Jo and the Giant Belly

Well, with less than 3 weeks to go to my October 19th due date.  It is time that I admit I have a GIANT Belly!!!  Colby couldn't help himself, when I came downstairs in my ultra sexy PJ's that I bought to wear at the hospital, he had to take this pic.  So have a good laugh on me...

Also, it seems that Padre enjoys a nap on the ol prego belly.  He loves me even more now that I give him insulin shots everyday to keep him alive...

No Glaucoma for Jake!!

Today we went to see a Pediatric Opthamologist, one who specializes in glaucoma.  Sounds odd, I know.  Colby was born with a Coloboma (pupil that looks like a key hole) to his left eye and congenital glaucoma. Colby wasn't diagnosed until 3 years old and is legally blind in his left eye. As a result of the strong family history, Jake was monitored at a few weeks of age, and then again today (we would have come in earlier if he had any problems).  Jake did great!  he has great vision, better than average for his age, as most 3-5 year olds are far sighted.  

I was shocked to see him sit in the chair, both before and after having his eyes dilated, and allow them to shine the lights in his eyes.  I am sure it is a testament to the Dr's and techs at Children's Mercy Vision Clinic that they were able to tune into what would help a 3 year old do what they needed him to. I am glad we went, and Colby is super relieved to know that Jake has great vision.  It has always bothered him to think that he could pass this on to our children.

Brand Loyalty

Jake is only 3, but is already an advertiser's dream.  He is already very brand loyal.  Recently we introduced him to Capri Sun, he drinks his weight in that stuff.  We have been buying it from Sam's Club, where you can get 4 cases for $7( a steal).  In every pack there are 4 flavors, and Jake has already distinguished which ones he loves the best.  He even drinks them in that order.  He drinks the "Wild Cherry" first, followed by "Fruit Punch", "Pacific Cooler, then last "Strawberry Kiwi".  If you try to give him a "Pacific Cooler and he finds a "Fruit Punch" he will say "hey, lets drink this first".  

P.S. this is the best pic I could find without getting up and taking one myself : )

Blankey Hits

Jake is a thumb sucker.  At least when he is tired, or going to sleep.  He is also a blanket kid.  He loves that thing.  We have to sneak it into the wash when he isn't looking.  Most days the blanket is within eyesight at all times.  The reason for this is what Colby and I have dubbed "Blankey Hits".  If Jake is playing, but getting tired, he will run, grab blankey, lay down, suck his thumb and rub the blanket.  This usually only lasts for less than a minute or two, then back up to full speed.  This is our tell tale sign that he is sleepy.  I realize that he is 3, but I still see him as a little guy.  I will be sad when the days of "Blankey Hits" are over.

I'm at the quirky stage...

With now less than 4 weeks left until my due date, I have hit the uncomfortable, quirky stage of pregnancy.  I woke up yesterday morning and it is very obvious that Devon has "dropped".  I thought he had a little the week before, but he is even farther down now.  I know because the "just have to laugh stage" is in full effect.  While in the shower, I was completely unable to put my foot on the wall of the shower to shave my legs.  I had to resort to sitting on the floor of the shower (The getting up off the floor is a whole other blog).  Some things just have to be done.  Also, while sitting at the table or sitting at all, I am unable to sit with my legs together.  It seems Devon is sitting in my lap.  Last but not least, if I don't wear full panel maternity shorts or jeans, then my belly hangs out under my shirt.  If I didn't know better, I might be frightened that this would be my plot in life.  Thank goodness, in a few weeks, some normalcy will return.

I hate rude kids

Jake and I just came home from the park.  I usually love going with him.  He is so good at making friends anywhere he goes.  Most of the time there are other kids there, and they all have a good time playing.  Not today.  There were about 5 other kids there, and all of them were rude.  Of course their parents were setting in the shelter talking and not paying attention to them (part of the problem I am sure).  Anyway, one little girl in particular was the ring leader.  She tried to tell Jake that he couldn't play on the equipment, because they were not playing with him.  I heard her say this, but Jake came over and asked me if he could play.  I tell him that the playground is not theirs, so go ahead and play.   She tells him again, so I say in a loud voice (hoping the delinquent moms will hear) "they are being mean, but you can still play".  At this point the kids move on, Jake plays a while then goes to play at another part of the park.  He runs up to a little boy and introduces himself, and the kid tried to kick him.  Jake came to me and said "that was not nice"  I told him out loud "there are a lot of mean kids here today, but you can still go play".  No, no parents even notice.  Next, Jake is headed toward a  slide, the little girl runs over and sits in the opening then tells Jake "this is for my friends" Ok, it is time for the mommy claws to come out.  I tell the little girl "No, you need to move.  This is not your slide, if you want to go down then do it, but you will not tell him he can't slide"  she looks at me then slides down.  I had a couple other interactions like this throughout our stay.  Yes, I am that mom.  I don't tolerate rudeness no matter who it comes from.  If your kids are being rude, and you either don't care or are ignoring it.  Don't worry, I'll straighten them out.  Can I just say that if Jake did that, I would have corrected him, but if he did it again, I would have spanked his butt in front of everyone and then we would have left.  If we don't teach respect toward others now, they will never get it.  

whew....glad to get that off my chest.

Cheers to Dave Ramsey and Craigslist

I am so grateful that Colby and I have found Dave Ramsey.  He is a saving grace, and truly doing God's work.  Even though Colby and I make great money, we made bad choices on how to use it.  I think that this is a problem nationwide as well.  I now know that "buyer's remorse" is in fact a spiritual scolding.  Proverbs 10:22- "the blessings of the Lord makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow with it".  I love being able to buy things and not feel guilty about them.  If I do feel guilt, I don't buy it.

It sounds crazy, but now that we have set up a budget, we feel like we have more money.  We just didn't know where it was going.  We have more money to put toward our "debt snowball".  In the last 3 months we have paid off a little over $27,000. in Debt!!!! Yes, that includes selling my beloved Odyssey, and buying a less expensive car.  Can you believe it?  It is very exciting!!!  We still have a long way to go, but we have set sail for our goal of complete financial freedom (No debt, including having a paid for home).  One of the ways we are getting money to pay off our debt is to sell items that we no longer need and take up space in our house.  Craigslist has been an amazing place to get it done. Including selling our Van, we have earned $21,005 for our stuff on Craigslist.  $185.00 of that since this past Friday.  We have also used Craigslist to find great deals, for example we spent only $170 on a Glider and Ottoman for Devon's room.  The glider alone sells for $408 at Babies R Us.    Ahhh....I have found a new love for finding great deals and getting OUT of debt instead of diving deeper into it!

Blessed!

I am lucky to have meet such great people here in Gardner!  I started going to Jazzercise about 18 months ago, and loved it.  I not only loved the workout, but I also loved the people that I met.  I get excited to go to class and see them.  I haven't exercised since about mid June, but still go on Wednesday's to babysit.  I miss seeing them as often as I used to.  Today, they threw me a baby shower, even though they didn't need to.  I had such a great time, getting to visit with them.  Thanks Melanie, Stephanie, Cher, Betsey, and Bambi for everything!  Steph, you are way too creative with the "diaper cake"  I couldn't even get it to stand straight for a picture, let alone have it look as cute as you did.  Thanks again !  Oh, Jake thinks he needs the wrist rattles for his "watch".

I'll be back at class routinely as soon as Dr Mitchell lets me : )

Sick Privileges

I am NOT the parent that lets her kids sleep in bed with her.  Even from day 1, it was off limits.  Mainly because I value my sleep, and 1. I am always worrying about waking them or rolling over on them, and 2. they crowd me out of my space.  I am not good on little sleep, so even during my daily nap (Cori, you are not alone) I forbid it.  There are VERY few times that Jake has slept in my bed, so today was a small miracle.  Jake has been battling his allergies (thanks to my genetics) and woke with a high temp.  He was diagnosed with a Sinus infection today.  I had a hard time getting him to take a nap in his own bed, he said "it is too hard to sleep".  I assume he means that his head is throbbing or he can't breathe, or both.  I have 5 weeks left in my pregnancy, and I need at least an hour nap, so I play the "take a nap with mommy" card.  Yep it worked, except not as fast as I wanted.  The cat laid between us and was wagging his tail in Jake's face every time he dosed off.  After that, I kicked the cat out. I got a nap, and he is still asleep.  Win, Win!

I love the Letter Factory

Jake just turned 3 in July, but he already loves to learn his letters.  About a year ago we bought a DVD called "The Letter Factory" it is a Leap Frog video.  It teaches all the letters and their sounds.  Jake is addicted to it.  It is like kiddie crack, he watched it over and over (he still loves it a year later).  After only a few viewings he could already say the entire alphabet and knows what sound each one makes.  I just found out today that there is another video that is called the "The Talking Words Factory"  I guess there are even more. How do you say "No" to a kid asking for educational DVDs .  If I said "No" I would feel like a bad parent, and it would certainly lead to his being a delinquent in school and maybe even drop out.  Therefore, I must go get them all.  I can't have my 30 year old son living in my basement because I didn't go buy "The Talking Words Factory"

Padre is feeling better!!

I haven't mentioned it until now, but the last couple of weeks have included caring for our cat Padre.  Padre is 9 years old, and is technically Colby's cat (he loves me best though).  A few weeks ago, Padre started peeing on everything.  I thought he had another UTI.  When I came home from an extra 8 hour shift at work, he was still laying in the same spot I left him in and he hadn't eaten since the day before, I knew something was wrong.  I told Colby that I thought he had Diabetes, because he had been drinking an excessive amount of water and the urine spots were very large and numerous (both signs of Diabetes.)  We went to the vet...no small task (I only go in emergencies).  The vet told us that he may have Kidney failure, and he was dehydrated.  I gave him IV fluids at home for about 5 days.  The next day, the vet called and said that his blood work showed he was a Diabetic instead. Thanks to Aleks who rode her bike to the vet to get his supplies, we were able to start insulin injections and special (and VERY expensive) new food.  Over the last week, I gave the injections, but Padre still didn't eat.  I was getting very worried about him.  I don't want him to suffer.  This weekend however, our old Padre came back.  Friday he ate for the first time, and started interacting with us again, and by Saturday, he was bugging me to eat anytime he was hungry.  Yeah, our old cat is back.  I never thought I would be the pet owner that went to extreme lengths to save the animal, but when you love em like family it is hard not to.

Jake and the Soldier

If you have ever met my son, you know that he knows no stranger. I had several errands to run today, one of which took us to the Sprint Store. Jake had already voiced his opinion that "dis is not fair" when we walked in. He didn't want to stand in line with me, he wanted to sit in the chairs at the front of the store. Well, you and I know that 3 year olds don't sit. I apprehensively let him go sit. After standing in line for a while, with Jake in my line of sight, I heard him talking to someone. I looked over to see Jake talking the ear off of this young Soldier, dressed in his Desert camo. He couldn't have been more than 21 or so.  Jake was telling him all about his toys: his Cars, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody. The young man was engaging Jake in conversation. At one point Jake came over to me and said "thanks for killin the spiders in my room."  I looked over, and the young Soldier told me, "he said you killed the spiders for him, so I told him he should tell you thanks". I had to laugh, Jake would tell his life story to anyone who will listen. I finally got to the counter to pay our monthly Sprint bill, when I hear Jake using his "I'm right, you are wrong voice". I turn and see Jake pointing to the American Flag on the man's uniform and saying "No, dat flag is backwards". Oh, my I am embarrassed.  I have no idea where he learned that.  My dad was in the military, so I assume that he learned it from dad.  If you know my dad, you would understand that he likes to argue with Jake just for fun.  It wouldn't surprise me to hear Jake saying this same thing to dad, and dad just saying "no, it isn't". I hoped this man wouldn't take offense. Instead, he tells Jake (and me) that the flag is backwards, because as Soldiers, they are always moving forward and if they were carrying the flag it would be blowing backwards. Also, it represents that they will never retreat.  At this point I am done and turn to get Jake, when he is telling the young soldier that "yes" he can do push ups. Whatever, I think to myself. The young soldier, asks Jake to show him some.  Jake looks at him in confusion. Next thing I know, the soldier is on the floor, showing/instructing Jake on how to do push ups : )  Jake does 1.5 and then stops. The young man told him "you're not done yet, bud"  Jake just shook his head and said "No". We both laughed, and I thanked him profusely for tolerating Jake, and entertaining him. The funny thing is, Jake wasn't afraid or in awe of this young man, he just recognized him as someone he wanted to be pals with.  Thanks Soldier Hooper!!

This is Jake giving a demo of his new push up skill.  As you can see, he hasn't perfected it yet.