LOTS and LOTS going on

Ahhh... where to begin. Sorry the updates have been lack luster as of late. To say we've been busy us an understatement. I have so much on my plate this week I'm lucky if my teeth get brushed each morning. But it will all be worth it!

First, we are in the process of extending the wood flooring in our kitchen area to most of the main level of our home, including Cole's room. I have been working very hard with Cole's case manager to get approvals for new flooring in parts of our home. We lucked out. The county had some incremental funds at the end of the year. After a ton of hard work, we got approved for up to $8/sq foot. We hurried and got the bids done, chose a contractor and the work is being done this weekend. The $8 didn't cover the entire cost, but it made it so we could not resist. 

The work is in progress right now. We had to get Cole out of the house for 5 days!!!  It's so hard on all of us to do that, but it's for the best. Cole's room is dismantled down to the floor boards. And everything from his room and our living room is in the basement family room and spare bedroom. There is no place to go. We all have to be out for two days while they sand and put the finish on. I can't wait for Wednesday to say the least. 

I'm the midst of all of this, I'm working very hard with our case manager to develop a new waiver budget plan for next year. I have to write a 15 page document on how/where/why each waiver dollar will be spent. There are pages of guidelines and numerous things to research. It's a huge undertaking but Cole is worth every second I spend on it.

We are also transitioning Cole out of Fraser Academy and into a full-time ABA therapy program. I'll give more details in a later blog entry. He starts Monday and will be one of twelve children at the MN Autism Center. He will have three therapists who will each work with him one-on-one, for forty hours a week. There is also a huge family component and training program. It's going to be intense but hopefully worth it's weight in gold. I have been preparing a lot for that- tons of meetings, paperwork, transportation schedules, etc. and there is much more to go. More to come on that.

We survived holiday break. The last 4-5 days were REALLY rough. Cole was so aggressive with all of us. It was so hard on us. I tried very hard to stay strong and patient, but even I wore down those last few days. I can't stress just how difficult it is for Cole to be out of routine, especially in the winter time when he can't stay outside for long periods of time. He resorted to hitting, scratching, throwing things, throwing food (think bowls of tomato soup against the wall and buckets of water from the tub). Yes, it was a long break.

Thanks to everyone- specifically our AMAZING families who are helping us through these next few days with Cole while our flooring is installed. We could not do it without you. Our gratitude to each of you is profound. We love you and couldn't get through this journey without each of you. Yes, we have the best extended family in the world.