And the Baby is......

Wow,it has been awhile since I blogged! Things have been going quickly over here. The Other Half is away on business at least 2days a week now. I just get in go mode and get only the necessities done. I am trying to branch out from that, now that the kids and I have gotten our routine down.

The Other Half and I found out last week that we are having another boy! G was there with us and asked the Ultra Sound Tech where the girl was. Ha! I just started laughing and asked if she was sure. She pointed to his boy part and proved that she wasn't pulling my leg. The Other Half just laughed and said he couldn't believe it. We felt sure it was a girl. Plus we had already agreed on a name. Boy names on the other hand have proven very difficult for us to agree on. This could be one of those kids that has their name pulled out of a hat in the delivery room. I kid...I think....

C was none to happy about the news. I told her at school when I came to pick her up from tutoring. She, unfortunately, started to cry. Her friend Emily, who is in the same sibling boat, hugged her and told her they would start a Girls with Brothers club. By day 3 C had come around. She has grasped that she will never have to share a room and she will be 10years older than her brother, so she won't have to put up with alot of "stinky brother" activity. And in the mean time C has had her hand kicked by the baby, which melted her heart. She is always asking me if he is moving and if she can feel it. She really likes talking to my belly.

G has awesomely accepted the fact that he will be the big brother or a brother. He currently wants the baby to sleep in his room. He says he can't wait to snuggle the baby, teach it to give zurburts, and rock'n roll. I love his attitude thus far!
I do have to say being given another boy is intimidating. I'm not intimidated by all the boy stuff. Peeing outside, doing gross things for a laugh, the loudness, the physicalness, that is all fine. I've always had a large amount of guy friends so that doesn't and hasn't fazed me. However, having a son with highly functioning autism does give us an increased chance that this child could have autism. Our pediatrician said, regardless of sex, our chances increase 50% that this child could have autism. I don't worry about it often, but it does cross my mind. I pray for protection and guidance. For this next child we will be doing a delayed shot schedule. I'm a healthy eater, so I've continued to do that as well. I exercise too. Although I have to say, G tolerated his shots much better than C. I don't recall him having fever or getting sick after any of them. However later in pregnancy was hard health wise for he and I. I had to be on antibiotics for upper respiratory infection, then bronchitis, and several other things. He also had complications during and post delivery. So it is hard to say what triggered his autism. I figure all I can do is pray, and make logical discussions based on creditable sources for this little guy. Then one has to let the chips fall where they may.

Autism and Highly functioning Autism can be a real pain in the butt. It can take a toll on you and your family. It has at times done all of that to us. Having said that Autism can come with many gifting too. G has become very articulate with voicing his feelings. This comes from all the therapy and social stories he has had. He is a very loving guy. He reads and writes at a higher level than his Kindergarten grade. He loves music. He hears things in the music that I don't. He is teaching himself to play the drums well. He has been watching the praise and worship team ,at church, practice and preform for close to 3years. This past December, while they practiced for the Christmas program, some people heard someone playing bongos. They assumed because of how on time they were, that it was part of a track played with the musicians. The song stopped, but the bongos continued. The ladies looked around, and it was G playing. Everyone thought it was so cool they let him continue during practices. The musicians have also been sweet to let him sit and "play" drums. His play has turned very good.The musicians love telling me about what G did after practice, or showing me their phone videos of him singing and playing drums in time. G also likes writing his own songs. He spends hours in his room singing loudly,in key, and drumming his heart out. He has a gift, a love, a joy. Who knows if it would be as strong if he weren't who he is, if the Autism wasn't present. Who knows?
Because of these things we try not to be afraid.