Just a Little Sass...

Well, I know I usually blog about the kids and try to keep my personal reflections to myself, but hey - it's my blog and I'll do what I want, right?

I also figure that since Kyle's gone, I don't have him to impart with my daily thoughts of my experiences, so thus I'm forced to share them with you. So, here goes. Big issues about rules and guilt about breaking them.

1. I did it. I was the english major who couldn't count...or maybe the math major who couldn't read...anyway, I got in the "15 items and under" line at the commissary (grocery store on base) when I knew very well that my cart had more than 15 items in it. Ha. I checked out hurriedly with 19 items, 2 quiet happy kids, sanitized cart handle (love the Target brand $1.00 sanitizer wipes...very convenient packaging that fits in my diaper bag perfectly), and bagged groceries in the back. Saved us at least 20 minutes. It was just a couple of days before Thanksgiving and I didn't need too many items...but everyone else in the store did. Had I waited in line with everyone else with 15+ items, we would have been risking being as happy at the end of checkout. Don't tell anyone - we might do it again, too. Ha-ha.

2. Following rules

If you know my family, you know that for the most part, we are rule followers. It's genetic. My mom is probably the ultimate one and her siblings are guilty as well. Here's what happened - one of my eye doctor appointments a few weeks ago was at Camp LeJeune - a large Marine Corps base about an hour from where we live. The opthamology clinic is on the 2nd floor. There's a stairwell near the clinic - the sign on the door reads "Fire Door - Keep Closed at All Times." So, Kyle decides that it's okay to open it and go down the stairs, but I questioned him because the sign said to keep the door closed at all times. Right? Anyway, I reluctantly agreed only to find that there were a couple of other people in the stairwell as well. I asked Kyle if I was the only one with this moral dilemma - he said that I was. Don't get me wrong - I understand the intent and purpose of a fire door. But I think the sign should read something like, "Fire Door. Do Not Prop Open. Keep Closed When Not Using It To Open And Close Immediately After Walking Through Quickly." Again, am I right?

3. Just Saying "NO!"

You know when you are checking out at Wal-Mart, and the credit card swipe machine asks you questions, like, "Was your store clean today?" and "Did your cashier greet you" ? Well, if the cashier hasn't greeted me, I always answer that she did and I give her a smile because I figure that she didn't greet me because she was having a bad day...or maybe her kids are sick, or her husband had to work late...I don't know. Anyway, I also don't know if the cashier has any idea if the customer is being asked a question and if so, what question is being asked, but I figure she can tell by the position of the stylus what my answer is. So, I NEVER answer NO because I don't want her to get mad at me, I guess. Am I really afraid of being grumped at while checking out at Wal-Mart? I guess the need-to-please disease runs rampant in my family too, along with the follow-the-rules disease. Anyway, I answered "NO" the other day - the cashier was not friendly, wasn't grumpy, but didn't greet me. And I felt sassy enough to answer NO. So there.

4. I love what?

I took the kids to Subway on base after picking Vivi up from preschool last week or so. I got them seated and got some Cheerios out for B and got Vivi busy with something...anyway, after getting our food and dispersing it out, I saw a guy and a girl (early 20s, probably) standing together in line. The guy was wearing a brown sweatshirt that said, "I love boobies" in bright yellow letters. I did a double take at first, wondering where in the world one would find a shirt like that. Then I remember feeling sad for the girl that was with him...I'm not a big fan of the graphic t-shirt, or sweat-shirt....although we do have a couple in our household. Kyle has a couple that are Jesus themed...not really a graphic shirt when its proclaiming a love of our Lord and Savior...Vivi has one that says something like "Everyone Loves a Princess" but she's 3 and not a big deal for her to wear one. I have one (don't ask me why) that says something like "Life is better blond." I haven't worn it for some time now, but don't really feel inclined to throw it out. Maybe it will serve as a mid-life crisis tee for me, or a 'my identity is lost to my kids' relief shirt. Who knows.

Anyway, I stared at this 'boobies' shirt a little too much - my bloodsugar was probably teetering on the verge of being low and I should have stopped looking at the other Subway patrons and eaten myself...but then I got tickled and thought that Bryton would probably enjoy wearing a shirt that said "I love boobies". There's an idea of a kitchy (sp?) onesie. I giggled for several minutes about that one. In fact, I'm giggling now!

A little more about the graphic tees - while I am usually not a big fan but I do however, love the pregnancy ones! I never could talk Kyle into wearing one, but I did find some cute ones online. One of my favorites said something like "The impregnater" and "He shoots, he scores", etc. The drawings were cute and the phrases were cute too, but never could talk Kyle into it. They had cute ones for the mama-to-be too (arrow pointing to the belly saying "just kicking," etc, but it just never struck me to get one for some reason.

Well, that's all the wisdom I can give you for now...hope you are having a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! I've had lots to write about, just no time to do it. So, I have to first get to some documentation stuff - since I'll be using the blog to complete Bryton's baby book and to journal in the family scrapbooks. (Each kid gets a baby book that goes from birth to 1 year..then they join the family album. However, the family album from after Vivi turned one is essentially her 1st year album..all about her...anyway).
So, Bryton is almost 9 months! When he was 6 months and a couple of weeks, he had a check up and everything looked good. I started giving him baby organic oatmeal, mixed with breast milk. After a week or so of that, he started eating Gerber baby squash, sweet potatoes, peas, pears, carrots, green beans, apples, and bananas. I pretty much skipped over the 'size 1' baby foods and started him on 2s. He did pretty good with those. Then, I started making him some things - buying organic veggies and peeling them, boiling them, then putting them in the food processor adding some water that they were boiled in until the consistency looked right. He enjoyed that and it was kind of fun making it, although I'm not sure it was a cost saver. I made him carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, plums, yellow squash, and peas. He's gobbled up pretty much everything I've given him, but you can't give him a bite of apples followed by a bite of squash. He'll prefer the apples, of course. But, he's done okay. He'll go through a 'no green veggie' phase for a day or two, then a 'no orange food' phase for a couple of days. Sometimes I'll mix some baby oatmeal into his veggies to thicken them up some. Oh -he loves avocado too - and it's pretty easy to prepare - just split in half, take the pit out, scoop the fruit out of the peel, then mash it up. He loves it! Now, he's eating Cheerios like a pro, Gerber puffs and yogurt melts (seriously - those things are expensive!), and some various other Gerber baby finger foods. I've given him diced bananas and canned peas and carrots. He's doing pretty good with that, but still hasn't master his pincer grasp yet..he can get the food to his mouth, but it's more of a scoop with the hand-see what gets in my mouth type of thing. Lexie thoroughly enjoys post meal time clean up. I'll stand him on the floor and pick the gummed sticky leftovers off of him and leave them on the floor for Lexie to dispose of.

What else? Hm...well, I've been taking a Photoshop class. My great friends Kelli and Kelley make this possible by offering child care and car seats and preschool pick up! It's been great - only for another couple of weeks or so. Hopefully I'll know all the tricks of the trade (ok, well, at least the basics) by the end. The curriculum isn't too advanced, but the instructor is a professional photographer who has all sorts of tricks up his sleeves - and he's willing to share.

Also, Kyle's in Yuma. He'll be there for about 5 weeks or so, coming back just before Christmas. We're down about 2 weeks, about 3 or so left. So far, so good. The kids have been challenging the past couple of days, but everyone is clean, fed, and alive. That counts for something, right? I've been scrap booking since Kyle's been gone - trying to catch up before he comes back! I'm in April of 2008 now and going quick - just paper, cropped pictures, and a journaling box on each page. The cute, clever stuff can be used once I'm 'caught up'. I'm documenting Bryton's 'accomplishments' in a great little calendar that one of my Aunt's gave me - the calendar pages can be torn out and put in a scrapbook - they are 12 x 12! I'm going to use them as page headers for B's book to start off each month.

Hm..Vivi's said some pretty comical things...but I can't really think of anything right now. She's enjoying listening to Christmas songs and is getting ready for Jesus's birthday. We will be heading to Birmingham around Dec 23 and will stay for a few days. Kyle doesn't have a bunch of leave to take, so I'm not sure how long we will stay. Hopefully long enough to see everyone!

Other exciting news? I've had a couple of people hire me to take pictures! I'm very excited and can't wait for my upcoming events. If you know anyone who needs a photographer in New Bern (or Birmingham during the week of Christmas), send em' my way!

Speaking of pics, here's one of Bryton -I like the 'conductor' effect it has - especially when you are listening to Christmas music. Oh yeah - he's also been kicking his legs to the beat of the music he hears...pretty cute. I'll try to get some video.





Anyway, I've got to go get ready for our Thanksgiving plans! Hope everyone has a great day!

Catching Up! (Warning - some eye surgery vague description below)

Well, what have we been up to the past couple of weeks? Hm...kind of...a LOT! I had to read my last post to see where I had left off. When I left you last, Vivi was having a very hard time getting over her fear of potty-ing anywhere but at home. She did good at Chili's that one time (picture on Dropshots - Oct 17 date I think..wait...the actual potty experience was not pictured...the celebratory cake and ice cream was), but had trouble for several days after that. Anyway, we are finally over it, about 90%. She is still apprehensive about the auto flushing potties, but isn't hysterically terrified anymore. She gets pumpkin (you know, the ones that are kind of like candy corn) every time she flushes the potty while she is sitting on it - just to teach her that even if a potty does flush while she's sitting on it, it's not dangerous (a little gross, but not dangerous). It seems to have worked.

Other news? Well, our family has had 2 eye surgeries, visit from Grandma, Trick-or-Treating, visit from a great friend from Yuma (who lives in FL now), finished 2 (or 4...they are reversible) outfits for Bryton, and flu - h1n1.

Where to start? Eye surgery - one night, over the course of 3-4 hours, I went from seeing fine out of both eyes, to floaters appearing (you know...black lines that float around your visual area) and blurriness that reduced my vision on my left eye to just about nothing. I spent the next afternoon at the optometrist's office on base who thought that my retina might be detaching due to too much tugging from new (and weak) blood vessels that had formed because my eye wasn't receiving adequate oxygen. That is due to 25 years of type 1 diabetes. It really affects the vascular system and diabetic retinopathy is a side affect. Anyway, the doc on Friday made sure that my retina was still attached and talked to an opthamologist who scheduled an appt for me the following Monday. Over the weekend, she said not to do anything that would increase blood flow - no exercising or running around...hello...I have 2 kids...ANYWAY, I took it pretty easy and went to the doc on Monday who confirmed the diagnosis of the doc I saw Friday - a hemorrhage in my left eye - the newly formed blood vessel had burst leaking blood into the vitreous (vitreal?) fluid causing the floaters and the blurriness. She set up an appointment on Tuesday with a retinal surgeon - in Wilmington. At this time, she still thought my retina might be detaching, and wanted me to see the surgeon asap. After talking to the nurse at the retinal surgeon's office, she told me some post op instructions for retinal detachment surgery - no stooping, bending, lifting, exercising, possibly being face down (if they had to put an air bubble in) for 2-3 weeks. Keep in mind this is Monday after we left the opthamologist's office...the retinal surgeon still hadn't seen my eye and still hadn't done an exam. So, Kyle called his mom and I called mine - to see if anyone would be available to help with the kids during the 2-3 week 'down time' I would have post op. Kyle's mom was able to come up on Wednesday and stay for several days. (note - my mom was available too, but our cell phone call got cut before we could confirm anything b/c as we were talking, their carrier was updating her phone...). At the surgeon's office the next day, he looked and poked and prodded and took pictures and injected dye in my veins to map out blood supply, etc. He didn't see retinal detachment at all - just new blood vessel growth that he wanted to zap ....with a laser... in order to kill the growth of these new blood vessels. New blood vessels sound great when your eye isn't receiving adequate oxygen, but the new ones that form are very unstable and very leaky - and prone to hemorrhaging - which is why he wanted to cut their growth, preventing them from leaking again. So, he deadened the eye (took 2 shots to get the rights nerves deadened) and went to zapping. Of all of the millions of shots I've had in my lifetime, I will remember this one. Not really pleasant, but not unpleasant. 975 lasers later (new record for the office), surgery was all done. I was doing okay - just feeling a little uneasy...you know, kind of yucky, but very much thankful that the retinal detachment wasn't an issue. That was scary to think about. Plus, the laser surgery didn't have near the post op restrictions that the retinal detachment surgery would have had. Keep in mind though that I still had almost no vision out of my left eye due to the blurriness. The good thing is that now (2 weeks later) most of the blurriness is gone. I still have a few light floaters, but have a good percentage of my vision back. The floaters are in my central vision area, but my peripheral is pretty good. Ok, so where was I...Anyway, being that my post op period wasn't going to be as restrictive as we thought, we told Kyle's mom that we wouldn't necessarily need her at the extent that we originally thought, but she had already made her plans - we were so glad she was still coming, just didn't want to inconvenience her more that we already had. Anyway, while we were running all over eastern NC to the eye docs, a wonderful friend kept Vivi and Bryton, and another friend took her little boy over to play with Vivi and yet others offered to keep the kids, let the dog out to go potty, pick Vivi up from her preschool class...we were engulfed with support!! She says that they didn't fuss once...Vivi talked and talked about her fun filled days - she had a great time!

Anyway, Tuesday after the surgery, we had to stop for formula. The drugs they gave me for the surgery aren't proven to harm infants that are nursing, but they aren't known to not harm them either. The doc advised that I not nurse Bryt for 48 hrs post op. I had some milk in the freezer but not enough for 2 days of feeding. Note to new moms - pump any extra while you can and do it for as long as you can - you never know when you might need some. I'll have a good pump to sell in a few months. So, there Kyle and I am in Target looking at scads of formula bottles. I in my eye patch am trying to read the labels on the formula. They are a little overwhelming - there's a formula for everything - brain development, eye enhancement, soy option, etc. I just wanted one that said "This one is safe for your baby to eat." Haha. Anyway, formula was purchased and he did just fine. Had to put a level 1 nipple on the bottle - those are the newborn sized nipples. He about chokes with level 3 (the 6 month size).

On to grandma's visit! She arrived played with the kids from sun up to sun down. It was so helpful having her around - Vivi and Bryton loved the attention, too. The house was pretty clean and with her entertaining the kids, I was able to stay on top of everything while she was here. A couple of days before she left to go back home, she asked if I needed her to do anything or keep the kids while I did anything...and for the first time in..well..months (maybe even years), I honestly didn't have any items on my 'to-do' list. Really. It's a great feeling. Grandmas and anyone who loves to play, please come visit.

Another visitor? Yep - my good friend from Yuma came to visit...kind of. She is a photographer and was scheduled to photograph a wedding for a client within driving distance of New Bern. I had planned to go with her prior to the eye stuff..play with some great photographic equipment, get some good girl time with my friend, take some fun shots at a wedding...but only have good vision out of one eye at the time, I didn't think traipsing around at an outdoor wedding in my clumsy state would have been the most discreet way to be a 'guest' at the wedding. Well, my friend took some family photos of us...I'll post more later on dropshots. I got to play with her camera and a couple of lenses some...and I am now officially in love. With a camera. And a lens. And taking pictures. And fall colors. Her visit and tips really inspired and motivated me one step closer to having a photography business. I just love taking good photos...and even love taking bad ones - that I learn from. (Another good part of having Kyle's mom here was the assistance with taking pics...I played and played with my camera downtown one day...she played with the kids, I took pics. I wasn't going for expressions in the photos as I was just trying new things with my camera (even though I'm in love with a new camera and lens, I do pretty good with the one I have...it's a good one). Photos are just great - I mean, you only get one chance to capture a certain place in time....one chance to remember your little ones as they are little...spend as much time with them as you can (while still maintaining your sanity...)...there's just so much to remember...and capturing those times with photos makes it so much easier to remember the good, funny, inspiring, bad, and growing times.

So, it was great seeing an old friend again, even though it was brief. Maybe I'll be able to head out of town for a few days and schedule a time to see her. :-) Although that's not too likely anytime soon...this current weekend is the only weekend in several that Kyle hasn't had to work...either mandated by his squadron leaders, or just catching up on 'paperwork.'

That brings us to...Halloween? Vivi wore a Gingerbread girl costume that my brother wore long long ago...and Bryton had a lobster costume...He didn't wear it on Halloween b/c it was 80 degrees here Halloween afternoon - he would have been a cooked lobster had he worn it! Where's the drawn butter? Anyway, we spent the afternoon with friends (thanks for the great Halloween party!) and evening Trick-or-Treating. Vivi had a 'big girl' time!

On the Wednesday after Halloween, I had eye surgery on my right eye. The doc saw some blood vessels growing that needed to be killed off before they had a chance to hemorrhage. So, we went in to have the same procedure done on the right eye. This time, the doc wasn't able to fully deaden the nerves that service the eye...but they did the procedure anyway. No more details about that unless you request them...but it wasn't pleasant. I'm seeing like normal out of that eye...just waiting on hemorrhage from left eye (first one) to clear up...they say it could take months. But, its getting better. I have to sleep on three pillows to keep my head elevated to let gravity do its work to clear out the blood particles from that eye. If I turn upside down, it can have the 'snowglobe' effect and let everything that had settled come into my central vision area again.

Now - more outfits for Bryton. I was able to finish 2 outfits for Bryton that I had started pre-eye drama. They are finished - pictures will be on dropshots soon. They are from a size 18 month pattern, piped around the top, reversible, and embroidered with his name. Oh yeah - and thanks to Kyle's mom, I can successfully use the button holer attachment on my sewing machine. (on previous outfits I hand stitched the button holes. Trust me - much easier with the attachment).

Yep, Vivi has the flu. She's been coughing/sneezing for a couple of days, but that was it...until this morning. She was burning up - fever was 101.2 -not that high, but we still called the pediatrician and they got her in this morning. Pediatrician said that it was flu, and probably h1n1. The only way to tell for sure would be to send a blood sample (from a 3 year old...not easy to get) to the CDC and then hear back from them 2 weeks later. Vivi and Bryton have had the seasonal flu vaccine, but not the h1n1. It's only recently been available, but I have some apprehension about getting it for them. I can't really explain why...I mean new vaccine, came out in huge quantities relatively quickly...just makes me wonder if enough research was done. Oh well...a little late now. Vivi's been a little trooper today - just more tired than normal. Doc said to give her motrin every 6 hrs for 2-3 days and she'd start feeling better soon. She did well today - just real sluggish and decreased appetite...but really well for having this. B might be getting it too = he's been congested the past few days, but no fever and appetite is..er...very much hearty...mr. chunks.

Ok, ok..while I'm typing this very lengthy blog, I'm watching the LSU/Bama game....we're 2/3 in our household today...Navy won, beating Notre Dame in a good game; Auburn won (well, it was homecoming) and LSU/Bama is proving to be a good game. Not sure how it will end!!

Anyway, hope everyone reading this is doing well! I'm going to try to post more often so the next post isn't as long. Sheesh!

Oh one more thing - Kyle's going to Yuma this week and will be gone until around Dec 20 :-(. Any nanny or maid services very much welcomed! ha! I'm very glad that this eye stuff happened while he was still here.

And, I'll be in Birmingham for Christmas - not sure exact dates yet. I'll bring my camera and would love to have some beautiful subjects to 'expose.'

Have a great day! (oh - no time to proof read this one...sorry for typos/incomplete sentences/thoughts!)