The Taylor Spot

Here are a few pictures.

Over the last three weeks, Matt has made some wonderful progress. Last week when Melissa visited the school to take part in a Thanksgiving celebration, every one of the teachers and counselors told her separately that Matt’s behavior and progress in the last two weeks had been remarkable. One of the specialists who works closely with him said she expects Matt will join his mainstream classmates next year.

We give God the glory for blessing some of our many efforts. It seems we have at last found a diet that is entirely healthful to Matt. It is a narrow intersection of gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free (commonly called GFCFSF) and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), emphasizing organic and whole foods. That plus lots of supplements, since the diet combined with Matt’s preferences leave him with little variety.

Is it worth it? Are we crazy? For those who have known Matt over the last two years, this picture will speak many words. It was taken today after church.

There are some photos up for November. They include some shots of a visit from Mark, Emily, and family during the Thanksgiving season.

The contract we had on our prior house fell through, for those who had not heard. So if you need to relocate to south Atlanta, we have a great option for you. I grow weary of maintaining our little vacation house!

Drew and Alex started public school on Monday.

It’s their first time ever in public school, as Melissa has been schooling them at home for two years. Drew entered third grade, Alex second. Matt resumed special education preschool.

All three boys are thrilled and excited to be at school. That’s an answer to our prayers!

I have published several pictures for July, and one for August.

Over the week of July 4th our family took a road trip to Nebraska and had a great time with family there. The trip started with a bang, or rather a loud crack, as the window on the passenger-side door shattered into fragments that thoroughly showered Melissa and much of our densely packed road trip baggage. That was a prodigious startlement, I guarantee.

We had only traveled a couple of hours and were somewhere near Calhoun, Georgia. It was after 5:00 on a Friday, and there were no options to repair and roll on before Monday or Tuesday. Plastic and duct tape? We thought about it, but knew we had a deluge ahead of us in Missouri. Thankfully, Uncle Victor and family live nearby in Cartersville and prevailed on us to swap vans with them. We returned it to them as we drove back through the following Saturday, with 2,500 miles more on the odometer and lots of partially eaten food everywhere else. They are always so good to us! They even came out to meet us both times and helped move our daunting stack of stuff between vehicles.

Matt fell in love with fireworks on this trip. He and Drew never tired of them. Alex likes the pretty ones that don’t make noise. Tori is always startled by the reports, but after a brief moment of terror she giggles and asks to see another.

We have pictures, but I am not sure where the camera is right now. Check back later!

We have a contract on our previous house!

I know many have prayed for us. Thank you, and praise God. The contract is a lease-purchase, so the house will be under contract for a year before closing. Hey, we’ll take it! We had talked about renting, and now we’ll get to see how that works for a year.

We had a moving service move the last truckload of stuff over on Monday, so we are finally completely here in the new house. The lease starts late next week, so we’ll be cleaning up for that next.

We made it home from our trip to Texas tonight. There are pictures. This is my favorite.

Tori is developing her own vocabulary for things now.  Most of her words are inscrutable except to her mother, but they are cute.

One of my favorite is her version of “yes,” which sounds like “sh-YAH.”  It makes me think of the old southern “pshaw.”  Since Melissa wants her to say “Yes, please,” we get “sh-YAH, pss.”  For several weeks now “pss” has been “please.”

We would like to post a picture of her.  However, Melissa wants to wait until she doesn’t have fresh shiners or scrapes from falling down steps or on the concrete, and isn’t dirty.  We’re still waiting.  Melissa is a little concerned about her barefoot tough girl.  Living in the woods seems to suit Tori well!

But I must admit our daughter is entirely unlike her brothers in many special ways.  When I pick her up from her crib, she says “Pss” and points to her mobile.  I understand that I’m to wind it up and hold her within arms reach as the mobile turns.  It is a very girly mobile with a doll head centerpiece, spinning parasols, and purses.  Tori watches it with her beautiful half-smile, one hand on my shoulder, the other hand lightly stroking each item as it spins slowly past.  Each item has its own special Tori-word.  These days, I am often the one pointing and asking, “What’s that?” just so I can hear her lispy interpretations.