Question. Have you ever took a 7 yr old to pick out a light saber, thinking it would be an in and out easy peasy sort of errand? Well my friend, think again.

Andrew's most recent obsession is Star Wars. It was long overdue. He's been saving $5 bills that he receives inside various holiday cards from his grandma for something real special. Once he reached $20 he couldn't save any more. It was time to spend.

Last night we ventured alone to Target. We spent an hour in the Star Wars isle debating which light saber to get. Yoda's? Anakin's? Obi Wan's? Darth Varder? Blue, green, or red? Lights up and makes sounds? Or one that folds all the way down inside the handle?

There was too much thought going into this light saber, if you ask me...

He ended up picking the blue light up one and he was very satisfied. So were nerves. But out of all the impatience and boredness for yours truly that went into the choice, there was something else that made the trip insightful.

While he was in the midst of his hard decision he looked up at me with deep thought in his eyes and said: You know what my favorite part of Episode 1 was? It's when Yoda says:

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

You know what? Out of all the pod racing and light saber action, my son chose wise words from Master Yoda to be his favorite part. I've got a pretty rad kid.

Say hello to the newest baby Sirmans. So cute, right?

We had our ultrasound a few weeks back and I was on pins and needles days before. Almost everyone in the family thought our newest babe was a girl, but Andrew swore the babe was a boy. Either would be great, but lets be honest... this family is due for another girl.

We took Emme and Andrew to the ultrasound with us knowing this will be something they'll remember forever. It was going to be a happy memory we could share together... until the tech announced our sweet baby was a girl. While the room was filled with joy and full hearts, there was one little boy who was devastated digging his head into his Grammy's chest- hiding his tears from the tech.

He was mad and I mean MAD. It was mine and Emme's fault of course. Everyone in the building that day knew it was. I never expected him to react like that. All he wanted was a brother that would talk with words and actually want play with him. My heart hurt for my baby boy.

A few days later after he adjusted to life with a little sister on the way, he asked if we could name her Penny Lane. I was the bad guy again when I told him she already had a name and it wasn't linked to a Beatles song.

Side note, if you ever do want to name a baby after a Beatles song there are plenty to choose from. According to Andrew, there's Eleanor Rigby, Prudence (although he would't suggest it), Michelle, Lovely Rita, and Polythene Pam to name a few.

Flash forward to today, Andrew is good with being a big brother to a little sister. And the best part? Andrew will always remain my official baby boy. My heart is full once again.

Two things that Andrew never expected to happen this year.

1. He never would have guessed he'd be riding alongside Candace on the back of a camel.

2. He never thought he would be joining his older sister and brother in the very exclusive Sirmans big siblings club.

...We were all shocked on number 2, really.

Your eyes do not deceive you. The Sirmans family is expecting baby number 4 in the very beginning of July. Papa and uncle Rex's Birthday to be exact.

For the longest time I felt there was another baby waiting to complete our family. Then I started to get the feeling it was all in my head. Earlier this year I made peace with the fact that I was meant to be a mother of 3. As soon as I let go of that feeling and my longing for another baby, Heavenly Father reminded me that he's the one who controls our destiny.

At only 12 weeks along, 2 inches in height, and just weighing in at an ounce, this baby is already so loved by so many people. We are so very blessed.

And as for Andrew? He was a little hesitant to let go of his coveted spot as baby of the family at first, but is now excited to be a part of such an exclusive club.

Would you believe me if I told you that Andrew turned 7 years old a little over a week ago? It's true. Can't believe it myself, but alas...

A little part of me wants to still believe he's this itty bitty boy who can fit into my pocket, but he reminds me of his big boy status so much, that the little part I desperately hold on to is starting to fade away.

All year andrew talked about having his Birthday party at the Fun Station. He did the Andrew thing by changing his mind a few weeks before. Instead he wanted a "just family" party followed by a day at Disney World and sleeping in our very own pirate room.

Andrew's Birthday weekend was a whirlwind of fun.

On Thursday Grandma came in from Utah to spend a few weeks with us. For the family party he chose a Phineas and Ferb themed cake. He had a blast opening all of his presents.

On Friday we went to see Papa and the Jukebox band do a gig. A rare occasion for us to be able to attend such an event. Andrew takes pride in the fact that his papa is a rock star. He thinks Jukebox would really take off if they sang some Beatles songs, but not Beach Boys. They're too happy.

Then on Saturday his actual Birthday, we went to Disney. We started the day at Epcot, then took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and ended our night by sleeping in pirate ships.

By the end of the weekend, this kid had the 7th Birthday weekend of dreams. I was exhausted.

Happy Halloween!

With love,

The Star Wars nerd, DR CF Sirmans in summer attire, and Jack Sparrow.

I know, I know. You thought this post was about our Utah trip because I've been promising so. I'll get to it, but right now I have a mission for you. Yes you. A few weeks ago, I entered Emme in a "rad kid" contest to brag about how awesome she is and her efforts in educating peers in autism and special needs awareness. The grand price? A $10,000 scholarship. Now her dream is to go to NYU. Don't ya think that 10 grand will come in handy?

Today I found out she's in the running so all you have to do is go here (click on the bright red here) and vote for my bragable essay "E is for Excellent... and Emme". Pretty please? Don't do it for me... do it for Emme. Come on... do it. Go vote! Oh and tell your friends!

This afternoon I broke out the fireside candle, baked pumpkin muffins, while enjoying the sounds of the local high school's marching band practice outside my open living room window. It may be 90 degrees, but fall is finally here.

It's not everyday you see a huge random gust of wind throw your son completely off the park swing, but me immediately laughing about it? That's pretty much the norm.

The look on said sons face when he landed on the ground was priceless. Actually, the entire event was priceless.

We made it through another summer of fun. Back to school they all go. Learning. It's a wonderful thing, you know?



First of all. When did my kids get so big? They all look so growny.

Emme was placed in a 3rd, 4th, 5th combined gifted classroom this year. As a 5th grader her first reaction was "how lame is this?", but I think she's gotten used to the idea. It's the first year for the combined classroom so we'll see how it goes, but I must say I'm glad she'll finally be pushed to her full potential. Smarty pants.

Clee was pulled out of public school over the summer and placed in private. Yeah I'll admit it. The beginning reason for the switch was due to poor judgment on behalf of the principal over at the public school, but after looking into the private school (which is provided by the same folks who he goes to for therapy) I realized he'll benefit a lot more in a private setting. It's the pilot year for the new school and I'm pretty optimistic he'll be well taken care of.

Andrew has been counting down the days 'til the first day of school since July. He's been ready to go back. He got my teacher of choice and his buddies Dylan and Ravi are in his class again so we're both pretty pleased. Grandma bought him a Rolling Stones shirt while we were in Utah and he's been looking forward to putting it on for the first day of school. He says he looks good in Rolling Stone shirts and it's not bragging when whats being said is true. I can't say I disagree.

Way back in April when the Utah trip tickets were being purchased, I thought it would be nice to have Clee's Birthday in Utah for the first time since he was 2. We booked our tickets to come home on his Birthday... at 12:50am. Yep... I screwed that one up. He spent the first 50 minutes of his 9th Birthday asleep in Utah on the runway. Lucky guy. On the bright side, he had not just one but two great swim parties before we left with my side of the family and Tice, Sally, Lane, and crew.

With only 3 good hours of sleep, a 4 hour car ride home from Atlanta, and one 3 week vacation freshly under his belt, I knew he wasn't going to be able to handle another big party. We planned a simple dinner with Grammy, Papa, and Rex for that night. We bought him pizza from his favorite Hungry Howies, and a watermelon instead of a Birthday cake, because lets face it. My kids are weird and don't like Birthday cake (I KNOW, RIGHT???). When it was time for our simple "let's celebrate 9 years of Clemon" dinner, Clemon had had enough. He was yelling. He was screaming. He wanted to go swimming, but didn't want to go swimming at the same time. He was a mess. He brought "it's my party and I'll cry if I want too" to a whole other level. He even cried when we sang Happy Birthday. I couldn't tell if it was due to our singing, but he just wasn't having it. ... I doubt it was our singing... do you think it had to do with our singing?

Poor Clemon spent his Birthday night miserable. I felt bad because it's one of my 3 favorite days out of the year and he just wasn't happy.

Even though the night was off to a rough start, it finished with a happy Clemon. He finally ate his watermelon. He let us sing Happy Birthday to him. He let Fiel and I give him 9 kisses on the cheek. And he smiled at me when I asked if he knew he was my new favorite 9 year old.

ps: Utah trip post coming soon, but first. Lets send the kids off to school tomorrow, shall we?

Clee loves his Cars and when we saw that Cars 2 was coming out this summer I wanted to take him, but then reality sank in. He's loud at times, the silence in golden rule really doesn't go with our style.

About a month ago Emme's 4th grade teacher sent me an email about autism friendly movies that AMC theaters were showing monthly. Low and behold Cars 2 was one of those movies. We stocked up on treats and went on Saturday. He was a little hesitant to go in the theater at first but when we broke out the Mike and Ike's he settled right down. Candy works wonders for this child.

He sat really well throughout the movie and seemed to really enjoy it. It was nice having a public family outing where we actually fit in. He made some noises, but so did a lot of other kids. There were no stares or glares, just not so typical families partaking in a typical family activity. Being able to take him to a movie that he really enjoys without the stranger judgement makes me happy. It's the little things in life.

June brought us a lot of guests, and fun. For starters, I turned the big 3o. Turns out 30 isn't so bad after all. Who knew?

A few days later Lane and Ellie came in from Utah. Andrew was especially excited to see Lane. He says he misses his buddy. Luckily Rex is still here, he says.

We didn't seen much of Andrew almost the whole month of June because he was staying with Grammy and Papa. We almost had his mail forwarded over there. He didn't think that joke was funny.

There's been a lot of swimming since our summer began. I love that Clee can't catch a break with his swim trunks. They're either riding up or falling down.

Elaine and Karen had the idea to have a Tea party for all the June Birthday girls. Ellie loved it, Emme liked it, but would never admit it. You now... she's too cool for such things.

The spacecraft, Orion stopped in our town on it's tour and Andrew really wanted to check it out. He thought seeing and touching something that has actually been in outer space was the coolest thing ever! All the rest of the week he told me that he was going to be an astronaut when he grows up.


Between swimming, tea parties, and spacecrafts Clee has been busy with all day (you read that right. All. Day.) summer camp at his therapy office which kinda lead to our decision to pull him out of public school and place him in private school. It'll be the pilot year for his therapy services school and it really does seem to be the right fit for him. I'll elaborate on details later, but for now having a child in private school is the running joke in our household.

Emme has become quite the athlete in her old age. She started gymnastics this summer and loves it very much. And out of the blue she decided she loved basketball as well. Grammy signed her up for basketball camp and last week she went. She had the best time and learned a ton. She tried to explain basketball ball terminology to me but she lost me at hoop. She'll continue and Andrew will start gymnastics in the fall and Emme join the basketball team in the winter.

With all the guests gone back home we have a little time to recoup just in time for the next batch of guests to arrive. I'm sure we'll have lots of great adventures to share.

We're a little late to the scene, but Andrew started his very first swim lessons this summer. He loved it. I believe his words to describe it were "Fun. Fun. Fun. I have no other words- just fun."
Before he was a little leery of swimming, but now he's very comfortable... Almost too comfortable at times.

I don't know what got Andrew thinking about his dad's old leather jacket- heck he's never even seen Fiel in it, but today he was on a mission to find it. As soon as we took it out of the closet he put it on and let me tell ya... He was just as swoon worthy in it as his daddy was 13 years ago.

I knew there was a good reason to hold on to that old leather jacket.

Thanks to the talents and patience of Fiel's aunt Elaine, we were able to go out in the record breaking heat last week and get fabulous photos of the kids.

I knew she was good, but I didn't know she was that good. I am so in love with the photos she took, I could just look at them all day long and feel satisfied with how I spent the day.

Needless to say I have some beautiful kids.

And best of all after years of experiencing what we lovingly refer to as crazy face Clee, we now have photo documentation of crazy face Clee.

Yeesh. I wouldn't want to meet that in a dark alley...

Today I can officially say goodbye to my 20's and welcome the 30's. I am 30, and it doesn't even sting my heart to say so. I spent my very last night as a twentysomething by watching the Real Housewives Of Orange County finale. I sure know how to end a decade right.