Happy 7th Birthday Haiden

Dear Haiden,
Wow!  I cannot believe that you are 7 years old already!  I was always told by my parents that time flies by but I never really understood what that meant until I had my own children.  You are an AMAZING boy Haiden! 
Right now you love anything sports and have an insane talent for sport statistics.  This past fall you loved watching Notre Dame football on Saturdays and Colts football on Sundays with Daddy.  You remember the score to just about every NFL football game and know most of the starters and their numbers.  You also know their win/lose record without thinking twice about it.  Now, your new passion is basketball and you love anything basketball.  For Christmas we bought a "real" basketball hoop that hangs on a door downstairs.  You spend hours shooting hoops and have gotten very good at it.  You really like watching IU basketball on TV. 
In school you are a superb student!  You always have good behavior and seem to have many friends.  In fact, several of your classmates with be at your birthday party this weekend.  You are reading chapter books already and working your way through division.  You also have a photographic memory.  There will be times that we are reading together and you will look at a paragraph, look away, and "read" that paragraph to me.  The first time you did it I was beyond shocked and asked you to do it again. 
At home you are very patient with Ella and Mason and I know it is not always easy being the oldest.  I appreciate all of your help and how good you are with your little brother and sister. 
Seven years ago I never knew how  much you would change my life.  You have made me such a better person and everyday I try to be the best mommy I can be!
I love you to infinity!
XOXO,
Mom


He is such a goofball! 

Preventing ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder, and Autism

The following post is my opinion.

Most expecting or new parents only want the best for their child.  As a parent we experience all kinds of worries and fears.  When I was pregnant with Haiden I always had an overwhelming fear about autism.  At the time I was student teaching and working with some autistic children so I just thought that was why I worried all the time.  I thought I read all the books, I thought I did all the research, I talked to my OB, I talked to Haiden's pediatrician.  I thought I was doing everything I could to have a healthy baby.  Little did I know, I didn't have a clue. 
I know so much more now but i wish I knew then what I know now.  I came across this great website called the Autism Research Institute.  They believe that autism is preventable and that autism is treatable.  I believe that too because my family has experienced it.  Here is a great link to all the ways you can prevent autism in your child, http://www.autism.com/fam_preventing_autism_now.asp.  A lot of it is controversial but after living it, I know that it works.  I didn't do any of these things with Haiden and he had autism.  I did a few of these things with Ella and she would most likely get an ADHD diagnoses if we weren't doing the Brain Balance program (http://www.chironeuroindy.com/).  I did almost all of these things with Mason and he is a "typically" developing child. 
If you are pregnant or the mother of a young child, please, please, please read this article.  It could change your life and your child's life.  Some of it may sound extreme but, after recovering a child from autism, I can tell you it isn't nearly as extreme as what you will have to go through if you have a child with ADHD, Sensory Integrations Disorder, or autism.
Please know I post this information because I care.  I know the devastation, the heartache, the stress, the anger, the guilt, and the helpless that comes from not educating myself.