Looking for the Silver Lining

Loving the bubbles

Ever have one of those weeks? This week has been one of them. It's times like this when, if I hadn't tried to find the bright side, or even a little bit of humour in things, I would probably be a crying mess. I lost my bank card (just an inconvenience, but it was the first in a chain of events). We had to have our beautiful cat put to sleep, which was upsetting for the whole family. I lost my really good camera; and worse, all the wedding photos I had taken with Felix and the Bride and Groom. We needed accommodation somewhere for tomorrow night, but the whole place is booked out (another annoying inconvenience). The bank has now made a mistake, and I have to wait another week for my new bank card (difficult when we've had a lot of travelling and expenses). Joshua (16) has been vomiting all day (and the first time didn't make it to the bathroom so I've been washing and scrubbing all day). Finally, tonight we found out that Nathan didn't get the job he had applied for, which we had all been hoping he'd get. I really hope the coming week brings us a little bit of good luck!

Drawing is tiring!

It's in moments like this, when it's best to reflect on all the good things we do have. We have our health, which is something we should never take for granted. I know so many families watching their children fight terminal illness or who are facing complications from surgery. We have 8 very healthy children (except a tummy bug at the moment), and it's something I am so thankful for. My husband has a good job, as do our three oldest children. The others all do well at school, and Felix's development is coming along beautifully. We just enjoyed a gorgeous wedding in which Felix did us so proud! We all have a roof over our heads, and food on our plates. The most important thing we have is each other; a wonderful, supportive family, who all have so much love for each other. There is an endless supply of good in our lives, but I guess we wouldn't be human if we didn't let life get on top of us sometimes! I certainly feel like it's a bit on top of me at the moment!

Tomorrow, we have to head back to the city. Felix is going to have a joint birthday party with his little buddy, Lilly (who is in his Early Intervention group), tomorrow. She has just turned two, and Felix will be two on Saturday, so we're looking forward to having all of our gorgeous kids together for a little celebration. I'll be taking the opportunity to experiment with my new, and improved, camera (slightly dulls the pain of losing the other one!)

Love that smile

On Wednesday, Felix has to see the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist about getting grommets in his ears. Since we last saw the Specialist, he hasn't had another ear infection, but we think it's because we stopped taking him to swimming lessons. It will be interesting to see what they say on Wednesday. I would love to be able to take him back to the pool so hopefully, if he has the grommets, we'll be able to get back into it.

So handsome!

Following the ENT appointment, Felix has to see the Opthamologist. He hasn't had any issues with his eyes so far, but the Opthamologist wants to have a better look at them with a machine she has in her offices in the city. When she travels to the country to see Felix, she only has limited tools to work with and isn't able to bring any of her other equipment. The MRI of Felix's optic nerves showed a minor difference between the two of them, so it's yet to be known whether or not it will cause him any problems in future. A lot of kids with Down Syndrome require glasses for different problems relating to their vision. I'm definitely expecting that Felix will need glasses eventually because 6 out of 7 of his siblings, and his Daddy, all wear glasses. I'm just hoping it won't be until he's a little bit older because I have no idea how we would keep them on his face without him pulling them off!

We have a busy week ahead. I'm going to try and stay positive and look forward to lots of good things. Tomorrow, after all, is a new day :)