brood

brood
the only time these feet are still

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The elephant in the room..7Cs

So I have been meaning to post and just haven't taken the time to just down and do it.  HM was evaluated for school services and I was very pleased to learn that he tested quite advanced in his comprehension.  He is however still delayed in his expressive speech and qualifies for speech services through the school.  I am excited for him to start this as he seemed to connect immediately with the teacher and I have heard fabulous things about her.  He did not however qualify for the preschool program which is what we expected.  We still have some work to do with HM's control issues and behaviors but he has come a really, really long way.  I feel excited to see his language blossom and expect his behaviors to improve as he is better able to express himself.
School has come to an end for T & P.  P received an award for his character and we are quite proud of how well he did in his first year of school.  He is a bright, sweet, sensitive boy and I am excited for him to take on 1st grade!  T completed 2nd grade and it was no surprise that it was a great year for her as well.  The only downfall she experienced was bullying.  I must say that dealing with that was one of the hardest parenting things I have had to do.  I admit, I wanted to go straight to the school and handle it myself, I tried to "it's not you, it's them" message but then one day she didn't want to go to school.  In the end it was taken care of, but it is a struggle.  How much do you point out the root of bullying and the shortcomings a bully is feeling and how much do you say "too bad, you can't take it out on my kid."  I am still not sure of the answer to that.  With a kid like T who is empathetic to a fault, trying to have sympathy for the bully then made her protective of them and even justifying the behaviors.  So we did have to just say, enough is enough regardless of why they are doing it.  I hope we don't deal with that again too soon.
The whole C famly helped celebrate a dear friends' wedding at the end of May.  While the bride was gorgeous, I must admit it was the flower girls and ring bearers that stole my eye.  T, P, D, & HM along with the bride's nephew were part of the wedding party and were all quite adorable!  Pictures below.
But the biggest update of the C family came on June 7, 2013.  I guess really I should back up, about 9 months!  Last October, when my dear friend, C, asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding I gladly accepted.  She had only one request of her bridesmaids...don't get pregnant until after November.  Of Course this was of no concern or issue for me!!  Sort of....little did I know it was a little late for that.  Surprise the C family would be growing once again!  I have always wanted 5 children and almost everyone I know said I was insane and would never want that many once I had a couple.  Well, stubborn me.  We were very excited and nervous at the same time.  For as "free spirited" and schedule free as we are, we have planned each C family member, HM being Loooong planned and waited for.  So this was a new scenario for us.  I didn't tell many people.  I felt nervous, afraid of what they would say.  Not interested in the negative comments.  We didn't tell our families until Christmas and even then I thought about waiting...until JUNE!  But once we told the kids, that was that.  They were excited and soon it became more real.  Having had the blessing of 3 previous pregnancies with great outcomes, I was nervous about this one going smoothly.  Plus, not any younger!  It had been 4 years since I had been pregnant, by far the longest I had gone.  Amazingly, this was the best, easiest pregnancy I ever had.  Now by the end, I was sore and tired, but otherwise it was great.  I cherished as much as I could because this.is.it!  No more growing babies for me. 4 times, with 4 healthy babies is more than I can ask.  This pregnancy I thought often of the many people I know of who have struggled to become pregnant or stay pregnant and didn't want to take for granted what a wonderful experience I have had.  I certainly didn't want to flaunt in any of those people's faces that I had "accidentally" gotten pregnant.    So anyway,  got negative comments.  I had lots of people ask if this was my first and when I said "no, I have 4 at home."  UGH the responses.  I was lucky to share this whole pregnancy with my neighbor who was also expecting her 5th and that certainly made it feel more normal.  And many people did embrace us and shared in our joy.
So I sit here home for the summer with my 5 kiddos.  Actually, HM is going to preschool part time just to keep it as part of his routine.  He loves it and I know readjusting at the end of the summer would be very hard if he were out of it for 3 months.  Baby E came on June 7th.  Somehow, she is just similar enough to T,P & D that I can't decide who she looks like.  All of the kids love her.  HM smiles and says baby and has even made a good attempt at pronouncing her name.  We are tired and at times overwhelmed but happy.  Glad that the C family has grown twice in the last year.  So here are a couple of pictures and the promise that  it will be awhile before I post again!