Where we are the same only different

Hi.
My family is the classic nuclear family. I have a husband and I have five children. I live in a standard house with a cat and some fish. We wear clothes, sometimes fashionable sometimes not. That is probably where our similarities either end or begin.

My hubby and I are crazy, madly and deeply in love. True. He may frustrate the hell out of me sometimes but that isn't his fault.

We practice attachment parenting. We co-sleep with our babies, I breastfeed as long as they want to (oldest to date was nearly 2). And we homeschool them. My hubby has bi-polar. I've got PND.

My eldest child, my daughter Labyrinth (8), has an undiagnosed condition, possibly a precurser to bi-polar. We won't be putting her on any medication anytime soon. She loves Bratz, she does scrapbooking and likes writing and lying (OK she tells a good tall tale).

Next oldest is my son, Dante. He is a mad keen fisherman, plus he loves marine sciences and he keeps his own aquarium. He is 6, and he has had this obsession since he was 2, kid you not. This is a lifelong thing, mark my words. Oh, he likes to catch fish, but he doesn't eat them.

Next is my middle child, Kai (he is 5). He loves learning about armies and guns. We have gently steered this into archery and he will start learning how to use a gun as soon as the law allows. He isn't silly about it at all. He may grow out of it, he may not, but the important thing is he likes it now so thats cool with me. He likes making models too.

Raven is my 2 and 1/2 y.o boy. Ironically he's got a condition known as albinoism. Its not the type you can automatically notice (pink eyes/stark white skin), but he is pale, and his eyes are a very light blue. His hair is very pale white. He can't stand being outside because the sun actually hurts his eyes (and they can be damaged because of sunshine and exposure to bright light). When he as born he screamed until the lights were turned down alot. Otherwise he's a typical toddler who loves fish, Thomas the Tank Engine and Dora the Explorer. Hes fairly bilingual.

And then there's Monika. Well here's our black sheep. Her given names are Monika Belatrix. It means fair and just, white beautiful warrior. She is my only child with black hair and brown eyes. (The others are blonde of various shades and have either blue or green/hazel eyes). That's not the only difference, she is our only thumbsucker, the only one born by ceasearean (emergency of course - she got stuck), she settles herself without any imput from anybody, and she can drain my breast in under 5 minutes (the others used to take over an hour). Though, that isn't the biggest difference. She is the biggest baby I've ever had, and I don't mean fat! She is, on the Australian percentile, off the charts being tall! All, except Dante who is 60%, are on the 25%ile. And she is only 4 months old (or very nearly).

The other thing is I'm a uni student, Creative Writing (or Communications). We're doing it all the other way around, have kids then get the career, and homeschool in the mix too.

I am going to enjoy doing this blog. I hope that IF I get readers, that you'll enjoy it too.

Cheers!