Again, In Fast Forward

Wed., Oct. 8th – It was an okay day at work–the usual, really. I rushed to pick Jaylen up from school, dropped off our stuff at home and then I took him to get a haircut. Eenan was at UIL practice till 5, so I asked Mary if she could pick him up on her way home and take him for a haircut, too. She said yes, thank goodness. Just like their school to let me know they have pictures with such short notice. At least it was two days notice this time.

I got Jaylen into the shower to wash up when we got home, then went straight to pick up Mario from work and took him to his Lasik consultation. To make a long story short: the whole procedure would cost $4,400–after the $1,300 “discount”!! Because of Mario’s severe astigmatism he’d need two surgeries to fix his vision. Something told me to ask what his vision was without corrective lenses and the lady said 20/75 in one, 20/80-1 in the other. I looked at Mario and couldn’t help smiling: his vision was within the requirement for Border Patrol without corrective lenses! Yes!! The reason they’d sent him that notice was because his vision was 20/20 in one eye with his current glasses, 20/25 in the other eye. We didn’t even think that would be the case. We kindly declined the (very expensive–$250) dilation and came home. We decided we’d set up an appointment with another ophthalmologist on Saturday for new glasses. Even though I feel incredibly nervous all over again just thinking of him being away for three months (and possibly missing the baby’s birth) I know this is something he really wants to do, so I’m supporting him all the way.

Mario and I lay in bed that night watching TV with Alaethia between us. I’d been feeling the baby flutter for a few days already and have a habit of just placing my hand on my belly, just in case the baby would kick. I actually felt her kick hard for the first time! It wasn’t just the little it-might-be-gas fluttering that I usually feel—this was a swift, genuine kick!

Thurs., Oct. 9th – Mrs. V. took Mrs. Ruiz and I a huge bag of corn each from her mom’s garden. All I could think about was some yummy corn with mayo, chile and lime for the rest of the afternoon.

The boys had picture day so I left their clothes and instructions with Mom like I usually do. I prayed that they’d stay clean until they took their picture. I was so tired that afternoon after work that I just chilled out till 5:30, when Report Card Night started. It wasn’t very restful, as Jaylen was sleepy and refused to take a nap. It’s so exhausting when he gets that way. I told him I wasn’t taking him with me since he was acting up and he stayed behind with my dad-in-law and Alaethia. He ended up falling asleep on the hammock Big Mario had just put up again.

The teachers both had nothing but good things to say about the boys. I was a bit disappointed to find out Jaylen had been moved to a different class, but still reports to his old class as his “advisory” for breakfast. He was moved away from his best friend, Aaron. And I’m not sure I’m too keen on having him in a Bilingual class, even though it’s considered “GT”. He already has a GT class. But still, his old teacher said he’s extremely bright. I didn’t get to talk to the new one because her mother had passed away and she was absent.

We visited Eenan’s class and I was glad to find out his behavior’s been improving. He isn’t talking as much (but he is still talking) and he’s turning in his work. He got off of his “half-grounding” and now gets to play video games (for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on behavior at home) after he finishes his homework and reads for half an hour like Jaylen. His teacher still seems…different. She’s not as happy-go-lucky as she was when I first met her. Maybe she was just tired?

I’m so proud of my dudes—they both made the All ‘A’ Honor Roll! Eenan had a close call—there was an 81 printed on his report for Language Arts, but when I showed the teacher she said it was the system messing up—he’d actually gotten a 94!

We got home and my dad-in-law had already put some of the corn-on-the-cobs on the grill…they were delicious!

I stayed up that night feeling for Little One’s kicks but felt nothing. I know it’s still early, but I was worried since by this time in my other pregnancies I’m sure I was already doing Kick Counts. I didn’t fall asleep till 11. Add to that Alaethia beginning to get sick and teething; she kept tugging at her ear and was having a hard time swallowing. Then she woke me up for some milk at 4:30 and again I stayed up feeling for kicks, but I didn’t feel anything. I fell asleep finally at 5:15—and my alarm went off at 5:30. Needless to say I felt like a slug all day and couldn’t wait to just get home.

Fri., Oct. 10th – One of the teams at work was going on a field trip for the Goodlife Celebration and we’d agreed that we’d watch 2 of their kids that hadn’t passed, had referrals, etc. Well, Mrs. V. agreed—I obliged, which basically means that I was mostly the one dealing with them. At the last second they left us 4 kids, but the only boy refused to stay, so he was left somewhere else. So we were left with three girls, one of them being a girl who’d given me trouble in the past. Later on they sent us two boys and they actually did everything they were told with no problem. The girls on the other hand…well, let’s just say all three ended up writing words from the dictionary till it was time for them to leave. I kept my cool the whole time, but by the end of their stay I had a headache.

Mrs. Ruiz and I left to lunch after that, which was such a relief. When we got back it was time for the Goodlife video-game party another team was throwing in there. They played Xbox—loudly. I wouldn’t have minded, but I had a pounding headache from being with the girls all day.

I was so glad to get home and just chill out. When Mario got home we went outside with the rest of the family. We hung out and then grilled some more corn-on-the-cob again.

Falling asleep that night—and staying asleep—was a challenge since poor Alaethia was in pain again. She was fine all day; her cold and teething were only bothering her at night.

Sat., Oct. 11th – I woke up as soon as I could the next morning and had a quick breakfast, fed her and got her dressed to go to the doctor. Ear infection and sore throat, just as I’d suspected. Jaylen had made plans to go to Aaron’s house that morning, so we went to the pharmacy to get Alaethia’s prescription and then dropped him off at Aaron’s. We went home and I tried giving Alaethia her medicine to no avail; she quickly squirted it through her lips as soon as I gave it to her. It was that nasty ear-wax-tasting antibiotic. So there I go back to the pharmacy to get them to flavor it, even though it didn’t make a big difference. We left Eenan and Alaethia with Mary while Mario and I went to his optometrist appointment. He got his exams done and he JUST BARELY passed the requirements for Border Patrol! We picked up his check afterwards and then went to Walmart to cash it since the bank was closed. We picked up McDonald’s and then picked up Jaylen from Aaron’s. We sat around talking with family at Mary’s. Noelia was over getting help with grading her students’ work. Aaron’s mom was picking up Jaylen so we turbo-cleaned just in case she wanted a tour (she did the same for us when Jaylen first went over)…but she only came to the door. Oh well, at least the house was clean.

Jaylen was invited to a party at Aaron’s aunt’s house so they picked him up and went to party. We’d made plans with Mary to go to the movies so we let Aaron’s mom know to drop Jaylen off with Mom at our house when the party was over. She was babysitting Alaethia and Eenan, too.

Mario and I watched Pineapple Express, which was even funnier than I thought it would be! I couldn’t stop laughing. Mary watched The Mummy 3, I think. We ended the night by picking up pizza for dinner. Lately—even though the food’s fattening—there’s nothing I like more than not having to stand in front of a boiling stove and minimal dishes to wash, heh.