No phone call today...

ok, so I entered a huge scrapbooking contest earlier this month. It was for Scrapbooker of the Year for a magazine called Creating Keepsakes. The assignment was 20 layouts, an essay, and a supply list all put together in a portfolio. I totally busted my butt on this baby. The top ten finalists would all recieve $100 cash plus a scrapbook prize and an all expenses paid trip to Vegas, where the grand prize winner would be announced. The grand prize winner would receive the trip to Vegas, $10,000 cash, $10,000 in scrapbooking materials, AND a 2 year contract with the magazine!!!
Today the calls were made to the top ten finalists and I anxiously waited for my phone to ring. I followed religiously on the message board on the website because they were counting down the phone calls. Unfortunately, I did not make it. But thats okay. There is always next year and there is another contest for Hall of Fame coming up in the fall. They pick 25 winners from that...

Anyway, in case you are interested in seeing what I sent in to the contest, I posted the goods in some slide shows on my myspace page. Just follow the link on the right for Myspace and it will take you there. Let me know what you think!

An almost perfect day

We never should have come home tonight...

Before we came home, Erin, Gavin and I had a wonderful day. It was so beautiful outside today, that we decided to drive over Hatchers Pass. We started from Willow and drove over the pass...and it was such a pretty drive. Gavin slept pretty much the whole way and finally woke up when we got to Summit Lake. It was a nice chance for Erin and I to visit, especially since he's been working such long hours the past week.

During our stop at Summit Lake, we were able to watch some parasailers (I think that's what they were!). Gavin was in awe, he really enjoyed himself, except for the fact that it was just a little nippy up there. I was also able to take some pictures...But realized after we left that I never took a picture of the three of us together.

Things were still okay when we got home, but they heated up when Erin's parents came home.
Gavin has been doing wonderful at throwing grade A tantrums. At least Erin and I think they are tantrums. Evidently Erin's parents think otherwise. The subject of autism was brought up...again. While I won't go into specifics about what was said, (or yelled, I should say) I will say that tonight I realized that my father in law does not like me too much and nothing I can do will please him. Anyway, they both feel that these are not tantrums, but a sign of autism. I have spoken with Gavin's doctor, hearing doctor and 3 women from the infant learning program (who specialize in working with children that have developmental delays, including autism) and they have all said that Gavin just has a speech delay. Which is perfectly normal for a child with mild hearing loss. Gavin has also had a developmental assessment and scored high scores except for expressive language (speech) and did not have problems in the areas that are typically flagged for autism. None of this matters to my inlaws. It's almost as if, until he receives a diagnosis of autism, they won't let this die. It hurts me, it hurts Erin and I know that all of this tension is hurting Gavin. I honestly don't know what to do. If we could move out right now, we'd be gone already. I've had enough. This makes me feel that I am not a good mother and that I am not doing what is best for my son.
If anyone has any advice on autism or temper tantrums, please share. I know that I will get through this, it's just waiting for it to pass that is so darn hard.

Back to work...

After being off work for almost three weeks, it was nice to go back today. I'm just about over my cold, but poor Gavin is sick now. He did fine without me, though. He went to the Friday Fling in Palmer with his Grandma Amber and cousin Destiny. He must've had a blast because he's been taking a nap for over an hour and a half now. That may be bad news for momma later on since it's 5:30 right now. I think I'll have to wake him soon...
Anyway, at work they gave me a new project to work on. One that I am quite pleased with the results.
If you look closely, you can see that this isn't a standard scrapbook page, but a puzzle! Pretty neat, huh? Of course, I have wonderful subjects, too! (Hope you don't mind, Crystal, but this will be posted in the shop!) For those of you who don't know, I work at the Craftgarden, which is a scrapbook shop in Wasilla. I am the designer for the store and I get paid to make all sorts of cool stuff like this! Cushy job, I know...but it's fun!
Anyway, I just wanted to show this off... :)

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Today Gavin turned two. I can't believe just how fast the time has gone by. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. My baby is no longer a baby, but a little boy who has his own personality...who knows exactly what he likes (trucks!) and what he doesn't like (vegetables!).
Yesterday we had a small birthday party for him. He had a lot of fun opening the gifts and playing with a cute little girl, Alannagh. Unfortunately, he didn't like the birthday song. Poor little guy got so embarrassed he tried to hide behind the table. Luckily, we were able to coax him into blowing (with a little help from grandma) his candles out.
Today we were invited to a barbeque in honor of my cousin Scott, who has been home for three weeks, and will be leaving on Tuesday. I was able to get a lot of great pictures and wanted to share a few of my favorites from the day.


All in all, we had quite a fun filled weekend. Gavin enjoyed his toys and the beautiful weather on his birthday, and I enjoyed spending time with my family.