For Erik by Laura Lambert

This is a poem Laura Lambert wrote about Erik! It is very special to me and I wanted to share it with ya'll hope you enjoy!

(for Erik)

He shrieks
as he pulls up grass and
delights in the feel of sun on his
face
and I am lost in his eyes...

He touches every leaf
he passes,
every flower,
every petal
and claps with delight
at the feel of the rain on his skin...

He has lived a lifetime in
just shy of nine years
I've seen his scars
and know his pain,
and my heart breaks
at any sadness he might know

This boy with the deep brown
eyes
an ocean of dreams
waiting just beyond the horizon...

Locked inside himself
and yet,
his laugh is contagious
and I am wound around his little finger
as surely as he has wrapped himself
around my heart

The sound of his voice,
the mischievious grin
when he knows he's done
something he shouldn't,
the way his hair has
a mind of its own,
just like him...


I can see him,
someday sitting quietly
at a table and telling his mother
how much he loves her,
how much it meant
that she never gave up,
that she never gave in

I know it to be
true for I've seen it in my dreams,
I've seen it in his eyes...

My New Coffee Table Decorations!

This is Blue and Case playing on the weekend we babysat Case! It had me laughing so hard to see this huge Golden Retriever standing on my Coffee table like he was my new decoration! Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I do! This memory is always good for a laugh!

Springing Into Action Again, Hopefully :)

Sorry for the long time between post! I am sure people have quit reading but in case ya'll still check!

Everything has been a whirlwind! It has all been good but extremely busy and crazy! Hey but who's life isn't right? Erik started his new school and has done really well. He adjusted great and even made a friend named Kevin! They shared each others snacks and we learned that Erik loves to dip his food in Honey Mustard (YUCK) & Ketchup, he will eat his roll, his pizza anything as long as he can dip it!

Blue has been amazing but I know he feels a little left behind right now! With Erik being carted across Atlanta everyday Blue gets left at home a lot. I feel bad taking him to Atlanta with me and having him chill in the car for 3 hours and that doesn't include the 1 hour trip down then the return 1hr trip home! So when I take Erik to Marcus Dad lets Blue out a few times and usually when we get home dad has him out on the tether throwing the toy for him. Blue loves his Papaw!

We did the walk for Autism this year and had an amazing time. Laura Lambert and I did a talk about 4 Paws and Autism Assistance Dogs. It went over really well. We didn't pass out a lot of flyers at the speech but when everyone saw how awesome Blue and Zorro were with having the boys tethered and how well the kids walked with their dogs, the flyers started flying out of our hands. I was so proud of Erik and Blue! I have had comments from people who saw us at the walk at how well they did together! Erik only sat on the ground once while we were walking! This is a major improvement because if he had been holding my hand he would have dropped to the ground every 5 minutes and it would have taken me 5 minutes just to get him off the ground! It is really exciting and I am looking forward to upcoming trips and events! Wow who thought a dog could change your life like this!

Denise, DJ, Nitro, Morgan & Zach Standley came for a visit in April and we had an amazing time! Since I started my new job I don't have a lot of time off right now but I was able to work out a few days to hang with them. They stayed at the Lamberts for a few nights and then came out here and stayed two nights with us! We went to an Alpine Village named Helen, GA and walked around, went to a winery and goofed off it was so much fun. I think the kids loved playing around the house and getting to ride the tractor with Papaw best! Denise has some cute pics on her facebook of everyone getting to ride the tractor! We are looking forward to our next adventure with the Standleys, hopefully this June for Erik's birthday!

Alaska Peg also came to visit and we had so much fun with her! It was such a short visit but every second with Peg is a blast! Laura picked her up from the air port and we met them at the Lamberts house! The next day we got up at 5:30am and went back to the air port for a brief airport breakfast with no other then Lisa Beth (aka: Tink) it was awesome to get to see here even if it was only for an hour, again we are hoping for a longer visit from Tink and the lost boys at Erik & Blue's Birthday! Later that day everyone came over to our house for a cook out with Nie Nie and Papaw, we had more kids ridding the tractor and loving it! It was a great time of catching up and chilling out! Man do I miss my Peg!

We have so many fun things planned for this summer, hopefully I can keep up a little better with my posting now that we are more in the swing of things! I can't keep anything peaceful long though! Erik's last day of public school is tomorrow but he will still go to Atlanta from 1 -4 and in 2 weeks he will start summer school two times a week to keep him in the habit of public school, which he will start full time in August! I love my new job it is exactly what I want to do but it is very stressful right now! There is only so much they can teach you in school! I learn something new almost everyday! It keeps me on my toes that's for sure! As if this all isn't enough I have signed up for school to start taking my core classes to get my RN! This should only take 2 years but I am not rushing anything, with work, Erik and school I will only be going part time! Wish me luck!

Hugs and love to everyone! I hope we still have faithful followers! Even if I am a slacker at keeping up on my post!

Quick Update Feb 09

Everything is going well but a little hectic! I started my new job and am working with a preceptor nurse doing 3 12hr shifts, I love it but am still nervous and learning so much! Erik is having a hard time adjusting but change is hard for all of us.

Erik and Blue are doing well! We babysat Case (formerly AC/DC) and he was so much fun! We miss him, Blue and Case had a blast I will post pictures soon! I go tomorrow to visit the new classroom that Erik will be attending half days in our county's public school. He will continue to go to Marcus the other half of the day throughout the rest of the school year. We have his IEP next Wed so please pray for everything to turn out well with this and for God's strength.

We love ya'll and think of you often, if I haven't been in touch I am so sorry and once I get settled in my new job and schedule and Erik settles with my new schedule and his new school, I will try to come back to Earth and call my wonderful amazing friends!

Hugs and Love from my crew

Good Night!

I am so excited! Last night I went in to check on Erik after I put him to bed and Blue was curled up in the bed with Erik!!!! I have tried and tried to get Blue to sleep in Erik's bed but he would have nothing to do with it! Blue will go in the bedroom at bed time and stay until I am done reading night time stories and kisses then he hangs with me until he decides it's time to crash and now he crashes with Erik!!! I really hope this helps them bond more, Erik has shown so much more interest in Blue as well!


I still haven't taken Blue out in public much! He is a lot to handle for just short errand runs around town and that is all I have basically done since Christmas! I really need to get him out and about! Now that I have a job and will actually be making money maybe I can start going into stores again and not feeling depressed, haha! I am just so nervous taking him out with the whole pooping in public and stuff! He has done really great with tracking and tethering, we are going to a friends house tonight and will hopefully go on a hike around their property (they have 100's of acres) so we can continue working on tethering!

Happy February 1st!!! I cannot believe it is time to start my new job already! Wish me luck I start tomorrow morning at 7:30 am for a week of hospital orientation, then the next week is orientation to the floor, then the 3rd week I actually start following my nurse preceptor and working her schedule for 4 weeks!

Hugs and Love to you all! Will update more later!! Isn't the picture adorable! I love my boys!

Things Keep Improving!

I have such great news to share with ya'll!!!! I got the job at Northside Hospital on the 5th floor Medical Surgical unit as a LPN. It is a part time position and is everything that I wanted! We are praising God for his answers to our prayers and for his amazing goodness.

Things are much the same with Erik right now regarding school! He is still attending Marcus Autism Center full time and they are trying to find a placement for him in the public school. I am still in the process of applying for the private school (a 30 page app). Please continue to pray for Gods guidance in this area! Erik has started sleeping through the night in his own bed! He has never done that! I can get him to go to sleep in his bed but usually around 1 - 3am he wakes up and comes and crawls in bed with me! The past week he has been in his bed when it has been time to get up and get ready for school! My little man is getting so big, and Blue may just have something to do with this new little miracle!

Blue has also started to sleep in Erik's room! Since I go to bed way after Erik, Blue will hang with me until I go to bed then he goes into Erik's room and sleeps in there!

There are some really neat things going on with Blue!!! Today when I was in the shower, Erik let himself and Blue outside! When I got out of the shower and I was actually alone I knew something was up! So I threw on a rob and went running outside! Sure enough Erik is playing inside my car and I don't see Blue anywhere! All that is running through my head is Jeremy answering a question about a similar scenario "then you've lost your kid and your dog"! Well I called for Blue and he came running from around the other side of the car where he had been hanging out watching Erik! He hadn't even run off and when I called him he came straight to me and was like "Hey mom I kept an eye on him for ya!" This dog is amazing!

I have been dieing to share this story with ya'll since we got home but have had some much other things going on I forgot to tell ya'll!

September Stars and the Duck!

Now this is my memory of the event: Our 6 families were scheduled to track in the afternoon so in the morning we worked on obedience with Jennifer! While we were doing our training Homewood Suits representatives came into the training room with a person dressed in a giant duck costume and a goodie basket for the families! Everything in the room got quiet and all the dogs turned and watched this giant duck walk over to the bar! The rep's talked for a minute, now mind you all puppy eyes are on the duck and not one dog has moved a muscle! The rep then ask if we want to see the duck dance! I am immediately thinking "NO I do not want to see the creepy duck dance!" So the duck walks in front of the dry erase board and that is when Blue decides to bark at the scary duck, after he barks while he is still laying at my feet, he looks up at me like you can kick it's butt right mom, that's when I told him I was scared of the Duck too! When Blue barks then Hans barks and jumps BEHIND Indy (now remember Hans is a German Shepherd and Indy is a big fluffy lovable Golden Retriever who couldn't scare anything)! Then the other dogs likewise follow in expressing their fear and dislike of the duck! Thank goodness the duck got the hint and didn't dance but if you could have seen the look on all the dogs faces, watched Blue look at me like hey I started it you finish it and could have watched Hans hide behind Indy, he even put his nose under Indy's side, you would have laughed your butt off! The joys of the unexpected that occur during training!
Here is a picture of the infamous Homewood Suites Duck!!

Happy New Year!!!

We wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! We hope to be able to spend time with each of you this year and we also hope that you have a wonderful year filled with love and prosperity.

Erik, Blue and I had a great Christmas. We went next door to my parents house and opened gifts! It was the first year in a long time that I was able to shop for Erik Christmas presents that weren't Spongebob DVD's! I found some toys that he loves and it was so much fun to watch him open his gifts! He got excited about a lot of them!

Blue had presents under the tree as well! My mom got Blue his own "Place" for her house and Blue's nose was all in the bag and when I pulled out the matt, laid it on the ground and told him place he gave me this look like, "well that's the crappiest Christmas present EVER!!!" So he sat on his place and we opened his new Nylabone and he was much happier laying on his place then while chewing his new bone!

New Years was a little rough, Erik spent New Years Eve at the Ped's office being diagnosed with Scarlatina Fever and Strep Throat! We stayed at home watching Spongebob until I was about to scream and then watched other movies until we crashed!

Blue is still as amazing and crazy as ever! We haven't done a lot recently due to the holidays and such, we actually have left Blue at home more then we have taken him. One is because I got our certification papers in a little late and he didn't have his updated cards the other reason is that Blue has decided that he really does enjoy pooping in Target and Kohl's! I changed the amount of food he received and everything that Jeremy told me to do when this problem first arose and everything went fine for a week or two! Then in one week, all while trying to rush around and finish up my last minute Christmas items, Blue poops 3 different times twice in Target and once in Kohl's! I was sooooo angry at him! Once I even stood outside for over 10 minutes giving him the opportunity too poop and while he is sniffing EVERYTHING within the reach of his leash I am telling him "you will not poop inside this store so go ahead and get it out now!" Well he sure showed me! We walked inside the second set of doors at Target and were not even off the entrance carpet and Blue started pooping! I was in tears, and I called Jennifer! I told her I was calling as a friend and just needed a shoulder to cry on! She gave me some advice and now that we have Blue's new certification papers I can start trying to take him back out in public again! Wish us luck, I firmly believe that Blue is just so excited with all the new smells that he isn't thinking about doing his business, instead he is checking everything out. Then once we get into the store his little insane brain is like "Oh Crap! I have to crap!", and he goes while we are walking through the store! Again I am hoping that this is just part of being an oversized puppy and we can fix the problem! He is such a goofball! Everything else is great, he wants to love on everyone and play ball until he can't take another step! Erik loves throwing Blue's Kong for him when we are trapped inside and Blue will sometimes take the Kong to Erik instead of bringing it to me! I have tried to back off loving on Blue so much so he will go to Erik more! He still hates sleeping in Erik's room! I have left him no comfy options but the bed beside Erik's but he still wants to come and lay on the hard floor beside me! I know Blue doesn't like being in there when Erik is trying to go to sleep because Erik picks on him and tries to play with him (heck I don't want to be around Erik when he is trying to wind down and go to sleep) but once Erik is asleep Blue wont stay in there either! So after I put Erik to bed I refuse to love on him and I keep putting him back in Erik's room. Hopefully this will start working soon. We just love Blue more and more everyday, not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh! He is such a part of our family, he and Erik both act like clowns and want to make everyone laugh and love them!

We have some great irons in the fire right now! As I posted last time Erik will be going to half days at the Marcus Autism Center starting this month and will spend the other half in either a public or private school. There is a program in our County that a Dr from Marcus oversees, it looks likely that Erik will be able to go into this program for the remainder of the year. Marcus does not know if the program will continue into the next school year though so, I have started filling out an application to a private autism school in Alpharetta! The Dr who is over Erik's program at Marcus highly recommended the school and says it is very similar to the program he is currently in. All of Erik's Dr's agree that Erik will not thrive in the public school system and will actually regress so it is really important for us to get him somewhere that he can continue to grow developmentally! The only draw back is that the private school is very expensive, $4000 a month, but they have financial aid if he is accepted so please pray that if this God's will that Erik will be accepted and we can receive the financial aid!

I have been frantically job hunting and it has been frustrating! Ya'll know that I graduated with my LPN, nursing diploma last Sept and passed my state board exam around Thanksgiving! I didn't really start researching jobs until I had my actual license number from the state. Everyone I talk to is so excited for me and they all are like "you should have no problems finding a job, nurses are in high demand"! Well RN's are in high demand and LPN's with 1+years experience are in demand! I have been turned away from so many places and asked to come back after I get that year! One place even said we need you badly so please come back once you have experience!!!! I am like are you freakin kidding me!!!!! How the heck do you expect me to get a years experience when NO ONE wants to hire me without it! So I finally called a nurse that I had worked under when I did my clinical rotations at the local hospital and asked her if she remembered me, which she did, then asked her who I should get in touch with regarding a job at the hospital! She was amazing, she was really excited and said she would put in a good word for me and connected me to her boss. Her boss told me they no longer accepted paper applications so I would have to fill out information online! I told her I had filled out the application but had not heard from anyone and asked if I could bring her my resume for future openings! She said she hadn't seen any applications from anyone and got my name and phone number. That night I got an email from a recruiter from the hospital telling me I was a candidate for an LPN position! I filled out the paperwork that was attached for them to run my background check and they said once the check was complete they would contact me! That was yesterday! I am hoping and praying that I will hear back from them around the beginning of next week! Would love your prayers as well!

I have Christmas picture to post from my new digital camera, once I figure out how to do it, one of my fave Christmas gifts! I have also been perfecting making Lattes! I received a Latte/Cappachino/Espresso maker for Christmas, I love it! I am sure Starbucks stock is dropping now that I do not have to depend on them for my coffee fixes! So when ya'll come to visit I will have to make you a coffee!!!

Sorry for the long post!! Again we cannot wait to spend this new year with all of you whom we love! Will post again soon!