Jello Time

Orange Jello Snack Time started out great today.

We even got a great "cheese!" moment. (the smile is strained, on purpose, and borderline evil)

Then things began to turn ugly.

Jello Time came to an abrupt and unpleasant end.

Game Day Fun

As I posted before, we didn't make it to campus this weekend. But we did have some orange and blue themed fun at home. War Eagle!

Maternity Clothes Help!!

Ok, so there are lots of pregos running around lately. But, let's face it, most of them are small and tiny by nature, and they don't need big girl clothes, yet. As for me, the second time around has turned me into a person of unusual size! So, for those dear friends out there who also suffered large lady while pregnant syndrome, give a girl a hand? I need maternity clothes, like asap. I am finding that at this point in my first pregnancy, my fresh new maternity clothes were still falling off of me. But this time, they are needed. Like now!!!
Holla back if you have some pieces I can borrow for a while. I have some clothes already, so I'm not in desperate need, but I would so love a little help.

War Eagle!!!

Well, the first game is here, and it is arriving to little pomp and circumstance at the Dyer household. I was all ready to get some snacks together, load up the wagon, and haul the family down to the tail gate. But, I'm feeling so poorly today that I just don't feel like I can face the crazy. Luckily, Jacks is too young to know he's missing out on something that he loves, and at this point in the season, there's always another game to enjoy just around the corner. So, game day is here - the town in abuzz, the neighborhood is checkered with War Eagle flags and orange and blue ribbons, but this family is running behind. We'll have our colors out soon, we'll be back in the groove before you know it. For now, I have to be pregnant and sick, no matter what.

War Eagle, y'all. Can I get a Boddy-getta?

Love- K

Weekend of Big Fun

Well, Jacks had a HUGE weekend of one activity after another. Let's see....where to begin?

Caroline celebrated her 2nd birthday on Saturday. It seemed that Tropical Storm Fay was going to ruin the outdoor water play party, but at the last minute the festivities were moved to the Rec Center. I cannot imagine a better back up plan. We all brought push cars and balls, there were a couple of inflatable pools and a bounce house, and the kids ran wild around the gymnasium for a couple of hours. It was great. Here is a shot of Jacks, Alex, and Stella having more fun than should be allowed in a baby pool.
Of course, Jacks is enjoying lunch with his good friend BB.

Also, Joe's parents, Rick and Glenda, came for a day time visit on Saturday. The plan was for Rick to help put together Jacks's new play set, but the storm put a stop to that. They joined us at the birthday party, then we got to visit during the day, go eat at Provinos, and they then decided to drive home. We were very nervous that they chose not to spend the night, because that meant driving in high winds and steady rain, but they insisted. We're just grateful that they made it home safely. Maybe Rick will come back on his own sometime soon to help with the play set, as planned. Here is Jacks telling Rick a secret at dinner.
Rick helped Jacks learn how to slam dunk at the party. Then, today, after Jacks took a long, hard nap, we made our way over to the museum to witness the visiting Tibeten Monks sweep away the sand art they have been preparing in the gallery all weekend. After carefully creating the piece over the weekend, they performed a ceremony to sweep it all away and return the sand to the earth. The ceremony was really neat, and we got a small bag of sand to bring home with us. I was worried that the chanting and loud drums reverberating through the museum walls would scare Jacks, but he seemed in touch with the somber tone of the ceremony. Here are some pictures from the event.

When we left the museum, we headed over to Moe's in Tiger Town to celebrate Harper's 2nd birthday. It was a great idea for a kid's party - chips, dips, quesadillas, and cupcakes and ice cream. A large sheet of paper was rolled out on a table with lots of crayons - one of Jacks's favorite activities - and the food was plentiful. After coloring, eating, and singing, Harper's mom brought out the pinata. This was one of the highlights of Jacks's life. He could not stop dancing, grinning, and screaming, "Wow!!" Instead of hitting the pinata, all the children pulled ribbons from the bottom to release the candy - a much safer idea given the age group of the kids. Jacks loved every second of it. The pulling, the candy drop, the scramble - it was all fabulous in his book. We left with full bellies, a sack full of candy, a set of maracas, and Jacks's very own sombrero. Great party!

My favorite part of this picture, aside from the huge grin on Harper's face after successfully blowing out his candles, his how hard Lauren is dancing behind him. She liked that steady groove of the birthday song!
I hope Jacks manages a full night of sleep tonight. Given this weekend of action packed activity, I think he will sleep like a bebe. Thanks to all of our fabulous party hosts for having us, our parents for a great visit, and the Monks for some chanting good times!!

Now, let's see if I can make it through another week of school. I have the three day weekend to look forward to!

Love to all - K

Twin Daddies

Hidden Treasure

Some precious pics were hiding in my old digital camera that I keep in my purse nearly all the time but rarely ever use. This is my favorite.

I've got the eye funk

For a while now, I have experienced problems with my eyes. I'm not referring to my astigmatism that has plagued me to be the brunette in glasses, smart girl type, dooming me to a lifetime of glasses girl syndrome. I'm referring to a major irritation that has been driving me crazy. I have frequently experienced difficulty with my left eye stinging or burning, turning red, watering - the whole thing. I usually think that there is something in there that I simply can't find, so I rub, dig, rinse, search, mess, etc.... in an attempt to get some relief, but always making it worse.

The last of these little episodes was about 8 months ago. I woke up to some major eye irritation. I usually blow it off as some cat hair that has drifted into my eye, an eye lash, or some leftover mascara that never got completely washed away. Most times, I feel much better after a good shower, and life resumes as usual. Well, this particular morning in January, the irritation would not subside. And for those of us with children and/or who teach children, we live in frequent fear of fast spreading ailments - like pink eye. I cannot say that I have ever had pink eye, and I don't know if it is as bad as they say, but it is so easy to catch (like lice, chicken pox, or stomach flu) that it is treated with quiet respect and mortal fear.

This particular morning, the shower didn't help, and I was hoping for the best by going ahead and getting ready to face the day as usual. I find if I ignore something enough, maybe it will go away. I dropped Jacks off at day care that morning squinting and blinking myself crazy, and my cousin Lee informed me that I probably had pink eye. Just the suggestion was enough for me, and since she runs the day care, I trust her to know what she's talking about. I stopped off at the doc in a box walk in clinic on my way into work. The doctor looked at my eye with a pen light for about 1.3 seconds before announcing that I did, indeed, have pink eye. I took the obligatory two days off of work and filled the eye drops prescription, but by the end of that first day, the irritation had subsided. A visit to a real doctor informed me that I did not have pink eye, and that I needed to stop going to the doc in a box.

Time passed, and my eye issues came and went, until the middle of the night Sunday night/Monday morning of this past week. The first day of school was coming up in the morning, so I was sleeping somewhat fitfully, having a bizarre dream about being stuck in the middle of Mexico with some family friends, a former student, my husband, and a stranger baby. At one point I was jarred awake (who wouldn't be having a freak show dream like I was having?), and my eye immediately started to sting. I was determined to ignore it, because I could not deal with any issues for the first day of school, so I closed my eyes as tights as possible willing myself to go back to sleep. I managed to continue to ignore the problem which only mildly stung for the next two days, until lunch time on Tuesday afternoon. The air in the lunchroom hit me like a freight train, and the intense redness and watering began full force. People were asking me if I was okay, thinking I had probably been crying or something, which is horribly irritating and embarrassing, because I didn't know what the hell was wrong. I had to explain myself over and over again, "No, I'm ok. Just something in my eye. No, I don't know what it is. No, I can't find it. No, I'd rather you didn't try to look. Thanks, that sounds like a good idea. No, I think I'll try it later. Yes, I do think I should see a doctor..." you get the idea. When you teach school and you have an issue that needs to be tended to quickly, but isn't exactly an emergency, life can get really terrible.

I kept having to step out of the classroom to try to call the eye doctor or find eye drops or have the school nurse attempt to flush out the obstruction. I finally made it to the end of 5th period with great difficulty - I thought the end of the day would never come. Teachers were stopping by my room to see if I was okay. My principal even came in to witness the show. I felt like a circus performer. Come the end of the day, and I still didn't have an appointment with an eye doctor. In fact, I couldn't get in to the ophthalmologist for 2 more days. I didn't know how I was going to make it. So, you know what I did, don't you? Of course, I went to the doc in a box!

The new female doctor there was very nice - not the same yahoo who diagnosed me with pink eye a nanosecond after looking at my eye. She put some dye in there, looked at me under the light, did all she knew to do, but could find nothing. Her suggestion was that the school nurse likely flushed out an irritant earlier, but the residual pain was probably what was still bothering me. She asked me to leave it alone as best I could until I could make that appointment with the ophthalmologist.

Miraculously, my eye continued to improve over the next two days. Repeatedly, I considered skipping the eye appointment, because whatever was in there was clearly gone now. I was worried about looking like a big dope at the eye doctor when it was revealed that I made an appointment over a bit of dust or whatever that I was too filthy to get out on my own in the first place. I had to leave work a little early to make the appointment, and the whole thing did not seem worth the hassle. But, the eye doctor is the father of a dear friend of mine, and I didn't want to seem rude, so off I went.

The waiting room was a bit of a scramble, because I discovered that my medical card was nowhere to be found anywhere in my purse. I had to call Joe 12 times before he answered his cell phone to ask for the policy numbers, then ask ever so gently for him to come up there as soon as he could so the receptionist could make a copy of our card. And after the scatterbrained scuffle, the long wait began. I was sent to the second waiting room to sit by an anxious couple who seemed utterly outraged at how long they had been waiting. I started to worry that my entire afternoon would be ruined by sitting and waiting until I would finally have to slink into the examination room with nothing to show for myself except for the staunch insistence that something had been wrong at some point in time. But still, I waited. I occupied my time thumbing through some old issues of Architectural Digest, which made me feel poor and unfashionable. All in all, I was sinking lower and lower and lower.

Finally, my name was called. I introduced myself to the doctor, saying it was so nice to finally meet him after knowing his daughter for so long. I could tell his softer side came out upon knowing I was a friend, and we had a really nice visit. I explained myself, so hoping that he wouldn't think I was a filthy slob who lived in dusty, hairy squalor, and then he perched my chin on that contraption that they use to have a better look. It was less than 30 seconds before he told me that I was not going to like what he had to tell me.

Unfortunately, I felt mild relief. Who feels relieved at being told something wholly unpleasant is wrong? I guess I was relieved that I wasn't crazy, so I told him that his intro was too, too intriguing and to please do tell! He told me that I have something called dot map fingerprint dystrophy. My inappropriate response was, "Ooooh, juicy - tell me more!"

He did his best to explain it in terms that I could understand, and I'm sure that this retelling will do it little to no justice, but here it goes. It is a genetic incurable condition that I will always have in that eye, and it will most likely affect the other eye in my lifetime. Basically, your eye has cells on it that slough away, much like skin cells. Most people have enough of these cells so that when they slough away, your nerves remain protected. Well, my eye has less of those cells, and sometimes they will slough away all at once exposing a nerve. This can cause me to feel that there is something in my eye, and it will drive me absolutely crazy. There is very little to be done except for using the thickest artificial tears on the market, and he gave me a script for some eye goo that I can use at night to prevent this problem from happening in the morning. Apparently, the problem occurs most commonly in the morning when you pop open your eye, sloughing away those cells very quickly. He also suggested that I never try to wear contacts, as that would be a very bad idea for me. Great. Glasses girl is here to stay.

Is that the craziest thing you've ever heard? What's crazier is that he claims the problem is very common, and lots of people have it. So, why is it that I've never heard of dot map fingerprint dystrophy? I have no idea. But, one of my students pointed out that it sounds like a string of random words pushed together, which it totally does!

So, that is my story of the week. I've got the eye funk, y'all. Gross.

Hello, dahling!

Summer is officially over

We have had a wonderful summer, and it has officially come to a close. School starts back tomorrow morning, much earlier than I'm ready to admit, and the party's finally over. We didn't do nearly all that we wanted to do, but we got plenty of rest, we took a second honeymoon, we did a little swimming and enjoyed lots of water play activities, we attended some fabulous parties, we played with lots of friends, Jacks got his fill of Chet and Queenie time, we got to visit with my favorite god brother and his precious family, we finished some house projects, and we made a mile long list of things we still need to do and people we still need to visit.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we also made another baby?

Yes, it is unusually early to announce it to everyone, but word spread much faster than we intended. So, rather than continue to say nothing, we might as well announce it to the world. We're having another baby!! She is due in April (no, we don't know if it's a girl or a boy, but we're still saying SHE), and we could not be more thrilled. Our family is growing in leaps and bounds - what could be more wonderful?

So, we might not have gotten Jacks's play set constructed before summer was out, and we might not have cleaned out the basement work areas, but we accomplished something that actually counts for something.

Love to all - K

If I could just pull these eyeballs out....

You can't see us, can you?

Just doing some dishes

Opening Ceremonies: Harmony

Joe and I are trying to watch the opening ceremonies from the Olympics that we Tivoed last night. I say, "trying," because Jacks is very disgruntled that the TV isn't on Blue's Clues. If he would just pay a little bit of attention to the screen, he might realize how awesome these ceremonies are. This is so freaking cool that there are truly no words. The director of the ceremonies is apparently China's premier movie director, and he was given an unlimited budget for this event. And this is the coolest freakin' thing we have ever seen. Joe and I are both sitting here slack jawed in total shock at how amazing this is. I cannot believe the precision with which these 15,000 performers are carrying out this choreography. If you missed it, we will be keeping this in Tivo indefinitely, or you need to find it on You tube - because this is just about the coolest thing we've ever seen! If I was there, I would be sobbing tears of awe and fascination. I am on the verge of tears right now! Amazing.

Update: We're in love with Lang Lang and want to learn Tai Chi!!

Jacks in the Box

Big Boy!

We have been trying to transition Jacks into a toddler bed this week. Mostly because my mother let him sleep in the bed with her while we were on vacation, and now he refuses to be put back in his crib. So, I felt like this was the opportunity we needed to make this huge transition. Because, if he won't sleep in his bed, I'm worried he'll be in our bed until he's 18.

We began the process by setting up his new toddler bed in the living room while he was napping (in our bed, of course). As soon as he woke up, we told him that we had a big boy surprise for him waiting in the living room. He seemed really excited at this prospect, and he came running down the hall at top speed. Who am I kidding, he runs everywhere at top speed! Anyway, the toddler bed seemed to be a huge hit. He grinned ear to ear as he eagerly climbed on the bed to try it out. He rolled around, he bounced, he laid his head on the pillow. Everything seemed to be working out according to plan. Look how happy he is!
Until it was moved to his room and actual bed time arrived....

I laid down in our bed with Jacks after bath and bottle to get him settled down for the evening with a mind numbing, frequently viewed episode of Elmo. As we neared the end of the show (my favorite part - when it's over), I started talking up the new bed. As in, "Are you getting ready to go lay down in your big boy bed, Jacks?" or, "Wow, I can't believe what a big boy you are! Aren't you excited about feeling how comfy your new bed is going to be?" The answer to each of my questions was a calm but resounding, "No."

I pressed on. I was determined to get that kid in that bed. I endured another episode of Elmo while Jacks continued to get cozier and cozier in the expanse of pillows on our bed. As my mother would say, he was holed up like a little potentate. And he continued to answer "no" to all of my questions. He was clearly ignoring my constant questioning, and I was clearly ignoring his no's. I mean, the kid is nearly 2. He says no to everything (unless it involves ice cream, he ain't no fool).

At the end of another excruciating Elmo, I decided to make my move. He was clearly not happy about it, but he was sufficiently tired at this point so I thought it was all going to work out. Plus, he wasn't kicking me in the stomach and screaming - this is a good sign! We gently and calmly walked into his room to give it a go. Before I put him down on the bed, he started whimpering. As I laid him down and pulled up the quilt, the crocodile tears started with the pitiful face and the protruding lower lip. I started to tuck him in and and pat him down, and at this point he had started full on wailing (I think he was working very hard at producing some actual tears). I kept talking to him in that soothing voice that we adults seem to think works with babies, but he wasn't hearing any of it. The second I took a hand off of him, he shot out of that bed and ran screaming for the door.

I figured he would make it difficult on me, but I never guessed he would sprint away from his new bed while screaming bloody murder. I wish I had the whole thing on video, because his hissy fit was truly priceless.

As of today, we are still experiencing little success on the bed front. He slept about 2 hours in his bed last night before he woke up wailing, and then succeeded in getting back into bed with us. Tonight will be the third attempt. I heard Joe talking to Jacks about the bed just a few minutes ago. In fact, I think Jacks brought it up by pointing to it and saying, "Night, night." Joe ran with it, really talking up being such a grown up boy and getting to sleep in his own bed at night. Then Joe asked, "Are you going to sleep in your new bed tonight, Jacks?" Well, you know the answer to that one.

In our effort to transition my precious baby into a boy, we also got a potty with which to begin familiarizing Jacks with this bathroom mystery. He has sat on it a couple of times, but mostly he uses it as a foot stool to get to the sink. Which is really crazy because he already has a foot stool in there for that very purpose. I guess the plastic potty is lighter and easier to move than the wooden footstool.

Look how serious he is....

Of course, I'd love to ignore all of these momentous changes, and keep Jacks as my precious little baby forever. But, since I can't stop the clock from racing faster than I can blink, big boy changes need to happen soon. If anyone has any friendly advice I will welcome it with open arms, unless it involves scolding me for not training my child to do right in the first damn place. :)

Love to all - K