August Already??

Hi Friends! Sorry it's been so long! We've been pretty busy around here.

We are settling in quite nicely. It's so fun to be in a place that I know. We haven't joined a church yet, but we're hoping to do that before Labor Day. I'm anxious to start singing somewhere and Luke can't wait to sing in the children's choir. Trent is still enjoying his new role at Drilling Info. He's traveling quite a bit, but we're hoping that will die down around the end of the year. He is doing very well and I am so proud of him.

We've had a lot of fun seeing good friends and family. We've even gotten to go to an Astros game. Thanks to Aunt Kate for being so willing to take care of the boys. She loves them and they love her! I love being so close to my Aunt Myra and Kate. It's like having a piece of my mom back again. We've had some great dinners with Brent and Mindi Smithson, Brad and Erica Nugent, Blake and Larissa McLean and their girls, and my cousin, Daniel. I spent the day before my birthday shopping with Whitney Lundemo. She was my best friend in Pflugerville, and she is also Luke's future mother-in-law. (Ask him. He'll tell you he's going to marry Taylor!) We laughed about the fact that in the five years that we've been friends, we've never been to the mall together without kids. Come to think of it, we've never even been out to dinner by ourselves! It was a treat! My birthday was spent at home with my boys spoiling me rotten. I'm very blessed!!!

Luke is having a great summer. He's been spending his days playing with Legos, visiting Grandma Liz and Grandpa "Like" (Liz and Mike are Megan's parents, and he requests visits to their house frequently.) I enrolled him in a daycamp at FUMC Katy. It's three weeks, Monday-Thursday from 10-2 with a break every other week. We have one more week of camp and then we're in the home stretch. My baby starts kindergarten August 23!

I've also been fortunate to reconnect with one of my sorority sisters (Kim Spencer for you ADPis reading this post!!) who lives super close. We've checked out the local wine bar and had a playdate for our kids. She has 6 year old twins, Emma and Andrew. Luke and Andrew totally hit it off and became good buddies immediately. He's still talking about him. I love that! After our first playdate we got in the car and Luke said, "Mom, I really like him." AW!!!! Andrew felt the same way so we went out to the pool the next day. Luke is anxiously awaiting his buddy's return.

Clay is doing so, so well. I called our new pediatrician and requested an appointment where I could just fill him in on Clay's background and let him know where we've been as well as where we are. He made me his last patient of the day so he wouldn't be in a hurry. He sat and talked with me for almost TWO HOURS! I was blown away. He is a perfect fit for us. He agrees that we're doing all the things that we need to be doing right now, but he also feels that it is necessary to have a more extensive evaluation done so that a diagnosis can hopefully be made. He has referred us to the Autism Center at Texas Children's Hospital. We are currently on a waiting list for the Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics at Texas Children's, but he thinks that the Autism Center will be able to see us sooner. Hopefully I will be able to schedule an appointment sometime next week, and I really hope it will be before his second birthday.

He loves to sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and I am currently in the process of redecorating his room accordingly. He will see a farm animal and sing "E-i-e-i" (leaving off the O). He loooooooves the Wiggles and Sesame Street and will dance, laugh, and clap whenever they are on. In fact, he will bring me the remote when he's ready to watch his shows. If I am holding the remote because I am channel surfing, he will take it out of my hand and give it back to me as if to say, "Here ya go. Try again."

He's had quite the language explosion over the past week. He signs please, all done, down, eat, and more. He says E-i-e-i, Moo, Daddy, Bubba, Doggie, Elmo, Cookie (in reference to Cookie Monster as well as an actual cookie), go, whoa, whee, uh-oh, hi, down, up, out, in, Ohhhhhh (when he's hugging), ball, and yea. I am pretty sure he said "Aunt Meg" today but I won't make it official until it happens again. The thing I've wanted more than anything was for him to have a definite word or sign for Mama. Today, August 5, I got my wish

Clay sees three therapists for an hour each every week for speech, occupational therapy, and developmental therapy. Today was a development day and his Early Intervention Specialist, Hanna, and I were finishing up and discussing goals for the week. Clay picked up his "Who Loves Baby" photo book, opened it to my picture, and you could see the light bulb turn on. He looked at the picture, looked at me, smiled, brought me the book and said, "MAMA!!!" I burst into tears. This is the first time he's called me Mama. It is something that I've wanted to hear so badly, but honestly never knew if I would. That's not to say that I didn't think he'd ever talk, but the road that lies ahead is unknown. I have no doubt that he will develop and learn, but to what extent and at what pace is yet to be determined. But you know what? Today was like Christmas. I am still so happy and I will cherish that memory for the rest of my life.

Thank you all for your prayers as we've made this transition. They mean so much to us.