Agnes: Life has Changed

Our little girl is one week old today. Amazing how much can change in a week!!

She has middle names now too: Agnes Sophia Rose Brock, born 6th March 2011 at 11:28am. She weighed 7 lbs, 15.5 ounces at birth, and 20 grams more five days later! (most babies lose weight the first week) Not our lamb, though--cleanest burper you ever saw, doesn't lose a drop!

Here's Caleb and Daddy looking at old baby photos and connecting himself with the little bundle in his arms--best brother you could ask for so far! Adam...he's coming around, gives the baby kisses and his typical greeting, the hand over the mouth, but mostly he's his own man.

Life is going well, and with all the extra hands around we are settling in, eating well, sleeping just enough and relishing in the quiet moments to hold and cuddle new life, so recently still tucked away inside my body. It really is a miracle, and we're grateful for every little thing that is new, that we are reminded of about the boys and their early days, that we need to adjust to because of this new life.

Speaking of which: I need to go to bed! I'll try to post some more soon...

A new season is dawning...

Well, it's official: We are now the owners of a house.

I still can't believe it...things are all so surreal when they are handled civilly over the phone! One call and the place you live is placed at the disposal of the public and soon someone offers you a lot of money for it...another call and you've agreed to hand over an even more enormous sum of money to someone else for their property. It's that simple.

I'm totally clued in that this isn't a simple process at all, and it's only the beginning. I knew this morning that I would be as terrified of getting the house as I would have been at losing it!! I have visions of sitting in our own garden (without other people's dog poop to watch out for!!), of giving the boys proper baths in their own bathtub, of growing flowers in the front yard...all of which carry me through the moments (small at present) of fear at the mountain of transition yet to climb. Changing phone number and address, getting to know new neighbours, packing and unpacking are only the beginning...sounds manageable enough though.

But we're still due to have this baby any day!!!!

Crazier things have happened, and people have survived them. We are so grateful to the Lord for working this out in a way that made us trust more, talk seriously, work hard and ready ourselves to live fully in what is no matter the decision. I'm glad that He answered our prayer to have the house decision made before the baby came so at least we can enjoy a week or so of the wonder of our new life before we turn everything upside down! And moving at Easter holidays means the boys will have ample time to settle in to our new world, with their new sibling, before the routine starts again.

I'm sure I'll have much more to say about this in the weeks to come--and when reality hits me!

Memories from the weekend...

Boys playing together well and making us laugh...

Adam's first tooth coming out...

Going to the Causeway Prospects group on Saturday afternoon where a profoundly disabled man named David said a prayer for Adam...

Our second note of interest in the flat...

Baby kicking and moving, still preparing to enter the world (but hopefully not for another 2 weeks!)

Rubbish weather but happy family...life is good.

The Belated Birthday Bash

Today we had Caleb's birthday "party" for his 5th birthday. It was supposed to be last Thursday, which was his actual birthday, but he was sick and we had to cancel it. A week on we were finally ready for the party, though on this occasion one of his friends could not make it and we were met with the irony that Adam was sick and had to be picked up from school just after the party had started. Nevertheless, the circus carried on and I think everyone had a good time.

I say "party" because this was my first party to organise and have for one of our kids, and as I said on the phone this afternoon to someone, it might just be our last! It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but not being a real party girl myself I find it hard to get in the mood and make it a spectacular occasion. I'm much better getting lots of food and letting the kids wreck the joint than I am at figuring out games to play. As it was the one game I organised pretty much went pear-shaped, but the eating and wrecking were big hits!

In this post are a couple of pictures from today taken with our new camera. Our old one broke just before Christmas, and with the impending arrival and Caleb's birthday I finally persuaded myself to get to the shops and purchase a new one. So far so good, and I love that it's bright shiny red too!!

Here's the birthday boy wearing one of his presents, which of course explains the whole thing:

And of course one of Adam, who patiently watched five Mr Tumble episodes while the other boys were playing, and when it occurred to him that he might eat something he went into the kitchen and helped himself to the rest of the cake (only a taste)!

Needless to say I'm exhausted, but it was worth it. Three weeks until baby comes so I'm grateful for chances to do something "special" for either of the boys. I'm feeling much better than I was over Christmas, so hopefully the next three weeks will be a time of enjoying, anticipating, preparing and relishing this amazing process that's unbelievably almost over.

As for other news: the possible move to a new house is still up in the air, watch this space. And the school situation for Adam looks to improve with a move to one of two remaining special schools in Aberdeen called Woodlands after Easter (i.e. mid April). Again, this will take some more thinking through so watch this space and I'll update as I know more.

It all adds up

It's getting close to bedtime after a long and busy day, so logically that means it's the perfect time to sit down and write the first blog in 6 weeks!!

I felt guilty for a few days, then forgot all about blogging, then felt guilty again, and now I just wonder how on earth can you sum up the last 6 weeks in a few paragraphs? You can't, is the short answer. What I thought I would do instead is write in short blurbs some of the things that have happened over the Christmas period, in no particular order of importance:

We had snow upon snow before school got out, making the Christmas season indeed festive in appearance, though all of our Christmas parties got cancelled, as did swimming club and school on two occasions, and getting about was tricky at best and downright impossible at worst. So we are glad to have had a snow-free few weeks and lots of blue skies and sun the last few days especially.

Adam has turned over a new leaf and now goes around the house "tidying up", an improvement over throwing things around though I still can't find most of the stuff he "tidies"! He has also developed his love of drumming, dressing up, and watching Mr Tumble (BBC CBeebies character on the show Something Special). He is great at saying hello and bye-bye, and is learning and using more signs, correctly, these days too. He knows the difference about which shoes he needs on which days (i.e. trainers on the weekend, school shoes during the week), and can find them himself. We still await word on the Coordinated Support Plan we applied for, and should be hearing soon. School continues much as before and we are hopeful that things will change for the good this year.

Caleb has spent much of the last few weeks, and most of the time he was sick over the holidays, drawing various animals/characters/vehicles. He wants to know how to write their names, is learning to spell and write, count, recognises letters and numbers everywhere, and never lets more than a few seconds go by without asking me some number or letter question. He is the tallest and oldest in his nursery class, and I have just finished doing the paperwork for him to enter Primary one in the fall. I think he is both excited and nervous about the baby, though in following his father's footsteps he doesn't seem to need to speak about it too much, yet. I keep a close eye on him, and am very much enjoying his company in these rougher days recently.

Brian is enjoying a busy "break" from term duties, finishing up a book that he has been editing and attending meetings away now and again. He notes the lack of physical exercise though I try to reassure him it's just a season. He faithfully carried the family while we were all sick over the holidays, and even shared his Planet Earth videos with us!

I am now nearly 34 weeks pregnant and very much feeling it. It did not help to have the flu over Christmas, along with the whole family, and a cough that has left me with sore ribs still four weeks later. But the baby is growing well, moving vigorously, and hopefully plumping up nicely for his/her debut in a few weeks' time. I'm mostly functional again now after several weeks out, and just today painted two radiators and cleaned a windowsill, thus the reason my body is particularly ready for bed tonight!

Shortly before Christmas we found a house for sale just around the corner we are thinking of buying. Of course, the first step is to get our flat ready to be surveyed, photographed, viewed and sold, which of course is the reason to paint radiators at this point in my life. And a LOT more work than I thought it would be, especially with sore ribs!! I often, as in every 10 minutes, wonder about the logic of taking these steps so late in this pregnancy, but both Brian and I are at peace that if it's meant to be it will happen and if not we are ok with that too. It doesn't hurt to have clean radiators no matter what, and maybe, just maybe, we'll end up with a shed and garden and loft to boot. Though at this point probably after March 10th!

I do wish the radiator in the hallway was less salmon than it is, though.

And now, I am grateful for Paracetamol, which will help me get into a horizontal position, slowly get comfortable, and hopefully sleep for long enough to feel like doing this all again tomorrow. Hello again, and goodbye again for now, hope to see you again before too long.

What was I saying about Rambo?

Is this pregnancy hormones, or something in the water I'm drinking? After the scene the other day at Ramboland, which I have only just begun to recover from and stop analysing, I have now begun another fight.

This time, it's against Aberdeen City Council, who are proposing a series of drastic cuts to educational services for children with Additional Support Needs. Not only are they suggesting that 50%, or possibly even 100%, of Pupil Support Assistants (PSA's) should be cut from ASN classrooms, they are also proposing to raise class sizes from a teacher:pupil ratio of 1:7 to 1:10. Among other ludicrous suggestions, the impact of these cuts have not been explored, nor have they fully consulted with the groups of people likely to be affected most: parents, teachers, support staff and most of all the children with special needs in question.

But they wouldn't get much from the children, would they? No, because many of them can't speak for themselves, let alone speak at all. And their parents are often so involved in looking after them and surviving day to day that they have no energy to fight this subtle attack from the city council.

So I guess that's why I've dug out my cammos, machete and war paint. Here I go again, and if you care to join us, look for Save Aberdeen ASN Services on facebook, or sign the petition here. Thanks.

A little bit of Rambo in us all

Yesterday I did something that I didn't think I would do, though it has always occurred to me that I am capable of it. I lost my rag at some kids who were harassing Adam. And their moms. Loudly.

Seeing as the snow continued to pour down out of the heavens, and we had once again been cooped up in the flat until noon, I decided to take the boys down to the beach to an indoor soft-play centre called "Ramboland". This place is the epitome of cheesiness, with life-sized murals of Sylvester Stallone as Rambo painted all over the walls. It is also, however, Adam's favourite place, probably because we don't go there very often. No real reason, except that we usually either walk to the close one (especially when the roads are covered in ice and slush), or drive to the farther ones to use up more time and see a bit of country. Ramboland also has the benefit of being next door to Burger King, just in case you need a bit of sustenance after your play.

As we walked through the gates I had the simultaneous joy at noticing we were the only ones there, and disappointment as four moms with at least 3 kids each came in just behind us. Oh well, makes for a bit of entertainment, I thought. Little did I know!

It quickly became apparent that the kids had observed Adam's "differences", and though he didn't pay them a bit of attention they proceeded to run away from him, follow him around, and generally behave like idiots. All the while Adam was merrily doing the loop and really enjoying himself, so I didn't pay too much attention until Caleb came up to me and said "Those kids are saying we're monsters, but we're not monsters at all." I knew exactly who they were calling a monster, and that's when I stopped focusing on my book.

I'll skip the details, but suffice it to say that for an hour and a half I watched the kids acting stupid and their moms being totally blase about it. Finally I put down my book and went to play with Adam and Caleb, feeling that little bit protective, and when the boys (about 8-9 years old) were staring at us from above I lost it. "YOU! (I pointed to one) GET MOVING!" And I indicated with my hand that he could take a hike. No fingers, just move it along. I did the same with another who was watching, and added, more for my sake than anything, "LEAVE HIM ALONE, I'M SICK OF IT!!"

Well, next thing I know he's running to mama and crying at top volume. At which point I stalk over and give it to him and the moms all at once. The only defense they offered is that "they are just children", at which point I asked one "Do you know what it feels like to watch your child being treated this way?" She had nothing to say. A little while later they left, and I turned my back on them all as they went out the door.

I would like to say that I'm proud of this, but I'm not. I'm glad that I defended Adam, that I had the words to say, and just enough righteous anger, to make them hit home. I hope that every one of the kids and moms learned a lesson, but the reality is they probably didn't. I know that even though Jesus turned the tables in the temple, that was only one example of pure-D anger out of so many other examples of being patient, forbearing, gently instructive and teaching the people who didn't understand Him at all.

The real irony of the whole affair is that usually Adam has trouble and pushes kids, and it's him that I get cross with. But yesterday he was good as gold, not once doing anything wrong.

I wish I could follow Adam's example, of doing his own thing despite what other people are saying or doing about him. I wish more that I could know he would be able to live his whole life in peace with other people protecting him. Maybe that's most of all what brought out the Rambo in me. And maybe I'll have to keep fighting a bit more, and of course loving, teaching, forgiving and encouraging others to be different. Hmm, now I know why Rambo had a machine gun.

And that's why we had ice cream in the freezing cold at Burger King afterward. And it tasted very good.