Brrrrrrrr...

We went outside yesterday, and Dylan finally realized that it was getting colder...he pulled his hands inside his jacket and exclaimed, "Mommy, my hands are freezing!" So, I pulled out his mittens for him.

A little later Taylor's friend came over for a playdate with a stocking hat on. DJ waited patiently while the kid took off his coat and hat, hung them up, then proceeded to run and steal the hat, put it on and run around the house going, "Brrrrrr Mommy, it's cold!!!" So, I dug out the only winter hat I could find of his (the one that makes him look like Elmer Fudd hunting for 'rascaly rabbits').

I said, "All you need now is a scarf."

DJ, "Ooooh, Ooooh, I know!!!" running away.

He came back with Taylor's scarf around his neck. So, here is my son running around the house in mittens, a winter hat, and a scarf. Think maybe I should turn up the heat?!?! He loved the items so much, that he took them to bed with him (of course), and would not lay down unless he had all the items in place. Here's how he fell asleep...

By the way, we finally got around to painting his room. The jagged edge between the two colors is nice, huh? We ran out of blue half way through and they didn't have any more in the clearance bin, so we went with green. HA, just kidding--we chose blue and green to go with his Diego theme. Soon, there will be a border up that has Diego and his friends on it, and I'm still looking for really big animal applique's to go up as well. Should be pretty cute when it's all done.

Taylor doesn't have a whole lot to report these days, which is actually pretty nice. She has been very low maintenance lately, surprisingly. We decorated our tree this last weekend, and she had a ball pulling out all the ornaments and helping me clump them all around the bottom foot of the tree. A light bulb came on when I suggested that maybe she reach up instead of down to put the ornaments on the branches above her--then she managed to spread them out a little!

So Brad's last day as an active duty Air Force member is Friday. He will go into work on Monday, at the same desk, but in a tie instead of BDU's. I haven't really posted much about the going-on's with him because we weren't sure what was going on. But since it's final, I suppose I should let you all in on what's happenin'. For those of you who don't know, Brad took a civilian job in the Air Logistic's Center here in Oklahoma City (still on Tinker AFB) and will basically be doing the same kind of work he has been doing for the last year or so. He goes on terminal leave Monday (relax, he's not dying), but will actually still be employed by the Air Force until Jan. 29th when his employment as a Major will officially end. The man never took day's off, so he's got almost 60 days of leave saved up that he has to use before he gets out! No wonder he claims to be "stressed out" all the time. Men are such babies, I swear!

So, looks like we will be staying put for awhile. Since that is the case, I will start Nursing school on Jan. 14th--which is something I (we) have been wanting for quite a while, but the timing just never worked out. Maybe now we can plant some roots!

Comic Relief

Quick update: DJ is doing fine and his headaches seem to be getting a little better. We will have his blood tested to make sure that it is not related to hypoglycemia (or other blood disorders) in the next couple days, and we are still waiting to hear when we will be scheduled for the imaging studies.

Now, since the blog has been a little "blah" lately...here are some fun items for you to ponder. Upon looking for the perfect gift for a few people via online catalogs, I came across some items that, how do you say it...have a personality all their own! Some of these I actually found in catalogs, some I saw on another blog. I wondered briefly about the people who came up with these ideas. I pondered, while chuckling, at the person who would buy these things. Here you go...

1. The Day Clock...For that special someone in your life that can't remember what day it is...Now, I know we all joke about this, but what a better gift than the day clock for the special Alzheimer's patient in your life?

2. The Butthead Game...the name says it all! How about I get this for ya, we can strap on those stylish caps, and see if we can peg each other in the head? Maybe we can make the fabulous expression like the kid in the picture too!

3. The Dog Doo Candle...Because nothing is better on the Christmas dinner table than the fragrant aroma of dog doo. And so realistic looking at that!

4. The Camping Jumpsuit...now really, what wardrobe would be complete without the good looking and comfortable addition of a full length jumpsuit? It comes with a half-belt even...in case you want to just think about using a belt!

5. Equate...The math equivalent to Scrabble...as if that stupid game wasn't hard enough trying to come up with words out of a handful of letters...now I have to solve equations??? For the love of God, WHY?

6. The Extra Friendly Dog...ROFLMAO!!!! As if the real thing was not bad enough...battery operated for hours of ... pleasure?!?!

7. Don't Break the Bottle...It's a puzzle contraption that you put on your wine, oil, or vinegar gift, that is supposed to be fun trying to get off. Sounds like a good gift to give to your enemy with a note that says, "HAHA, have fun trying to get your gift out, Shmuck!"

8. Nose Aerobics...last but not least, my favorite. For the person on your list with a fat nose, this is the perfect gift! What could be more fun than trying to get a tiny ball into a basket hanging 6 inches in front of your nose?!?! And the glasses...whew, sexy baby!

Update on DJ

We went to the Opthamologist yesterday afternoon and he determined that there was no pressure on DJ's optic nerve, or any other eye problems that would cause him to have headaches.

We went to the neurologist this morning--really like that lady, BTW (probably because she's a nurse practitioner and not a full-fledged doctor!) Dylan really likes her too. He gave her a big hug hello and goodbye. She ordered a shunt series (CT scan and abdominal x-ray) and an MRI of his brain. She's not sure what would be causing the headaches, but figured that in order to find out, we needed a peek inside the little guy. They will have to sedate him for both and we probably won't get them for another month or so as they are very backed up. Apparently, the hospital that DJ goes to is one of two in the whole state that will do sedated scans.

Happenings around our house

I guess I should have titled this one, 'Happenings with Dylan' since things are beginning to stir with him all of the sudden. He has been a little under the weather lately, I think catching what the rest of us had with the coughing, runny nose, etc., but nothing that has really kept him down. (Haven't figured out yet exactly what keeps this kid down). Anyway, about a week ago, he started crying about his head hurting. That was on Thanksgiving...of course during a long weekend when the doctor is out of the office! Doesn't it always happen that way?

Anyway, we figured it was the same thing that we had been dealing with as well (congestion, sinus pressure, etc.) so we got some cold/sinus medicine and took him to the doctor on Monday. She agreed that it was probably sinuses and put him on antibiotics. She also mentioned that she was concerned about his previous history and the new headaches. GREAT! In my gut, I really didn't think the two were related, but since Monday, it's all I can think about. "Are his shunts failing?", "Does he have a kink in a tube?", "Is his brain OK?", "I hate that stupid ass baby sitter!" etc. etc.

Everything has been pretty much OK, except that he has been having headaches in the evening and when he goes to bed. The last few nights, his headaches have woken him up at night, crying. So, I called the pediatrician back and she promptly got us back in plus scheduled him to see the neurologist and opthamologist again. We are waiting to hear from the neuro surgeon.

This is all pretty much preventative, but we would like to know what is causing the headaches so that we can treat them properly. Poor little guy. During the day, however, you sure can't tell there was anything wrong with him the night before. He is just as spunky and honery as ever, running around the house screaming, "ARRRGGGHH Mateys!" with his pirate hat and hook which are ready to disintegrate from being worn so much! He cracks me up!

Early Holiday Cheer

HAHAHAHAHA! You have watch this...Kim just sent it to me--too dang hilarious!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9566945110

The closed lip smile

A while back, Taylor was getting ready in the morning to go to school to get her school pictures taken for the very first time. She was really excited and was letting me fix her hair pretty when I said, "How are you going to smile in your picture?"

Big mistake....huge!

She grinned at me and all I saw were her gums, every tooth in her mouth, her chest was stuck out and her eyes were like little slits! Ohhhhh nooooo! So, what did I do? I walked her out in the kitchen to show daddy how she was going to smile. She did the same thing for him. He looked at me, back at her, then at me as if to say, "Ummmm, how do we tell our daughter she looks terrible when she smiles like that?"

So, we tried to explain to her that she doesn't have to smile quite so big. So she smiled normal but her eyes were still slits. Then we tried the 'open your eyes when you smile' so then she had a silly grin with bug eyes. Oh lord, why did I ask in the first place?!?! Finally, we said, "Honey, just smile normal and you will be fine."

Here's what came home the other day--really not so bad--could've been much worse...

When she got them, she said, "See Mommy, my eyes were open!" I said, "That's great, but why didn't you show your teeth?" "Because in order to keep my eyes open, I couldn't smile big!" Like DUH MOM!!!

So what do you think...keep them, or retakes?

Pecked by chickens

The family is finally starting to feel better. Brad came home from Washington DC with a cold/cough so now we all have officially had a touch of it. I came across the quote recently and I about died laughing: "Having children is like being pecked to death by chickens". LOL! That is totally how I felt at some points last week! I love my kids to death, but it is a bit like a pecking chicken having to listen to,

Taylor: "Mommy, look at my new sticker!"
Me: "Umm, is it that one?"
Taylor: "No, I just moved that one. It's this one!"
Dylan: "Mommy I hungry."
Me: "Okay honey, just a second."
Taylor: "Mooommmmeeeeeee! Are you listening?!?!"
Me: "Yes, of course honey. That's a really pretty sticker!"
Dylan: "Mommy, I want a Pop Tart. A brown one."
Me: "DJ, we are out of brown Pop Tarts, but we have pink ones."
Dylan: "NOOOOOOOO!!! I NEEEEEED A BROWN ONE!"
Me: "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't just create one. It will have to be pink or you can choose something else."
Taylor: "Mom, can you turn on my Barbie DVD. Oh yeah, and can I have some more milk?"
Dylan: now crying and stomping his feet, "BUT MOOOOOOOM!!!"
Taylor: "Hey Mom? Can you get my puzzle out of my closet for me?"
Me: "But I thought you wanted to watch Barbie."
Taylor: "No, I changed my mind."
Me: "Well OK, here's your milk."
Taylor: "But I wanted juice!"
Me: silently thinking to myself, "Hmmmm, did she ask for juice and I just thought she said milk?" "Milk is better for you, drink this anyway."
Dylan: teetering on a stool to reach the top shelf in the pantry where the pop tarts are kept, "OK, fine!"
Me: note to self -- move pop tarts to lower shelf.

and on, and on, and on! It's almost comical as I sit here and type it! If they weren't so darn cute, it would be a little maddening! Can't help but love them!

We are currently preparing to have our great friends, the Aldridges, up for Thanksgiving. They are going to spend the long weekend with us. I was totally happy to hear that they prefer to have prime rib over turkey--I really don't care too much for turkey (I know, weird). Not to mention that the leftovers stink up the fridge after like a day. And, if you don't like prime rib, you're just un-American. So, they are bringing up the beef and today I got almost 5 pounds of king crab legs to go with it! I'm doing a little jig, just thinkin' about it! Yummy!

On a more serious note, I do want to take the time to tell you all how thankful I am that you are in my life! Either friend or relative, you all mean alot to me, and I hope you know how much you are appreciated! I hope all of your Thanksgiving celebrations are happy and filled with the people you love!