Behind Already!

Yep, my Mom is behind already!  She has been kind of busy lately so I decided to let it slide.  Low and behold, she took it upon herself to get caught up on my blog for for me.

Christmas and New Years has come and gone.  I had a GREAT Christmas as usual.  New Years Day is ahh, just another day as far as I'm concerned.

Those of you that know me, know I absolutely LOVE Christmas!  I get so excited!  I love the decorations that Mom puts up.   I love the presents.  I love Santa.  I love changing my count-down to Christmas calendar every day.  I love the gluten-free treats she makes.  I love the nativity with baby Jesus that she put out.  I love checking what Santa gave me in my Christmas Stocking.   I love the Christmas tree and all it's decorations.  Mom has to keep an eye on me because  I just love to sneak the mini light bulbs off the tree and eat them.  She was relentless this year and I didn't even get to eat one!  I know . . .  Mom tells me I'm weird for wanting to eat them!  She said I have PICA which is why I try to eat uneatable things.  But she said I am getting better - I think SHE is getting better at stopping me.   Anyway, I truly had a GREAT Christmas. 

Here;s some pictures . . .

 All the things I love!

What I woke up to on Christmas morning.  Along with presents, Santa always leaves balloons for me too, because he knows how much I LOVE BALLOONS!

Some of the great things I got for Christmas.

What most of it looks like after I get through loving it to pieces.

Me opening and checking out everything in my stocking.

What Dad got in his stocking . . 2 lumps of COAL!  Mom said he was a naughty boy this year.   Later we found another stocking for him, so I guess Santa was playing a trick on him.  Silly Santa!

Just one of my favorite gifts from my bother Dave and his family.  It lights up, spins, and vibrates, and they sent two of these and another gun that does the same thing.  Do they know what I like or what!

My sweet Grandma Baker spent the day with us.  Isn't she cute!  My Aunt Patti came too.

Yep, I had another great Christmas!  Santa and my family was really good to me.

I'm a GREAT worker!

You all know I have had to work pretty hard to light a fire under my Mom about updating my blog lately.  She said she was going to do better, and my goodness, it really looks like she is trying!  Boy, I really LOVE it when she does what I want!  

Mom (when she is in her 'groove'), usually posts about all the "fun" things I've been doing.  Just so you know my life isn't all fun & games, I thought she should post about what a GREAT worker I am.

Mom made arrangements with a few businesses in town, to let me come do some work for them.  I go a couple times a week, and my support worker, Randolph Seamons, takes me and helps be to stay focused on the job.  I spend about  30 minutes folding pizza boxes for Pizza Villa.  It's okay, not my favorite thing to do, but I do a good job for about 30 minutes.  I tend to get a bit distracted, so 30 minutes is my limit for now, but I'll keep working on it.

 Here's a picture of me at Pizza Villa, very distracted, and reporting for duty.

This was my first day there, and the lady was showing me how to do it.  I'm like, yea lady, I did this years ago back in High School.  But I was polite and played it cool.

Another job I have is breaking down boxes for Radio Shack, then taking them to be disposed of.  I like this job a lot better.  I can work for about 1 hour doing this.  I am really good at this!

Here's a picture of me at Radio Shack working with the boxes.  I break them down and then take them to be recycled.

Oh yeah, I get a bit distracted working here too, but Randolph helps to keep me on track.

Now for my FAVORITE job of all . . . Stokes Market!  I do this for about 2 hours, 

but I could do this ALL DAY, I love it so much!

I put boxes into a cart . . .

 

I wheel the cart to the baler . . .

Then I put the boxes into the baler . . .

Then I pull the lever . . .

And wait for it all to get compacted . . .

Then I start all over again and I LOVE IT!!!  When the baler gets full a fork lift comes and loads it up to be sent to the recycling place.  I love watching the fort lift work, but darn, they won't let me drive it.

Everyone is impressed with what a hard worker I am!  I don't get paid because these are volunteer jobs.  They show me what to do, I work hard and am really pleased and proud of the work I do.  It also gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Mom makes sure I still get to do lots of fun things, like going to the movies, bowling, the fun center, and my favorite . . . shopping at Walmart or any hardware store!

Here's me after a hard day of having fun and working, turning on my vibrator and relaxing in the recliner . . . Have I got it made or what!?!  I LOVE my life!

Mom told me that she really appreciates each of the stores for letting me help them out.  She also said she thinks Randolph is a great support worker and is so happy that I have him.  I agree with her completely!

 

Posted for Jeff by Mom

A Fresh Start

Attention everyone . . . I have been trying to motivate Mom to update my blog for quite some time.  She made a few attempts that ended up as 'drafts', but they never got posted.  In the process of trying to post them, my technologically challenged Mom, managed to delete not only the drafts, but some of my past posts!  Poor, poor, Mom was getting so overwhelmed, and rather than give-up, she decided it was okay to 'Start Fresh'.  So she is just going to post my current doings, and I am fine with that.

That being said, last night I went to our church's Christmas Party with Mom and Dad.  I had such a fun time.  Before we left, Mom & Dad (both at different times) told me we were going to see SANTA!!  I LOVE that guy, always have, always will!  I was so excited to go.  We got there early because Mom wanted me to be able to see Santa before all the little kids got there.  You see, because of some of my challenges, waiting is extremely hard for me.  I tend to get over-stimulated in crowds, and then I just lose control.  Mom didn't want me to go through all that, so that's why she wanted me to see him first.  Well, because Santa was so busy, he was running a little late.  When he did get there, they asked "who wants to see Santa first"?  I didn't know what hit me....Mom moved so fast, practically shoving me all the way to the front, while yelling . . . JEFF DOES, JEFF DOES!  Well everyone agreed that I should go first.  Are they great or what?  I spent the rest of the night just smiling, and smiling.  Here's proof that I saw Santa . . . (I was playing it cool for the camera).

There was also an "Ugly Sweater Contest".  I didn't have a sweater, but I have this T-shirt that says "This is my ugly Xmas tee", so I wore that.  I didn't win, but I liked standing up with everyone else.
Great night, great food, great fun . . . and I smiled all night long.

Posted by Mom for Jeff

I Am The Child (Young man)

Mom decided it was time to update my blog....YEA!!   When she went to my blog, she saw a few previous posts in the drafts folder....silly Mom had forgotten all about them.  So here they come!

This one was written back in February of 2012!

One of the CHARGE moms on Face book shared this with my Mom. She loved it and said everything but 'the child that cannot walk' fits me to a T. Enjoy!

Shared from Mommies of Miracles ♥
I Am The Child ~ Author Unknown

I am the child who cannot talk. You often pity me, I see it in your eyes. You wonder how much I am aware of — I see that as well. I am aware of much — whether you are happy or sad or fearful, patient or impatient, full of love and desire, or if you are just doing your duty by me. I marvel at your frustration, knowing mine to be far... greater, for I cannot express myself or my needs as you do.

You cannot conceive my isolation, so complete it is at times. I do not gift you with clever conversation, cute remarks to be laughed over and repeated. I do not give you answers to your everyday questions, responses over my well-being, sharing my needs, or comments about the world about me. I do not give you rewards as defined by the world’s standards — great strides in development that you can credit yourself; I do not give you understanding as you know it.

What I give you is so much more valuable — I give you instead opportunities. Opportunities to discover the depth of your character, not mine; the depth of your love, your commitment, your patience, your abilities; the opportunity to explore your spirit more deeply than you imagined possible. I drive you further than you would ever go on your own, working harder, seeking answers to your many questions with no answers. I am the child who cannot talk.

 I am the child who cannot walk. The world seems to pass me by. You see the longing in my eyes to get out of this chair, to run and play like other children. There is much you take for granted. I want the toys on the shelf, I need to go to the bathroom, oh I’ve dropped my fork again. I am dependant on you in these ways. My gift to you is to make you more aware of your great fortune, your healthy back and legs, your ability to do for yourself. Sometimes people appear not to notice me; I always notice them. I feel not so much envy as desire, desire to stand upright, to put one foot in front of the other, to be independent. I give you awareness. I am the child who cannot walk.

I am the child who is mentally impaired. I don’t learn easily, if you judge me by the world’s measuring stick, what I do know is infinite joy in simple things. I am not burdened as you are with the strife's and conflicts of a more complicated life. My gift to you is to grant you the freedom to enjoy things as a child, to teach you how much your arms around me mean, to give you love. I give you the gift of simplicity. I am the child who is mentally impaired.

I am the disabled child. I am your teacher. If you allow me, I will teach you what is really important in life. I will give you and teach you unconditional love. I gift you with my innocent trust, my dependency upon you. I teach you about how precious this life is and about not taking things for granted. I teach you about forgetting your own needs and desires and dreams. I teach you giving. Most of all I teach you hope and faith. I am the disabled child. ♥

Posted by MOM for Jeff

WOW, what a GREAT Christmas I had!!  I have been so excited about Christmas that I was the one to wake everyone up this year!  Dad is usually the one to wake me up, but I beat him to the punch this year... I got them up at 5:30 AM!  I was just so excited!


We opened our gifts and Santa and everyone else gave me just what I like...things that spin, light up, and vibrate.  Everything was so awesome!  After we ate breakfast we got ready for church.  We only had one meeting today and I was very well behaved at church.  Mom said she was so proud of me. 


When we got home from church, my Grandma and my Aunt Patti came over to share the day with us.  We enjoyed a yummy dinner and lots of visiting.  However, I really didn't visit that much.  I just wanted to go to my room and break open all my toys  to see what was inside them.  I just haven't caught on yet that if I break a toy, it won't work anymore.  But that's okay, because then I love all the pieces!  I love to encase them in tape and tie string on them and hang them everywhere.  I am a really creative guy you know! Mom did put a couple of things I got away because they are things that she has to help me with.  Later in the early evening, I almost forgot about our Christmas stockings, and had to remind Dad that we hadn't opened them yet.  Grandma & Aunt Patti had gone home, so Mom, Dad and I opened our stockings and wow, I got even more neat stuff.  Yes indeed, I had an awesome Christmas!

Santa knows how much I LOVE balloons, so he always puts balloons under the tree for me.  Here's a picture of me putting all 20 balloons on the table.

Here I am having a GREAT time popping all 20 balloons one by one.  Every time one popped, I would just crack up laughing.

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Here is my sweet little Grandma Baker.  I love her.  Isn't she just a cutie!

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Here is my Aunt Patti. She spent the day with us too.

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Here I am eating our yummy Christmas Dinner!

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Here is my bucket filled with so many of the things I love.  Of course, most everything was broken, but I still LOVE every piece!  Ahh, it's been a perfect day and I'm one happy guy.

I sure hope everyone else had a GREAT Christmas too.  Mom and Dad said that they love to see the excitement and joy on my face, and that I really make their Christmas. Mom said how blessed she is that she will always have a little boy to bring such joy, wonder & smiles to her on Christmas morning. Whatever, I know that I am loved and I'm a happy guy!  Merry Christmas everyone!

Yea!!! Christmas Is Coming!

I am getting so excited!  Christmas is coming!  Here is what it looks like at our house.  When I see all these decorations go up, I know that a fun, special time is on it's way.

When things start looking like this, I KNOW it's Christmas time.



I love my countdown calendar. Mom doesn't have to remind me to move Santa to the next day. I do it all on my own as soon as I get up in the morning.



I get so excited when Mom hangs up our stockings. I love all the goodies that Santa puts there when he comes to my house.

My spinning, rocking chair sits right next to this. Oh how I LOVE to sit here and look at the Christmas lights on the tree.

I love my singing Santa, plus Mom's reminder that "He who has not Christmas in his heart will not find it under the tree."

This is one of our Nativity scenes. Mom says this is what Christmas is all about...Jesus being born. She said without Christ, there would be no Christmas. You know, I can't see well at all, I can't hear at all, my mind doesn't comprehend a lot of things, I can't speak at all, but my Spirit and heart work well. I can feel and understand things that work through the Spirit, and I have proved that to Mom many times.

I'm a happy, excited guy, and am really looking forward to Christmas.  I love Jesus and Santa.  Mom said she and I are going to make some Pumpkin Bread today to give to people...yea!  Hope we can make a gluten-free one for me!
                                                                        
Posted by My Mom

The Case Of The Missing Camera

Winter is on it's way here at the Baker home and a lot has happened since Mom last posted for me.  I'd better let you know that there won't be any pictures for a while, at least until Mom gets a new camera. 

Here's the story . . . .

After Halloween, Mom left her camera in it's case, on the counter for a couple of days.  Silly Mommy, you'd think she'd know better by now that you DON'T leave anything like that within my reach.  I got up during the night and YEP, I TOOK IT!  I encased that sucker in tape, string and more tape.  She saw this little square shaped thing in my bucket one day, but didn't think anything of it, as I always have weird shaped things encased in tape in my bucket.  I ended up throwing it in the trash when I cleaned out my bucket.    A few days later she went to get her camera to download my Halloween pictures and a few others, and that's when she noticed her camera was missing.  The case was there, but no camera.  She spent about a week  looking everywhere for it.  After much looking and even praying, she remembered this little square thing she saw in my bucket one morning.  Her brain light came on and she realized THAT was her camera.  Of course by then, the trash had been picked up and it is somewhere in the Franklin Co. landfill.  So the case of the missing camera has been solved.  Silly, silly Mommy!  She is still learning lessons the hard way.

Okay, so guess what I was for Halloween?  I'll give you a couple of hints...it's my favorite kind of candy.  Mom always keeps a GIANT bag of it handy to reward me for my toileting efforts.  If you know me well, then you guessed right . . . That's right I was an M&M peanut!!!  Mom was a M&M plain candy.

I REALLY love Halloween.  I LOVE wearing costumes and getting candy.  After all these years, I've got this thing down pat.  While wearing my costume, I sign 'trick-or-treat', then I take one candy (but a lot of times people throw me off by having me take more), then I sign 'Thank You', and quickly move on.  The only thing I haven't figured out is . . . where does all that candy I got go, once we get home!
(*Mom's note -  because of Jeff's Celiacs Disease, there's a lot of candy he can't have, so Dad thoughtfully eats it so Jeff won't get sick.)

Moving on . . . I have a new CSW (Community Support Worker).  Her name is Toni Kelly.  She just started working for/with me on Tuesday.  So far I'm trying to be good and not test her too much.  I think she's going to be good.  Of course, she's not my buddy Kalin, but I guess I can be flexible if I have to be.  Kalin got a  job with more hours and full benefits, so even though I miss him, Mom and I understand that it's better for him & his wife.  When Mom gets a new camera, I'll have her post a picture of Toni and me.  So far, she and I have gone shopping and swimming this week.  Oh, and my CSW and buddy Daniel, (he worked with me until school started in August) will be working with me on Fridays & Saturdays until Track season starts.  So I'm a happy guy!  I get to get out and do lots of fun things without Mom.  I love her, but I do need a break from her always telling me what to do.  Mom's can be funny that way, and guys need a little space.  I think it's good for her too, as she can be so 'clingy' concerning me sometimes.


Posted by My Mom