... on a cold and frosty morning

This morning Daz and the kids got up and went outside to this:

One end of the street: - where that light is in the middle of the fog, that is a school. :)


The other end of the street:


Last night Daz and I went outside - silly me went out without shoes on - and we watched the fog descend onto our street. The orange glow of the street lights looked eerie and out of some sort of murder mystery movie!

Today it's been drizzling all day, it's cloudy, it's cold and that's cool.
Because this morning this appeared....





The first blossom on our Cherry Blossom Tree. The sign to our household that winter is drawing to a close. I will have to remember to take a photo of the tree in full blossom - it's so beautiful!

Breaking news...

I got a call today from the Occupational Therapist, asking if EJ and I can come in on Thursday.

THURSDAY!!!

It's a 9 month waiting list!!

I don't get it...

I was under the impression that we would get a call from them in 9 months time to see EJ, not in 3 days time!

I'm happy. This could mean that we won't have to pay for a private Occ Therapist. We were willing to, because we want EJ to get treatment and help fast.



... and another thing..
We are going away this weekend. The first time we've been away since our Brisbane trip. We need it desperately. We really need some family kick back and relax time. We are going to be hanging with Scot and Kathryn for dinner and games, then just chilling all day Saturday. I met Kathryn when I was 6 I think. We've been friends for a very long time. And it's cool to have a friend you can pick up where you left off. No maintenance. No demands. And she's a great laugh! Her hubby is pretty cool too. I wish we lived closer so we could hang out more. :)

Well I'm off to bed. It's late and I have school drop off tomorrow. Fingers crossed Mop gets alot of sleep tonight. She was in a vile mood today from being so tired - got a note home in her diary from her teacher commenting on her grumpyness. Eeek...

How embarrassing!

I just got a knock on the door by a neighbour - asking me what my plans were with the shed that's been leaning up against our fence for a year or more!! They walk past every day with the dog, and were wondering if they could have it.

Seriously.
We need to put that shed up.

Anyone got a spare 48 hours they could lend us?

I wish I was this creative!

I saw this over at Mel's blog and I just had to share it too...

I wish I had thought of this!! This is soooooo cool!!

Happy Happy Birthday Mop!!

I can't believe it!
She's 6 years old!!

From this cute little baby



to this stunning 6 year old.



Just looking at these photos makes me want to cry. Look at how grown up she is looking. Such long hair, long legs and maturing features. Look at her face. No hint of little girl anymore!!



She's pretty pleased about that. She likes being a "big girl".

We celebrated the day in this way...
The night before her actual birthday we gave Mop her presents. That way she wouldn't be distracted in getting ready for school and Daz would be able to see the present opening. She got from us a big craft box filled with crafty bits and pieces, a 1600 piece Lego set and a Littlest Pet Shop Digi Pet. My brother Pete and his family gave her a Pixle Chick game thing... not sure what it is exactly because Mop hasn't put it down! LOL
We went out for a birthday dinner and at last minute my other brother Steve and his family joined us. It was nice to catch up with them and just hang out. We met my parents back here after dinner for birthday cake and a chance for them to give Mop her presents.



Steve and Jaz gave Mop a nightee, a diary for secrets and a create a belt craft set thing. Mum and Dad gave her a Princess box filled with gel pens, jewellery, create a tote bag craft set and a My Little Pony DVD and story book. Oh and my favourite... which I can't WAIT to watch... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!! One of my favourite movies growing up. Honest Truly I do!!!
Today we took Mop into Target to spend her birthday money and pocket money that she has been saving for ages, and walked out with a heap of Polly Pocket stuff. Then we headed over to Newton to check out a play cafe. Two words.... TOTALLY AWESOME!!! The kids were exhausted after that play - Mop has even fallen into bed for a nap. There are so many cool things to play on and it was really fun!! It actually was a Christmas present from Bec and Nick - and I drank my capaccino (totally spelt wrong I know!) and thought about Bec - since today is her birthday!

It's been a lovely lot of celebrations and I'm so proud of my girl.

Happy Birthday Mop. 6 years ago God gave you to us and we will always be greatful he gave us you. A feisty, strong, smart, beautiful, dark haired angel. We hope that we can shape you and help you grow even more over the next 6 years. After that you will be a teenager, and if we haven't done it by then, we are done for!! :)

Happy birthday Bec. I love you and miss you more than words can say. I really wish I could fly over on the weekend to visit and hang with you. One day it will happen... I just wish I could have spent your big 30 with you.

Righto... better get on with it. All three kids are napping... I shouldn't be fluffing about when I could have maximum productivity!!

Oh PS: I start Uni again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!

Calming tool number one.

A great friend of mine whose son also has an anxiety disorder was telling me about how she uses an ipod for a calming tool. Daz and I found a MP3 player (same thing, different name! LOL) in Harvey Norman for $15. So we bought it to see if it would work. $15 - meh, not bad. If it didn't, then I would get it. No big deal.

We took EJ to the shops - THE most stressful place for him. We sat him in the trolley, headphones on while he listened to familiar music. I went to Target AND did a food shop in woolies. And I did not hear a PEEP out of EJ. Usually he is screaming the place down in 10 minutes. He didn't care that we went from shop to shop. He didn't care that he was in the trolley (which is a huge thing for him) and he didn't care what went on around him. He couldn't hear the hollow echoey sounds. All he could hear was his music. He was a very happy boy.

Yesterday in church, we bought them along. He usually starts twitching, and ticking and hyperventilating in church. I spend more time in the "Time in" spot, trying to calm him down than in the actual service. I am pleased to say the music worked a treat. The echoey sounds of the speaker were drowned out by his tunes and he sat mostly very quietly and I only had to take him out once. He wasn't hyperventilating or twitching at all.

Normally those two outings in a weekend would have absolutely sealed his fate as a nightmare for the next three days. He would be whingy, screamy, more prone to meltdowns, not compliant. This morning he's as happy as can be.

AND added to those two outings, we took him to the drive-ins to watch Ice Age 3. We all snuggled into the back of the terrecan under quilts and watched away. It was so awesome to not having him screaming that he wanted to go home. He sat so quietly the whole time.

To most this may not seem like much, but to me, being able to take this boy out of the house and into places he can't cope with - in one weekend - it's a miracle!

So thankyou Donna for the awesome idea! I don't know what I would do without you and your help. You are an ideas woman!

Results!

Yesterday was a big day!

I had a 2 hour appointment with a psychologist, who asked all manner of questions about EJ. It was hard, especially as I had to answer some pretty personal questions about myself and talk about EJ's birth in great detail. Turns out he isn't as unscathed as we thought.

Anyway, long story short, the verdict is this: EJ has some issues with self-soothing, which could be a result of his being unable to be held much as a newborn while he received care in the NICU. EJ has anxiety as well as well as some speech issues. We have been given a referall to a psychologist to help him with his anxiety, we have a referal to a speech pathologist to help him form his words better to communicate better, to eliminate that form of frustration. We also have a referal to a Occupational Therapist, because E's anxiety seems to be sensory based.

This is a good outcome... we are on waiting lists for the help that he needs. We just need to sit tight until that comes.

One good thing though is that EJ started freaking out in the psych's room - and she watched me calm him down multiple times. She said she had nothing to suggest for me, because I am already doing it and I am doing a really good job. Awwww... that's nice to know, because sometimes I feel like I am drowning and don't have a clue on what I am doing!!!

I would like to acknowledge some really great support I've had during this time: it's been tough on me emotionally and psychologically, and it's not over yet, but we are coming to the end, so it's all good.

Mum - thankyou so much! For watching E when I need to go places he won't like. Thankyou for your input, your suggestions on what to do with him, for letting me probe you to get some idea of what on earth is wrong with this kid!! Thankyou for watching the other two when I have appointments for him. I really do appreciate you.

Donna - thankyou so much for talking to me tirelessly about this whole process. Thankyou for sharing your own experiences and holding out that hope that everything is going to be ok. Thankyou for being such a positive light in this whole thing, and for giving me a shove in the right direction when I first thought that something just wasn't right with EJ. I appreciate your support and above all your friendship. You should open a shop!

And more results... I got my two assignments back. I got two HIGH DISTINCTIONS!!!!

*Skip does a little dance*

I'm so happy with that!!

I'm looking forward to the arrival of my next course. :) Not sure when that will be, but hopefully soon.

Sucked in!

Tonight I left EJ to eat his dinner while I got the girls out of the bath. I told Mop to pull out the plug. I handed her the towel and she dashed into her bedroom, wrapped in her pink towel, eager to get her warm PJ's on.

I got Milly out, and then a really loud sucking noise from the water going down the drain resonated through the house. I heard a chair scrape, and there appeared EJ, eyes wide, face panicked.

"WHERE'S MOP??"

He peered into the bathroom, "WHERE'S MOP????"

I said she was in her bedroom - EJ looked down the hall but couldn't see her. He looked back at me, his face was so anxious and I knew exactly what he was thinking. He thought his sister had been sucked into the bath drain. I could also tell he didn't believe me.

I called Mop's name. "Yes??" she yelled back.

Relief flooded this little boy's face. "Oh, she's in her room." - then he went back to his dinner.

I chuckled to myself, as I finished drying off Milly Moo. Funny boy! I love how he thinks. I love that he cared enough about his sister to be concerned that she had been sucked down the drain.

I see it!

Today we got out of the car after picking Mop up from school. I let Milly out of the car and let her toddle off to the front door. I was busy unloading Mop from the back of the car, making sure she had her bag and whatnot. I then notice that Milly has stopped dead in her tracks and was looking up at the sky.

"Moon!" she exclaimed "I see it!"

This was the first time she had seen the moon in the sky and not a picture in one of her books or on her roof with her light mobile thing.

She was so excited and filled with such awe and she continued to stare at it, her eyes wide. "I see it!" she kept saying.

Finally she dragged her eyes away and followed me into the house, an expression of the WOW factor still on her face. "Moon! Sky! I see it!"