Where to begin...

I just want to say THANK YOU to all who have prayed for us in the last few weeks - GOD IS LISTENING!!!!

Things are going very well at the Behm home :) We are all getting along wonderfully, the Lord has answered prayers in many ways. PRAISE HIM!!! Again, thank you all for your prayers and kind words.

So many things have happened since I last blogged...I have pics to share as well.

Eric has been working non-stop on the house - inside & out. We FINALLY were able to finish landscaping the front yard...after 9 yards of white rocks (that were removed LAST year), 150 landscaping bricks, 9 yards of topsoil, 3 yards on compost & 1 yard of red mulch...here are the before & after pics:

We have also removed a LARGE and UGLY tree from our back yard over this past weekend. Russ & Donna (Eric's dad & Step mom) came to town to help us...we had a really nice time with them. We wish they lived closer...but who knows - anything can happen :)

Madison has a lot going on as well. As most of you know, she has been in Occupational Therapy for low muscle tone in her mouth & sensory issues for the past year now. Well last week for the first time EVER Madison drank from a straw!! I know this sounds trivial to some, but this is HUGE for her. I am so proud of her - I keep buying her new cups with straws every time we go to the store. Very soon sippys will be a thing of the past :) YEAH Madison!!! She is now working on drinking from a regular open mouth cup. She really struggles to keep her tongue out of the way - but she seems to understand the idea - just not sure what to do about it.

Madison also is just about to finish her first year of school. I can't believe its been a year already. She is growing up WAY too fast for Eric and I. She is starting preschool in the fall - there are 9 other children in her class...she will most likely be the only girl. Luckily that never seems to bother her. We evaluated her class on Tuesday of last week and I spent a lot of time asking the teacher the most paranoid parent questions ever. Miss Keri was really nice and Madison loved the room. Before you think - wait, I thought you were going to homeschool...we are still waiting to see where God leads us on this. Madison has a lot to learn about "learning". This first year of preschool (she's still going to be 2 when school starts) will help her understand what learning is. Most preschools (so I hear) are glorified daycare...not this one. This is a Special Ed preschool where almost all of the children have some form of Autism. It really works on following direction and understanding how to communicate with others. She really needs this.

I actually called my former High School (Baptist Park) the other day about enrolling here there. According to the woman I spoke with - they currently do not have a "special needs" program and really don't have the funding to get her a Para or other assistance - BUT she did tell me that there are 3 other alum who have children with Autism and they too want to send their children there. They really are starting to see that there is a need and maybe will try in the next year or two to start a way to help our kids. That would be great! I personally didn't like BP but I was a rebellious teenager who didn't know anything - I now think its a great idea.

While all of this school stuff is going on - Madison is growing up in other ways. She is using the "potty" on a pretty regular basis. Last week she used it at least 1 time every day...one day there was 2 times :) She has a problem communicating that she has to go - so we try to look for the signs. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be...but we are hoping by Sept (start of school) that she will be all ready to go. She does not have to be potty trained to enter this preschool...in fact in the special ed program I don't think they can require it for any age. COOL - I can wait till she's 16 :)

Lastly - Madison has moved on to a BIG girl bed :) We converted her crib to a toddler bed last week. She is doing fairly well considering everything that is going on. Tonight it only took 1 hr & 15 minutes to actually get her to sleep. She was able to get out of her room (breaking door handles / climbing gates - etc...) but this weekend Eric & his dad also cut her door in half. We can lock the bottom from the outside and leave the top open so she doesn't feel trapped. I love this door!!! Now I don't have to follow here around the house when she should be in bed.

OH MY - I almost forgot. The LORD has answered another prayer - not for me but for Cathy (my mother in law)...for the first time EVER on May 10th - ALL of her kids, their spouses and her grandkids were all together!!!! We had a cookout for her 61st birthday and Mother's Day. It was so lovely. Eric & I have always wanted to send her to Scotland (for those that don't know she was born there and lived there until she was abt 8 yrs old). Since we never really had the means we did the next best thing. We brought Scotland to her and hired a Bagpipe player. She loved it - actually told me she felt like the queen! It was such a wonderful day...I hope and pray the Lord keeps this family together - if only for her while she is still here. BTW - I hope to have an update for you all in about 2 weeks - after all of her tests are done again on the 4th of June.

Well I think I am done blogging for now...I hope everyone is doing well. We love you and thanks again for all you do!!!!