Jack-O-Lantern

Below are pictures of Julianna and Jeff making their first Jack-O-Lantern together.  They had so much fun!  We were even able to roast the pumpkin seeds.  They were yummy!

Hard at work

Julianna and Mr. Jack

Learning to Share

We were finally able to deliver Julianna's donations to the Vanderbilt Children's hospital early this week.  In exchange for her gifts, Julianna got a private tour of the Children's hospital.  She really enjoyed watching the patients hold a "Teddy Bear's Clinic" and the Koi pond in the garden.  It is kind of ironic that I work at Vanderbilt, but that I had never seen the Children's hospital the same way I saw it that day.  I really am glad that we decided to support her in wanting to donate her gifts to the Children's Hospital.  I could really see the efforts of the hospital to help the patients and their families have a comfortable stay during what are really the most trying of times for them.  

I always feel bad whenever I see or hear about a very young child diagnosed with a terminal illness.  I could never understand why they were never given the chance to enjoy life.  A lot of our patients usually are diagnosed shortly after they are born.  Most of them live for 2 years or more, but it is always a life filled with pain and suffering.  I always wondered why they were allowed to suffer like that.   During our tour, I promised Julianna that she could share her gifts with the sick children every year.  Maybe in our small way, we can help improve the quality of life for these brave little angels.  Julianna also told me, much to my husband's disappointment, that she wants to be a doctor someday...so she can help the sick children get better.  Jeff pretended to be proud of her, but I knew deep down, he wants her to be a computer whiz just like him...We may hope and aspire differently for her, but I know that we will be proud of her no matter what she wants to be someday.  

Preparing her gifts...

Julianna loved looking at the costumes from Swan Lake

She enjoyed this model of the Children's Hospital a lot

In front of the Koi pond

The Little Gym Update

Julianna has been taking classes at The Little Gym in Brentwood since August.  She has really enjoyed it and has learned a lot!  She is more confident with her routines for her gymnastics and is really loving tap dancing and ballet during her dance class on Mondays.  She is also having a lot of fun learning about different sports during her sports skills class on Tuesdays.

She used to be scared of the balance beam and needed a lot of help on the uneven bars.  She can now do her flips with very little help.  She has mastered doing her forward roll and is now working on her cartwheel.  I am amazed at how well she has done.  I love the Little Gym because the instructors are very patient, and they make it fun for the kids.  The environment is never competitive.  I do not aim for Julianna to be a professional gymnast someday, if she wants to, I will be with her 101% of the way...but if she doesn't want to, then I am glad that I was able to let her try it and that it has helped her gain confidence.  She is also slowly learning that if she practices hard enough, she can do anything.  She takes pride with what she can do now.  Most important of all, she is having fun.  

Mommy's little gymnast

With Miss Ashley on the balance beam

Practicing her jump

Learning to tap dance with Miss Brooke and Kelly

No Sleep at the Sleep study

Last April, Julianna started showing signs of sleep apnea.  Her pediatrician noted that she her adenoids and tonsils were a little bit enlarged.  We decided to have her undergo a sleep study to see if surgery will be necessary.

It was great that the study was done at a hotel room, it is less intimidating (and had a more "homey" feel) than a hospital room.  They also had an LCD TV to help distract the patient while they hook them up to the monitors.  A big plus was the use of a night vision camera, this enabled us to turn off the lights in the room while she slept.  

As you can see in the pictures below, there were tons of wires attached to her.  She hated the probes near her nose the most.  She also had sensors on her chest and feet.  It was actually amazing that she got any sleep.  These pictures are not very good quality because they were taken from my iPhone.  I love this phone but it unfortunately, it takes very bad pictures.  

We will know her results in 3 weeks, but for now...I am just glad that it is over.  I didn't get any sleep at all because the sleep technician came in every two hours to fix the probe on her nose.  Argh!  Needless to say, Julianna and I slept in until 1 pm the next day!  

Getting ready to change into pajamas

Ready for bed!  Poor baby had to sleep with all the wires!

Julianna's butterfly treehouse

We got Julianna a butterfly tree house from Toys 'R Us some time early August and we have really enjoyed it.  It is a great way for her to learn about the life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly.  With the treehouse came a mail-order form for 5 caterpillars.  The caterpillars came after a week, and we watched them grow fatter and fatter every day.  After a week, they turned into chrysalids...and then after a couple more weeks, we had 3 lovely butterflies inside the treehouse!  Julianna released the butterflies two days ago.  She didn't want to at first, but I told her they needed to find their mommy.  I knew they only had a life span of 20 days, and I really didn't want to have her see them die.  Here are some pictures from the day we released her precious little babies.

Getting ready to release her butterflies

Julianna named this butterfly "Igor". =)

Pump it Up!

As promised I am sharing some pictures from Julianna's birthday party at Pump it Up!  It was a huge success!  I think everybody, young and the young at heart...had the time of their lives.  

It was the first time Julianna ever blew her birthday candle by herself.  This was something Jeff and I had longed to see and it was really, really hard not to get teary-eyed.  She had always been scared of the candle on her birthday cake...probably a sensory issue.  I believe that after 4 years we are winning our fight against Julianna's autism.   I know that there will still be some bad days, but good ones like this make us keep going.  

Thank you to everyone that came to join us on this special day!  More special thanks to everyone that brought donations for the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  I will be posting more pictures of Julianna giving her gifts to the "sick children".  She is very excited!  She said that their "bugs will go away then they can go home because I shared my gifts with them."  

Enjoy the pictures!

Mommy and the birthday girl

With Nona

Julianna and her bffs Mina and Mari

With "boyfriend" Sammy

Welcoming Morgan, Amelia and Landon

Watching the safety video

Pretty Amelia is ready to go!
Pin the Tail on the donkey game.  Amaria won the Disney Store gift card!
Climbing wall fun
Bouncy fun!

Everybody enjoyed going down the giant slide!

Reunited with her beloved Miss Ellie

Trying to keep everyone still for the group picture

Enjoying her birthday cake

Yummy pizza and cake!

With Tito Paul and Rani, Tito Dave and Yigo, Tita Ferly and the very pregnant Tita Monica

I'm not tired yet Mama...

...just hungry! 

Julianna's 6th Birthday

Our little princess turned 6 today.  *Sniff!*  It seemed like it was just yesterday when we first took her home from the hospital.  She was so tiny!  She has now blossomed into a little girl, full of life, love and intelligence....Just as I always imagined she would be and so much more... Three years ago I was told by a Child Development Specialist that Julianna would probably never learn to talk because of her autism.  I always believed in my heart she would talk someday, and she did.   It made me choke back the tears today when she said that although she is 6, she will always be my little baby.  *Double Sniff!!!*

We celebrated her birthday at P.F. Chang's today, her favorite restaurant of the month.  We also opened presents from family members.  We will have her birthday party tomorrow at the Pump it Up in Brentwood, but for this year, Julianna has decided to accept donations for the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital instead of receiving presents from guests.  This is very atypical for a child with autism to do, so Mommy and Daddy are very supportive of her endeavor.  She really, really wants to "fix" the sick children, especially the ones with "lots of bugs" in their blood.  She believes that if she shares her toys, these little kids can go finally go home.  How I wish that it was that simple, and it is very hard to explain to her that despite her help, it will still take a miracle for some of these kids to go home.  I really hate to dampen her spirits, so I told her that it will really help them feel better and help them go home faster. 

On to happier things, Julianna blew the candle on her cake today and made a wish for the first time in 6 years!  She has always been scared of the birthday candle.  I know I will really cry tomorrow if she blows the candle on her cake at Pump it Up.  I have waited for that moment for so long! 

I am going to share a few pictures from our special day today.  Stay tuned for more to come tomorrow!

Presents galore...

Julianna with her much coveted Littlest Pet Shop toys

With the Littlest Pet Shop city she built

Mommy and baby

Preparing to make a wish

The family at P.F. Chang's