He's Four

My beautiful boy is four. Four. Just saying it feels foreign. Now, he has to eat four bites of his dinner, not three. He uses words like "delectable". He goes to school three days a week. He's learning about fire safety.....his vocabulary word this week its "tart". He's done learning how to crawl, walk and talk. Today, he played with Mia on the playground for a full 10 minutes. He chased her, laughed with her, climbed the big boy toys with her. I want to take her home with us, bottle her up, and love her for engaging him for so long! He now says that he has a best friend. "Aiden Lugar. A-i-d-e-n". He knows that Aiden's name is spelled differently than his....he is four....but he's still my Baby.

Long Overdue....

Seriously?! I haven't blogged about my family in over two months.....seriously?!?!?! Well, Fall is here (sort of) and I plan on blogging often (ha!). Eventually, I'd like to make this blog in to a book about my family....so I had better keep it updated. No more missing chapters....my boy is 4....more to come.

Beach

Once it hit 105 degrees here in this exhaustingly hot desert, we headed for the beach, where the temperature never rose above 68 degrees. Aden played....Ava sat. He loves the water, running toward the waves like it's the coolest thing in the entire world. Ava doesn't like water, or being cold and wet, the beach is not for her....she sat in her chair and played with sand and rocks for 6 hours!

4th of July

The 4th of July was a rough day for me....I was thoroughly and undeniably under the weather. I spent much of the day in bed, moaning, groaning and complaining, trying to pry out even a shred of pity from anyone who may have walked by our bedroom. Eventually, I had to roll out of bed and meet my fate...the shower. How warm streams of soft and calming water can heal you, I'll never know. Off we went to Scott's brother's house for a little McGihon family love.

Home made lemon ice cream with fresh, summer strawberries....and a vintage overlay to add to the nostalgia of it all.

They had no idea what to think of the fireworks

Hiding behind Grandma and Papa

Safe in Daddy's arms

26

I never understand why people dislike their birthdays. When my birthday comes around at the end of June, we celebrate it right. This year we had three different soirées with three different groups of people...my family...Scott's family...and our friends. My family has, in recent years, come to know that I need an entire week for celebrating, my "Birthday Week". On the morning of my birthday, Scott and the kids took me to a local diner for a happy, no makeup, feel good kind of breakfast.

(no makeup until Scott brought out my favorite Chanel lip gloss in the most gorgeous color ever...Blizzard...a little help from my boy)

A competitive game of Chutes and Ladders...

I FINALLY beat him!

A song for Mommy

I'm not a fan of birthday cake...in lieu of cake...my candles were perfectly positioned in a warm, apple pie!

Sometimes, your girls show up, and it all feels right, simple, happy. No drama, thank you. These are the kind of girls that will call you when your baby is sick and offer to make you dinner. They know how to drink with you when you're another year older, and they know how to pray with you when you're in need. They know you're favorite color, and buy you bracelets that you will wear again and again. They love your children for who they are, they don't judge your parenting. They push you to be a better person ever day. These girls have blessed me so much...and on this warm summer night, we laughed...

...we went shopping in MAC

...we wore fake Eclipse jewelry from our kid's happy meals...

...and then we laughed some more...

Hopefully I'm another year wiser, more loving, more giving, more lady like and more understanding. I know for certain, though, that I'm another year happier.

School Daze

Aden started preschool in January (too early for me, but he needed it for his social skills). He is happy when we arrive, and happy when we leave, but he seemed to spend the time in between in a bit of a happy daze. I was so relieved that almost immediately, he felt comfortable there. On our drive home, I would ask his about school. Six months ago, this is how our conversations would go....he was just over 3 years old.

Mommy, "Aden, how was school today?"

Aden.....(nothing)

Mommy, "Buddy, what did you do at school today?"

Aden......"Buddy, what did you do at school today?"

Mommy, "Did you play outside?"

Aden, "Ming Ming duckling here." (scripting from the Wonder Pets)

Mommy, "Did you eat your lunch?"

Aden, "Sandwhich Mommy"

Obviously, this was so disheartening. I was sending him to spend two mornings a week with other women, women who loved him and wanted to help him learn and grow, but I had no idea what he did all day. He couldn't tell me even the slightest detail. I vividly remember the first time he told me that he painted at school. I almost cried. I saw the green paint on his arm and asked if he made a picture. He sat, deep in thought for what seemed like an eternity. "Yes!" he said, "I make a tree!" That was a huge leap...our conversations were starting. Here is how they go now, six months later...

Mommy, "Aden, how was school today?"

Aden, "Good! I eat my lunch."

Mommy, "That's great, what else did you do today?"

Aden, "I played outside, go on the slide, paint a red circle"

Mommy, "A red circle?!"

Aden, "Yes! I love a red circle!"

Mommy, "Wow Buddy, that's so cool"

Aden, "YA!"

Mommy, "Did you see your friends today?"

Aden, "I love Michaela!"

Mommy, "I know you love her, she's so sweet. Did you go potty?"

Aden, "Yes! I peed in the potty two times and I have two stickersssss!!!!!!!"

The difference in Aden is astonishing. I know that God is doing an amazing work in our little boy!

We've just made the decision to start Aden in kindergarten in two years, instead of one. If he goes to pre-k next year, he will enter his senior year as a 16 year old....not cool. I am so very excited to keep him with me for two more years! This family decision has made summer seem that much sweeter.

As much as I'd like to think that Aden should be label free, I know that right now, he isn't. A few weeks ago, we made the trip to San Bernardino for an evaluation with Inland Regional Center, which is a state agency that provides services to children with qualifying diagnosis. At first, they didn't want to qualify him since his autism is mild. I know that the woman performing his evaluation was pushing for an Asperger's diagnosis, but Aden still exhibits the typical autistic behaviors that I am now beginning to love. He now has two official Autism diagnosis'. Hopefully we'll meet with our case worker in August, and be on our way to some amazing therapies that we would otherwise have gone without. After that evaluation, we headed to BJ's for some love and dinner. In these photos, you'll see how Aden was so intensely interested in the lights, a sensory thing.....I think it just makes him look like an angel looking at the clouds :) I could drink in his sweetness, his curious little self.

Business...

...makes me a bad blogger. My May calendar was full of shoots...needless to say we dined on pancakes for dinner more often that I'd like to admit. Finding balance between being a good business woman and a good homemaker is still something that I struggle with, even though my business is going on two years old! Now that things have calmed down and my editing is almost caught up, I'll get back to blogging.