Changes.

Firstly, Caitlin's neurosurgeon appointment went as well as it could have!  He doesn't want to see her for a whole year!! That has never happened before.  As the last shunt revision resulted in her walking again, he's happy with her.  I'll be delighted if I don't have to see him for another year!  I did mention to him how Caitlin is still having some headaches, but he said that's just due to pressure changes and he wasn't concerned about that.  Other than that she's doing fantastic.  She got her first school report during the week and she got a glowing report :)  Her teacher tells me everybody loves Caitlin and that she's a little genius :) I would have to agree :)

Summer is approaching - Caitlin only has this week of school left then she's off for a whole two months! Eek!  I can't believe she is finishing her first year of school.  I remember that first day I waved her off on the bus and I was a complete emotional wreck.  I struggled with the decision of sending her to nursery a year earlier than usual and I'm so glad I did send her - she has just flourished this year. Now she's finishing her first year and will be at home all day, our routine will obviously have to be readjusted.  I was really worried about how I was going to keep her and her sister entertained for two months.  I'm not the type of mummy that stays at home with the kids all day every day - I like to get out with them to do fun things!   But I was drawing a bit of a blank with ideas.  Kids love soft play (Caitlin enjoys it as long as it isn't busy) but she needs me to go into the soft play with her to assist her with climbing etc and I can't do that with a 7 month old baby in tow.  I know a lot of mums who have a child with spina bifida and another child and are able to do things like soft play but I don't know of any whose eldest child has spina bifida.  Usually the older child can go off and play while mum assists the younger child who has sb, but I have two children who need one on one in places like soft play.  I can't exactly leave Aoife to look after herself while I help Caitlin lol.  So soft play by myself and the girls is out.  Swimming is something both my girls love.  Same problem, I need another adult with me so that's out too.  The zoo - Caitlin is mad about animals so she would love to go to the zoo a lot but the zoo here is up big steep hills which I can't push a double buggy up (believe me - I've tried!) and Caitlin can't get up them with her walker.  So that's out too!  The farm - we go normally at least once a week!  As I said Caitlin loves animals.  It is doable going by myself with the girls but the local farm has a huge jumping pillow that Caitlin enjoys going on when we visit so I lift her onto that and hold her hands while she jumps which means Aoife has to sit in her buggy and watch which she doesn't appreciate!  The park - Again I can take both girls with me but Caitlin needs assistance to get onto anything in the park.  I lift her onto the play frame as she can't climb up the ladders to get onto it and she needs close supervision while on the play frame as she is unsteady and loses her balance quite a bit.  I can't take my eyes off her for a second incase she falls off it and she often needs me to hold her hands to get through parts of the play frame.  Which means Aoife spends pretty much all the time at the park in her pram which isn't really fair on her, especially now that her favourite thing to do is walk while I hold her hands!
So finding things to do with both of them is hard.  I feel like one or the other doesn't get enough attention and a lot of things I just cant manage by myself with the girls.
Then - a solution came!  David - the girl's daddy, got a new job and his shifts will be 4pm-1am working from home!!  That means he will be around during the day and soft play, swimming, the zoo, all the fun activities I didn't think we would be able to do - we can do because I have help!! Woohoo!!  I plan to take them swimming and to soft play at least once a week, we can go on day trips to wherever we fancy, and both girls will get plenty of attention :)  David didn't see the girls much during the week in his old job - he only got home from work an hour before they went to bed - so they're going to love seeing their daddy much more :)

Not many people get the opportunity to work from home and to do those sort of hours - many wouldn't want too!  But it suits us perfectly :)

David working from home and doing those hours has also opened up a new opportunity for me.  As much as I love being a stay at home mum, I always wanted to have my own career.  I worked as a nursery assistant because Caitlin could go into the nursery while I worked and I could do her catheter while I was there but I didn't want to be a nursery assistant all my life.  When I had Aoife I knew that childcare costs for both of them were going to be more than I earned so unless I had somebody to look after them for free (which I didn't) there was no point in me going back to work.  I thought I would be a stay at home mum until the girls were both at school.  There is nothing wrong with that but I have to admit, I have my own ambitions too.  I always wanted to be a social worker and initially I planned to apply for the course when I finished my degree in Psychology but then I had Caitlin and with her needs it just wasn't an option.  Until now!  Since David is going to be at home during the day I thought I would apply for the part time course.  It takes much longer to complete than the full time course - five years as opposed to 2 years full time but I didn't want to be away from the girls five days a week so I went for the part time course.  To be honest I didn't expect to get a place- it is so hard to get onto the course because there is so many that apply and not many places are available.  Around 16% who apply get a place.  I passed the personal statement stage and got an interview.  Then I got sick a few days before the interview and went to it sniffly, achy and with a massive headache.  I didn't feel it went well.  So I was so shocked when I got in!  It means I will be training to be a social worker for the next five years from September, probably around 2 days a week, with lots of hands on experience through placement.  As my maternity leave is ending I had to make the decision to hand in my notice at the day nursery which I did this morning.  I will miss working with the girls that became friends at the nursery but leaving to do social work training is definitely the right decision.  David will be at home to look after Caitlin & Aoife on the days I am in university/work placement and I can't think of anybody better to look after them while I'm not there so I'm delighted :)  After the five years I will be a fully qualified social worker!  Caitlin will be 8 years old and Aoife will be 5 by then so they will hopefully be well settled in school and I will have the time to earn some money for our family too in a job that I've always wanted to do :)

We're also about to move onto a different bowel routine for miss Caitlin.  I won't go into too much detail but what we're doing now isn't keeping her clean and we need to try something different as she's 3 1/2 now and it won't be long until she starts to want wearing pants.  We're going to try Peristeen and I really hope that will eliminate bowel accidents.  Doing her catheter every 3-4 hours doesn't keep her completely dry but hopefully a pad in her pants will catch any leaks and she can get out of nappies within the next few months.  I know it won't be plain sailing but with patience, determination and maybe a bit of luck we will get there!  

Aoife's growing up quickly too - she's clapping her hands, waving bye bye, shaking her head for no, and loves being up on her feet.  Her and Caitlin are getting so close.  Often I can hear them laughing with each other - it really is lovely :)

Oh and we've finally booked our wedding!  Initially it was planned for 13th October 2015 as that will be our ten year anniversary but it turns out I will be on work placement that month and the university said I would have to take a year out if I missed that much work placement time (it would have been 3 weeks with the wedding and honeymoon) and I didn't want to do that so we've moved the wedding forward by a few months.  It's now booked for 15th June 2015.  Over the next two years I'll be raising the kids, studying and planning a wedding.  It will sure be busy!  I can't wait though - it's very exciting :)

So there's a lot of changes going on around here!  I think they're all going to be positive for our family :)  Here's to new beginnings :) :)