As you may or may not know, Autism has struck us pretty close to home, our son Anakin (pictured above) was diagnosed with it when he was two. It’s been a struggle for the whole family, and especially Anakin. He’s 9 now and still non-verbal although his communication is coming along every day! It’s a huge joy to see him overcome and grow. He has an amazing personality and never ceases to keep us laughing.  I’m so proud of him and his older sister who deeply cares about her little brother and is always looking out for him.

Now for the informative part, I post this every year in hopes that more people will recognize the signs of autism. Early intervention is the best treatment for autism, so an early diagnosis is important.  Also the more people who recognize autism hopefully means fewer dirty looks at the grocery store when tantrums start (Sensory overload can be a huge problem for people with autism, and grocery stores are almost a nightmare). 🙂

If you’ve never met any one with Autism, odds are that you will soon, about 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it every year.

“Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.” (From the Autism Society of America Website)

“Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms
• (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects “

(From the Autism Society of America Website)

More information on autism

If you would like to make a personal donation to Autism speaks you can do so here or to the ASA.

These are some other helpful links if you want to learn more about Autism or know someone with autism and are looking for help.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.autism-society.org/
http://www.autismlink.com/
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm

Quad-cities Support groups
http://www.autismqc.org/calendar.htm
http://www.qcautismcenter.org/page/page/2959054.htm
QC yahoo group – http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadcityautism/
Iowa Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/16
Illinois Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/14

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet information
Recipes, menu planning & info – http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

Had to share this real quick. I just found a site that offers custom-hand-painted wedding shoes and they are AMAZING! If you love shoes as much as I do your going to love these! Figgie Shoes. She’s got a gallery up on flickr with more samples as well, you can check those out here.

So Friday, one of my closest friends Shannon Colgan (who sometimes assists and 2nd shoots for me) tells me she’s getting a puppy, and she’s super stoked. She shows me pictures, and oh yeah, he’s super cute! So Saturday, this lovely couple, Jenny & Chris get married, which is awesome all by itself, but as fate would have it we stop at Vandeveer to take some portraits in between the wedding, and who do I see? Shannon, her boyfriend Todd and their ADORABLE puppy, Ferdinand! So we had to grab him for a few quick shots.

Here are a few quick picks for now, I’ll have more to come!

We went out last weekend for Angie & Nick’s engagement session. I spent the whole day worried it would rain, the sky looked ominous, fortunately the rain held off until way after their session, and the sun actually came out for a while too! I hope we get the same luck for their wedding this June!

I’ve been doing slideshows as part of the final image gallery ever since I’ve started shooting weddings, I’ve finally figured out how to use the software to make small public slideshows. So now my couples can share these with family and friends who might not want to log-in to the gallery and purchase images.  Angie & Nick get to be my guinea pigs on this one, here’s a link to the first slideshow. I also recently found a good commercial use music site, so this is the first slideshow with music as well.

Yet another first, they got to be my first panoramic portrait! I think it turned out pretty well, so I’ll probably be trying these out more often.

Here are a few of my favorites, enjoy! 🙂

I don’t offer portrait sessions any longer as I feel I’m best suited for weddings. However, I do occasionally do some portraits for friends and family. I’ve known Molly for a couple of years now, and she is one amazing mama with some adorable kiddos. I got to take some pictures of her and her family way back in August. These were a few of my favorites! 🙂