Our first graduation!!!

Yes, it's technically true.  Clayton didn't finish his Bachelor's before beginning Medical School, and we missed the graduation from Med. School in order to travel and begin Residency.  We even missed his residency graduation, because it happened to fall on one of his 4 measly vacation weeks of the year.  He chose to vacation instead of stick around Detroit.  

So, this - his Fellowship graduation - was quite a treat.  I loved hearing them say his name and a little bit about him.  In fact, I even made it in part of the blurb.  "Clay is beginning work at the center of the universe, which is defined as where his wife is from.  Springfield, Missouri."  Funny, but I guess there is truth in jest.  There were two other fellows in his Pediatric Anesthesia program at the Detroit Children's Hospital.  Dr. Zestos, their program director is fabulous, and she was there to celebrate with them and give them their diplomas.  Congrats, Clay!  You did it!

Allphin Family Reunion

Unfortunately, I hardly took any pictures at the family reunion for my side of the family (my dad's side, I should say) in Utah.  My sister-in-law, Taylor, took tons, so one of these days I will have to get them from her.  For now, this is all I've got.  

Highlights of the trip:  rock climbing, playing with cousins, temple trip with my brother - Mitch, huge Just Dance, Minute-to-Win-It, the talent show. 

 Low Points: Clay couldn't come, the flight out there, the horrible-awful-no-good-very-bad trip back home complete with more puking and sickness than I care to remember.  When I finally made it to the car with all three kids and our bags back in Detroit, I cried.  Good times!  But, boy, it was fun to reunite with family.

Yep, that's Max having a tantrum on the ground in the front.  He wasn't a big fan of picture time.

All the itty-bitties with my grandparents Allphin

The End But Not the Last, Part 2

I haven't posted much about Luke's progress this past year, and I would regret it if I didn't journal something about it - even if it is somewhat disjointed.  As this school year officially ended yesterday, I've been reflecting on how far Luke has come.

Wait, let me back up - I really feel like our move from the suburb of Grosse Pointe to Troy was such a blessing to our family.  Grosse Pointe was wonderful, but we felt the need to move two years ago.  It was perfect timing, as we couldn't decide what to do about Luke's schooling.  Troy had the Developmental Kindergarten program, which was perfect for him.  Then, this year, his Kindergarten class at Leonard Elementary has been phenomenal for him.  The school district, and specifically our school, had so much previous knowledge and experience with Selective Mutism, which made things so much easier for us.  Also, through the school, we were led to a true wonder woman, Dr. Ruth Anan.  She is a psychologist who specializes in SM, and we cannot express how amazing she was during the time she was helping our family.

Luke started seeing her individually this past October, and it was the first time I really felt like we were going to be okay.  We hesitated seeking professional help for a while, mostly because of the steep cost. But, when our own efforts weren't helping Luke, we decided to take the plunge and see Dr. Anan.  With her extensive experience and talents with children like Luke, we saw huge improvements right away.  Within a few visits, Luke was speaking to all the staff in Dr. Anan's office - even playing games out loud in the waiting room in front of strangers.  This was HUGE.  Clayton and I were given lots of strategies and challenges to incorporate at home.  This was really big for me, as I never knew how much to push or if bribes were appropriate - so many unknowns.  I always felt like I was doing everything wrong.  Dr. Anan put our minds at ease and guided us.

Soon, Luke was put into Dr. Anan's Selective Mutism Group, which was how we spent our Wednesday evenings for most of the fall, winter, and spring.  Several kids of all different ages and stages of SM would get together and go on field trips, play games, or visit restaurants - always with a speaking task involved.  It helped Luke and I so much to be around other children and parents who were going through the same things we were.  The parents would swap stories about successes and failures.  That's when I really learned how amazing our school was handling our situation.  Some of the other families were dealing with lots of troubles that we didn't have to face.  Although one of the youngest in the group, Luke quickly became the loudest talker!  We feel so grateful that we were prompted to begin this process early with Luke, as it seems that the younger "treatment" is started, the better the outcome.  I had the best friends here who would watch Audrey and Max for me every Wednesday during dinnertime, while Luke and I went to the hospital for "group".  I don't think I can ever repay them.

Luke's teacher came off of maternity leave after Thanksgiving break, and Dr. Anan visited the school with us to introduce Luke to his "new" teacher and get him talking right away.  I have to interject here that the school's social worker, Stacey Schoenherr, was with us every step of the way as well.  She even came to Dr. Anan's office with us on her own time to work with Luke and receive guidance from Dr. Anan.   I couldn't believe it when Luke finally spoke to his teacher at school.  I was worried it would never happen!  His teacher, Mrs. Tull, was wonderful with Luke as well, always trying to get him to say one more word, participate a little bit more, make another friend.  Now, at the end of the year, Luke has been speaking in front of his class (albeit quietly).  He has several good friends (mostly girls!), and loves participating in gym and recess the most.  He has gotten over some of his insecurities with writing and reading in public, and his teacher was amazed to finally see how well he can read and write.

 It makes me so happy to see how far he has come this year.  We are sad to say goodbye to Dr. Anan, Ms. Schoenherr, Mrs. Tull, and all of the other friends, parents, and school faculty who have been so good to us, but we know that this is not the end.  We are hoping to employ our strategies and knowledge in our new home and new school, making new friends and - hopefully - speaking LOUDLY!

Parks and Popsicles

What will we miss the most about Michigan?  Of course, we will miss our friends.  We have met a lot of really wonderful people at church, at the hospitals, and in the community.  We are really sad to leave them.  The other thing we are really going to miss are the parks in Michigan (not to be confused with our friends, the Parks, who we will also miss!).  As you probably recall, we adored our private community park in Grosse Pointe.  Troy, our current city, is different, but still great.  This little city has so many parks and green spaces - many within walking distance of our house. We are not really into touristy places or the usual Michigan "sights to see", but we LOVE taking walks and going with the kids to all different parks.  We have our own names to differentiate them, too.  For example: the two-hoops park, basketball park, learning-to-ride-a-bike park, Farms park, trails park, monkey bars park, little park, etc. Our current favorite is a skate park really close to our house.  If you go on Sunday morning before any skaters are awake yet, no one is there.  The kids are a bit afraid still to ride their bikes up and down the ramps, but they love to have races all around the park.  Clayton had this brilliant idea, and it really wears them out!  We have also been trying to enjoy our huge backyard.  Our new one isn't quite as big and open, so we are loving this one while we can.

Ah, Michigan, how we will miss you!

Things I Don't Want to Forget...

 - Audrey telling me all about a restaurant she liked the last time we were in "Missour-uh".  She then adds, "I think they have the same place in 'Missour-ee."  The little cutie thinks they are two separate places.

 - Max yelling to use the "baffroom" from his bed, just like the older kids.  They learn manipulation so early.  No, he does not know how to use the bathroom yet.  He just wants to get out of bed.

 - Selling 21 items on Craigslist over the past 2 months has been very exciting and eye-opening.  Our junky stuff just isn't worth that much!

 - Moving stinks.  Seriously.

 - Max pointing out every single "basketball hoot" on our daily walks.  That's just about every other house.

 - Speaking of walks, we've been trying to do them most evenings.  Clay and I fell in love taking walks in the summer, and 10 years later it's still happening.  I love walks with my honey.

 - I should write these things down more often, because I was sure I had 10 more, but I just can't remember them.  Dang.