Oh What a Night!

Finally, the wedding post. Thanks to Nonna for the pictures. We had been waiting a year for this special night and it was well worth the wait. We are so happy for Tom and Niki. They make a great couple. Our boys are now blessed with a brand new aunt. We all love Niki and are so happy that she is who Tommy chose to join the family. When we first met her, she was very quiet, which made sense because Tommy is pretty quiet too most of the time. As we got to know her, she really opened up and became much more talkative. She's actually very funny once you get to know her, especially when she goes crazy chasing Max around. Thankfully, she takes teasing well because she is pretty gullible so I tease her every chance I get. Now her and Emily run neck and neck in the teasing at family gatherings. We all tease each other because all have our own idiosecrencies. I couldn't be happier for Tommy. I love him as my own brother and think Niki is exactly what he needed to complete his life. They really complement one another. I'm so glad that that they have Max because he is really getting them ready for babies. He doesn't sit still at all. They came over for dinner this week and we watched their wedding video. The kids went to bed so it was just the four of us. We laughed so hard! We look forward to sharing many more memories together.

As many of you know, their wedding was beautiful. Besides the bout of rain before the ceremony, everything was perfect.....the food, the band, the company. So many people filled the dance floor and seemed to be enjoying themselves.


The beautiful bride

Our boys getting guided by Aunt Kristie

Little Fin on a mission

Could he be any cuter?

Luca making his way down...what a handsome guy...

The vows....

The new couple being announced (look how happy they are!)

Cutting the cake....

The first dance as husband and wife

Our sweet little Griffin (look at those lips!)

Nonna and Papa Tom waiting to see their new daughter-in-law

Papa Tom and his beautiful girls (Ron and I are lucky guys!)

Nonna and Adrian striking a pose...

Audrey on the dance floor...what's up with that? You know it was fun if Audrey was out there shaking it up with her little baby in her tummy...it brought me back to our clubbin' days - haha!

Some pics of the family before the ceremony....

It's sad that it's over but we had such a great time. Everyone looked beautiful. It was such a wonderful event...well worth the wait!

Stacy and Ron's Wedding

Last weekend, Emily and I attended our brother-in-law Brian's sister Stacy's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding held outside at Meadowbrook. Brian and Kristie were both in the wedding and our nephew Blake was the ring bearer. Blake did a great job, as anticipated. He's the most grown up four year old I've ever met. He's an old soul. He had a fun time later in the night showing off his dance moves. Granny, Pa, Auntie Carol and Uncle Roger were with us too. It was neat and a little scary to walk around the mansion, especially once it got dark and started storming. Even the valet guys said it was haunted.....eeery. The ceremony was outside, followed by a cocktail hour where you could tour around the mansion and then the reception was in a big tent out on the lawn. The only bad part of the day was that it was 90+ degrees and very humid with no breeze so imagine me (with my sweating issue) in a full suit. Needless to say, I was very wet by the end of the ceremony and it only got worse.

Here comes the bride (Stacy) and her and Brian's dad Madison

Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristie looking good! (Brian's mom Sharon off to the left)

Here's Blake doing his thing!

The happy couple being announced

The kiss.....

Another happy couple enjoying the cocktail hour

Granny and Blake

Sisters - Granny and Auntie Carol

Aunt Kristie with Pa and Granny

Blake with Uncle Roger and Aunt Carol

Emily and Stacy near the end of the night (the sweat had set in for them too...)

Stacy and Ron near the end...

They are off to Tahiti and another tropical island (forgot the name) for two weeks! Sounds fun and relaxing. It was nice to share their day with them and to visit with everyone.

It's not really all rainbows and butterflies!

I know...kind of a cheesy title but my point is that we had a really bad week. I spend a lot of time in these posts talking about how fun our weekends are, showing fun pictures and saying how blessed we are.

Last night, I wasn't feeling blessed or happy at all. My four year old son was at therapy for five days, three hours per day this week. He was physically exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes and he was a bear. We had a horrible week with meltdowns because he and his body don't understand why he is having to work so hard. I'm mad, I'm sad, I'm depressed. Next week, he starts school so it will be even worse. He'll have school for three hours with a one hour break and then therapy for three hours. The week after that will be the same.

This weighs on my mind all day at work, anywhere we are and no matter what we are doing. I need to get him better. I always try to be the rock, think positively, and see the improvements that are happening but last night all I could feel was pure sadness. I tried to cuddle with him on the couch and the floor while we watched cartoons. He was so crabby. He kept yelling and doing his new chicken noise. I couldn't take it anymore so I went and laid in our bed and just cried. I feel bad for Griffin. I feel bad for Emily. More than anything, I feel bad for Carson. I don't know what he's feeling, what he's thinking, how exhausted and frustrated he is. It shows in his emotions but I just want to be able to have a conversation with him. One of these days on the way home from therapy, when I ask how his day was, I just want him to answer me without me having to prompt him. I feel like we're being cheated out of this special time. I love Carson more that I ever even dreamed of loving another human being. Seeing him struggle breaks my heart. Seeing Griffin getting brushed aside breaks my heart. Seeing the pain in Emily's eyes and seeing her cry about it breaks my heart. Seeing the sadness in our parents' eyes because they don't know what to do when he has meltdowns breaks my heart.

I always take the high road. Whenever Emily is down, I tell her how at therapy I saw what some other kids and parents are having to deal with and our problems are small comparatively speaking. Although I know that, I also know that our problems are not insignificant. This is huge for Carson and for us. Last night, as I laid there, all I could think was "Why Carson?" This is so unfair. I hate that he has to go through this. Emily and Carson came into the bedroom last night and this time, Emily had to console me and tell me that it's going to be okay and that he's getting better. She told me about all the things he is doing that he wouldn't do before. She was my rock. She wiped my tears away and hugged me. For that, I am blessed. She told Carson that I was sad and he said I love you mommy and daddy. Carson and I cuddled and fell asleep. I woke up this morning still feeling the same pain.

We have a fun weekend planned. We're heading off to Aunt Carol and Uncle Roger's today for a day of swimming. We have Emily's family picnic tomorrow and maybe heading back to Aunt Carol's for an evening swim. Monday, we're going boating with Uncle Tommy and Aunt Niki. I'm excited to see everyone but also scared because I don't know how Carson is going to be this weekend. His body is going through changes. He's physically exhausted. He's frustrated and aggressive. None of these events are going to be relaxing. We can't go sit and talk like the other parents do and just let our kids go and play with the other kids. We are constantly "on." Part of me wants to stay home in our little bubble, in our "safe place" everyday this weekend. I know we can't though. It's hard to see all of the other kids playing and just wishing that this would go away. It's hard to see all of the other parents sitting, laughing and relaxing with each other and wishing that we could do the same. It's hard knowing that not everyone understands what Carson and our entire family is going through daily. I don't want people to think that he is just being bad. He has no control over what is going on and neither do we. That is the most frustrating part! I'm sure the weekend will be fine. We'll get through it like we always do. I feel like we're running out of time. We have one more year before kindergarten to get him better.

Sorry to be a downer but I don't want to give the impression that we live the perfect life. We just do our best to make it as perfect as we can right now. Thanks for listening to me vent. Enjoy your weekend!

Boating Fun!

Hi Everyone! Still playing catch up from a couple of weeks ago. Of all days, our memory on our camera became full on Tommy and Niki's wedding day so we had to get a lot of pics from Amiee and Ron and Mom and Dad. However, we can't figure out how to save Amiee's because of the format Apple sends them in....so we're still planning on doing a post on Tommy and Niki's wedding. The weekend after the wedding, we took Carson on the boat with Amiee, Ron and the boys. It was his first time this year. He had a blast. It was his first time ever tubing. He went on with Aunt Amiee first and then with Adrian. He loved it until he and Adrian fell off when we stopped and he went to the "bottom of the sea." He's been talking about it and about going on the boat ever since, which is HUGE for him because we usually don't have much recall. Griffin stayed home with Granny but this weekend, we're going to take them both out. When Carson asks about the boat, we ask him if he wants to go tubing. He now says "Stay on the boat with Mommy." Too funny!


Carson and Adrian tubing





Tubing with Aunt Amiee






Luca giving Adrian the thumbs up






Uncle Ron taking the boys up to the beach






Carson trying to lick the water






Aunt Amiee and sleepy Luca







Mommy and her boy

Adrian and Uncle Ron

Carson having a blast

The best picture we could get of all three of the boys (as many of you know, Carson and Luca don't sit still much...haha!)

It was a great day! Everyone had fun. We're looking forward to going again. Thanks for reading!

Week in Review

Just a quick update on last week's Dr. visit. We made the hike to Ann Arbor again to the DAN Doctor. It's always a fun trip! It turned into a 7 hour ordeal. The appointment went better than last time. A new nurse was there and when she came to the waiting room to get us, Carson said "What a pretty doctor, I need a check-up." He was really good for the nurse but when the doctor came in, he was a little out of control. Nothing really new....a little Autism, a little ODD, a little ADHD. We got a new Rx to help him sleep and calm him down so we're trying that. It's definitely helping with the sleeping. We went to the park afterwards to kill some time before we went to see Cousin Dan's new and improved room at U of M. We went out to dinner with Dan and Josh...Carson was very active to say the least...fun stuff! We love going out to dinner....haha! He has a new noise that he is making a lot. He sucks in air and it sounds like he is choking. He thinks he's a chicken. He did it multiple times in Applebees, which made for a fun night.

Friday, we took the day off to have fun with the boys at Splash Village in Frankenmuth....packed up drove up there, got in the waterpark...Griffin cried instantly and the whole time we were there. Carson and I went down one slide and then he was scared and only wanted to sit in the hot tub so we were there about 20 minutes and were thankfully able to get our money refunded. I wasn't about to pay $75.00 to sit in the hot tub. Thankfully, they understood our situation and gave us a refund so off we went to Birch Run to try to get Carson some school clothes...Birch Run, really? I took the day off and ended up at Birch Run...Luckily, Carson threw a fit in the Gap so Birch Run only lasted about 15 minutes and we were on our way home so there went a wasted vacation day, a wasted tank of gas and more frustration. Thankfully, Friday night was our date night with Amiee and Ron. We went to have some desperately needed drinks before the movie to help make it funnier....we had a blast, went and saw Stepbrothers and then went to PF Changs for dinner....how refreshing!

Saturday, we had Stacy and Ron's wedding. It was beautiful. It was at Meadowbrook and everything was top of the line....however, it was 90 plus degrees with tons of humidity and the ceremony and reception were outside....yes, I was a sweaty mess after the first five minutes.

Sunday, we got to meet Margie and Marty's new arrival - Andrew Richard. He is very cute. Cousins Rachel and Dennis also have a new arrival - Katelyn Teresa. She's beautiful! We hope to meet her this weekend!

Carson had his first day of intense therapy today - day 1 of 15! He did really well. Pray for big results. He's working so hard! I hope that all of his hard work pays off for him.

Thanks for reading!

Armada Fair - Yeeehaw!

Well it was that time of year again....Emily's favorite week of summer - the Armada Fair. I grew up going to the fair so I enjoy it too. I have many fond memories. Anytime that I'm there, it always reminds me of my Grandma. She was very involved in her church in Armada and the church has a big food tent at the fair where they raise a lot of money that week. I can remember helping her out at the tent when I was little. She always made time to help out at the food tent at the fair, whether she felt good or not.

This year we made it out to the fair twice. We went on opening night to meet up with Granny, Pa, Brian, Kristie, Blake and Brooke to watch the rodeo. We thought Carson would enjoy it because he loves cowboys and horses. He actually did relatively well once the rodeo started. He got bored after about twenty minutes so Emily, Carson and I went to look at the other animals and Griffin stayed up at the rodeo with the rest of the family.

Griffin hangin' out with Pa and Granny

Uncle Brian and Blake

Carson wanted to see the pigs and lambs.

Of course one of the lambs "cared him" - he has a little problem with s's. We had a blast in the barns with Carson. He loved the animals...then we made the dreaded mistake of going into the baby animal tent where they also have an area with little toy animals, tractors, and sand. Once he saw that, he wanted nothing to do with anything else and had a little fit because we didn't want to stand there all night and play with sand toys so we had to cut the rest of the night short, grab little Fin from Granny and head home. We were disappointed on the ride home because Carson was very upset and we were sad to be missing out on the rides and the rest of the evening with the family but we had to focus on the two hours that we were there and the fun memories that we made.

We had planned on going back with Cousins Audrey and Sophia on Thursday so we decided that either just Emily and Fin would go or that Carson would go hang out at Granny's or Nonna's. Emily and I feel bad for Griffin sometimes because right now, Carson requires so much attention that Griffin seems to get brushed aside. We've taken Carson to the fair every year since he's been born so thought it might be nice to make that memory with Fin as well. Once Thursday rolled around, I was thinking that I couldn't go the fair without my little Carson friend but thankfully, when asked "do you want to go to the fair or to Granny's," he loudly yelled "go to Granny's!" It was set....a night with our little Fin! Is it just me or is Griffin thinking..."wow no Carson...I'm going to get all the attention for a change..." haha!

Griffin and Sophia posed by the fake cow

They loved the baby chickens!

Sophia wasn't too sure about the goats

Neither was Griffin.....

Emily, Griffin, Sophia and Audrey

We had a great time. Audrey usually joins us at the fair every year. We had some corn dogs, fries, kettle corn, cotton candy, lemonade....you name it, we tried it! It was a great night. Can't wait for next year!