Walk For Autism!

On last Saturday our family along with some friends did a 5k walk for autism! We were able to raise as a team $3,174.00 in only like a week! Isn't that great! All our donations went to Autism Speaks Now to help fund for research about how to cure autism! I think overall they raised over 1.2 million dollars and are still collecting money! I was really glad that I was a part of this, even though it was tough to be there with my kids screaming and it being super hot! I just wanted to thank everyone for coming who came- and thank you for donating those who did that as well! Here's some pics of us, friends, and family that attended.

Swimming!!

A few weeks ago it was extremely hot, like in the 90's! So, I went out and got the kids a little plastic pool and they loved it!! They spent like 4 hours playing in the water! Unfrortunatly, I forgot about sunscreen and Colby got BURNT bad!! Kaylee just got a sun tan thank heavens!

Disneyland Trip!

Well, at the beginning of the month we took the kids to Disneyland with some of my family. It was Colby's third time, but Kaylee's first! And out of all the kids I think Kaylee had the best time! Even better then her 3 year old cousin Ian. Then, a week later I took the kids to Disneyland all by myself! Brave I know! Luckily because of Colby's Autism we were able to get a special pass so we don't have to wait in line as long, and are away from people so we don't bother them. It was actually ok to take them by myself, and Colby likes it more and more everytime we go! I have to go about 3 more times to get my money's worth out of my season pass! And I will for sure hit that, I've aleady been 3 times and haven't even had it a month yet! It was the best present I've bought myself in a long time!

Walk For Autism

Hello everyone! Thank you for visiting our family blog! Our family is going to do a Walk for Autism on April 26, 2008 and we want you to come with us or donate for us! This walk is to raise money so that AutismSpeaks can have more funding to find a cure for Autism. So, if you would like to walk or donate, please visit this link! http://www.walknowforautism.org/c.lhLXJ8PGKoG/b.3610329/siteapps/teampage/ShowPage.aspx?c=lhLXJ8PGKoG&b=3610329&sid=7eIDLRMzGhLHJRPvHmF

If u want to walk with us you must join our team, Team Colby Cheek, so that they know how many people will be coming! Thank You for all your support!!!!

April: Autism Awareness Month

If you didn't already know, our son Colby was diagnosed with Autism January 2008. Most people's stories are about how they had to deal with this news and how heart wrenching it was. Our story is very different!! I started noticing Colby doing weird things at about 8 1/2 months, I would find him sitting in our dark closet banging his head on the wall. I would just tell him to stop and pick him up and give him a great big hug. I didn't think anything of it really and didn't tell anyone what he was doing because I just thought it was a kid thing. Then my sister Hollie brought more things to my attention when he was about one year old. I finally listened to what my family was telling me and decided to get Colby tested. After he was tested I soon realized how far behind and how different the things he was doing were. But I was told that he didn't have enough "red flags" to be further tested, and that he wasn't considered Autistic, "yet". As time went by it seemed that Colby's behaviors were getting worse, and I requested that he was tested again by the Regional Center. At the Regional Center we saw a new child physcologist, and she then told us that Colby showed a lot of the characteristics of Autism, but that he was too young to diagnose and that they would just say that he was "at risk of having Autism", and they would test him again when he was closer to three because he "might" change. I could not accept this in between diagnosis! I then knew I was going to have to fight for my son! So I drove my kids up to Sacramento to see a world renown neurologist that my sister found for me. This doctor spent the most time out of 5 doctors I had previously taken Colby to. He really looked at Colby watched him and told me that he was sorry that all the other people I had seen had been wrong, and that without a doubt my son was Autistic! Finally an answer of yes or no! Just not the answer we were hoping for, but it made me feel better that I wasn't crazy for thinking there was something off about my son! And now we can get more of the help we need!! Unfortunately we are still waiting for the therapy he needs!! But hopefully we can get Colby the best therapy so he can lead a normal life and be able to do everything he wants and dreams of. It has almost been a year since we've started this journey but if you know anything about Autism you know that it has seemed like an eternity! Luckily we absolutely adore and LOVE Colby so he's with us forever whether he likes it or not!!

Colby's Story

Our Family Pictures!!

Kaylee's 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated Kaylee's 1st Birthday. We can't believe she's one already, time sure does fly. She had a lot of fun. She wasn't too sure of the cake but eventually she got into it and had it all over. She got a lot of great presents and had fun while mommy opened them.

Kaylee is getting so big....here are some of the things she does now

- She can walk & run
- She loves to play "Cooking" and stirs her pots and pans while saying "MMMM"
- She is starting to talk a little and can say: Mommy, Daddy, Kitty, & Doggie along with a few other words

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLEE.....WE LOVE YOU!!!!!