Change is coming!

The kids summer vacation is quickly coming to an end. The older girls will be going to school, and Gabby will be home with me. She won't be 3 till January 7th, she doesn't make the cut off to go to school this year, and won't qualify for the autism program ( just shows how far we have come)! 

Here is the game plan (which rarely works out as planned) (:  ..

The big kids will go to school, and Gabby will be home schooled. 3 days a week she will have table time, structured play and going into the community to interact with peers her age. I will be once again cutting back our early intervention services. They are some amazing people that have helped us get to places I once thought were impossible. These woman aren't just a bunch of people that have come into our home and played with our daughter. They have helped pick up the pieces when I thought I couldn't take my next step, they have become an extended family in a way. They will so greatly be missed, but it's time for me to put on my big girl panties and take the next step. Easter Seals will be helping me set up an in home program so that I can get Gabby started.. then it's all left up to me (no pressure or anything). In that time I have one year to raise the money to put her into a Montessori school. I know Gabby is amazing, maybe that's why her initials spell out GEM, but reality is we live in an inner city with not the greatest schools. I have to work with what I have here! I could give you 15 reasons on why I don't want any of my kids in the schools here... but for Gabby I could give you 15 more. The fact is she needs something more structured, something with concrete thinking. That's just the way she works best. Which brings us back to the present.... I have started selling autism awareness bracelets. These will help buy her an iPad, and start putting money away for school. The first year of schooling is almost $3500. When you have 4 other children that is a nut and a half!!!!! 

Let me point out some amazing things autism has brought into our lives....

1. Gabby.... every bit of her is a blessing

2. It has made me believe anything is possible with love

3. It made me appreciate the smaller things my children do, and in the end has made me a better parent

4. It has make us stronger as a family

5. It has brought some amazing people into our lives, that I don't think my life would ever have been complete without them.

6. It has brought people from my past back into my life, and it gave me an opportunity to see what wonderful people they really are.

  Change is hard for us all, makes us face the unknown. It can bring fear panic, and anxiety.... but it also can be a blessing in disguise.