We have lots planned for this trip, such as York's Wild Kingdom, Funtown/Splashtown USA in Saco, beach days and a family outing at Uncle Mike & Aunt Doreens for Labor Day Weekend. I will have some alone time with Aunt Doreen (finally!) and Adam will be off fishing with Uncle Mike.

Sam has been on vacation from school now for 2 weeks...might I add 2 long weeks! You don't ever realize just how much a child with Autism really needs their special school until they have vacation. He's been a difficult little man lately, especially when he hasn't had a nap. He's now extremely fresh...constantly telling us "no" when we tell him to do something, he yells at us and is just into everything. I'm exhausted! This week had been a little more difficult than most considering he came down with a bad cold and I had to stay home from work with him on Wednesday and Thursday. His big sister Kristie had the same thing, so it went around the house with Gabby catching a bit of it as well. Last week Sam enjoyed time with his cousin Brittany who cared for him while I worked 3 days. He's been asking for her all week this week, but we didn't want her getting sick.

I will end this post for now and will update with pictures and stories upon our return.

The Sheidy's Visit Coney Island, NY...

The Sheidy's visit Coney Island

Sam & Gabby on the swings

On the swings...I love this picture!

Yeah, I'm cool

The priceless look

Riding on the boat

Sam & Gabby on the Choo Choo train

Riding the Carousel

Sam's Favorite Ride

Many of you know that Adam and I LOVE New York City. Yes, the Sheidy Rednecks love the city too. We've been going there since we began dating back in 1997. Before Sam & Gabby came along, we would stay overnight in the city and visit Times Square, go to Yankees games, hang out at our favorite bar McSorley's and shop along Canal Street. We would go to New York City at least 5 times a year. Those days are long gone. But, a spur of the moment decision yesterday brought us back to New York with Sam & Gabby. One place in New York that Adam and I have always wanted to go to, but never had, was Coney Island, home of the Famous Nathan Hotdogs. I have to admit, that it was probably the most dirty, disgusting place that I have ever been to. Interesting...yes. We can now say, we've been to Coney Island. Tons of people...different people...all types of different people. The kids had a BLAST! Sam and Gabby have never been to an amusement park before and we were always concerned that it would be too overwhelming for Sam, but he did remarkably well even without a nap. They enjoyed the kiddie rides so much and we couldn't keep Sam off the motorcycle ride. It was hard for Adam and I too put him on by himself since adults weren't allowed on this particular ride. The look on his face was so priceless when the ride started...scared at first...permanent smile after. It was awesome! The pictures will speak for themselves. Since this trip worked out so well, we will use our tickets to Lake Compounce very soon...Can't wait!

Sam's New Love...

I'm devasted...Although I'm certain Sam loves me with all his heart as I am his mother and his first love...He has found a new love. It's really very cute. Her name is Natalia and she is one of Sam's teachers at his school. Natalia just started working at the school and in Sam's class just a couple of months ago and he has really become smitten with her. He talks about her ALL the time. This morning when I was getting ready to bring him to school and talking about school, he kept saying her name...he calls her Talia. He was very excited to see her. I drove up to the school and a different teacher came out to get him and he actually had tears in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong and he said "I want Talia". I was so happy to see that he actually has real feelings for people. When I picked him up, his Talia brought him out to my car and he was so happy! He kept looking up at her saying "Talia, Talia, Talia". I don't know how the teachers at the school keep themselves from getting attached to the children. It's got to be tough for them to say goodbye when it's time for the kids to leave the school for good. I give them tons of credit, that's for sure.

Another Week of Progress...

I haven't posted in a little while, but there has been so much going on that I just couldn't find the time or energy to type. My niece Missy' and her new hubby Henry's wedding was Saturday (it was so much fun!) and Sam and Gabby had some special time with their Auntie Kim. She reported that the kids were great. We took a trip down to Guilford with my sister Lisa, my brother-in-law Fran and my niece Brittany to my cousin Amy and her hubby Kevin's house to visit with them, my Aunt Darlene and Uncle Brian and my cousin Shawn who I haven't seen in 8 years. He was visiting from New Zealand. The kids were awesome and they really enjoyed playing with their 2 year old second cousin Avery. We also enjoyed a great dinner at a restaurant with absolutely no issues. Sam had a great week all in all. His words are becoming more clear and and he is really using his manners. When he requests something, he now follows his requests with a please. When he finishes eating, he cleans up and puts his dishes in the sink without being told to do so. I can't believe that just over a year ago, this little boy was in his own world...not talking, not wanting to play with peers...just not with us at all. He has proved that with ALOT of hard work, patience and the commitment of love and support from family, friends and teachers, that Autism can be beat. He is a true fighter and I am confident that he will someday be whatever he wants to be and do whatever he wants to do. Early intervention definitely pays off.

Samuel's July Review at Coltsville...

Sam had his July review today, but unfortunately I wasn't able to go to it. It was the first review that I have had to miss since Sam started attended Coltsville over a year ago. Gabby has been sick with a fever and stomach virus since yesterday and I stayed behind to care for her. I was grateful however, to watch the video of his review that was sent home from school with him. I was truly amazed at some of things Sam has learned that we didn't even know he knew! For instance, if you ask him how old he is, he will tell you four. If you ask him where he lives, he will tell you Tolland. He is learning more about emotions such as Happy, Sad, Surprised & Angry. He's able to look at pictures of people that have these different emotions and for the most part, chose the corresponding emotion when asked. He's struggling a little with the Angry emotion, but it won't take long for him to get it. His noun id's are improving drastically and he's able to label all items that are shown to him. They are also working on his "Red Robin" restaurant prompting with the menu. He's improved so much since the last review in that area as well. I noticed in the video that when he wasn't "working", he seemed to be in a different "zone". He wasn't quite with it today. I hope he isn't coming down with the illness Gabby has. He did however, seem just fine tonight! Sam hasn't been napping for a couple of weeks now, so he's been falling asleep before 8 p.m. at night...more like passing out! Another great review for Sam. Way to go my little genius!

Team Super Sam Sheidy Autism Speaks Walk Totals for 2008...

I just checked the Autism Speaks website to get the team of Super Sam Sheidy's fundraising totals...THIS YEAR WE RAISED $2,767.00!!!! You all are amazing and your efforts are greatly appreciated. Adam and I are so greatful to have such wonderful family and friends supporting our miracle boy. And, I must say, his success is due to all the love you all have shown him. We look forward to seeing you all and many more at the 2009 Autism Speaks Walk for Autism. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Early Intervention is Paying Off....

Sam is speaking so much more that he continues to blow our minds! He's speaking in full sentences, requesting and acknowledging people by their names....he is truly amazing. I was notified by his speech pathologist at school that he has mastered all of his language skill goals for the year. He's pretty much mastered everything on his IEP (Individualed Education Program) that was designed for him last September at Coltsville. Since I haven't heard from Tolland yet, I assume that Sam will be able to attend Coltsville another year (I'm saying this with my fingers and toes crossed). He has also started requesting to use the potty. So, the other day, he asked to go on the potty and I put him on it. Well, I don't know if this is a guy thing, but it was the cutest thing ever. While he was a yanking and a pulling on his little thingy, he was actually trying to make a BM! But the only thing happening was gas coming out and he was laughing, which made me laugh. He did the same thing to Adam the next morning and along with sitting on the potty, of course Sam was repeating "Open the Garage" over and over again. This is awesome!!! I informed the school about this and beginning September, they are going to work hard on getting him potty trained. I never thought this would happen so soon. What progress!!!! We had another great visit to Maine to see my Aunt Doreen, Uncle Mike and my cousins. This time Kristie came along with us and it was so nice to have our little family together again for a few days. I've noticed recently just how much Sam and Gabby are not only brother and sister, but best friends as well. They've been playing more together, hugging and fighting just like brothers and sisters do. It's so beautiful to see our little man coming into our world more and more every day.

Open The Garage...

I know I just updated everyone last night, but what happened today is just too good to not tell everyone. Our little Sam is growing up into a quite a funny guy. Sam went back to school today for the summer session at Coltsville and caused quite a stir in his class. When I went to pick him after school, not only did his teacher Ashley bring him out, but his head teacher Susan came out as well. I immediately knew something was up. Well, our little Sam has started streaking. Apparently, in the middle of the class today, he said out loud, "Open The Garage" and pulled his shorts down to his ankles. Then he say's "Close The Garage" and pulls them back up! I honestly don't know where he picked this up (no...it wasn't Adam that taught him this). I couldn't help but laugh when his teacher told me about this. I hadn't seen him do this yet until tonight. When Adam and I came home tonight with the kids, Sam was in the living room with Adam and there went the shorts right down to his ankles with him saying "Open The Garage". Adam proceded to say "Look! Come Look At This!...He's Doing It". Not only did he pull down his shorts, the diaper came off as well. It didn't end there either. Sam's cousin Brittany and her boyfriend Andrew came by...and right there in the driveway, the shorts came down and out came "Open The Garage". Adam in a stern way told him to stop. I can't believe this! Can you imagine this happening in a store or restaurant? It's so hard not to laugh, but it's so much harder to hold it in. What will this child come up with next?

Vacation Wrap Up...

Long Day

Kristie's Graduation

Uncle Mike, Aunt Doreen and David

Adam, Sam, Uncle Mike, Chris & Gabby

Gabby, Jody & Sam

Adam & Sam and "The Quad"

Adam & Sam

Sam

Sam & Gabby

Grandpa & Sam

It's the night before Sam has to return to school for the summer session at Coltsville. I believe Sam's teachers will be quite amazed at how much more he is talking since his vacation started almost 2 weeks ago. He's been quite a happy boy with lots of singing...two of his favorite songs are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Happy Birthday To You! He's been putting alot of smiles on our faces and faces of others. We are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished. Sam's grandparents headed back for Florida last Wednesday and the twins really enjoyed their visit. We left Wednesday soon after with our camper and headed up north to Maine to visit my Aunt Doreen and Uncle Mike in Wells. We set up our little home on wheels in their front yard and stayed two nights. The kids were so well behaved and enjoyed themselves very much and did great sleeping in the camper. We spent time around the campfire with my aunt & uncle and my cousins, Chris and David along with their girlfriends, Jody & Rebecca. Sam and Gabby were taken for rides on their quads and loved every bit of it. Adam taught Sam to say "Mommy....Quad?" It's very cute. My aunt and I attempted a beach trip with the kids while Adam and my uncle attempted their fishing trip. All failed due to rain...total bummer! Needless to say, it was a great trip and we look forward to returning next weekend for the 4th of July weekend. Kristie will be coming along with us and we look forward to having her. To wrap up the week, Adam, the kids and me went to my sister Lisa and brother-in-law Fran's house for Fran's 40th birthday party. The kids had so much fun with all the other tikes running around. I got myself in a little trouble when playing with the little one's. I started a choo choo train with the kids following me...chugging around the yard and into the little pools. I put one foot in the pool and landed in it! Yes...the little kids and big kids got some chuckles out of it. Glad there wasn't a camera in sight! Oh well, it was worth it I guess. It's back to the normal routine tomorrow...Sam back to school and Gabby going to school just 3 days a week for the summer. I'm looking forward to returning to Nature's Grocer on Tuesday. I miss being there! I hope they missed me. I've attached pictures from Kristie's graduation, Sam with his grandparents and our trip to Maine. I hope you all enjoy!