Hello!  It's just me, Bertina Jackson, of Kingsport, Tennessee!  Thought an update was in order, so here goes:

We are still pluggin' away as best as we can, me, my husband (Jacob), and our five beautiful children:  Cordelia, Countess, Ciara, Cordarial, and Cyanne.  We couldn't be more blessed; God's given us a wonderful family.

All of our children are in school:  our oldest is in tenth grade while our second oldest is enjoying her last year of junior high school (eighth grade).  Ciara and Cordarial both go to the local elementary school, while our youngest, Cyanne, is in pre-K; this is her first year for school, and it is nothing but a big, exciting adventure.

I love it because Jacob and I can actually enjoy one another for eight/nine hours every Monday-Friday; we only have the kids in the evenings or on weekends.  We can get an awful lot accomplished if we buckle down.  The times away from the children are what we look forward to the most, especially if they are misbehaving!  LOL

I am happy to report that Cordarial, our child with special needs, is making progress.  He has now finally mastered the art of toilet-training; he no longer wears diapers:  he wears big boy underpants (he does wear Pull-Ups at night, as he will have the occasional accident; this way, he doesn't mess up his bed).  In addition, he's expanded his food choices; he now eats Cheerios, bananas, apple slices, guava fruit, and sliced turkey. 

Thirdly, he is talking more:  he can now say "I love you", which, to us, is a huge deal, because he used to scream and squirm and try to get away whenever we tried to show him any sign of affection.  He can now accept hugs or kisses and say "I love you", just like any other little boy, which makes us cry with happiness.  We never thought he'd reach this point!  He is really growing up!

As you know, Cordarial has autism spectrum disorder.  The doctors haven't really said he has autism; yet that is exactly how he behaves.  He has quite a few peculiar habits (such as with his fixation with his plastic toy dinosaur collection, looking off in the distance or away when encountering people, flapping his hands in front of his face, or making noises like a fire truck siren if stressed, in addition to rocking back and forth); this sets him apart from other children. 

He is often teased.  He goes to a school for children with special needs; so far he seems to be doing well, but if children make fun of him, he will bite or hit, much to our dismay; we get at least one or two calls a week from his teacher, asking us to calm him down because she cannot.  It is very embarrassing to have to explain his condition to strangers, who just don't understand what it is like to parent such a highly demanding child.

Sometimes we feel like we only have one child instead of five because most of our time is spent dealing with Cordarial than the others; I am sure they feel jealousy, resentment, or a sense of abandonment/neglect.

Cordelia, Countess, Ciara, and Cyanne are very good with their only brother.  The older ones show him new things; the younger ones look up to their big brother, follow him everywhere like eager puppies.

Well, I'd best try to get some sleep before the alarm goes off at six thirty; I will write in here again with another update on our family, particularly Cordarial.  Just keep those prayers/good wishes coming; I think that is why Cordarial has made so much in the way of improvement!  We couldn't be happier with him than we are right now!  God has certainly brought him (as well as our family) a very long way from the last time I wrote!

Take care and may God bless you always!  He certainly blesses us each and every day!

~Love, Bertina Jackson.  :)