Goodbye 4 Eyes

     Courtney has been wearing glasses for the past 2-3 years. She doesn't have vision that is horrible, but she needs to wear glasses everyday. We had discussed last year about getting contacts but Courtney wasn't quite ready, but this summer she was ready- more than ready. I had several reminders and inquiries from Courtney asking about her annual eye exam- "Is it time?" "Are we going to get my eyes checked soon Mom?" were some of the things Courtney asked over the past few months. Finally it was time! She is now glasses free (unless she wants to wear them) and has contacts!

 There is nothing wrong with being a "4 eyed" person. Courtney had very stylish frames this past year that fetched  compliments where ever she went.

 Courtney adjusted so easily to putting her contacts in. During her first few days, she loved having an audience watch.

 She typically only takes 1-2 attempts to get them in- I was impressed!

 Look Ma, no glasses!

It wasn't until I took this picture that I noticed how much Courtney and JT looked alike! 

Bathroom Humor

     Sometimes JT will laugh and giggle at the silliest things. I love hearing the big belly laughs and the pure enjoyment JT expresses when something strikes him as funny. Last night, JT was playing with John and his phone when all of a sudden laughter erupted. I watched for several minutes as JT would replay some type of clip over and over and laugh his head off. When John started adding in some reactions like "Ewww", that seemed to just fuel the fire.

Curious what could possibly be so funny, I walked over to the boys to see what they were watching. I was expecting to see a video of JT that he was admiring. Nope, he was watching something gross and a typical boy friendly humor. See below for what was so funny....

Mug Shot

     This weekend we had a bit of fun with JT's morning hair. While making it crazy messy, he started making some equally crazy faces. John snapped a few photos and immediately we started cracking up! They looked so funny that we thought of a few notable mug shots.

JT's solo mug shot

                                             

The notable Nick Nolte mug shot. Mainly the hair is all of similarity we saw here- thought still funny.

  

These are from Gary Busey. Not like Nolte's mug shots, but notable nonetheless. I think JT's expressions more closely resembled Busey's.  As long as this is as close as he gets to mimicking crazy mug shots, I'll be a happy Mom. 

Pleeeeease

     JT has mastered the art of saying please. I believe it was with the help of his older sisters that he came to his "presentation" as it is right now. When JT really wants to do something, eat something, or go outside he breaks out please. I think it is rather adorable and love how he strains his neck out along with clasped hands. What JT still needs to learn is sometimes no matter how many times you say please and how stinkin' cute you look, please will NOT get you cookies in the morning for breakfast.

While JT wasn't asking for something here, he obliged to my request to perform on cue.

Here is a quick video of JT performing his pleeeease. It's not quite as cute as when he's actually looking for something since I asked him to say please for the sake of recording it, but this will give you a good idea of what he does :)

Freshman Orientation

     The time has almost arrived for Sarah to leave to go to college. I'm sure to her it seems like it has taken such a long time to reach this milestone, while as parents John and I feel it came all too fast. This past weekend, Sarah and I headed up to Campbellsville University for her orientation, called LINC. If you were curious what LINC stands for it's- Learn in a new environment, Invest in your future, Navigate life change, and Connect to Campbellsville University.

 Sarah was sweet to entertain her Mom's request for a photo by the LINC banner. 

 During the weekend, we took care of several "to do" items, such as getting her PO Box assignment and key. I'm sure Sarah would love to get mail and care packages from anyone who would like to send her anything. Be sure to email me next month if you'd like her address!

 The all important room assignment!!! This is where Sarah will be living while at CU. It's called The Village on campus and it's apartment style living with 5 other room mates in a 3 bed, 3 bath home. Sarah requested the new Village building that should be completed before she moves in next month.

 A view of the courtyard of another Village building next to Sarah's. Tables and swings make for a great place to hang out, eat, or study.

 Sitting on the swing- there are lots of swings like this all over campus. I love it!

 Not too far away is the football stadium. It is a great looking field! I know Sarah will have a great time cheering on the Tigers this fall.

 We also walked around campus and found old markers/signs showing how long the university has been around.

 This is a massive tree on campus- you can't tell, but there is a huge deck built around the base of the tree that is lined with benches and gliders.

 Along the perimeter of the university, there are several quaint older houses that are used as offices for many of the departments. I thought it made the university feel very homey and looked beautiful.

 For one of our lunches, we were served pizza, so Sarah and I found a perfect place to dine! It was under a huge tree and it was nice to get out of the hot sun for a bit and just swing.

 The one photo where we are both in the picture together :)

We discovered this sign near the hotel I stayed at and I just had to get a picture of Sarah with it.

     Sarah also registered for her fall semester in which she signed up for 16 units. It is a lot, but she chose very wisely and she has a great balance of challenging courses along with a few "easy" ones, so it should be a good semester for her.

     We have a little over a month until we will drive back up and move Sarah into her dorm. Most of our focus will be on getting all of the needed items for her dorm- bedding, storage, some appliances, cleaning supplies, and quarters for laundry :) I'm sure it will fly by and soon I will be posting about dropping our baby girl off at college!

     If you wanted to look back at Sarah's first visit to the university, here is the link for that blog post

http://apedaile6.blogspot.com/2010/08/road-trip.html

Courtney's CT Scan

     Courtney received the honor last week of becoming the first of the Apedaile6 to have a CT scan. Not something to brag about as a Mom, but we need to put positive spins on everything, right?

     Before you have to read much further, let me assure you nothing horribly awful is going on with Courtney. She does have a medical issue we are looking into, but nothing critically pressing.

     This past Feb/March, we received a letter from school stating Courtney had failed 3 hearing screening tests and suggested we follow up with her Dr. Trying to not be too long winded, we had an appt with her Dr, sent to an audiologist who confirmed a hearing loos in her right ear, and back to the Dr for allergy testing to determine if that might be the root cause (it wasn't). We then had to wait until just last week for our appointment with the ENT for further evaluation.

     At the ENT, Courtney had another hearing test since it had been so long. Once again, it was confirmed that she has a hearing loss in her right ear, specifically with higher frequency the loss is more significant. The Dr said we needed to proceed with a CT scan to see the inner structures as from what limited views he could see, there wasn't anything "wrong". From what the hearing test suggested and his knowledge, he is thinking it might be something called Otosclerosis- basically a bony growth in the middle ear that prevents vibration(how we hear). Another possibility could be some fluid somewhere it shouldn't be, which I think would be the best outcome.

     Courtney headed to the hospital for her CT scan and was a bit nervous. She was a little trooper through it all though.

 I managed to snap one photo on my phone when Courtney was being prepared for her scan. I figured photos were a "no-no" so I didn't want to get in trouble :) The CT scanner was an "open" tube, so that was a big relief for Courtney.

This is the view I had once the scan started. Closed door and an X-Ray in Use that lit up. I could hear a noise similar to when an airplane takes off, but of course much quieter. The whole scan took less than 5 minutes and Courtney was relieved the unknown wasn't as bad as she imagined.

 

The Dr requested we get a disk to bring back for our follow up appointment, so when we got home I of course had to take a peek! This is by far my favorite shot- so cool to see her skull, spine, teeth!

There were a few other shots, but this one I call the Smile :)

I think part of what the Dr needs to see is on the left and right sides, with the right side clearly looking different than the left. Since I don't hold an M.D., we will wait until her appt on Aug. 1st to determine what exactly is causing the hearing loss and determine what needed treatment Courtney could benefit from. We would gladly accept any prayers for Courtney, her hearing, and that she be spared from any further loss.

Somersault

     JT continues to surprise us with his physical abilities. From a young age, he has been on the go- running, climbing, and jumping to his hearts delight.Last week JT decided that he needed to add somersaults to his bag of tricks. I'm not sure where he came up with how to do this as the girls are not doing them around the house anymore, so JT wasn't learning by example. He quickly perfected his form and went from sideways somersaults to straight somersaults. Of course he loves having his audience cheering him on :)

I love how flexible he is!

I promise you, JT doesn't often run around in just a diaper or bottomless. It happens to be the moments that he does some of his best "work" is after diaper changes and I guess he loves the freedom of escaping my attempts of putting his shorts back on-LOL!

Cow Appreciation Day

     Friday was Chick-fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day. It's their annual dress like a cow, come to their restaurants, and score some free food day! This was something that we did last year which you can read here
http://apedaile6.blogspot.com/2010/07/eat-mor-chikin.html

The girls got started by creating their cow shirts. Though as you can see in the pictures, Lindsay and Courtney had already painted their faces. The girls cut our felt spots and hot glued them to t shirts. They also made one for JT and John. I took the easy route and borrowed Lindsay's Chick-fil-A shirt that she won at last year's event.

 4 Adorable Cows!

 Mom and her herd...

 Dad and his herd...

 A picture of our free meals- combo meals for all and a kids meal for JT!

 The girls digging in

 JT enjoying some chocolate Mooo Juice

JT got to meet the cow mascot as we were getting ready to leave. Despite the cow being huge, JT wasn't frightened. He kept saying Moo, Cow (and didn't want to look at the camera either).

He's So Vain

     Like most people, JT loves looking at himself. When we brush his teeth, he has a fun time talking to that cute reflection in the mirror. Lately, JT has come to realize that he can look at himself in photos I have on my phone anytime he'd like. Several times a day, when he sees my phone, he will say "tic-tures" JT? Now, when I get the real camera out, JT has started to ask to see the pictures as I take them, approaching the camera immediately.

     So I had a bit of fun with JT recently. On the camera I have a display screen that can flip out so the subject can see themselves. I decided to flip it out and snap some photos of JT admiring himself. It was quite comical to see the different expressions he did. Here is a small sample.