You get what you get....

To Jacey (when she doesn't get the  correct lip gloss): You get what you get and.....

Jacey: You don't throw a pig.

Well OK then. That works, too.

Singing, I Love you

Me (in a singsong voice): I love you, Jacey.

Have I said that enough today/

Jacey: Say it lots and lots.

Me: I love you, I love you, I love you.

Do you like it when Mommy says 'I love you'?

Jacey: Yes, it makes my heart feel warm and happy.

.....this girl....she melts my heart.

Jacey's Initial Eye Appointment

Jacey's regular eye appointment in December (December 31st, actually) showed signs of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in both eyes during her retinal photos.

Thanks, 2014, for that one last punch in the gut...you weren't kind to me. Not at all, so thanks for getting that last one in as you were being ushered out the door.

We had gone through the entire visit and it had become obvious that Jacey is farsighted in both eyes and also has astigmatism in both eyes.  One eye is markedly worse than the other.  While she was sitting on the examination chair, she remarked to the doctor, "This eye" (and pointed to the eye that had examined worse) "doesn't work."  I was floored.  Completely and totally taken aback.  She had never mentioned anything like that to me before, and I was totally caught off-guard by that comment.

The doctor, a stand-in for our 'normal' doctor, who was on vacation that week, was looking at the photos as I walked back into the room from a conversation with hubby, as I had let him know this appointment was taking much longer than we had originally anticipated.  The doctor and I had already discussed the need for Jacey to have glasses based on how the appointment had gone so far, and I was anticipating going to the lobby upon the conclusion of our appointment to try some on and select some with her.

Well, the doctor turned to me, with a look I'm not sure I can describe on her face.  It was a combination of "I have bad news and really don't want to share it" and "Oh CRAP", but at any rate, I read it and immediately said something to the effect of, 'So what do we have?'  The doctor went on to indicate that Jacey's retinal photos showed signs consistent with RP.

So I made her go through comparisons....Jaceys's photos with Tatums.  Jacey's with Kellen's.  Jacey's with mine.  Jacey's with a confirmed RP.  Jacey's with a normal child around her age.  It was clear - even in my limited knowledge, that was I was seeing was very different than what was supposed to be there - except for the similarities between the confirmed RP photos.  In those photos Jacey's bone spicules (they show up like black lines) weren't as abundant as the confirmed RP case, but they were there. In both of her eyes.

The doctor immediately suggested that we hold off on getting her glasses until we see a pediatric specialist through Houston Eye Associates, and that their office would research which of the doctors through that office (they have many) specialized in this disorder group so we were seeing the best doctor for her issue and that they would call us early next week (despite it being a Wednesday, we were rolling into the New Year's Holiday) with that information so that I could call Houston Eye Associates to schedule the initial consultation.

And that was that.

Jacey and I walked into the lobby and she immediately asked, "So do I get my glasses today?"

I responded with a calm, "No, we have to go see another doctor about your eyes first, honey." It was all I could do to hold it all inside...a swirl of emotions whirling.  It wasn't as if RP was new to me...I have immediate family members with it.  I know what this looks like day in-day out.  But this is my baby.  These were my genes that did this to her.

Kellen overheard my response to her, since he had come with us to get his glasses adjusted and immediately started in with, "But Mom, why isn't she getting her glasses today?  Mom, did you hear me? Mom....why isn't she getting them today?"  Then a quieter, "Mom, what's wrong with her eyes and why does she have to see another doctor?"

I turned to him and simply said, "The doctor here wants another doctor to look at her eyes because she has special eyes....Your eyes and my eyes are normal eyes and they only need one doctor. Hers are special."

Although I thought that was a pretty good answer, it didn't satisfy big brother for long. His questions continued as we left the doctors office, got into the car, and headed home...my emotions got ever-closer to the surface, threatening to spill over.

I quietly said to him, "Honey, I need to talk about this all with your Daddy.  If he and I think there is something you and your sisters need to know, we will tell you.  But let me talk to your DADDY first.  STOP asking me questions."

When I walked through the door my hubby was outside chopping wood for the fireplace.  He popped his head inside and asked nonchalantly, "So, how did it go?"

"I need to talk with you." was what I mustered.

He motioned for me to come outside while he was chopping wood....and something on my face must have given it away, because in his joking manner, he said, "Just tell me she isn't going to be blind."

And at that moment, I could no longer stop the tears....."She has it" was all I could say.

And we both knew...we had been watching for this with all of the kids and it had arrived.

God help us.

The only thing either of us can say is that she is still the same Jacey....the one that God created. The one that is fearfully and wonderfully made...by Him.  He made her JUST the way HE wanted her to be. And my God, hubby's God, JACEY'S GOD...He doesn't make mistakes.

So there is a reason for all of this.

Do I sing that badly?

Mommy singing Greater by Mercy Me in the car

Jacey: Mommy?

Mommy: Yes?

Jacey: I just want to listen to the song.

Translation: Mommy, stop singing now.

Jokester

Tatum is reading (or had read?) a sports-themed joke book.

Periodically, she'll tell us jokes that she recalls from this book.

Tatum:  What do you call a ghost cheerleader?

The team spirit!!

Jacey wins this round

This morning Jacey commented that she thought she needed her umbrella and raincoat.  I assured her that it was going to be hot and that she would be fine.

It rained.

When I picked her up from daycare, our conversation in the car was interesting.

Jacey: I was RIGHT!!!

Me: Really?  (having completely forgotten about our morning conversation in the first place)

Jacey: Yes!!  I said we would need my rain jacket and burella today!!

TAMU Good Bull police

Today was College Colors Day.

In our house, that means Aggie Maroon, of course.

When I picked up Jacey from daycare, she was fired up about clothing.  It was quite entertaining.

Jacey: Some moms did not let their kids were Aggie shirts today.

Me: Really?

Jacey:  Yes.  So-and-so's mom did not let her wear an Aggie shirt.

Me: Hmmmm...

Jacey:  I am SO MAD at so-and-so's mommy for not letting her wear an Aggie shirt today!

The girl takes her Aggie clothes seriously, y'all.

Summer bucket list

Tatums summer bucket list included shopping for school supplies and a special 'date' with me to Chick-fil-A. I am more than happy to oblige.

We survived Wal-Mart on tax free weekend, and the school supply list for a 2nd and 6th grader complete.

Tatum pointed out that next year I will be school shopping for three kids.  Three.  I think I need an entire year to prepare myself for that reality.

Sweet dreams

Jacey:  Good morning, Mommy!!  Did you have good dreams?

Me: Hmmm??

Jacey:  Did you dream about ME??  (smiling sweetly)

Life with a 3-year old

Daddy: We need to get a new calculator

Me (pondering what our now 5th grader is doing in math that might necessitate the need for a more intensive calculator....): What kind of calculator?

Daddy: One that hasn't been in the toilet.

Oh such is life with a rambunctious 3-year old!

Perry

Just had an interesting conversation with my 3-year old about Perry the platypus.

Traps.....hats.....She is a crack up!

I think it may have been a rouse to delay bedtime, but tonight, I'll take it. 

The sickies....

So the sickies invaded our house.  I think we might have finally stopped the invasion, but not before taking some heavy fire.

Jacey was the first to fall.  In the middle of a restaraunt.  Right before we were to celebrate a suprise birthday party.

I don't think that was the suprise the friend had intended.

Needless to say, we left.  (Tatum and I eventually went back and celebrated, but not before another wave of attacks occurred on the way home.  It was a brutal attack).

She had an evening and a night's worth of the sickies, laid around for the remainder of the next day, then was fine.  Luckily, her attack fell over a long weekend, so we had the Monday off to recover.  Tuesday was the first day back for everyone, and everyone went to school, feeling fine.

Wednesday morning didn't go the same.

I took some heavy fire.  It was a slightly different army than the one that had attached Jacey, but a vicious one, nonetheless.  Daddy suggested I stay home.  I didn't argue.  Daddy headed off to work.

Then the army that had attacked Jacey doubled back in, trying for the kill.  It was almost successful.

Thursday's attack was directed towards Tatum, and luckily it was just the same army that had attacked Jacey the weekend before (since the other army was still attacking me).

Friday we licked our wounds and assessed our damages, trying to recover and build back up our gear.  Friday night, the attack landed on Kellen.  It actually stayed on Kellen longer than the girls (but not quite as long as on me), and he fought for a little longer than I anticipated he would.  The weekend progressed and so did the battle lines.

By Sunday afternoon, we we gotten a dose of fresh air, some playground adventure, and our first real meal since the attack had begun. 

Now it's Monday, and everyone is back at school and work, and I think the sickies are gone.  The battle grounds have been cleaned, and there is no longer signs that a battle even took place at our house last week (I mean, except for the empty Lysol containers, half-empty bottles of Purel). 

I don't want to fight that battle again any time soon, although if I could bottle the end product of the few days of it, I might have a best-selling diet aid on my hands.

Halloween

Each year our sorority row hosts Halloween, and our kids absolutely LOVE attending their festivities.  We have invited many of our friends to attend with us over the years, and it has turned into one of our family traditions.

The kids love it.  They talk about the big houses.  They talk about the lots of people.  They talk about the games.  And they talk about the candy.  The good candy. (Come on, you know what I'm talking about. It's the type of candy you want to eat yourself but you don't necessarily want to buy to hand out to others. There, I said it.)

And we don't have to worry about checking the candy.  And we know that we can take our candy tax and they'll still have plenty for weeks to come.

I'm not kidding.

Weeks.

Really.  Weeks.

Since it's getting dark earlier now, we made sure to get a group picture as we started the evening off to ensure that we actually got one.

And then we realized that the ninja didn't have his mask on, so we tried again.  After several attempts, we got this.

Then we did a couple with just my sweet ones.

And when they had had just about enough of Mommy and her camera (let's be honest here - they were past that point, really), we went on to the houses and the fun!!

Such a great idea, a fun event, and a fabulous night.  I love that our college students put this event on for the community!!

After this event we went and visited Bubba (a retired professor that Mommy worked with for years) and played at his house for a while before finally calling it a night.  I don't think it took the kids 10 minutes once their heads hit the pillows to fall asleep!

MSC Hospitality hosts Halloween

The MSC is open again.  That means that the MSC Hospitality Halloween event is back in the MSC instead of packed into the location they have had to have it the past few years.

And the kids had a great time at this one (as always)!

The girls decided to change up their outfits.

And notice the pan to accompany Tatum's outfit....she came up with that all.on.her.own.  Yes, she is precious, you can say it (and if you don't know to what I'm referring, go rent Tangled).

We headed to the MSC and played games.  All of their games.

Jacey was drawn to the duck game, although she didn't quite understand the concept (try to pick the duck that corresponds with the number you're given - numbers are on the bottom of the ducks).  She just liked to pick up the ducks out of the baby pool and play in the water.  So I had to be super diligent to make sure she wasn't putting the ducks in her mouth or doing anything else that might make the germ-a-phobes in my family go haywire.

We also decorated cookies.  A couple of times.

The kids also did some face painting.  They just love getting their faces painted!!  I didn't get a good picture of Tatum's face before she actually cleaned it off when we got home.

And then I let Kellen go through the haunted house. He came out saying that he wasn't scared but that he didn't want to do it again.  Then Tatum begged to do it, so she and I went through when it was on its least scary level.  That wasn't a smart idea on my part - even though it's geared for kids.  So then, because it was nearing the end of the event and we were the last group through, some of the people who were working the haunted house (or room) were starting to come out.  One of them had one of their props, and so she and I went over to talk to him, and I had her feel the prop and we talked about how everything she saw was just pretend.  I think it made her feel a little better.  The college kids putting it on were fabulous and I think they felt badly that she was so scared.

Our nights leading up to Halloween are quite full, and I'm so blessed to be near so many fun and family-friendly events for my kids!!

Pumpkin carving fun!

After our Fall Festival fun, we came home to carve our pumpkin.  The one we had purchased a while back and declared we would not wait until the last minute to carve. Yeah, that one.

Daddy took off the top to start the process.

Daddy proceeded by getting the kids involved in getting the 'guts' out.  This time, we decided that we were going to try our hand at making pumpkin seeds, so we were a little more careful with those guts that we have been in the past.

 We tried to get Jacey involved in the gutting process, but that took some work. Then we tried to get her just to feel the guts once they were out and help us sort the seeds. That process worked out a little better. She wasn't initially interested, but surprised Mommy by actually patting and molding the seedless guts!  I'll consider that a HUGE sensory success!

And then Daddy had the kids actually help with the carving of the pumpkin itself.  All kids got a turn at the carving stage (with Daddy assistance, of course - but I apparently didn't get good shots of all of the kids carving).

And then we have our final product!

Fall Festival!

Our church plans a fabulous fall festival each year the weekend of/before Halloween, so we were so excited for it to come this year!  We made plans to meet up with friends, the kids dressed up - and so did I - Tatum asked why I wasn't dressed up, and so I went as a superhero, according to her - unfortunately their daddy's Spiderman shirt ripped as he was putting it on, so he was unable to join in on the dressing up fun.  We ate the hot dogs, corn on the cob, but I think somehow managed to skip over the cotton candy (yes, craziness, I know!!), and played a multitude of games, got candy prizes, did bounce and activity houses and played in the petting zoo.

Shortly after eating, we made our way to the photo op.

I have my favorites, which one is(are) yours?

Then we played some games.

And then the girls had fun petting the various animals while the boys were running around in the activity houses.  I think they were fighting each other with the inflatables at this point.

All in all, they kids had a really good time at the Fall Festival again this year!  I love that our church puts on this event for everyone and provides WAY more activities than there is time to complete them!

Play doh Fun

We celebrate all kinds of sensory things around here.

Including Mommy deciding that we would get out the play doh.

On a school night.

Whoa buddy.

Are my kids going to remember that they were in bed 'on time' every night?  Maybe

Are they going to remember special nights of playing play doh and creating masterpieces on a sheet in the living room?  I certainly hope so.