Thanks to everyone that came to support the Autism Awareness Walk!

Well I figure its about time I put something up about the walk since it was a week ago. It was amazing to see how many people showed up to support Autism. I was even more impressed how many of my own friends and family came to support Gage. It really made me feel good that so many friends/family cared enough to come to the walk(of course I know some had to work and whatnot). I dont think they know, so I will say it here...It truly meant SO MUCH that you came out to the walk I cant thank you enough for supporting Autism and Gage. I of course didnt get to talk too much to anyone because I was busy being the official photographer, lol. I took SOOO many pictures, which I will of course post on here. I still have a lot of pictures to edit, but I have a sample of some of them done. I'll just add ones of Gage because I dont want to post any of people I dont know, just to be on the safe side.

Some of the friends/family that came out to support the walk (thanks again soo much)

Bridget, Beth and (I'm sorry...I forgot your name but thanks for coming! Erin, maybe??)


So where to start...I was supposed to be at the walk around 9:30..but Gage had different plans for me. I ended up there just before 10, found Tony and started taking pictures. It wasnt long before my mother came and started being my little assistant. She took my spare camera and went off on her own. She has no photo experience at all and actually just learned how to use the camera about a week before the walk. I knew I could edit things though, so I wasnt too worried. Well, together we took 524 pictures! I am now in the process of editing the last ones, adding my watermark, sorting out the undesirables and burning them to DVD. I have been a little slow getting them done..but I get sick of staring at photoshop for so long some times..

My little helper, lol (she would kill me if she saw this)


Again, I was really impressed at the volume of people at the walk, not just there for Gage..just there in general. You dont realize how much it affects the community until you go to something like this. I knew Autism was pretty prevalent up here, but didnt realize how much until the walk. Its pretty mind blowing to see how many families it affects. Not to mention the variety. I know its a spectrum but you really could see that spectrum that day. There were kids FAR worse off than Gage. I knew of course and have seen glimpses of kids that are more severe, but it really hit home how lucky I am at the walk. Gage didnt have one meltdown, no fits, no cries..nothing. He was awesome! I was pretty impressed and thankful that he was so good.

Gage got to run around and play...a lot. Everyone was grabbing him at some point. My mother took him, Justin's dad..everytime I turned around I was like "Where's Gage?" lol. People that didnt know Justin was there too must have thought I lost my son. Gage played in the sensory tent..and got soaked. I didnt get to see it, but he basically dunked his whole arm in the water. Good thing we bought him a hoodie.

Look how much fun he was having..


He also, surprisingly put his hand in some paint and put his hand print on a sign. He HATES his hands wet so it was fun to watch him do something new w/o freaking out.

A little help from his Mee Mee didn't hurt either..


Mandy and Hayden came too and I got an adorable picture of them giving each other a kiss. Just check out that pucker...


Speaking of kissing..I got a picture of Gage and Justin that I love..

Isnt that sweet?

There was a slide with balls in it..right up Gage's ally. He loved it and didnt want to get out. He even started pushing a kid because he was apparently too slow for Gage.


So much for being my gentle giant..lol


He also loved the bounce house..again..a big deal for Gage. It was something new, with a lot of kids and I didnt go in with him. He did it and loved it though.

(see..my mother is learning how to use the camera)

Over all the whole day was pretty good. Gage had fun, I took A LOT of pictures and a whole lot more money was raised for a good cause. Here are some more pictures...



Waiting for a ball to be rolled to him


Look! I found Rocket!!!

Two of Gage's wonderful therapists..Maribeth and Krystal

and of course..who could forget Tony..the one with the toughest job..Gage's speech therapist(poor guy gets the most tears of all 3 of them)



Now I also want to give a quick update. Gage is doing some awesome things! He is getting sooo much better with getting a bath, last night...so screaming! WOOO! I had a clean baby with no tears! I was pretty happy with that. Also, Gage is really getting good with a spoon..of course you wouldnt know by the video below..but he is. He is also talking some more. He said plane the other day and ball is coming back slowly, but coming back. The biggest thing though is that he is finally trying new foods. Besides a pretzel that he tried the other day, Gage tried cheddarwurst. I had some that I fried up with onions and bbq sauce. Well he kept coming up and sticking his finger on it and tasting it. So I let him, because if he wants to try something new..by all means he can stick his little finger on my plate. He did that for a few minutes then actually took a bite. I was quite impressed. Then last night I had some left over Chinese that I made and he was interested in trying it. I didnt let him though, it was General Tso's chicken and I didnt want to burn his tongue. Hopefully this trend stays and he eats more than hot dogs, chicken, sausage, grilled cheese and peanut butter sandwiches.

He started off using a spoon..but decided his hand made a much better one...I guess he needed a shovel.