2010 Wrap-Up

Wow...what a year it has been! As you can see, I haven't posted since March. I used to feel guilty about it. But after sending my impromptu Shutterfly Christmas Card to the blog for a $25 giftcard in exchange, I realized that updating less frequently isn't half bad. Now everyone will get a REAL extensive look at our year!

Springtime was busy as I coached softball again for Sacred Heart. I was gone around 70 hours per week for a few months. Then summer came and I worked less than half time at Sacred Heart and spent almost everyday with Peter. Ben was working his labor job, of course, and he was the one gone 70 hours a week!

Peter turned 5 in May. He had a Spongebob party for the 2nd year in a row. It was the 3rd year in a row that it rained on his big day so an "inside" party was required. We are planning for rain again next year so that means we may just make it to the park! :) As a special treat, Ben and I took Peter to the CanadInn Waterpark too for his birthday because he really wanted to try it. It took him 3 hours to actually touch the water, but when he did, he fell in love with it! We are proud to say that WATER is one fear we overcame this year...




I traveled for work some in the summer -- taking students on retreats and to conferences. I also got to spend 8 days in Moorhead taking part in a national certificate program for Catholic Youth Ministers. I am now over half done with the program. It has been life changing. It's about as intense as getting a Master's Degree. Many people complete the program in 2 years but I will be doing it in 9 months. Call me an over-achiever if you'd like...I prefer to call myself INSANE. ;) The program has done nothing but affirm for me God's call in my life to be in ministry. But of course I still LOVE doing design in my free time. I will always have a passion for that.

Peter played t-ball this summer. We had our ups and downs with this, but overall it was a good experience. He is excited to play again next summer so I think that means it was a success!?



Peter also worked really hard in therapy this summer and started Kindergarten this fall at Sacred Heart! We are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished in these past years. It has been an unexpected/interesting/challenging/scary/intense journey for all 3 of us...sometimes we marvel at what some people told us: "He probably won't go to school on time", "You will never find the right services for Peter up north", etc. We stood our ground, advocated as best we could and gave Peter everything they said he would need...and now he is doing what some people doubted he would do! HE IS IN KINDERGARTEN! For some people, Kindergarten is the beginning of a long journey...for us, Kindergarten has been the end goal in some ways. Certainly not the end of Peter's learning or success...just the end of a chapter -- a chapter which some people doubted could be written.


(Peter and his therapists!)



This fall we added to our family...No, mommy isn't pregnant...we got a puppy! He was born 08.09.10. He is a pure-bred Basset Hound. We named him Walter. Puppy ownership has also had it's ups and downs...but we are finally getting the hang of things and we sure couldn't picture our lives without Walter!



There's not much else to report. Thanksgiving was spent in EGF this year as the weather didn't permit us to visit Ben's parents. We will be spending Christmas in EGF too so that Ben can work during his school break. We need to save up some more money as we are headed to Honduras for a week in January. Ben's older sister is getting married there.

I am fighting a bad head cold so the decorations aren't up in the house yet. The tree is in place -- it just needs to be completed tonight when the boys get home. Our hearts are warm - feeling blessed as ever.

May all of you experience Christ's love this holiday season! Come back again soon...well, not too soon. I probably won't post again until next month. :)

Christmas Card 2010

Love Hope Faith Religious

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Over 2 months since I last posted??

I guess that's my new record -- longest time without blogging. Obviously that is a testament to how crazy our lives have been! Work, work, work, therapy, therapy, therapy!

Some big news -- Peter wasn't doing well at his daycare center. I will spare the details to protect his past providers...but let's just say he was overwhelmed there to say the least. It was just not the place for Peter. He is now attending a home daycare in which the provider and her family are active members of our church. AND -- she lives very close to us. A big relief! He has adjusted well and we are just thrilled and overjoyed to have our little man back. Had to follow the mother/father gut on that one...

My birthday was February 6th and Ben saved up for a few months and surprised me with a whole bunch of stuff. He absolutely spoiled me ROTTEN. I got chocolate chip waffles from him and Peter, a full set of nails, a pedicure, we went to a movie, had dinner at a fancy restaurant and then drinks with some friends -- I was really surprised when our close friends Matt & Sarah showed up! Seriously, it was my favorite birthday EVER! Not because of the pampering, but just because Ben and I got to spend most of the day together and that happens so rarely. :D Of course it helps that he sent me to the spa to relax. hehe

In other news -- Peter had appointments in Rochester February 22-24th. We drove down on Sunday, February 21st and went to Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America. We had been there 2 years ago but of course Peter didn't remember it. Peter is obsessed with Spongebob, as many of you know, so it was a big day for him! We met Ben's sister, Rebecca there and we had lunch and took some extra time getting Peter acquainted with the lights, sounds, people, etc. But once he was comfortable, he never stopped moving, running, playing and laughing. It was an absolute blast! We met Spongebob (Peter even colored him a picture), Patrick, Dora & Diego. Diego kissed me on the cheek and Peter was sure to tell Daddy when we met up with him and Becca after they rode on a "big scary" ride. We bought the over priced professional photos for both sessions. And we took pictures with our camera of Spongebob and Patrick too! (Thanks, Becca!)

When we left "Nick-ick-loden Verse" we drove (with Auntie Becca) down to Ben's grandparents house. Ben had Red River Valley potatoes to give them and we ate dinner with a majority of the Wellmans. It was Ben's cousin's birthday so we got to be apart of the celebration! Peter's great grandparents and great aunts and uncles sure did miss him! Hugs and kisses galore! It was great to catch up with everyone.
After the party we drove down to Rochester and went to our hotel.

Our appointments lasted 3 days. Peter was a trooper through it all. We can't be prouder of him!! His test scores revealed that his IQ is 126. This is in the "Superior" category -- WAY ABOVE AVERAGE. There are things in the non-verbal tested he can do that a 7 or 8 year old can do. However, his speech is at a 3 year old's level (he'll be 5 in May). The giant gap in abilities is how they know it's Autism. This is nothing new to us -- it's just that we were very excited to hear of his cognitive and academic talents! The doctor said 10-20% of kids with Autism "grow out" of their diagnosis as they get older. Because of Peter's IQ he has a very good chance of being in that 10-20% group. Peter's pre-school teacher was on the conference call as well as my parents. It's always good for everyone to hear things at the same time. Nice so we don't have to tell the story as much. His pre-school teacher holds a very special part of our hearts because of her love and support of Peter. Her son is a junior in high-school at Sacred Heart (that's where Peter goes) and he was diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum as a young boy too and today is thriving! She has walked the journey with us this year and we will never forget it. God Bless You, Mrs. Hammond!!

At the hotel, Peter fell in love with swimming. We have tried to get him to swim many other times and he was never really interested...more like freaked out...except for at the lake. HE LOVES BEING IN THE WATER AT THE LAKE! But for some reason pools have never been his thing. Well, they sure are now! He was thrilled to talk about swimming during the entire drive down to Rochester and we were like "Where is this coming from?" So I can finally enroll him in swimming lessons this summer! I have my summer's off (minus a few trips I will take for work) so it will definitely work to get him going on this! Woo hoo! Yay Peter!!

So here are some pictures:

Swiper Cars


Focusing hard at Lego Land


Waiting in line to meet Spongebob and Patrick!!

So apparently the actual Spongebob pics are on my desktop computer at work and right now I'm on my laptap...you can see them on my Facebook page though.


Riding the "Azul" train


Playing "catch" with Daddy


CHEESE Mommy!


His new Toy Story life preserver suit


Ben really enjoyed the ankle deep water ... (NOT) ...

And PS: the doctor's and Peter's preschool teacher gave the OK for Peter to go to Kindergarten in the fall! That has always been our goal - to get him started on time and it's looks like that is the case! He will LOVE having school all day and keeping his same classmates. We are really looking forward to it and are very proud of our son.