Missing Shoe

After school today I went to put Nathan's shoes away and could only find one. I asked Nathan where the other one was and he said that he didn't know. We continued to look for a while and then just gave up and figured it would show up sometime. Later tonight we were cleaning up and Jon asked why there was a shoe on the ceiling fan! I was so excited that we found it! The boys thought it was hilarious and decided to see if they could get more shoes to land on the fan. Um, I don't think so, boys!

I'm pretty sure that Jake was the culprit in this situation since he loves to throw things- and he's pretty strong!

Finally a Diagnosis

So for the past three months my eyes have been red and I've been trying to figure out why. I went to my family care doctor in July and he said that it was pink eye and gave me some eye drops. I did the eye drops faithfully and it cleared up for a week or so and then came back. I called my opthamologist that specializes it retinal diseases and they said that they don't take care of diseases in the front of the eye. So I went to the optometrist and he said that they just look dry and gave me some drops for dry eyes. This didn't work either. So I went back to the family care doctor and this time he thought it was allergies. I started taking allergy medication, but that didn't help at all. So fed up and not knowing where else to turn, I bought some Visine drops at Target that get the red out. This would help for about 10 minutes and then the red would just come back. At this point I was so frustrated. I woke up Wednesday morning and looked in the mirror and not only were my eyes red, but my right eye lid was swollen and my eye sight was getting more and more blurry. So I called my opthamologist back and asked if there was any way they could see me. They said again that they don't deal with stuff like this, but that a NORMAL opthamologist does. Excuse me, a normal opthamologist? I had no idea that they were specialists or I would have called another opthamologist 3 months ago. Anyway, they referred me to one and I called and made an appoinment for 2:40 that afternoon in San Clemente which is about 25 minutes away.

I dropped the kids off with my mom and headed down to San Clemente for my appointment. At lunch Jon had showed me on a map how to get there so it seemed simple enough. I realized that my cell phone was dead on the way there, but again felt confident that I knew where I was going so didn't think that would be a problem. So I headed South on the 5 freeway and was looking for my exit. I was sure that each time I saw another sign listing the exits that mine would be on it, but alas, it never showed up. As soon as I realized that my exit didn't exist it was too late. I was now past San Clemente and apparently there isn't another exit until Camp Pedleton which was 15 minutes down the freeway. I was now stuck on the freeway and was near tears I was so frustrated. I finally got off the first exit that I could and turned around and headed 15 minutes back up the freeway. I got off at the first San Clemente exit and pulled into a 7-Eleven to use the pay phone. I looked next to me and there was a scary looking guy so I pulled out and found another pay phone. I called the doctor's office and explained what had happened and they were really nice about it. They gave me directions and told me to still come in. So at 3:30 I finally walked into the office and was able to see the doctor.

He looked in my eyes and right away said that I have MGD (Meibomian Gland Dysfunction) which is some sort of dry eye disease that is common in fair skinned blondes. The treatment is to do hot compresses on my eyes several times a day to unclog the oil ducts, to use lubricating drops and to take an antibiotic eye drop. He said that I may have to repeat this every month for a while until it gets better, but that it will get better. I can already tell a difference and am just really hoping that this is the right diagnosis and that I can finally have white eyes again!

Tonight I was sitting on the couch with a warm wash cloth on my eyes and Nathan saw me and wanted to have one on his eyes! It was pretty funny!

Our Week

Last week I didn't have Young Women's on Wednesday night so we decided to have a family fun night. We took the kids to Boomers (previously Palace Park) and let them miniature golf and ride all of the little rides they have. I think our favorite ride was the slick track cars. Jon and I were very impressed with how fast they went! It was such a fun night- perfect weather, fun activities and happy kids- what more could we ask for?!!!

I think the boys finished 18 holes of golf in about 10 minutes. They would drop their balls about 6 inches from the hole and then hit it in and move on to the next hole!

Max sat in the stroller smiling the entire night. He's such a good kid!

Jake and I rode the cars and then Jon and Nathan took a turn.

The train was probably their least favorite ride since it moved so slowly. Nathan was doing "Choo choo" as it went around.

The boys LOVED the tea cups- I don't think they stopped smiling the entire time.

This was the first time the boys rode a Merry-Go-Round by themselves. They didn't miss us at all!

Our final ride of the night was this free-falling frog hopper ride. It was so much fun- perfect for Jake and Nathan. After I rode with them the worker could tell how much Jon wanted a turn so he let him ride with the boys for free! Look at the smile on Jon's face!!!

We also hada fun weekend. Jon and I try to go out every Friday night, but have sort of gotten stuck in a dinner and a movie rut. We decided to be a little more creative and so last Friday night we ate at a nice restaraunt on the beach and watched the sun set. We then took a walk down the beach. It was such a nice night. Jon said that we don't need to go to Hawaii now that we can go on dates like this here- um, think again! I'm holding him to his promise of Hawaii before our ten year anniversary!

Saturday night we went to a party at our friend's house. We played the game Mafia and as we were leaving one of the couples was talking about how they had to speak in church the next day. Jon told them that if they could somehow incorporate the word 'Mafia' into their talk he would pay them $5! The husband is a pretty shy guy so we didn't think there was anyway he would do it. The wife spoke first and made no mention of the word Mafia. Then the husband got up and in the middle of his talk he was telling a story and said, "..and then this Mafia type guy came towards me..." All of us who were at the party starting cracking up and yes, Jon did give him the $5 he promised!

The good news of the week is that we are making huge strides in the potty training department! Jake has started using the potty- finally- and is having fewer and fewer accidents everyday. He still won't poop in the potty, but neither will Nathan and he has been potty-training for 6 months now! I'm seriously so sick of cleaning up poopy underwear or pull-ups. I just don't understand why it is so hard for boys to poop in the potty. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

I think that's all for the weekly update!

GO COUGARS!!!

Firsts

About a month ago I was at the church for a Young Womens activity and I got a text from Jon telling me that Max rolled over for the first time! I was sad that I missed it, but it was pretty cute when I got home and he did it for me to see. He usually only rolls from his back to his stomach and then stays on his stomach. I decided to start laying him on his stomach at night and ever since he sleeps 12 hours a night! I have to wake him up to take Jake to school at 9:15 every morning and he goes to bed around 8:00 or 9:00 at night. I seriously love this kid!

Nathan had his first day of preschool last week. After watching Jake go to school everyday for the past 2 years, Nathan was more than ready for it to be his turn. I dropped him off and teared up a little thinking about how bittersweet it is to watch your kids grow up. It was weird being home with just Max- way too quiet! When I picked him up his teacher said that he did great and Nathan seemed to really like it. Hopefully the rest of the year continues to go well!

Jake had his first soccer game on Saturday. He was so excited to play and he did so well. I think he literally ran the entire game chasing the ball wherever it went. He scored 2 goals and seems to really be getting the hang of the game.

Afterwards all of the parents make a tunnel and the kids run through it. I think Jake ran through a few times! Here's to a great season!

Soccer and a Seizure

Jake had his second soccer practice yesterday afternoon. I signed him up for the VIP league which is for kids with special needs. I was nervous about whether or not Jake was going to like playing or if he was just going to shut down and not want to play. I was pleasantly surpised at his first practice when he ran right out onto the field and kicked the ball around the whole time! He was so cute out there and would get so excited every time he scored a goal.

When we showed up to practice yesterday one of the mentor teenagers who was there to help was one of my Mia Maids who babysits for us a lot. She picked Jake to be her buddy for the practice and was so nice to kick the ball with him and help him when we needed it. Everything was going well until about 45 minutes into the practice Jon looked up and saw Shelby waving frantically for us to come over there. Jon then looked at Jake and saw that he was laying in the middle of the field having a seizure. We went running over there to help him, but unfortunately there's not much we can do. We just have to lay him on his side, make sure he keeps breathing, and watch him get through it. When he was finished Jon carried him off of the field and we went home.

After Jake has a seizure he is always really tired and out of it for a while so Jon just held him until he was feeling better. The nice thing is that the person having the seizure never remembers anything that happened. We asked Jake if he is excited to go to soccer again and he said that he was which is a good sign. We are thinking that maybe the extreme heat yesterday is what triggered the seizure, but we need to do some more research into that and see if heat really can cause a seizure. I'm just glad that Jake is okay and that hopefully this means that he won't have another seizure for a long time.

Our cute soccer player!

After the seizure laying on the couch with Dad.

Later that night Shelby dropped off a bag of candy and a cute card for Jake. It was so nice of her and Jake was really excited to get it. He carried the card around with him for a while!

New Camera!!!

So after reading everyone's comments and doing some research, I finally decided to buy a Canon Rebel XTi. This is my first time owning an SLR camera and so far I have been very impressed with what it can do. I debated for a while on whether to get an SLR or a point and shoot, but I finally decided that I take SO MANY pictures and that it might be worthwhile for me to buy a nicer camera. I haven't had time to read the manual yet and learn about everything it can do, but here are some pictures that I've taken over the past few days that I think turned out pretty well. My kids are so sick of me taking their pictures all day long, but I can't help it! They of all people should understand that it's fun to play with a new toy and figure out all of the things it can do!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Jake's first day of Kindergarten! On the first day they have the parents come with the kids and it only lasts for an hour. It was fun to be there with him, but I was so nervous the whole time that he was going to do something inappropriate. He did pretty well, but got a little restless while the teachers were talking to the parents for a half hour or so. After they finished talking to us, we went around and did different centers. Jake loved this part! He painted his hand and made a handprint, wrote his name and as many numbers as he could, and then colored a car since he rides in a car to get to school. We also met Jake's aide who will help him one-on-one whenever he needs it. She will watch him on the playground in case he were to have a seizure and help him with potty training. Everyone seemed really nice and excited to have him there so I'm hoping that we are in for a great year!

He walked right in and sat down on the carpet. He seemed really happy to be there!

Jake is in a collaborative Kindergarten where there are about 5 kids with special needs and the rest are typical. Mrs. Kruse is a special ed teacher and Mrs. Martin is a regular ed teacher. They do everything together and then when they break up for centers Mrs. Kruse will work with the ones with special needs, including Jake. None of the kids know who is who and I've heard great things about this program. I'm hoping that Jake does well and that he learns from his classmates.

He actually wrote his name pretty well and wrote 1-3 on his numbers. This is HUGE for Jake. At the end of last year he was just scribbling all over his paper. All sumer we have been working on tracing his letters and numbers and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually helped!

He was very into coloring his little car. This is another huge improvement from last year. He actually took the time to use different colors and stayed in the lines for the most part.

I'm really hoping that this is a big year for Jake with his development. I've already seen a lot of improvement this summer and am excited to see how he grows and develops throughout the year!