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!

March, Spring and April

Wow I don't have time to post or apparently photograph my children.  We have been busy, busy but at what I am not really sure.  March was anti-climactic.  HM has increased his speech services to once a week to see how that will impact him.  While he is making huge improvements, he is still very difficult to understand.  As he becomes more independent he has also started to really assert his strong will and temperament.  It hasn't been easy.  I am at a loss as to how to handle some of his behaviors.  He definitely likes to be in charge and can really act out when not given his way.  It isn't easy to talk about because these behaviors tend to show mostly when it is just mommy, daddy and the kids around.  He is a hitter, stomper, thrower and screamer.  Several of those being new to us as parents.  It is also difficult as our other children have shown some of the ripple effect of HM joining our family.  I feel it is important that everyone have consistent rules and aggressive behavior is not tolerated.  We have seen many, many irrational meltdowns from P, who at 6, seems well beyond an age where that is an appropriate method of expression. D, like HM, is quite strong willed, and has her share of tantrums, hitting and stomping included.
So suffice to say, it has been challenging a good bit around here.  Warm weather certainly has helped, we can all use more time in the sun and fresh air to burn some energy and play with friends.  I am constantly thinking about what other interventions or evaluations might be needed, all the while trying to remember that the "terrible 2s" is upon us as well.  Nothing like questioning your every parenting decision still after 4 kids!  I am not on my A game either and I have to remember that that may be the biggest cause of everyone's struggles.

"baby D" celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday, even further proving that she is no longer a baby!!  She has  blossomed into a bright, brilliant, opinionated little girl.  I love to see her find her own place in the family, although sometimes I think she might overthrown S and I.  We celebrated with a "bounce house" birthday, and after her initial stubbornness I think she had a good time.

Our trip and update

So we pulled it off and surprised our kids with a trip to Disney!  S had been gone for work for a week, so the Saturday he got back we told the kids to pack a change of clothes we were going on a road trip.  It worked.  We just said we were going to drive through the night to the beach and spend a day.  Totally bought it!  It was a long drive but totally worth it.  As we approached the big arching sign for Disney World S said to T, "I think we may have taken a wrong turn, T can you read that sign?"  She did and was so confused.  Not P though, he immediately started screaming, "thank you, thank you!  We are Disney World!" D and HM seemed fully perplexed but that was ok.
Next surprise was our close friends B&A met us there, and the kids grandparents later that day!!  It was so much excitement and they all did so well.  HM was so excited to see the HUGE "Nemo" pictures at the hotel and just pointed and screamed.  All day at Magic Kingdom and everyone did awesome.  I was so proud.  We took almost 800 pics total, so I won't overwhelm, but I will add a couple of my favorites.   We stayed until Friday and headed home around 1pm.  That made for a torturous drive home and HM has become increasingly cranky, feverish and coughing.  Poor guy!  We learned he had another ear infection and more wheezing.  So back on meds for him.
That is the very abbreviated trip story.

In other news, HM continues to receive speech services and has some of his own language, but nothing most people can understand.  I am meeting with the Speech people next week to talk about what else we should be doing.  Dr. also said that he may be developing asthma, so we are learning about all of that.

Today, winter made her true presence and dumped more than a foot of snow on us.  Everything came to a screeching halt around here.  HM did get to hold a little snowball and it seemed to be his first experience with snow.  It was fun to watch his fear turn to delight.

So those are all of the positive updates.  Some of the tougher stuff.  Behavior has been an issue with HM as of late.  We partly believe that recent illness may have something to do with it and of course being 2, but it is still challenging and can be very exhausting.  Being that his is not an only child, it is important that our other kids don't think HM is allowed to "get away" with things that are not acceptable for them.  At the same time, his story is different from theirs.  They understand that to some degree, but it is still hard.   We are trying different things, the language limitation of course adds to every one's frustration.  So that is where we are, several steps forward and an occasional step back.

Now pictures:

I'm a slacker!

I have not done well recently.  I have lots of things I want to write but have just been too busy/lazy to actually post.  Lots of things going on, but probably the most exciting....we leave tomorrow for a special place where Dreams come true!  The kids know nothing, and that makes it that much more exciting!!  I can't wait to get back and post some pics!   I promise I will do better, I will catch everyone up and it will be wonderful!
Til then...off to mouse land we go...

Whew...the holidays

Every year I wonder how we get through the craziness that is the end of the year.  Between Thanksgiving and New Years it is true chaos around here.  I know you are all dying to hear about it, so just a brief recap (and by all I mean the 2 people who read this, and they really probably already know)!


Christmas was a wonderful week of lovely celebration.  The kids got gifts from our very close friends to start the holidays off right.  B&A are usually the first gifts the kids get this time of year, it is kind of turning into a tradition.  HM initially was TERRIFIED of the talking Nemo they had picked out, but is now quite in love.  We travelled a couple hours away to see my dear friend, T, who was visiting from far away Texas.  She is recently engaged and brought her adorable fiancee, who didn't seem at all phased by my 4 sweet rug rats.  We visited with them at T's parent's house, which was great, because I got to see all of her family.  I spent many a Christmas break at their house, and they will always be family to me.  While in the area we visited with my parents and bestowed upon them a little C craziness to add to the holiday cheer. We also accomplished our first hotel stay/over night away from home since HM came home.  I must say all seemed to go very smoothly.  It is funny how routine and structured HM can be and at the same time just rolls with the flow of things.  I think fun was had by all, I know my parents were happy to have us, and probably just as happy to see us head home.  It's ok, I understand.
I must add that while the holidays brings busyness and chaos to every one's home life, it also brings ABSOLUTE insanity to my work world.  So while trying to squeeze in some Christmas cheer, my co-workers and I were busy, busy, BUSY little elves.  Makes you appreciate your days off, and having people you really like to work with!
Anywho, we spent Christmas Eve, just us, the 6 Cs.  I must say it was quiet and relaxing, I mean as quiet and relaxing as it ever is here.  The kids opened new jammies, or MeeMee's as HM calls them, and headed off to bed.  Christmas, S's mother, stepfather, and brother came over to enjoy a little C chaos for themselves.  The kids were adequately elated and overjoyed with all of their prizes.  However, I must mention that Santa left them a note letting them know that he does watch all.the.way.until Christmas Eve!  I see an elf reporter in our future. 
From Christmas Day until that following Friday, was pretty much a blur.  Fevers somewhere in there, crazy work, RIDICULOUS snow, wait that might have been before Christmas...see BLUR.  That Friday my mom came up to take P out for a birthday celebration.  My sister and dad were unable to make it, but the 6 C's and GG make a party anyway.  We ventured to a restaurant, which we never do.  An interesting thing happened.  While there, a lady at the table next to us was very interested in us and HM, his story, where he was from, how long he had been home.  All kind, appropriate sweet questions.  She complemented us on our beautiful family (I know) and then out of the blue came over and gave each kid a gift card to a local store. She said her family had been through a lot that year and had been blessed and she saw our kids and wanted to bless them.  She told us to take them to the store and let them pick something out.  I was shocked and touched, and probably didn't handle it well, because all I said was "Thank you!"  I will pay it forward soon in honor of her.
Anyway, Christmas Day for me is the one week mark to my FAVORITE holiday ever, at least since 2007.
MY precious, sweet baby boy, P, entered this world on New Years Day 2007.  He was in fact the "New Years Baby" of that year at our hospital, and he didn't show up until 5:25pm.  We had been waiting for him at the hospital since the afternoon before.  What he taught me that day, 1st was that you can't enter the world ear first and 2nd, having him would make New Years Day my new favorite holiday.  He is 6, S-I-X people, I can't believe it!  He is tall, has lost teeth, can read and constructs Legos like he was born to.  He is a momma's boy, and I LOVE it.  I have a sister....and 4 female cousins.  Having P brought so many new things to my world.  So, having babbled on about that, New Years Eve he set out to make it to watch the ball drop.  Last year he tried and passed out on the floor in front of the couch at 11:30pm.  Despite my best efforts he didn't make it then.  But this year!!! He napped and was ready to go, and he made it!  Not sure it was all he expected it to be but he did it.  We have amazing, fabulous, patient, kind friends who are willing to hang out at our house on NYE even though they don't have kids and could easily be anywhere else having a great time.  So P had a lot of Happy Birthdays as soon as the clock struck midnight.  Then we all went o bed by 12:05.
Cake the next day a couple presents and then back to work for the rest of the week.  The end of our Holiday extravaganza comes at P's party, which was the following Saturday.  This is the point where I wonder how we make it. 18, yes 1-8 kids came over for a Lego party.  It was loud, really, really loud. And it was a BLAST.  S made an amazing cake, and Lego head marshmallow things...he rocks.  The kids built Legos and colored and screamed.  We sugared them up and sent them home.   Good times!
Now we are back into the routine of life and it is all settling back down.  We have some exciting things on the horizon...I am really looking forward to February....

OK here are some pics...birthday pics coming soon.