Jack on Allergies

Jack is a pretty OCD kid. He is a worrier like his Mommy. He grinds his teeth at night and sleep walks a lot. (Yes, it freaks me out.) OCDness and allergies are a rough combo for a 6 year old. I love Jack and how his brain works. I just wish he wasn't so stressed out. Just wanted to document/share our latest conversation over a suspected allergic reaction he had recently.

I got a call from Jack's school on Tuesday. (Of course it was minutes before I needed to walk into my class and teach.) Nonetheless, Jack's teacher said his eyes were bothering him. They were red and he was holding a wet paper towel or kleenex over them to sooth himself. She added that he seemed to be pretty uncomfortable. Todd went to go pick him up. (Thank God Todd was available.) Todd said he looked fine and could not see anything visibly wrong with him. Allergy reactions can be that way.. when near the problem inflamed skin, itchy eyes, or sneezing. When away from the allergen it all goes away. So that night Jack and I began the process of trying to determine what exactly set his reaction off at school. 

Mom: Where were you when it happened?

Jack: It was during silent reading time. (translation-inside, in the classroom) 

Mom: Had you been outside?

Jack: Yes. We were at recess.

Mom: Did you touch anything new out there? 

Jack: No.

Mom: Had you been playing with Beezus? (guinea pig.. class pet) 

Jack: No. 

Jack: Mom! There is a 100% chance that the book I was reading had something on it! The book came from the classroom next door and they are allowed to have different snacks over there! And Mom, the book is here, in the house!

Mom: Didn't you just read that book with Daddy? 

Jack: Yes. 

Mom: And did you have the same reaction?

Jack: No. 

Mom: Well, then it is not the book Jack. 

****It is now Friday and Jack will not go near the book. Sigh. My child walks around in fear of things. I have to remind myself not to instill more fear in him and to not interrupt those moments when he does allow himself to be free and to not worry about things. 

Busy Season of Life

The Meehan family smashing it all in...

We are definitely entering into a busy season of life. We have our schedules. The boys have their schedules. We try and smash them together and make it all work. :)

Is this what I am looking at? Is this my future?

So today I dropped off the boys at their school and headed on over to my school. I pulled into the parking lot and before getting out of my red Honda Accord I finished my breakfast (that had been sitting in the passenger seat next to me since leaving the house about 20 minutes earlier) when another car pulled up right next to me. I looked over and saw that it was an older male professor. He reached over to his passenger seat and began to shave his face with an electric razor. So while we were both finishing off our morning routine like an old married couple we caught eyes. I smiled and raised my oatmeal filled spoon to him as a gesture of hello. And then I noticed his car. It was a small red Honda Civic. Not the same make as mine but for sure similar in style and age. He got out of his car and reported to work. I sat there for a second and thought.. "Is this what I am looking at? Is this my future?" And this my friends left me slightly discouraged. Really? All this work and years from now will I still be in the same car finishing my morning routine, and basically doing the exact same thing that I am doing now only with the title? (Cue sound effects) Wha-wha.

My present is on the right. My future is to the left. Ha! 

A Newborn in the House?

No. No. There is no baby on the way and just to solidify that decision I think God is reminding us of what it is like to have a newborn in the house. For weeks now our children have kept us sleep deprived. Luca doesn't want to go to bed at night and gets up about a million times and then he gets up several times a night. Last night it was 12 and 3. The first time he wanted his socks. The second time he was too asleep to even communicate a need. (and yet called out to me several times in order to get me over there) I just assumed he wanted to be situated better in his bed. He was sleeping on the wrong end of the bed. Then Jack completes the 3 hour increments by getting up in the morning at 6. Come on! Mommy is not a spring chicken. I need that beauty sleep. Without sleep I look my age or older. And that makes me cranky. I know so many sweet and loving Mommies that take things like this with patience and count them as sweet and fleeting moments. I'm not one. I wish I could be but I'm not. I want my children to sleep at night. I want to sleep at night. If we all sleep at night then I am in a better mood and can appreciate and have those sweet and fleeting moments during the day time. ;)

Dear Lord,
Direct us to know what to do with this situation. Why is Luca waking up? What does he need? How can we all get more sleep? Give us the patience to deal with this time in our lives. Show us what we can do to calm Luca's night time anxious heart.

After typing that I see where maybe I should be praying for God to calm my anxious heart and not Luca's.

The Dissertation

When are you graduating?

How is the dissertation going? 

All you need to do is write your dissertation right?

These are the questions I get upon running into people I haven't seen in a while. I don't mind the questions and am happy to answer and am grateful for people that are interested in talking to me about well.. me. However, every time one of these questions is posed.. I feel the pressure to hurry up and finish so that people don't have to ask me that anymore. (Although..I know what questions come next.. So what are you going to do with your degree? Are you going back to work? What kind of job are you looking for? All of which I have no answer to)

Here is the deal with the dissertation. I finished my course work and then joined a dissertation group to help push me along. The group was great but it didn't really help to push me along. They provided great feedback and encouragement but for some crazy reason I decided sabotage myself by piling on some extras onto my already full plate. While my group was writing away and getting proposals approved and research started. I took on an additional class to teach and decided to go on a mission trip to India. Before I knew it, it was December and I had nothing done on my dissertation. The spring semester became a bit of a downer for me. I watched my friends move forward while I reflected on my lack of work.

This is/was my dissertation group. 

These ladies have graduated. One is now working at Baylor in a one year position and the other moved back to the Netherlands where she is teaching, doing research and working with a museum. So proud of both of them. 

This is CC. In the middle of our dissertating...she moved to CA, had her first baby and is now working at a small Baptist university while trying to write and finish her dissertation. 

And then there's me... 

After the spring semester reflection, I kicked into gear and got my research approved in May. I began collecting data this summer. And that is where I'm at.. My hope is to graduate in May 2013. I don't think I have an easy road ahead but I am trying my best to not have a repeat of last year. Choices that I have made thus far to help me along are: 1) I dropped the additional class I was teaching to have more time dedicated to my dissertation. 2) I said no to a job that would have been a financial blessing to my family and would have taken me back to a wonderful work family that I left 6 years ago. 3) Although I think about my friends in India often and my heart so desires to go back and see them, I am saying no to a return trip this year. Ouch. My heart aches just typing those words. Needless to say I am going to try to get my rear out of BU just as soon as I can! Prayers are welcome. I know there will be obstacles. I have hit a few in my data collection ventures already. Will save those snafus for another day and will try my best to document for myself and for others my progress towards the completion of my dissertation. I am currently imagining the same people that ask me about the status of my dissertation saying the following phrases: 

"Good Luck!" 

"Break a Leg!" 

"We believe in you!"

"You got this!" 

"Will be praying for you!"

11 Year Anniversary

We celebrated our 11th anniversary this month. Last year we did it up in San Francisco. This year we hung out in Texas and made a quick trip to Austin. Earlier this summer we stayed at the Omni in downtown Austin. We stayed in the Omni in San Fran last year and had great service. But our stay earlier this summer had a few things go wrong. It was mostly noise from renovations. Todd let the Omni know that although we love their hotels we probably wouldn't stay there again. Well.. they offered us a free night's stay in one of their renovated rooms. Who are we to turn such an offer down right. ;) It was fabulous. They tried really hard to please us and gave us a super room and it was all free. Talk about a great anniversary gift.  We checked in.. got dressed and went out to dinner at Uchi. It is one of the yummiest places I have been too. Of course I do live in a good food deprived city so I could be wrong. But I don't think I am. We tried all kinds of deliciousness at Uchi. Totally recommend this place if you are looking for a cool and yummy place to have sushi. It is pricey so expect to put down some money if you go but so worth it. Just talking about the place makes me want to go back as soon as we can.. My favorite was the machi cure (picture below) which consisted of smoked baby yellowtail, yucca chips, asian pear, marcona almonds with garlic brittle. 

My date was pretty awesome too. Todd and I have never gone to a real sushi place together. He spent some time in Japan before we got married and he attempted to teach me how to use my chopsticks. I started out pretty good but as the dinner progressed my chopstick skills waned. It was a fun dinner. Kind of odd that we have been married for 11 years and never has there been an occasion for the whole chopstick lesson. I guess there are more surprises and adventures yet to come. :) Happy Anniversary Todd! 

Fuzzy phone pic before dinner

The awesome bookshelf that Todd built in our bedroom.. his gift to me. 

The suite comped by the Omni

This is a sweet suite :)  

Machi Cure 

Luca at 3 Years

Luca's first family portrait.. There is an extra Luca to the right of Jack. 

Luca is into anything big brother is into...Here he is testing out his new remote control car. 

Our little Luca turned 3 today. I ask him pretty frequently to stop growing up and to stay my baby forever.. He always says that he will grow up and become a big boy. He's right and he is well on his way. Luca is really into "knightly things" right now. He will have a Mike the Knight birthday party and has been looking forward to it for months. He says that when he has his "knightly things" (sword, shield, armor) that he will save my plants and scare the animals away from eating them. In the first picture you can see that he is practicing his archery. Little does he know that my father really did practice archery and can show him a lot about bows and arrows. We are at the end of potty training. He has done so well with it. He has almost mastered the process. We are crossing our fingers he gets it before school starts up again. He needs to be able to be independent in this area in order to go into the early childhood classroom at his school. Not quite in line with Maria Montessori's self-pace and "when the child is ready" philosophy but that's okay.  

Luca at 3 years:

1. Favorite color is red

2. Can be heard beginning a sentence with the words "eventually" or "actually"

3. Says his J sound like a Z so Jack sounds like Zack

4. Says his TH sound like an S so "thank you" sounds like "sank you" and "think so" sounds like "sink so" 

5. Loves to dress up like super heroes, cowboys, and knights

6. Will eat turkey (sometimes) 

7. Never eats chicken or meat

8. Lives off of carrots, fruit, cheese, bread and waffles (current favorite breakfast treats are cinnamon rolls) 

9. Prefers crocs to tennis shoes

10. Likes to play with trains

11. Enjoys going to the country

12. Loves playing with his older brother but gets very frustrated with being younger and less capable 

13. And desperately wants to be on a soccer team 

Luca's personality is more rambunctious than Jack's. He is not afraid to let people know when he is not happy. He will yell, cry and yes even hit. He takes a swing at Jack at least once a week. We are working on using our words. God gave Luca such a fun personality. We love you Lucaboo! 

Jack at 6 Years

Jack had a Harry Potter birthday party this year. 

Opening Hogwarts Lego present from Uncle Sean and Aunt Karen. 

Slip n' sliding after the party

Testing out Platform 9 3//4...

Jack graduated from Kinder in June. For the last 3 years he has had a wonderful teacher and class. He will continue to attend Montessori school but will be moving up to the lower elementary side of the school. It will be a whole new experience for all of us. We attempted to get Jack into a local magnet school that seems great and promising but it didn't work out. I am unsure how long we will continue to do the whole private school scene. We never really intended to do elementary school in any private school but it just kind of happened. Jack loves his school and we all have been very happy there so for now it is the perfect place for us. (Luca included who will be moving up to the Early Childhood program in the fall.) 

So Jack at 6 years old: 

1. Is a really good reader and his favorite book is Harry Potter 

2. Likes to eat at Rudy's, Fazoli's, and Cracker Barrel

3. Loves his school and has a great group of friends there

4. Likes to wear Sketchers and Crocs

5. Likes exploring outside and playing with water and dirt

6. Loves going to the country house and hanging out with cousin Penny

7. Has about a zillion legos

8. Gets car sick

9. Enjoys trips to the beach

10. Has a cool connection to my Dad and likes to sit outside and talk to grandpa about plants, cars or anything else that comes to mind

11. Just discovered video games and has been playing Super Mario Brothers on the wii 

12. And is saving his money and seeking out chores for payment to buy either a Nook or the Hogwarts Express Lego set (I am pushing for the nook...) 

Jack's character continues to be one of someone that tries to respect others. (as much as a 6 year old boy can..) He is ultra aware of fairness or the lack there of.. He tends to get his feelings hurt easily and is timid about trying new things. He excels when he is in a comfortable and familiar environment. We thank God for Jack and love everything about him. We look forward to this next year of his life. :) 

Resurrected...

It has been um.. a while. I stopped blogging some time ago. This summer Jack turned 6 and in a few weeks Luca will turn 3. It has come to my attention that because I stopped blogging I stopped capturing many of the day to day things that eventually fade our memory. So I hope to post occasionally for the purpose of documenting the lives of my babies and to update on our family happenings in general.