A Party Invitation

I didn't think I stoop to this, but here it goes.......I'm throwing a pity-party for myself and you are invited.

If you read the post "Irony" a few days ago, you would know that my 33 year old body is behaving like one of a 99 year old woman.  My back still isn't better- It.is.worse! I went for another MRI this week and it is the same disc (L5-S1) as earlier this summer, only now the bulge is larger.  Who knew, sneezing would blow out a disc?  I bet you only thought that happened to 99 year old women. 

So the diagnosis?  Surgery.  A "micro"discectomy. On Tuesday. Just in time to have to take off the first 2-4 weeks of work. Great.

Feel sorry for me yet? Well if not, I'll tell you that I haven't been able to hold Dylan in a week. Haven't left the house in a week other than going to doctor's appointments. Am in constant pain. Can't sleep comfortably. Can't get into my bed. Have spent the past 2 nights sleeping on a memory foam mattress in the living room floor with Marley instead of in the bed with my husband. Can't walk. Oh, and in case you don't feel bad enough for me yet, I had to cancel a work trip to Boston this past Sunday (hours before I boarded the plane). 

Ok, I got it all out. I'll try to never complain so much in public again. 

PS- On the bright side, Apple replaced my phone last weekend.  Guess they felt sorry for me as I limped in the store.  And my dissertation is basically finished. Just need to put all 5 chapters together, get them to my committee and have a meeting to defend it (after I am able to walk again, of course).

The Dirty Birds

Gavin started his first organized sport this past week - a flag football team for 3 and 4 year olds. His team is the Falcons and their cheer at the end of practice is "Go Dirty Birds!" He has practice on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-6 and games on Sundays.  Here are a few pictures from his very first football practice...

Last week Mark took him to get cleats and socks - he was so excited to wear his "football shoes"

Giving his coach a high-five

Dylan loved getting to spend an hour outside at the park!

Exploring New Places

I didn't think there were any places on this island we haven't seen, but apparently there are still a few places left to explore.  We went over to the windward side last weekend and spent the day exploring new sites...the Byodo-In Temple and the lake at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden.

This temple was built to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii and is replica of a temple in Uji, Japan

The bell should be rung before entering the temple.

The Buddha inside the temple

Looking at the flowers at the Botanical Gardens

My Birthday

I had a great birthday this year - a day to celebrate with Mark and the kids, a day to celebrate with friends, and a shopping trip for myself. 

On my actual birthday, we spent the day on the North Shore - hanging at the beach and then to Bonzai sushi for dinner.

Happy Birthday to me...

Dinner at Bonzai Sushi - we loved it! Great sushi and atmosphere!

A few days later, Jenn and I went for massages then lunch at Indigo's.  And this past week, I went shopping with my birthday money.  What a great way to start off my 33rd year (other than my back...ugh...a whole other story there...)

Lunch at Indigo's

We opted for after dinner drinks instead of dessert...they were on the house...Happy birthday to me!

Gavin's Summer Break

Gavin has been out of preschool since we got back from our trip, so he and Daddy have spent lots of quality time together this past month while I worked on my paper.  So here is what Gavin has been up to....

He is full of one liners these days - some sweet and some funny, thought I'd share a few.....

In the car with Mark the other day, the song "Hypnotize" by the Notorious B.I.G. came on the radio...(Biggy, Biggy, Biggy can't you see sometimes your words just hypnotize me).   Gavin thought it said - "Piggy, Piggy, Piggy can't you see"

The other morning at breakfast he said, "Mommy I have a present for you." When I asked him what it was he replied, "Love."

Dressed as Diego and ready for a mission!

Painting his clubhouse.

This is Mark's Father's Day gift from Gavin. We got to celebrate Mark, Rich, and Stephen for Father's Day this year in  Tennessee.

Slip-n-Slide!

The video is of Gavin learning to swim without his float. He loves going underwater with his mask to swim and has certainly come a long way this summer with getting comfortable in the water.

Dylan is 10 1/2 months

I haven't posted Dylan's monthly developments since 7 months, and the has certainly developed lots of new skills!  For starters, he is officially a walker now!  He started standing on his own around 9 months and then started taking a step or two around 10 months. In the past two weeks, he seems to have got the hang of it pretty well and uses walking as his primary mode to get around.

He recently acquired a few nicknames..."Cookie Monster"  because he LOVES eating and feeding himself. Imagine how Cookie Monster grabs food by the handful and shoves it into his mouth, dropping crumbs along the way...well that's how Dylan eats.

His other nickname is "Little Rotten" because he got spoiled rotten when my Mom watched him.  Aunty Sophia also calls him that because he is her only boy, with 3 of the other kids being toddlers, and Dylan still plays rough with them.  He tries to climb on them, take food off their plate, pulls their hair, tries to hit the baby, and tears up the books.  Of course, this is all being done with a big smile on his face!

He has 6 teeth now, prefers table food over baby food, can drink from a sippy cup, hold his own bottle, and is saying a few words - Mama, Dada, Uh-Oh.  He understands "no" but usually chooses to ignore it.
And he strongly objects when something doesn't go his way.

At his nine month appointment he weighed 19 pounds 4 ounces and was 29 1/4 inches long.

Dylan's first pair of shoes!

Blurry picture, but he was driving his car and talking on the cell phone at the same time. We need to get him a bluetooth hands-free set.

Loves playing in Marley's water bowl. When we tell him "no no no", he turns around and smiles and continues to play in the water.

Cookie Monster in action. We have one of those snack trap cups with a lid that kids can put their hands in to get their snack without spilling the snack everywhere. Dylan figured out how to take this lid off so now he spills his snack all over the floor. Notice who is lurking in the background ready to clean up anything he misses.

I had mentioned a few months ago that several people think Dylan looks like me - my Mom sent me some of my baby pictures to compare and I would say that we do favor a little!

This video is a mixture of clips from the past few months...from first words to first steps, a lot has happened since May!

Irony

You may have noticed that the blog has went through an "extreme makeover- blog addition" this past weekend - well that would be because I have hurt my back again and haven't been able to walk.  The ironic part is how I hurt it again. I would like to say it was from ziplining through the jungles of Costa Rica, from a kickboxing class, or even from going on a run...but, nope.  I.sneezed.

Apparently sneezing and herniated disks don't mix well. Guess I'll cross sneezing off the list of things I can no longer do. "It" (I sneezed) happened Monday morning and I have been in the house icing my back and limping around like the Hunchback of Notre Dame ever since.  I left the house one day this week (to go see my doctor again).  He said it appears from the way I was all contorted that the disk between L4 and L5 herniated (Not the same disk that caused me all the problems at the beginning of the summer). Without another MRI, it is hard to tell - but I am hopeful that my body will heal itself with this episode just like it was doing with the last. 

Looking at the good side to this situation - since I was home bound, I spent lots of time this week working on my dissertation. Brace yourself for this one...I.actually.finished.the.first.draft.of.the.whole. thing.  That's right...I'm one big step closer to actually graduating this December.   This is also how the blog got a makeover.  I don't watch much TV, but spend lots of time on the computer.


My other ironic story is about my iPhone. I went to Best Buy last weekend and bought the invisa-shield to protect the glass from accidental breakage. Putting it on is like applying tint to glass- requires cleaning the surface and applying it with the tools they provide. So of course, in my procrastination of all things important, I didn't put it on yet.  Wednesday was the day I went to the doctor and he gave me another epidural cortizone shot to help me get through this round of back/leg pain (along with prescriptions for a cocktail of drugs).  When he gives the shot, he uses a local numbing injection so you don't feel the epidural needle, which lasts for most of the day. Being numb to the pain, I was actually able to walk after the appointment.  So of course, I do the best thing possible for my back - I go shopping. At some point along my shopping trip, I DROPPED MY PHONE and broke the glass.

Heading to the Apple store today and hoping they will take pity on me - the fact that I break from sneezes and my phone breaks when I had all intentions of protecting it....if only I weren't a procrastinator.

Summer Vacation Chapter 4: Chattanooga, TN

At the end of our summer trip we had a weekend to spend back in Tennessee. Mark was back from presenting at a conference in Nashville, Rich was home from the camper (work), we got back from Mississippi, and Stephen and my grandmother came up.  We had the weekend to relax and spend time together as a family before we left to come back home.  We went down to Chattanooga for a day to the Children's Discovery Museum, spent time relaxing in the pool, and had the whole family at my parents church.  As usual, our summer trip was packed with traveling and spending time with friends and family. I guess there is no other way to do it when you live a country and ocean away from them!

Summer Vacation Chapter 3: Mississippi

I'm from a small town in northeastern Mississippi called Iuka- with one traffic light, cotton fields, a very close knit community, and most of my family. I don't see myself ever living there again, but I have so many childhood memories there so I love to visit. 

It was a quick trip - 3 days (including travel time to and from), but we made the most of it.  I got to spend time with my Mamaw, Aunt Betty and Uncle Ronnie, Angel and her kids, and the best of all my nephew Jaxon.

Angel and I with Mamaw...(now) and 32 years ago (below)

Bryce, Bristol,  & Dylan. They are 2 months apart in age (Dylan~Sept, Twins~Nov.)

Dylan LOVED the swing at Angel's house!

Gavin and Riley had a blast playing together ALL DAY! It was so great to see them play together and reminded me of how Angel and I spent so much time together when we were younger.  Gavin and Riley are 6 months apart. Angel and I are 1 month apart.

Bryce, Riley, Bristol, River (Angel's), Jaxon (Stephen's) Gavin, and Dylan (I think you know who these belong to)

I was so excited to have Jaxon spend the three days with us!  In my love of dressing kids alike and taking pictures of them, I found the three cousins complimentary outfits and had big aspirations of how the pictures would turn out....well a 10 month old, grumpy 3 year old, and newborn don't make the easiest group to photograph.  This picture is from my first attempt....I put this here because Dylan got the name Cookie Monster after these pictures...notice how he is stuffing his face with puffs falling mid air in the pictures and then the only one where he is looking, he has a puff stuck to his face.  Not exactly the photo shoot I had dreamed of, but certainly puts a smile on my face.

"Cousin Photo Shoot" take 2:  My Aunt Betty has a beautiful yard with a whole wall of ivy...this session proved to be much better when I discovered that Jaxon in the basket was much more safe than trusting Gavin to hold him and try to keep Mr. Busy (Dylan) sitting still.

Dylan and Jaxon (at least an attempt at that)

Gavin and Jaxon

Jaxon with his Mommy and Mamaw

Jaxon and Daddy

Jaxon with Aunty Steph

Love, Love, Love this! Jaxon is wearing an outfit that Stephen wore for his first photograph, 29 years ago.