Big Brother, Little Sister & the Baby

Mini break.

2012-01-28T11:04:00.000+11:00

We spent 2 days in Healesville for a mini break after having a fair bit going on at home, we needed it. I needed it.

I needed time to think, to enjoy, and to breathe.

We stayed at a beautiful little cottage called Auntys Cottage. It is about a 10 minute walk into the main shops/street. It actually takes 15 minutes if you have one pram carrying 3 children. " Mum people are looking at us like we are insane" says Cooper. Sometimes there is only one way to carry 3 children, 2 who cannot walk and one that can but always has tired legs!

We enjoyed dinner at the local pub in their beer garden on the first night after Andrew finally made an appearance. Very over priced but a nice atmosphere. The kids love being in a new environment, they are such great travelers and really enjoy change. They ran into the house and explored every room and cupboard and spent the afternoon playing pirates and not angry birds!

We enjoyed the Yarra Valley historical train more info can be found here. Cooper loved pulling the road for the whistle and Pepper enjoyed the scenery and going through the dark tunnel.

It was lovely to spend time as a family of 5 on our first little getaway. Let 2012 have plenty more.

Week 3 Photos

2012-01-23T08:34:00.002+11:00

Week 3- Photo a day.

This week we discovered the Sandcastles/sculptures at Frankston Foreshore. It was themed Toytopia. Peppers favourite was Barbie and Cooper loved it all! Woody, well I am unsure what he liked best!
There was also complimentary face painting and learning how to sculpt sand. Thankyou Nanny Liz for coming with us.

This week has also seen us out and about at the local school oval of an evening. We have been playing soccer all together and Pep has turned out to be really good at it and loves it. Cooper can stop the ball in his powerchair and drive the ball to the next person but mainly enjoys off roading and finding tree branches to crush. woody usually naps in the pram or is happy just watching his Mother come close to heart failure as she attempts to run around the oval.

We have spent much time outdoors splashing in the pool and playing in the sunshine.

I can't believe there is less than 2 weeks of school holidays left! Cooper is so excited to go back and enter Grade 1 soon after which he turns 7.

Woody is now 4 months old and can roll around the place and is just so content with his entertaining siblings! He is feeding beautifully and in more of a routine as far as eat, play, sleep goes. I still have no idea how much he weighs or how long he is but he's obviously not fading away! He is very vocal and has the cutest laugh.

Pepper is really enjoying her swimming and is so much more confident. Naturally the warm weather agrees with her love of being nude too!

January Week 2.

2012-01-16T08:26:00.001+11:00

January Week 2- Photo a Day.

Woody having an outdoor tub bath after some nappy free time!

Rice Paper rolls. Beef, mint, dill, vermicelli and carrot.

Woody and his favourite toy- his hands! He has golden hair coming through as he looses his baby hair.

Duplo creations- Petronas towers with a hotel, helipad and butler.

Pep and Barbie having girly chats.

My washing pile that has since grown.

Pepper drawing a pic for Aunty Jess and Uncle Steve.

Parenting

2012-01-13T12:34:00.002+11:00

Do you ever feel as though the best thing in your life is also the hardest? Nothing like it makes me scream, cry, laugh, love, swear, hug, slam doors, kiss, want to sleep as much as Parenting does.

Most days seem to go by too fast.

Others not fast enough.

Somedays are a breeze, other days are like a Tsunami.

Somedays all I want to do is cuddle my kids, other days I need to run out the front door.

Some days I am patient, other days I need to admit myself as a Patient.

Some days I cannot believe I have 3 children, how did that happen?

Somedays I cry when I think of their beginnings and rejoice in how far they have all come.

How far I have come, and then within a moment I am taken back to the start.

Feeding.

2012-01-11T12:31:00.002+11:00

These are the beautiful eyes I get to stare into so many times a day.

Often I will be talking to the other kids and I take a peek down and someone is looking up at me smiling and giggling while he still continues to feed.

I honestly think he thinks they are an extension of himself as he kneads, squeezes and prods often digging his little nails in as if to ask the milk to come more quickly.

I feel so lucky to be able to feed Woody so easily and really enjoy it. I guess it comes from the fact that I was unable to breast-feed Cooper and that Pepper was the one who taught be how so this time it seems more natural and like jumping back on a bike.

I really hope our breastfeeding relationship continues for a long while yet xx Heres to 3.5 months Woody.

Week 1- Photo a day for January.

2012-01-08T20:04:00.001+11:00

I decided to take a photo a day for the whole month of January. No theme, just capture everyday moment over our Summer holidays at home. Here is the first week.

Indian Dinner. Made from scratch. I am so excited to discover curry leaves, palm sugar and cardamon pods.

My precious Elwood aged 14 weeks.

Pepper and her Poppy Nev.

Brotherly bond.

Fun in the pool in the Melbourne heatwave.

Cooper aged 6 years and 11 months!

Pepper aged 3.5 years.

Nanny and Pep off to the movies.

I am loving using my real camera again after relying on my iphone camera for too long! sort of a blessing in disguise that it was knocked off the couch so I can no longer be contacted outside the home!

Looking forward to seeing what moments I can capture this week x

72 hours

2012-01-08T17:18:00.000+11:00

3 days.
72 hours.

It has been Woody and I. Me and Woody. Calm. Quiet. Clean. Easy. Bliss.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. To have 3 children, have 2 go away and be left with only 1.

1 child.

Having 1 child at home for the past 3 days has meant the following :

My mind actually started having thoughts not related to routines and children.
I started making goals and thinking about myself.
I ate meals without sharing and they were warm.
The anxious heart racing feeling in my chest subsided.
I ate less
I walked more
The house stayed as I had left it.
I had a massage.
I only did one load of washing.
I did one sink load of dishes
I slept in.
I stayed up late.
I chose what tv I was watching.
I did not yell or scream or cry.
Woody slept for more than 23 minutes during the day.
I could walk out the door when I wanted.
My back ache eased.
I breathed.

My family are due back shortly and I am a little bit excited to see them but mostly I really just enjoyed my time with my baby. My precious baby boy who I got to know without interruption. Who I rocked to sleep, who I held close and whose eyes when opening up in the morning smiling at me makes my heart swell.

It is about enjoying the little things and realising how lucky I am to have 3 beautiful children and a wonderful husband who is willing to take them away for holidays and enjoy them just as much as I do!

Mind.

2011-12-19T13:11:00.001+11:00

I have a few spare moments. Pep and I have just made Friands and Woody is sleeping to the sound of the dishwasher and smells from the oven.

3.

I am not really sure what I thought it would be like having 3 children. I don't really think I thought about it much and then it just happened and I don't often have time to think about it.

I think about a lot. I find it very hard to switch off. More so than before 3 kids.

I seem to think all the time......even when I close my eyes my mind is seriously racing.....

I don't really think of anything too exciting either.

My mind is on a constant journey of feeding, the next feed, the last feed, burping, nappies, feeding the big kids, bathing everyone, remembering what notices need to be signed each day and how many $2 coins I need to put in Coopers bag for random things. Have I packed his bathers, does he have lunch?, is everyone in the car? have I bought everyones Christmas presents, have I showered? has anyone cleaned their teeth and how many pieces of cut up paper can Pepper possibly leave on the carpet for the millionth time today? and that pretty much is the loop of my mind.

I can't even cry properly. I want to sometimes when things get too much but my emotions are finding it so so hard to come through the haze that is being a new Mum. I feel such a build up inside but I either just collapse or start cleaning or yelling at someone for leaving something for me to trip over.

I feel like I am on auto pilot most of the time.

I am hoping the Summer holidays will allow time to really relax without having to run out the door each morning. I am hoping my mind can relax with my body and I can really enjoy time outside in the sunshine.

I am also hopeful for a conversation with Andrew that lasts more than 30 seconds and does not revolve around children or trees or some random stupid thing someone did at his work!

Breathe.

Gingerbread.

2011-12-12T11:22:00.001+11:00

It is no secret my family loves to travel.

My smallest sister currently lives in Wales with her new husband and very new baby.

My parents are visiting her for Christmas via a week in Bali and a week in France.

So that leaves myself and my middle sister home in Melbourne.

We got baking yesterday with the kids for Christmas. It is something we have never done together but that we did a lot as kids with Mum. Mum always involved us in the kitchen from a young age and I love doing the same with Cooper and Pepper and Woody.

Coopers favourite part is no doubt talking! not necessarily about the task but about anything and everything. I guess he has a captive audience.
Peps favourite part has to be eating the mixtures before they are cooked. She is a lover of raw cookie dough and anything sweet.
Woody loves sleeping to the sound of the mixer and just listening to all the going ons.

We baked these delicious and easy gingerbread biscuits.

3 C plain flour
1 C firm packed brown sugar
150g butter- cubed and soft
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 egg

We just put all these ingredients in the bowl and used the mixer to combine them. So much easier than using the stove or creaming the sugar and butter.
Knead it and pop it in the fridge for an hour to chill.
Roll it out, use your choice of cutters and pop in the oven at least 5cms apart at 180 for 8-10 minutes.

We doubled the recipe and made way too many ( approx 70 small shapes)

Gingerbread is meant to be soft and will brown on the edges when ready.

You can leave plain or ice. We made Royal Icing.

2 egg whites
1.5 C pure icing sugar.

Decorate as you wish! We used chocolate, sprinkles, and coloured some of the icing.

They are so yummy!

Thankyou amy for sharing our day xx

And now for some cute 3 kid family pics!

Chilling out watching TV after school. That pillow may look like it is there for safety but it is more a barrier!

Cooper and Pep teaching Woody how to use the Ipad!

We shared our gingerbread around. The nicest thing was giving them to our neighbours who are close to 80 and when it came time to put the bins out they had already done them for me xx

Life is simple and it's good.

Smashed Pavlova.

2011-12-05T15:18:00.001+11:00

Our chickens are back on the lay after having Winter off. This means every day we are getting at least 6 eggs. Most weighing in at 100g!

Time to make a pavlova.

6 egg whites

1tbs vinegar

1tbs cornflour

2C caster sugar.

I beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form then slowly add the sugar, cornflour and vinegar.

I bake in the oven at 150oC for about 2 hours. Open up the oven door and leave it to cool.

Today we decided to do something different than the usual pav. We made a smashed fruit Pav.

We crushed up our cooked pav into bite sized pieces.

We whipped 500ml of cream together with a small jar of strawberry jam.

We folded it all together and threw strawberries on the top!

I can imagine one with honeycomb would also taste delicious! or chopped up Snickers!

Cannot wait for Nanny and Poppy to arrive so we can eat it!

With the 6 left over egg yolks I made my own custard for the first time ever. Easy and delicious and perfect by itself or added onto a trifle! yum!

Lucky I have 2 beautiful helpers in the kitchen.

December.

2011-12-01T10:39:00.001+11:00

The month of Christmas has begun.

I love giving handmade presents and have the perfect companion this year at 3 years old to enjoy this time with me. Cooper joins in after school and has given us many ideas for presents for his teachers this year.

Today Pep and I made Clay Tags we got the idea from a wonderful lady Maryanne from Handmade Kids.

We used air dry clay too that Pepper received as a present from her Aunty Katie. We used stamps and our hands to make decorations that you can use as tags on presents and then use them as ornaments on your tree. We will paint them later on today. So personal.

In the Kitchen we have been experimenting with my new stick blender and chopper. How I lived without one I don't know! Gone are the days of bashing Marie biscuits with a rolling pin and having the bag break 20 times. Perfect for the kids too as they can hold it and zip it and with limited mess.
We made chocolate balls and mini christmas puddings.

We also managed to make a gingerbread house from scratch which Cooper shared with his school class last week.

We made relaxation packs for Coopers teachers. Included is handmade foot scrub salts. We used Epsom salts and a mixture of 3 essential oils. Heat packs using lavender and rice. These are made with Christmas material and can be used hot or cold.

Our fabric Garlands look beautiful around the house and homemade Christmas ornaments for friends were made using glue, glitter and sequins.

Don't worry in between all this crafty goodness I have been feeding my son mostly 2 hourly as he grows just about as big as the Fat Man himself.

Not to forget that December also means Summer! Last day of Spring was over 30oC and today the first day of Summer I really could turn the heater on.

Bring on the Sunshine, School holidays and much needed family time, at least for the public holidays anyway!

3.

2011-11-25T14:29:00.001+11:00

Woody is now 2 months old. Honestly I have just blinked and time flew.

Maybe because life is so busy and day becomes night so quickly and everything just pretty much jumbles into one experience.

Life is really busy. At the end of the day I have nothing to show for it. I mean the kids are schooled, dressed, fed, educated, played with but the days just all smoosh together and I am on planet lala most of the time.

It is kind of nice being delusional. It stops being fun when you start worrying about being somewhere in time or worrying about mess.

It's more fun when you feed when your baby asks, play barbie when the little lady requests it and talk endlessly about dungeons and capital punishment with the " I'm not a baby anymore, I am nearly 7" oldest child.

Having 3 children has changed the dynamics dramatically. It's not something I really considered. I was more concerned about feeding and getting out the door for school. That is the easy part.

The hard part is trying to get your daughter to stop screaming so damn loud at 6 am in the morning just because she can. Then it's hard getting the over emotional older son to stop sooking about the sound that scream made. All while the baby sits there and smiles while I yell at his siblings. He is so easy going, so content and is going to be "my baby" and pretty much won't be able to do anything wrong!

Cooper and Pepper fight. They fight a lot!. They argue most days within 5 mins of getting up. Who is sitting which side of Woody, who looks after him while I shower. who burps him, who gives him his dummy, who touches him, who kisses him......basically who can annoy the crap out of him most. Pep seems to win hands down here. Think whole body weight on top of the little man and golden locks smoothering his precious face.

So most days I feel like I am conducting crowd control between 5am-9am.....then from 3.30pm till bedtime.

I also manage to somehow do some washing, shower, make beds and prepare some sort of meal.

I might even brush my hair.

Woody is feeding about 8 times a day. He wakes around 2-3 times a night. I have no idea how much he weighs as I missed the last health nurse appointment, but he is due for his needles next week. His eyes are a deep big blue, his lips are like rosebuds, his hair is becoming lighter and his skin is so beautifully soft. He smells like milk, he loves his milk and I adore feeding him at 4am as we watch the sky turn from black to pink to white.

Precious moments.

2011-11-15T07:37:00.001+11:00

Yesterday was one of those days that had no plans yet turned out so beautifully.

The sun shone.

I sat down in the study to sew a dress for my beautiful daughter.

She sat beside me sorting buttons into matching groups.

Her hands so delicately picking each button up and examining it carefully.

We felt the textures of fabric.

We listened to Jewel as Pepper hummed along smiling.

We ate white chocolate raspberry bullets.

We sipped tea.

Woody slept.

Life is so precious.

Genetics.

2011-11-02T10:08:00.000+11:00

People often ask who Woody looks like. I think he looks like the perfect mixture of both Cooper and Pepper, and definately more like Andrew as a baby than me.

Cooper 5 weeks.

Pepper 5 weeks

Woody 5 weeks

Cooper (3) and Pepper ( 1 month)

Pepper 5 weeks

1 month on.

2011-10-31T12:15:00.003+11:00

Woody is now a month old. In fact he is 6 weeks on Thursday. Where on earth did that time just go? The days just fly by as most days its midday before I could even walk out the door and that's not even with a shower! He seems to change everyday and has started to smile and babble which is truly adorable. I am really loving this baby stage, and being my last I am soaking it all up!

Woody had a review at the hospital and passed with flying colours. His bloods all seem normal and he's back to making all his own Heamoglobin and is taking vitamins everyday. Development is right on track for the little guy.

My wonderful parents have been taking Cooper to school and Andrew has been picking him up so my days are spent at home with my precious boy and wonderful daughter. I am loving our time together, it seems so beautiful just to be and enjoy each other. To spend lots of time feeding and chatting and doing art and craft, sitting in the sunshine and watch Pep jump on the trampoline. I often find myself wondering about life without disability and guess I only really understand how wonderful typical development and life is because of Cooper.

Andrew has been amazing ( erasing Friday nights antics from that comment!) Pep cried the first few days that Andrew had to go back to work as she missed him so much. They developed a really wonderful relationship while he was home. He has been so supportive with my endless hours sitting on the couch feeding Woody and does all the night-time routine stuff with Cooper and Pepper.

Woody has put on at least a kilo since birth and is looking more like a person than a tiny newborn.
He is feeding beautifully and has had a few 4-5 hour stints at night. We are co-sleeping as it makes night-time feeding so much easier and he adores a big snuggle to settle him. My big kids are both sleeping really well in their own room and beds and everything is falling into place as I had hoped it would. Wound wise I would not recommend dragging a table across the backyard as now I feel like half my stomach muscles are still outside. My old body is taking a bit of time to get back to feeling better.

Most days we go for a walk to enjoy our wonderful beach and I have started taking Pep to the community library. I love not driving and just staying local. Next year Pep will start her 3 year old Kinder session 2.5 hours on a Wednesday and she cannot wait! Spring is here and we cannot wait for Summer! and school holidays.... 7 weeks and counting! although lately the kids have been fighting ALOT so maybe I will change my mind 10 mins into them! WE do have lots of things planned though!

Cooper has nearly finished his first year of school. He LOVES school so much and cannot believe he will be in Grade one next year. His school concert was amazing and confirmed yet again why I chose this environment for him. I have a meeting in a few weeks to discuss things for next year as the class will be a 1/2 composite which will really suit Cooper. It has been really refreshing actually stepping back when having Woody and trusting the school.

We are all set up to go Trick or Treating tonight and the kids cannot wait!

The first week home.

2011-10-07T11:11:00.000+11:00

We have been a family of 5 for 2 weeks now. Home for a week.

Feels like a year not sure if that is a good or bad thing!

Woody is a very settled baby. He does not flinch when the kids scream, when Peps tantrums or when Cooper squishes his head that little bit firmly. He is feeding like a champion and is passed his birth weight now. He changes every day and each morning he looks different and more grown up and I am trying to cherish every second, being my last baby. " This is your last baby" pretty much every doctor mentioned in the hospital! and I totally agree.

Pepper has really settled after a week of being extremely attention seeking. She had a very special day out with Andrew to the movies and bowling and is a fantastic helper with Woody. She wants to hold and cuddle him often which is beautiful and she is so very caring.

Cooper is busy just doing 6 year old boy stuff and is busting to go back to school to see his friends and get learning again! He's also had some challenging behaviour but more to do with wanting to be busy which is the last thing on my list.

We have had many visitors and many meals and many gifts and I thank everyone for celebrating Woodys arrival with our family.

Thankyou to Nana Jill, Nanny Liz, Kristen and Ally for bringing us meals, food has been the best gift ever.

Today I am tired, I would say not as tired as those last few pregnancy weeks but just a little spaced out somewhat.

Woody fed last night at 10, 2, 4, 6, 8 and I hear him crying now for more milk! I feel so complete holding him and when I put him down I feel like a part of me is missing. I guess that is what happens when you carry someone in your tummy for 9 months.

Woodys arrival still seems like a blur and part of me still is a little traumatised but the most of me is just so thankful he's safe and well and developing beautifully so I will put those memories in a little place as I don't feel it is part of who he is today.

Elwood completes our family.

2011-09-30T15:46:00.000+10:00

What a week.

Elwood "Woody" joined our family on September 22nd at midday. He weighed in at 3.9kgs, 52cms long and a head cir. of 36. He was born by scheduled Csection at 39 weeks.

As I lay on the operating table I tried to relax wheras inside I was terrified. The spinal injection had taken a few goes and I was just feeling very anxious but knew that baby was okay as he was squirming around.

As they neared opening the uterus they said you would hear suctioning and baby cry as they lifted him up over the green curtain to meet us.

Suctioning.

A little cry.

No view of bubs.

He was rushed over to the resus cart where a Code Blue was called. He was really pale and sluggish but moving and noisy so I knew he was okay deep down.

Flashbacks.

Trauma.

Too much for Andrew leaving the room.

Too much for me as I lay there staring blanky at the hospital light above my head in shock. I felt numb, I felt no emotion I just felt invisible.

They explained baby was not breathing properly that something happened to his lung. Right there and then they pierced the side of his body with a needle to withdraw trapped air and then inserted a drainage tube to get the air coming.

Spontaneous Pneumothorax.

But why was he so white.

He was off to Nicu while I got stitched up. I did get one quick touch on his way out and thats when I started crying. It was real. It was me again and something had happened to my poor baby.

In recovery I just could not believe that this had happened and that I was going to have to go through the nicu experience again after thinking that could never happen to someone twice, it is too testing, I did not want to prove yet again how strong I am. I wanted to fall apart.

Tests results back in I had had a placental abruption a few weeks back apparently and slowly baby had been loosing blood as his HB levels were 60 and should have been up around the 150 mark.

I also had 20ml of his blood in my system which proved of this transfusion. The doctors said he would not have survived a vaginal delivery. They also said we were both lucky to be alive and to go and buy a lottery ticket.

Baby needed a blood transfusion right away.

I found Andrew back in my room still in shock but having called family to come in and support us.

Upon looking at Baby Elwood for the first time in special care I felt nothing. Numb again. Distant. I refused to get caught up in this again, it was too hard to do this again. The baby looked sick with all the cords monitoring everything but it was not my baby yet.

Day 3 I looked at "Woody" and cried and cried. He was mine, I was his. At least we understood what had happened. All his other tests were clear so we had no worries about his future just his present. I opened up his humidi crib and touched his hand. I wanted to climb in there and snuggle him, to be close to him, to smell him not that damn handwash!

Back on the ward I lay in bed listening to all the newborn babies cry. Mums with their bubs, feeding and rejoicing. I would do anything to be having sleepless nights, sore nipples and so much love for my baby. Instead I was on lots of painkillers and in and out of sleep not really remembering that I had given birth at all.

Heading home was the hardest. I sobbed and sobbed as I left my baby in the city and we headed back to the suburbs.

The next morning I got a phonecall that Woody was super stable and they had taken his tube out and that he was coping brilliantly. They said he was one of the very few babies they have had that only needed a bit of panadol for having a tube in his lung and that he was very resilient and strong.

I could room in with him. Hold him for the first time in 5 days and then take him home.

They took him out of his cot and started taken all his wires out. With that he got one finger under his NG tube and tugged it out as if he knew he would be on the boob from now. I cuddle him close as he latched on perfectly and fed for over 30 mins. Best moment since finding out I was pregnant.

Woody came home on Day 6 and is now 8 days old and our adventure begins............

At least I am not an elephant.

2011-09-20T07:56:00.000+10:00

I think if my Dad says "you're in the home stretch" once more I might scream! Granted he says this to make me feel better as I waddle around grunting and sighing and often in tears being so over the physical side of being pregnant.

So my bump is huge, well is seems huge but actually I am sure it was bigger with Cooper.

I am into my 39th week....it sounds crazy to be pregnant for that long but as my sister says " at least you are not an elephant with a 22 month gestation period". I might look like an elephant though!

Sleep is crappy, reflux is ripe and leg cramps have me screaming this is pregnancy reality for those of you that think it's such a wonderful natural beautiful thing 24/7.

I have been keeping most thoughts to myself as I have limited people who really understand what being pregnant and birthing is really like for someone who has a child with Athetoid CP as a result of things going pear shaped. Although I would never wish it on anyone I am so thankful for the handful of wonderful ladies that can really relate to the enormity of this experience. You know who you are so thank-you for all your support over my pregnancy x.

Basically I still call the baby "it". People keep chiming in with "he" "him" but I just can't do it. I know it sounds harsh and disconnected but this is what I am. This is why I cannot wait to meet a healthy baby and bond as the bonding for me starts at birth and not a second before.

I am really scared about having another Csection. I still don't really believe I have to do it but again as family says " it's a bit late now" " you should have really thought about that one!". I know people give birth every minute around the world, and I am not the first person to do this but I am still anxious.

I hate being out of control.

On a brighter note, Cooper had his first disco at school and was so excited leading up to it!
On the Friday morning he woke at 530am which is becoming standard wake up in our house lately as it's getting lighter and the birds are chirping. A full day at school then disco at 5pm, he was exhausted and the sound and the dark room made him anxious and sad so he wanted to come home. He is really sensitive to sound, always has been and his startle reflex is still not integrated so it was a little too much for him but I am thrilled he even tried it.

Thats the thing about Cooper, he tries everything and has such confidence in just being himself. I will be thinking of him when I have this baby to give me strength.

September! Spring has sprung.

2011-09-02T15:07:00.000+10:00

Springtime sunshine.

Snow White.

Diver Pepper

Santas Little Helper!

We have had a couple of weeks indoors. Pep has had croup and been generally tired and snotty so with the help of my Mum doing school drop offs Pep and I have been able to stay inside in the warm and be in Pj's! It's been a wonderful time as I am finding this last stage of pregnancy pretty tough on my body and seem to get every physical ailment at least once and the lack of sleep is not really helpful so naps during the day are wonderful!

Term 3 for school has 3 more weeks and then I cannot believe Cooper will be in Grade One next year. I remember this time last year filling out forms and having meetings and generally hyperventilating that I even had to think about this! It has been such a smooth transition thanks to wonderful staff especially his integration team and Cooper too. He has really matured this term and is working so very well with his 4 days a week schedule. He is sleeping beautifully and his general behaviour is wonderful.

Next term he has a swimming program through school and their annual school concert.

I have enrolled Pep in 3 year old Kinder next year just for one session of 2.5 hours and will have that confirmed in November, but she cannot wait! She is more than ready for some social stimulation and something that is just hers.

I now have a date for my Csection which really put my mind at ease. It made me realise this was really going to happen and trust that it will all be okay. It's just those few moments from when the spinal goes in to hearing a screaming baby that make me feel uneasy, the smell of that liquid handwash does not do my mind any good either.

The night I found out my date I had my first dream about the baby too which I was thrilled about as it shows a little bit of a connection that I did not know existed.

So I made a bed for the baby, have some clothes sorted, organised a bassinet and mattress, made some swaddle wraps and started sewing up burp cloths and little pants.

Next thing is to pack the hospital bag........and then it will really be happening!

Siblings and Duplo.

2011-08-23T08:48:00.000+10:00

Most of the time Cooper and Pepper adore each other. All of the time they stand up for each other. If I try and discipline either of them, the other one is there to jump in and tell me off.

The main argument in our house at the moment revolves around Duplo. Duplo is like lego but bigger and Cooper has gone from not even being able to pick up a piece to building bridges, castles, goals and gladiator stadiums.

The problem with it, the big box of it that should be sufficient for 10 children is the lack of long red pieces.....apparently they are all the rage when you are 3. It is also all the rage to take apart your brothers creations while he is at school then share that with him as soon as he walks in the door to create the reaction you really want! ( pouting, tears and general carry on)

I have thought about splitting up the Duplo into 2 boxes with 2 colours each but then thought that was ridiculous as they need to learn to share it, compromise and be happy.

The Duplo has also been known to spend a few nights outside in the cold on the deck when it has caused major trauma inside.

For the most part though I do love the stuff as I watch the kids create and at least there is no clean up like when we get the paints out.

Photo Update.

2011-08-18T16:54:00.000+10:00

I thought I would share some of my favourite pics taken over the last 2 months. I have not used my camera at all and seem to only use my Iphone which is a shame so I will endeavour to get out my SLR as soon as Spring is here!

Pep is now 3 and adores being snowwhite 6 days a week and a fairy when the dress is in the wash!

Best Friends, most of the time.

Winter play

Winter Thermals! and yes how we have needed these!

Short Winter break in Sorrento over July school holidays. Enchanted Maze garden.

Our family of 4 soon to be 5.......

Yes I did have a belly piercing in my youth and flat tummy days.....long long ago.

Sleep, scans and family.

2011-08-16T20:01:00.000+10:00

WiFi

I love it. After downloading some Where,s Wallys apps for the Ipad I thought I should blog now I have access to a keyboard that is bigger than my finger.

Life has been full on and as people keep telling me it is going to escalate.

sleep is my main issue at the minute or lack of it. I toss and turn and go to the loo and get woken up by my lungs being squashed and feeling like I am going to have some sort of heart attack.

Dramatic I know, but my 35 year old body is not holding up like it should!

so I am not sleeping but after. 6.5 years of waking 3 times a night Cooper has decided to sleep.
Last year we got some medicine prescribed for Coopers muscle spasms and it,s been sitting in the pantry as I have been too scared or proud even to use it, it is a valium derivitative. anyway bit the bullet and for 5 nights he had the medicine and was weaned down and no longer uses it. We are up to week 3 of sleeping all night. He also goes to bed without argument and falls alseep by himself and if he wakes in the night he apparently " thhinks about the next day and hugs biscuit his teddy". He comes in for a cuddle on Andrews alarm sounding.

honestly it is like a miracle.

Cooper is doing well at school this term. He is doing 4 days with the Wednesday off and it,s working great with him being less tired on his four full school days. He has a few issues with doing as he is told but that will come plus he has a way of being so charming that he gets away with pretty much everything.

We had a scan last week to check for the position of the placenta and the size of the baby. My funda height was measuring a month ahead but bub is just a week ahead and at 33 weeks was around 2.3 kgs and all perfectly healthy. placenta has also moved so no risk in cutting into that!

To be honest I have issues. Birth issues. have for over 6 years and will forever. but they are so much more intense as the birth of this baby nears......I think all my thoughts are normal, well my sort of normal,and I cannot wait to bond with this baby as I find it impossible too when I know what can go wrong at birth. I just need to hear a scream, to see pink and all will be okay.

Cooper asks most days how the baby is. He keeps asking me where the cord is and if the baby is safe. We talk alot about his birth and look at pics of babies in utero and it helps us both I think.

I have been in full swing nesting. All the cupboards are cleaned, rooms are done, baby has a bed and some clothes and the only thing that needs doing are the lawns and a garden tidy up.

Pepper is devine, stubborn and strong willed but devine! Last week she got her fairy wand and pointed it to Cooper " I wish you could walk".....came close to crying yet again as the week before Cooper has exoressed those same thoughts but then decided cake in the staffroom at school was a definate perk to needing extra assistance at school!

Pep insists on being snow white everyday. She dresses herself everyday and I adore her fashion combinations all pulled off while riding a pink scooter.

Oh and my belly is just fitting behind the steering wheel but wont be for long!

We are alive.....

2011-06-27T14:11:00.000+10:00

I finally have access to a computer, the thought of blogging from my phone was not ideal plus all my thoughts have been jumbled and I was finding it hard to even find time to collect them and write them.

Last blog post was in May.....it's the end of June.....

Surely something has happened in that time? well things have but for some reason I seem to have forgotten which also means nothing traumatic has happened too!

Been a slight blur and also might have to do with the fact that both my parents are travelling Europe as I type ( 3 weeks down 7 to go......) I have noticed a massive difference in my coping skills as far as I have to deal with everything without dropping a feral child to them or asking for support when we were all sick with colds. We have been coping well though and once again I have had my strength tested and survived! plus we have also managed to keep their cat alive so far......

My baby sister also left to travel to Wales in search of her Beau who also happens to be the proud Father of her unborn child. We think about her everyday and the kids miss her especially Pep who says " aunty will come home soon and give me a cuddle?"....

We spent Friday night out for dinner which was lovely. It was even more lovely as we shared dinner with Coopers main support teacher ( integration aide) and his Grade 6 buddy. Fantastic to be out in a different environment and learn more about these beautiful ladies who have fast become Coopers friends, educators and extended part of our family.
At one stage I turned to help Cooper with his dinner but his buddy had it all sorted as she supported his head and fed him pizza while they talked about their favourite tv shows. She understands all of Coopers speech now which is a blessing.

Pepper turned 3 yesterday and celebrated with a 4th and final celebration. We went to the movies to see Cars 2 as a family and we all enjoyed it. She shared a small party with 5 girlfriends during the week and dinners with her grandparents too.

The house seems to be overun with pink and Barbie and I have watched Barbie Swan Lake more times than I would like to recall! Pep gives a running commentary and insists that Daniels name is actually " Yourhighness".....

Cooper has 5 more days of school until 2 weeks Winter holidays! I for one cannot wait! He has had a wonderful second term at school and got a glowing report from all his teachers. His behaviour in all classes was excellent and he displays so many beautiful traits in the classroom that I am sure are lacking at home such as patience and maturity! He is very settled at schol and his teachers have really taken to the Ipad being introduced as an alternative tool spelling and assessing.

I am now 27 weeks pregnant and really feeling full of baby! I will have to have another scan at 34 weeks as my placenta is low lying in the front so they need to see where it is so when they do the cut it all goes smoothly. At this stage baby will arrive the last week of Term 3 around 39 weeks.
I feel lethargic alot of the time and could do with a Nana nap most days but usually am not allowed! With my body being older and having 2 children being pregnant with the third is lets say a very different experience!

Cooper also got his new powerchair which is amazing and has really opened up our world for family walks and outings. He is already very skilled and can easily join us in a walk up to the beach and it very safety concious around roads etc.

Pep has mastered her scooter and loves joining Cooper on an adventure.

We have a huge list of things to do around our house before bubs comes and we look forward to Springtime and some warmth in the mornings!

Painting the Wall.

2011-05-10T17:18:00.000+10:00

At the moment there is balance in our house. 2 Males. 2 Females. 2 Adults. 2 Children.

Then we have 6 chickens and they sort of throw the balance out a bit. Plus they are not even laying eggs so I am thinking of donating them to somewhere!

Then there is also the baby. The baby that has been called it for the last 16 or so weeks that we knew it existed.

Now that baby is 20 weeks and considered a baby, a real person I guess and should really have a new name other than "it".

Because I already have one boy and one girl I really had no preference for this third baby.

There are pros and cons to both. From my short experience I really think boys are easier to parent, they are simple, what you see is what you get. They are affectionate and caring and Mummys boys. I have learnt a lot from having a boy, namely learning all the names of different machines, learning all about guns and weapons and gaols. I have learnt to see that most of the time boys get over things quickly and are not as dramatic about things.

A Girl has taught me all about Barbie again and that there can be delight found in dancing and singing and skipping through the street. Girls can also be far more dramatic, they can stomp their feet at you and then act nice as pie! They are more complex and can pout and then the next moment have you in hysterics.

Having another girl I feel would be simple. Not simple to parent but simple as far as not having to deal with the emotions that will arise when having a boy. I have done the girl and coped so I would again.

In one moment I think I would like the challenge of experiencing those emotions parenting a neurotypical boy then the next minute I think I must be crazy ( I am after all a girl).

When we had our 20 week scan I was focussed on the gender slightly but most of all wanting this baby to be healthy. I live on the world where I have seen so much difference and that I know what really can happen out there.

The scan went well, the baby was perfectly healthy and I was told to go home and relax and enjoy.

I was thrilled. I was excited. I did not cry when I thought I would.

When we got home Pepper did cry. Cooper was still so excited.

It was not until Sunday night when I was lying in bed with Pep that I looked at her and realised she would always be my precious princess. I looked at Cooper and started crying realising that he would have to share the title of my favourite boy. I could not stop crying and I really thought out loud that I wanted another girl as I now really did not want to feel the way I was feeling right now.

I am scared this baby will look like Cooper at birth, well it will be alive and pink and loud but in looks. I am worried about comparisons and having that "what if" thrown in my face on occasion.

I really cannot even imagine having a little boy in my life that is abled bodied. I always find it so bizarre when I see boys at the playground or before school, they seem so foreign to me. Those ones that run around for no apparent reason, climb like little monkeys and seem to have their own language to communicate.

I am excited though to have a new life in my life. I am looking forward to parenting a child that will be different to my first two. I am excited for Cooper to have a brother, a mate, someone he can really be the older brother to. I am happy that Andrew will have a son that will be different to Cooper and Pepper.
I am excited Pepper will have a little sibling to entertain and that will laugh at her dancing moves!

At least we agree on a name as we were arguing about Girls names!

Oh and can you guess why Pep was crying. She came home and sat in her room for about an hour and then came out and was very quiet. We asked her if she was okay and what was wrong?

Her little lip started to quiver.

" I wanted a sister" she cried.

24 hours later she sparked up and stated with a smile " I will be the princess and I am having a little dubber".

School Holidays Week 2.

2011-04-30T08:31:00.000+10:00

The last week of the school holidays was more quiet and relaxed.

We moved the kids into a shared room ( our old study come washing room). They seem to really like sharing a room and we did a huge cull of toys and clothes.

Does a 2 year old girl really need 13 dresses? 25 tops? and when she prefers to run around "nickerless" does she need 50 pairs of undies? not to mention the shoes, leggings and the one Dorothy the Dinosaur Singlet she is obsessed with.

We enjoyed some Vietnamese Pho for lunch in Springvale.

We hunted for Easter Eggs on Easter sunday and enjoyed lunch with family.

On Easter Sunday the Easter bunny took away Peppers dummies. In return for handing over 5 she received her first Barbie Doll. It is the Barbie from the lastest movie "Fairy Secret" she carries it everywhere and role plays from the movie trying to save Ken.

Apart from the first night when she was like a drug addict going cold turkey she has been "very brave" and "no more dummies in my mouth". Her behaviour has actually been much better without the tantrums involved when I would not allow her to suck on her dummy 24/7.

On Monday we joined our local community to celebrate Anzac Day,

Cooper returned to school on Wednesday. He was very excited to be back. He managed 2 full days on Thursday and Friday and his body seems to be getting used to longer days and he's not so tired.

Only 8 more weeks till the July holidays! don't worry I will not wish the time away, Pep and I have joined a weekly library/art session which she loves and she will start ballet when she is 3.

Next we tackle the babies room which currently has a pink wall that may or may not have to be changed come next Friday.....

Waiting rooms, expectations and reality.

2011-04-21T10:35:00.000+10:00

Bare with me I expect this post to be a little bit of a ramble, go off on tangents but I need to write this down.

Yesterday I was in the situation yet again of wondering when, if at all Cooper birth will not be such a big part of who I am and who we are as a family as such.

I wonder if there will be a time when I don't feel the need to explain the reason why Cooper has CP. Will it ever be enough just to say yes he has CP and leave it at that? I always feel like I need to give more information, to explain it, to justify it and to justify why I am like I am and why I advocate so strongly for my child and family. To almost make people see what can happen and how far he has come.

I was sitting in the waiting room, rather large one at that, at the hospital yesterday. At 17w I had my first appointment at the Pregnancy clinic. The hospital is the largest one in the city so a good 1.5 hours drive from home. I was alone as I walked up towards the building where 3 years ago I had Pepper.

I started to feel a little anxious, I felt shaky and anxious and I realised how much I hate hospitals which is ironic seeing I visit them quite bit with Cooper just up the road at the RCH.

Anyway I am sitting in the waiting room, watching all these "Mums to be" ( there were no magazines and I don;t have an Iphone) so I was "forced" to people watch! I started wondering about these Mums all there with their own Mums or partners. It was obviously there first baby. They had that look in their eye and chatted like I used to. Full of hopes and dreams for their unborn child and full of naivety. I started to feel a bit sick.

I felt sad that I would never ever feel like that again. I felt sad that my thoughts regarding pregnancy and birth are not necessarily peachy. I wondered if any of them even knew that things can go so so wrong but change your life in ways you can never imagine?

I went in to see my midwife. She was lovely and I say this even after she had to weigh me. So the forms begun, past history all written down " Now tell me about your first birth"......Really? I have to rehash this again? do you want the whole story or just the condensed version? I sound like a robot with the words that come out of my mouth, so clinical and non emotive. Not like me at all but I guess my coping mechanism.

Then she asks about Peps birth and I smile and think about the little ratbag. I remember when she first came out and looked like a pixie gnome with her stand out twin dimples.

Such a contrast.

I wonder what this birth will be like?

The next appointment being the doctor they need to talk about birth options. I start to tune out somewhat even though he knows in my notes that I am choosing a Csection. He reminds me that I had a significant bleed after Pep........well I had no idea and honestly I would rather a big bleed than a lifelong disability.

I hear this babies heartbeat via the doppler and I am happy......I leave.

I walk out of the hospital , out into the rain and back to the car. I return in 4 weeks.

In between that time I have a scan booked. Amongst other things this scan will hopefully tell me the gender of this baby.

I don't want a surprise. I need to know exactly what this baby will be. I need to know if this baby will be another girl or another boy. I need to prepare myself for the fact that if a baby boy that looks like Cooper comes out breathing, pink and alive that I will not freak out. I need to be prepared for all different emotions.

I love the fact that at the end of this I will have a new baby in our family but I am well aware of the journey I must take, and the strength I must discover to really get to that point without falling apart.

School Holidays the first week.

2011-04-18T20:06:00.000+10:00

School holidays are here! We have loved week one and still have another week and a bit to go thanks to Easter and Anzac Day.

The school term ended really well with only one meltdown in the office at school and that was from me. Cooper loved German Karnivale day and his first PMP class.

We are loving not having to get up right on time and being able to relax!

We have been bowling for a friends birthday, where Cooper got the highest score and Pepper ran around like a mad thing!

WE have eaten lunch at the Pancake Parlour, which was more to do with me craving a lemon pancake then feeling the effects after eating one which is very unlike me!

Cooper spent Wedensday with Nanny seeing the King Tut exhibition in the city and loved it. He came back with all sorts of facts and has been reading his book most nights.

On Thursday and Friday we were so lucky to spend some time in the Yarra Valley in Healesville with some beautiful friends. Thankyou to Belinda and Rachel for sharing your time and families with us.

We all met on an online CP group and had a wonderful day at the Sanctuary.

The most positive thing to come out of living with CP would have to be the connections you make. There is nothing quite like sitting back when the kids are in bed ( well so we thought until Cooper showed his face at the mention of the word chocolate) and having conversations about our child's beginnings and life and actually "getting it" and being "got". Rach I am honestly so lucky to have met you and cannot wait to see how Miss G develops and cannot wait to see her on the above jumping pillow at 6!

Back at the cottage the kids got to have a Quadbike ride and feed Alpaccas and Horses too!

Saturday we ventured down to Toora and enjoyed a family friends birthday and a night in the country.

G'day Mate.

Back at home we have spent time in the Sunshine with our new cubby thanks to Emma.

The kids have been playing shops where Cooper sells muffins and milkshakes.

Cooper seems to be pulling up to stand on almost everything these days.

Pepper went to see Hi5 in concert with Nanny and Cooper and I went to the movies. We saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, apparently it was heaps better and funnier than the first according to Cooper who was in hysterics most of the ay through it. Pepper has been dancing most of the night and singing.

I almost forgot that Cooper even went to school, I am kind of wishing he was still at Kinder....or actually only 3 for that matter! time is just flying, Pep is 3 soon, I am 35 next week and I just got my first big kick from this bub at 17 weeks pregnant x.

" Poor thing"

2011-03-26T08:55:00.000+11:00

Over the last 6 years I have had my fair share of ridiculous comments regarding disability and Cooper.

I honestly try to look at these opportunities as a way of educating people and most of the time it works out very positively. Lives are changed often in small ways sometimes in huge ways.

I honestly think this plays a huge role in the fact that Cooper is so comfortable with who he is and understands his disability beautifully.

The comment I am still amazed at is " oh the poor thing".

I can almost understand it as a comment when they learn that Cooper has Cerebral Palsy due to a birth injury, but as an initial response on seeing him I just don't get it. The first thing they say?

How can people really think that upon seeing him?

He gets out of the car with support and transfers to his walker and proceeds to race as fast as he can from point A to B. Then they say " Oh the poor thing".

Really?

Is this what people initially see? Do they just see a walker and a child doing something different and feel sorry for him?

They have no idea how long it has taken to get him to this point in life, to be even able to stand and walk with the support of his walker. They assume that being in a walker is worse case scenario.

"poor thing".........

They do not realise that this "poor thing" has travelled more than most in his 6 years of life and explored parts of SE Asia many only dream of.
Do they even realise he has such a big heart and compassion that he raised $15,000 for a new Kinder in Cambodia.
Have they seen his face light up as her enters school for the day met by the smiles of so many new friends?
Do they even get to see the snuggles and kisses he showers his little sister with each day saying " Pep is the best sister ever".
Do they know at night as he hugs me tight he whispers " I love you with the whole of my heart Mummy".
Do they know how much he makes us all laugh?
Do they know he is part of such a wonderful family?

So next time you see someone using a walker or a wheelchair, please see beyond the equipment, please don't feel sorry for them, they do not feel sorry for themselves and their life is no doubt so much more rich than what you can ever imagine.

Party of 5.

2011-03-19T11:55:00.000+11:00

I have been very busy over the last couple of months. Not necessarily on the outside more-so on the inside.

Growing a baby is exhausting work. I cannot believe that something that is now 13 weeks old and around 8cms long can make someone so sick for the last 10 weeks. Something like a jellybean can have me visiting the bathroom too many times a day with my precious daughter rubbing my back saying "you sick again Mummy" " you gonna throw up".

I have spewed in too many places to even recall but the highlights would have to a be a friends backyard, my own backyard, the Prep toilets at school, and numerous shopping centre toilets.

I have always wanted 3 or 4 children, back when I was younger. After having Coops it took me a long while to have the courage again to trust my body and the medical world to even bring another baby into our family. Having Pep in our life was one of the best and hardest things I ever did initially.

Before Christmas and after we calmed down from our Cambodia adventure I had that moment that made me realise that is 5 years time I wanted to have 3 kids and I would have to bite the bullet soon! I was driving the car and looked in the rear vision mirror and felt a twinge of sadness that the middle spot was spare. Come the last week of September the back seat will be full.

Being pregnant with 2 children already is much different and harder than when I was just pregnant with Cooper. Two children demand more, expect more, need to be taken to school and play dates even when you feel like sleeping while standing up.

I have found comfort in Rice crackers, cheese and cordial my usual vices of coffee, chocolate, milk and sweets make my stomach turn. I cannot get enough of oranges, apples and grapes. Anything more than a few bites is enough though.

There is also part of me the more selfish part that craves the normality that a newborn baby brings. The type of newborn baby that is pink and that screams. I have such beautiful memories of Pepper entering this world that I want that again. I want to relish in the joys of typical development, I want both my children to have another sibling to love and to annoy.

I am thankful that I can return to the same hospital where I had Pep so it is somewhere familiar with a great team of caregivers who have my history and that are supportive in such a journey after the traumatic birth of my precious son.

So for the next 6 months I will treasure this precious life that is growing and not think too much about how on earth I am ever going to get 3 kids out the door for school drop off by 8.30am.........oh and yes being on that Tassie boat was rather exciting when we hit some rough seas.....lets add that bathroom to my list.

Tassie-Day 2- Richmond and Huonville.

2011-03-13T14:55:00.000+11:00

Our second day in Tassie saw us explore the historic town of Richmond. It is a beautiful old town with sandstone buildings, old fashioned lolly shops and an old gaol.

We all know how obsessed with the law Cooper is so he was so excited to discover we would be visiting a real gaol.

Upon entering it Cooper actually got really scared and wanted to go out! The lady at the front did mention ghosts and Andrew did see an outline of a face on a wall in the mens area.

This part of the gaol was where the prisoners slept. Hard wooden floors with old hesian sacks.

It was really informative to our convict past. There were alot of pictures and stories of people who had been locked up and a wonderfully creepy feeling while walking a small corridors.

It cost $12 for a family entry and is entirely inaccessible up and down old steps and old floors and sandstone worn pavers.

A solitary confinement cell with shackles.

Outside the gaol is a beautiful native garden that is great for kids to run around after being locked up in gaol.

We then drove towards Huonville and explored this region. It is famous for it's apples! Prior to that it was famous for beautiful Huon Pine but they all got chopped down to make way for the apple orchards. On the side of the road fresh apples for $3 a 2kg bag and they were devine! We still have some at home as it was fine to bring them back across the Tasman.
After imagining a lovely cabin on the riverside we gave up after being knocked back from 3 B&B's for having 2 children and stayed the night in Hobart. We were all exhausted from driving and arguing- a typical family holiday!

Day 3- Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

From the Mainland- Part One.

2011-03-10T19:49:00.000+11:00

We spent a mini break of 4 days in Tasmania. Cooper was lucky enough to get this holiday as a combined Christmas and Birthday present from Nana Jill and Grandpa Doug.

To get to Tasmania from Melbourne we sailed on the Spirit of Tasmania. The crossing takes around 12 hours.

In Melbourne we left from Station Pier. Check in opens 2.5 hours before you sail and most of that time is spent in your car in a queue from point to point. I think we were in line for about 1.5 hours so it's a great idea to have things to keep the kids amused especially since it was 9pm and dark so we watched some Ipad movies and talked a a lot about everything we could see on the docks.

The ship has around 250 cabins. We had a 4 berth porthole cabin. There are wheelchair accessible cabins available too.

The kids were very very excited to be sleeping on a boat. We took a tour around the boat and enjoyed a after dinner drink in the lounge area. There is a cinema on board too. Small kids play area, games room, couple of bars and restaurants, gift shop and pokies. We finally fell asleep to the rock of the boat around 11pm.
We sailed in around 7.30am and the process of departing the ship was very fluid. Once in your car you must go through Quarantine as you cannot bring in any fruit or vegies but you can bring whatever you like back into Melbourne.

Arriving in Devonport we decided to drive to Deloraine for breakfast. It was around 830am on a Saturday and very very quiet. Things don't really get moving here till a bit later! We had breakfast at a bakery in Westbury called Andys as it was the only place open.

We continued driving down towards Hobart. This is the capital city and around 270kms from where the ship docks.

We spent the mid morning at the Salamanca Markets. It was such a vibrant market selling fresh fruit and food, art works, wooden products and such a variety of buskers.
We had the most amazing icecream ever. Cooper chose chocolate mint that was made with real fresh mint. Pepper had strawberry which was so so fresh and delicious! We shared lunch on the lawn and sampled many types of beautiful foods.

We headed towards Richmond to find a place to sleep for the night.

This is the Richmond bridge built in 1825 and the oldest bridge in Australia.

We found a caravan and cabin park about 1km from town. Cabins were $90 a night with sleeping for 6 and a bathroom. Pretty basic but lovely rural setting. Weather was really chilly in the mornings but sunny during the day.

We walked around the park to explore. Having driven the car over it was wonderful to have access to both Coopers walker and wheelchair.

There was a tunnel to play in too.

There was a playground and lots of space for running which is essential after being in the car most of the day!
We set off the next morning to explore Richmond.

Coopers school speech.

2011-02-25T07:14:00.000+11:00

" Mrs Carmichael is the Vice Principal of Carrum Primary. She is also the Grade 5 and 6 teacher.
Everyone at Carrum loves her. She is really friendly.
The other teachers are Mr B, Mrs Hogan, Mrs Hodges, Mrs Dudley and Julie who is really Mrs Shaw"

After Cooper did his homework on Wednesday night he asked me to write a speech for him.

He said the above speech word for word and I copied it onto his homework sheet.

He then decided " I want to say this speech at assembly".

My stomach just dropped! Really? Assembly? 300 children, all the teaching staff and all the parents???

I was not concerned about him having the confidence to get up there I was more concerned about the reaction to his actual speaking voice as such.

Thursday morning came about and the first thing Cooper mentions at school is his speech.

As luck would have it, Mrs Carmichael was going to be away on Friday school assembly but organised for Cooper to come down to the 5/6 mini assembly with the strong support of Coopers integration aide.

Apparently he walked down there to the room with around 60 grade 5/6's and 5 teachers. He stood out the front and said his speech. He received a standing ovation and a special ribbon from his buddy.

He was so proud when I picked him up and just acted like this is the norm.

He honestly has no fear this kid. He has no idea that lots of Preps would be terrified of talking to the big kids. He just thinks "why not"? He moves around the school with an air of confidence and has so many kids saying hello to him then turns to me and says " I don't even know that person! "with a huge grin on his face.

Well I guess after 6 years of being treated like some sort of King you start to really believe it.

Yesterday was a good day for Cooper. The kids in his class were so excited as he had "found his voice". Cooper was angry as " I have always had my voice", but what they meant was that they were understanding his clear words and efforts.

This and That.

2011-02-21T11:29:00.001+11:00

2 weeks of school completed only a zillion more to go.

Will I ever get used to making packed lunches each day? Collecting and filling out notices? remembering who teaches what and when I am allowed into the classroom?

Cooper had his first full day of school on Friday. I expected to pick him up and for him to be collapsed on the floor. Not the case at all, full of beans, running around and stayed up until 8.30pm that night and woke at 6am on Saturday!

Cooper is really loving school. He loves the social aspect of it most I think. He knows all the teachers, all the classrooms and who belongs where. He tells me in detail who does what during the day and is a great secret agent for reporting back on quality of teachings!

He loves PE with Mr B and I loved watching Cooper in the class and how naturally inclusive the teaching was. " It's time for everyone to run...oh and "move" around the hall". For a kid who the whole year at Kinder refused to participate in any mat times it was beautiful to see Cooper follow all the instructions so well and pretend to be a dinosaur, a rock-star and a baby while playing statues.

He is already so confident and feels so safe as I judge this on the fact that he threw a wobbly when asked to do something he did not want to do! He wanted it to be drawing time when it was writing time.

On the weekend we did a lot of this.

Sunday was a wet and windy day which was perfect for resting after breakfast with Uncle Steve.

While Cooper is at school and it's just Pepper and I she does this within a matter on minutes: She then looks in her room and states that it looks "horrible" and proceeds to tidy it up in her own way.

Best to get her out of the house for a milkshake!

Pep and I are loving some full days together. It is the longest time I have ever been away from Cooper and we are still finding our feet a bit.

We will start Library on Thursday and she is desperately counting down the days till she is 3 so she can start Ballet class.

She spends a lot of the day drawing, playing dress-ups, playing with her dolls and basically moving stuff from one room to another via one of the 4 prams she has.

I just adore watching her develop into a beautiful yet feisty little lady.

School.

2011-02-08T18:11:00.000+11:00

The first day has been and gone. So has the second. Preps have Wednesday off so I have declared it a PJ day!

The first morning I had to wake all 3 people up in the house at 7am. It gave us plenty of time to enjoy breakfast together, Cooper to open some presents and make sure lunches were packed and uniform was in order.

On arrival at school it was such a great buzz. All the new preppies looking so big in their uniforms and others with their school dresses swimming on them. There are 64 Preps this year, Cooper has 22 in his class.

The children were all welcomed and made their way to their classrooms. It was chaos. There were tears from toddlers, tears from Preppies and parents realising that their babies could actually get their own lunch-boxes and drink bottled out without any help as much as the Mums wanted to do it for them.

All week parents are welcome to stay and play for a bit but next week it's into full on learning structure as such so that will hopefully make the classroom more settled without parents hanging around!

Cooper started off playing with the blocks on the floor with 3 other kids and made a police station. It was lovely to see the natural interactions and the extended hold of a block from a peer so Cooper had time to grasp it. We kissed him goodbye and with a thumbs up and a See Ya he made that separation. The separation he was more than ready for.

Cooper is starting off doing 4.5 hours a day and I pick him up just before lunch. It is working well and we will stick with this for a while as even at 1pm he is exhausted and the behaviour is less than ideal when muscles are tired and speech is really hard to deciper.

Coopers teachers have praised his ability to listen and concentrate which really stands out when you watch some of the just 5's attention flit around the room when needing to focus.

His teachers have been really honest with him and his communication frustrations have eased with them explaining that they are trying really hard to learn his words and concentrate and use his PODD book too but it takes some time and he is happy with that.

They were a little concerned today that Cooper was distressed in the sandpit at morning tea. They thought it was him being mis-understood but as it turned out he was annoyed that the grade 2 kids did not want to join their dug hole into his and make a tunnel. He said they understood but did not want to do it and hence some tears. So just normal behaviour. I guess over time people will learn that Coopers normal looks a little different I guess and that his movements and muscles act very dramatically and do not necessarily match the emotion well.

He spent time on the farm today and collected beans and said Hello to the chickens. He is navigating the yard well in his walker too. He also got chosen twice today for being a new special friend of different peers who I could have kissed! He also has a harem of Grade 1 girls too so he is very settled.

He learnt some German words yesterday and is trying really hard at everything he does in the classroom.

Glowing reports. I could not be more proud.

Turning 6, school and new and old beginnings

2011-02-04T07:21:00.000+11:00

Less than a couple of days and Cooper starts school. Big school. Real School. Mainstream Primary school.

Whichever way you say it, I still cannot really believe it.

Part of me is having many normal first time Mum kind of feelings I suspect. I feel anxious, I feel teary, I feel like I am letting go control, I feel I am letting go of my precious first born. I feel uncertain that I really have to make lunches everyday and even get up on time and out the door by 8.15am....

Mostly though I am really in awe.

I am actually excited to start this journey, and for Cooper to be starting it.

The fact that it falls on the day he also turns 6 is truly amazing.

Six years ago, Cooper was born at 9.15pm.

I am certain no one in that room ever thought he would go to school, hell no-one thought he would live for the next 24 hours.

No-one thought he would even grow up. Well he is grown up enough to be off to school. He is also insightful enough to tell me " Mum just ignore those other Mums who are crying on the first day, don't pay any attention to them, I will be fine"

He will sit with his peers and eat snack. No Lady on discharge from hospital, he will not be eating through a tube for the rest of his life.

He will walk into his classroom with his peers in his walker. No he will not be dead or bed ridden Doctors.

He will enjoy all aspects of learning and not " just music as these kids love music" ( thanks nicu nurse for boxing my kid into the label)

He will thrive and learn and make friendships and be way way more than anyone ever ever expected or even imagined and you know what? everyone thinks he will learn so much in this environment and yes he will but honestly it will be everyone else that is truly educated and blessed.

Cooper I am so very proud of you and adore you so so much. Deep down I really hope I believed this day would come. Daddy always did. I am just so glad you showed me that you can do anything and now I believe you will.

I do however have to have a chat with you about perving on girls in bikinis as it's highly inappropriate for such a distinguished young man!

Parenting.

2011-01-22T13:30:00.000+11:00

Parenting is a really amazing journey. I try and look at my journey as being very special and unique as often it feels like I am two different Mothers because my children are different and when it comes down to it, it is the disabiilty that changes things dramatically. I guess it also differs being boy/girl and also sibling placement but mainly the big differences lie in the fact that a physcial disability really makes you see life differently and therefore you are forced to parent differently and I often think parent better the second time around.

For example making dinner. A few days ago Pepper and I made Dhal. We used Potatoes from Poppys garden, tomatoes from our garden along with chickpeas, spices, rice and roti. It was delicious and the process was even more delicious than the taste.

It was just easy and often with a physical disability things are hard. Sometimes I don't want the food all over the floor because muscles cannot control it. Sometimes I want the conversation to just flow and be easy rather than having to concentrate so hard all the time to understand words like Turmeric and Dhal. Sometimes I just like being able to freely move around the kitchen and know that my child is safe and can be left on a chair without tone kicking in to put them off balance.

The final result was some amazing Dhal, served with rice and roti. With the left over rice we made creamy rice pudding too.

I mainly just enjoyed my time with Pep. I am not saying one experience is better than another I am just saying that I enjoyed it. It was easy, it was fun and I got to be a "normal" parent for the duration, and that my friends is something everyone should treasure.

Dear Teacher.

2011-01-19T10:15:00.000+11:00

Dear Teachers and staff at Primary School,

Hi there My name is Cooper and I am starting Prep this year.

I am very excited to be starting school.

I am really looking forward especially to German class and learning anything about Science. I love seeing how things work and why they work and who invented them. I have an amazing imagination and am full of so many creative ideas. I also love beign outdoors and learning about how a farm works.

When you first see me lots of people see my walker, or my wheelchair before they really see me. I know it stands out and is a bit different to what you may be used to. I am so use to it , it is part of me, always has been and always will be, to me it is normal. I need you to see past my equipment that helps my body and look into my bright, happy eyes and see the real me. It might take a little bit of time to see past my label as such but when you do things only change for the better.

I have had Cerebral Palsy ( Athetoid Quadriplegia) since I was born. When I was being born the cord wrapped so tightly around my neck, arms and body that I lost oxygen to my brain and it got really hurt and damaged. The part that controls all the movement in my body was damaged so all the messages to my muscles are so mixed up. My tone is all over the place going from high to low and my movements can be jerky, especially when I am excited.

My speech is the most noticeable of being different. The mouth and tongue and voice are all controlled by muscles and co-ordination which makes it so very hard for me to get clear concise sounds.
In my mind my voice and words are clear they just don't come out that way.
Please listen to my words carefully. Please wait for me to answer your questions in my own time. Even if you feel a little uncomfortable with some silence please do not answer for me or pretend you know what I said if you do not. I know my voice is different and I will try many different ways to get you to undestand what I have said. I do use many gestures and signs as well as words to get my message across.
I am also starting to use electronic communication devices that we can all learn together. I have many many things to say, my thoughts and ideas are very important I just need patience and time to be heard and understood. Most of all please do not talk to me like I am a baby, it really annoys me and I do not respond well to this and will most often ignore that person that does this. I am 6 years old.

In the classroom I love structure and order. I like knowing what to expect and what comes next. I really dislike loud girly squealing and become very distressed. My body has not learnt to integrate the startle reflex as yet so I do jump at any sudden sounds. If I know it's coming then I deal with it much better.

Often I might look at though I am a little bit dreamy but I am taking everything in. I can come home and relay the whole day easily to my family, it might just take me a while to participate in group discussions at school and I work much better in smaller groups.

I love eating! I love any types of food and I love trying foods from new cultures. Eating and drinking are a little harder for me as it involves so many muscles so I tend to dribble alot and need reminding to chew my food in order not to gag. I will mainly have small finger food so I can eat as independently as possible.

My muscles are moving all the time and the effort it takes my body to do controlled movememts is huge, so I tire very easily. I sometimes just need to have a little rest then get back into it. When I am tired my speech is very hard to understand so I use many gestures and I also get very emotional. I will be easing into the school day and starting with half days until my body gets used to it.

I am really happy to be starting school, I am so keen to learn and make many new friends. My Mum will no doubt get a little emotional in the first day as this is a big step for her but I have told her not to cry too much and that I will be fine!

I am looking forward to meeting you all in a few weeks.

Love Cooper.

Rice Paper Rolls and Custard.

2011-01-13T18:59:00.001+11:00

Tonight we made Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls for dinner.

Ingredients:

grated carrot
Egg ( beaten and cooked and rolled)
Beef strips ( eye fillet)
Dill
Mint ( from the garden)
minced chicken fried with shallots.
vermicelli noodles ( cooked for 2 mins then cold water on top to cool)
Homemade dipping sauce ( rice wine vinegar, chilli and crushed cashews)
Rice paper- warm water to gently wet.

The kids loved eating what they had made.

I found a recipe to use those egg yolks I always seem to have after using the whites for pavlovas too.

Coconut Custard with Lemon.

1 C coconut milk
1 C cream
4 egg yolks
4 TBL caster sugar.'
1tsp lemon or lime rind

Whisk all ingredients ( stir in lemon or lime rind now) and pour into 4 ramekins/small bowls.

Pop into a steamer for approx 8 minutes. Set in fridge. These were awesome!

Before dinner when the rains came the kids did this:

Cooper then exclaimed " Pepper is the best sister ever, I love her so much" funny that he judges fun by being really silly and playing in the rain and pouring water all over eachother.

And something from the garden that I will use tomorrow for lunch.

Hope you enjoy your night x

Swimming

2011-01-13T14:02:00.000+11:00

Our Summer here in Melbourne has been mainly cold really then really wet and humid so minimal days for beach and water.

Luckily for us our neighbours went away to Ireland for 2 months and with the help of our other neighbours we got access to a pool.

All wet suited up- the water is freezing!

Pep is not especially keen on cold water. She like to dip her feet in and pretend the steps to the pool are those of the Diamond Castle with her being Barbie of course.

Cooper and Holly boat surfing!

Cooper can now swim with only a ring on him. He actually can stay afloat without his body wobbling off to one side or his head going facefirst into water. He can propel himself and actually get somewhere. This is huge for Cooper and gives him so much freedom and great practise in using his left and right sides separately.

It was lovely to have a few swims in the pool and moreso hear the girls giggle across the fence xx The neighbours are back now so back to the clam shell we go!

Lorne

2011-01-11T15:29:00.001+11:00

We spent the weekend in Lorne. Lorne is along the Great Ocean Road and around 2.5 hours from our place. On Saturday morning it looked like this.

Saturday afternoon it looked more like this. Around 30,000 people come to Lorne for the day for the Pier to Pub swim. It has a frenetic vibe and the calm after the storm is beautiful when all the people have gone and the beach puts ont he most amazing sunset you could imagine. Pink across the beach sky and bright yellow across the hills. ( trust me even though my camera battery died as I was pointing my camera towards the magic)

Andrew swam a good swim with minimal preparation alongside his Father and Brother. I did not swim. I seriously feared that my lack of preparation would end me up in hospital ( then again at least it would be free and maybe I would get sleep?)

Cooper and Pepper passed out as the race started.

Cooper had a fever most of the weekend so was dosed up on Nurofen. His little body cannot handle late night and big days after his Pnemonia.I know fevers are meant to be good, a sign of fighting infection but with the his Peads voice in my head " do not let him get a temp due to him having a seizure" I sort of freak out somewhat.

Uncle Steve and Pep ready for the bumper boat ride! Little did they know they would get saturated! We are really looking forward to seeing more of Uncle Steve now that he is based in Melbourne for the next 3 months.

Cooper and Andrew v's Steve and Pep. Bumper boats ar $8 each for 10-15 mins. On the foreshore.

Night walk across the swing bridge with Nana and Gramps. All other family members were "celebrating" at the packed Lorne Pub.

After the Mountain to Surf 8km walk and the 1.2km swim Grandpa still had to chase Pep down the track!

We were on vampire watch acccording to Cooper.

In the morning we took a walk down the street. I love these statues especially when Pep was calling them Mummy and Pepper!

On the foreshore there are around 20 in-ground trampolines. $5 for 10 minutes and Pepper had the best time! Thankyou to the beautiful Amber for her most darling strawberry dress that she received as part of a Aussie/Us craft swap xo( we finally had some sunshine to wear it!)

Driving home best friends.

This blog post is also part of 2011 so far..thanks to Lou.

3 big boys off to school and motherly chats.

2011-01-07T15:34:00.000+11:00

I am truly lucky to have spent the day with friends on Wednesday. While Baby A ( above) slept and the children played the 3 adults actually got to finish a conversation!

You see these friendships are truly amazing really and it is our first born sons who have brought us together.

Our first born sons who are all starting school this year, who are 6 or nearly so and all happen to have a physical disabilty under the CP umbrella term.

We all met because of our sons almost 3 years ago.

It is really great to be able to sit and talk with people who raelly get it. It's a given you do not have to divulge every piece about your life mainly because we have already shared it in person, via email, via FB and in blogland.
We can sit and openly chat about "normal" parenting but also know that there are extra adventures that we have faced and will face.

All our big boys are off to school this year. All our boys are heading off to mainstream school and all fingers crossed will have full time assistance for perfect inlcusion.

I often have small moments in time that I wish Cooper did not have CP and sometimes when looking at pics of his birth wonder if it's all a dream and I will wake up oneday soon. Then I have these friendships that would have never even existed if I had not been thrown onto this rollercoaster and for that I am blessed.

Springvale -Vietnam in Melbourne.

2011-01-06T10:28:00.000+11:00

Springvale is my favourite place to go when I need some culture and some amazing fresh fruit, vegies and meat. I used to work in this area and had some wonderful experiences here. I had friends at work who knew the ins and outs of the best places to eat, drink and shop. It also is very special to me after spending some time facilitating new parent groups for the Vietnamese famillies in the area. Springvale is a Melbourne suburb on the train line to the city. It is a 30 min drive from our place.

After buying all our fruit, vegies and meat we headed to springvale central to get a cool drink.
If you ever need to be awake for a whole day and I mean really awake go get a Vietnamese ice milk coffee.
It is the best drink in the world. I love a drink with condensed milk as a main ingredient.

Cooper and Pepper discovered a bubble tea with lychee syrup and gave it the thumbs up!

Poppy and Pepper enjoying their Pho.

Garnishes to add to your pho, Mint, chilli and beansprouts.

A while ago we discovered a wonderful little restaurant that serves the most delicious Pho. I love the simplicity of the menu and the fact it is still written in Vietnamese. We chose a chicken and a beef pho.
It is just devine. So fresh and really really tastes like the pho we enjoyed in Vietman nearly 2 years ago.

There are great shops for appliance shopping too! If you need a rice cooker this is the place to go! There is everything you need to encourage your inner Poh or Luke.

This is Cooper sitting crossed leg( which is amazing within itself!) but just like Luke Nguyen ,cooking Vietnamese Indonesian Pho on a Bbq. ( that reminds me check out sbs tonight for Luke going to Sapa! amazing)

With all this at our doorstep do I really need to travel overseas?

well yes it just increases my thrist for travel even more!

thankyou to Nanny and Poppy for coming with us!

Emerald Lake Park Model Railway.

2011-01-04T08:56:00.000+11:00

Over the long weekend we took full advantage of Andrew being at home, the sunshine and the relaxing time before the school year starts.

We travelled up into the Dandenong Ranges to Emerald Park Lake. It is about a 45 minute drive from us via the freeway and always such a beautiful scenic trip.

Cooper travels beautifully in the car, he gets a little motion sick but is happy to play eye spy and chat. Pepper on the other hand takes off her seatbelt a million times and her shoes and socks are almost always on the floor within the first 5 minutes.

Emerald Lake is where Puffing Billy end sup after leaving
Belgrave and is beautiful with all the trees, lake, birds and more trees.

We stopped for a picnic lunch and watched some beautiful Rosellas finish off dropped biscuits.

After reading Dales adventures to the Model Railway we just had to check it out.

Cooper loved playing the I spy lists and finding all the hidden features. There were a few buttons to press that made a ferris wheel go around, motor cross riders ride, haunted house light up at kid level.

It is all fenced in with a pathway around it. The track itself is quite high so you need to lift your little short kids up to see it the whole way.

There is ramp acess to the building and easy access around the track.

Cooper could have stayed for a long time but Pepper was racing around wanting to "go outside" so I would think over 3's would be better suited for this adventure.

On the way home we stopped in at the local Op shop.

It was hidden in a little church amongst the trees.

When we walked in the staff smiled and offered us a coffee and a biscuit. It was almost like stepping back in time.

The best buy of the morning for $2 was a wooden doctors kit for Pepper which she and Cooper have been playing with all morning.

We spent the afternoon cleaning out our bungalow and shed. We planted 2 vegie plots and now have a huge load to take to the tip and enough for a market stall in the next few weeks.

Sand Sculptures

2011-01-03T19:49:00.000+11:00

We visited the Sandsculptures yesterday.

They are held each year at the Franskton waterfront from Dec through to April.

This year the theme was Creepy Crawlies!

We went with our friends from across the street.

There was free facepainting.

You could also make Sand pictures and Sand glass jars.

Peppy and her friend Espy.

It was amazing to see the sculptures and the time and effort that has been going into them over the last few months.

It is an accessible venue with wide open paths.

It was a little squishy in the sand art part though but tables at kids height which was great.

Great venue for talking a walk down the pier afterwards, visiting the foreshore park or having a picnic.

2011

2011-01-01T18:30:00.000+11:00

Down the beach New Years Eve. Sun, Fun, Food.

Early night by all and up bright and early to welcome 2011.

Outdoor Summer Dinner.

What a year we had and what a year this one will be. Cooper is off to school, such a big milestone as we enter a new phase in all of our lives..

I will remember 2010 for:

We discovered and explored Malaysia and Cambodia with a side trip to Bangkok!
Cooper and Pepper started using the toilet and we only have nappies at night for Pep.
We started building an ensuite and WIR to our bedroom......still working on that one!
Cooper walked 1 kilometre in his walker.
Pepper started talking in big sentences and now does not stop.
We had a hospital admission the first in 5 years since Cooper was born.
Cooper finished 4 year old Kinder.
We turned our backyard into a little farm with 6 chickens and 3 vegie plots.

May 2011 be a year of good health, mimimal loss ( other than chocoloate weight) and many many gains. ( I am hinting for a family wedding and a family new bub here please!) I would love to add in " an overseas trip".......but I will just stick to the wonderful gift from Nana Jill a short trip to Tasmania to give us a little taste of going "overseas".

Cherry Farm and Rye Carnival.

2010-12-29T13:00:00.000+11:00

After 2 big days for Christmas and Boxing Day we decided to head down the Peninsula to explore the fruit picking season.

We had planned on going to the Strawberry Farm. This farm is around 40 mins from home with a beautiful drive along the Hwy through Red Hill.

When we arrived all the carparks and road were full and strawberry picking was cancelled as all the strawberries had been picked!

We stayed long enough for some tourists to photograph Pepper on arrival and headed off for a different type of fruit find!

The Cherry Farm is in Red Hill, just behind the Oval where the craft market takes place. It is down a oneway dirt road with ample parking often on muddy ground.

You enter the farm through the bed shed even though the property is on either side of the road.
Entry is $10 for adults and $8.50 for over 5's. This includes as many cherries you can eat while wandering the beautiful grounds. You can take a bucket and at the end pay for the cherries in that bucket at $10 a kilo. ( please do not just pick 3 kilos and then say you do not want them! as the owners get pretty annoyed at the wastage)

Accessibilty is pretty poor as it's on a steep hill but I also think when Cooper gets his powerchair it would be great fun zooming down the rows of trees to the bottom of the property. The strawberry farm is much more flat and open even though a few steps to get to the actual picking.

We loved the cherry farm, walking in the sunshine and picking our own fruit. Both kids could reach up and grab a snack and it was a wonderful afternoon discovering where cherries come from.

We then headed down towards the beach to Rye.

Each year after Christmas and to New Year there is a carnival on the Rye Foreshore. Cooper had spotted it on Christmas day after driving home from Portsea.

It has a real old fashion feel to it and many familes had taken the opportunity to spend time together after such a beautiful sunny day.

The carnival opens at 6pm till 10pm. There are half price happy hour rides from 6-7pm. After paying $1 a ride in Cambodia I nearly fell over when rides ranged from $4-10 per person.

It was the first time Cooper was able to access rides independently and he loved the speed and fun of the Swing, Ferris Wheel and Lady bug. The whole time Pep was on her rides she just kept repeating " I stay on longer, another turn, I not get off!".

We enjoyed dinner in the beer garden of the Rye Hotel and headed back home after dark.

Settling back in...

2010-12-21T14:17:00.000+11:00

We are slowly but surely settling back into home after being home for 3 weeks. Cooper is still not back to his normal self but is getting their slowly. He had high temps for 3 days, a possible moving molar and is basically just really tired. He did use his walker yesterday though and is gaining some strength back in his body to hoon around as he used to.

I really hope all my Christmas baking will fatten Cooper up a bit as he devours gingerbread men, friands and butter biscuits.

Cooper finished up Kinder and is now off to school in 2011. Cooper will be attending a mainstream public school that has around 300 children. It is about 3kms from home and we will need to drive as we have a trailer load of equipment to use!

A while back I posted about being so hesistant of having a more experienced teacher as such. As it turns out Cooper will be having the more experienced teacher as well as full time integration aide support ( here in Vic he got Level 5 support which translates to around $38G a year from DEECD)

The more I think about Cooper starting school the more I think this classroom will be better for him, perhaps not intially for me, but for Cooper it will be good.
It will be predictable, it will be full of routine, it will be quiet and it will be ordered. Structure and discipline is perhaps not such a bad thing is it? It just clashes with my parenting a bit and my philiosophy about children essentially but I think Cooper will soon feel safe in this setting and will know what to expect very early on.

Cooper asked me if he could have a classroom that was quiet, he gets really distressed at noise and he almost always cries and sobs when girls squeal ( so Pepper quickly worked out her best tool to annoy her brother!) He loves policing behaviour and is a stickler for rules.

Thinking about Cooper going off to school makes me feel anxious. First time parent kind of anxious. Letting go of control kind of anxious, trusting others.....as much as I 'd love to hang around and educate people about CP I am thinking I will need to stand back to let Cooper find his feet as well as his teachers and I can just go home and wait for 3pm.....

Talking about feeling anxious my nerves are shot after Cooper was in Hospital, I have alot of unresolved issues relating to hospitals from when Cooper first arrived. Anyone know of a good Psych in Melbourne who might know how to deal with these things?

I never coped well with change when I was smaller and honestly the last 6 years have been full of adventure and change which I have been ill prepared for. Each time though I feel like I can cope a little more easily but it still takes it out of me for a few weeks.

Cooper is excited to start school. He is excited to learn. He is excited to learn Science and German.

I hope his excitement stays forever!

Pepper

Pepper is a delight. She is full on and challenging but a delight.

I just sit and watch her sometimes as she is so very amusing. She dances alot. She dresses up all the time.
She loves being nude and insists on drinking milo all day and not consuming much solid food at all!

She talks all the time. She talks all about Cambodia and Bangkot (kok) and how she likes shoes and dresses and fast tuk tuks.

She says that she is Mummys girl, and Poppys girl and Brothers best friend and Nannys best friend.
She calls Daddy " Andrew" and loves counting and singing.

I look at her alot and wonder where on earth she came from but also that I created her and that I get to love her forever.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.
Thankyou for supporting our family this year and enjoying our adventures with us xx

May 2011 be full of health and happiness for all.

The "out-takes" the not so fun parts of our trip.

2010-12-15T20:35:00.000+11:00

As with any holiday there are always things you don't expect to happen.

Some good and some not so good.

Here are the "out- takes" from our holiday!

We drove 3 hours from Siem Reap to a town called Battambang.

We hired a taxi which cost $30.

We arrived at our hotel and settled in.

The hotel was really under par. Not one staff person really seemed to want to be there and the welcome was so unfriendly. Coming from the super friendly Siem Reap we found it a shock.

To access the pool you needed a ticket from reception as though you would just stroll in on off the street?

Breakfast was revolting.

The most bizarre thing was our $30 bill at the end?

It was around 9pm at night when Coopers breathing started to really concern us. He threw a big temperature, threw up everywhere and his chest was rising and falling in a bizarre pattern.

We called the hotel doctor who happened to be a midwife who lived across the road.

It is actually really hard to talk about medical problems with a lady who only speaks Khmer.

She was handing out all these medicines that I quickly googled on the Ipad and understood what they were for. She said Cooper had bronchitis and was very impressed with my gestures and body language describing Coopers birth.

She asked for $5 for her visit and Cooper then slept on and off until morning.

We pretty much got up and ran back to Siem Reap.

This happened and the next 3 days were spent in the hospital. While Cooper and I lay in the bed watching tv and talking and I held him down for canula re-insertions,

Daddy and Pepper did this

Pepper then did alot of this

She was not toilet training,she had a 48 hour poo and vomit fest. She was given two doses of antibiotics for a bacterial infection and suspected ameobic bug in her tummy. She was in emergency while Cooper was on the ward. I sat in the emergency room sobbing and I am not sure the nurses really knew what to do with me.
I am sure they thought I was some loopy Western woman being over emotional. I was so tired and scared.

Out for lunch where Pepper proceeded to projectile vomit all over the floor.

I am not sure that beer helped in her rehydration either.

So we spent 5 more days in Siem Reap than planned. Although Cooper was sick we still got out and explored just really slowly and while Cooper and Andrew rested I took Pep out and vice versa.

Finally it was decided or more pushed upon us ( after 4 hours crying at the airline offices at the airport) that the best way home was via Bangkok as the earliest flight even to Bangkok or Singapore was 2 weeks away and then we had to organise oxygen on top of that. Thankyou to the wonderful man at Bangkok airways who translated for me to 4 other airlines and understood what I needed by means of oxygen and a smile.

We got a taxi to Poipet where there is now a border crossing to Thailand. 10 years ago there was no way overland. Do not read old Lonely Planet guides they will scare you, as will online forums about scam buses and onward tickets needed.
We drove from Siem Reap to Poipet $30.
We then proceeded to Immigration. If I was not grey from the hospital man I was grey after this!
At the airport they had not stamped Coopers departure card........with the language barrier and about 20 mins of just staring at eachother and a few photo copies made we got through.
Thai immigration was easy and fast and we picked up a taxi on the other side for around $60 to get to Bangkok.

I think the driver thought we were contagious from all the coughing that he drove 140kms a hour the whole 3 hour trip. We did have a toilet stop and he did try to hand some tablets to Pepper who was having a coughing fit, we declined and quickly gave her Coopers cough syryp.

We stayed in Bangkok for 3 nights while we organised really expensive flights home and booked the oxygen on board.

If you think a kid in a wheelchair attracts attention then one wearing a hospital face mask who is pale and lost a few kgs really does!

I loved Bangkok, it had been over 13 years since I was last there. I would love to go back again and explore.

We finally flew home.

Cooper declared Thai airways awesome and I would have to agree with all the special care we got, it was just what we needed to know Cooper was safe and we were so close to being home.

Now we are home, I have a tiny twinge to start looking at airasia flights again but then I slap myself.

Thankyou for sharing on our adevnture. Now back to normal life posts...................

Top 10 things for kids to do in Siem Reap.- Part TWO

2010-12-14T15:25:00.000+11:00

Here is the second part of our top 10 list.

6. Volunteer.

Initially we had decided to go to Cambodia as a family just like any other holiday, we had no set plans and started researching after we booked our great Airasia sale tickets.

It just developed into a different sort of a holiday after Cooper did his fundraiser for New Hope. It opened up a whole new dimension to our adventure and we got to do things none of the guide books or internet forums could get special access to.

After being home for a week we are still talking about our time at New Hope and I imagine it will have a very very long lasting impact on us. I feel we will have strong ties and connections with New Hope for many more years.

If you would like to Volunteer at New Hope please contact New Hope and discuss what you can offer and it will change your life.

http://newhopecambodia.com/volunteering.php

My children got to join in the Kinder classes in the morning.

Pepper painted alongside young Khmer girls.

We got to go to the area where people who access New Hope live.

There are so many people doing such great things for the Khmer people so take some time out of your temple sightseeing and see the Real Cambodia.

7. The Blue Pumpkin.

This restaurant is great for kids as they have an amazing variety of icecream. Icecream is divine in the hot and humid town of Siem Reap.

There is a big space upstairs to relax as well as out the dront so you can watch the world go by.

It is a great place to cool down and icecreams range from about $2-$4 and they also serve meals and drinks.

The Blue Pumpkin is in Siem Reap town in the old market area. They have lots of other locations too.

8. Eat on the street.

There are so many eating options in Siem Reap. Although the restaurants look beautiful and the menus are so varied you cannot go past eating on the street.

I know there is no aircon and it's hot but it's so worth mixing with the real Khmer people and learning something.

Cooper chose a lemon shake and a seafood fried rice for $2.

You get to have a fun time with your family!

You can see the meals being freshly prepared in front of you.

One of the local dishes is the Khmer BBQ.

You have your own little gas got plate on your table and get to watch your meal being cooked.

It was $4 and delicious.

You also get an opportunity to speak to the people making your meal, their family and anyone else who happens to be having dinner at the same time!

9. Visit a Pagoda.

Siem Reap has many a pagoda/wat to choose from to explore.

This map here is great to see the layout of the town and the pagodas on offer.

The good thing about pagodas in that they are in wide open spaces which is great for kids to walk or run around and explore. Again you get to learn about Khmer culture and religion.

10. Relax and take it easy.

Traveling with kids is exhausting for everyone.

We found that a few hours in the morning after breakfast was the best time to explore. It seemed to get really hot after 9am.

We would then head back to the guesthouse for a swim or nap or both.

In the afternoon around 4 when it cooled down we would head out again.

Siem Reap is beautiful at night to explore.

It is easy to get around by tuk tuk and such an adventure for kids! In town you can have a fish spa, a massage, a pedicure, shop at the markets ( centre market, night market) and enjoy the cooler night air.

WE would often walk along the river at night and over the bridges to the other side and it was just beautiful.

We loved Cambodia and it's people and cannot wait to return....................................one day xx

Top 10 things for kids to do in Siem Reap.- Part One

2010-12-11T10:58:00.000+11:00

Discovering Siem Reap, we also discovered that it is a fairly new place to travel as a family from the Western World.

When we travelled to Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam we would always see people travelling with children but it was not until our last day in Siem Reap that we saw any other children and they were infact a little older than my two.

Here is our list of the best things to do with kids while exploring Siem Reap: Part ONe TOp 5!

1. Minature Angkor World.

Master Sculptor Dy Preung completed the 3 temples. He survived the Khmer regime and speaks fluent French due to french occupying indo-china.He felt that the actual Angkor Wat might collapse one day, hence he used the scuplting skill he learned from his teacher who is a French and build this replica of Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei. This is the miniature of Angkor Wat
It is in a wonderful old garden with a loft you can look over the whole garden. It does need some restoration but is good for kids to explore the details of the temples without dragging them to the real ones in the heat.

Cost- $1.50 per adult.
Location- I cannot find the exact address but over the river in the Wat Bo area. ( just ask your tuk tuk driver)

2..War/Aviation Museum.

It's no secret Cooper loves anything to do with guns, army, war so we found the war/aviation museum to go and explore.

The museum is found as you drive NW on Road 6 to Siem Reap airport from Siem Reap town, it will be a right turning.

There is an old sign as you turn and it's up a really bumpy road alongside some big hotel. I always find that bizarre that as soon as the hotel wall stops no care is taken. People staying in these hotels would not even know this place or the real people even existed.

The museum charges $3 an adult and then you drive through to the actual grounds.

It is set on a big block of land and seems very authentic as it's muggy and hot and you are walking through jungle like trees and seeing so many war machines.

You can opt for a volunteer guide at the start which I would recommend as it just gives the tour so much more life and substance. Even though it is volunteer it is also benficial to the giude to give a little donation at the end ( we gave our guide $20)

All guides have been injured as a result of serving in the army and landmine injuries.

Our guide had lost his wife and child to landmines as recently as 2 years ago. He also showed us the landmine pellet under his skin on his knee. He had lost half a leg and also some eye injuries as well as many a battle scar on his body.

Some of the tankers still have bones in them and the stories that go along with these visuals is quite confronting. It is amamzing to see that some of the tankers and bombers only stopped being used 9 years ago.

I found the experience very educational and moving and Cooper still talks about the different landmines and what and who can detect them. It might sound a little much for a 5 year old to take in but it was described very simply and factually without being too graphic.

3. Lucky Plaza/Kids world indoor play centre.

There is a play centre on the top floor of a shopping centre just on the other side of the river. It is up a huge flight of stairs.

Cost- .50c per child.
extra coins for rides/games at about .20 a turn.

Although not at all cultural as such it was a great place to escape the heat for an afternoon.

There is a separate playground that would be from ages 0-6 years then machine games for older kids.
There are also ride on toys that you put a coin in and hope that your 2 year old does not drive down the big stairs!

Fast food available, USA style and a heap of staff hanging around.

WE stayed for about an hour and there were about 3 other kids there.

My kids loved the break from the heat.

4. Butterfly garden/restaurant.

Butterfly garden/restaurant

I am unsure about how many actual butterflies we saw but it was at least 5!

The garden setting is beautiful and the big day beds are great to relax and enjoy time together.

Then Menu is a mixture of Asian/French/Western which Cooper loved being able to have a big piece of lemon tart!

There is also room for kids to walk around and explore safely as well as a big pond filled with really big fish.

Staff were warm and friendly however due to a group tour coming in our meals took a really long time but it was lovely to sit still for 2 hours and just be.

They have fans on in the garden to cool you down and the afternoon Siem Reap showers were beautiful while lying on the day beds.

5. Apsara Show and Dinner.

We enjoyed dinner and tradional dancing upstairs at the Temple Restaurant in Pub street.

Meals ranged from around $3-$8 and drink from $1-$8.

The kids loved joining the musicans on stage and having a turn of all the instruments.

AS always the Khmer people either loved or at least put up with my kids touching everything!

The show was wonderful, albeit maybe a little long!, with many different dances and costumes and beauty.

The show started around 7.30 and finshed around 9.30.

The best wayto get home for Cooper was int he back of the ute! " this is so illegal!:......

Hospital Cambodia style.- SEW

2010-12-08T16:45:00.001+11:00

Driving into Siem Reap we happened to spot the newish International Hospital.

We joked about never needing to go there!

( The International Hospital was built in 2007 )

6 days later, Cooper was admitted with pneumonia and spent 3 days in there.

Having a sister is fun in hospital as she can make the bed go up and down!

Having your child in hospital is scary. It is really scary in a different country. It is really really scary when your child is perhaps more vulnerable and you remember his hospital days when he was born.

Cooper had never been admitted to hospital. For nearly 6 years he has "only" had CP as all the professionals would say. ( he did a seizure but everyone is entitled to one of those!).

Cooper cried and then screamed when the doctor at Angkor hosptial said he would have to stay there.

He had cried during the canula insertion and cried having the ventolin mask on.

It breaks your heart, holding your child when they are screaming and you cannot do anything about it. It is out of your control. You cannot control their pain all I could do was sing.

I held my head so close to Cooper and looked in his eyes and sung.

Who knows why I was singing " Train whistle blowing, makes a sleepy sound". It calms us both I guess.

Being in hospital in a forgein country is hard. I kept thinking about all the Lonely Planet guides I had rad about Cambodia with highlighted text " If you find yourself needing a hospital in Cambodia.....get to Bangkok"

I watched that the needles came from sterile un opened packets.

I ask Andrew to call my Dad. It was too much responsibility for me to make this decision without asking my Dad first. It's what I would have done at home. I felt so grown up to be in Cambodia was was brought back to being a child when having to make these decisions for Cooper.

After 3 days I learnt how hospitals work and that they work pretty much the same wherever you are.

Nurses come in every hour in the night to check you.

Some nurses are wonderful. Some are clinical.

Some I could converse with easily others not so much.

Having Coopers Ipad was great , being able to show them what Cooper can do at home and how the boy before them is not himself.

Each night I lay with him, next to him, watched him breathe, listened to him cough and wished that I was at home.

Out and about after discharge but land bound for another week.

Relaxing on the porch in the sun and getting better.

Flying home, continuous oxygen. Landed Safely back on home soil.

for more SEW pics click here

The Temples of Angkor.

2010-12-07T21:03:00.000+11:00

At 5.45 am I was sitting all by myself in the centre of the Bayon temple.

This was something I had always wanted to do, go to Siem Reap, visit Angkor and just be amazed by such structures.

The sun was just rising and no-one else was around.

It was warm, quiet, peaceful yet so alive with energy, you could feel it, filling you up and just releasing you.

When I looked at these temples then looked through the camera view finder it just did not do them justice.

I do love how when looking at these pictures it takes me back there immediately. I can smell that warm morning and remember the feeling of being so small amongst such amazing temples.

The second temple I visited was Ta Phrom. I had really high expectations of this temple and that tree but I actually liked the above tree better. The walk up to this temple is beautiful through a forest and the outer wall somewhat hides the real beauty.

For breakfast we stopped for rice just outside the main temple.

Inside Angkor Wat is this steep climb to the top. Beautiful views from above.

My Tuk Tuk driver Si from New Hope who helped me discover the temples.

I stayed at the temples for the morning and honestly after about 3 hours it was so hot and it's essential to cover up and wear a hat and sunscreen. There are many many more temples to discover and I hope to do those one day x

I also have at least 100 more pics of the temples to share with Andrews few hundred too!

ODA and a Roadside picnic.

2010-12-06T14:55:00.001+11:00

This morning Andrew headed off to explore the temple of Angkor and I had the morning with the kids.

I decided to take them to an orphanage that used Art as therapy. ODA is on the way to Angkor between two temple areas and we traveled there by tuk tuk. This fast became Peps favourite word and way of getting around!

Girls learning traditional Apsara dancing. Pep now does this dance most days.

Cooper painting with the kids.

We headed back into town and listened to all Andrews stories about the temples.

Later on in the evening we were invited to go to the Hwy picnic.

Pha who had taken Andrew to the temples worked with New Hope and had invited a few people to join him and his family in this wonderful tradition.

WE drove out along the HWY and started to see lots of lights and heaps of people.

On the side of the road were drink stalls and BBq's cooking many types of traditional foods.

these woven mats are laid out along the side of the road.

Frog

Pep eating crickets

Cooper ate Frogs, Crickets and Chicken heart/liver on a stick!

We sat with all our new friends and enjoyed new foods and conversation.

It was a beautiful evening, warm and friendly.

While we were eating we saw many kids working at night, collecting rubbish and cans. These were the same kids who at 8am were at New Hope at school. Again you get to see the enormity of these situations, it's never what you think it is.

We shared our food with these children at Coopers request and I will never forget the look in one girls eyes as she so daintly ate some chicken, savouring every last piece and placing her hands together and bowing her head.

At the end of the picnic was a showground with rides. All lit up in the night sky.

Andrew and Cooper rode the dodgem cars at lightening speed.

Pepper loved going on the rides and had quite a few turns with many onlookers.
Cooper and I went on the fastest Ferris wheel ever and while I screamed, Cooper giggled.

This game was throwing darts at Balloons. You could win noodles, containers, saucepans. Cooper hit a balloon and won Andrew a can of beer! I have no idea how they work the prizes out though.

Thankyou Pha and family and New Hope for sharing this wonderful night with us. The kids still talk about it as being their favourite part of Cambodia.

New Hope-Day TWO

2010-12-05T14:33:00.002+11:00

We were picked up early in the morning around 8am to make the start of the school assembly.

Do you know what around 100 kids singing in high pitched voices sounds like? beautiful! it slowly escalated into a sort of yelling really of a few English songs and lots of counting and movement for get the day started.

The children all welcomed Cooper.

Cooper visted the 2 Kinder classes and gave them the beautiful bracelets that his Seaford kinder friends had made.

Pepper joined in on a class and did some painting. It was beautiful watching the girls show her what to do just with smiles and gestures.

These 3 beauties loved having thier pic taken and had such a beautiful confidence about them.

One little boy wearing a bracelet from Riviera Preschool.

After the class we headed off to the area where the familes live that access New Hope. It is in the slum area on Mondul 1.

To be honest this area was very very confronting. At the school you see the kids and don't really think much firther than that. Until you go to where they live. A big big walk from the school to their homes. You see where they come from and what they are up against and realise how important New Hope is to so many people and familes. You watch all the kids smile and laugh and remember you from the school and airport.

Simple lives but very complex ones too.

The story that stood out to us was a young girl of 14 who was found in her little hut with her Mum. She had been there for years without actually leaving her hut. the reason being she had meningitis which had affected her lower limbs to the point that she needed a wheelchair to move but access to the slumbs was impossible.

She was sihned up with New Hope and needs sponsorship to access sewing lessons, her dream.

If anyone wants to sponsor a NEW HOPE family click on the link.

There are so many more stories out there.

This is Peppers newest friend Somnang. Pepper adores her and talks about her alot. Somang is a real miracle and so lucky to have found New Hope and Kerry xx Somnang is Coopers age but Peppers size and is thriving now, no doubt with the help of Tom and Jerry xx!

It is really difficult to write what an impact this place had on us. It was truly amazing to meet all the amazing children and familes at NEW HOPE but equally meeting all the wonderful volunteers that call Cambodia home for different periods of time. To be taken in by such a big extended family was wonderful and the next few days in Cambodia would have never been as they were without the friendships we discovered along the way.

First night in Siem Reap- tuk tuk, dinner and fish spa.

2010-12-03T14:24:00.000+11:00

Our first night in Siem Reap Town was wonderful.

WE got a tuk tuk into town for $2 and we just explored the streets. When you first arrive it seems really big but once you know your way aruond everything is really central and accessible.

We decided to dive right in and eat street food straight away.

Every night by the roadisde people set up their gas cookers and prepare local dishes. Each dish was around $1-2 with drinks ranging from .50 to $2.

The fruit shakes in Cambodia are amazing. Fresh fruit, ice, condensed milk all whipped up to the most delightful drink.

Cooper ordered the meal of the night, infact meal of the holiday.

Fresh seafood rice with a lemon shake all for $2. We sat at a stall outside Molly Malones and across fromt the Red Paino.

After enjoying oour wonderful dinner it was time for a fish massage.

Cooper could only keep his feet in for a minute as it's way too ticklish and bizarre. These places are everywhere from about $1 sometimes with a drink included.

Siem Reap town is really flat and open and most of the time Cooper and I walked on the road with his wheelchair as it was much easier than navigating the footpaths where motorbikes covered them.
It is organised chaos really with bigger vehicles getting right of way and everyone using their horns way more than necessary.

There are so many little walkways and avenues to explore in Siem Reap that you could spend weeks and weeks here finding new places to eat and drink and enjoy being in such a wonderful country.

Cambodia first night.

2010-12-02T20:21:00.000+11:00

After heading to our accomodation we set about the task of cooling down.

Did I mention it was really really hot in Siem Reap?

We stayed at Sonnalong Boutique. It was set in a beautiful garden setting with 8 bungalows featuring 16 rooms.

I think the first thing that struck me about Cambodia was the people and how amazingly friendly they are.
Everyone seemed so open and honest and just real I guess. Nothing is ever a bother and anything is possible.

So we headed into town, wheelchair on the tuk tuk and off to explore Siem Reap......

Cambodia.....the very start.

2010-12-02T16:20:00.000+11:00

Over the next few days I will try and recount our wondeful adventure to Cambodia and the unexpected adventure in hospital and over the border to Thailand.

Day ONE

Our journey started from the Gold coast airport to Kuala Lumpur. We flew with Airasia and landed safely in KL for a nights sleep. Flight was great, kids were happy and settled and are such great travellers.

We stayed in the Accesible room at Tune Hotelwhich costs around $30 a night. Rooms are comfortable but 4 in the bed is a little squishy these days! Cooper loved the wheel in shower and danced on his knees while getting refreshed.

Flight to Siem Reap in the morning took 2 hours.

Siem Reap airport is just beautiful. It looks like a big traditional house or hut plonked in the middle of nowhere.

Customs and Immigration were easy enough to get through. We paid for 4 Visas being $20 each even though I believe kids were suppose to be free? Anyway quite a few laughs at our passport pics and amusing custom officials. They obviously think our Western names were hilarious!

Visas are for 30 days and put in your passport. You must also have a pic ready for them to keep.

Seems to me more a money spinner than anything really official as such.

Note to self- make sure when you go through Immigration and have your departure card stamped and stapled in, that all cards are stamped! ( Coopers was not and the hassle later on when tryong to get out was not ideal.)

Collected our bag and headed out the door..... We travel with one bag for the 4 of us. Very limited supplies but so much easier when you have to also contend with 2 kids, a wheelchair and a pram.

And then...................

I still cannot quite describe the feeling of having over 70 children greeting us at the airport. Kids standing there with little signs they had made, covered in colourful pictures.

WE had read so much about the kids at New Hope, were so inspired by them. To see them in the flesh is a totally confronting and amazing at the same time. Cooper was really happy to be there, a little shell shocked but took it all in his stride. He commented after about kids with no shoes but mainly how many kids there were and that they did not have to wear seatlbelts!

"Welcome Cooper Smith." " Hello Cooper" " Go Cooper"

The kids had all piled into 3 utes somehow. They all surrounded us with hugs and cuddles and hello's.

Overwhelming, yes. Beautiful, yes. Something we will remember forvever.

Kids were everywhere, organised chaos though.

We headed into town to await our next adventure, and cool off a bit!

hospital cambodian style.....

2010-11-23T11:44:00.000+11:00

We are still in Cambodia were due to fly out tomorrow.......

We will be here for another week.

cooper is in the hospital with pneumonia.

i keep thinking if all the travel info I read about never endung up in a Cambodian Hospital.....but like to think that was old news and that Cooper is recieving top class care.

3 days in and hopefully discharged tonight but a little while till he can fly.....

Scary times, but my boy is so brave and recovering quickly. The onset was so quick and I hope the recovery is too.

often it seems like the world is so close, you can jump ona plane and be here in 10 hours.....but being here makes me feel like a million miles away from anything stable or familiar.

i must trust that we are in safe hands and be strong when my precious boy screams at having a canula inserted and when he must have oxygen and the nebuliser on every hour.

the look in his eyes says it all, no voice, no sound just the look of get me out of here and back to my holiday.

Blogging break

2010-11-18T21:51:00.000+11:00

Greetings from Cambodia.

i will be back with a million pics and stories from our current adventure in Cambodia.

i cannot post any pics as we only have the Ipad.

it is already an amazing experience and I cannot wait to come back here.

highlight so far was 70 kids greeting us at the aiport shouting. " welcome Cooper, hello Cooper, thankyou Cooper"

beautiful country, beautiful people so get yourselves over here!

Special Exposure Wednesday- My Big Boy

2010-11-10T14:33:00.000+11:00

My big boy. My Cooper.
I cannot believe that you are mine and I get to know you and love you for the rest of my life.

For more SEW pics click here!

Springtime in the Garden.

2010-11-05T16:21:00.000+11:00

Mint

Rocket with a Pepper twist.( the spice not the daughter)

Sugar snap peas.

Strawberries

Spinach for salad

Vietnamese Mint

Cauliflower

One of the 4 chickens

Rosemary

Lettuce

Fennel

Everyday I head into the garden I think everything has grown cm's over night. I thought it was be a lovely record to keep some pics of our vegies this year as I am so proud that we can actually eat things this year.

The apricot tree is full of fruit ready for Summer.

Nothing better than the kids playing in the garden, eating snow peas and asking for fresh eggs for dinner.

Special Exposure Wednesday

2010-11-03T17:49:00.000+11:00

This week saw a tiny bit of nice weather so Pepper took full avantage of the Spring sunshine. She loves getting her clothes off at any opportunity.
Cooper insists on keeping his clothes on and adored being a Vampire for Halloween.

For more SEW pics click here.

The week that was.

2010-11-01T13:48:00.000+11:00

It was such a build up to Coopers walk that the week following was like coming down off a huge high.

You can get as much Cooper Walk action from the following links and one day soon I will do a post about the day, but for now enjoy the pics! I am still getting my head around all the emotions and festivities.

http://theheartofliving.com.au/?p=130

http://www.methodstudio.com.au/jpp_clients/cooper/

http://www.abc.net.au/iview/?series=2958081#/series/2958081

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/CooperSmith

So back to normal life.......

We had the week off pretty much. We did go to Kinder for all of 45 mins but Cooper was too tired to really enjoy it so we have spent lots of time in the backyard playing and just taking it very easy.

This weekend saw us drive a really long way to Stawell. It is around 350kms from home and took us about 4 hours by the time we got lost a couple of times.

Pep had a little sleep to pass the time.

Cooper loved his Ipad!

It rained the entire way. It rained pretty much the whole time we were there.

WE travelled this far to a friends wedding. The ceremony took place inside as the intial spot was next to a waterfall.

Afterwards the party headed to a block of land to plant trees. By this stage we were freezing, Pepper was all snuffly and Cooper was turning blue!

Pepper loved planting our tree on the block for the bride and groom.

I had forgotten how wondeful the Grampians and Halls Gap were. I had not been here since I was a child. It is amazingly beautiful and hope to bring the kids back oneday to camp in some nicer weather.

WE stayed the night in a little Hwy Motel. The kids loved sleeping in their holiday house!

We found a great Farmers Market and picked up some great vegie seedlings, homemade cakes and a beautiful handmade crochet pudding.

We arrived home in time for Halloween.

Cooper wanted to be a Vampire.

Pep wanted to be a knight, a vampire and a princess.

Another freezing day but the kids enjoyed Trick or Treating.

Last day of October. Heater on in the house. Bring on Spring before it is actually Summer.

Update

2010-10-14T12:41:00.000+11:00

Term 4.

Can you believe it?

Only one more term of Kinder then its Summer Holidays.

Then...gulp...school.....I am not ready for this at all!

Term 4 has seen Cooper return to Kinder stating to most people he is Famous now! Over the holidays he was in the paper twice and many Kinder friends saw it so he got alot of attention when he returned! He did a special show and tell about his walk for Cambodia.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/walk-of-life/story-e6frf7kx-1225931179066

He is training really hard everyday and is very strict on what foods he will eat now. He asks me about the nutritional content of everything he puts near his mouth. He is doing situps every night and really proud of himself.

This week his story was on Radio Australia in Khmer,

http://khmer.radioaustralia.net.au/archives/news/?p=37435

Next week they will do an interview with me to talk about Coopers walk.

To donate:

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/CooperSmith

He now comes home from Kinder claiming it was "awesome". He is so settled and confident and I cannot wait to see this transfer into the school classroom.

He has also started a school readiness program through Scope which runs for 2 hours for 10 weeks and he loves it. He settled really well and has had excellent reports from all therapsists on his behaviour and ability to answer questions, follow instructions and apparently is really patient!

WE have been back to school for a few visits and I found it so wonderful that the school Principal was on teh same page as me, thinking the more recently trained teacher would be of great benefit to Coopers learning! I am so happy.

In other news we competed in the Melbourne Marathon 4km walk last weekend. Cooper walked about 1km and Pepper walked around 3kms. It was a beautiful day in the sunshine but extremely busy with over 27,000 people in the race.

Spring has finally made a little bit of an appearance and both the kids have been loving the sunshine.

WE have made a new vegie plot and have planted so many natural delights. The chickens are back in full laying swing and most days we are getting 4-5 eggs. WE have been painting outside, digging, gardening and just playing.

Pepper is now 2.3 years old. She is loving being outside in the sunshine and on most occasions ends up naked playing in the water. She loves taking car of the "naughty chickens" and is talking beautifully even though she just called me "mean" after learning from Cooper that it gets a pretty good reaction.

Pepper is really adventurous and adores climbing, swinging, running and practising ballet.

She loves her special 1:1 time with her Nanny and Nana and during the holidays went to see Justine Clarke and also do some girly shopping.

I am still having my Thursday night "off" and mostly go and have a massage and try to walk out of there is less pain then when I walked in. I have also been sewing lots of bandana bibs and experimenting with some school ones for Cooper for next year.

We cannot wait to go on our holiday in less than a month.

Andrew is working hard 6 days a week in order to save for some holiday fun so the kids adore Sundays when they have Daddy at home.

Park Days.

2010-10-02T15:43:00.000+10:00

Today we discovered that the Athletics track where Cooper will walk is packed on a Saturday morning! We were all geared up for training but we came across about a zillion kids doing Little Athletics.
We made good use of the walking track next to it and Cooper did about 400 metres.
Last night he did 500m at the track but was very distracted by the long jump pit, the discus cage and all the metal trimmings on the track. Good thing he has a few more weeks to get used to the venue!

WE also enjoyed some time at the park next door to the track. It is a great park with 2 playgrounds. WE headed to the big kids playground as Cooper can use his walker all the way to the top via a series of ramps.

Pepper confidently flew down a big slide while I silently had a heart attack. She is very daring these days!

6 months ago if we tried the flying fox with Cooper his arms would not have had the strength in them to really hold on all by himself. His bum also used to slide forward alot and he would complain about slipping and being scared. Well today he sat on that thing and flew down all by himself. He loved it. He was so proud. I was holding back the tears.

Pepper showed her strength and confidence also on the monkey bars as she hung there laughing in the sunshine.

I used to dread going to the park when Cooper was smaller. He was not able to access anything apart from a swing and I would have to always field the million of questions. These days the park is fun, still challenging for Cooper but he is up for it.

Today I loved the park as much as the kids did. Although I think Andrew got the biggest kick out of spinning Pepper around and then watching her try to walk!

Special Exposure Wednesday

2010-09-22T15:05:00.000+10:00

The thing I love most about my children are their imaginations. Coopers has been developing rapidly since he became more mobile at age 3. Peppers is just in the beginning stages.

Outisde on the weekend Cooper disovered a little trolley that I was using to transport pots around the yard.

He decided it was his rickshaw and that he would take Pepper for a garden tour.

Queen Pepper at 15 kgs was being pulled around byt he 14kg 5.5 year old and loving it.

I adore watching their relationship develop, I love how they now talk to eachother and often communicate withoout words, just giggles and laughter.

For more SEW pics click here.

Pepper.

2010-09-21T20:24:00.000+10:00

Today it was just Pepper and I.
A girls day. A day to get to really know eachother.
We had nothing planned, nowhere to be and nowhere to go.
We found ourselves at the beach cafe for morning tea.
Pepper loves Jam Daisy biscuits. She likes to eat them all up and say " Yummy" as she goes.
She likes to drink water with her biscuit and sometimes a strawberry mini milkshake.
She loves to walk. She dislikes the pram most of the time. She can run really fast.
She can press the button to cross the road.
She greets everyone she meets with "hullo" and smiles at teenage boys already.
She names everything she sees and dances through the street.
She adores stickers and paper and crayons and creating.
Pepper missed her brother and she waited by the front gate for his return. When she saw him she screamed " Dubber" and ran to greet him with a huge kiss and cuddle. Life was back to normal but so lovely to discover my daughter a little bit more today.
Pepper I adore you xx

Cooper walks for Cambodia.

2010-09-16T11:40:00.000+10:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been researching about Cambodia the last few months as we head there in November for a family holiday.

Most of our discussions have been about the culture, the temples and the people. Cooper has shown particular interest in what people eat, play with and where they go to school.

When he discovered that many children cannot go to school as they have no way to get there or cannot afford to buy books and food he really wanted to do something about it.

He has been saving up money in a money box but he wanted to do something special.

Cooper has decided to do a 1km walk on October 24th. Walking 1 kilometre in a walker is no mean feat! He is training hard already.

I have set up a sponsorship page where funds go directly to the Organisation " NEW HOPE" that Cooper is supporting.

The directors of the organisation have contacted Cooper and invited him to spend the mornings with them in the classroom and will invite us to the local village to see where the money that Cooper raises will go too.

Please support Cooper to support this wonderful program if you are able too. Please join us on the day too for a celebratory BBQ afterwards.( details to come)

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/CooperSmith

Love Bron, Andrew, Cooper and Pepper.

Painting.

2010-09-11T19:19:00.000+10:00

Wednesday saw some sunny Spring weather emerge and out came the painting too.
After Kinder Pepper decided she needed to do "painting!" so we set up outside with our supplies.
We used a large roll of brown wrapping paper that we will recycle for wrapping gifts.
We used a few different tools to paint. Feet, Hands, Potatoes, sticks, leaves and tummies.
Initially all the children were fully clothed and by the end of the adventure down to just underwear!
Cooper loved lying on his tummy in the paint while Pep insisted on covering herself in the paint.
Thankyou to Lucy for also sharing our painting experience.

Positives

2010-09-09T15:15:00.000+10:00

Thankyou for letting me rant a little.

Now for all the good things that came from last night!

Cooper had 7 Kinder friends who also attended the night.
He was so excited, almost a little over the top at home but calmed down soon enough!
Cooper sat with the other kids and particiapted by himself.
He said hello to his friends.
He walked well around the school- note the big ramps outside are fun and fast.
He recognised his name twice when he was asked to pick up a certificate and name badge.
He followed instructions on how many beanbags to throw into which colour hoop.
He smiled when they asked to tak his photo
He had fun in the computer lab using the mouse and drawing.
We met a lovely family that introduced themselves and used beautiful inclusive language :)
He wants to go back soon.

I do look at all the positives and I don't expect everyone to always say and do the right thing. I guess it just really annoyed me even though Cooper could not have cared less. I also am trying to pluck up the courage to be a really annoying Prep Mum and ask the Principal for the nice young teacher.

Expectations....and other rants.

2010-09-09T07:01:00.000+10:00

Scope has the moto " See the person, not the disability"

I just took this as it is but never really thought about it. Since Having Cooper I do think like think and act like this but I never really got the simplicity of it. The thing is , it's simple. See the person first, expect the same from that person and try not to factor in the fact they appear different to what you are used to on the outside or inside for that matter.

School.

Ahh school- what a great environment to really explore, learn and realise how hard or challenging rather this journey is going to be!

Cooper enjoyed his first evening at school last night. It was a great night. They had a discovery evening.
Around 40 Kinder kids soon to be school kids arrived all excited, some nervous, some tired and hungry but mainly excited!

In small groups of 9-10 they spent time in 4 different areas of the school.

First up Cooper did music. Beautiful. Kids sat on the floor and chose their own instruments and listened to some music and played along. Simple. Easy. Cooper participated independently and showed even a little bit more enthusiasm than some.

Next room, German. Cooper stood with his peers with the teacher and sung "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" but in German. Cooper was happy to just watch and learn the words but finds it hard to use his hands/arms when is his walker as his whole body is concentrating on holding itself up!

PMP or sport. Now anyone living in Australia will remember this from their own childhood. They have the room set up with different stations and you spend time at each activitiy, developing certain physical skills.

Cooper started int he beanbag into a hoop toss. Wonderful. Firstly he was able to particiapte! Secondly he loved it. Thirdly he achieved the goal.

The two Prep teachers conducted this part of the night.

They have only seen Cooper a couple of times and do not really know much about him as yet.

But this is where my vent comes in and as I write it is more to get it off my chest than anything else.

The next activity was a little wooden plank that you stand on with a beanbag on the oter end and try and stomp down really hard to flick the beanbag into the air........

The tacher came over and said " He might not be able to do that, try the next activity"........

I looked at her and said "Actually this one will be really great for cooper"....inside I was seething....

He walked up and stomped on the plank and off the beanbag flew. Face bright and happy.

Anyway this made me realise she was seeing the disability.
She was making assumptions.
She was not helping or being kind or whatever she thought she was doing.

Would you say the same thing to an abled bodied child??? No you would expect they would attempt everything.

Cooper needs to be given the opportunity to TRY ALL THE SAME THINGS AS ANYONE ELSE.

If he then has trouble then adapt it! He also needs the opportunity to actually fail so he can work things out for himself and try , try again!

No special treatment.

DONT ASSUME, JUST EXPECT PLEASE!

Anyway my little vent is over, it was annoying me so best to write it down.

Onward and upward and a big big learning experience will be coming when I do a presentation to the staff at the end of the year.

Riding

2010-09-07T18:01:00.001+10:00

Last week Cooper started horseriding.

Ridability formally known as Riding for the Disabled ( RDA) gave us a call after a long 10 month wait.

Cooper got a spot riding over in Harkaway.

I was so excited for him, even though I really had no idea where Harkaway was!

AS it turns out, Harkaway is near Berwick and it takes us just under 40 mins to drive there.

His lessons are on a Tuesday at 11am for one hour.

The first time there was to get fitted for a helmet and boots. His helmet size is 56 and we need to bring our own shoes for his skinny mini feet. He was just so proud trying on his new gear and just beaming.

He even got to have a ride. His horse was called Bandit which was perfect for him ( Bandit has since retired). The look on his face as he rode around the arena was priceless.

There is the main instructor who runs the program. Then Cooper has a person either side of him as another leads the horse. These 3 people for Cooper are all volunteers. The program relies so heavily on this contribution.

Todays lesson was more involved.

Cooper had to:

open his legs wide to sit on the horse and keep his heels down.
hold a bar with one hand then place it in a bucket
had to count up to 8 poles the horse walked over
count witches hats
remember which colour pole he had
trot!
hold the reins
say "walk on " to the horse
say "Halt" to the horse when he needed to stop.

Thankyou Nanny and Pepper for sharing our day.

We cannot wait to go again next week!

Special Exposure Wednesday- Fathers night

2010-09-01T15:11:00.000+10:00

Monday night Cooper had Fathers night at Kinder.

It was from 6pm-7pm, a special day for the Dads.

The Dads and the kids made box cars and raced them outside.

Coopers box car had the added attachments of 2 guns and a knife of course!

They ate homemade sausage rolls that the kids made.

Cooper insisted on dressing up.

"Mum can I wear something wicked? like a shirt and tie? I will look so handsome".

for other beautiful pics click here for special exposure wednesday.

Queenscliff-Sorrento Ferry.

2010-08-30T12:35:00.000+10:00

On the weekend we discovered the Sorrento-Queenscliff Ferry

The ferry runs everyday of the year back and forth on the hour.

You can take your car, motorbike, bike or just go as a foot passenger.

The ferry has a gangway that you just drive or walk onto . Cooper used his walker and was able to access a small lift up from the bottom to the 3rd floor being the lounge. It is only a small lift, with small access but I would think a wheelchair would fit.

For a family of 4 it cost us $40 return but the prices vary depending on season, holidays and ages of children. To take our car it would have been $130 return which we plan to do one day. It was such a beautiful sunny day that walking was perfect.

The lounge are has tables and chairs and beautiful views of the bay. There is also a cafe and bathroom ( there were no baby change facilities or accessible toilets though that I saw) We ate morning tea on the boat, looked for dolphins and loved how the water sparkled in the sun.

Arriving at Queenscliff they have built a new Marina/Harbour. There is a large tower that is perfect for viewing all over the town. It has a lift up to the top which was perfect for us! There are restaurants, cafes and some small boutique shops on the wharf.

The walk into town is 1km. Cooper walked all that way by himself. We stopped to have a look at many thing over that Kilometre! We stopped by the Maritime Museum which was open on sundays 1.30-4 and cost around $4 each. We saw anchors, buoys, and propellers.

In town there were so many beautiful little shops. Pepper loved reading her book outside the old bookshop.

We shared lunch at the local bakery and discovered a little Lollyshop with over 100 different types of lollies.

The view from the tower to the Wharf.

We had such a lovely day. The sun was shining. The kids loved exploring a new town and Cooper did so much walking it was amazing. He would have walked about 4kms yesterday with little pitstops and a small shoulder ride up a hill.
Everyone fell alseep in the car on the way home, well not me I was driving!

Mornington Railway, cake and knights.

2010-08-23T19:30:00.000+10:00

After weeks of house renovations and Andrew working 6 days a week we decided to use our Sunday family day to explore something new. Coopers choice and Pepper was happy to go along with it.

We discovered the Mornington Railway last weekend. The railway starts in Moorooduc and goes to Mornington. On the rail runs an old steam train however a diesel service has been running for a while. It is a great day out and as Cooper calls it " Puffing Billy in Mornington!"

On a warm day there is a park and pinic area that would be delightful to use before the train ride.

You can also get a shuttle bus from the last stop into town and explore Mornington beach and shops.

The day we went it rained and rained but was so beautiful to be out in the crisp clean air. We just stayed on the train for the return trip as it was too wet to explore the town.

Both Cooper and Pepper loved the fresh air and the adventure on the train.

Cooper used his walker onto the train as they have steel ramps up to the carriage and even with a little tight squeeze into your personal sitting area he was able to access it independently. I am not sure though if a wheelcahir would fit down the tiny corridors of such an old mode of transport.

We also did some cooking. I adore this pic as it just captures the kids so beautifully. I went out of the room to get my camera and came back to Pepper and Cooper laughing and being sneaky!

We were making a cake for Kiah on Coopers request as he had installed power back in our house after 2 days of one powerpoint.

There was also lots of time for dress ups! Cooper is really interested in knights and dungeons at the moment and a few weeks back he was chatting to a neighbour who lives at the end of our street about it. We arrived home and discovered she had given Cooper a beautiful knights outfit that he wore for 2 days straight including wearing it to bed! thankyou Mrs E! I love how our street is so family orientated and that everyone knows eachother.