Better late than never

So I have been super neglectful of this blog.  School started, it was back to work, and suddenly I don't have a free moment to breathe, let alone blog!  I swear that some days it feels like I am barely treading water with my nose in the air trying to keep breathing.  Work is SUPER busy.  It seems like the challenge of a new tract to teach was a little more than I expected.  Add in supervising detention and tutoring to make some extra money, and my days are busy.  Then I still have IEP's to write, meetings to go to and data to collect and compile.  So much to do!  Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it seems the requirements for teachers has increased tenfold this year (thank you Common Core.)

There is not one pic from that morning with his eyes open.  Oh well.

Jed started preschool this year.  He goes two days a week to an inclusive preschool.  The preschool (and daycare) is where several local school districts provide Early Childhood Special Education, so there are always a lot of teachers and helpers in his room.  He loves it and is learning a ton.  But with a new school comes a different drop off on those days and a new routine.  We also have to add in a plethora of birthday parties to attend for all his new school friends.  Julia will be starting there in a couple weeks after she turns two.  She actually will have her mornings in a special education setting to work on her speech and vision impairment.  I am excited to see how she grows and develops when she is in a class with peers.

A Hawaiian luau for the neighbors birthday. 

But now for updates.  Julia saw the eye doc early.  We couldn't wait until October because she suddenly started refusing to wear her glasses. Her prescription changed again.  It has changed every 8 weeks.  So now she is down to a +5.75 in the left (that eye has been stable for a year) and +6 with a +3 bifocal in the right.  I never would have imagined that her prescription would ever be that low without an implant.  But here we are.  Doc says she really doesn't use her right eye much unless she is patched.  Not sure how to fix that.  We see the head doc at Children's Eye Clinic in December for her next visit.  I'm interested in what his opinion is.  In the meantime, we wait for the new glasses to come in and keep trying to patch.  She still rips off her patch often, but we have had a few days where we only used one or two patches for the whole time. Of course I probably just jinxed myself by putting that in writing. 

First Steps is paying for new glasses and sunglasses, so that is good.  I don't know how we could have afforded new glasses (or lenses) every 8 weeks.  This is her 5th prescription change in less than a year! 

Trying on Jed's helmet.

Enjoying the last few days before it cools off.

 

We attending the East High homecoming parade (the school where I teach).  Both Jed and Julia had a lot of school spirit (which resulted in a lot of candy).  I loved seeing my students in the parade, and Jed and Julia enjoyed the fire trucks and candy.

My little "Lions."

So for now we are just plugging forward.  Trying to keep the pace and enjoy life!