Welcome

Thanks for coming. Where to begin....I'm supposed to be cleaning and dejunking today but I'm here instead.

I am dedicating this blog to my beautiful family and my extra special kids. I'm hopeful that the sharing of my experiences can bring laughter somedays and peace/comfort to those that might need it.

9/28/09 - Our History with Autism....

Life is good overall at the Wallace house. We have our struggles and it's not always fun to deal with the kids disabilities but we survive and the good days far outweigh the bad at this point. Our lives changed dramatically in 2005 when Madilyn was diagnosed with Autism and then again in 2007 when Melodi was diagnosed. I remember crying alot, wondering if things would ever get better. My sweet friend Laura Campbell who has two older boys with Autism would comfort me and tell me that things would get better someday. I wasn't sure I believed her but got to work. I dedicated most of my time to whatever the kids needed. Therapies are expensive, too expensive and there were times I wondered how we would do therapy x 2. Mark has a good paying job and we are very frugal by nature but still we worried. I knew I needed to help the kids but I also needed to help financially if I could so I did the paperwork for our home based business in the middle of the night. We needed $25k to send Madilyn to the special autism school for 1 year (yes you heard that right $25k). We were really blessed the year that I worked in the middle of the night to earn extra money. Our business did the best it had ever done and we were able to earn exactly $25k - funny how that happens :). Fortunately Madilyn didn't need the special schooling after all and we were able to put the money in the bank for other uses but the whole experience taught me many lessons about sacrifice, doing your very best and the tender mercies of the lord. It's been a long journey with the kids full of ups and downs, laughter and tears, worry and more worry. It's not a journey that I would have chosen myself but it's a journey that I can now look back on and in some ways cherish. It's a journey that has brought me pure joy by teaching me to appreciate the simple things and celebrate the littlest of accomplishments. It's a journey that has taught me patience, compassion and flexibility. It's a journey that has taught me to speak up and advocate on behalf of my own children and others even when it's uncomfortable or unpopular. Finally it's taught me to rely on my Heavenly Father more than ever before. The days are not as dark anymore and I'm finally able to look back and see how far we have come. We are now at the point that the girls are starting to do less therapies and more normal kids things. I am now able to help other families rather than just worry about my own. My friend Laura was right, it does get better someday.