A Blog About a Bloke-Living with WHS

I think these are all pretty self-explantory!

It sure can be frustrating when you are learning to ride a bike. Braeden is expressing himself in true toddler fashion. Luckily, he has a big brother to help him!

I love how Ryley looks into my eyes before he falls asleep and we smile our secret smile. His means "goodnight, I love you Mum" and mine means "you will always be perfect in my eyes, I love you so much". I love how Braeden saw the moon in the sky and exclaimed excitedly: "Ball Ball!" I carefully explained it was the moon and then he started saying "Mooooon". He sat and watched it for half an hour, every so often muttering "ball ball" "Mooooooon". You could almost see his thoughts. I love how Ryley tries so hard to help me. Sometimes his body doesn't work and he gets so frustrated and upset. I wish I had more time and patience sometimes. He never gives up. I shouldn't either. I love how Braeden wraps one arm around Ryley in the bath and pulls him close so he can pour water over his head. Ryley just sits there not having a single seizure with a bemused smile on his face. When Braeden is finished he kisses Ryley on

We are a bit excited at the moment because we are actually able to eat some of the vegies we have grown ourselves! We have been eating cauliflower, broad beans and silverbeet and I have been adding chives to my salads! Our strawberries are starting to fruit as well! I don't think we ever thought we could actually grow anything good enough to eat. But it seems we can! Braeden loves helping me weed and is more than happy to sample the broad beans raw (yuck!). We have had a very busy weekend and are all absolutely exhausted. We have started the countdown to christmas and have something on every single weekend until christmas *sigh*. How are we ever going to get our house finished? At least the weather is starting to warm a little now and the sunshine is just beautiful.

Today, I went to a conference in Melbourne on 'Including Fathers'. Parts of it were very interesting, and parts were, well...let's just say thought-provoking. Over the past 10 years or so there has been an emerging trend in society. The traditional nuclear family rarely exists, and there has been a social shift away from the notion that the father is the 'head' of the household. Dads are now able to take paternal leave either when a child is born, if a child is sick, or most importantly, if they have a child with a disability that they need to care for. More Dads are choosing to stay at home while their wives work, and this is challenging everything we know about child development and family functioning. So what do we know about Dads and how they influence a child's development? Well, to be honest, we know a lot more now than we did before. There are a multitude of studies that have all confirmed that the way a father interacts with their child has a huge i

Today was a beautiful Spring day here in Ballarat. There was a soft breeze and blue sky..and wait for it...ACTUAL SUNSHINE!! I can't tell you how nice it was to open up the house and do my 4 loads of washing that were waiting to be done! Not to mention being able to walk around the Lake and then play all afternoon with my boys outside. It is meant to be nice all week! YAY! Hopefully I can get some more painting done at night so we can get this house finished. I would love to have carpet and tiles laid before Santa arrives. Probably wishful thinking, but a girl can only dream!

Today we had our first fundraising event for the Ballarat Conference. It was a Tupperware party! So basically we had to make a certain amount of sales and then we would get a large amount of Tupperware that we can raffle off at another time! Well I can proudly say that we made that quota (and it is a big quota just quietly) thanks to all my fabulous friends, family, neighbours and workmates. So to them I say a HUGE THANKYOU! It is just so nice to know that so many people care about Ryley and want to support us and the conference we are holding in two years time. It has definately boosted out confidence in our community and we are CERTAIN that we will be able to raise enough funds to be able to have the special things that we want to have. I can't properly put into words what it means to have all the support that we do. We truly are blessed to have such a wide and close circle of people that surround us. So, THANK YOU.

My two beautiful boys. How I love them.

Again, our household has been sick. I am so bloody over it. It started off with me this time. Somehow, somewhere, I picked up a gastro bug. It seems to have bypassed the kids (Lord knows how) and now David has got it (he is also away in Warrnambool working, so he is feeling pretty sorry for himself at the moment). Both Braeden and Ryley have had/got conjunctivitis (or 'pink-eye' as the US readers will know it as). Last Thursday, Braeden came home with a message from his workers that they thought he might have it. He just looked really tired to us. By Monday his eyes were yucky and he was very miserable. Not helped by the fact that his Mum was doubled over in pain and barely able to move from the bathroom floor (times like this you really notice the fact that you have no-one to help). Today is the first day he has been better and I have sent him to daycare in the hope he makes it through the day. Ryley, however, is still not quite ok again. His eyes gunked up on Tuesday so

Hate it when they get pulled. I have had a really full on and busy week at work this week so I have been feeling a bit tired and drained. Not to mention the fact that Braeden woke every 1/2 hour last night because he was either cold or wanted a feed, or was having bad dreams (so this is, therefore, my excuse for being..erm..a little emotional). We have a morning routine where we all say our good byes to each other before the bus comes to get Ryley. He is far too grown up now to have Mum's kisses in front of his bus friends, and so this morning was no different. We all waved goodbye and Braeden and I jumped in the car. A bit further up the road we managed to pull up next to the bus and we could see this little Ryley face looking at us from out of the big bus. I waved and waved but he just pressed his face up hard up against the glass until we lost sight of him. I couldn't help it. Some tears slipped out. No matter how many times I see him on the bus, he still looks far to

I have been slack lately in terms of my blogging...sorry 'bout that. Life just gets in the way sometimes! In between having my sister and her daughter Talia staying, David working away, me working and the start of daylight savings, I have just had no time! Plus we have been very busy trying to get this house painted and the outdoor entertaining area done while keeping the boys amused...AAARRGH!! So everything to do with computer stuff has been neglected. As I type this, I am shivering. For some reason we have another cold snap despite it being Springtime. I think today we had a forecast of 10 degrees. Very below average for this time of year. Despite it being so cold, there has been lots of rain, which is just wonderful! We have been in a drought here in Ballarat for years and years, so to see our Lake starting to fill again and plants growing (and our tank overflowing!!) is just fabulous. Ryley hates it when it is cold and raining though, it means he can't go outside and he