Becoming Mrs. Rogers Blog Tour!

I'm so excited to have a special blog tour on A Day at A Time today in celebration of a book that is sure to become a must-have for any family living with fragile X syndrome.

There are so many people that have held my hand the past 3.5 years as we have braved this fragile X journey, but Cindi is always one that has offered steady, thoughtful guidance to myself and so many others.  Her advice isn't learned in school or read in books but tried and true real-life experience from raising her two boys.

We are so excited to announce that Cindi Rogers first book, Becoming Mrs. Rogers is now available on Amazon.com at the link below.  This book was a labor of love for Cindi, as well as her husband, Chris.  The process has been a wonderful learning experience and going forward will continue to require more learning.

This book is a memoir of sorts about her life (and Chris') in dealing with the birth and subsequent diagnosis of fragile X syndrome for their two boys. The timeline travels from birth to present day and covers lots of different issues like school, behavior, therapies and day-to-day life.  It will take you through some downs and eventually some ups, only to come out with moments of joy and hope.  It was an emotional journey for me while writing it, for Chris while reading it, and we hope for you, too. 

We also hope that you might consider reading it, and/or sharing it (forward this e-mail if you like) with others in your life that might benefit from such a story.

http://tiny.cc/BecomingMrsRogers.com

I received her book last Friday and dove into it immediately.  As I stop and reflected after making it through the first half, I realized that I felt as though I had just spent hours with a friend telling me about her life.  Reminding me that no matter how difficult a problem may seem at the time, there is always HOPE.  

Becoming Mrs. Rogers is the true and heart-felt story of one couple’s journey into acceptance following a devastating genetic diagnosis for both of their sons. Their story, its highs and lows entwined with its wisdom and compassion, has been a beacon of hope for thousands of families struggling with fragile X and other autism spectrum disorders.

Fragile X is a common and inherited cause of learning difficulties, affecting a child's entire world, including social and behavioral problems as well as cognition and speech. Rogers not only tells her story, but also gives advice for new parents, sharing facts about…

* the physical and behavioral characteristics of Fragile X

* the effects of Fragile X on learning, functioning and daily activities

* medication and therapy

* how fragile X affects the family.

Cindi Rogers and her husband, Chris, share the perspectives and tools they embraced in order to help their boys be as happy and independent as they can possibly be. It is a story of challenges, tears, joy and hope.

 **A portion of the proceeds of this book are donated to the Rogers Neighborhood FX Family Fund which in turn offers scholarships to the NFXF International bi-yearly FX Conferences.**

Cindi is the mother of two sons, ages 23 and 25, who are affected with fragile X syndrome and autism. Since receiving this diagnosis, Cindi has become a leader and symbol of hope within the fragile X community.  Her positive attitude, creativity and defining can-do attitude has inspired families and professionals worldwide. Cindi and her family have travelled to conferences around the world to present her innovative strategies, helping families not only to live with fragile X, but to also thrive. It has become her personal mission to share techniques to help families generate ideas that they can implement in their own world, while helping their children with fragile X syndrome to live happier, more independent lives. Today, Cindi serves on the board of directors for Developmental FX in Denver, a non-profit that helps families just like hers learn to thrive in the face of fragile X syndrome. She lives and works with her husband and two sons in Littleton, Colorado, and together they love travelling the U.S. in their RV named Rocket.

Connect with Cindi:

Facebook -  https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1302335567

Twitter -  https://twitter.com/MrsRogers2014

Rogers Neighborhood FX Family Fund--http://www.rogersneighborhoodfxfamilyfund.com

Blog-  http://welcometothefragilexneighborhood.blogspot.com/

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Never underestimate the persistence of a little boy...

You would think in my seven years knowing him I would have learned never to underestimate Ayden by now.  Yet, sometimes I forget and he has to gently remind his Mommy that he can overcome even the milestones that I don't think he's ready for yet.

For this story...let's skip our second.  Issac will be starting school in the fall and for our part we have shied away from night time potty training.  We like our sleep.  A lot.  And dislike washing wet sheets and beds - also a lot.  It was time though, so after Christmas we went cold turkey on night-time pull ups for Issac.  It took about a month, but we made it through without too many emotional scars.  It wasn't long after this Ayden began asking at night "Underwear?  Underwear?".  Despite being fully aware we would have a pee-pee mess in the morning, we allowed it because he asked, you know, with words.  I mean, after waiting so long to hear his voice he pretty much gets what he requests if it is the first time and done with spoken language.  As expected, we did have a clean up job in the morning.  We tried it one more night (again at his request) and the same thing happened so we started a new rule:  stay dry for one night in a diaper and then you can try underwear again.  His persistence has paid off the past few months where putting a pull up on each night has become a fight with tears.  We tried on and off to a dry night here and there but nothing consistent.   Around the beginning of April the before-bed fights escalated into meltdowns and we changed our "rule" to allowing him to try on weekends and as long as he stayed dry he would be allowed to wear underwear the next night.

That was on April 25 - three weeks ago.  He wore underwear on Friday and woke up dry Saturday.  Then Sunday.  Then Monday.  On Tuesday - we had an accident.  I made a split decision that night to let him try one more night and it paid off.  We made it another 5 days dry at night.  Three weeks later we have a total of three accidents since we started.  He isn't fully trained yet, but he will not be returning to pull ups.

I still cannot wrap my head around how big of an accomplishment this one is - and it is ALL Ayden.  We would not have started so soon with him if he hadn't asked.  If HE hadn't been so persistent we would not have continued.  This is without a doubt one of his biggest accomplishments to me and I am so very proud of him.

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