First Day of School: Alex in Kindergarten

 

 My baby boy...or my big boy, however you want to look at it...is off to school. We've been gearing up for the big change by altering our schedule to fit that of one conducive to school. The kiddos used to go to bed at 8:30 every night and would drift off to sleep (eventually) around 9:30 or 10:00. I have night owls. What can I say? They would then wake up at their own accord the next morning between 7:30 and 9:00. School starts at 8:00 so I upped their bedtime by half an hour and wake them up at 7:00 each morning. It is going great for Abby who loves her new schedule and drops to sleep in about 10 minutes flat. Alex, the one who actually needs his sleep for a full day of school, is fighting it tooth and nail. Today was his first day of school and it was only half a day but I could tell that the lack of sleep will catch him soon. He actually went to bed without arguing tonight.

His first day was a great one and I was super proud of him for how grown up he was about the entire thing. He went straight to his class line-up in the gym and sat with his teacher without so much as batting an eye. He gave me a big hug and blew me a kiss and I said bye to him. Yep. I cried. I turned around so he wouldn't see me, but it was one of the most heart wrenching moments for me to see him off to all-day school. How do I have a kindergartener already?? Abby and I met him for lunch in a desperate attempt to monitor his food allergies until he can get the hang of it without me being there. I figure I have one or two months until he wants me outta there and flying solo. He said he wants me to come every day. We'll see how that goes. I'm super worried as almost every kid at the table had Peanut-butter or milk in some form or another, but I'm putting faith in God and praying daily about the whole situation. He's as smart as a whip and really great about being careful around food. I've taught him well. So one day at a time.

He already made a friend according to his own words. He talked about him all day after getting home. I'm so proud of my social butterfly. I can't wait to see how far he'll fly in school. He's a great kid and I couldn't ask for better. Alex: my little kindergartener.

Diagnosis of the Day

There are so many statistics out there changing the way people look at food consumption in our country. People are consistently saying how the spike in Diabetes over the years has become pretty horrible due to poor food choices...blah, blah, blah. Genetics can play a part as well. And as it turns out, Diabetes is now officially something I have to deal with on a daily basis...with my cat. Our poor fat cat, Logan, was officially diagnosed with diabetes today. What you must know is that Logan is just a tad overweight. I was under the assumption he was severely overweight but the vet said that he's really not too bad. He's a big cat, but not overly fatty.

About a month ago I noticed that he was having some issues with water and, well...let's just say that the litter box was his best friend for non-urinary based issues. It only lasted about a week and I was just about to take him to the vet when it all cleared up and he seemed just dandy again. For the past week or so I noticed him drinking a lot more. I was concerned with stones, as I've had lots of cats in the past with issues like this. But upon further investigating, he was peeing just fine. I found him this morning asleep with his head draped over the water dish and knew that I had better get him in to the vet ASAP. I know you should never self-diagnose, but I was about 98% sure he had diabetes. All signs pointed to it in my head.

The vet said he had an intestinal issue for sure but that we might not want to rush into blood-work for sugar levels and stuff just yet as he might clear up with a round of antibiotics. Bless my vets. They are the opposite of most vets I've been to. They look for the cheapest route first. I love that place. He asked if I wanted to wait or test him and I said I was concerned about the diabetes enough to go ahead and test. Poor Logan. He's so fat that they couldn't find a good vein to take blood from very easily and he now looks like he's been butchered at the barber. The vet came back and said that I made a great call and he was impressed at my spot-on diagnosis. His levels were pretty bad and diabetes was the diagnosis. I was given the option of letting him deal with it as he slowly progressed over the next year until he'd have to be put down or to begin insulin injections twice a day for the rest of his life. Guess what I chose.

How could I have chose anything else? Look at that face and cute fat belly

Yep. I'm officially giving him insulin twice a day now and the prognosis is great. As long as we manage to keep dosing him, the vet said they can live into their twenties with diabetes. that's a whole lot of insulin over the years, but he's part of the family and Josh and I agreed that we wouldn't have decided any other way. Heck. I made the decision to start shots before I even talked to Josh as I knew what he'd say. He loves our cats just as much as me and so do the kids. I figure we have a kid with asthma and allergies. Why not a cat with diabetes? The funniest part is buying insulin at Wal-Mart and telling them the reason I just need one vile is that it's for my diabetic cat. I laughed when I said it. As for Logan? He's better already. Two shots into his system and he's already back to his fat and happy self. Gotta love those modern meds!

20 & 24 Weeks

This is what you might call a delayed combo post. For some reason, I just totally forgot to blog about my 20 and 24 week pregnancy updates. I posted pictures on facebook for my aunts who absolutely adore watching my enormous belly grow, but that's about as far as it went. So here's what's been happening with baby number three.

At 20 weeks we went in for the mid-preggo sonogram as usual. So this is the big appointment that 95% of the population (I'm just guessing on the percentage of course) get pumped about due to the fact that you can find out what sex the baby is. I was the same way with Abby and Alex. But seeing as how this go around I feel completely different about it, Josh and I decided that we would go the old natural route and skip out on the grand early revealing. Crazy, right? Oh, there are days when I wish I knew what it was just for one reason. I really don't like referring to the baby as 'it'. In my head, "it" is a creepy clown from that bad horror movie. So basically I'm trying to refer to 'it' as 'the baby' instead. All went well at the sonogram for the most part. There was one concern about the kidneys. I'd give you the scientific term, but the doc went over it so fast and so nonchalantly that I couldn't tell you what it was called. Basically it had something to do with digesting the amniotic fluid and a follow up sono was going to happen at 30 weeks to make sure it would work itself out. Fast-forward: at my most recent appointment the final reading of the sono determined that the levels are a little on the high side, but in the normal range so all is well. The kids loved to see the baby moving on the big screen until about 10 minutes in when it became boring to them. We hid our eyes during the leg viewing just to make sure we wouldn't be able to figure the sex out on our own. It was neat to see that little kid practice breathing and moving around. It made me more excited to meet him/her in November. I'm also excited to find out what the baby is naturally instead of cheating and finding out early. I'm calling it my pushing motivation as I am going to be trying the delivery without an epidural (doctor thinks it's for the best because my last two epidurals went not-so-great). Wish me luck!

20 weeks

At 24 weeks, which was actually about two weeks ago, things have been pretty much the norm for as far as pregnancies with me go. The worst part is dealing with horrific, slightly disabling hip pain after I try to stand up from sitting or sleeping. I'm already getting the happy joy-joy four pee breaks every night and Braxton Hicks have begun (yay). My heartburn has been pretty nasty as I am short-waisted (or extra-short waisted for that matter) and this baby spends half of it's time using my stomach as a nice cushy pillow. I actually woke up the other night choking on the acid that had sneaked its way up my esophagus. It was kind of scary because for a second it was hard to breathe. The baby is a crazy little acrobat in there, always on the move it seems like. My weight gain is actually pretty minimal compared to my last two pregnancies, but I fully expect to be packing on the pounds a lot easier now that I don't spend every morning with a friendly visit to vomit-ville. Other than that, all's well. I will say, however, that I keep thinking I look 8 months pregnant. Seriously people. I'm a cow already. So I'm mildly concerned about what my 9th month will be like as I still have about 3 1/2 months to go. Yikes! I'll try to do better and actually blog on my next preggo appointment update in two weeks. Until then, I gotta go. No seriously...I really gotta go. Baby is using my bladder as a punching bag again.

24 Weeks. Yes. I'm wearing the exact same thing as the 20 week photo. Not much fits me these days.

How do you judge a year?

You hear it all the time. "Bob, it's been a good year," or "I tell ya what Joe, it's been a bad year." I am guilty of saying the latter, for this I can be sure. Tough times - they come to us all, don't they? Even the richest man has his down time. Why do you think there are such highly paid psychiatrists out there? For what one man considers his worst day, another man would consider it his best. The same goes with how you see your year.

There are days, I won't lie, that I look at the past three years and think about how rough they've been. And trust me. We've sailed some pretty bumpy waters for quite awhile now. And the truth is, that most days aren't bad at all. In fact, I wouldn't trade them for anything. The problem is that when you sit around with idle hands and mind and let yourself slip into the dark pit of despair from all that pointless dwelling, that is the day that seems the worst. And with Josh going on almost a month of zero work, it was only a matter of time before I would fall back into that pit. Yesterday was that day when all I could manage was to pinpoint the annoyances of the past year instead of all the good things. I'm human. It happens.

So I decided to write something that would help me remember that you can't let the 12 bad days ruin the other 353 days of the year. One day, when Alex and Abby (and baby number 3) are reading this to see how life was growing up, perhaps it will help them through those 12 or so days that stick out in your mind during those certain times. I could easily list my year with the bad pinpoints like unemployment, no money, allergies and flea infestations. But what good would that do? So this is how I remember my past year:

First day of school smiles, backpacks and field trips, birthday parties and lots of cake, new tutus and smiles to match with well-loved and stinky ballet shoes, saving caterpillars from the dying garden, Finding live grasshoppers in little pockets, breaking out the jackets, the zoo in the fall sun, homemade football brownies and two chocolate smiles, rediscovering favorite long sleeve shirts, stained and holey Wiggles shirts new in the eyes of a little boy, pumpkin patch and Halloween decorations with annoying singing skeletons, jumping in leaves, parades and candy and fairs and freebies, more birthday cake and smiles with family, Super hero family pictures, football every week, hubby dressing up as Dresden, pirate costume and trick-or-treating, discovering football, dad and son on the couch watching football together, milk-free pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving, bubble bath beards, proud pre-school art projects, first school Christmas program with singing 5 year olds, sitting on Santa's lap, decorating for Christmas, singing Christmas carols the whole day long, Christmas movies watched too many times, rediscovering each ornament for the tree, Santa ate the cookies, reindeer hoof-prints and magic oats, presents, stockings, joyful kid smiles, saying goodbye to the gingerbread house, seeing the first snow through your kids eyes again, dirty snow forts and snow sculpting in the backyard, tiny snow angels and climbing dirty snow mountains, snow ice cream and snowball fights with too cold noses and fingers, hot cocoa every night with warm fleece blankets and two snuggly kids in bed with me when it's bitter even in the house, first days without jackets and snow turns to rain, puddles and muddy little legs and feet, setting leprechaun traps and ripped leprechaun pants, more birthday cake and new friends, a new baby on the way, one excited brother and one excited sister, Easter eggs and stained tables and hands, first fishing trip of the season with Grandma and Grandpa, new fishing tackle for two smiling kids, baby bunnies all over the yard, owls at night, homemade soy-ice cream cake with the happiest chocolate faces smiling back at me, last pre-school days and more singing at a school program, tears for a pre-school graduate, brother and sister discovering the baby bump on mommy's tummy, the zoo, garage sales, backyard picnics, catching butterflies, evening bike rides and walks, Playing in the pool-no matter the size, swimming lessons and watching my two little fish learn to swim, kool-aid popsicles, movie night, catching fireflies, gathering empty locust shells from trees, mowing the grass, teaching baseball in the backyard, fireworks, first sparklers for my big kids, water balloons, hours in the sandbox and on the dilapidated swingset, daily walks to get the mail no matter the heat index, sprinklers, washing the van turned water fight, ladybugs and box elder bugs, walking to the library, sitting in the shade just talking about the fun day at vacation bible school, brother and sister feel the baby move, sharks and pink unicorns and the aquarium, Wiggles concert and cousins with crawdads, and early morning baseball in the backyard with a tiny touch of fall in the air....and so we come full circle.

And that's how I judge my year.

Wiggles 2012

Well, it's been a great run with The Wiggles. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. I don't suppose it truly is an end as we still watch the videos and dvds fairly regularly and I have another wee one on the way that will more than likely love dancing along to their Wiggly craziness. However, as for concert trips, our days of this joy has come to an end. It's bitter-sweet really. I do love the trips and will treasure each memory of the three concerts in my heart always, but those blasted ticket prices are outrageous considering all things. But in case you aren't hip to Wiggle knowledge, two things happened this year to their group. First, Alex's hero and favorite Wiggle, Sam, was forced to leave the group to make way for the poorly timed return of the original yellow Wiggle, Greg. Alex loves Greg too, but no where near as much as Sam. So he was sad at that news. Second, The Wiggles, after 21 years of touring world-wide, have decided to retire and hand their skivvies over to a new group of people who will take their place. They want to spend more time with their own families which I can totally understand. Sadly though, I don't have high hopes for the continued success because my kids both turn their noses up at a girl Wiggle...which they will now have. Alex already told me he doesn't want to see the new Wiggles at all. Like I said though...bitter-sweet.

This year we opted (due to financial restraints, as it were) for the "nose-bleed" tickets. Turns out that even though we saved a good chunk of change on it, there is something to be said about those nicer seats. First of all, the people that inhabit the nose-bleed sections are rude, nasty, annoying people. Believe me when I say that I'm being nice as I could be commenting on many of their even more obvious and unsavory traits. Abby was actually shoved over and ran down by one of these women on the cement stairs. This was even after I shoved my hand into the lady before she ran Abby over and told her to please watch out for my kid. Nasty people. Second of all, Anthony, my self-proclaimed favorite Wiggle, went into the audience this time for the meet and greet part of the concert. He never does that! I believe he avoids this so that he isn't groped and fondled by every mother in the world. Who can blame the guy, right? Guess what section he went to? Not mine. This is all that matters. But he did visit the entire section of the more expensive ticket area we were in for the previous two years. Doh!

Regardless of the seats and the lack of Anthony up close and personal moment, it was a blast and I'm super happy that we got to go one last time. Alex was in full-on Wiggle mode and danced his heart out. In fact, due to the seating locale, I spent 90% of my time making sure that he didn't fall down the concrete steps in all his craziness. I have bruises to show for it. I think Alex will miss them dearly come this time next year. Abby had a great time too, but the concert was in the evening so she was a bit sleepy and ready for bed by the end. All in all, it was a great day at the aquarium and the concert. It may have been a one day vacation, but it was  memorable and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm keeping the picture content of the actual concert to a minimum this year because, seriously. How many pictures do you guys want to see of four dudes you probably couldn't care less about? I'll miss our annual concert but it was a wild and crazy ride in the Big Red Car while it lasted!

Pre-concert in the nose-bleed section with two happy kids.

I said, "Are you excited Alex?" and this is how he responded.

"Take a picture of me with my roses for Dorothy, mommy!"

The fab four from down under!

Now we have a picture with both the yellow Wiggles. Funny thing though. He got stuck up in our section and couldn't find his way back to the stage. I laughed...just a little.

One last dance with the gang.

Alex rockin' out with his new Murray guitar on...on the steps. This worried me the entire time.

One last ride in the Big Red Car. *sniff*

My kiddos and me waiting for the fun to start.

Our last family picture at a Wiggles concert. I guess at least I can say we are all in the picture, even if the youngest of us is still in the womb.

Sharks!

For the past two years, we made it a point to take a teeny, tiny family vacation no matter what. Each time, thanks to two little kids, we went to go see The Wiggles in concert. This year was no different. I know that the "vacation" is really only a two day trip. Most would scoff at even calling that a vacation. But it's the best we can do on our dime (or more appropriately, lack of dime). The past two years we had to drive all the way to Texas which wasn't exactly like divin' into a bucket of peaches and cream. This year, we lucked out and The Wiggles were heading to Oklahoma. Guess who has family in Oklahoma? Yessir! That knocked out the need for a hotel as the concert was a short 40 minute drive from their house. Sadly, this is the last year for our annual trip to see them as they have decided to retire. *sniff* I'll miss my yearly up close dose of Mr. Blue Wiggle.

Thanks to the state change, we also decide to spend the first half of the day visiting something that Alex has been dreaming about for awhile now. We went to the Oklahoma Aquarium. Alex is positively fascinated with sharks and ocean life. He's been desperate to see an aquarium after seeing and reading about them. And more importantly, he's super-interested in sharks. He has several books about them from garage sales and birthdays. We figured it would be fun to take the kiddos to finally see some sea life. I know people who have been there and said it isn't the most wonderful place to go, but I tell you what. My kids were in love with it! They are the kind of kids that love seeing things like this. Zoos are right up there with fun trips they adore making. But when we got in the underground shark tunnel, Alex's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree! I must admit that even I felt extra excited to go there. It was pretty darn cool and now we must plan a trip sometime to go to Seaworld for miss Abby. She wants to see dolphins and so it's in the works for our next possible weekend vacation spot.

I'm glad that we went. We saw some pretty impressive specimens, including a massive alligator snapping turtle that was (I kid you not) the size of my queen bed. They said that he's been around since the 1880's. Wow! We thought it was fake until we saw it moving and then I came to the swift conclusion that I shall never go into a river or lake again. I'm pretty sure if you crossed paths with that dinosaur, you'd be lunch. *shiver* I'll be breaking the trip into two blog posts. This one is the Aquarium post. It's so strange to think that next summer we'll have three kiddos tucked into our mini-van instead of two. Exciting!

The ray tank was awesome! They flipped around and splashed us. Very cool indeed.

Shark tunnel time. We had to revisit this place more than once.

That shark is the megalodon life size painting. Yep. I know it's extinct, but it's the reason I won't swim in the ocean.

Family photo op.

*Insert "Jaws" movie theme here* Creepy.

Alex compared to the record Alligator Gar in Oklahoma. This place did not convince me on the safety of river/lake swimming.

The ray tank again.

One of my favorite pictures. Alex in the shark cage replica. I laugh every time I see this picture. I love my kids.

Unionland

Once upon a time, things were good in the world. So good in fact, that some of the people organized a self-sustained land where a group of people, called the overlords, would watch upon those that inhabited it's land and keep peace and harmony for those who lived there. They called it Unionland. Life, it seemed, to even the simplest of peasants was not difficult nor complicated here. Everyone in Unionland had jobs to keep them busy, food to feed their families, and shoes to keep their feet safe on the jagged rocks in the road. Life was good in Unionland and all was right with the world.

Then, a terrible plague of joblessness swept the grounds of Unionland, striking it's hardest blows upon the lowliest of peasants in the land. Times became tough as the arm of the ever increasing plague gripped harder and harder until all but the wealthiest in the land were feeling the noose tighten. The people, frenzied with worry, became afraid and begged to flee from Unionland in hopes of finding a better life elsewhere. But the evil overlords of Unionland refused to let the peasants flee and kept them there to suffer the fate that they themselves would surely never battle. Most of those that tried to escape the ever growing power of the overlords, were captured and placed in the city square as an example to those that might try the same path. The others...were never heard from again. While the evil overlords laughed in their golden chairs and dined on fine wine and exotic fruits from the outside world, life in Unionland was becoming more bleak by the day for the peasants. Unionland, so it seemed, was corrupt.

Years later, the evil overlords began to become bored with the woes and wailing of the peasants. Lines of poorly dressed and filthy peasants lined the great Unionland hall benches and so the overlords formulated a plan so dastardly, so horrific, so very evil, that even the smartest of the peasants could not suspect their true viciousness. The overlords gave them what they wanted. Jobs began to fill the lives of all the lowly peasants. Hope began to rise among the masses and families began to gain weight again as the simple pleasure of eating was no longer a worry to them. Unionland was saved! Hurrah!

Or was it?

A year passed and all was good. Peasants were no longer worried by the financial burdens that once plagued them. Families put their houses for sale to buy bigger houses as they rode the wave of hope that gained in multitude each day. Bill collectors were slowly driven mad by boredom and the people danced in the street.

And atop their golden tower, the evil overlords sneered at the joy and hope that once again filled the lands. But little did anyone know, that the joy was all part of the overlords cunning plan. Just as quickly as joy returned to Unionland, it was equally quickly pulled away like a rug from beneath an unsuspecting enemy. Jobs during the plague that were once sparse and far between became nonexistant. Work no longer existed and the peasants once again wailed for mercy in the streets.

And the Unionland overlords laughed.

Peasants begged for work. Bill collectors began to wreak havoc in the streets, laughing their evil laughs all the way to the bank. It would sooner be easier to see a tumbleweed grow legs and walk than to see a job available anywhere in the land.

And the Unionland overlords laughed.

Peasants began to once more line the hall benches and wait in the filth of the dirt for a crumb to survive on. Dancing on the streets stopped. Hope was naught but a failing, untouchable light in the far away distance. Life in Unionland was worse than it had ever been.

And the Unionland overlords laughed.

Once more the overlords danced for joy for the suffering they caused to the pathetic peasants of Unionland and all was back to where they'd planned. Order and power, so it seemed, was once again where it should be.

And as for the Unionland overlords? They dined on the exotic fruits from the outside world, knowing it was a better place...and they laughed...forevermore.

Oh. I'm sorry. Were you expecting a happy ending? Ah...well...the moral of the story? Unionland sucks.

The End.

(This story reflects our ups and downs...mostly downs...with the Union that my hubby is in. He's not working right now so this was my way of venting aggression at the Union. :-)