Hello lovelies!
I'm Lena & blog over at Lena B, Actually &
I'm very excited that Rebecca let me take over her blog for the day!
In a nutshell, I'm a 30-something mom of 2 happily married to my high school sweetheart... I also really love fashion & photography!  All these things are featured on my blog and I would love for you to pop over sometime to check it out!


As most moms will say, our kids are our life... and today I'm going to introduce you to my son.

This little guy is Memphis.
What you may not know from looking at this photo is that he is autistic.

It doesn't define WHO he is... but the diagnosis does help us understand him better.
He was diagnosed last May.

He was always "quirky" but in every other sense, a very normal little boy.  When he was 4 years old, he started exhibiting emotional & physical outbursts that were scary & often times seemingly unprovoked.

He has a hard time socializing... and school hasn't been easy.   He craves routines and needs to know exactly what is going to happen at all times.  It can be emotionally draining and extremely frustrating.  He can have an outburst at any given moment for any given reason.  As well as we know him, he can still be remarkably unpredictable.

No matter where we are or what is happening, when he has one of this outbursts, my one & only thought is how can I make it okay?  For him.

NEVER do I think of what people might be thinking.

But, now as a mother of a special needs child, I think back to how many times have I seen a similar scene and just thought to myself "Geez, some parents really cannot control their children!?"  Let's be honest, I'm sure we've all thought it at some point.  As well intentioned as we hope we are, we all judge.  Or have judged.

Now, more than ever, I try not to 

Now that I know & see what I do every day as a parent of a child on the autism spectrum, I am hyper sensitive to the outbursts and tantrums I see when I'm out.  I can see the pain on other parents' faces and I feel it.  It's not that they're embarrassed... they're helpless.  I've been there and it sucks. 

I'm not here to preach.  I'm certainly in to position to educate anyone on all the ins & outs of autism, as I am still learning.  This diagnosis is still very new and everyday is a new adventure.

Please, next time you're out and you see a little boy holding his ears, throwing things, screaming and seemingly on a totally other planet... he might be on the spectrum.  Take a minute to think of what he must be going through and how heartbreaking this scene is to his parents.

I originally wrote this post last Summer.
Since then, Memphis has started first grade and is doing remarkable well. Academically, he is very advanced.  With the help of the amazing staff at his school, he is now much more capable of explaining & accepting his emotions and he is having fewer & fewer outburts.
My heart literally swells when I think of how far he has come  & how hard he is working.

1 in 88 children are diagnosed autistic.

Chances are you know one... and if you didn't before, then you do now!

Thanks again to Rebecca for letting me share a little about my family here on the blog today!

You can find me on Facebook & Twitter too!