Austin Visit

We always love visiting my parents, here is a quick review of why we love it so!!

Hours of fun in the swimming pool - Elise went from timidly putting her feet in to swimming in a little floaty around the whole pool and dunking with Dad.

Lots of Ice Cream Cones!!

Snacks by the pool

 

Pics we sent to our Daddy since work got in the way and he had to fly back unexpectedly a few times

Made Scotchmallows for Auntie Ambers birthday, it was divine using a kitchen with massive counter space!!

Rode the train at a nearby park

Went to countless parks in the area, they are much more fun when Daddy comes along

Took a trip to the Austin Zoo...I had no idea Austin had a Zoo!!

Hadley talked about the large Turtle and Lion and Monkeys for days

It is a rescue Zoo, it was a great little place

I am unwilling to admit how many times we hit CFA, between that and the fact I gave eating most the queso in Texas a decent go, I think I will stick to salads returning to California.

Hitched a ride

More pool time, Hadley would say in until her teeth were chattering and her fingers were wrinkled

More parks

Multiple readers for bedtime stories

Playing on old school toys that I have memories playing on with my brother

Checked out the art supplies

Played creative games my mom came up with, all in full fairy attire of course!

More pool time

Met our newest niece, Claire! We also went to her beautiful baby blessing.

Hung out with our Cousin Ryan, both my girls loved him a little too much and also followed their Auntie Amber and Uncle Spencer around - they are the best!

Put Papa's swing to good use

Hit up a few bounce houses, our favorite had this large runway of trampolines. When did she get so big?!?

Double fisted snow cones, it is hot in Texas!

We are always sad to leave and cant wait to see my parents again soon!

20/20

I started wearing glasses when I was in fourth grade and failed the school eye test. I then started wearing contacts when I was 15 and quickly moved to hard contacts (I was told if I didnt I could lose my sight entirely by the time I was 23, the hard contacts acted kind of like braces for my quickly changing teenage eyes). I developed a double astimatism and was considered legally blind (not correctable to 20/20 with glasses). I really never was interested in LASIK, glasses and contact were all I  actually remember and they seemed to be working great. The tipping point came when I got pregnant and then delivered Hadley - my eyes were dry from pregnancy and irritated and then with the c-section I didnt wear contacts (hard to put in when flat out and on an iv) for a few days and glasses are blurry, in addition you can only be out of hard contacts for about 3 days before the "callouses" you have built up on your eyes starts going and it can hurt when you start wearing them again. It was finally enough to start looking into it, my brother just had it done and loved the place he had them done. I checked them out in Austin but had to wait until I was neither pregnant or nursing. Last November I had the consult and set it up for the spring when I could come for a month and my mom could help watch the kids. I mentioned in a previous post that I had to be out of contacts for 5 weeks and then the day I arrived they did the finally evaluation to approve it - I was a little nervous bc they put me in hard contacts bc my eyes were changing and wasnt sure if I would pass the final evaluation since your eyes can change a certain percent. I was thrilled when they approved!! The check up also reminded me that I am really used to people putting stuff in my eyes and the dr assured me that people in hard contacts typically breeze through the surgery.

Pic I sent to Jamie of my eye shields after surgery

The next day I showed up and they gave me Valium, I mentioned to the dr I respond really strongly to medication and they actually rushed me into surgery afraid that the Valium would make me fall asleep and prevent them from doing the procedure - so I had the surgery about 10 minutes before the Valium kicked in. It did make me really sleepy and shaky so it was good they did! And the surgery was no big deal - 10 seconds in one and 20 seconds in the other machine and that was it! They did peel back part of your eye and you could tell, that was a little creepy.... My eyes stung for an hour or two after but the drugs knocked me out. They were dry and you had to put drops in and slightly irritated like when I leave my contacts in too late. I hesitate to say the recovery was really easy, because the dr said that the side effects were so similar to hard contacts that people rarely complain. That is what I found - the "halos" they said I would see were about what I typically see, my night vision has always been bad and by night my eyes are always a little irritated, I also never touched my eyes with hard contacts so it isnt a problem not rubbing them for the 5-6 months they recommend. I am three weeks out and I see better than I ever did with contacts and only have to put drops in once or twice in the morning. My brother ended up using drops regularly until almost 6 months, but it sounded like my eyes produced extra tears for the hard contacts so it hasnt been an issue. 

I LOVE seeing!! It is taking some getting used to, I honestly go to take my contacts out every night! My eyes are still a little blurry when I get up so I havent quite seen the alarm clock yet - but it is so nice to see when I get up at night and just in general. I remember friends saying I will wonder why I didnt do it early, and I totally do!!

May Wrap Up

At some point maybe I will do an actual post instead of random updates (including my Lasik and family visit)... but here is what we have been doing for most of May.

Elise discovered that when I hold the phone a certain way I am going to take a photo - so we have been seeing a lot of the above. She also seems to know I send them to Dad and started saying Dada when she hears the click.

Hadley went to our cousin's fourth birthday party at the bowling lanes. She LOVED it! They had these awesome ball guiders and bumpers so she did great and really enjoyed herself, I will need to see if our local one has similar things.

Elise is still a mess

Hadley has been asking to "take pictures of me!!" and loves to look at the screen to see the final shot on our good camera.

It has been warming up and I love to hear the girls ask to go outside (although I had to make the rule that we couldnt go out before 7:30, mom is too tired). We have sprinklers and a baby pool set up and they love to water the plants. We love having a backyard and having friends over for popsicles.

I thought it would be fun for Hadley to paint a little bird house while I finished one of my own projects...luckily I thought far enough ahead that I could just hose off the whole area!

Elise enjoyed just painting with the water

We still have lots of raspberries and hugs, I know siblings go in and out of phases so I am just soaking in the good phase right now. They seriously melt me when they get along.

Elise gives kisses on demand, so we demand a lot.

One of the great things about California is the parks and great friends, we have been enjoying both in the wonderful weather. 

Elise has always had a "special spot" but I dont know if I have ever posted about it - anytime you give her a snack, book or project she takes it right over to our little kids table and pulls up a seat. It fits her perfectly.

Elise is our cuddle bug. She loves to be held and has been know to lie on the ground fake crying until somebody comes and picks her up. We find it hilarious because there is a huge difference between her fake and real cry so she isnt fooling anyone. She pretty much has my number though because I will go over to her most of the time. She actually fell asleep in my arms for the first time in ages and I was in heaven.

On Mother's day Jamie let me sleep in and made a yummy dinner, Hadley finished it off by making a delish dessert.  She also made a little hand flower in Nursery and gave it to me telling me "Happy Mother's Day" and now every time she makes me something in Nursery tells me "Happy Mother's Day!!". I havent corrected her since I kind of love it.

I Just Want to Eat Them

They are so delicious.

April Wrap Up

Spring is officially here and we couldnt be happier! Hours to spend in the sunshine, the garden is planted and growing and two darling girls happy to eat popsicles all day long!

 My MIL sent these cute little aprons and the girls LOVE them!

Hadley is typically my tidy child, but give her a fudgsicle and she will go to town. The next activity was playing in the sprinklers.

We hit up Gilroy Gardens while it was open for Spring Break. The weather was perfect and it was fabulous! 

I thought Elise would be overjoyed since she is our daredevil, but she wore this face for the majority of the rides. I think it will grow on her.

 Hadley got right into it!

 The girls are the perfect age for the park, we cant wait until it is open full time.

We found a "princess dress" for Hadley that she has worn all week. I went to the Disney outlet looking for a proper princess dress but this nightgown was on sale and she doesnt know the difference! I do have the enforce the rule that the dress and crown stay in the house.

I have been wearing these beauties for the last two weeks in prep for Lasik. Since I wear hard contacts I have to be out of them five weeks before surgery and I cannot be corrected to 20/20 with glasses so my world is a little blurry. They make me cranky and shy, it is a winning combination. 

 It was Santa Clara Clean Up a few weeks ago. Basically the city will pick up all the junk you want in front of your house. This led to total creepers peering through piles of cast offs along our street, but it also provided this fun outdoor kitchen that one of my friends snagged for us from a neighbor along with a toy lawn mower and two kid chairs.

 Elise now has five words - More, Mama, Dada, Ha-ee and Mine. She wont mimic me (neither did Hadley) but I think she has all of the bases covered that she needs as the second child. You gotta be scrappy and state your territory. She also folds her arms for prayer and gives kisses on demand. Babies are the best.