Amy,
As the mother of a special needs child (Matthew) I can sympathize with what you're going through. Matt started with a developmental specialist when he was about 18 months because he was behind in the verbal speech department. I encourage you to seek out every program out there. In GA we have a program called "babies can't wait". I'm sure your state has something similar. Be proactive for him. Don't let anyone say- "oh, it will get better, he'll grow out of it".
Matt has been in special ed, in school, since 2nd grade. During his 2nd grade year he was only in special ed for reading. Now, in 6th grade, he's full blown in special ed class for children with emotional/behavior disorders as well as developmental and ecucational problems. Matt's educational problem is that he has a verbal expression issue. Basically he can't put into words what he wants to say. He frequently uses the word "thingy" to describe stuff. On top of that he is ADHD and diagnosed BiPolar. Overall, it's a mess to deal with, but at least he is getting the help he needs. I have wondered if he fits into the Autism spectrum, but he's not been labeled that as of yet.
Please email me if you have any questions or want to talk. ~~

To my other ladies.......Love ya'll bunches.
Somewhere I missed the "controversial" post......but, hey, we've done pretty good to only have 1 in nearly 5 years!!!! Let's just all realize that whatever we say, none of us is trying to hurt anyone. (I'll take that generic "stance" since I am out of the loop...)

As for school, we will be putting Riley in Kindergarten in the fall. Her birthday is Aug. 16 (she was the early sept baby!). We had her in preschool last year and she thrived. I opted to not send her to Pre-K, because after talking to the teachers, she already knew more than they expected their students at the end of prek. She doesn't need it socially either. She's the most outspoken 4 yr old I've ever met!!!!

LOL.
On another note- Riley's competition cheerleading team won 1st place in their National Competition. !!!! whoo hoo!!!! They were so cute.
Ashley's team won 2nd place (different age groups). Now that cheer season is over until fall, both girls started gymnastics. (never a dull moment.).

I'm doing better some days, and worse others. It finally hit me, that what I'm experiencing is that the pain of loss is worse after the shock wears off. Yesterday was my first day back at work. I couldn't get "in my groove". It will come, eventually. Was I ready to go back? yes and no. Mentally I needed something else to think about, emotionally, I'm still pretty raw.

Christmas and New Years were too busy. We were in Orlando for the girls cheer competition over New Years. The weather was beautiful and that was awesome. I needed some sunshine.