Thrive As You

Woah Nellie! I got props from Jen at Noting Grace. She gave me a Kreativ Blogger Award!!! I think she may have given it to me because I'm so mad at her for moving to Vegas but, alas, I'll take it anyway!!!! I was having a few weeks of blog dundrums..... you know...anyone who blogs must get in this funk, right? What to blog about? Time to actually blog? So this came at the right time for me. Gave me the "feel good" that I needed to push forward! Here's the rulez.... 1.Post the award. 2.Thank and mention the person who gave you the award. 3.Pass the award on to seven bloggers whom you think embody the spirit of the Kreativ Blogger Award. 4.Name seven things about yourself that others don't know. 5.Don’t forget to notify your seven Kreativ Bloggers about their AWARD and post links to their blogs. My Kreativ Blogger Seven are: (in no particular order, of course!) 1. Right back at ya Jen. I don't know if that's "legal" to give it b...

sometimes... just life. And you do your best to get through it. Sometimes we say, "one day at a time." And sometimes we say, "one hour at a time." Because that's all you've got. And you know what? That's ok. So right now, at this time of year when we're all in the winter funk and we're wishing and hoping for more sunshine and more hours in the day........I say..... it's ok to just do your best to get by. You don't have to be super parent or superwoman or superman every single day. Just get through. The sun also rises. The sun'll come out tomorrow... and all that jazz. And also? The laundry will still be there tomorrow, so will the dishes, so will the dust, so will the bills, it will all still be there. So just get through today doing the best you can. And be ok with it.

I've mentioned before that Luke is an awesome eater. He's got about 6 total things on his list that he will eat. At all. Period. I know most of you autism parents out there feel me on this one. One of the things that Luke will eat is waffles. For awhile we had him eating homemade, organic, loaded with sneaky stuff waffles. That was good. And then somehow, someway, we switched to Eggo ONLY waffles. And for about the last year and a half we've been regularly eating, "Waffles with syrups in a bowl." He like us to cut up the waffles and then he dips the pieces in a little bowl of syrup. So "waffles with syrups in a bowl" has become part of the vernacular at the Schmidt house. The other day I was re-organizing the pantry in all of my spare time and the good old waffle iron was sitting on the island. Luke spots it and says, "I want square waffles please." (Waffle iron = square waffles. Eggos = round.) I say, "Luke you'll ha...

I just stumbled upon this fabulous blog. My friend Tammy is a photographer and member of a camera club here in TN. A few weeks ago, a new book was featured.... about autism. (Really?) So she told me about it. And I googled it and not only found the book, which can be found here but also the author/creator/brainchild of the book here . Her name is Leisa Hammett and she's an autism mom like me, but I'm guessing she's a little higher on the autism food chain because a) her book is published and b) she got a "press copy" of the Temple Grandin movie! Below is an excerpt from Leisa's blog, but I strongly invite you to go visit it for yourself. http://www.leisahammett.typepad.com/ Leisa's Review of the Temple Grandin movie Whenever autism is portrayed in the popular media, seasoned parent advocates become leery, skeptical. After 13 years on the journey, I've learned repeatedly that in the end, It's All Good. No matter how inaccurate, offens...

Recently, we rented and watched the movie, ADAM. It's a wonderful story about a 30ish year old man with Asperger's finding love.... and himself. I won't give my official review because I don't want to taint your watching experience. But whether or not you know someone with Asperger's/Autism.... it ain't a bad way to spend 2 hours. Hugh Dancy blew my mind as Adam ~ after having most recently seen him as the charismatic love interest in Confessions of a Shopaholic. Is this the most perfect representation of someone living with Asperger's/Autism? Of course not. And I don't think it was meant to be. Asperger's is not the star of this movie, Adam is. And.....as we all hope for our own kids.... Adam is so much more than just a man with Asperger's.

I know, I know, I know. The topic this month is, "believe." I get it. I've been talking about "believing in yourself," but yanno what? Sometimes it's kinda hard. I get that. On a night like tonight, I get that more than anyone. Here's the thing. It's sort of a dirty little secret. But I'm about to let the cat out of the bag. A year ago, I wrote a book. Yep, I, me, April Schmidt wrote a book. Guess what it's about? Come on, guess........ it's going to be shocking. A little boy with autism. It's a children's book. A picture book, in fact. And here's the story of how it came to be. About a year ago, Luke and I were having a really bad day. Sometimes we have those. Luke is REALLY into books and as we were laying in bed trying to wind down this bad day and put it behind us, I was really wishing I had a book. This book. A book that he could "read" and relate to. A book that he could look at the pictures and say, "Hey...

Believe in miracles. Wherever you think they come from. However you think they come to be. Just believe that they do, in fact happen. And while we're on the topic, just what IS a miracle anyway? Right now, people are talking about the miracle of the birth of Christ. OK that can be considered a miracle. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that Luke can I can get through Kroger outburst free and I've only spent $20 extra to keep him happy and not $50 and I only forgot 2 things and not 10. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that everyone in my house has clean underwear on any given day. And I'm not saying that to be funny. I'm saying it because it's true. My point is, miracles do NOT need to be these "major events." They certainly can be, but don't have to be. Miracles are all around you, everywhere you look. Believe they can happen. I've mentioned before that my older son Jared was born with an extremely serious heart condition, transposition of ...