Random

So, I woke up at 3:30 am because I am sooooo excited about leaving for vacation today!  My kids get to ride in an airplane (and I get to try to keep them from irritating the whole plane)!  Jed is thrilled and can't wait to ride in the airplane and get on the boat (we are going on a cruise).  I really don't think he understands what "vacation" is, but he has asked multiple times a day for the last week, "are we going on vacation now?"  And then threw a tantrum when I said no.  So today is finally the day!  We are packed and ready to head out - which resulted in me being awake at 3:30 in anticipation. 

So I figured I would post some random pics from the last month to catch everyone up on our summer adventures.  Just to let you know, if you are the praying type, please pray for us.  Julia is MAJORLY fighting patching.  We have gone through 80 patches in 2 1/2 weeks.  It is so hard.  Thankfully the glasses aren't a struggle - she wears those willingly, and even uses the bifocal.  But patching, phew...this has to be one of the hardest (if not THE hardest thing I have done).

Fourth of July

They really enjoyed the parade.  Jed will still "play" parade and wave his little flag and tell me to throw candy at him.

Watching daddy shoot off fireworks in our driveway.

My beautiful girl without her glasses.  I love her little specs, I really do.  But sometimes I like to look at her face without any accessories.

We spend lots of mornings at the park (that is his favorite Duck Dynasty t-shirt).

Waiting for eyes to dilate at the eye doc.

Julia had "school" four times this summer through early intervention.  She loved it!

 

 

Fishing trip

This is what Julia did while Daddy and Jed fished.

I caught one!

More snacks.

Sigh...my boys.

Fun on the 4-wheeler.

A big shout out to "Uncle Matt" for letting us visit for the day and fish in his lake.  The kids had a blast and Jed still talks about the 4 fish he caught (and how he threw them back). 

We made cloud dough.  Messy but fun.

Cloud dough before it got crazy.

 

Zoo

Jellyfish.  So pretty.

Digging in the children's zoo.

Brushing the goats.

Feeding a stingray.

Harassing a chimp.

Riding a train.

Another shout out to my mom who went to the zoo with us.  She was a huge help!  I couldn't have managed both kids without her.

 

Just hanging inside.  This is a lot of our summer too.  Just trying to beat the heat and have fun indoors.

 

So there you have it.  The highlights of the last few weeks all jammed into one post.  It is hard to believe that when we return from vacation, I have one day off and then I go back to work.  Jed is starting two day a week preschool (big tears from mom) and Julia will start two days a week in her "school" when she turns two.  Summer always goes too fast.  I am thankful for my job that allows me to spend two months of the year with my kids, but also grateful to go back and be with my students.  Win-win situation for everyone.





 

Picking, Pool and Popsicles...with a Patch!

We've been enjoying our summer immensely.  I've been trying to find things to keep my munchkins busy.  It hasn't been easy.  Monday, we went strawberry picking.  It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it.

 

Jed seemed to enjoy picking them.  Julia spent most of the time eating them!

 

 

 

Here are some more pics.  Julia actually left her patch on while picking.  Patching has become quite a struggle again so finding anything to keep her occupied and keep her hands off her face is a bonus.

 

 

 

 

Jed finally ate one!

 

 

After putting the strawberries safely in our fridge, we headed to the pool.  The water was still chilly, so we didn't stay too long.  But the kids had fun (although Julia is not a fan of the water).  Jed found several frogs and splashed around while Julia ate snacks and sat with Mom.

 

A new patch, but keeping it on!

After coming home from the pool (and taking a nap), we went onto the deck for popsicles.  This is a messy affair, so we had baths right after (with glow sticks) but I didn't take pics of the bath.

This is one of my favorite pics of Jed.

So that was our Monday!  We've been to the playground, painting, gone to Chick-Fil-A and a million other things.  I literally try to plan 10 things for the day to keep them occupied and try (quite desperately) to get Julia to keep her patch on.  She has become such a stinker and will simply rip it off and hand it to me.  Then she runs! 

So if anyone has advice for how to keep her patch on, let me know.  I'm not sure what else to try.  And any ideas for activities, give me those too! 

I'll keep you posted on our summer adventures!





 

 





Birthday

Jed is 3!  I don't know where the time has gone.  He is so independent, talkative, handsome and smart (and I am not biased at all).  He had a great birthday with cake and a few presents.  He also will be having some small get togethers with the rest of the family next weekend.

 

 

He got some sunglasses that have blinking lights.  He thought they were fun, and so did Julia!

 

 

 

 

 

It has been such a privilege watching Jed grow.  He teaches me everyday how to be a better person and to love more.

 



 



More snow

Seriously, I am sooooo ready for spring.  Next weekend is Easter and we are hovering around 35 degrees here.  And to top it off, we got over 12 inches of snow on Sunday!  So, we ended up with a snow day on Monday. 

This is not even the full amount!  It was still snowing at this point.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love being able to stay home with my kids, but I would prefer to stay home in May when the weather is better. You see, every snow day we have adds an extra day to the end of our school year. So now we are at May 23rd as our last day. Boo.

 

So the day it snowed, we decided to go ahead and dye our Easter Eggs.  Nothing fancy, but we sure had fun.

 

 

Julia is definitely becoming more aware.  She understands that she needs to wear glasses and is definitely becoming a pro at all things related to the EYE.

 

 

 And with having to stay inside comes the multiplication of germs. Both Jed and Julia have been through two rounds of antibiotics for ear infections. Julia and James both had the stomach bug. Julia's was really bad and she ended up in the emergency room. So glad that spring is around the corner. Maybe I can teach the kids to clean up their germs?

Nerves have set in. Julia is seeing the Pediatric Opthamologist on Tuesday and I am nervous. I seem to be more nervous when I think things are going well. It is like I am waiting for the shoe to drop. I am praying that this appointment goes well and there are no surprises. I am kind of hoping for a new prescription so that we can get new glasses. I would like Julia to have transition lenses for the summer, and since First Steps is paying for a pair, I figure this is as good of a time as any! Not sure if she will graduate to a bifocal yet or not. We will have to wait and see what good ole' Dr. H says!  The bad thing is Julia is fighting the patch again.  And boy can she fight!  We've been using the arm braces again because otherwise she will rip the patch off every 2 minutes.

Cheese from the cheese ball!

Patch off.

Here mom - I don't need the arm braces.

Here, you can have the patch too.

 

So wish us luck.  We will head to Children's on Tuesday (thankfully we are on Spring Break) and see what the docs have to say.  We also will be having therapy with the Occupational Therapist and vision specialist this weekend.  Hopefully spring is coming soon and we can put all the snow behind us!