LIVING!

The boys are now back at school after two weeks of holidays. We have enjoyed spending time as a family getting out and about. No more days of being stuck on the couch all day patting an itchy child!
Night times are hit and miss. Oscar has been waking up during the night and thinks it's time to get up. It takes him awhile to settle back to sleep but I guess his body is getting used to what it feels like to sleep all night long. For his body, a five or six hour stint of sleep probably feels like two nights worth of sleep!  Charlie has been waking too for a drink or toilet stop and Harry has suprised us with quite a few nights of sleeping through. He still says every night at bedtime that he's going to sleep all night long.

Both Oscar and Harry had an itchier than usual few days as we ran out of Manuka Paint. Their skin is looking much better now after a few days of using it again.
Amazing what a difference one tiny drop of it can do for their skin.

Charlie is getting more affectionate by the week. He's asking for kisses and cuddles from both Andrew and I or snuggles up to us for a cuddle. I'm guessing he now knows we are able to give him more affection, he's not having to compete with itchy boys.
Of course we gave Charlie affection but it was always interupted or brief. Now when he is cuddled up with me I daren't move! As I've previously mentioned these times with Charlie feel so special and I feel like I have a lot of making up to do on this.

We have had lots of people comment on how good Harry's skin looks and reminding us how bad he was this time last year.
He really is a different child.  He's a wee boy enjoying his childhood. Harry's kindy teachers have commented on how caring and empathetic he is towards others. I put this down to what he's been through and the care that Andrew and I have put into getting the boys well again.

Our room is nearly all painted and our new bed arrived this week. So nice having a big bed. I made a sign saying no kids allowed and put it on the bed and Oscar cried when he read it. I'm sure you can guess the boys have taken no notice of the sign!

Life is so much easier for us now. Life seems mostly normal and what a releif for us. During the school holidays we went to a friends for dinner and she very kindly catered for our long list of dietry requirements. Aside from the food aspect, going out for dinner as a family has been pretty much a non event for us as it was too hard on minimum sleep. We were all exhausted by the evening and with tiredness brings more itching.  As soon as the sun went down the boys would be itchier than during the day!
We also took the big boys for a ski lesson over the holidays. They had so much fun. All these new fun things to do...
We are no longer existing, we are living!

CHARLIE SANDWICHES

We are now two weeks in with Oscar sleeping in his bed! Absolutely unbelievable. Our lives have completely changed. Andrew and I get to see each other in the evenings, fall asleep together..wake up together! It's still feels so strange not sleeping with one of our children.
Harry's sleeping really well too and most nights we seem to be able to settle him back in his bed. He even told one of his kindy teachers last week that Oscar and him slept in their beds all night long and Mum and Dad slept in their bed together! Harry's teacher told me about this conversation and jokingly warned me to be careful! We've had a few people joking with us about the fact that now we are sleeping in the same bed another wee baby Sloan might be on the way. I can tell you right now that we are done with babies! We finally have our lives back and we want to enjoy finally being a family being able to do things together, go on adventures and create fun childhood memories for our boys.

A really special part of Oscar and Harry sleeping in their beds is that most mornings Charlie comes in and has cuddles with us. Andrew and I both give him cuddles at the same time and tell him we are having a Charlie Sandwich. One morning we did this he sat up and looked at both of us then gave Andrew a kiss on the cheek then snuggled back in with us. That night when I tucked him into bed I said I would see him in the morning for a Charlie Sandwich and he said "Mumma, I love Charlie Sandwiches". It's very special to have these moments with Charlie. It must be such a sense of normality knowing he's not the only one going to bed on his own.

Oscar and Harry have had a big week with their school production for three nights. They had face paint on for it and when I picked Oscar up on Thursday night he had two red spots on his face. The usual red spot that turns into impetigo. It's obviously a weak spot for Oscar's skin and with the combination of sponges probably being used on other children and the face paint it has caused the infection. Thankfully we had antibiotic cream and got onto it very quickly as it literally multiplies before your very eyes. The next day it cleared up really well as the day went on. I kept both Oscar and Charlie home but both wanted to go to the last night of the play. Oscar's face looks much better today and hopefully by Monday the spots will be tiny.
Today has been a very quiet day with the boys being tired from three late nights in a row.

We ended up ordering a new king size bed last weekend.  There just doesn't feel like enough room for two adults in our bed with both of us being so used to sleeping with little children. We have always said that once the boys are back sleeping in their rooms we would do our room up. Andrew has started painting the undercoat this weekend so hopefully in the next couple of weeks it will be complete. Our own room again after all these years, very exciting!

Oscar sleeping soundly in his own bed!

I ordered this for our room and ironically it arrived the week Oscar started sleeping in his bed! This will remind us of what we have gone through and what an amazing team Andrew and I are.