Regarding school supplies.

And Christine's comment. There is no way I could just read her comment & move on. LOL Ü Part of her comment read:

"you should see our public schools list...crazy long including 6 rolls of paper towels, 4 boxes of zip lock bags, 4 boxes of tissues etc...I thought that was nuts!"

Christine, is this list for just one child? Are you kidding me? 6 rolls of paper towels, 4 boxes of baggies & tissue? Girl, that made me crack up.

I hope you did some investigating. Because it sounds to me as if teachers in your ISD are coming up with a sneaky & unique way to stock their personal kitchen cupboards. ;o)

Also, have you all heard that a school in Houston (TX) is now allowing teachers to bring handguns to school if they have completed a training course? Very frightening stuff.

Pulling up.

She's missing an earring? She is? I certainly can't tell. ;o)

She mastered it! Pulling up @ 7 1/2 months. Though I think this is a tad early - the reason it makes me soooooooooo happy that she is reaching all these milestones is because it tells me that her thyroid is working! PTL! :)

The photo above is a quickie shot. I was trying to get ready for Meet the Teacher & was running behind schedule. Audi was entertaining Mercedes & excitedly ran into me saying "She did it! She's standing!" I ran to get my camera & switched that puppy on automatic. Good heavens. All of the photos I snapped (really fast) were completely blurry. I figured my camera was on it's last leg. One can hope. :) Later on it dawned on me that camera was focusing just fine - I didn't have my contacts in yet. Baha! Ü

I'm surprised she pulled up in her pack-n-play. She is never in that thing - only to take naps. That's it. I do not use it for a babysitter. Ever. Even at dinner time, she sits with us, as a family, & has her dinner & crackers/puffs/juice. She does have a lot of floor time, but only because she loves floor time so much. Miss Independent. :) That said, when she is on the floor, I am with her. I do not leave her be while I 'fuel my own flame'. (ahem) Although I love photography & am drooling at learning more - it will have to wait. My children come first & aren't left to fend for themselves while I boost my ego. (ahem). Heehee...inside joke. Ü

Now. I have one other thing to say. And you just might want to sit down as it is HUGE & unexpected. Especially coming from me.

Regarding Meet the Teacher night...(I should have reread the school supply list I typed out on here - I didn't purchase enough writing tablets or school glue. Ha!)

I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Bentley's new teacher! Woohoo! :) :) :)

School supplies.

Is it like this everywhere? Does everyone go thru this?

Below is Bentley's school supply list. No problemo. Let's begin.

12 - Number 2 wood pencils Oriole/American brand.
1 - Pocket only folder. Assorted colors.
1 - 4 pack EXPO 2 low odor chisel tip dry erase markers.
1 - 48 ct. Crayola crayons.
1 - Plastic pocket-only folder - assorted color.
1 - Washable Crayola thick classic markers - 8 ct.
1 - Long plastic pencil box with lid - size 13x5.25x2.5 (will hold a ruler).
4 - 8.5x11" - 1/2" rule, red baseline w/dotted midline writing tablet (D'Nealian).
1 - .77 oz. Elmer's glue stick.
1 - 7" 8 ct. Crayola colored pencils.
12 - Reclosable snack bags.
1 - Sharp 5" scissor.
2 - 4 oz. Elmer's school glue.
1 - 120 ct. Kleenex tissue.
2 - Magic Rub eraser.
1 - Box reclosable quart bags - 25 ct.

I typed the list exactly how it is on my printed sheet. I added the periods 'cause I'm picky like that. ;o)

Now then. There were a few simple things to purchase - the pencils, the 4 oz. school glue, the pocket folders, crayons, markers & dry erase markers. Every thing else was a hassle & took going to another store. At both stores though I had to do some thinking & scouting.

Oh, I forgot to mention we are instructed to "be brand specific" on every single item. Bossy little people.

The "plastic" pocket-only folder - it states one. Yet is says "assorted color". Does this mean more than one in assorted colors, or, get any color but just purchase one? I bought 4 just in case. Assorted colors.

Long pencil box - Target had some that were just an tee tiny bit shy of holding a ruler. We passed.

.77 oz. Elmer's glue stick. Simple. Except they don't make .77 oz. If so, I didn't find it. Do you buy 2 smaller ones or 1 larger one? I opted for the larger.

8 count colored pencils. Simple. Except they don't make an 8 count. It's 12.

Sharp 5" scissor. Ok. Is the brand Sharp, or do they mean 'sharp not blunt'? I couldn't find a Sharp brand. I have Fiskars.

120 ct. Kleenex. Simple. Except Kleenex brand (which I'm instructed to purchase) doesn't come in 120 count. I opted for more.

Reclosable quart bags - 25 ct. Simple. Except they don't come in 25 count.

I did have to go to Staples to find the "Magic Rub" erasers (& other items). What? The pink ones don't work? Also, I could not find the "8.5x11" - 1/2" rule, red baseline w/ dotted midline writing tablet". Sheesh! I found all but that particular one. Bents ended up with a 3rd grade writing tablet & dimensions are close, but not exact. I didn't know what else to do...? And why don't any #2 pencils work? Why must they be Oriole/American brand?

Are you just supposed to get the closest thing you can find to the required list? Why do they list certain 'counts' when brands don't make those certain counts? Such as bags & Kleenex. Why can't I buy Target brand tissue? Target brand had the count they are requiring. But I'm told to buy Kleenex brand.

Tomorrow night is Meet the Teacher. I am really trying to stay positive for Bentley. 'Cause he's still so excited. And this year I will be marking every single school supply with his name. See how they like that, darnit. Yes, the public school grump has resurfaced! That's me! Ü

This year's supplies cost: $56.08 - including an oh so cool backpack & lunchbox. :)

Can't wait to do this for 4 children. :o)

*Sarah - your comment made me giggle. I hadn't thought about it but you're right - it is a blessing to not have to buy school supplies! :o)

Rebecca - the supply list I have, I printed off of our ISD's web page.

Kimberly - interesting thought - "so all children feel equal". I would 'buy' that but here (in Texas - our district anyway)...in Kindergarten...after spending 6 hours w/ Bentley & letting him pick out all his own, personal stuff for his first exciting year, they made everyone toss everything into one big pile. He never got to use his stuff. We were sad. :( Last year - very same thing happened. This year, not sure. But I'm putting his name on his supplies in anyway! :)

The pierced ears dilemma.

Ok. Now. I know the photo is blurry - getting this child to hold still is impossible. :) If you draw an imaginary line from ear to ear (or even use your cursor) - it's quite noticable the earrings are crooked. Boo. I'm just not sure at this point which one is off. Looking at photo, is the left too low or is the right too high? Check out the curled tongue. This girl can almost completely 'roll' her tongue (curl both sides up to almost make an 'o'). Not sure of the correct term to use. I can't do it, so I don't know. :o)

I phoned our pediatrician today. The dr. said to wait 6 weeks before repiercing. I asked them about the little knotted scar tissue that results from piercing, because that's what I'm most concerned about. They said you can pierce thru it, it's not a big deal.

So, we wait. I'll probably give it a little longer than 6 weeks just to be on the safe side. It's a shame she'll have to hurt again when we redo. :( I should have been smarter & not done this important procedure on Tax-Free weekend. Everyone was distracted & people were everywhere! That made focusing difficult.

Katie, Jaguar never really messed w/ her earrings. Hers were pierced @ 4 months. However, as she grew (like about 1 - 1/2 years old), she did pull them out every now & then. Very seldom. I did take her to the dr. a few times because I wasn't sure if she may have swallowed one. All they did was listen for wheezing & we were good to go. I do recall them telling me she could be x-rayed if it would make us more comfortable, but we never did. I guess if we go to the airport someday & she beeps, we'll know there's an earring in there. ;o) Seriously, I don't think she ever swallowed one. And never have we had any issues since. That said though, I think it is the parent's responsibility to check the earrings & make sure they are good & secure. Constantly. And of course you know I do that. Hubby is even trained to do it. Ü

**Rebecca - I agree with you. I believe her left is too high. That is the one I raised. If you could see her entire ear lobe, it actually is perfectly centered. But it still looks too high. I wish I could get her right ear earring back in, & then we could just repierce her left ear, lowering the piercing. Thanks for your IMHO! LOL

**Yay! I got the right earring (her right ear - lower piercing) back in! Wahoo! Now I have to dr. that thing like crazy to keep it sanitized & I don't even want to chance that sucker getting infected, & then all we have to do is lower the left ear's piercing & repierce. Won't do that for quite some time though. She'll just look a little 'off' with one earring. ;) Sheesh! I'm tired of all this earring drama! Ü

Question of the day.

We went & spent all day with my mom today. She's really doing fantastic with my children - I'm just so pleased. We're having a really good time.

We were in the car for quite some time today. Mercedes began crying. Loudly.

Mom: Does she take her pacifier?

Me: She doesn't really take a pacifier.

A few minutes go by. Mercedes is still crying. (Ready to get out of the carseat)

Mom: Can you force her to? LOL Ü

-2 diamonds. Update.

I took one of Mercedes' earrings out.

Yesterday I noticed the girl had marked the piercings really low. I had her move the markings up a time or two. One we (I) got perfect. One is still too low. (It happens to be the closeup shot in the photos below. You can see it's a little low - not much lobe under the stud. What do you think? The diamond in the photo where hubby is holding her, you can see that one is perfectly centered - or I think so - maybe it's too high?)

So I called Claire's & asked them what to do. She suggested we remove the earring we aren't happy with & it should close back up immediately since it was just pierced yesterday. Wait two weeks - bring Mercedes & the earring back & they will repierce that particular ear for free. Yay! Not so yay for Merc. :( I knew I should have raised that marking on the other ear further up. I knew it. But I didn't do it - I thought it would be ok. Poo.

Katie, if you decide to pierce Lily's, just make sure they mark the piercings smack dab in the middle of the earlobe. This way, as Lily grows, the earring will always be right in the middle. Jaguar's are still perfectly centered. Yes it will hurt her, but it's very brief. Mercedes only cried for 5 seconds, & so did Jaguar. And if you decide to wait, you may run into Rebecca's issue where Lily may be too frightened to do it. Either way, just do what you are comfortable with! :)

**Ugh! What to do? Now I'm thinking I should remove both earrings & redo them both in about a month. Help!

**Doesn't matter now - both earrings are out. Was rocking her while ago & noticed the back was missing off the remaining earring - how that happened is beyond me as those are locking backs. I could hardly get the other one off. So...now we'll repierce them both. At a way later time. ;o) Our pediatrician actually pierces ears so I think I'll check w/ them. Crud. This would only happen to us. Ü

**Rebecca - thanks so much for that info. Gosh I can't believe Jaguar's went off without a hitch & Mercedes has been so difficult. I definitely will be calling the pediatrician after your comment. I'm so glad you shared that. That's horrible! :(

Her first diamonds.

First, here's her pig tail. Is that what it's called? I don't like it. Ha! No time to work on it - we had to get going. Did I mention we think she has some other ethnicity in her? We're thinking Asian, but now I'm also thinking possibly Guatemalan. Unfortunately we'll never know. What we do know is that she is perfect, hand-picked & beautiful. Ü

Yes her tongue is yet again...up. LOL That darn tongue is either up or out when she smiles. I really need to ask the pediatrican about that. ;o)

Tada! We got her ears pierced today. :) Here she is all happy happy with daddy 'cause she's oblivious as to what's about to happen to her. Heehee. Hubby held her because I held Girl1 when we had her ears pierced. Girl1 was done @ 4 months - Girl2 is almost 7 1/2 months - I waited with her because she had such a rough beginning. (ahem - notice how absolutely perfect her ear shape is. I am an ears fanatic. God knew because all of my children have the most perfectly shaped ears. Girl1 had a 'bent' ear at birth & I tried taping it & then playdoh'ing it into shape. LOL That's another post. ;o)

I couldn't really get a good shot because 2 girls pierced her ears simultaneously.

Oh boy she cried, but only for about 5 seconds. Then I showed her all the other bling bling at Claire's. She liked. :)

The finished product. Ü (The purple you see is actually from the marker where they marked the piercings.)

Love my beautiful girl.