Our Weekend

How can the weekend is over already?!? Sigh, so its back to work for us. BUT we have an exciting couple of weekends coming up because Aedan is going to be turning 1 in just 2 weeks!!!

More on that later, for now, back to our weekend.

On Friday the weather was gorgeous. Aedan and I played outside for about 45 minutes before his afternoon nap. I have to say this little car that he got from my parents is perfect for playing outside. He can push it all he wants, up and down the sidewalk, I can guide his pushing without having to bend down and when he decides to plop down because he is tired, I can just put him in and push him back home.

When Jon got home that evening, we decided to head over to Mighty Fine for some burgers and milkshakes. We eat pretty healthy during the week, but sometimes you just need a good burger and fries. After dinner we went over to Buy Buy Baby to look around at carriers. Aedan is getting too big for our Baby Bjorn and we want something with a back carry option. While we were there, Aedan got to test out some toys. First he pushed a big car around, and then played with some stuffed animals. But then he ran across this Melissa & Doug Piano. Oh my goodness, I wasn’t sure we would be able to pull him away to leave. He was so excited about it. We decided we had found the perfect birthday gift. Since I didn’t have a coupon with me, I decided I would come back and get it later, but then I found it on Amazon for $20 less, not bad! It arrives on Tuesday, and I am not sure Jon or I will be able to wait until the 13th to give it to Aedan. :)

On Saturday morning, I got up bright and early to go to a neighborhood boot camp. It was great and I am still so sore now. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing around the house.

Sunday, we got up and headed to our favorite breakfast spot (Dan’s). Aedan enjoyed eating my pancakes and eggs and drumming on the table with the straws from our waitress.

Sunday afternoon we headed over to a park I heard about from one of the girls at my boot camp. It’s pretty close to our house and it was perfect. There was even a little playscape that was perfect for Aedan to crawl around on. The park has a wadding pool that is open in the summer. I am so excited to have somewhere close by to take Aedan swimming. In Plano I was a little spoiled by the City’s Parks and Recreation department. There are tons of very nice pools to go to up there. In Austin there are pools all around, but they are not nearly the same as the ones I am used to. At least this wadding pool will be fun for us this summer when it is over 100 outside!

Happy Monday everyone!

-Lauren-

Changes Part Three

Ready for the end of the story (for now)? Okay, here we go.

So like I said before my friend and I were all ready to start up our own company. We had met with an attorney as well as an accountant. We were all set and I was beginning to feel more comfortable with everything. We could totally do this. We are both good at our jobs and we felt like we could figure out the business stuff as we went along (we have lots of support/knowledge from significant others and friends).

Then earlier this week I got an email from my friend saying that she had received some unexpected news and that we needed to talk. Hmm. It did not sound good.

The next day we talked and she let me know that she had heard back from a company in Colorado that she had sent her resume to months ago (way back when we first found out the director of the small company was leaving). She had sent it in before we knew if we were going to be taking on the company.

Anyway, this company is great and offered her a really awesome deal. Plus she will be moving back to Colorado where her family is. It is going to be a great move for her and I could not be happier for her to have this opportunity.

So, where does that leave me? Well I am going to start my own LLC. Jon and I talked about it and I feel like I need to take advantage of this opportunity. I am nervous about handling the business side of things by myself, but I love what I do and it’s looking like I am already going to be full as far as my client load. You can’t beat starting a new company and already having clients, right?

I am thankful I have such a supportive husband and supportive friends. Jon and I are meeting with another accountant early next week to get things rolling. I am still a little overwhelmed, but I know that everything will work out. I think writing these last few posts has reminded me even more that I am doing what I am meant to do and God is ultimately in control.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.  -Jeremiah 29:11

Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to share my company name (once I decide on one) as well as my very own website. :)

For not it is time to enjoy a weekend with my two favorite boys and favorite puppy.

-Lauren-

Changes Part Two

Okay where did I leave off…Oh that’s right, I was working as a lead therapist for the small company. It was perfect. I was going to school and working on my masters. In order to sit for the BCBA exam  I needed to complete 1500 therapy hours and meet with a current BCBA for mentorship at least once every two weeks. The owner of the small company supervised my therapy hours and we met on a regular basis through my two years in grad school. I learned all about doing assessments, writing programs and reports and everything else that comes along with supervising home therapy.

When I graduated in December of 09, I started to help with more things like interviewing new therapists and training them for new and current clients. I would have started to supervise cases in January then but I looked like this.

We decided it was pointless for me to begin supervising cases when I would just be leaving for maternity leave in just over a month. So I pretty much took February off. I was too big to do therapy comfortably and there was not point it start supervision.

So fast forward to June. Oh did I mention that the director of the small company had a baby just 4 weeks after I had Aedan. 4 weeks to the day. Pretty crazy right? Ya, I am pretty sure our clients thought so too. Anyway, in June we both decided it was time to get back to work. I was so fortunate to find a great sitter to watch Aedan while I went to work.

I started off with one client and it was perfect. Aedan only had to go to the sitters house for a few hours each week. It was a great way to ease back into work. In August I started to buckle down and study for my upcoming BCBA exam. During this time we didn’t get any new clients, which worried both of us. Running one case was just not enough. Well looking back, I am not sure how I would have handled doing initial assessments and reports while trying to study and take care of Aedan. And won’t you know, literally the week after I took my exam, we got three calls from potential clients interested in starting services.

In the beginning of November I found out I passed my test. I also found out that the director of the company was thinking about moving back to California. All of her family was there and now that she had a baby, she really wanted to be closer to family, which I completely understood. One of my good friends was finishing up the graduate program and was going to begin supervising with us in January. Again it seemed like everything was lining up perfectly. There were enough cases for two people but not three, so with the director leaving, my friend and I could step in and take on the work load.

Originally we were going to buy the company from the director. But after lots of discussions, we just could not come up with an arrangement that made everyone happy. Plus it is difficult to transfer things like tax id numbers and such that are associated with the company since they are also associated with SSNs.

It was looking like my friend and I would just start up our own company and hopefully the clients would follow. I was nervous. I love love love what I do, but I am not a business person. I never had any desire to help run a company. But I didn’t have a lot of other options. I wasn’t interested in working full time with Aedan so young, and I absolutely love that I have a flexible schedule. So I decided to jump in with both feet. My friend and I were going to be partners and everything was going to work out again.

Well, not quite…stay tuned for part three.

-Lauren-

Changes Part One

A few weeks ago I mentioned that there were some changes going on a work and things were a little stressful. Well they got a little more stressful and now that things have settled I thought I would share/document them for myself.

Before I start talking about where I am now with my job, I want to start by sharing how I got to this point. Since I am going to start at the beginning, I think I will break this up into 2-3 posts, so here is Part One:

In 2005 I was a junior in college at the University of Texas at Dallas. I was majoring in Speech Pathology and Audiology. I knew that I wanted to work with children, but other than that I didn’t have firm plans for my future career. Over spring break I met Jon and you can read about it here.

Fast forward to my senior year. Jon and I were still dating long distance, and getting pretty tired of the drive up and down i35. One afternoon I got an email from a professor that was only supposed to be sent to graduate students. It was a job opportunity as a school shadow for a little guy on the autism spectrum as his preschool. I was very interested in getting some new experiences so I responded, not really thinking anything would come from it since the mother was looking for a graduate student.

Well, the mom decided to take a chance with me and during my last year at UTD, I worked a a school shadow for her 3 year old son. Honestly looking back, I was okay at the job but I had no training so I am sure I could have done better. 

When I graduated in May of 2006, I was pretty tired of school and not interested in starting graduate school right away. I also knew I wanted to move to Austin. So I started looking for jobs and after lots of searching I came across a company that provided home applied behavior analysis therapy and school shadowing for children on the autism spectrum. I applied and got the job. A few weeks later I was sitting in Austin going through training to become a behavioral therapist.

For the next two years I worked for this company and got lots of good training and experience. During this time, I had made the decision that this was the population of children that I wanted to work with. I decided I was ready to go back to grad school and get my masters in special education with an emphasis in autism/ABA. Oh and Jon and I got married. :) However I had some issues with how the company treated its employees and once a favorite supervisor left, I knew it was time to find another job.

As it turned out, I didn’t have to look far. The very same supervisor that had hired me 2 years prior and then moved away, came back to Austin and opened her own company. Everything very much just fell perfectly into place and I began working with her as a lead therapist.

Although I have always known, as I look back at how everything fell into place, from receiving an email only meant for grad students to finding a job in Austin and then having the option to continue to do what I loved for a smaller company, it is obvious that God’s hand was orchestrating it all. As I think back about the times where there was drama (like when I left the large company – lots.of.drama!) it is comforting to see that everything worked out. It gives me confidence that yet again, everything will fall into place.

Stay tuned for Changes Part Two.

-Lauren-

Our Weekend

Since it was Jon’s birthday weekend, we had some fun things planned.

On Friday, Jon’s niece came over to babysit and Jon and I went out to dinner. We ate at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Curras. They have avocado margaritas which are so good. Neither of us had been there since before Aedan was born, so it was definitely time to enjoy our favorite meals there.

After dinner, we decided to go do a little shopping. Since it was Jon’s birthday he got to pick the store and we ended up at REI. Jon got a new pocket knife and I got this cute little cup.

So fun. I am loving iced Chai tea lattes right now and this will be perfect for me to take my latte to go or just to the living room. :)

On Saturday Jon, Aedan and I headed to Chuck E Cheese for my friend Lauren’s son’s birthday party. It was crazy but very fun. Aedan did really well and got to try cheese pizza for the first time, it was a hit. When Chucky came out to sing happy birthday to the birthday kids, I was sure Aedan would lose it, but he just gave him angry eye brows.

When we got home Jon’s mom and one of Aedan’s cousins came over to hang out. Jon’s mom brought everyone gifts. Jon got a soccer ball and some other soccer accessories and I got a Paula Deen candle (it smells so good and has pretty much been burning ever since).  She brought this new toy for Aedan and he LOVES it.

Jon’s mom babysat for us on Saturday night. I know, we got to go out two nights in a row, which has not happened since before Aedan. Jon and I headed downtown and met up with some good friends at Silhouette for sushi. It was the first time I have actually been to a sushi restaurant and it was very tasty. After dinner a few of us headed over to the Ginger Man for some good beer. It was a fun night and we enjoyed hang out with our friends and Aedan had fun hanging out with his Grandma and cousin.

On Sunday we went over to Jon’s grandparent’s house for lunch and had a nice visit. Aedan was into everything, including some indoor potted plants, but had lots of fun. We all came home and took a long afternoon nap – the perfect way to end the weekend.

Last night during our evening walk, we talked about starting up our family picnics again since the weather is so nice.

-Lauren-

Happy Birthday Jon!!

Today is Jon’s 30th birthday!! He never reads this blog. He jokes that sometimes his friends know what’s going on with us before he does since they keep up with my blog and he doesn’t :)

Even though he doesn’t read it, I thought I’d tell you guys a little about him and why I love him so much.

• He is such a wonderful provider. He has the best work ethic of anyone I know and he always keeps his word.
• He is loving and and supportive and always willing to help.
• He is so good with kids and amazing with Aedan. He will work a long day at work and immediately start playing with Aedan when he gets home. Melt my heart.
• He is super cute and has a great smile. He is funny and can always make me laugh.
• He loves to be outside and Hiro loves the trail runs they do together at the greenbelt.
• He loves music and playing the guitar, something I know he will teach Aedan someday.
• He is vary athletic and can play pretty much any sport, but loves soccer, another thing I know he will be teaching Aedan.
• He is truly my best friend and am so blessed to have such an amazing husband.

Happy Birthday Jon! I love you!!

-Lauren-

Eleven Months!

I can.not.believe.I am writing this post! In just a few short weeks, but little baby will be 1 year old! Oh my goodness.

Aedan, here is what you have been up to these days:

• You weigh 22lbs and a few ounces and I think you are between 29-30 inches tall (we had an appointment today, and they had you stand up like a big kid to get measured, so I’m not sure you were standing completely straight).
• You wear size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 overnights. You still wear size 12mo or size 12-18mo (you have since about 8 months, I think).
• You sleep from about 7:30pm-7:30am every night and usually take a 1.5 morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap.
• You are still taking 4 bottle a day, but I think we are close to dropping the late afternoon bottle and just making it a snack after naptime.
• You are eating more and more finger foods. You love to have toast with your oatmeal for breakfast and grilled cheese or quesadillas for lunch. Oh and you love sliced bananas (you hated them when I used to mash them) and fresh blue berries. You will pretty much try anything and are a great eater. However, you have learned that it is fun to throw your food off your highchair and watch Hiro eat it. We are working on this, because while I am sure it is so fun, it is not something mommy likes. :)
• You are pulling up and cruising on everything you can get your hands on. I’m pretty sure if you could stand up 24/7 you would be thrilled. Today, your sitter told me you were pushing a 2 year old around in a cozy coupe car.
• You have become quite a handful when it is time for a diaper change/getting dressed. Most of the time I feel like I am trying to rope a calf or something.
• You are learning what “no” means, but to you it doesn’t always mean you need to stop doing something, apparently it is more of a slow down or glance up.
• You love to take toys out of your toy basket and some of your favorites are your trucks and balls or cups, oh and of course your beloved wooden spoon.
• You are so good at running errands and love to sit in the cart, smiling at anyone who will give you some attention. It amazes me that you are so happy with everyone all of a sudden. When you were younger you didn’t even like it when new people came over to the house let alone hold you.
• You love love love music. You will rock or shake your head when you hear something you like. You discovered the piano at your Nonnie and Pops house this last weekend and LOVED it!
• You “talk” all the time, and while you can say mama, you prefer to say dada. You are saying new sounds just about everyday and today you have been saying “yes” all day long.
• You love to rough house with your daddy and laugh at Hiro.
• You have started to get pretty good at throwing tennis balls and bouncy balls, maybe you will be a baseball player like your Pop?

Aedan, you are so much fun. Each month just keeps getting better and better. We love you so much!

-Lauren-