9/08/05

Mason got his second round of vaccinations yesterday and last night was not a lot of fun. It was not as bad as the first set, though, so I can deal with that. Poor little pincushion, Derek said he didn't do too badly. Derek did say that Mason did better than he did. It's always hard to see the little ones hurt. At least Mason is healthy and, aside form a mild fever, had no side effects from the shots. He goes back in November for the next set. He also has his next well baby checkup then. At least we get some good news to offset the fussy baby.

Mason is getting to be quite strong now. He can lift himself up on his arms when he's laying on his belly. He also can roll over onto his side though he prefers the right side. He is reaching out and grabbing objects now too. He likes to make the birdie on his swing turn by pulling the grips. We have him eating small amounts of cereal now, just to get him used to it, and it doesn't seem to be bothering him. He's also doing ok with eating formula so if I deploy in January there should be no problems.

Mercedes starts soccer on Saturday. Oh yea, I get to get up early and go deal with 10 4 & 5 year olds. Yes, I volunteered. No I am not crazy. I thought it would be good to be involved for Mercedes sake, though I don't really think she cares as long as she can play. She starts swimming lessons on Monday which will be a blast too. I think I will take her and read while she's in her lessons. She's a Ray this time, so she's only got one level left after this before she gets into the "Big" kid lessons. Again, she doesn't care, she just loves to be in the water. I got her a new swimsuit that should last through the winter too, so she's happy about that. She's a little clotheshorse. I think she takes after her Daddy.

Mercedes found her Halloween costume last week. She's going to Be FairyTopia (from Barbie). She knew exactly what she wanted (again). I think she will look very cute, though I have to fix the wings. She's very excited about Halloween, though she still hasn't quite gotten the concept of it being a LONG ways away.
Alexis is back in school now and going full force. We have a meeting with the teacher tonight. It's a generic "Parents Meet the Teacher" meeting so we can find out what she's being taught and how. Next week is the PTO meeting which I am going to have to fit in as well. Plus there are signups for the parents to help do things. Wow! Being an involved parent is a lot of work. I'm sure it will be worth it though.

Alexis got tape on her belt last night at martial arts. That means she is performing well and learning quickly. I do not know when she will test for her next belt, but I think it's great that's she's doing as well as she is. I think it will payoff over time, though I am not sure she sees that sometimes.
Alexis braces have stopped hurting now. She's so happy she can eat bread again. I think the sub sandwiches are still off limits though. She's also starting swimming lessons next week. Hers are on Saturday mornings so she can do that while Mercedes is in soccer. Very convenient. The guitar lessons are also ongoing. She's making progress and seems happy with it, so we can't complain about that.

I am trying to get myself signed up for class so I can finish my information assurance certification, but I can't find an instructor to sign the form for me. They are all off work right now. I'll keep asking until I find someone who is there. Still no word on the deployment, but I expect the requirements will flow down in the next month if they are going to deploy me. Who knows, I might get lucky and NOT deploy. Wouldn't that be nice? Then I could get the laser eye surgery out of the way, too.

Mom is doing well. Her Bible study group is now back to weekly meetings and they are on a new book. Mom really enjoys going to the meetings and talking with the other ladies. Our friend, Laura, watches Mason while she is gone since Derek is in class at that time. I know Mason doesn't mind. Laura is one of his many girlfriends and he always falls asleep on her. (BRAT)

Derek started back to school this week and it looks like it will be an interesting round of classes. There are a lot of papers he has to write as well as homework and tests. One of the teachers has only given one A out of 4 or 5 classes he's taught. That ought to be interesting. And NO I am not writing that paper. I don't even want to think about that. The guy is really tough. I know Derek can do it though. He's smarter than I am about stuff, he just has to do it. He gets irritated with himself when he doesn't get A's, but you know, B's are nothing to laugh at, especially with this school. WSU, from what I have heard, is a good school, maybe not world famous or internationally known and respected, but it's no slump either.

We are planning to go to the Dayton Art Institute's Egyptian exhibit next week. Alexis, Mom, Derek, and I all find that kind of stuff interesting. Plus, it gets us out of the house, not that we spend a whole lot of time there these days with all of the stuff going on. I think we will try to limit what we get the kids involved in a bit more from here on out. Though they both want to play ball (softball and t-ball) in the spring. Perhaps no swimming lessons during that time. If I'm not here, I guess it wouldn't matter, would it?

If I do deploy, Derek says he's going to try to take easier (are there any?) classes so he doesn't get so overwhelmed. I don't think the upper level classes are harder so much as more focused. Anyways, he'll have to play that one by ear, I guess.
We almost got a ferret yesterday. One of 'Lexi's teachers had a ferret she wanted to give away. I love ferrets but I was not going to make that decision. I had her ask Grandma, who is not a big pet fan, and Unlce Derek. The decision came back as a no, which is probably for the best. Our house is already cramped with having the number of people we have. We will definitely live off base at our next assignment, possibly even buy so we have 4 to 5 bedrooms. I suppose I need to start saving up now so I can make some kind of down payment. Sigh, the trials of being an adult. Life was so much easier as a kid. Of course, everything seemed bigger when I was a kid....hmmm!