Autistic Evaluation for Keith

On Tuesday, I took Keith to Dayton Children's to have him evaluated for Autism. We were there almost 4 hours. It seemed very in depth and it involved several specialists. Keith did great with answering their questions and tried very hard. I was so proud of him. The end results were that Keith's IQ is 45. Here is a chart of IQ:

100 is average. Keith is 45. Iryna is 70. I don't know why it makes me sad to see that Keith's is so low. I know that he has made huge progress and I realize that he is delayed...but 45 just seems so low. They said I should strongly pursue speech therapy for Keith of the 3 therapies: PT, OT, Speech.

As per autism, Keith does not have it. The specialist said that he is cognitively delayed with a couple of autistic features, but he is not autistic and not on the spectrum. I am glad to have answers, at least. They also said that I should try to steer his attention away from airplanes, so that he can think about other things as well. This will be difficult, but I will try.

Lately I have been thinking that Silas has FAS. I am in the process of getting him an appointment to have him evaluated. When I mention the idea of FAS to parents without special needs children, I often hear: "Oh, he's just a rowdy three year old." Up to this point I have tried to explain about how Silas acts differently and how his behaviors remind me of Iryna pre-meds, but I am tired of doing it. So, until I have a diagnosis (which I hope is soon) I will just smile and nod, and say, "Oh, really? Thanks." I am not trying to be rude or sassy here, I am just overwhelmed with Silas and some sympathy would go a LONG way instead of trying to persuade me his crazy behaviors are all normal. Rant over.

In addition to Silas, though, I looked at Calvin's philtrum. It was smooth. And I had the specialists at the hospital examine Keith's face. Turns out he has a shallow philtrum - no completely smooth, but on the FAS spectrum. Oh. My. Word. Could I possibly have FOUR FAS/FAE/FASD children?!?!?!?!? I am going to have my three sons evaluated for FAS and see what answers I can find. If Calvin has it, I think it's a very mild case. He functions on a more normal level than the other three. But his mother did drink alcohol post birth and Calvin was taken by the state and put into the orphanage due to her drinking and not caring for him. It's a possibility, for sure. 

The weather here has turned warmer, at last! Just yesterday I was able to pack up all the winter clothes and turn on the air conditioner, too! I am eager for warmer weather and sunshine and having the swimming pool be warm enough! I took the younger four kids to the park yesterday. I snapped a picture of Calvin and then Iryna wanted one, too, because Iryna tries to mimic everything Calvin does. This can be good and bad. Ha ha.

15 Pounds Lost!!!

And so, my faithful readers, I have lost 15 pounds since February. I have been slowly changing my ways and working to lose weight slowly. Here is a picture of when I started:

425 Pounds

And here I am now:

409.6 Pounds

I am super excited about the progress that I have made and when I share my success with others, they want to know what I'm doing. I started out with a modified pre-weight loss surgery of two glucerna shakes and one healthy choice dinner. I am not planning to do a weight loss surgery, but I figured the diet would be a good guideline for me, at least in the beginning. So, here is what I have done thus far:

-I weigh myself every morning and record it
-I drink a glucerna (diabetic drink) or whey protein powder shake for breakfast
-I eat one key lime greek yogurt every day as my mid-morning snack
-I drink another glucerna (or protein shake) for lunch or have ham and provolone roll-ups
-For snacks, I eat fruit, cheese, beef jerky
-I eat a normal dinner, but I am careful to not overeat. I am consciously trying to plan healthier, higher protein/lower carb dinners when I make my weekly dinner plan, but not every dinner is low carb.
-I allow myself to have a treat, but keep it small.
-I drink as much Choffy as I want to drink & this has made a huge difference! If I am ever hungry, I drink some Choffy. It helps me feel full and it's chocolate, so it gives me a mood elevation, which is so helpful when dieting! Please note that Choffy is not advertised as a weight loss product, but it certainly is working for me. And when something works, you just want to share it with others! If you want to try a sample, leave a comment or email me at jilldpierce at gmail dot com. I am REALLY excited for my weight loss of 15 pounds and I am excited to continue being successful. You can go to www.drinkchoffy.com/jillpierce for more information about all the health benefits of Choffy.

Losing weight helps me to escape the cloud of thinking about food nonstop. And since I bought a dehydrator, I have been eating more fruit and not wanting other sweets. It's been great! I am also hoping that by eating new kinds of fruits and vegetables, that my tastes will change and that I'll eventually prefer asparagus to french fries...or something like that. ;)

So excited for continued progress the slow and HEALTHY way! Thanks for your support!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was the best Mother's Day ever! Tyler brought me some Choffy this morning (he's so pure and noble) and we went to church. It was a lovely meeting. Our church meets for three hours and during the last hour, all the women met in the gymnasium for some delectable treats and socialization. Plus the Bishop came in and spoke on the importance of womanhood and motherhood. I felt so regal and special. I am grateful that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints promotes the virtues of being a woman and mother.




Me with the flowers my husband and children got me for Mother's Day.




My children and husband - who made me a mama.








Tyler initiated the children to each color me cards. They were so excited to share them with me! I was ultra impressed with Tyler taking the initiative!
Anna and I did some dehydration with strawberries, bananas, and pineapple. It was super fun!
For dinner, we made teriyaki burgers and they were fantastic. (The recipe is on my cooking blog) and we had Choffy ice cream for dessert - also on my blog. Then we watched half of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. And I called my mom, stepmom, and grandmother. It was a GREAT day!




So blessed!



Flowers from Calvin. So sweet.

Saying Goodbye is so hard to do

My littlest brother, Coulter, stayed with us for a week. We had all sorts of fun together, including celebrating Coulter's birthday!

Playing Mario Kart Wii


Birthday boy!


Birthday presents!


Coulter and I went out for lunch at SALSA's. They had a delectable Mexican lunch buffet.


Tyler was exhausted from staying up late watching basketball games with Coulter and getting up early to go to work. Poor guy. :(





The kids LOVE their Uncle Coulter!


One of the highlights of this past week was going to JUNGLE JIM's in Cincinnati. We saw all sorts of interesting things, including the restrooms. They look like portable toilets, but the inside was pretty spacious and fun.


Tyler found some Chinese foods from his mission. 


The salt water taffy selection was amazing and Tyler said it was the best he'd ever eaten.


Watching Gnomeo & Juliet





Saying goodbye to Coulter





The kids were excited to say goodbye before they went to school. We hope Uncle Coulter can come again soon!

Uncle Coulter comes to town!

I took Anna with me to DSW to do some shoe shopping. I have missed DSW since I moved away from OH to FL. I am happy to have it closeby here. :)


After a playdate at the park, I went with my friend, Liz, and her two girls to lunch. Silas didn't behave very well, but he still smiled for the camera. 


Uncle Coulter came to visit us! We have been having all kinds of fun with my little brother since Friday night!


Keith all ready for church! Doesn't he look cute?


This is a very common occurrence since Friday. 


Maggie wants to play, too.


We had FHE last night. We talked about prayer and reading scriptures daily. Tyler is a great teacher and Uncle Coulter bore his testimony on the importance of prayer and knowing that God loves each of us. It was good for my kids to see their uncle doing that. I am grateful that Coulter is a righteous influence on them. 









Today is Uncle Coulter's birthday, so we are going to celebrate! We love birthdays around here! :D
I just ordered a dehydrator for Mother's Day (I know, I know, but Tyler doesn't really do gifts so I generally just order what I want). 

It's an Excalibur and has 9 trays. I am SUPER excited to be able to use this tool to help bulk up our food storage and to have healthy snacks on hand. I would LOVE to have any recipes that you use to help me get started. Please share! :)

Unexpected Miracle

Last week I had someone (Kate) contact me who wanted to try Choffy. We made an appointment for last night. Tyler said he wanted to come along. As we pulled up outside this woman's house, I decided to say a prayer to ask God to help us build up this business. Tyler and I went up to the door and the husband answered. He looked confused as to why we were on his doorstep and said his wife was at the mall, that she must have forgotten. He tried to call her but her phone was dead. He said he would text us when she returned. 

We packed back up in the van and tried to decide what to do. Tyler called someone from his class at school and asked if we could stop by and share Choffy with them. His friend, named Jesse, said he was just wondering today what Tyler was drinking from his thermos. He invited us over and we met his lovely wife and one of his three kids. After the presentation, they bought two bags of Choffy. 

After we left, I had a message from another girl in the same neighborhood. She asked if we could stop by and share Choffy with her husband, which we did. They loved it and wanted to buy some IC Dark, but I had just sold the only bag I brought with me to Jesse. (this just goes to show that I should bring more than one bag of each kind with me). At this point, we got a text from the first lady, Kate, and she said she was home and asked if we could come over. 

Kate and her husband, Darius, really enjoyed the Choffy. They wanted to buy some La Espanola, but wouldn't you know it? I had sold it to Jesse. So I couldn't sell them a bag at that time, but we made plans to meet up today to bring them a bag. 

As we drove away from Kate's house, the thought occurred to me that when I had prayed to ask for help from God - I assumed that He would help me with sharing it with Kate. But God thinks bigger than I do, and because I asked Him - he led me to three families all in one evening! I am so grateful that He cares about me and about my business. He wants to be involved in my life. I just need to ask and involve Him. 

Incidentally, if you would like to try a sample of Choffy, I would be happy to mail you a FREE sample and it includes a FREE one-time-use disposable French press. Leave a comment or email me at jilldpierce at gmail dot com if you'd like to try it. It has changed my life. I call it my "Everything is going to be okay drink," and I've lost 11 pounds by switching from soda to drinking this brewed chocolate. My website is: www.drinkchoffy.com/jillpierce

Springtime is here! (I hope it stays)

I have an appointment to take Silas in and get a referral for him to evaluated for FAS. It was easy with Iryna, as she came with the diagnosis and her mother affirmed that she drank vodka throughout the pregnancy. Silas, however, had no such diagnosis. He does, however, have a smooth philtrum and is quite impulsive. Tyler has been telling me for a while that Silas is just a typical 3 year old boy, but even now he agrees that FAS is a likely diagnosis for our youngest child. For more information on FAS facial features, click here. What I want to know is, if any of you have had your child evaluated for FAS post adoption, and HOW did you do it?


My very tired Silas, past naptime...










Have you tried these? They are AMAZING!

Tyler came across this a couple of nights ago. So sweet to see them even holding hands. 




Anna and I all ready for church. We are both wearing new outfits. :)

The beautiful tree in our front yard. 










A Firehouse Subs just opened up and it's around the corner from me! This could be both good AND bad. Silas went with me to try it out. I loved my Hook and Ladder sandwich. Yum!
My brother, Coulter, is coming to visit us on Friday. We are super excited to see him! And my sister, Jennifer, gave birth to a daughter - Jessica! Isn't she cute?