What's New?

I realize it has been a long time since I've posted on the blog. I've had some problems with it, but I hope they are fixed.  So what's new with me......

I just hit my year mark with Marketstar/LG. Looking back on the last year, I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed my time at Marketstar. They are a great company with great values. I'm not sure what my future will be there, but so far I have no complaints.

The kids are doing good. Kaitlyn continues to just be a joy to have in our family. She is always the first one at the door when I come home from work to give me a hug and welcome me home. The older she gets, the more I think having all girls, wouldn't have been so bad.

Jordan is doing good like always. We recently discovered he has a girlfriend(he won't tell us her name), which really is no surprise to me. He has started Hip-Hop dancing classes, and really seems to enjoy them. We are hoping it will drain some of his energy.

Trevor is just Trevor. I really wish I understood why he gets upset about the dumbest things so easily and why getting upset means throwing huge tantroms. I thought I would understand him better as he got older, but he gets to be a bigger mystery.

Josh is our real struggle. He is really struggling with pooping. He recently went 10 days without pooping and since then it's not gotten any better. He's been to the E.R at Primary's so many times in the last two weeks, that it's not even funny anymore. It really frustrates me, because no one can figure out what is wrong with him. He goes to the ER and comes back in the same state. I really don't wonder why people have no confidence in our healthcare system, because I really have lost all confidence myself. I really think it will take a miracle from up above for things to get better for him, and those kind of miracles are few and far between, and don't happen to us, so I don't get my hopes up.

All in All things haven't really changed much. We are pretty boring people. I am grateful to anyone who reads my blog. If you do read it, please don't tell us how sorry you are, just show support for us. Pitty is not what we need. I am grateful to everyone who asks about the kids. Thank you for caring!  Also for everyone who helps my wife get through her crazy life, you are appreciated more than you know.

Am I the only one?

Am I the only one who feels like my house has become a medical supply place?

What's new with Us

I'm sure many people who read this visit many doctors, we are no exception. Our youngest son Josh has so many doctors, I don't even try to keep track of them all. We visited a new one today. Josh's head is very misshapen, and has been since birth. My wife and I worry about his head constantly. Due to a new bump that is forming on his head we had to make sure it was not serious. The doctor we saw today was very nice and very thorough. He was so nice he sent us for a CT scan(sarcasm implied). It took my wife and I to hold him still(and a nurse to hold our daughter), but all in all it turned out good. Although his head his shaped weird, it's not affecting his brain(finally a break!). For once I can say we got good news from a doctor(I thought a certain hot place froze over too :) ).

Now to switch gears....Many fathers always hope for a boy when they have children, I was also a part of this way of thinking. We had our only daughter just over a year ago, and I have to say she is so much fun to have around. I always get a huge smile when I come home from work while she runs towards me. I have also tried to take her with me when I go shopping or to run errands. Who knew this was all it took to get your daughter on your side?  Now do I took forward to teenage years with her, NOPE!!!!, but I am really enjoying having a daddy's girl until that day comes.

I know I have been all over the place with this post, but I now have to talk about Autism. Our oldest son, Trevor is Autistic. The older he gets, the stronger he gets. He doesn't lift weights or work out, but somehow he is turning into Hercules.  He is still very aggressive, especially when he doesn't get what he wants, and I wonder how long will I be able to hold him back from hurting his siblings or my wife?  Anyone tried steroids ;)? What does everyone do to help control this?

And finally....I apologize for the pictures not showing up on my blog. I do not know why they are not showing up. I'm trying to figure it out. If anyone can provide a solution, I'd be grateful.

Why Should I be punished?

How many couples with Special Needs kids feel like they are in many ways punished for having your kids?  My kids are blessings in many, many ways, and I love them to death. There are many other ways where I feel like I am punished for having them too. I feel like I pass up many opportunities at work so my salary won't increase(gotta keep those benefits). I also feel like my wife and I can't go do anything for more than 2 or 3 hrs, because Josh and Kaitlyn don't sleep through the night and no one wants to deal with that.

Am I the only one out there that feels this way? I in no way want to offend any family members, because Melissa and I could not survive without them. I do feel that there are people out there that think their life is so hard, when in all reality they have it so easy. I would love for people to switch lives with us for 1 week and see what we go through. I know people think they know what our life is like, but no one really knows until you live with it. You may visit or call, but you don't see Autism or everything we deal with when it comes to Josh.

Do you ever feel so tired Church or School or even work just doesn't seem so exciting so you skip it? Do you every feel bad for doing that? I can honestly say that I don't anymore. Our life is hard! It's harder than anyone in our family, guaranteed. I feel like no matter what I do am I judged poorly because I walk in to work so tired and worn out that I drag my butt around all day and people think I'm lazy. I'm tired of walking into church and people thinking I'm not good enough because I may miss Church. I wish school could be done and over with, but I don't have a money tree to grow $5,000 a year for school.

My life is great(I say that 100 times a day)? I don't hate life, but I would like to escape it for more than a couple of hours once every 3 months. I know Melissa feels this way, but she is just to nice to say it. I guess it comes down to this...I'm tired of hearing,"I know what you are going through." Really!? How? As you can tell I heard that a lot today.

I Hate Ignorant People!!!!

Although the conversation I overheard today at work was not directed at me, it still blew my mind.  Two girls were looking at a picture of a girl that had some kind of disability. During their conversation one of the girls said, "how could anyone love a child like that."  The other girl then responded, "I couldn't raise a retard like that."  I had many things go through my mind, but the first thing was, "Any last words!" as I was thinking about the imaginary gun in my desk drawer.

When I calmed down, I thought about how many people a day think like these two girls. This also took me back to an experience I had in my teens. There was a young man that had down syndrome and autism that lived in my neighborhood. Many of the young men in our church group would tease him to the point where he would yell out during our meetings. I never had the urge to tease him, but to make him a part of our group. Although I'm sure it was not easy for this young man to continue to come to church, I helped him come and participate in our activities. He was eventually welcomed and the teasing was minimized to a few ignorant young men. Now having a son with Autism, and a son with to many disabilities to name, I look back and I am glad I tried harder to understand him. I can't imagine how I would feel now, if I had been a part of the group that disliked him because of his disability.

I will never say my two boys are easy to deal with, because they definitely are not, but I also will never say that they don't deserve a shot at life. The times when they achieve things you never thought possible are the best times for me as a father. I've seen people with Autism that have PH D's and are professors I know people that have problems like Josh that lead productive lives. How can you deny them a chance to achieve great things in life?

People like these two ladies should be taken out back and stoned with some metal Autism puzzle pieces. How dare they judge children with disabilities before they walk in the shoes of the parents who deal with it! I really would like to believe people are better than this? It's people like this that make me continue to worry about the future of my children because I know that the children of these two ladies will probably end up with the same attitudes. All I can say is that my boys are a blessing and you can take that stupid, uneducated opinion and blow it out your @#%^&*$!!!

I love my new phone!

I changed jobs almost a year ago and began working for LG. I really enjoy my job, and one of the nice perks I get, is that when a new phone is released for Verizon, I get that phone before it is released to the public. I took some picture with my new LG Spectrum(www.spectrumbylg.com). I usually am not blown away by a new phone, by I am really impressed with this phone, so I thought I'd take some pictures with the Spectrum and brag.

Here is my sweet little girl! 

This is our dog, Rosco.

This is the best picture I have taken so far with the phone. I still have a hard time believing a cell phone can take a picture like this. The flag almost looks fake. I assure you this was taken with my LG Spectrum. The 8mp HD camera is amazing on the phone(www.spectrumbylg.com). Thank you once again, Officer Jared Francom!

Here's a couple of videos I took with the phone. I don't think the blog does the videos justice, but they still look great!

If you are in the market for a high end cell phone, the Lg Spectrum is the device for you! Check it out next week when it is released in stores.  You won't regret it!

A Sad Day In Ogden, UT

Today was a sad Day In Ogden, UT. Recently one of our Ogden City Police Officers, Jared Francom was killed in the line of duty. The last time we had an officer killed in the line of duty in the state of Utah was back in 1961(I think). I had the opportunity of standing on the street and showing my support for his family today. I have never experienced anything that was quite as touching as this today. I have friends that are in the military and law enforcement, and today made me more grateful for their service. Although I did not know Officer Francom, I am grateful for his service. Hope you enjoy the pictures.