Dilated

Today I had my final eye appointment before the surgery!

I can’t tell you how excited I am to get this procedure done.  It was a little inconvenient to have to wear my glasses for the last two weeks.  Everytime I’d bend over to pick something up, the glasses would fall off.  When I’d empty the dishwasher or wash the dishes in hot water they’d get all foggy.  Just little nuisances like that.  But I would go through a hundred more things like that if it meant I’d have perfect vision in a weeks time.

At the appointment today, Jared had to go with me so that he could drive me home since they were going to be doing a whole slew of tests on my eyes.  They had me read chart after chart, and look into all kinds of different machines.  They did moisture tests and glaucoma tests, distance tests and peripheral tests.  Pretty much any test that they have they did it on me so that they could tell if my body would reject the surgery or if my eye sight would deteriorate aver the course of the next few months to a years.  Since they had to dilate my eyes, I had to have Jared drive me home.  It ended up being really necessary because they put twice the amount of dilating drops in my right eye because it wouldn’t take.  It wasn’t until half way through the test that the drops started to really kick in, making it really difficult for me to open my eyes.  With us driving home at 5:30 pm and the sun directly in our eyes, Jared ended up being Superman.

I got my first pair of glasses when I was 7 1/2 years old.  I didn’t get contacts until I was about 12 or 13 years old.  To think that I’ve lived more than half my life with corrective eye wear so this is going to take some getting used to!

Can I just say that I’M SO EXCITED!!!!

Our Front

   

                                   BEFORE                                                   AFTER

I think this is one of our more dramatic reveals in quite a while.  I know that when we first moved in there were a lot of changes and things that we had done to our house that made a big difference, but it seems like all of our more recent projects have been on a smaller scale.

It is so nice to have a front yard that doesn’t consist of ROCKS!!!  If you don’t know me too well, I HATE VEGAS LANDSCAPES!!!  Everything is so pokie, dry, lifeless.  I hate having a yard full of rocks because then the favorite past time of children outside playing is who can throw the rock the farthest- and I don’t really appreciate that.

I love being able to walk outside in my bare feet and jump onto the grass if I need to cool off.  I love that the big tree in the middle of the yard provides so much shade all day long that we can have shade for picnics and such.  I worked so hard to find flowers, plants, and trees that would look like the furthest thing you would find.  To be honest, our yard looks like none of our neighbors’ yards and that has Jared a little worried.  He’s afraid that the HOA will think that we did too much and that it looks too different from its original layout.

If any of you feel the same way about plants and flowers as I do I went ahead and labeled the following pictures with the names of the plants so that you can get them as well.  It’s been a few months since I’ve planted everything and everything has done so well- even through the hot summer months!!!  Everything in the pictures are annuals, meaning that they  ”>will loose their blooms but that they will continue to re-bloom until the end of their season and then they will go dormant until the following year.  I love how there are all different kinds of greenery and plumage in the flower beds.

Grandpa Combs, how do you think we did???

Elementary Open House

Tonight, we as a family, all got to go and meet with Mrs. Toffelmire for the school’s open house night.

Benjamin was so excited to take Emma and Joseph to see the place that he goes everyday.  He had fun showing them his desk and the centers, the  different charts and graphs, letters and numbers around the room.

We got a 20 minute little lesson from Mrs. T and a packet full of fun things for us to do at home.  I got to talk to her for a minute about Benjamin’s progress over the last month. 

It was good for us to go tonight because I was able to meet some of Benjamin’s little friends that I have heard so much about over the last few weeks.  I can tell that he has already made some really close ties with some of the other boys in the room.  Let’s just hope that it doesnt affect him academically.

The Next 30 Years

There is too much to say about this event that I have been planning for the last two weeks.  It kind of ended up having a life of its own after I got started.  It was just supposed to be a surprise 30th birthday party for my sweet Jamie.  It kind of grew and morphed into a small wedding reception/ ward party!

 

It was so much fun to plan and execute such a large party!  This was to be Bella’s birthday party in the first chapter of New Moon.  I took what I read and put a few twists on things so that we could make it a dinner party (with actual food).

There were 10 tables with 7 chairs at each.  68 people ended up RSVPing that they would come celebrate with us!

278 white, pink, and silver balloons were strategically placed all over the room.  It helped make it look like we were at a different venue besides the overflow of the chapel.

There were 48 lanterns strung across the ceiling of the room that were different shades of pink and different sizes.  A man in my ward was awesome to wire little battery operated candles into the lanterns so that we could turn them on and they would flicker when the house lights were turned off.  It was such a beautiful effect!

Like I said earlier, this party was the “Bella Birthday Party” from New Moon.  Jamie’s a huge fan and we thought it would be a fun theme.  These are the silver wrapped gifts that Bella got her paper cut while opening.  We opted for bags because we could just slip people’s presents into them as they arrived.

 

And what is a Bella party without Edward?!?!  He was the first thing that she saw when she came through the door!  I was able to get this great 6 foot cut out of him just a day or two before our big bash.  We positioned him so that he stood guard over the buffet table where we served fettuccine noodles with a choice of marinara or alfredo sauce; meatballs, chicken breast, and italian sausage; caesar salad; french bread; water and this great sherbet/ 7-up mixed drink.   But I’m telling you, Edward was the perfect icing on the cake!

 

Speaking of ICING….  we had this AMAAAZING birthday cake.  Tried to get it to look as much like the cake in the movie.  We sacrificed a third tier so that the price would better fit the budget and we added roses to match the other roses all over the rest of the room.

  
 

To add some extra soft lighting, we took tulle and bunched up tons of icicle lights!  It gave a great effect, I only wish we hadn’t run out of lights because we could have used a few more here and there.

We had over 19 dozen roses scattered all over the place.  They were decorating the cake, each table had a centerpiece with a dozen and a half roses, we scattered petals over each table and the food areas.

And to top it all off, there were 82 votive candle holders (including candles) with different colored tissue paper to add a little colored light to the room.

           

I was so pleased that Jamie was surprised!  It took a lot of work and I was SURE that she would find out some way or another.  Chuch was such a great sport in letting me run his life for a couple of weeks.  I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him.

I think the best thing that we could have given her that night was her sister, Heather.  We sent out an invitation and Heather was able to come down from St. George and be here to celebrate Jamie’s big 30 with us!

I’m so glad that I was able to do this for Jamie!  It wasn’t nearly as stressful as I thought it would be.  It’s refreshing to know that I can handle something like this and not completely fall apart as a mother and wife.  Jamie, I hope that your next 30 years are as wonderful as your first 30!  You are an amazing mother, wife, and friend!  Thank you for all that you have taught me and continue to teach me every day.  You are a wonderful big sister!!!  Happy Birthday!!!

“Looking” into things!

Today I had an appointment to see an optomitrist.  It wasn’t your typical appointment.  I went to start looking into my chances for having LASIK surgery.

I looked into it years ago, but at the time I was still nursing Benjamin and I was planning on having more children.  They advised me to wait until I was done having children because your eye sight can fluctuate while you’re pregnant and nursing.  They sure knew what they were talking about.  My prescription changed every couple years (just ever so slightly) but just enough that I’m glad I didn’t have LASIK done back then.

Now that I’m done having children and done nursing, I thought it was worth taking a second look at.

I meet with their LASIK specialist who took several tests and asked a bunch of different questions.  It all happened so fast.  Before I knew it I found out I was the perfect candidate for the surgery and I had a tentative surgery date and time.  Before the actual surgery I would need to go without wearing contacts for a two-week period so that my corneas would have a chance to relax back into their normal position.  I would have to also have another appointment where they would perform a whole slew of tests (including dilating my eyes) so that they would be able to see if my body would reject the surgery or not allow it to take effect for the 15- 20 years that they were guaranteeing me that this procedure would last me.

So, as of this Saturday, I get to wear my glasses for the next two weeks and then I should have BRAND NEW EYES!!!

Surprise Gift!

Today we did a little different thing for our Family Home Evening.

Our good friend, Jamie Burt, turned 30 today.  She has quickly become one of my closest friends and her whole family has become very close to my family.  Since her husband is the bishop of our ward, every Tuesday night he stays late at the church for meetings.  After the kids go to bed, it becomes the perfect time for me to go over to her house and hang out with her.

For the past few weeks, I have been bringing over home decorating magazines to get some ideas for her birthday.  There is this AWEFUL looking chandelier in the main stairway that comes standard with all the homes in the community.  She hates that thing with a passion (just as I did before we replaced it a few months ago).

We talked for hours about different things that we both wanted to do with our homes if money weren’t an issue.  I got her to tell me what type of chandelier she would like to replace the one that she had right now.  So, for the last few days I’ve been looking on Craig’s List for different chandeliers that fit her description.  It was amazing when I found one that fit what she wanted almost to a tee!

Tonight, we had Chuck text us when they went out for dinner so that we could sneak inside and install the chandelier.  I thought this was a better idea than just handing over a chandelier with exposed wires.  Since Jared had already done this same thing with our light fixture he was so amazing to help me with this little project.

I hope she really likes it and that it’s what she had invisioned in her home!

Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Cutie Pies

Today I picked up the kids’ pictures from Sam’s Club.  I could not have imagined a better set of pictures.  I was able to get an 11×14 of the shot to the left for free but then, of course, they threw a bunch of other shots at me of my cute kids.  Each of the kids ended up having individual pictures and then there were some of the boys.  After I picked all the shots that I wanted it was over $200.  I knew that wouldn’t fly!

I tried to be as diplomatic about it as possible and ended up just getting Emma’s picture to put in Jared’s office.  This way none of the boys could say “You have their picture but not mine”.  This way we can just say that we got Emma’s because she’s daddy’s little girl and leave it at that.  And it was too darn cute to leave behind!!!

Olivea Janelle Combs

My little brother is a daddy!

His little angel, Olivea, arrived late tonight.  She was a whopping 7 lbs. 15 oz. but she was 20 inches long.

It was quite a hard delivery on Abby but she safely delivered little Liv.

Unfortunately, Olivea is still stuck in the NICU for a few more days, but hopefully she’ll be able to go home when Abby is discharged.

Little Ethan

I was blessed to be able to go and serve my sister-in-law and brother-in-law tonight.  They took little Ethan home from the hospital yesterday so we’re all taking turns bringing her meals.  It was a great chance for me to spend some time with Ethan since I didn’t get to see him at the hospital.

He was such a little sweetheart.  So very tiny, but even then he was a lot larger than Jacob.  I remember that Jacob was small, but I forgot just how small until I held this little guy.  It’s only been a little over 8 months but they really do grow and change the most in that first year.  I’m so glad that I’ve taken it slow with him.  I just hope that Tori and Matt do the same.

Ethan Johnson

Matt and Tori welcomed their second son earlier today.  Little Ethan arrived this evening weighing in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 19.5 inches long.  He is healthy and doing well

I guess Tori’s water had been leaking and they didn’t find out until her appointment this morning.  They gave her an epidural and then broke her water.  It wasn’t long after that until the baby came.

He looks so different from Kaleb.  I’m curious to see if he takes more after Tori or Matt.

Siverish- Blueish

I don’t know where he and Emma get them from.  Jared and I, both, have dark brown eyes.  Brown is supposed to be a dominant gene, but two of my four children have these silvery- blue eyes.  Benjamin and Joseph both have hazel eyes, but that look different colors dependent on what color clothing they are wearing at the time.

Jacob is doing so well with eating solid foods.  He is growing so much, but it’s a good thing.  I have been making sure to enjoy this little guy (not take his babyhood for granted).  I’m so glad that he is learning and that he’s becoming more interesting to the kids.  It’s great when they can start interacting with one another.  The kids are going to be such great friends!!!  It almost makes up for all the craziness of having them so close together in age.

Talking Squirrels

While getting ready for church this morning Jared made an odd observation.  I had just finished doing Emma’s hair and she was asking him how she looked.  As Jared was talking to her and telling her how beautiful she looked Joseph and Benjamin came to join us in the bathroom.  All three of them started talking at once, speeding up or increasing in volume and pitch to be heard above the other.

Jared simply looked over to me and announced, “Who knew we were raising a bunch of squirrels?”

Seriously!  Why can’t children just wait 5, maybe 10 seconds at most, for the other person to finish talking?  It’s some kind of competition to see who can have their questions or comments acknowledged first.

8 Months Old

Jacob is 8 months old!  We don’t have a doctor’s appointment this month but we had to make a special call to get a prescription for thrush.  He’s at the stage where he puts everything in his mouth, leading to a greater chance of infection.  I’m going to have to be extra careful with that.

As you can see from the pictures below, Jacob is all about his hands lately.  I can see that his front teeth are trying to get through but it’s been taking so long I don’t know when they’ll show up.  Here are a few shots of what he was doing tonight.  He was just chillin’ with daddy at the table while the other kids were doing a little puppet show.

I’m sorry, but looking at these pictures makes me want to run upstairs and nibble his adorable little cheeks.

A “Golden” School Night

At the close of a very long and full day, we thought that we’d start a new family tradition.

Back when we lived in Lancaster, PA we had some friends that would take all their grandchildren (school age and not) out to ice cream to celebrate the start of a new school year.  We really thought that was a nice idea and so tonight was our Vegas twist on their Dairy ice cream trip. 

Our new favorite ice cream place is Golden Spoon.  So, with that, we headed off to have ice cream and enjoy a wonderful Monday evening as a family!

Stalking My Kindergartener

 Before school was out, I drove back to the school to make sure that Benjamin got on the right school bus.  This year, since he’s only doing half-day kindergarten, I drop him off in the morning and he gets to come home on the bus.  The bus coming home only carries Kindergarteners, giving him the experience of riding a bus without the added influence of older kids.  I know he’ll get it sooner or later but I’d still like to have a say for as long as possible.

I watched as his teacher lined him up in the correct bus line, and walked him to the bus that would deliver him home to me!

 

 I then followed the bus around for a couple miles as it drove through the route until it ended up in our neighborhood stop!  The kids thought it was so much fun to follow the bus around.  They were constantly yelling out directions for me to turn so that we wouldn’t loose the bus in traffic.  I’m glad that we were all able to have a good day!

I know it was probably really silly of me to go through such great lengths, but I have to say that I have great peace of mind knowing where he is goes beetween school and here.

When Benjamin came off the bus he was all grins and bursting to tell me all that he did and saw and learned today. 

 

“Boo Hoo” Breakfast

So, as I mentioned in the last post, our family had extra time this morning because we didn’t eat breakfast at home.  The school sent out a notice at the Meet and Greet that the school would host a little breakfast for the kindergarteners and their families.  At least that’s what I thought it meant!

We waved good-bye to Benjamin as he walked off to his classroom and I told him that I’d see him in a few minutes at the “Boo Hoo” breakfast.  As we and several other families made our way to the cafeteria one of the other mothers clued me in to the fact that the kids wouldn’t be joining us.  I don’t know why I thought that they would, but I felt like the worst mother in the world.  It’s my son’s first day of school and I send him off with an empty stomach.

Obviously Joseph felt the same way !  He was having a hard morning.  He couldn’t seem to understand that Benjamin wasn’t able to play right now.  That’s something that Emma and Joseph are going to have to get used to.  Benjamin’s usually my go-to-man.  I’m going to have to start delegating out his little jobs to the other kids.

I’ll have to remember to bring a granola bar and a water bottle to the bus stop so that Benjamin can get a head start on his lunch.

At the breakfast (that Jared and the kids enjoyed, I lost my appetite) they handed out this cute little package of tissues with a poem attached.  As I read it I started crying.  It’s just so perfect for any mother that has ever sent their child off somewhere without them.

I wonder what you’re doing right now,
And if everyone is treating you kind.
I hope there is a special person,
A nice friend that you can find.

I wonder if the teacher knows
Just how special you are to me.
And if the brightness of your heart
Is something she can see.

I wonder if you are thinking about me,
And if you need a hug.
I already miss the sound of your voice
And how you give my leg a tug.

I wonder if you could possibly understand
How hard it is for me to let you grow.
On this day know that my heart breaks,
For this is the first step in letting my baby go.

Our FIRST First Day of School

This morning everyone was up bright and early, with their happy faces on, ready to take Benjamin to school for the very first time.

It was a pretty fast morning so I didn’t get to really sit down and have everything sink in until much later this afternoon.

Daddy went into work late this morning so that he could be with us as we all got ready and set out for school.

It’s really fun to look at this picture of Jared and Benjamin.  Surprisingly enough, Benjamin’s elementary school is named after Jared’s old High School principal.  Jared said it was a little weird to walk through the front door with that name across the front of it.

It was a beautiful morning for the first day of school!  We had enough time to go out front and water the flowers.  We had a bunch of extra time because we didn’t have to eat breakfast at home.  We were so excited to eat at the “Boo Hoo” breakfast that the school was holding right before school for the Kindergarteners and their families.

What a happy little camper, sitting in the back seat.  He didn’t even take off his backpack to climb in his seat and put his buckle on.  Talk about excited!

The other kids, all dressed up and ready for their first day of school, were excited to play on the playground with their big brother and his friends.

As the bell rang, Benjamin and all his classmates ran to their line where their backpacks were waiting for them.

You can see how ready and eager they are to get into their classroom.  I have a feeling that it will be a couple days before they get into really learning anything.  The cool thing is that his learning doesn’t end when he gets on the bus to come home.  That’s one of the good things about the fact that I can stay at home.  That, coupled with the fact that I did homeschooling for so long, it will make it so much easier to focus on little questions that he might come home with. 

And just like that, he’s off!  I hope he has a wonderful day and that he feels like he can come home and tell me about everything that he did.

Have a GRRRREAT day, sweetheart!  I’ll be waiting for you when you get home!

Meet and Greet

Mrs. Toffelmire sent us a list of school supplies to bring on the first day of school.  The day that we got it in the mail Benjamin insisted that we pick them up right then and there.  It was kind of fun getting everything on the list.  We packed up his backpack with all the supplies and then put everything in Jared’s closet so that kids wouldn’t be tempted to play with it.

Today, when we were meeting Mrs. Toffelmire for the first time, we received the same list.  Benjamin was so excited to tell her that he already had all the stuff that she needed:

12 glue sticks
3 green 2-pocket folders with prongs
1 pkg. of Crayola washable markers
1 pkg. of #2 pencils
1 pkg. of erasers
1 box of Crayola, 24-count
1 container antibacterial wipes (boys only)
1 container of baby wipes (girls only)
1 pkg. of gallon size Ziploc bags (boys only)
1 pkg. of sandwich size Ziploc bags (girls only)
1 box of tissues
1 backpack (without wheels)

 
He had so much fun walking around his new classroom.  There are several of his friends from Primary and our neighborhood in his class.  Each of them are at different tables which is probably for the better.  I doubt any of them would learn a thing this year if they were sitting by each other.  It would be too tempting for them to talk and play.

There were posters, signs, folders, rugs, special bathrooms, little chairs, computers, books, magnets- so many things to discover and look at.

Benjamin noticed that each of the little desks had name tags on them.  He walked around the room until he was successful in finding his own name.  We told him that he would sit at this desk when he came to school on Monday.

We walked around the school for a few minutes, showed him the Kindergarten playground, and showed him where he would line up to take the bus home.

I cried a little bit right after walking into Benjamin’s classroom.  It was hard to be happy and excited for him because all I could think about was how much I am going to miss him!  I know it’s only going to be for half  of the day but it’s just hard to wrap my head around the fact that HE’S GROWING UP!!!!

7 Month Check-up

weight: 16 lbs. 0 oz. (5%)

height: 26 1/2 in. (18%)

head: 41 1/2 cm (2%)

Poor Jacob got another round of shots today.  I HATE SHOTS!!!  Other than that, it was a great check-up.

The doctor has labeled Jacob as LAZY!!!  I have been slightly concerned about the fact that he’s over 7 months old and not showing any signs of sitting up on his own.  He rolls from his stomach to his back but not the other way.  He sits up (assisted) and holds his head up on his own.  He’s eating solid foods (including some of our table food.  He’s cooing and laughing at us and acknowledges us when we call his name. I think it’s pretty funny that the clinical diagnosis is “laziness”.  But I guess it does fit him.  He’s just content to sit there and look as people go about their day around him.  He is like me in that regard.  When in a large crowd of people, I’m much more inclined to sit and watch people.

I’m glad that Jacob is starting to catch up on the growth charts.  He’s still on the small side but at least there is progress.  I don’t think he’ll completely catch up until he’s about 2 years old.  I’m perfectly happy with that .  It makes me still feel like he needs me.

Here’s a little snap shot of Jacob at 7 months, compared to 5 months.  (We were out of town at 6 months and didn’t have the Mickey Mouse to lay next to him).

 

Sam’s Club Cutties

This evening we had a photo session for the kids.  It was one of those pictures where the kids are all dressed up in period clothing and the picture looks like an antique.  I’ve always wanted to do one of these but I’ve always been apprehensive.  I didn’t want to have a picture taken and then maybe a year later have another child and them be absent.  Jacob is still a little young, but they had a great deal over at Sam’s for the sitting and an 11×14 picture.  It’s always so hard to get the kids all together and looking great so I thought it was better to lose $10 here than $40 or $50 somewhere else.

 
 

As you can see, the kids look absolutely adorable!  Joseph especially!  I have been toying with the thought to cut his hair the last couple days but I’m so glad that I didn’t.  His hair was just long enough so that it kind of flipped out over his ears, under his cap.

They had all kinds of different props for the kids to use in their individual shots.  We really weren’t supposed to take photos of the kids but we just couldn’t help ourselves!  I can’t wait to see how they turned out.