Catching Up

Another week begins. Whew, I will be so glad when we get through this round of swimming lessons and soccer. The girls will be in swimming lessons Nov - Dec, but no soccer, thankfully. That will be something of a relief for us.
It looks like both Alexis and Mercedes will be advancing to the next level in swimming lessons. I think Mercedes has one level left in the little kids program before she can move up to the mid-level classes. Alexis has started the top level of classes and only has two more level before she's done. I expect her to be finished sometime in the spring. Just in time to start softball. As for Mercedes, she won't be able to start mid-level lessons until she turns 5. That means she will be off from December to March. That will be a nice little break.
I took the little fish swimming yesterday. They both love the water.. I figure it's good exercise for me, even if all I do is walk around. Mason was not as happy about being in the water, though he became more comfortable as we went along. He even let me lay him back in the water so he could float on his back. I need to try to take them more often. We took Kody and Kye, two boys from down the street, so the girls would have other kids to play with. Alexis also had a friend from her school there.
'Cedes is not really into soccer though she says she wants to keep playing. I think she just likes hanging out with the other kids. She had her 4 year well-baby checkup on Friday and they confirmed what we already know, she's small for her age. She's in the 25th percentile for height, and the 50th percentile for weight. I am not really surprised. I was an exceptionally small child. I didn't really grown until junior high and high school.
Alexis seems to be doing well at school. In fact, from what she tells us and what we can see, she's excelling. She's averaging 90's or higher on all of her tests and completing all of her assignments ahead of time. She's not into guitar right now, which becomes something of a problem when it comes to getting her to practice. I expect her to get excited again at some point. Probably when she moves on to the next book.
Mason has put on some more weight. He's still very cute and chubby. He talks a lot too. You can tell when he's gearing up to throw a fit if he's not being held. He will start jabbering away and it will gradually get louder, then you get the crying. It's kind of cute. He's also gotten much stronger. He can push himself up on his arms and will get himself turned around. He can turn over form his tummy to back or back to tummy occasionally too. I think that's more of an oops than anything. He's reaching for things now and will hold onto his toys. He enjoys his baths and even showers when he's fussing and I am trying to get ready for work.
Derek has started taking tests for his classes. He seems to be feeling OK with things so far, though he's had a few ups and downs. He seems to have a good heading for his MIS paper, though I am not sure he has done any more work on it recently. I think he's got something due on it this week. The initial idea seemed to make the instructor happy, but Derek is not really wanting to do the research. I can't say as I blame him. I know I've had enough research to last me a lifetime. I am trying to find some articles to help Derek out. He's been putting the research off so far and I don't want him to wait too long. It could really be a problem if he waits until the last minute.
Mom is doing fairly well. She's looking at making banana bread in the next day or so. Yummy! Especially warmed up and smothered with butter. She's doing pretty good overall. She's been puttering around the house and has been doing a lot of the easier chores. I really appreciate the help, but I worry about her doing too much.
I am doing fine. I had my follow-up doctor's appt last week. I am probably going to have surgery, however I have to wait until I am through with having babies. I hope to have baby number 3 in 2007, so I would be able to have the surgery once the baby stops breastfeeding.
Work is going well and I have gotten my program off the ground. I have a short business trip coming up in October, but I should not be gone very long. I have a lot of oversight that I do, so that keeps me occupied. I try not to get too bogged down with the details. I also have several certifications that I have to complete so that I remain qualified for the job.
I was asked last week if I wanted to change deployment cycles from January 2006 to January 2007. Of course, I said yes. I would hate to leave the little guy before his first birthday. Then again, I would hate to leave any of the kids. What am I going to do when they grow up?
I start my last in-class class next week. I imagine I will have at least one paper to write, but I don't foresee any major difficulties. I just want to get it done and out of the way so that I can go forth and conquer. I'm still a little bummed that I am not going to get to complete my PHD, but in some ways, I think it is for the best. I would have to give up a lot of at-home time, which is already in short supply.