What is this blog all about?
I am a wife and a mother of two boys. Our family is anything but typical, although I'm not really sure what "typical" actually looks like!
Our firstborn, we'll call him Herbie, is in first grade. He is energetic, funny, and good with numbers (to the delight of his engineer parents). He loves to run. In fact, he rarely stops moving unless he is playing Angry Birds or watching his favorite movie, "The Love Bug." I think the whole family can quote the entire movie at this point, and we are always on the lookout for "Herbie" cars (i.e. VW bugs). He has an ASD diagnosis and an anxiety disorder. And he remembers EVERYTHING.
Our second son is in many ways the complete opposite of his brother. From the day he was born, he was very quiet and not interested in moving at all. Later, we realized that this was related to his apraxia and hypotonia. Before we figured that out, he was diagnosed with multiple food allergies (and I mean multiple!). He also has sensory processing disorder, which affects many aspects of his life including severe feeding challenges. Since he was late to move and talk, he spent a lot of time observing people and soaking up information, reminding me of the nursery rhyme, A Wise Old Owl:
A wise old owl
Lived in an oak.
The more he saw
The less he spoke.
The less he spoke
The more he heard.
Why can't we all be
Like that wise old bird?
My husband, who requests to be called Rocky (as his dorm rector used to call him for various reasons), loves to have fun with the boys. I am thankful for this, because I am not very good at boy things like running around, playing ball, going swimming, etc. He comes up with all kinds of crazy ideas for adventures and outings, and enjoys them just as much as the kids. We met when we were both working on our doctorates in engineering. He continues to use the knowledge he gained in school and has added to it tremendously. I somehow can't seem to even be able to do math in my head anymore.
I spend all of my time these days reading about IEPs and therapies and learning how to cook without dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, barley, rye, teff, peanuts, tree nuts, sunflower, sesame, seafood, and bananas. And reading blogs, which have been a tremendous source of information and encouragement to me, which is why I decided to start my own!
The name of my blog was inspired by a book by C.S. Lewis with the same title. He describes his search for joy, and how things that once brought him joy eventually lost their effect. He concludes that rather than looking for joy, one should pursue relationship with the Creator, and be pleasantly surprised by the joyful experiences found in life's journey. This blog is a glimpse into my journey. I am giving up my quest to find what will make me "happy." (If only I had X, or if only I didn't have to deal with Y.) Accepting that I don't know where exactly this journey will take me, but thankful for the road signs that I find along the way. Pursuing God and letting Him surprise me...with joy.
Our firstborn, we'll call him Herbie, is in first grade. He is energetic, funny, and good with numbers (to the delight of his engineer parents). He loves to run. In fact, he rarely stops moving unless he is playing Angry Birds or watching his favorite movie, "The Love Bug." I think the whole family can quote the entire movie at this point, and we are always on the lookout for "Herbie" cars (i.e. VW bugs). He has an ASD diagnosis and an anxiety disorder. And he remembers EVERYTHING.
Our second son is in many ways the complete opposite of his brother. From the day he was born, he was very quiet and not interested in moving at all. Later, we realized that this was related to his apraxia and hypotonia. Before we figured that out, he was diagnosed with multiple food allergies (and I mean multiple!). He also has sensory processing disorder, which affects many aspects of his life including severe feeding challenges. Since he was late to move and talk, he spent a lot of time observing people and soaking up information, reminding me of the nursery rhyme, A Wise Old Owl:
A wise old owl
Lived in an oak.
The more he saw
The less he spoke.
The less he spoke
The more he heard.
Why can't we all be
Like that wise old bird?
My husband, who requests to be called Rocky (as his dorm rector used to call him for various reasons), loves to have fun with the boys. I am thankful for this, because I am not very good at boy things like running around, playing ball, going swimming, etc. He comes up with all kinds of crazy ideas for adventures and outings, and enjoys them just as much as the kids. We met when we were both working on our doctorates in engineering. He continues to use the knowledge he gained in school and has added to it tremendously. I somehow can't seem to even be able to do math in my head anymore.
I spend all of my time these days reading about IEPs and therapies and learning how to cook without dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, barley, rye, teff, peanuts, tree nuts, sunflower, sesame, seafood, and bananas. And reading blogs, which have been a tremendous source of information and encouragement to me, which is why I decided to start my own!
The name of my blog was inspired by a book by C.S. Lewis with the same title. He describes his search for joy, and how things that once brought him joy eventually lost their effect. He concludes that rather than looking for joy, one should pursue relationship with the Creator, and be pleasantly surprised by the joyful experiences found in life's journey. This blog is a glimpse into my journey. I am giving up my quest to find what will make me "happy." (If only I had X, or if only I didn't have to deal with Y.) Accepting that I don't know where exactly this journey will take me, but thankful for the road signs that I find along the way. Pursuing God and letting Him surprise me...with joy.