5 days until we leave to witness this magestic glacier for ourselves. We are beyond excited, but at the same time I'm a little aprehensive about leaving the kids. There is always that bitter sweet pull, but I dont think it's anything I cant handle :) We have great people lined up to watch them while we are gone. To be honest, Caitlyn's excited. She loves having people watch her... it will probably be a vacation for her too. Nathan is where my fear lies. He doesnt understand that we are leaving, or that we will be coming back. He has been a little mamma's boy lately, but I am sure he will have a good time. Something I try to do before I go out of town is collect cheap toys from Target or the dollar store so when they are sad or bored, whoever is watching them can pull out something new and then their attention will be satisfied for awhile. I'm sure the Wii that Ben and Sarah are allowing us to borrow for the kids will help too :)

Anyway, so much to do in preparation. Cleaning, writing down kids' schedules, dinners...lots. We have been advised to bring our marriage license, just in case. Seriously, dont know where it is. It could be in a number of places. It's definitely not lost, it just hasnt been framed on our walls our entire marriage. Is that sad? I should probably know where it is. I'll let you know when I have located it so you wont think of me as such a horrible person.

Why I feel the way I do

Since discovering several days ago that our new baby will be a girl, I have stated that it is a relief to know that we will have a girl as opposed to a boy. I have had several questions of why I wanted a girl. I figured that I would put in writing why I feel this way.

Currently we have Caitlyn (6), and Nathan (5). Caitlyn is smart, healthy, energetic, and ALL GIRL. She does well in school, but struggles with self discipline like any other 6 year old. She is an absolute joy and is one of the top 3 things I am most proud of.

Nathan is a funny, strong, determined and stubborn 5 year old boy. He can have you cracking up in no time. He has also started to show his instincts for operating electronics. Nathan also has autism. We discovered this very early, about one year old, and have been getting very familiar with treatments, schools, therapies and his needs. I would say that it is a challenge, but I fear that would be insulting to what Emily does every day for him. She has dedicated her life to making sure that he has every opportunity at mainstream normalcy that we can give him. She is so good at what she does. My gratitude is so deep that I can’t do it justice with words on a page. I will love her forever for what she has done with Nathan.

Having another child after one has been diagnosed with autism is a risky situation. There are documentaries and articles based on Center For Disease Control (CDC) research showing that the recurrence of autism doubles after one instance is diagnosed in a family. Autism occurs in 1/150 children. Due to Nathan’s diagnosis, we are in the 1/75 category for a future child having the same condition. This may seem remote to some, but when the effect is 100% understood, this is a huge gamble.

Recently, the CDC conducted statistical research all over the country and found that boys are anywhere from 3 - 7 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.

PROFILES OF Autism Spectrum Disorder CHILDREN

Mental retardation: 33% to 64% of children with ASDs also had mental retardation, less than the 70%-75% previously thought.

Gender difference: For every girl affected, three to seven boys were; the rate varied by state. It has been estimated that boys are four times as likely to have an ASD as girls.

Racial differences: Most sites reported similar rates in black and white children, though in the 2002 report, five of the 14 sites found that white children were more likely to have autism than black children. Data on Hispanic children showed lower rates.

Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC

It is easy to see why there would be a preference for a girl as opposed to a boy. I am simply trying to have the numbers in our favor. I love Nathan to death. I have a son that depends on me and my wife for everything. We provide him with education appropriate for his abilities, a home that is conducive to his development and a family life that offers zero feeling of disappointment or regret. He is such a special little boy. He is however, trapped in a mind that does not allow him to be his fullest version of himself. I am relieved that we are having a girls because now I know that there is a greater chance that I will not have to look into the eyes of my child and continually wonder “what is in that little mind of yours.” That is a feeling that no parent should know.

Chad

Conquered

Why do I feel like I have conquered something simply because I was able to get the Harkins Summer Movie Passes on the day that I wanted?

I went, I stood in line, and I got Friday tickets.

For anyone who has been down this road before, you are clapping and cheering for me. Friday is always sold out after pre-sales are done at the local schools. So this year I prepared myself for the disappointment of not getting Friday.

I got down to the theatre at 7:40 (thats two hours before they went on sale). Did I have kids you ask? Yes, I had Nathan (enter the doom music). I brought movies, my ipod, books, pretzels, Littlest Pet Shop (he loves that thing), fruit snacks and a couple of other toys. I lost his attention for a little bit, but all in all he did pretty well. When I saw how long the line grew, I was glad that I had arrived so early. I ended up being fifth in line AND I found out that they had Friday tickets reserved for the general public. Huge sigh of relief.

So, not to go on about this... but seriously, I feel like I have the golden ticket(s) in my hands from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory :)

made to order

After all the anticipation, and hoping for a particular outcome, may I present the first embarassing picture of the newest O'Loughlin GIRL!
This is exactly what we were hoping for. Couldn't be more excited about it. Caitlyn and Nathan were in the room with us and got to watch their sister squirm around. It was a great day. Can't wait for September!

Pictureless Post

There is a reason that this is a pictureless post....

I forgot to take pictures of my cute 5 and 6 year old in their Easter outfits. Please tell me that somebody else did this too! I blame it on the member of the bishopbric that called 45 minutes before church to ask if we could be there early (no new callings to announce). It put me in a frenzied state. Then when we got home, I was just completely exhausted from wrangling Nathan through church: I helped substitute his class.

SO - there are all my excuses. Yes, I will post cute Easter pictures of them with their baskets and searching for eggs, but I had to acknowledge my shortcoming.
The saddest part is that they looked so darn cute.

I have a solution though. I am going to dress them up exactly the same way next Sunday and take their picture. Sure, it wont be the same day - but seriously in 5, 10, 20 years from now am I going to remember that? Quite honestly, I will probably forget by Christmas.... except for the fact that I just put it all in this post. Maybe I should'nt have documented this after all. Hummmm.

Maybe I'm just old

I dont understand the purpose of facebook.

I signed up, looked it over a couple of time, people asked to be my friend and that's about it. I kist deactivated my account because I really just didnt get it.

If you wanted to comment to one person - you couldnt. It would go to everyone you know. Now, dont get me wrong, I loved hearing from people, but I just figure I'll look at your blog. That way I'll get the jist of whats going on right?

Anyway, like the title says: Maybe I'm just old.

meger updates

I feel like I should let people know that we are here.... we just have nothing to blog about right now. Same old, same old.

Here are a couple of quick updates for time-marking purposes:

-We are getting new carpet installed in our bedrooms on Thursday. Horray! It's been a long time coming.
-Nathan has stopped throwing consistant tantrams at school which has his teachers shouting horray!
-We have our ultrasound a week from Wednesday.

Any predictions on the sex? We are definitely finding out, and we will definitely be letting everyone know. We're not into the surprise thing. Besides, I like shopping for baby clothes too much. A surprise would take away some of the fun!