We're coming to the end of the year and I wanted to reflect a little here. What a year it has been for us. It started out rough and somewhere in the middle things seemed to even out until November. Right off the bat we started out the new year with Garrett having an appendectomy and of course there were some financial issues that came with it. Then in February we found a new doctor for Kevin and I'd say it was in the nick of time, too. I really do like this new doctor Kevin has. We've been able to take him off of most of the medication that his old doctor had him on, but the one thing I really like is he actually takes the time to look at Kevin while we are talking. Not me, but Kevin. I mean come on who's the patient here anyway. In March Kevin and his classmates attended their 1st Special Needs Prom. He had so much fun that day. I'm hoping to get him a suit he can wear next year. One year Gluten Free in May. In June he went back for a follow up with his Psychiatrist and surprised his doctor by looking up at him and saying "Hello Doctor." The big plus during this month was we took him off of Prozac! Now July was a big month for us, because we went on our first vacation in seven years. Yes, it had been seven years since I'd taken my boys on a trip. We had the best time visiting my sister in Florida and hanging out at the beach. Kevin really loved the water so much that I'd be afraid to live on the beach. Now at the end of July I bit the bullet so to speak. I put Kevin on the Casein Free diet. At first I wasn't sure if it would make a difference, but oh yes it has. He seems a lot more focused since starting this diet. The Gluten Free diet is a huge help with his agitation, but he still wasn't really focused with the world around him. Trust me he isn't cured, but just having him a little more focus is a blessing.
That was the first half of the year. After July things kind of settled down. The boys went back to school in August and Garrett got his driving permit. September seemed to be uneventful. Thank goodness if you ask me. In October it seemed like I was hearing more words out of Kevin and I'd decided to keep him on the casein free diet. The best part was I had noticed he was able to focus on playing games on his brother's Nintendo DS. This helped him to start using his fingers again. The poor guy had his fingers so curled up in such a tight fist for so long that he basically forgot how to open them. There were days when I'd remind him to open his hands and let the air to them. Things were looking up. Kevin had gone for his first time to visit his father and step-mother all by himself. Yap, no Garrett just Kevin getting his Dad's fullest attention. Looking back on this I'm so glad he was able to visit his Dad by himself, because November rolled around and his Dad passed away unexpectedly. I'm still not sure what happened, but I was told it may have been a blood clot. We took a relaxing moment at my sisters house here to enjoy Thanksgiving. I knew we had a lot to be thankful for, but it was hard to stay focused on it. The 1st of December their Grandmother in Florida passed away from lung cancer. We started out the month pretty depressed, but Garrett and I were determined to have a Happy Holiday no matter what. We went out as a family and picked out the Christmas Tree. After I put on the lights the tree the boys decorated it together. I think it's one our best looking trees ever. We spent Christmas day at home with their Grandmother that lives here and stuffed ourselves. Gram and I decided since there was only the four of us we were having Prime Rib. Yap, Prime Rib. Something that neither ones of us has ever cooked before. Well, thankfully Gram had talked to my brother in Florida and he told her it was easy. It was! Wish we could afford to do that more often. Now I have to confess the cake I made for Christmas was a big flop. It was like cutting rubber and I was so upset that I had no dessert for the kids. No idea what happened, but I decided to make cupcakes right then and there. One problem I soon realized was I had no icing. I sat there thinking about it for awhile and thought well heck what did they do years ago. They made it from scratch. I got my Grandmother's 70 year old cookbook out and found a Marshmallow icing recipe. This is the funniest part. My mother was helping me and while she was scoping the marshmallow into the egg white that I was beating somehow the spatula got caught up in the hand held mixer. It flipped right out of my hand and landed on the floor beating away. We're both standing there looking at this thing spinning away on the floor like idiots. Icing was everywhere. My mother says turn the thing off. I said I can't because my hands were covered in icing. She reached over and yanked the cord out of the socket. What a mess. Marshmallow icing is the stickiest icing in the world if you ask me. Well, there is some good here. Are you done laughing yet. There was just enough icing left in the bowl to icing the cupcakes, so we had dessert after all.
We have a new year coming around the corner and here's to hoping and praying that next year is the best ever for yours and mine.
