Medical Center 10K Classic

On October 13, I ran my first 10K!  My friend, Grace Tuju, and I ran together. This photo is us before the race. It was a crazy time because the whole week before I had been hurt with plantar fasciitis and unable to run.  After purchasing some Brooks running shoes, I was able to run the 10K in 1:03:36 (or something like that), and felt pretty good after. I really felt terrible just a couple days before so I felt like God really blessed me by allowing me to run after training for it over a couple of months before.

 Me and Lewis after my race and before his Children's Classic race.

 This is Lewis "stretching" with the other kids before the race.

Lewis found some friends from his class at school before the race.

This is Grace and me after the race.  It was a great day for me because I wasn't running at all a year before and wouldn't have ever thought I could do this kind of thing.  Grace had organized a running group this fall and we have enjoyed running together so it was nice to have a friend to run with!! Very grateful!!

gallery hop and wku volleyball game

 Back in mid-October, we ventured out to the gallery hop and got someone to watch Phoebe.  We took Lewis and Owen to the Capitol for an exhibit of Kentucky art and artists.

Then we stopped by the Kentucky museum and the boys made 3-D guitars.

There was a free WKU volleyball game after that, followed by Hilltopper Hysteria at Diddle Arena.  We weren't sure what the boys would think of it, but Owen loves sports of all kinds and seemed to really love it.  When the basketball pep rally started, we got through the announcements of all the names of the players, and then had to leave, at which point, Owen freaked out and started crying.  Lewis also enjoyed himself.  It was a fun, baby-free night!

Lewis' field trip to Jackson's Orchard

 Here is Lewis' class on their field trip to Jackson's Orchard.

 Me and Lewis.

 Lewis sitting on some pumpkins.

 Ms. Doolin directing traffic before the hayride.

 Me & Lewis on the hayride.

 Lewis picked out a nice pumpkin.

 Lewis wanted to jump over his pumpkin, and he did!

After the field trip, Lewis' class had a pizza party as a "reading celebration."  Lewis ate 3 pieces of pizza, which was unprecedented.  I was glad to witness it! It was a fun day and all the kids had a blast!

early october

 October was filled with quite a bit of baseball.

 Owen and I continued to going to his AWANA class with Mrs. Dawn.  Owen chose to sit next to her one night (instead of me) and I was proud so I took this photo!

 Phoebe got a new outfit with zebra print pants. 

 We went to Bernheim Forest and saw this exhibit of artwork that is also a maze made of wood/twigs etc. It was pretty interesting. The exhibit is called Snake Hollow by Patrick Dougherty. The boys were pretty amazed!

 We also looked at some other sculptures near the visitor center.

 Grandma Linda (& Grandpa) and Aunt Jeanne were able to meet us there!

The boys sort of posed for this photo!

slim fit jeans + dietician

Back in the beginning of October I was shopping at Kohl's and found some slim fit jeans.  Lewis runs at least a size behind anyway, but adjustable pants end up being pulled to the point of looking ridiculous.  I held up the slim fit against a pair of regular size 5 jeans and the slim fit jeans had a noticeably smaller waistline, but were still adjustable.  Wouldn't you know that the slim fit jeans fit perfectly and we didn't have to adjust them!

We got worried a couple of months ago when I heard a webinar on feeding concerns from the Kentucky Autism Training Center.  They said if a child doesn't gain weight over the course of a month that a dietician should be consulted to help them gain weight.  Lewis had only gained one pound over the course the previous year so I knew there had to be multiple months when he didn't gain.  We met with a dietician who said he fell in the bottom 5% (if that) of kids his age for BMI, and that he needed to gain 3-4 lbs to put him back into the 25th percentile.  Our main concern is that his body isn't getting the nutrients he needs for best brain function and since he already struggles with cognitive impairment, we didn't want to make any of that worse!

Her suggestion has been for him to eat 250 calories more each day, to help him gain.  Halloween came at a good time, and the fun size candy bars have been a welcome addition.  He is also drinking "coffee" at Spencer's frequently that consists of a little coffee and quite a bit of half & half.  It has been interesting and we aren't sure if he's gained much yet, but hope he is filling out his clothes better by the time he turns 7 next June. We'll keep you posted!!

end of September

 The end of September brought in the official beginning of fall, with long sleeves and jackets, and lots of walks outside (or runs with Phoebe who is a speed demon).

 Owen and his football.  This boys LOVES football and plays it all the time.  He keeps up with all the NFL games and College football as well.

 More walks with Phoebe.

And the International Festival.  The Flamenco dancers were just beginning after we arrived and walked through some of the booths.  Once Lewis saw them we couldn't drag him away.  He moved up to the front row and clapped and tried to dance with them (which seemed kind of distracting so we made him stop).  Since then he has danced quite a bit at home and will say, "Clap for me!" while he dances.  Who knew he would love it so much?  Owen didn't like it.  He mostly wanted ice cream and Phoebe wanted to walk in the flowers.  Still a very fun time!

dinosaur world 2012

 On the 22nd of September, we went to Dinosaur World in Cave City, Ky.  It was $1 for Warren Co. residents and we took advantage!!  Here is Aunt Ellen and Lewis hanging out with the Wooly Mammoths. 

 Here's Aunt Ellen and Aunt Beth on the foot of the big dinosaur visible from I-65.  There was no way to get the kids to all look at once (or at all!).

 Me & the kids.

 The big dino, the boys and Aunt Beth.

 Lewis in front of some dinosaurs (I'm so bad at recalling all of their names).

 The playground is always a big hit.  Owen enjoyed climbing the fake trees.

 Posed shot of Lewis.

 Posed shot of Owen.

The scary moment of the day was when we "lost" Lewis and he was actually stuck inside this dinosaur mouth.  He couldn't figure out how to get out of there.  Thankfully some friends from church had seen him and pointed me in his direction.  He ran off one other time.....but otherwise it was a relatively easy day. 

early September

September was a whirlwind.  It seems like once the heat breaks, we are sprung into a snowball of ever increasing speed until we hit Christmas.  September began with a party for our dear friend Adam Moore.  Rebecca threw another epic party involving a carnival theme.  We had a bubble blowing contest, juggling etc.  Here's that happy couple!

 Foxhole reunited!

 Owen got to participate in a "super" library story time.

 We were supposed to attend a family reunion of the all the Shepherds in Shepherdsville on September 8th, but instead sat on I-65 for over an hour and went less than 2 miles due to a horrendously fatal accident.  We finally made an illegal u-turn and returned home.  Thankfully, we had food for the kids and the DVD player going so it was kind of a party atmosphere.  We took a couple pics to commemorate this weird time.

 Me & Owen on the interstate.

 Lewis and "Belle" at Jackson's Orchard later that day.  He was quite taken with her!!

 Phoebe sporting new P.J.'s c/o 'Lil Angels' Attic consignment sale.  I made close to $300 this sale!

 Lewis was named Student of the Week and got a cupcake sometime in early September!

 We celebrated Grandpa Norm's birthday.

 We had an Autism Support Group day at the park.  Owen got to meet a new friend.

 Lewis got to play with an old friend, Jack Sternberg.

 We played a lot of baseball in September.

 We spent some time at the WKU track.

 Lewis got to climb at the park.

 Lewis enjoyed walking over the stream on rocks at Preston Miller Park.

 More time at the track pretending to be Usain Bolt.

And Phoebe enjoyed doing the sign for "ice cream" at random and saying, "Yummy!"