this time four years ago….

I was in hospital waiting for the arrival of the newest member of our family.  Little tiny Corey James joined me at ten past 2 in the morning.  I took him to Paperific the next day. Lots of people said that I was crazy but then I was well after an easy delivery and he was never going to be so well behaved again!

Little did I know that he would grow up to be a terror…a sweet, smiling, laughing little monster full of cuddles, full of love.

I got a letter yesterday about his kinder orientation day and it falls on a day I am working.  I could get someone to fill in but at the moment I need every bit of dosh I can get to make sure the kitchen plans go ahead. I rang the kinder to talk it through…dunno why…I just didn’t want him to miss out on anything. Kinder have known him since he was a baby bump and have seen him a couple of times this year too. They just said that ‘knowing him as we do, he won’t know he has missed anything and he’ll be fine’….guess I knew that…funny how we need to hear it from someone else though isn’t it.

His family daycarer threw a little party for him at daycare today…they had party pies and fairy bread and he even came home with a new toy car and some play doh. Tomorrow he’ll get some lego and some more cars and a day at home with Mummy. Hope he is happy ….know he will be…he is oh so easily pleased.

Love my boys!

trying to catch a breathe…

My boys are growing up too fast.  Owen will be 8 on Friday, my baby will be 4 on Wednesday.

The party is organised, the presents bought….but how do we, as parents, learn to enjoy them getting older?

Owen is just starting to link from Joey’s to Cubs, he is excited…a little nervous…his comment was that they were loud..yes I know my boys are loud but the cubs apparenlty are louder (well there are more of them too).

Brett is preparing to go to Joey scout camp and I hadn’t realised that, for him, it is his first ever night away from both Mum and Dad..I guess that with him going to Dads every second weekend I am used to him being away from me but he still hasn’t been out on his own either.

Corey is my baby. And yet my baby goes to bed in undies and is dry every night (a step ahead of his older brothers), he wrote his name the other day, naming the letters as he went and they were legible. He can cut with scissors, he could talk the hind leg off a donkey. The kid is outgoing and full of cuddles and kisses, just the right mixture of cute and mischief and I want to keep him 3 forever….he just wants to grow up and be ‘big like Owen’

I figure that as a Mum it appears to be my job to try to walk a tightrope of balance between encouraging them to explore the world around them and yet still be there to catch them if they fall….to know when to hold their hand and when to let go.

They went to Animal Land in diggers rest today (the two big ones) with Joey scouts…they had a ball, riding a pony, a tractor and holding baby rabbits and chickens and ducks. Owen now wants to live on a farm!

before i get completely incoherant I’m off to bed!

night all!

Two weeks…

what can happen in two weeks hey?  Well since I lost posted we survived the 9hr drive to Adelaide and the return trip and it was great to see everyone again.   And in that two weeks we finally hit the jackpot with Corey. #2’s in the toilet yay! And as a bonus he has been dry at night for weeks so has been sleeping in undies (and waking dry) for 3 days now (the other boys are still in pull ups at night).  Two short weeks and yet so full!

And now…2 weeks from now my baby will be FOUR!  Yes my little Corey James will really be a big boy!

and just  2 days later Owen will be 8….how time flies!

Jude

Getting ready for another long drive

we are heading back to Adelaide in a few weeks.

I know many people say that I am crazy….something about 3 small boys and a 9ish hour drive.  I do enjoy driving…sometimes it would be nice to be able to switch drivers but as Owen is  only 8 I guess that isn’t going to happen for a while.

The trip will be different this time as I have Owen sitting in the front which gives everyone more elbow space. It does however mean that the picnic basket of snacks will have to go in the back seat, hopefully Brett and Corey will behave. Other option might be to pack separate lunch boxes for each kid which could be a workable idea.  They are all a bit older too which makes it easier (its been 9 months since our last trip).  I think I have decided to go get some stable tables for them so they can do some drawing (pencils only) and have something to drive their cars on etc.

They want to stop at the big koala this time so we will be mixing up the stops a little too. And I’ve learnt that it is better to eat in the car and stop to play than try to get them to eat when all they want to do is play!

I am prattling…probably because I should be in bed!

inkurable stampers

I’ve heard about this blog before but never had time to check it out. It has some pretty amazing stuff on it – makes mine look positively plain and boring actually lol! but well worth a look…and if you scroll through you will notice that you have one day left to get your name listed to be lucky enough to get a free Orange Jelly owl stamp and then get to play with it for a chance to win more Orange Jelly stamps…pretty cool!  Check it out here.

And an update….I didn’t even step into the playroom (messy ex storeroom) today! I did clear some plastic boxes away from the lounge (they were in front of the heater which I had to turn on last night)! I did have a lovely afternoon playing with my stamps and stuff and decided to take advantage of the boys playing nicely to just enjoy it…can get back to that room on the weekend or even when school goes back! oh and two nights in a row the one room thing (with the staggered bed times) is working just FINE!

Owen’s glasses

Did I mention that Owen needs glasses too….and Corey will likely get them when he is a little older. Owen isn’t as blind as Brett and really needs them mostly for reading/writing type activities…

Here is both of them the first day Owen wore his to school. This photo is just so ‘them’ got their cheekiness on ‘film’ so to speak!

a little funny before bed….

Was given a couple of big bags of boy clothes the other day.  Mostly for Owen but Brett scored a few things too and they were very excited about it – not sure why….anyway I pulled out a pair or shorts and top that looked brand new…they had that ‘bad boy’ logo on it – the one with the eyes – pretty cool – kids are going ‘coool’ then ask what it says….so I read ‘bad boy’…suddenly they both announce they don’t want them because people might think that they are bad boys!

don’t you love ‘em!

Lucky!

I had to fill in some paperwork yesterday for Owen to get an aide at school holiday program. I wasn’t sure that he really needed one (although I don’t doubt he needs it at school where he needs to focus) but they were pretty insistant on having the forms done. I looked at the huge chunk of paper and groaned….

then I started to fill it out. Does your child need a wheelchair? Can your child eat unaided? Can your child speak?…..Now Owen might be difficult to handle at times. He may be full on and flat out. But what a joy to be able to tick no to so many of the questions…how wonderful to be reminded that while he may be difficult there are plenty out there in a lot worse boats.

He is going to holiday program. I spoke to the co-ordinator who is getting him an aide for the this time and will assess his needs for next time based on this time. She was not just focused on keeping him safe she was stressing the importance of him having FUN! What a joy that the kids are looking forward to going for 3 days in the holidays (2 boys – 3 days costing me less than $30 woohoo). I too hope they will have fun!

And I plan to make the most of MY time too! (well will be working on the Friday)!

Almost a false start….

We have it all booked to head off tomorrow….and so I went to go pick the boys up from school with plans to watch Owen playing Soccer for an hour before we came home and then to get the car packed.

The aide in his room saw me before I saw him and told me he had looked pale and complained of being cold but appeared to be running a bit of a fever. She said they had wrapped him in a blanket and kept him inside at lunch time (it was pretty cold out) but didn’t call as he appeared ok but she suggested I keep an eye on him. Well he said he didn’t want to play soccer…alarm bells….we get home and he just wanted to snuggle up to me for ages…more alarm bells….then I realised that he had forgotten to ask for afternoon tea…..big ALARM BELLS…..now normally I would have let it go a day to see how it would develop but with our weekend planned I thought best to get on top of it. So I told the boys to bring their leapsters and we went off to the dr expecting an hour or more wait….we were there not even half an hour…got Brett seen too as he had made an odd comment about a sore throat (and I’m learning to listen more carefully as usually by the time I hear anything it is full blown tonsilitis)!  Dr said both had just beginings of throat infection/tonsilitis and given that we were going away for the weekend best to start them on antibiotics immediately.  He did say best to skip swimming after school tomorrow but should be ok to swim from saturday when the drugs have kicked in a bit. He also said that as it isn’t really hot the meds will be ok in an esky.

So upshot of that is good I guess in that they can still go to school, I can still go to work and we can still go on our little trip. Sadly it meant I had to pack the car on my own and the list of things to do still appears a little long (but of course I’m here blogging instead of tending to it lol!

Off to bed shortly. Boys will be ok.

very very tired….

I think that perhaps it is the swimming as I vaguely remember it was last Wednesday that I was this tired too. Not sure – I know I’ve hardly had any coke today so perhaps its just needing a caffeine boost!

Talked to Owen’s teacher this morning as he got an award at assembly but I don’t know what for…it was for persisting with his writing.  She also mentioned that while his processing speed was still quite slow there was NO PROBLEM with his attention span…that’s right none! wow he is going along in leaps and bounds!

Brett got an award too and not sure what his was for either but should find out tomorrow.

I have them enrolled (well have applied and been told getting in shouldn’t be a problem) for school holiday program on Wednesdays and Friday in the school holidays so that I can work/swim as usual – will even get the Wednesday afternoon to myself. They are excited about the program – lets hope that remains after they have been once!