Easter & More...

It's been a while since I last posted, and that is in large part to the fact that we've moved...AGAIN! We're staying with my parents for a little while until we find something closer to Phil's work. He's been commuting to Banning, which is an hour and a half drive from where we're at. It's a really tough drive on Phil, since he's putting in a 12 hour shift. So we're looking for a place as we speak...cross your fingers for us. As for Phil and the new job, he's loving it. He's been stationed out at the jail in Banning. He is still being trained, but loves the fact that every day is something different. He will probably be in at the jail for a good couple of years, and then if he wants to transfer out to another station, he can. For now I am super excited that we can really get settled somewhere and know that we can buy a home in the near future.



His first Easter Egg

Hunting for eggs
Elizabeth will be 1 next month and is such a doll. She's still not crawling yet, but seams to get around by scooting. I find her making the most funniest faces and gabbing constantly. Her latest word is "uh-oh", which I love! Hopefully by next month we can get her to start crawling around...I know I'm gonna shoot myself in the foot for saying that ;-) Benjamin has turned out to be somewhat of a gymnast. He loves doing somersaults, standing on his head, climbing up couches, tables, chairs, beds, you name it, and jumps right off. I think we might be visiting the emergency room fairly soon (I hope not!). The biggest news about our little Ben will come in about a month. Back at his 2 year check-up, I had spoken with his pediatrician about his speech delay. We had his hearing checked and it all came back fine. He passed with flying colors. We were then referred to a speech therapist, who asked us various questions about how he responds and expresses speech. The results were not good, and we were referred then to an Autism Specialist. I had read up on Autism a while back and had noticed myself, that there were similarities in what they described and things Ben did and didn't do. He still has to be seen by a Psychologist and Occupational Therapist, in which they will evaluate him and following this session the Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, and both Autism Specialists will discuss what they have observed and come up with a diagnosis. I figure we won't have a diagnosis until the middle of May. It's a long process but worth the wait. We are hopeful that his case is not as severe as others diagnosed with Autism. There is a wide range of cases for Autism, and not all children diagnosed are at one end of the spectrum. And we feel Ben is at the lesser end. So at this point, he is NOT diagnosed yet. We have not been told that he is Autistic, but we are hopeful. He is still the same little boy full of energy and smiles, and if diagnosed, we hope to acquire the tools to help him reach his full potential and be a happy child. We'll keep everyone updated and let you all know once we find out the diagnosis.



All dressed up for church on Easter

Easter weekend started with a Ward Breakfast at the Stake Center, where Ben participated in his first Easter egg hunt. He collected a whopping 4 eggs...he was finished after picking up the first egg. It was difficult to get him to pick up any more after that. But at this age, he really has no idea what it all means, so maybe we'll have better luck next year. Later that evening we had dinner with my extended family and Ben and his cousins collected more Easter eggs. We thought Ben might have picked up on this little game of collecting bright eggs, but no such luck...he just wanted to run around and play on the slide...oh well. We hope everyone had a fun and safe Easter!