Precious Moments in Life, Love, and Motherhood

Diapers NO More!!

2010-08-25T20:23:00.000-05:00

I had many different opinions and comments when I potty trained Wesleigh at 19 months. Some of which were "it was a fluke", "it won't happen that way twice", and my favorite "you just got lucky". I took all of them in stride, but inside it secretly made me even more determined to train Ethan just as early and SUCCEED!!

But truthfully, I have been dreading potty training Ethan. He just has that "little stinker" personality and I was afraid it was going to be a battle!! But, Sunday night I went to WalMart and bought 3 new packages of the smallest undies they make 2T/3T. He started Monday morning by having gone poopoo in his diaper before I got him out of bed, but we put his undies on and had a fairly successful day. He had 3 complete accidents and 2 times where he peed a little in his undies then stopped and looked at me and we ran to the bathroom and finished in the potty.

Tuesday, he started the morning off by pooping in the potty, and had 2 accidents in the morning, and was good to go after that.

Today, he had one accident, pooped in the potty like a total champ!!

I NEVER NEVER NEVER dreamed it would be this easy! My 18 month old potty trained like a dream in only a few days!!

Look what a big boy he is!!

I am not foolish enough to think that we will not have set backs and struggles along the way! But, I am so incredibly proud of my little boy and look forward to not buying diapers anymore!!

Muffin Tin Monday

2010-08-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

So, we tried something new today...

Muffin Tin Monday

Today's Theme was Alphabet

We went with the Letter C

Cheese

Carrots

Chicken
Craisans
Crackers

It was fun all around!!

Never a Dull Moment....

2010-04-23T11:42:00.005-05:00

These boys keep me running, laughing, and shaking my head. Lately it seems that Wesleigh is always saying something new that totally cracks us up. He truely is a minature person who has a full vocabulary, and a sense of humor!

He helped me make cookies this morning, but he actually spent more time grabbing the loose chocolate chips and cramming them in his mouth as fast as he could.

Ethan slept thru the cookie adventure because he is still taking morning naps! Thank goodness! He is always on an adventure. This week he conquered climbing the 5 foot ladder of our playset and sliding down.........OVER AND OVER AND OVER again!!

He is so very careful about it, but it still scares me. He is talking more every single day. I couldn't even begin to list all of his words, but he is absorbing life around him like crazy!

Last night was Daddy's last night for midnights for a while. Thank the LORD. I'm so glad that is over, and so his he.

Wesleigh sliding, but he is in a phase where he refuses to look at the camera

His new cheese ball smile

This is classic Ethan....he has been told not to play in the water, so as he sticks one hand in he looks around to see if anyone is looking!!

I love this picture, but he looks so grown up!

Please explain this....

2010-03-25T18:24:00.001-05:00

"Do you see the white thing at his ankle????? That is his diaper. This happen several times a day. He gets it off no matter what he is wearing. This morning we were all hanging out in the living room and I picked him up to cuddle him and he didn't have a diaper AT ALL!!!! We found it laying on the floor. Seriously, how does the child do it??? His outfit is one piece, long sleeves, and snaps between the legs!!!!"

Coming Soon...

2010-03-14T23:31:00.002-05:00

I've been absent for a while, though I can't imagine why!! These two crazy sweet boys keep me so busy some day I feel as though I am chasing my tail!

We are on vacation right now, but I will try to be a better blogger soon!!!

My Boys, My Heart

2009-10-28T21:14:00.003-05:00

Busy, overwhelmed, busy, overwhelmed???????????

That's pretty much been how I have felt for the past month or so. Between the boys and their needs, the house and it's needs, and work and it's needs, I was run beyond ragged!! I had to tell work I needed at least a 2 week break, so that I could get a grip on life again. So, I feel like I finally have my head above water again, the house is relatively clean (if there is such a thing), and the boys are thriving as usual!

I feel like I have finally settled into a groove that is working for us in the meantime. What may work next week is yet to be determined, but for now, we are doing very well.

Wesleigh is talking more and more. It is really fun to be able to communicate with him. Now, if he would stop whining and actually use those words, we would be in good shape!! He still loves to play outside. He hates long sleeves. Loves ketchup. Loves to eat the jelly before the toast. Loves to chase the dog. Loves to tackle his brother. Loves to say "no". Refuses to listen. And still steals my heart every day!!

Ethan is growing and growing and growing!! Just within the past week, he has started stand independently and he thinks really hard about taking a step, but hasn't yet done it. He is so adventurous. He loves to follow his brother around, even if it means getting into trouble. He is definatally learning what "no" means. He has the cutest pouty lip. He loves to swing. Loves to be outside. He has learned to give kisses. They are huge and wet and perfect! He loves to eat, anything and everything in sight. He eats circles around his brother. He is perfect and precious and I love him to pieces and squeeze him every chance I get!!

So, both the boys HATE their Halloween costumes. But, tonight I managed to wiggle Ethan into his costume and get some cute pictures...

The rest of these pictures were taken over the past few weeks. Did I mention that Ethan loves to swing?? I think that every single picture I have of him for the past 3 months is in the swing!!

Playing outside

trying very very hard not to sleep in the truck with Daddy

He loves to swing on his tummy...isn't Elmo adorable.

When Ethan wakes up from nap, Wesleigh likes to go in his room and talk to him for a little while. Well, the other day, I went in there and this is what I found!! Wesleigh climbed in bed with Ethan!!

Did I mention how sweet this child is??

I love love love this baby

swingin....again...

Just Because I Can!!

2009-09-28T22:55:00.003-05:00

Tonight, like every night, I snuck into the boys rooms just to check on them. To make sure that Ethan's fan is off, and Wesleigh's fan is on, to make sure that everyone is perfect and doesn't need a thing before I tuck myself away for the night.

Tonight, I blown away by their perfect beauty. I just had to take a picture, just because I can! I love those babies!!!

I AM SO BLESSED!!

September 22, 2009

2009-09-22T19:16:00.005-05:00

What is significant about September 22, 2009???

It is the first day of fall, and what a spectacular fall day we had! It was AMAZING!! It was 68 degrees when we got up, and I think the warmest it got was 75! I have had the house open all day and I am totally loving it.

Well, big things in our house happened since I last posted. On a trip to Nana and Grandpa's house, Wesleigh climbed out of the pack n play. I had been thinking that it was coming, I had even started searching for bunk beds...then it happened.

The first few days while we were at my mom and dad's were tough, but things have been great since we have been home. I am so proud of him, but it is so hard to see him in that big ol' bed. We have had a couple of bad potty training days, but I have attributed to the major changes he has experienced. Today was a better day, hopefully tomorrow will be even better.

My big boy and his 4 monkeys sleeping in the big boy bed his first night.

He will always be my baby!!

In other news, we are getting settled into a new fall schedule around here. I committed to start a new Beth Moore Bible Study at a different church in town, and I am looking forward to all the things that I will learn through that in between now and December. Wednesdays we go to story hour at the library. Thursdays we have playgroup. Since Mondays can be particularly difficult with Wesleigh, I will probably have some weeks where I meet up with my friend Annie at the park, just to make the day go faster!

My sweet Ethan

This is a classic Ethan look!! LOVE IT!!

This is the most squeezable kid on earth!

Daddy and his little goober nuts!

silly boy at lunch time

Wesleigh had Peanut Butter and Jelly for lunch today...not sure if he actually ate any of the Jelly, or is just wearing it on his face!

he is a total cheeser when the camera comes out.

this face is Wesleigh's mean little face. He makes it when he is mad or irritated with something.

silly willy heads

Those Smiles that Get me Everytime!!

2009-09-15T10:06:00.010-05:00

Well, I have started to accept the fact that busy is our new normal. It seems like we are constantly busy, between our regularly scheduled weekly activities and my work adventures, then traveling to see family, we are constantly on the go. Thankfully the little boys seem to roll with it most of the time.

My Wesleigh continues to do wonderful with his potty training. Most days we have perfect days, every now and then we have a rare accident. We now leave the house with undies on, we haven’t had an accident in public yet, but he has peed in the car a number of times. I just have to keep reminding myself that he is only 22 months old. People are always telling me how impressed they are with him doing so well at potty training. He is amazing it is a lot of work, but SO worth it. He continues to get smarter everyday. Some of the things that he does just amazes me. He is a clever little kid. He has officially mastered using a spoon. He is talking in sentences. We have started saying “yes maam” (es mam), but it still takes a lot of coaching. He totally loves to play outside. He loves to swing (wing) and slide (ide). Last week he learned how to climb (imb) up the slide, then slide back down. This week he learned to climb up the rock wall, slide down the slide, then climb back up! Over and over and over again. He is such a little monkey. He has yet to climb out of his crib, but I think we are only days away from doing it. This morning I caught him sitting on the top rail of the crib. We have had money put aside for a set of bunk beds, I guess it is probably about time to buy it!

My sweet Ethan is so so busy. That boy is constantly moving. He needs to be busy all the time or he is just not happy. Oh, and eat, that boy loves to eat. He already eats more than Wesleigh does now! Wesleigh is his hero, he totally idolizes everything he does. He has been preoccupied with Wesleigh’s sippy cup for a while, so I introduced him to his very own sippy. He totally loves it. He loves to be outside. He loves to swing in his bucket swing, he loves the double jogging stroller and he even likes sitting in the grass. His big beautiful 3 toothed smile never fails to brighten my day and make me smile. He is such a happy little fella and a true joy to be around. I adore that sweet baby boy, I just wish he would stop growing up so quickly!!

So as usual here are a billion pictures of my handsome little monsters! Enjoy the pictures, because it will probably be another 3 weeks before I find time to update again!

They totally love to swing.

Our morning routine is, everyone gets up, Ethan gets a clean diaper, which he usually poops in within 5 minutes, and we take his pajamas off. Then Wesleigh gets up, takes his pajamas and diaper off, goes potty and gets undies. Then we have breakfast in our undies and diaper. It was a habit that started when I started letting Wesleigh learn to eat cereal and milk with a spoon by himself. It was pretty messy in the beginning, but he had to learn somehow!

hanging out just before we got dressed for the day

so silly

these boys are so silly

My sweet t-tan

he loves to swing

he also loves the camera

just so handsome

He loves it when I have the camera out

He doesn't get in his jumper much anymore, but he LOVES to play on the outside of it.

he gets run over by the John Deere 4-wheeler on a daily basis

look at that drip of drool!! That is because we just cut our first top tooth

Hi mom

Our Sunday school class had a BBQ at the park...Ethan took a brief nap in the backpack

Chillin' in the double jogger at the party

Wesleigh and his friends Sophia and Vincent. Sophia and Vincent are twins and they are a little less than a month older than Wesleigh. They have a 7 year old sister, a 4 year old sister, and a brother who will be born in about 3 weeks!! Their mommy and daddy have their hands full!!

Wesleigh and Sophia play very well together

climbing up the slide

he loves to climb up

what a cheeser

He still loves the camera

top of the rockwall

on the way up

loves to swing on the teeter totter

what a ham!

that sweet little face makes my day

not sure what he is doing here, but he is cute

they climbed through that tunnel a billion times

hangin in the double jogger

this picture so shows t-tan's attitude

such a sweetheart

that smile, melts my heart

Busy Busy Boys!

2009-08-28T10:47:00.000-05:00

These boys are amazing and they make my heart bigger every single day. They definitely keep us busy and smiling.
My sweet Wesleigh is so dang smart. He never ceases to amaze by how smart he is and the things that he does. On the top of his amazing list of accomplishments would be potty training. At this point, he is doing AMAZING!! We still have the occasional pee accident, but those are few and far between. He actually has most of his pee accidents when he is in time out!! Ya think that’s acting out???????? In the past 2 weeks he has make HUGE progress with pooping in the potty. The boys and I were at my parent’s house last week, and that is where he really started consistently pooping in the potty. He actually started telling me he needed to poop in the potty while we were there!! Prior to that, I was SO sick of cleaning poo out of undies and off the floor, and down the legs!! I can actually see why people end up putting their kids in pull-ups, because cleaning up poo accidents is nasty and frustrating, but I REFUSED to just put him in a pull up because it was easier for me!! We still have an occasional poo accident, but for the most part, we are pooping in the potty everyday. And, most of those days, he comes and tells us he needs to go. I am so incredibly proud of him!! I LOVE not changing 2 kid’s diapers all day! He wears a diaper at nap time and a diaper at bed time. He wakes up from nap time with a dry diaper on most days, so we can use the same dry diaper over and over. LOVE that!! He is actually talking more all the time. It is so nice to have him communicating rather than whining or crying to get what he wants! I is truly evolving into more of a human everyday!! He loves to play outside and loves to swing. He pulls stickers in the yard with daddy and just follows him around like a puppy dog!
My fabulous little over achiever, Ethan has added a few new tricks to his little bag of adventures as well. He learned how to pull himself to a standing position, and he does it constantly. Unfortunately that means that he is constantly falling!! He hits his head a million times a day. He still loves to smile and anything in the world makes him smile. He totally loves to eat! He likes baby food more than his formula, but is still getting plenty of formula. He is starting to get tastes of table food. Little pieces of bread, cheese, potatoes and other yummy stuff have been introduced and he loves it! He started eating yogurt and loves it. Just this week he has been introduced to puffs. He is a huge fan of the puffs! His crawling skills are improving and he is getting faster and more adventurous. We had just recently gotten to the point where we could leave our bedroom door and other “no no” rooms open and Wesleigh wouldn’t wander away. Well, guess what…Ethan is wandering away now!! He goes exploring all the time and he is so quick!! I love to see him exploring his world and learning new things. He has also figured out how to find his brother and he likes to attack him. He will pounce him and get 2 handfuls of his shirt and hang on for dear life. This of course, royally ticks Wesleigh off. It is truly hilarious!! Eventually Wesleigh wiggles his way out and gets away, but he is hollering and complaining the whole time! After all the tormenting he has done to Ethan over the past 6 months, I think it is great that Ethan is finally getting him back!!
I could write about those boys forever, because they are totally amazing, and both learning new and wonderful things everyday. But, I have both paid and unpaid work to get accomplished and Ethan is napping, so I better run along!! Enjoy the pictures, hopefully I will get around to it again a little sooner!!

He is just so adorable!

I caught this picture when he was making a run for it down the hall!!

He loves to swing

Just chillin' in the bucket swing

Both boys standing at the couch and smiling for mommy!

being a "ghost" in the laundry basket

total cheese ball when the camera comes out!

Of course he had to get a picture on the horse too!

Hi mommy!

Ethan loving riding the horse!

We like to go outside and swing in the morning before it gets hot!

My sweet Ethan with tired eyes, ready for bed!

He had been carrying this dart around for 3 days, chewing on it. One night we were being silly and I licked it and stuck it to his forehead and he thought it was awesome!! such a silly goose!

silly dart head boy!

Our Last Month or So...in Pictures

2009-08-07T20:21:00.016-05:00

Playing Putt Putt at the Flying L...watch out world when he swings that thing!

Ethan passed out after a long day swimming at the Flying L

Wesleigh's first pony ride!

Hi mom!

He would pick the world's smallest blade of grass and offer it to the pony!

Her name was Jellybean. They were fast friends

Ethan thoroughly enjoyed watching his brother ride the pony! Can't you tell?

Playing on the swings with Gpa!

more fun with GPa

Jim, Guy, and Jaedyn just back from a ride

just back from the water park

he is just so darn cute!

love him

in their matching hats

can't get enough of him

Daddy and Wesleigh

Jaedyn climbing on the lilly pad

Ethan is chillin' watching everyone slide

Guy

Jaedyn

Daddy and Wesleigh. Wesleigh would come up out of the water, reach for his hat and say "I go" because he wanted to go again!

There's Wesleigh...where's daddy?

Guy

more Guy

Cute one of Jaedyn

on a mat

Wesleigh asking to go again

Here comes the water from the big bucket

soaked!

Grandpa swinging Dakota and Wesleigh

They would get him as they swung by

Laynie and Wesleigh...she was leaning in for a kiss!

so dang cute...look at the little sass pot with the purse!

My brother, Brad, Caye, Kaylee, Baieligh, and Dakota

Dakota, Wesleigh, Baileigh, Ethan, Kaylee and Laynie

everyone wiggles

cute little Laynie

can you say CHEESER?

Kaylee and Baileigh

Dakota

more Laynie

Ethan

those boys

that's my heart sitting in that chair

aren't they adorable?

I fall more in love with them everyday!

Momma and her boys

a big brother kiss

2 good lookin' boys

hey momma

we got to go on base for a airplane birthday party Ethan...sleeping on a boat ride

Ethan in his exersaucer on the boat

Ethan blowing food raspberries!!

more blowing

chilllin

learning to crawl

nap on the boat

So adorable

chewing on the spoon

my baby boy

the happiest baby

watching his mobile friends

chillin after a morning walk

cheeser head

he loves Play Dough

hard at work

he loves to swim

Potty training

haha...it's so much fun to harrass my brother!

I don't want him in my lap!

at least Ethan is paying attention

my kids are adorable

We have had a great summer! We are so blessed!

Yes...We are Alive.......

2009-07-26T23:20:00.003-05:00

I've been MIA for a while!!

I know, slacker, slacker!!

I wish! :-) The month of July has come and gone in a whirl wind! Thank goodness that for me, that whirl wind has included some serious cash! I have been working my tail off this month, hence why my blog hasn't been updated in at least 3 weeks. For the past 9 days or so, I was working 13 hour days on top of my regular mommy hours! It was totally and completely insane, and if you have ever tried to get much computer work done with a 5 month old and a 19 month old, you know it can be very interesting!! Therefore, most of my hardcore work hours were after 8 pm. I had many a late nights, but it is over, we met our CPS deadline and hopefully the agency will be reaping the benefits through CPS homestudies all over the state of Texas for the next 4 years. For me personally, hopefully I will be able to get some home studies closer to Del Rio. In addition to my crazy deadline working, I have completed 1 full home study, 1 withdrawn homestudy ( I drove to San Angelo and the family flaked on me, so I get paid half price), and I am currently working on another home study that is due Tuesday!! So, I've been a busy woman!!

Outside of my work obligations, we have had many wonderful family adventures. From the zoo, to 2 lake trips, and many other little adventures, I have a lot of catching up to do! And, if you know me, you know I have a bazillion pictures to upload, and we will get there, eventually!!

Just a little sneak peak into the little boy's lives to tie you over until I get around to the whole post with pictures and all.

Wesleigh is talking more everyday, although I seem to understand him more than anyone else! He is smarter than I ever thought possible! He is an amazing little water bug! He LOVES his floaties and is an animal in the water! He is a natural and I LOVE IT! He is wearing undies all day long!! He is only wearing diapers when we leave the house and when he is sleeping. We have minimal accidents and we are SO proud of him! I absolutely LOVE only using 1 regular diaper and 1 overnight diaper a day!

Ethan is crawling, sitting up, and learning new and exciting ways to explore his world everyday. He is now a 2 tooth wonder! He is learning to love more foods everyday! He has learned to blow rasberries while eating, which makes for a delightful mess!! He smiles more than I ever knew possible, and he puts up with more crap off his brother than any 1 person should have to! He has learned to also love the water, and is still quite possibly the most laid back baby in the world!

So, that sneak peak should tell you that I am still the most incredibly BLESSED woman in all the world!! I love my boys more with each passing day, and I can't wait to find the time to upload those pictures to show off my amazing little critters!!

Here are a few pictures of my cuties that will have to suffice for now!

By the way, our Gran had her surgery, it was HUGE success and she is getting stronger every single day! Praise God for an amazing recovery and an incredible pathology report!

Playgroup

2009-06-25T21:00:00.005-05:00

I took these pictures before playgroup today!

check out those flip flops
what's up there?

why so serious?

are they NOT just the cutest things ever?

such a cutie pie

goober nut

Where's Wesleigh?

Hi mama!

These pictures were taken at Playgroup. We had a water day! Tons of fun!

this face makes him look like the playgroup bully

They all took turns spraying each other with the elephant! Nick is running away!

playing with the elephant!

I think he was trying to blow bubbles in the sprinkler water

playing in the pool

Wesleigh and Nick

Make it Slow Down!!

2009-06-24T21:50:00.004-05:00

My sweet baby Ethan is growing up all too quickly. I absolutely LOVE babies. I have always loved babies for as long as I can remember. I could have a baby in my home forever. However, unfortunately my last baby is so quickly growing and changing. I can’t believe he is already 4 ½ months old. It really makes me sad. I see him getting bigger everyday and it is killing me!! I want to just stop time and keep him little forever. He is changing constantly. Last week he discovered his tongue. He would stick it out and play with it. He thinks it is funny when you tap on it when he has it sticking out. This week he found his feet! He loves his feet and he is trying very very hard to get them in his mouth. At this age, Wesleigh chewed on his feet constantly, but Ethan isn’t as flexible as Wesleigh was, so I am not so sure if the little fella will actually get them in his mouth. But, he sure is gonna spend a lot of time trying! He loves his food. He can put the baby food away. He will eat almost anything. I say almost because he dislikes, hates, no actually DESPISES peaches. He will eat anything else happily, but if you put a bite of peaches in his mouth he shutters and shakes, gags and screams bloody murder. You can’t outsmart the boy either! I will try and sneak a bite of peaches in between other foods he likes and he gets totally ticked off! I have a few jars of a mix that is Oatmeal, Peaches, and Bananas. I thought…surely there is enough other flavors in there that he will eat it. NOPE!! He sure won’t! He screams bloody murder and refuses to take another bite! Seriously! How do you learn to hate something SO much so early! Jim thinks I am being stubborn because I keep trying to get him to eat them. Maybe I should quit, but I guess I am stubborn, and I want to see if he will eventually eat them. Who doesn’t like peaches? Little stinker. We were able to transition him back to milk based formula during the past 2 weeks. He ended up on Soy around 6 weeks or so because he was having a horrible time burping and was in a ton of pain with every bottle. Well, at the 4 month appointment we talked to the doctor about switching him back, and she said it would be ideal if he could make the switch. So we mixed half and half for a while and since Sunday we have been on straight milk-based formula with no problems. I never really liked the whole soy thing, I felt like he was missing out on important stuff. The doctor agreed that milk-based is best and if we could get him switched over it would be great! I am happy, he is happy, and the milk based is cheaper!! J
Last week he learned how to roll from his back to his tummy. He has been rolling tummy to back since he was 2 weeks old, but just figured out back to tummy! Once he did it, he hasn’t stopped. He rolls all over the place!! And, much to my dismay, the child is getting up on all 4’s!! Yep, hands and knees!! 4 ½ months old!! I really don’t think I am ready for him to be mobile. I want the baby phase to hang on a lot longer!! Wesleigh crawled at 5 ½ months, which in my opinion was really early!! I am not eager for Ethan to follow in those foot steps, but he sure does watch that big brother a LOT, and I am sure he is just dying to follow him around!

Loving bath time
such a sweet smile

just chillin' in the bath water

theres that tongue!!

so happy

I get told CONSTANTLY that he looks just like me. I don't necessarily see it just yet. His eyes are turning green like mine though!

such a cutie pie

so serious

I love that kid!

Smiling Ethan!!

Wesleigh is growing smarter everyday. I swear that kid is so dang smart. He always knows where his sippy cup is (almost always). I can tell him to go find his cup and he does it everytime. Today, I was cooking his lunch and he was about to get in his high chair and I told him, go find your cup…well, he walked toward his room, then came back crying. I told him again, go get your cup and he did the same thing. So finally I went with him. He had closed his bedroom door and couldn’t get it open and I opened the door for him and he walked straight to his cup and handed it to me. Which leads me to his next new trick. He can open doors. Oh boy, isn’t this fun!? He has thoroughly enjoyed closing doors for a while now, but now he can open them back up. He can open the back door that leads to the porch, and all the doors in the house! I have also caught him halfway up the baby gates by wrapping his toes around the bars and climbing like a monkey! I am afraid it is only a matter of time before he figures out how to get out of the baby bed! I don’t think I am ready for a big boy bed!! I would like to keep him in the confines of the crib for as long as possible. I have the money set aside for bunk beds for him and Ethan when the time comes, but I don’t want to have to do that just yet. At bed time, we read 2 stories and sing a few songs. We will tell him, go pick out 2 books and he will. He knows which books Daddy prefers to read and he will pick those on Daddy’s nights and he will pick others on my nights. He will do pretty much anything you tell him to. We have been going for walks every morning. I can tell him it is time to go for our walk, go get your sandals and put them on. He will go to his room and get his shoes and bring them back and try to put them on. Then, when we return he sits down, takes them off and sometimes puts them away. He still loves to stack blocks. Today he was stacking baby food jars 4 high in the kitchen on the floor. There are so many things that he does that just blows our minds. He really is a smart little fella, sometimes a little too smart.
Wesleigh has been peeing on the potty every night for the past 2 weeks. He gets up there, stares down and tries very hard then eventually pees!! We get excited, he gets excited, and he gets 3 M&M’s!! We are so proud of him!! I really don’t think he is ready to be potty trained at this time, so we will keep encouraging the night time peeing on the potty and then we will go from there at a later date!
So, both of my little fellas are growing bigger and stronger every day. I often find myself wishing I could freeze time. They are amazing little blessings from the Lord and I really don’t know what my life would be without them. They are the reason I get up each morning and do it all over again! I love and adore those boys more than I ever thought possible.

He runs from the camera right now, so I don't have as many pictures of the little stinker!

a Wesleigh taco after bath

sitting in the double stroller, driving it

Daddy and Wesleigh in a HUGE box!

In other news, besides children, I must share that we closed today on a refinance on our house. We stumbled into the refinance at just the perfect time! We had an interest rate of 6.5% when we built our house, which at the time was a wonderful rate, but now we have a 4.85%! In addition to that the value of our house went up by $20,000 dollars in the past 2.5 years. Yep, in a recession, our home value went UP!! So, this meant we didn't have to pay mortgage insurance, and with our lovely new interest rate we are saving $262 a month!! To some that may be pocket change, but to us, that is a life saver!! I just had to share! We feel very blessed!!

Most of you who read the blog probably already know that Jim’s mom, better known around here as “Gran” was diagnosed with breast cancer about 4 or 5 weeks ago. She is incredibly lucky and the cancer was caught very very early. It is isolated to one small location, however they are afraid the potential for more in the future is great. Therefore, on Monday, June 29th, she will undergo a double mastectomy and double reconstruction surgery at the same time at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. They will remove all the breast tissue and some surrounding lymph nodes just to be sure that all cancer cells are eradicated. I believe she will undergo a little bit of oral chemo therapy after the surgery, but her prognosis is wonderful. We are incredibly blessed that her cancer was caught so early and that after this surgery she won’t ever have to worry about breast cancer again. She is going to have a long couple of weeks after the surgery, but she has a very positive attitude and is hopeful that she will be up and running again in no time. I share all this to ask for your prayers. Please pray for her on Monday and the weeks to come. She also goes by Patti, when she isn’t being called Gran or Mom!! She and the rest of our family greatly appreciate any and all prayers that you offer up on her behalf!! We are all true believers in the power of prayer and know that it is by God’s grace that her cancer was caught so very early!! We love you Gran, and we are praying for you constantly!!

4th Month Bath Fun

2009-06-23T13:04:00.003-05:00

Lake LBJ Vacation Adventures

2009-06-12T21:32:00.010-05:00

We had our annual summer vacation to Lake LBJ with my family this past week. We had a blast!! We have been changing rent houses each year looking for the perfect set up. We found pretty close to perfect this year! We were in Granite Sholes this year, which is way up the lake from where we used to stay, but much closer to Marble Falls, which was nice for grocery shopping and random trips to Wal Mart. The house had 3 bedrooms; one for mom and dad, one for Brad and Caye, and one for me and Jim. Then, it had a bunk room with 2 bunk beds for the oldest 4 kiddos. The bunkroom was set off of a playroom, which kept the kids occupied when they weren’t swimming or sleeping! Dakota who is 2 ½ slept on the floor in her daddy’s room. Wesleigh slept in the laundry room, and Ethan slept in our room. HOWEVER, I use the term “slept” loosely. They didn’t sleep well at all!! It was rough at night. Ethan slept more in his swing than his bed. They were both so glad to come home that they both slept ALL night long!!! It was wonderful!

Last year we started teaching the kids how to water-ski. I actually picked up a pair of tied together youth skis in the middle of HWY 90 after Labor Day weekend 2 years ago!! Best highway find ever!! So last year we started teaching them. They did awesome. This year they did even better. After our lake vacation last summer, Guy and Jaedyn’s mom took them to some “ski ranch” in San Antonio, where they simulate skiing and other water sports in an attempt to “outdo” our family vacation! Whatever crazy lady, maybe someday she will realize that a FAMILY VACATION is more and the FAMILY than the great and wonderful adventures!! Anyhoo, Guy “learned” to knee board there. I use the word “learned” loosely, as learning to knee board behind a simulated boat is completely different. See, when you learn to knee board, you start out on your tummy, and then after the boat gets going, you pull yourself up onto your knees, then eventually strap yourself in and go from there… Well, at the ski ranch that they went to, they put him on his knees, strapped him on the board, and then lowered a platform out from under him and he “knee boarded”. Well, he in his 8 year old “know it all” attitude wouldn’t hear of doing it any other way. So, Jim strapped him on the kneeboard on his knees like he insisted, and as soon as they let him go, he tipped over and couldn’t get unstrapped and was stuck. It scared him really bad. However, we feel that sometimes kids have to learn lessons the hard way. We knew what would happened, and he was within arms reach of Jim the whole time, but the kid wouldn’t listen to reason, so he had to learn the hard way. He was afraid of the knee board until the last day of vacation. The little terd finally got on the knee board right, on his tummy, and within the first 30 seconds of his first try he was up on his knees!! He did really good and can’t wait until next year to try again!! He did well with skiing too. He got to where he could stay up for a long time. Jaedyn is a good little skier too. She pops right out of the water every time. She doesn’t say up very long, but she does a good job when she is up. Wesleigh had his first water adventure this summer. My parents bought a two seater tube, but we piled more than 2 people in it! He rode with his daddy, Guy, and Jaedyn. He fell asleep!! Jim finally had us stop the boat and get Wesleigh out because it was too hard to hang on to his limp, sleeping body!! He liked going for boat rides, and he loved swimming. He learned to say “1, 2, 3…JUMP” and jump off the dock to mommy! It was adorable and we did it 3,000 times. No sooner did his head pop above water and he was saying “gin” for again! Over and over and over!! Ethan didn’t get in the water at all. He still gets pretty cold pretty easily. So, he stayed nice and dry on shore. He spent time in his jumperoo on the dock, hanging out with nana and sleeping!! Thank goodness for baby monitors and nanas!! My mom spent lots of time fishing on the dock, so she was able to listen for Ethan through the monitor while we were playing! It was nice! Thanks Nana! Also, because he didn’t play in the water, I don’t have any pictures of him from this vacation!! All my pictures were taken from the boat! Sorry sweet Ethan, mommy will make it up to you!! I PROMISE!

I think the bigger kids had the most fun on the double tube. We would put all 4 in it at once. They had a ball. There was always one of them falling out! Then, they would pull each other back in by the life jacket. It was HILARIOUS!! It was so much fun watching them have so much fun!! Nana and Grandpa, I think it was money well spent!!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. Just the right amount of days, the right amount of space, and TONS of fun. There was water out the front door, and water out the back door, so we had to stay on our toes with Wesleigh and Dakota. Dakota is 13 months older than Wesleigh and Wesleigh is 13 months older than Ethan. So, I can’t imagine what next year will be like when we have a 3 ½ year old, a 2 ½ year old, and a 1 ½ year old!! Talk about a nervous wreck the whole time!!! The 0-30 pound life jackets all have the handle that is attached to the top flap…TOTAL lifesaver!! It was great to hold onto when he was near the edge of the dog, and it was great to dunk him over the side of the boat for a quick dip in the water, then just pull him back up!! LOVE THE STRAP!! It could definitely be something I got used to…Too bad I don’t believe in putting kids on leashes, because it would come in handy sometimes!

So, enjoy the many many pictures that follow!! Hopefully we will have another wonderful vacation later this summer!! But we are sure to have many fun times in between now and then.
I took tons of pictures, but it is SUPER hard to take good pictures when you and your subject are moving!!

I didn’t realize it until I uploaded all these pictures, but I didn’t get any of all four of the kids riding together. Everytime they all rode together, I was holding Wesleigh. So, bouncing in the boat with a bouncing toddler leaves no room for my $500 camera!!

this wasn't on vacation, but a few days before...I just couldn't leave the little fella out of the post

all that jumpin' makes him tired

sucking on a piece of watermelon! YUMMO

And now, here are the vacation pictures!!

having so much fun on the new tube

my sweet Wesleigh

being silly and waving!!

Wesleigh's first ride ever...before he fell asleep

Daddy, Wesleigh, Guy, and Jaedyn

Jim, Dakota, Guy, and Jaedyn

Daddy on shore watching and giving a thumbs up...with both baby monitors because they were both napping

Guy gearing up with uncle Brad

first try of the summer

doing great

her first try this summer

she pops out of the water with ease!

Baileigh tried too. She did better this year than last year. I bet next year will be even better!

My niece Kaylee...her first time ever to ski

she did really well. She is a natural athlete.

doing great this summer...

we were proud of him

My brother Brad, skiing

he still does good for an old fart!

doing well!

Daddy helping Jaedyn get her skis on and ready to go...

doing great...

Ready to try for the first time...
down he goes...

Yes...he is under all that water somewhere...he didn't get up this year, but maybe next year!

He liked for Grandpa to go fast enough to fall off!

she had a ball

ready to go...

hangin on for dear life...

and there he goes...

We caught a number of fish over the week, but Caye (my brother Brad's fiance) took the cake with his 4.5 lb yellow catfish!

Petting Zoo and Doctors Appointments

2009-06-09T09:21:00.008-05:00

We had a long day yesterday as we traveled to San Antonio for checkups for the boys. These trips are always hard and long, but to me it is worth it to have the boys examined by a “real” pediatrician. When Wesleigh was a baby we saw a doctor here in Del Rio and they missed one thing after another. So, then we decided to switch to the San Antonio pedi and haven’t been let down!! We still do some sick visits here in town…ear infections and stuff, but we will NEVER, and I say NEVER deal with local doctors for anything that seems even remotely serious. Been there, done that, won’t do it again!!
Anyway, so we went to San Antonio. Jim’s sister and her husband were there for a couple of days, so we met them and had lunch at Olive Garden before the boy’s appointments. It was good to see them, and they enjoyed (as always) loving on the boys.
So, this was Wesleigh’s 18 month checkup and Ethan’s 4 month checkup.
Wesleigh weighed in at 22 pounds 7 ounces and was 33 and ½ inches tall. That puts him still around the 75th percentile for his height and the 10th for his weight. The doctor said that he has developed his own “curve” on the growth chart and seems to be following it very consistently. The commented on how much his eyes have improved. She said he looked like he was right on target developmentally. The only thing we didn’t check off on the developmental questionnaire was “can kick a ball”. Well, we’ve not had him try to kick a ball, so we will have to see!! She thought his language development was great and she also gave us some tips on dealing with his sudden mean streak.
Ethan weighed in at 13 pounds 2 ounces and was 25 and ½ inches long. That puts him just below the 25th percentile for his weight and around the 50th percentile for his height. She showed us his plots on the growth chart and stated that he looks like he is going to follow Wesleigh’s growth chart!! On a side note, at Wesleigh’s 4 month checkup he weighed 14 pounds and was 26 and ¾ inches long. So, he was a little heavier and a little longer. I guess maybe Ethan knows mama needs him to stay small and cuddly for a while since he will be the last little baby mama has! He is hitting all his developmental targets and looks amazingly healthy.
The health of my children is something that I am eternally grateful for. There are so many families that deal with health issues and problems that are so devastating to their families. I don’t for a second take for granted the amazingly healthy children I have been blessed with!! PRAISE GOD FOR HEALTHY KIDDOS!!
After we got home from San Antonio, I had BUNCO with the ladies. Such a fun little treat for me away from the kids! Doesn’t happen very often, so I treasure it when it does!!
So, today, I am packing us up because we leave on Thursday for vacation with Nana and Grandpa and the my brother and his kids! We are excited, but still wondering how we are all going to get there with all our stuff in tow!!
These pictures were taken at a birthday party a few weekends ago. It was the first birthday party that Wesleigh attended for one of his little playgroup friends. It was at BUMPY’s FAMILY FARM. It is a petting zoo with a few other activities. The kids had a good time. Wesleigh loved the animals!

This is the "redneck" wagon train the kids and daddy cruised on.

did I mention "redneck?"

50 gallon drums powered by a lawn mower...and you pay money to ride it...hmmm
cool kids

He was hot, but had fun.

There were little baby chicks in there

Guy and Welseigh looking at the baby chicks

ducks

Wesleigh and the goat looking at the camera

Wesleigh and Jaedyn feeding the cow

going for the cow's "earring"

cute kids

everyone feeding the cows

Jaedyn feeding the minature horse

Daddy showing Wesleigh how to hold his hand flat to feed the horse

saying "bye bye" to the horse

loves the baby goats

sweetly petting the baby goat

daddy showing him how to feed the baby goat

watching the goat chow down

He loved the animals. He was actually more comfortable with them than Guy and Jaedyn. Guy absolutely wouldn't hold the food in his hands for the animals to eat it. Jaedyn did a time for to, but Wesleigh loved to let them eat out of his hand. He had a great time at the petting zoo!

We will have vacation pictures up late next week. Enjoy!

Pictures from Today

2009-05-29T10:51:00.005-05:00

Sweet, sweet, boy!
Silly willy

funny feet

He loves to read in his chair

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Blue Horse, Blue Horse, what do you see??

What mom? I'm reading!!

such concentration

Ear?????

Ethan's nose...

Wesleigh's nose...

sweet kisses...

they are getting so big

adorable

they are just humoring me

both smiling

so cute

so serious

stretching for the camera

such a sweetie

curious, curious

smiling boy

cute face, ignore the drool/spit up!

bright eyes, serious face

getting to be such a big fella

Major Update!!

2009-05-25T20:46:00.011-05:00

It's been a while, I've been busy. I have tons of pictures and a major update! Enjoy!!

First off, Ethan had green beans for the first time on Saturday. He absolutely HATED them. He gagged, and shuddered, and gagged, and shuddered some more!! He was hilarous!! I was only able to get about 1/3 of a jar down him before he had had enough!! We finished that jar last night, alternating a spoon of cereal and a spoon of green beans and he did much better! Today at lunch, he ate a whole jar without even a negative face!!! We have one more day of green beans, then on to 4 days of carrots!! We will work our way through the vegatables, then we will start on the fruits!!

The little fella is growing and changing more very single day. He is getting big! He loves to jabber! He has also started laughing and it is so stinking precious and infectious!! He can't laugh without making you laugh. The boys and I spent 3 days in Beeville last week, and my mom got him to laughing so hard. It was too cute. Jim got him laughing pretty good last night too! Once he gets going, he gets the hiccups, just like Wesleigh used to!!

He is still a good little sleeper. Once or twice a week he is sleeping through the night, but it is still the exception rather than the rule. He likes to be held, and he loves to smile. He puts up with just about anything his brother dishes out. My mom found Wesleigh dragging Ethan across her living room floor by his feet! Ethan was just staring up at Wesleigh like he hung the moon and the stars!!

He is a total pro at rolling from his tummy to his back, and he is just seconds from rolling from his back to his tummy!! He is gonna be a steam rollin' dude before we know it!!

Dressed and ready to go...waiting on Mama on her bed!

So strong...rolling to back.

adorable!

We recently started using our Jumperoo and our exersaucer!! It gives him more options than just the floor and the bouncy seat!

Oh, sweet, crazy, wonderful, charming Wesleigh! I LOVE that kid. He is such a mess!! His vocabulary is growing every single day. He is obsessed with "uh oh" right now! Too bad he doesn't realize that "uh oh" should ideally be reserved for accidents!! :-) He also loves the word Grandpa (my dad). Guy is another favorite of his. Tractor, bite, juice, popcorn, dog, outside, swing, down, up, poopoo, diaper, phone, brother, Ethan, Jaedyn, book, ni-night, cup, boat, bug...there are more, but I can't think of them at the moment!

He loves to play outside and cries when you make him come in. He loves to climb up the play set and try to fall off. He generally loves to eat, especially fruit and veggies. He recently got a potty chair and likes to carry it around the house!!

I am currently trying to get him enrolled in swimming lessons for the summer, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen. We will keep our fingers crossed.

Playing with daddy

climbing

almost to the top

Oh...the fit...who knows what it was about!

stinker!

one of his favorite places in the world...on daddy's shoulders

This is my porch....unfortunately this is NOT the same snake...there were 2 on the porch at the same time!!! I made Jim kill them! It guess the little grass that is finally sprouting from the seed we spread to finally have a yard, and the extensive water we have been feeding it has made our yard/porch very desirable. After I looked up the type of snake, I read that it is their breeding time...they were just looking for a cozy place to make 30-45 baby snakes!!!

Just a swingin'

He loves the teeter taughter

such a cutie

Jaedyn had a ballet recital a few weekends ago. Gran and G-Pa came in for the weekend, and enjoyed the recital. She did a wonderful job!! Enjoy the pictures of the sweet ballerina!

Guy is enjoying his coach pitch baseball season. He is a pretty good little player. I took these pictures a couople of weeks ago at one of his games.Pop fly...who will catch it???

(note the ball on the ground behind him!!)

Overall, we are doing well! Staying busy, growing, changing and loving life! Hopefully it won't be so long before I update again!!

It's All Over...But the Fun is Just Beginning!

2009-05-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

My parents came in this weekend. My dad owed me a "rain check" on coming to Del Rio to help with household projects. Little did he know, he should have come the first time, the projects would have been a lot easier!! But, since he needed a rain check due to obligations on the farm, it put him here just in time for my birthday and for building the playset!! So, I ordered they come this weekend and bring his drill!

That is exactly what he did! Our wonderful neighbors, Pat and Clif joined the building fun, and we certainly couln't have done it without them.

When we opened the directions for the playset, it said that it would take 2 moderately skilled workers 20-24 hours to complete!! YIKES!! Dad, Clif, and Jim worked for about 2 hours on Friday night. Then, they started about 8:30ish on Saturday morning and worked until about 6:30 Saturday night. Mom and I worked to sort out the billions of pieces of wood. Each piece of wood had a tiny stamp on it with a letter and a number. So, we organized the wood, handed wood up as the guys read the instructions!! Yep, I said read the instructions. They truely had no choice on this one!! So, we handed boards and hardware to the guys most of the day. After lunch, Pat, Mom and I helped compete some little side projects to speed things along. We built the ladder, the rock wall, and the monkey bars and monkey bar ladder. A lot got completed on Saturday, but it took about 4-5 hours to finish things up on Sunday.

We appreciate all the help and are glad the project is complete. The kids love it, and I look forward to many years of fun, and hopefully minimal broken limbs!!

With the new sand and the pool that Gran bought, the kids thought they were at the beach!
He pooped Sand for 2 days!

They had a blast. I had to hose them off before they could get in the bath that night!

Gran, I think it was money WELL spent!!The completed project. Note the observation chairs that were frequently occupied by the ladies!

Monkey bars...Guy's favorite.

Here's the problem though. Wesleigh has learned how to very quickly and efficiently climb the ladder. HOWEVER, he thinks that if he rolls over on his tummy and lowers his legs over the side where the monkey bar opening is, that he can get down! HA, it is at least a 6 foot drop!! Crazy kid!

years of fun to come

My pictures are a bit out of order...sorry, but they are still working!

This was early Saturday morning.

getting closer to finished

Still Saturday morning.

My dad and Ethan, napping on the porch!

All the hardware...INSANE

Dad and Wesleigh laying out the first 4 boards...

Ethan is 3 Months Old Today...3 Months of Pure Sweetness

2009-05-04T19:57:00.002-05:00

Where does the time go? Where has my newborn gone? How quickly the days go by! It makes me so sad to know that with each passing day, my last itty bitty baby is getting older and bigger! I will never again have a newborn!! So, I just have to enjoy every second with my boys that we have. I am so blessed.

Ethan is such a sweet baby. He is a total joy. He is becoming a little chatter box. He loves to talk and coo and he does it constantly. He loves to be talked to and he will smile, and laugh, and wiggle and squirm! He is a happy little fella and loves attention! He is so patient with his brother. He will let him do just about anything to him. He gets poked and prodded and stepped on and licked and kissed and kicked! He looks at Wesleigh with adoration already! He loves to sit in his bumbo chair and watch Wesleigh play. He just watches everything he does. I’m not so sure, that is such a good thing!!

Ethan is a pretty good little sleeper. He loves to sleep on his tummy. He loves to listen to the classical music his mobile plays. He wiggles and squirms and turns completely around in his bed. I find him in opposite directions from the way I laid him down. He is so strong and getting stronger everyday.

He loves to eat his oatmeal at night and he loves to chill in his high chair while he watches mommy cook dinner. He really loves to have a meltdown right when the big people food is hot and ready to eat! He loves to eat. He loves to poop in a clean diaper! He still loves his swing, and prefers the big swing that sings side to side better than he likes his travel swing that swings front to back.

He already loves to be outside and is finally getting a little more used to the wind. He loves his bath and warm PJ’s after his bath. He thoroughly enjoys the times when he gets his mommy all to himself when Wesleigh is napping.

I love this kid. He is such a joy. He is growing up way too quickly right before my eyes. It seems like just yesterday that we were meeting him in the hospital for the first time. I feel like before we know it we will be celebrating his first birthday! I am so thankful to be blessed with such a sweet, healthy, perfect baby boy. I love and adore him and I am thankful to the Lord for blessing me with such a perfect, adorable little boy.

Although it makes me sad to see him growing up I feel privileged to have him in my life and to have the honor of watching him grow, change, and develop every day. He has taught me a lot as a mommy and showed me that it is in fact possible to love more than one baby so much my heart could BURST!

I love you sweet Ethan!!

After bath tonight.
He just started pouting during my photo shoot!

What a face!

Pouty boy!

Squirmy Wormy!

Smiley boy!

Wiggle wiggle wiggle!

Look at that double chin, earlier today!

He looks so chubby here, but he really isn't.

Pool & Bumbo Fun

2009-04-30T20:22:00.003-05:00

Gran bought Wesleigh this little pool. We tried it out for the first time tonight after dinner.

He was so excited when he saw it...
A little hesitant, but sticking his toes in...

Well, maybe I will just stick my head in through the rainbow...

blowing bubbles

drinking from the water hose...

He was taking the water hose, digging in the sand with it, then putting it in his mouth. Then, he would get in the water, and blow bubbles to wash his mouth out. Then, he would repeat...

Gotta play in the sand...

Yummy....

This is the pool after the play. 500 million trips in and out and in and out of the pool. We had fun. Thanks Gran!!

Ethan was sleeping during the pool fun, but today he discovered how fun it is to sit in his Bumbo seat. Wesleigh had this seat when he was little, but due to his big head and weak neck, he never really liked it, so it never got used. Ethan loves it!

A little smile for mama. He wasn't in the smilin' mood.

Look at me, I'm a big boy!

Hangin' with the big boys

Watching my brother play...just moments before he ran over me with his big truck!! Gotta love that big brother!!

My sweet boys are such a joy!! They are growing up too quickly, I am trying to enjoy every second!!

Dirt Fun

2009-04-28T13:28:00.007-05:00

We've been busy with these boys!! They keep me busy during the days!! They are so wonderful and they bring so much joy into my life!! We had a great weekend. Gran and G-Pa came down on Saturday morning and helped with the play set project...more of that toward the end of the post. Gran was a huge help with the boys. I was able to get some stuff done around the house. Poor Gran, is frequently passed right by when it comes to the Grandkids. They all adore G-Pa, and she claims she has "no grandkids" that are hers!! Don't get me wrong, they all love their Gran, but G-Pa is just the greatest thing ever!! Wesleigh is no different than the rest. He threw a 10 minute inconsolable fit when G-Pa left him in the house to go outside and work! Gran played with him and comforted him, but realized once again, that G-Pa stole another grandkid from her. Jaedyn is probably the closest she has to a kid that likes her the best, but she still adores G-Pa and it depends on the day. Well, Gran, Ethan is yours and he thinks your great!! He appreciated all the sweet loving you gave him this weekend!! I can't speak for the future, but for right now he is "your" grandkid!! Gran, maybe you need to get yourself a 4 wheeler of your own...maybe that will help!! :-) Even if they don't always show it, they all love and adore you too!!!

We attended a financial workshop at the church on Sunday. It was a super long day, but I feel it was a great thing for us to do.

This is Wesleigh at 2 months

Ethan at 2 months

EthanWesleigh...

Such different, sweet little boys!!

This is my little man chillin' in his high chair while mama cooked dinner.

An acrobatic horse rider! Climbing is a new skill that Wesleigh is perfecting.

YeeeHaww!! this little horse's ear squeeks when you squeeze it. Last night when he was playing on it, I told him to squeek the horse's ear, and he was pulling on his own ear instead! It was too funny!

Cutie. I never get tired of that gorgeous smile.

sliding down the slide

He had been playing in the office (where he doesn't belong) and he got into these little sticky dot things...that is what is stuck to his face!

On the go...

So, here are the pictures of the first phase of the swing set project. G-Pa helped to spread the dirt. They were trying to get it level for the playset, and G-Pa came up with the idea to tie rope to a ladder, put Caleb on top and then him and Jim pulled it. It worked like a champ!!

Fun for Caleb...work for Jim and Jack

Our neighbor, Mr. Black helping out...if you can't read the sign over his head it says "She Thinks My Tractor is Sexy"!! He was so gracious to help us on Saturday. He has me baffled as a way to pay him back. I am usually able to brib/pay help with food. I even made cookies, but he is diabetic, and wouldn't even join us for lunch. So, I don't know what to do to repay him, I will have to think outside the box!

Daddy shoveling...Wesleigh running to each place that Daddy threw the dirt!! He was filthy and tired at the end of the day!

Mr. Black spreading the dirt...

We are doing well. Both the boys are thriving. Wesleigh is a climbin' fool. He is talking more and more and he keeps us laughing. It makes me wonder what we did for entertainment before he came along!! Ethan enjoys sharing that precious smile and cooing at me. I love every minute of it. I can't believe how quickly time is passing these days!!

Lovin' Spring

2009-04-24T09:30:00.003-05:00

We are loving spring time!!! Obviously in this part of Texas, we don't have "spring" for very long! I love it because we can open up the house and let the fresh air in! So wonderful. Yesterday we were able to keep the house open all day. That doesn't happen too often. Most of the time by 4 o'clock we close it down because it is getting too warm.

I have no pictures to share today, just words. I am feeling very blessed right now. I have 2 amazingly healthy, growing, crazy little boys.

Wesleigh is so smart! I know all parents say that about their kids, but he really is! A while ago, he learned how to stack blocks in towers of 3. Yesterday he very proudly stacked a 6 block block tower!! It was so awesome. He was so proud. He would stack 6 blocks, then knock them over, and do it all over again! He has also become a total pro at following commands (at least when he wants to)! I can tell him, to put something back where he got it from, and he does. I can ask him where his cup is, and 9 times out of 10 he will go to which ever room he left it in and pick it up. Now, that 1 out of 10 times that he can't find it, it takes me 10 minutes and a tour through every room in the house to find it!! He is busy busy and into everything, but growing smarter everyday! He loves it outside and sneaks out at every opportunity he gets!!

Ethan gets stronger everyday! He is sleeping better too. He is in bed every night by 9, and he gets up around 4-5 am, eats 4 ounces, then goes back to bed until 7:30-8:30 am. It is awesome and I am so blessed!! Both of my boys have been champion sleepers!! God most know that I am a better mommy when I am well rested!! Ethan loves to smile and look around exploring his world. He loves to squirm and splash in the bath tub. And his latest thing is to sleep on his tummy! He was sleeping very restlessly both during the day and night, so I tried him on his tummy again, and we are both loving it!! Wesleigh slept on his tummy from 5 weeks on. I know my pediatrician would have a coronary...but I don't care!!

Our backyard has exciting things ahead in the next week or so! Any minute now an 18 wheeler will show up and dump a load of sand in the back yard. Jim and his dad will spend Saturday getting the dirt spread into the right places. Jack and Patti are coming for the weekend to help out, hang out, and bring down the playset. Then next weekend, my parents are coming on Friday for my birthday, then Jim, Dad, Guy, and Jaedyn will build the playset that weekend!! We are so excited! It is going to be awesome! It is huge! We had to buy sand to put underneith it so that when the falls happen (which they will), the kiddos are falling on something a little softer than the rock that currently exists in the backyard.

We are excited about the playset and blessed with our wonderful family! I promise to post pictures of the boys soon!!

Aunt Jackie's Wedding Fun!

2009-04-20T11:01:00.013-05:00

Well, this past weekend was the big wedding adventure in San Angelo. Jim’s sister, Jackie married Jerry Gift on Saturday. I think it was about a year ago that they met and fell in love. They decided somewhere around last July/August (I think) that they couldn’t live without each other!! So, since then, their lives have been building to this wedding!! It was beautiful! The weather was in their favor. The wind was a little much, but afterall, we were in West Texas, so you have to expect some wind!! Not a cloud in the sky, about 85 degrees, and absolutely gorgeous!! The wedding was at a place called Canes Cove. It is a nice little place on a cove (imagine that) of Lake Nasworthy. It was a beautiful setting; the only downfall in my opinion is that the water was a HUGE temptation to my sweet, 16 month old. It was like a magnet that kept drawing him in!! It scared the life out of me. I know just how quickly accidents happen, and the whole time we were out there, both Friday night for the rehearsal and Saturday for the wedding, I was a nervous wreck!! He is so quick, and can be gone in an instant. Even when we were inside the building, I didn’t let him out of my sight. Even when he was with someone else, Jim, anyone, I still tried to keep an eye on him. I just couldn’t relax with that water so so so close!! I fully intend on finding swimming lessons this summer and starting to teach him the basics of water safety/survival, but for this weekend I was a nervous wreck!!
Jaedyn was a flower girl for the wedding. She was such a pro at it. I think this made the 5th wedding that she was the flower girl in, so is there anyone that knows that role better?? I doubt it. She is such a little diva princess, that the role suits her so well!! The dolled up hair and painted fingernails, fancy socks and ballet slippers for shoes is just about a dream come true for that girl!! She had a wonderful day, followed by a busy night full of twirls and spins on the dance floor! I don’t know if that girl sat out a single dance. If she didn’t have anyone to dance with, she danced alone. She had a blast, and looked beautiful doing it!
Guy passed out programs for the wedding, but his most important role was to read 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 during the wedding service. He did an amazing job. That boy can read, it comes naturally to him and he seems to enjoy it. He certainly didn’t get that trait from his father, but we are both proud to encourage it every chance we get. I know that Jim is so relieved that so far, 1 out of 4 has escaped his reading difficulties. He is hoping and praying that the other 3 don’t struggle with it as he has. But, if they do, we will just take one day at a time, and overcome it just as he has!! Guy looked handsome and did a great job in his role. He also danced the night away. But, let me just tell you, he has NO problem walking up to a girl and asking her to dance. He always goes for the older ones too!!! It seems to work out for him…when he puts his hand on their “back”, it usually ends up being their butt because of the height difference…it seems to be working for him now, but we will see in the future!!
Wesleigh had a blast as well. That boy ran around and around and around!! He loved the water, the grass, the trees, and especially the dirt around the trees!! He ran around until his news shoes rubbed blisters on his feet. He did pretty good for pictures, but in true Wesleigh fashion, when he was done with the picture thing, he was DONE!!! Wesleigh is always in bed by 8 to 8:15 pm every night!! He is usually totally exhausted by then, and wants to go to bed, so who is to argue right??? Well, on Friday night, he was in bed by 9:45pm, then on Saturday night it was closer to 11 pm. Right around 8, on Saturday night he started to melt. He just wanted to be held by me or Jim, and wanted nothing to do with anyone else. Many people offered, but he was just not having any of it!! Thank goodness it was during this time that Ethan decided to take a long nap, so we could devote all our energy (what was left at that point) to Wesleigh. Once he got over that 8 pm hump, which took about an hour, he got a little better. I was SOOOOO relieved when he finally went to G-Pa and gave me and Jim a little break. After that he was cool hanging out with Gran, G-Pa and dancing the night away with Jaedyn. He was super duper tired by the time we headed toward the house, but he still only slept until 7 something!! There is just too much to do to sleep in at Gran and G-Pa’s house!!
Sweet little Ethan still HATES the wind, so he didn’t have as much fun as the rest of us. When he was in his stroller I kept a quilt draped over it so that I could keep most the wind off of him. Other than that, we tried to stick to the less windy areas, which being in West Texas were few and far between. He was generally happy to be cuddled by anyone and everyone. Aunt Dena saved the day during the wedding ceremony when both Wesleigh and Ethan decided to melt on mommy!! They cuddled and cuddled until he finally fell asleep!! Thanks so much Aunt Dena, I really don’t know what I would have done without you!!! Ethan took his first twirl around the dance floor with mommy and daddy! Did I mention that we had Wesleigh too? It was very interesting!! J
We had a fabulous time. It was a long day, but it was fun. Jim and I danced 2 dances. One with both children in tow, but then, when the DJ played “When You Say Nothing At All” we passed the kids off to Gran and G-Pa and took a solo twirl around the dance floor. That is the song that we danced our first dance as husband and wife too, so it holds a very special place for us!!
One wedding down, one to go!! My brother asked Caye to marry him last month, so they are next in line to get married!! However, it will be a very simple ceremony followed by a party. How simple and how big is still being debated at this time, but I don’t expect it to be much more than close family and friends, but it will be wonderful too!!
So, the wedding was great, the weekend was full, and I have tons of pictures to prove it!! These are the best of the best, but believe me; I have plenty more where these came from. Overall that day, I took over 350 pictures. However, with my camera that is easy to do!!

My sweet boys!
Crazy Wesleigh...who knows what he is doing here??!!

so cute, so guilty looking!

Jaedyn, little Miss Diva herself

Destiny, Clayton, and Jaedyn. Destiny and Clayton are Jackie's new step-kids. Destiny just turned 4, and Clayton will soon turn 3.

Guy, Destiny, Clayton, and Jaedyn

Jaedyn and Guy. Don't they look good!!??

Daddy and his 4 kids. I think it still amazes him somedays that he is the father to 4 kids! Actually during the dance on Saturday night, one of the guys that Jim knew growing up was sitting just behind us. Obviously Wesleigh and Ethan were with us almost constantly, but then Guy and Jaedyn would come and go. The old friend finally shouted from behind us "Hey Jim, just how many kids do you have?? It was funny!!

Daddy and Guy looking as handsome as ever.

Before the wedding...Ethan eating, suprise suprise!

Jim was the lone Usher and this is him escorting his mom to her seat. At least she remembered to put her heals back on!! She was sporting her tennis shoes only moments before this picture!! I don't blame her, as she was obvliously running around taking care of things that day and about 100 before that!! She worked her tail off, and it was a beautiful wedding to show for her efforts!! Job well done Patti!!

Clayton escorting his two beauties. At 2 1/2 he is almost the same size as them at 4 and 5!! He is a big boy, and he can eat as much as any adult!

The boys, it their double stroller for the first 5 minutes of the wedding. Then they both melted!! Aunt Dena took Ethan, and I hung out with Wesleigh. Thanks again Aunt Dena!

Jack escorting Jackie down the aisle! Poor Jackie had the first MS spell that she has had in almost 3 years this past week. She was feeling pretty crummy earlier in the week, but seemed to feel great on Saturday. She danced the night away, and was at the airport by 6 am Sunday morning to catch a flight to Cancun!!

The ceremony from my view!! It was a very nice setting.

Here Ethan and I are, escorting Wesleigh back toward the party!! He liked to wander away frequently...mostly toward the water's edge. He just couldn't resist!

Guy, Jaedyn, Wesleigh, Me, and Ethan

Cute boys!

Aren't they just so stinkin' cute???

Ethan is starting to smile for this picture!

Uh oh...Wesleigh is starting to role him off...Mommy wasn't fast enough, because he was actually able to role him onto his face in the grass, but Ethan didn't care at all!!

Here we have fingers up the nose...

same fingers in the mouth....YUM

All four of them!! So cute.

oopps...here we go again, face plant in the grass...see my hand as I was trying to save the day!! Ethan is such a trooper!

Still rolling...he was determined to get rid of him!!

A family picture with all six of us at last!!

another good one.

Wesleigh's clapping in this one!

Gran and G-Pa with their 7 grandkids. Guy, 8, Caleb, 8, Jaedyn 5, Destiny, 4, Clayton 2, Wesleigh 1, and Ethan 2 months. For years and years they had 3 grandkids, Guy, Jaedyn, and Caleb. Then, in 2007, Wesleigh was born. Then in 2008 Jackie met Jerry and added Destiny and Clayton. Then in 2009, sweet little Ethan finished the count off at 7. Short of a miracle, they are done at 7! Jackie and Jerry have made sure they won't be adding any, and we are doing our part to make sure that there isn't a #8!!

Hmm...imagine that...Wesleigh stealing the show??

It's so funny how when you add kids to life, your definition of the perfect picture evolves!!

Why is it that everyone but crazy Wesleigh can behave???

This is probably the best one!

Gran and G-Pa and our 4!

A feeble attempt at some mommy and little boy pictures...this was after all the other pictures and Wesleigh wouldn't have another minute of pictures! And look at sweet little Ethan, just chillin'!

Wiggle worm...I finally just set him free.

Ethan all partied out...

Gran and Wesleigh dancin' it up...

Guy and Jaedyn dancing..

Jaedyn, Wesleigh, G-Pa

Jack and Patti after a very long day!

Jaedyn dancing with Dillon

Jaedyn trying to convince Wesleigh to dance with her

Jaedyn and Wesleigh dancing...he had ditched his shoes and socks!

still dancing...

dancin' fools...

yep...you got it...more dancing

wow...all this dancing has made me tired, I think I will just sit and rest a while...who cares if it is in the middle of the dance floor...I'm cute, people will dance around me!

Jaedyn being spun by Clayton...he is a lot shorter, this is interesting!!

All in all, it was tons of fun!! Everyone looked great and had a blast! Congrats to Jackie and Jerry, may you be incredibly happy and blessed together!!

A Little Creativity

2009-04-15T08:59:00.003-05:00

When you have 2 precious babies who are so close in age, sometime a little creativity is needed!!

Today while Wesleigh was napping, Ethan was hanging out with mommy! He laid in the middle of the living room floor for at least an hour!! It was so wonderful. You see, when Wesleigh was a baby, he lived on the floor. I hardly used the bouncy seat and the swing and other contraptions to hold him, just because I thought floor time was good for him. Well, that doesn't work for sweet little Ethan, because he would likely have 2 broken arms, 2 broken legs, 1 broken back, and a fractured skull, as well as 2 missing eyes, and various items that don't belong shoved down his throat!!! We came close to the fractured skull (not really) the day that Daddy left Ethan on the floor while Wesleigh was around and Wesleigh threw his sippy cup (as he often does, being the crazy little boy he is) and it hit Ethan on the forehead!! Thank GOD it was empty, but it still left a bruise and he screamed and screamed!!! Poor baby! Wesleigh also thinks that arms and legs are made to be removed. He also likes to "point" at Ethan's eyes and say "eye". However to be fair I must point out that Wesleigh's "pointing" at Ethans eye includes poking his eye, usually both of them! Ethan is such a good sport, he just puts up with him. I have also caught Wesleigh trying to "share" his snack with his brother. He was trying very hard to force a KIX into his mouth one day!! I told him it was kind of him to try and "share", but his brother isn't quite ready for KIX just yet! So, all that to say, that due to Wesleigh's innocent curiousity, rough little boy nature, and 16 month old clumbsyness, it is IMPOSSIBLE to let Ethan hang out on the floor when his sweet big brother is around.

So, back to my story. Ethan was chillin' on the floor while mama was folding clothes and Wesleigh was sweetly tucked into bed! He played on his back for a long time, just talking and wiggling, until I flipped him over onto his tummy for a little tummy time. He usually gets mad, but just continued to play and lift his head and look around. Well, about 15 minutes later, Wesleigh was calling that naptime was over, so I went and got him up. I took him in the nursery and changed his diaper, we talked to Nana on the phone, and I was tidying up and refilling the diaper basket. About another 15 minutes went by and Ethan had fallen sound asleep in the middle of the living room floor on his tummy! What a tummy time slacker!!

Daddy came home and we were just hanging out in the living room and Wesleigh almost fell into the middle of Ethan a number of times. I didn't want to move him, because I knew he would wake up, so this was my solution...

It worked well!! Sometimes you just have to be creative!! Ethan was able to safely finish his nap!!

In other news, last night I was talking to Ethan and just being super silly with him and he totally laughed out loud!! It was freakin' adorable! He did it twice before it gave him the hiccups!! Wesleigh used to get the hiccups evertime he laughed until he was at least 10 months old!! Poor little Ethan appears to have the same problem! Little does he know, it doesn't keep us from making him laugh! That sweet little sound is still ringing in my ears and I can't wait for the next one!!

As I sit here typing this, Wesleigh just discovered that you can put an easter egg in the ball popper and it actually pops out!!! He puts a lot of things other than the balls in it, and it never pops out, so when he put the egg in there and it actually came out, you should have seen the suprised joy on his face!! Too cute!

Every night as a part of our bedtime routine, we cuddle, read 1 book, then sing a few songs to Wesleigh. The songs always include the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Jesus Loves Me. He loves to sing along and has even learned to say Jesus. It melts my heart to hear my 16 month old say Jesus.
It is so precious and so wonderful to have the little guy calm down and be still with you for a few minutes after his crazy, nonstop days!!

This is Jim and Wesleigh singling a few nights ago! So sweet!

My Sweet, Crazy Boys!

2009-04-13T20:35:00.004-05:00

Wesleigh seems to be feeling better. We went to the chiropractor this afternoon. Mommy, Daddy, and Wesleigh all got adjusted, but Ethan didn't need it!! Then, we went to Jaedyn's T-Ball game for about 40 minutes until Ethan had had enough wind!

Some random pictures from the past few weeks!!

This was tonight before bed...somehow the silly little fella got his foot out between the snappies!!

One of the pictures I took during our 2 month photo shoot!

Cutie at Nana's last week.

Look how strong I am.

One of the best from the 2 month photo shoot.

When Wesleigh is Quiet.............................

you better go investigate!!

He had a blast with the Kleenex!

Eating popcorn with Daddy! He was a total grump on day about 3 weeks ago, sitting eating popcorn with daddy was his happiest time of day.

I heard him playing in the entry way...just singing, so I went to see what he was doing and he was more than comfy in his brother's carseat!! Crazy kid!!

Easter Fun and Strep Throat!

2009-04-12T18:42:00.011-05:00

We had a weekend full of changed plans!! For starters my mom and dad were suppossed to head our way this weekend to help us out with some household projects and to hang out. Well, my dad decided that he has way too much to do on the farm right now to get away, so he asked for a rain check. I very reluctantly obliged!!

Jim spent this last week in Georgia at a training and the boys and I were at my parents. We all got home on Thursday, and planned to get stuff done around the house and hang out for the weekend. Then on Sunday we were going to go to church. Well, we got a lot done on Friday during the day, then on Friday afternoon we played outside with Wesleigh for about an hour and a half. He had a blast. Then we came in and I started cooking dinner and Wesleigh totally melted. I could tell he didn't feel good. Well, he just went downhill FAST!! By the time he went to bed he had fever, didn't sleep well at all, then by Saturday morning he had a rectal temperature of 102.7!! So, Jim drove him to Uvalde to an Urgent Care clinic where they diagnosed him with Strep throat!! Ugh...!! This is the second time he has had it. The first time he was 11 months old last November and he had Scarlet fever. Strep throat/Scarlet fever is the only think that has ever really made Wesleigh run fever over 100. He has had multiple ear infections and never runs fever with them. I guess I should have known when his fever was so high! I guess I know now. We have a good 24 hours of antibiotics in now and haven't had fever since last night.

Wesleigh slept pretty good last night, Ethan slept as he normally does, but we slept HORRIBLY!! The stupid electricity went out at 2 am. I got worried that I wouldn't hear the boys without the monitors, so I slept in the living room on the couch. The electricity finally came back on at about 6:30. Not a good night's sleep!!

We went to church this morning, but kept Wesleigh with us since Strep throat is only contagious by swapping spit!! He did pretty good until he hit his head about 2 minutes before the service was over!!

We came home, ate lunch, took 3 hour naps, then hunted some Easter eggs. My mom sent some Easter goodies for all the kids as well! Then, we took Wesleigh outside in the 35 mph wind to hunt eggs. We hid 18 eggs and he was a pro at picking them up!

Enjoy the pictures...

My mom attached these little bunnies to the boys Easter buckets. I gave Ethan his and he immediately wrapped his arm around it and cuddled it.

So, I gave Wesleigh his, and he threw it on the floor and stomped it!!
So, I picked the bunny up and gave it to Ethan and he cuddled them both!

Ethan's new book.

His new little critter thing.

Checking it out with a little smile.

More smiles...

So sweet...

Ethan and his Easter basket.

My sweet boy cracking up.

Isn't that the most handsome smile?

A boy with a bucket on his head...

Picking up eggs...

more eggs...

Two in one hand....he is getting good!

He hardly even stopped to pick this one up...

fun...

What else is in there???

Barrel of Monkeys. He found a Barrel of Monkeys at the doctors office during his checkup last week and loved it, so I added one to his basket.

look at those silly monkeys!

The boys had adorable outfits but we didn't get a single picture!!! Wesleigh was too tired and grumpy! Have no fear though because we are wearing them again next weekend for Aunt Jackie's Wedding,and we will definately get some pictures then!

So, We gave the boys Easter baskets with goodies in them...Wesleigh's had a Leap Frog Letter Factory Video, Barrel of Monkeys and some dinosaurs. Ethan's had a onsie, a soft book and a little soft critter thing. We also did the Easter egg hunt with Wesleigh and we will with Ethan in the future as well. However, before Wesleigh went to bed tonight we talked about the truth behind Easter. I know he didn't understand a word of what I said, but we feel it is important to start young. We are determined to make sure that our household doesn't get caught up in the secular side of holidays and not celebrate the true reason for that season!!!

And finally a little Easter humor...

2 Month/15 month Check up

2009-04-06T20:49:00.003-05:00

I'm totally exhausted, so this will be short and sweet...

I took the boys to the doctor today for Ethan's 2 month check up and Wesleigh's 15 month check up.

Ethan weighed 10 lbs 9 oz and was 22 inches long. That puts him in 25-5oth percentile for his height and weight and his head is in the 50th percentile. Dr. Bourland said he is handsome and healthy!! When Wesleigh went for his 2 month check up, he was 2 lbs heavier, and 2 inches longer!!

Wesleigh weighed 21 lbs and was 33 inches long. That puts him in the 90th percentile for his height and in less than the 9th percentile for his weight. He hasn't gained weight in almost 8 months. She is a little concerned, but since his head is continuously in the 50th percentile, she knows he is getting adequate nutrition. I think he is just built like his daddy and grandpa (my dad). Other than that, he is doing great!!

Ethan got 3 shots and an oral vaccine for a total of 6 vaccinations. Wesleigh got 3 shots. The tylenol and motrin are flowing like water around here tonight!! Pray for sleep!! :-)

We go back next for 4 months and 18 month check ups!!

Update on our TumTums!

2009-03-31T21:17:00.002-05:00

Well, it's still more of the same in our world. Wesleigh's tummy is significantly better, but still not back to normal. Have you ever tried to feed a BRAT the BRAT diet?? Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. Well, for starters, Wesleigh doesn't like rice or applesauce, so that leaves us Bananas and Toast. We are doing well with the bananas, but he only ate the crust off his toast yesterday. I cut out the apple juice that he drinks diluted with his ice water, and was just giving him water, but he cut his fluid intake dramatically, so that doesn't help the situation any!! So, I read that grape juice is ok when you have diarrhea, so I started flavoring his water with grape juice and he is loving it and drinking his normal amount again. As far as the rest of his food, I am just trying to keep in as bland as possible and not greasy. I guess the popcorn chicken that he ate during our insane trip to WalMart today, wasn't my brightest idea now that I think about it!! What a dummy!
Ethan's tummy is still pretty bad. Poor kid! He is going through tons of diapers. He also gave me the task of scrubbing the couch today...I will leave that to your imagination. Don't guess I have a lot to say about changing his diet, it's nothing but soy milk for that boy! I'm sure hoping we get tummies fixed soon!!
So, about that WalMart trip...I needed diapers, formula, toilet paper, paper towels, 2 gallons of milk, a bag of chips, 2 chickens and Dr. Pepper. Let me remind you, I was alone, with both boys. If you have ever put a toddler in the seat of a cart, and a baby carrier in the bottom of the cart, that doesn't leave much room for anything, especially large things (I buy toilet paper and paper towels in bulk!). I also buy diapers in boxes...didn't help that I had 4 diaper coupons (thanks Amanda) that were expiring today and when you have 2 kids in diapers, you DO NOT let diaper coupons expire!!!! Anyhoo, WalMart had Pampers Cruisers on clearance, so I bought even more than I had planned on. I polished off the WalMart gift card that Gran and G-Pa gave us for diapers (thanks Gran and G-Pa it helped a lot)!! So, the cart was stacked down below and up on top, it was a balancing act and believe me, people were staring! Before I got in the check out line I grabbed another cart, b/c I knew I would NEVER get it all back in the one cart, so we left the store in two carts...yes, I was driving both of them...rather interesting! I DEFINATELY don't plan on conquering the grocery store like this very often, but sometimes you just can't help it, I wasn't going to let those coupons expire! I do my major grocery shopping every 2-3 weeks after I plan my menu...alone after Jim gets off work!
After dinner tonight we played with Wesleigh on the trampoline for the first time. He was very scared at first...he wasn't too sure about the floor moving, but then we finally got him to losen up and have fun. He just kept saying "jump, jump, jump" over and over as he bent his knees...too cute!!! I didn't have a camera or video camera...bummer, but take my word for it, it was adorable.
I took some pictures earlier, mostly of Ethan lifting his head and looking all around during Tummy Time. Hopefully I will get those pictures up tomorrow!

Diapers and Dr. Smith's

2009-03-30T11:23:00.002-05:00

We go through lots of diapers on a normal day, but lately we have been going through TONS of diapers and Dr. Smith's diaper rash cream!! Both boys started in with diarrhea on Friday, and it has been relentless! I will spare you the details, but it has been frustrating and has taken a toll on the diaper stash and the momma and daddy!!

They are both still drinking and eating normally, so according to the doctor we just have to let it run it's course.

We didn't go to church yesterday because we were afraid to pass anything along to other tots, but the doctor said that it really isn't necessary!! DARN!! I look forward to Sundays and interacting with adults!! We got some projects done around the house, the laundry room is done!! So nice!! We have a few more projects that need to get done, but we are waiting for Nana and Grandpa to come and help with those!

So, my world is all diapers and Dr. Smiths and coming up with bland things for Wesleigh to eat. I am about running out of ideas, diapers, and skin on my hands due to washing them every 5 minutes after changing diapers!! :-)

Hopefully we will feel better soon!!

Lots of Fun Outside

2009-03-26T14:48:00.003-05:00

The boys and I went to playgroup this morning, and when we got home Ethan was soundly sleeping in his carseat, so Wesleigh and I decided to play outside. Ethan was just inside the front door, so I left it open in case he started screaming and off we went exploring.

I absolutely love my camera...it makes is easy to catch lots of great pictures. I took about 70 and these are the best...there are 24 here, but I love them ALL!!! I hope you enjoy. When I pick the best ones, I am going to have some printed. If you want one, let me know which one you think is best!!!

It's Been a While...We Have Been Busy!

2009-03-25T13:27:00.007-05:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I found the time to update the blog!! Shame on me for those of you who love the pics and tales from our crazy little world!! I just sat here, during the boys naptime and uploaded a TON of pictures from the past few weeks. But, I just realized that I uploaded them backwards, so, if you want to catch up on our lives in chronological order, scroll to the bottom of the post and work toward the top!! Either way you read it, we have been busy. We have done a lot of traveling, partying, growing, and changing!!

ETHAN
_________________________ My sweet baby Ethan! He is so precious. Poor child has had a rough tummy though. In the past 3 weeks, we have tried every, and I mean EVERY bottle that has ever been made, to try and help with the tummy issues. We switched formula, yet again!! We are now on soy formula, it seems to help the tummy some, and my goodness does it smell AWFUL!!! His diapers smell like a kitty litter box!! Very nasty! He finally settled on the Playtex Ventair bottles. Since the whole BPA thing is going on with bottles, we were able to take all the old bottles we used for Wesleigh back to Babies R Us and have them exchanged FOR FREE. We were able to get a very extensive collection of the bottles Ethan likes without paying a penney!!! It was very exciting!! We also found him a high chair like Wesleigh's that was on clearance. The high chair that we have is just so wonderful, we weren't ready to transition Wesleigh to a booster, because he needs the structure of a high chair, so we were thrilled when we found another one on sale!! Ethan's tummy is still a struggle, he must be the hardest kid in the world to burp!! It is very frustrating at times, and sometimes it seems that nothing works!! He handed out his first social smile to mommy on Thursday! It was so wonderful!! It melted my heart!! He has given a few more out since then, but you really, really, have to work for them!!! He gets stronger and stronger every day! He is more alert and curious everyday as well. AND, the best news of all is, that so far, he is showing NO signs of having the nystagmus (eye problem) that Wesleigh has!!! HIP HIP HORRAY!!!!!

Ethan had been sleeping in the pack and play bassinet in our room since coming home from the hospital. Now that we somewhat have his tummy issues under control, I moved him to his big boy bed on Monday night!! I cried!! We still have the swing in our room, where he usually ends up after his middle of the night feed because his tummy doesn't relax enough to go back to bed!! So, we now have 2 baby monitors on my side of the bed. Wesleigh is channel A and Ethan is Channel B!! This is was at Nana's house!
OH this is a hoot!! This is in his swing, in our bedroom. It was one morning after I already got up with Wesleigh. I was in the kitchen making a waffle for Wesleigh (his new favorite breakfast) and I heard Ethan just start screaming bloody murder. So, I went to see what the issue was, and this is what I found!! Being the naturally mean mommy that I am, I took a picture before I saved him from the eye eating hat!!!

He is 5 weeks in this picture. We were just chillin' one morning.

SUNDAY NIGHT WITH THE MCCLEERY FAMILY

____________________

On Sunday night we had dinner with Katie, Joey and their beautiful girls in George West. This picture was taken after the kids got out of the bath!! Abby is the oldest, then Emma, then Sara-Kate! They have a new cousin on the way and who knows, before too long, they will probably have a new sister on the way!! Could be a brother, but I'm not holding my breath!!! They make beautiful girls, they will probably just stick with what they know!!

Sara-Kate is being silly in this picture and Wesleigh is actually just chillin' for once!!

Cute kids!Ok...so when Wesleigh says enough is enough, he means enough is enough!!!

PARTY AT NANA'S

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On Saturday we had a big family party at my mom's house. There was a lot of extended family that we don't see very often there. It was great to see them again and to introduce them to my two sweet boys. The party was for my mom's cousin Jim, who turned 65 (I think) and for my mom who will be 53 tomorrow!! It was lots of fun. It was one of those crazy Texas days where you were in shorts sweating during the day, and bundled up in coats at night!! The kids played HARD all day long! Wesleigh stayed up until 11:30 that night. He played hard the whole time. It is Wednesday, and I am just now getting him recovered from his hard partying!!!

This is Dakota. She is my brother Brad's youngest daughter. Those HUGE eyes and precious curls are only the tip of the iceberg. She is a precious child who steals your heart a million times a day!!This is sweet Laynie. She is my cousin Ashleigh's little girl. She is 8 days older than Wesleigh and spoiled rotten!! Laynie will be a big sister in September!!

MATCHING BOYS

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Before Ethan was born, my mom bought the boys some matching outfits. I love them! I would never make them match every day, but every now and then, I think it is totally adorable!! This was on Sunday. I dressed the boys in their matching duds that morning, then about 6 hours later their daddy realized they were matching!! Men! I swear...they are so attentive to the details!! Turns out they were matching him too!! That part wasn't planned, but I took advantage anyway!!

My 3 boys in orange!

Wesleigh passing out a slobbery kiss! At least it wasn't a lick!! He has started licking Ethan's head instead of kissing him sometimes. It is really gross and all boy!! If you find a little matted part of hair on Ethan's head, you know you found the site of a Wesleigh licking!!! YUM!

More kisses! Ethan is so tolerate! He rarely gets mad at Wesleigh, and I know it won't be long before he thinks Wesleigh is the funniest thing on earth!!

I just can't get enough of the two of them interacting! It is so wonderful. Look at the way Ethan is looking at him!

Hmmm....Wesleigh wasn't being very cooperative!! Imagine that!

This was cute and fun while it lasted, but when it was over, meaning that Wesleigh had had enough, he used his feet to try and roll Ethan off the chair an onto the floor!!! He was very very quick about it!!! Lucky for Ethan, Mommy and Daddy were there to save the day!!

I'd like to believe that some day catching great pics of the two of them will get easier, but I am no fool! I realize that as soon as Ethan starts moving that they will only become more challenging!!

WESLEIGH

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Well, on Saturday night Wesleigh got his first busted lip! It was a good one too!! I'm still not exactly sure what happened, but it was about 10:30 pm... a mere 2 1/2 hours past his normal bed time and he tripped and fell. I don't know what he hit, but he busted his lip up pretty good. It took me a good 10 minutes to get it to stop bleeding. He stopped crying almost instantly, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. I have had a lot of people lately tell me how tough he is!! It makes me proud. I will NOT raise a sissy!!! I love that he is tough and bounces back from the bumps and bruises of life as a little boy!! I do not baby him over little things, but I am certainly there to kiss the hurt away from the big knocks in life!!!

Wesleigh is learning new things everyday. He loves to sing songs, read books, and play outside. His favorite songs are Jesus Loves Me, The Wheels on the Bus, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider!! He has recently learned how to show you where his eyes and nose are. We are still working on other body parts...one at a time. We are also working on learning animal sounds. Right now we are working on what the COW says. I do a LOT of mooing!! :-) He still loves to read, and it is one of my favorite times of day when I rock and read to him before he goes to bed. He knows that he can't get down, so he cuddles and cuddles with me! Sometimes we cuddle for 20-30 minutes while we read and sing songs before bed. It is such a precious time of the day. Being the busy, crazy boy that he is, it isn't very often throughout the day that he will just cuddle up and sit with you, but it is a guarantee at night! I LOVE IT!!

Wesleigh has discovered the massive drawer full of tupperware lids in the kitchen! I purposefully left it not childproofed so he could play with them. That boy can scatter those lids from one end of the house to the other!! He also likes to play in the trash and throws things away! I recently had to move the trash can to the pantry, after I discovered 2 of his leap frog refridgerator magnets in the trash!!

We just switched allergy medications to see if we can't fix some of the sickness we have been having. He has been on Zyrtec for a while, but yesterday we just switched to a prescription, Singulair. Hopefully it will work! The only thing that I already don't like about it, is that it is granules in a little packet. You have to sprinkle it over some kind of food!! Such a gamble with Wesleigh, because you never know if he is going to take the next bite of something. We used ice cream last night, I haven't decided what will work tonight!

He is playing with the phone (a forbidden fruit in our house) so that I could try and get a picture of is banged up lip the next day!!

Wesleigh being silly while hanging with his daddy!

LONGING!!! Is there any place greater than OUTSIDE when you are a little boy?? I really don't think so. He LOVES it outside. He likes to wander through the grass, pick up rocks, sticks, just go exploring. He loves to swing and slide. He was introduced to fire ants this weekend. Thank goodness somehow he only got away with one bite, Mommy and Daddy ended up with more that that while trying to rescue him from the ants! He loves to play with the dogs and follow his cousin Dakota around. He isn't crazy about wearing the hats mommy makes him wear to try and protect his head though. He also had fun dragging the water hose around the yard and pulling the carpet grass runners. He also had fun hi-jacking EVERYONE's drinks and putting leaves in the cups!

Crazy kid!

WEEKEND IN SAN ANGELO
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2 weekends ago we were in San Angelo for a long weekend. Jim's parent's had a birthday party for him and we spent a lot of quality time visiting with his grandmother. She has ALS and it is in very advanced stages. We got some great pictures of her and the boys, but I am not going to post them. I am not sure that she would want them out there in her advanced state. I am thrilled to have great pictures for the boys though. I am glad that she has met them both and we will be grateful for anytime she gets to spend with them.

Jim's party was a great little family get together. His dad made a slide show DVD with lots of pictures from the past and the present!! It was fun to see it. Wesleigh had a great time exploring with G-Pa! He had adventures to the creek on the four wheeler. Collisions with mesquite bushes! They spent time playing on the fort in the back yard and rolling down the hill. We had a great weekend in San Angelo and left with plenty of bumps, scrapes, and bruises to prove it!!! That's how you know a tough little boy had fun!!! Gran spent lots of quality time cuddling and caring for Ethan! She was a huge help while getting in lots of quality time. Gran and G-Pa even let me and Jim go out for a date on Sunday night. We went to dinner and a movie. Came home to Wesleigh in bed, and Ethan ready for bed!! It was nice!! THANKS A MILLION!!

This is at Jim's grandparent's house. Wesleigh had this shreaded paper all over the place. He had a blast and it kept him out of the many many other things that little boys can discover in the homes of old people who have long forgotten about childproofing!! G-Pa was in on the fun too!!

Oh my...what fun!

"What Mom"?

DADDY'S 30th BIRTHDAY
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March 8th was Jim's 30th birthday! We celebrated with Guy and Jaedyn all weekend. On Sunday we had a big lunch out with friends from church, then of course we had the famous chocolate cake. I gave Jim a bunch of much needed new clothes. T-shirts and shorts. Each of the kids gave him a different kind of chocolate!! He had a great day, but I think he still can't believe that he is 30!!

This was after a bike ride!

Won't be long and Ethan will be in on all the big adventures as well!! Gotta love how Maggie managed to make it in the pictures!!

So, overall, we have been super busy, which would explain why it has been so long since I posted anything. We have no plans to travel anywhere until Jim's sister's wedding the 3rd weekend of April. My parents are coming here for Easter weekend, because we have a lot of projects that we need help with!!! I am looking forward to life calming down a bit, at least for the next few weeks anyway!! It won't be long and summer will be here, then we will be off on great adventures with the families. We have wonderful vacations planned with both our families!! Can't wait!!

Wesleigh's Wipeout!

2009-03-09T19:54:00.003-05:00

Well, my sweet sweet boy WIPED OUT tonight!!!

We were messing around out front after a short little family walk...the purpose of the walk, will be discussed later! He was playing on the front porch and he was trying to stand up...something that he does a MILLION times a day, but this time, he just didn't have it together, and he toppled forward and landed on his forehead on the concrete. He cried, and instantly had a major knot and a bruise! I tried to put ice on it, but he would only let us leave it there for a few seconds at a time. This is just the first of many major wipeouts for our crazy boys!!

So, About that WALK...

We went for a walk after dinner tonight. Partially to get some fresh air, but partially, because mommy has an agenda. You see, Wesleigh thinks that it is not only "UNCOOL", but socially unacceptable to hold his mother's hand. He likes to throw himself on the ground and cry to be exact. A lovely fit that he demostrated in the church parking lot on Sunday. I had Ethan in one arm, 2 diaper bags and my purse, and a screaming, flailing Wesleigh on the otherside. The interm pastor was in the parking lot and had mercy on Wesleigh and came and carried him inside. We would have eventually made it, it may not have been pretty, but we would have made it!! :-) So, I am trying to teach him to hold my hand and walk here...in the middle of no where, so no one can hear the screams!!!

If anyone has any advice on teaching Wesleigh to hold my hand without screaming...I'm all ears!

We Are Alive?!

2009-03-05T19:49:00.007-06:00

Wow, it has been a long week!! Wesleigh and I have been sick all week, and man, that sure does make life difficult!! Lets not even discuss how far behind my house is since I've been sick!! We will get to it though!! We have just been in survival mode...everyone is fed, clothed (for the most part), and napping frequently!!! :-)

Last weekend we went to San Angelo to visit family and introduce sweet Ethan to Jim's Grandaddy and Grandmommy. Turns out that she had a cold and didn't want to expose us to her germs, so they only saw the boys through the door! Probably a good thing...since we ended up sicker than them anyway!! Wesleigh had started with a cough on Friday before we left, and it just got worse over the weekend. I took him to a walk in clinic on Sunday morning. He had Bronchitis and a cold. They gave him 3 days of an oral steriod to clear the Bronchitis up. The doctor didn't think he needed an antibiotic, and I was didn't fight it. I am not a huge fan of using antibiotics unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. There are some nasty bugs out there these days, and I personally want the antibiotics to work like a charm for my little people when we need them, so I am not into overusing them if they aren't absolutely necessary!! So, we just focused on getting Wesleigh well, and keeping Ethan well. This meant washing our hands every 5 minutes, and using Germ-X in between!!

After having my sweet boy cough in my face a million times, no big suprise when I started getting his bronchitis on Monday!! The only thing worse than a sick kid, is a sick mommy too!! We ended up taking Wesleigh to the doctor in San Antonio on Wednesday. His cough didn't seem any better and the steriods were gone. Our Pediatrician said his lungs were clear now, that the steriods must have cleared it out of his lungs, and just moved it upwards, b/c now he had an ear infection!! NO fever!! He has had 3 ear infections now, and NO fever with any of them!! It sucks, because I don't even know that he is that sick!! That boy is a challenge on many levels!! But, I adore him!! So, on our way back from San Antonio, we stopped at a Walk-in clinic in Uvalde, and I got some Antibiotics for my bronchitis!!

We are feeling better, but not great. Now I am just trying to put this house back together again!! Good news is, that when we were in San Antonio at the doctor, we had her listen to Ethan, and she said he sounds perfect and was showing no signs of getting sick at this time!! Praise God!!!

Well, these pictures were taken yesterday morning while the boys and I were hanging out! Hope you enjoy!!

Such a little "thinker". I guess there is a lot to think about when you are 1 month old.

I can not believe that my first month with my sweet boy has come and gone. Where does the time go?? It feels like he has been a part of the family for much longer, but I wish I could slow time down!!! He is taking 4 ounce bottles during the day. At night, he is down by 10 pm, up around 2:30 am, takes 5 ounces, then up again around 7:30 am. I am totally blessed!! :-)

See how Wesleigh has a hold on his arm?? Unfortunately that is his new thing...pulling on his brother!! Arms, legs, feet, whatever he gets! He still LOVES to steal his pacifer and his socks!!

Watching them "interact" just makes me look forward to the days when I get to watch them play together and enjoy each other's company!! I know that I will have to listen to them argue and fuss, but what are siblings for??

This is the first kiss Ethan had gotten in several days...because we have kept Wesleigh away!

This picture was last Thursday on our way out the door to Ethan's first Playgroup. Aren't those some good looking boys!!??

Big Cheeser!!

Well, new in Wesleigh's world is TIME OUT!! Oh yes, FUN TIMES!! We had to start something in order to get some of his really naughty behaviors in check...because I refuse to have the mean, unruly, child!! We have started counting with him. If we get to 3, he is off to time out. On the first day of counting, he didn't care about the counting, but the time out made him angry!! I also had to stand right beside him for the whole minute, so he wouldn't leave time out. Now, about 4 days later, MOST of the time, he stops what he is doing with a count to 1 or 2. When we do get to a 3, he will usually sit in time out without getting up for the entire minute. We are making progress, and it is helping to get some of his naughty behaviors in check!! I was about to lose my mind with him before we started this, so thank goodness it is working!!

He is on a mission to somewhere...lookout world!!

If that isn't a guilty face, I don't know what is??I caught Wesleigh taking KIX out of his snack trap and lining them up on the back of his "buck". I guess they were going for a ride!! Silly boy!

Becoming My Mother!!??

2009-02-25T11:18:00.004-06:00

I mentioned in the last post that our church was having revival services this week...well, that has made the week a bit more stressful and busy, but, so far we have survived, and tonight is the last night. Well, each evening at 5:30 they have had a meal, then the services start at 6:30. The meal has been a great time of fellowship with our church family that we have sorely missed over the past 6 months! On Monday night it was Pizza, then last night they had a Chili cookoff. I'm not much of a Chili fan, so I have never attempted to make Chili, and I was just planning on taking some cornbread instead. Well, yesterday morning I decided that I was going to attempt Chili. I put out a plea on facebook for a recipe, I got one later in the day (thanks Alice), but by then, I had already started my experiement. I shopped around on the internet, read a few recipes, then dove in head first. By the time Jim got home, I thought my Chili was tasting pretty darn good. Of course, he thought it needed more spice, I let him add a few speckles of spice to apease him, but really not enough to make a difference, because afterall, I was the cook, and I thought it was great!

All that to say...out of 13 pots of Chili that were judged...I WON!!!!!!! I was in shock, so much so that I laughed!! I didn't make a whole lot, because when it comes to potluck type of things, I usually take a bit more than what my family would eat...so that is what I did. After I won, everyone wanted to taste the winning chili and my little bitty pot made me look really cheap!!! Then to add insult to injury, people were asking me for the recipe, and that is when I realized that I had become my mother!!! For years now, I have cursed my mom for not having recipes for some of the things she makes...and here I was, without a recipe for something yummy!!! Yikes!!

This is just a cheese-ball picture I snapped this morning. In his hand is a "snack-trap"...it is a bowl that has a little rubber lid on it with flaps for him to stick his hand in and pull something out, without being able to spill the whole bowl. I bought them for him a LONG time ago, but he couldn't use them then, or wouldn't use them. I put KIX in one this morning, showed him how to use it, and he LOVED it!! It will be great to have them in the car, as well as letting him have a snack in it without worrying about him making a huge mess all over the house. If he does accidently drop one, he picks it up and eats it!!

This morning I got brave and decided to try and get some pictures of the boys together. I really didn't figure it would work, so they are just in their PJ's, maybe I will try again sometime soon with them dressed cute!! Wesleigh actually sat there for a few minutes with Ethan in his lap, but when he was done, he proceeded to push Ethan's head off of him, then tried to use Ethan's belly as leverage to stand up!! :-) Don't worry, I saved Ethan!!

Wesleigh LOVES to give kisses...almost as much as he LOVES to steal Ethan's pacifer!

I think he is mostly in shock that I laid Ethan in his lap...almost like the forbidden fruit was handed to him!!

Ethan looks a bit more comfy in this position, this was about the 90th kiss since we started this little 3 minute photo shoot!

Such precious little boys!!

Wesleigh is in a phase of LOVING books. He also loves the boppy pillow, and that is his "preferred" reading spot. He likes to look at them, and pretends to read them. It is adorable. Nevermind that half the time the book is upside down when he is reading it, but it is still adorable and wonderful. Oftentimes he will bring us a book, but after the first page he is usually ready to move on to something else. The only time that he will really sit still for a book is at bed time when he knows he needs to drink his milk and listen to the story in order to buy a few more minutes out of the bed!! I absolutely LOVE to read. I haven't found the time in the past 3 weeks to start a new book, but eventually I will again! I hope that I can teach both of my boys to love reading as much as I do. I will do anything to continue to foster a love of books and reading for Wesleigh. Their daddy hates to read, mostly because it has never been easy for him, and it frustrates him, so we are both very hopeful that they can love books and reading like me, instead of hating it like their father!! He has plenty of other wonderful skills and traits that they can learn from him!! Of course, his love of reading requires me to return all the books back to the bookshelf several times a day, but I'll take it!!

In this picture, he actually has 2 copies of "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?? in his hands. I honestly didn't know we had 2 copies of that book!

Dont' look too closely or you will see that the book is upside down, but that didn't stop him from jabbering, I mean reading away!!

Time for an Update!!!

2009-02-22T14:56:00.008-06:00

Daddy and the boys!! Wesleigh has major jealously issues when it comes to Daddy!! This was progress!! This was last week sometime!!

Ethan is 18 days old today, and it seriously feels like he has been a part of the family for a lot longer than that. Have I mentioned that he is a good baby? He isn't the awful baby that so many people warned me I had coming because Wesleigh was always a good baby. I consider myself BEYOND blessed to have 2 wonderful, peaceful, mellow, happy, and most importantly HEALTHY baby boys. Being their mommy every day is the greatest gift God could have given me.

Jim has been off work since the day before we went to the hospital to have Ethan. So, needless to say I have had lots of help around the house and especially with Wesleigh. BUT, that is ALL about to change tomorrow, when at 5:20 AM Jim leaves the house to head back to life in the real world!! You see, I just don't think that the Government would continue to give us a pay check if he doesn't go back to work...so I guess that leaves me and the boys to figure out a daily routine on our own!! Thankfully Wesleigh still takes 2 naps a day, at least for the time being. Ethan still sleeps a lot and is doing very well on his new formula. Wesleigh is still loving giving Ethan kisses, stealing his pacifer, and sneaking in a hit every now and then!! Ethan just rolls with it...thank goodness!!

I want to get some pictures of the 2 of them together, but Wesleigh wants to be around Ethan on Wesleigh's terms, not on mine, so it is still rather interesting!!

So, in the week and a half or so since I posted last, here is what has changed for the boys...

Ethan:

- His umbilical cord fell off, so now he is enjoying his nice, warm baths every night!

- He had a 2 week check-up where he weighed 7 lbs 6 ounces...which is up 7 ounces from his birth weight. He is now 20 inches long, he was 19 and 7/8 inches at birth.

- He met Jim's grandma, Ma, for the first time and spent some great time hanging out with her and Gran and G-Pa when they came to visit us in Del Rio.

- He traveled to Beeville for the first time to meet my grandparents, his great grandparents.

- He slept for 6 hours straight ONE night. Around hour 6 I woke up, woke Jim up and asked him what time he last fed the baby, and he said he didn't, so we both JUMPED out of bed to make sure he was still breathing!! It was a ONE time occurance!!

- He is laying here on the floor beside me as I type this, I had him on his tummy for tummy-time, and he wasn't happy about it, so he just rolled from his tummy to his back and now he is perfectly happy!!

- He has learned to LOVE his swing, and so do I!!

Wesleigh:

- He learned to climb up his slide all by himself and slide down!! We have only had one or two falls!!

- Everyday he loves being outside a little more than the last!

- His little pinky finger-nail finally fell off...from the whole...finger smashed in the door incident! Yay...no more black fingernail!!

- He says new words every day...not that we don't still wear the old ones out!!

- He too got to spend lots of time loving on and being loved on by Gran and G-Pa and Ma when they came to visit.

- He had a great time in Beeville, of course, after living there for so long while Jim was in New Mexico, he thinks he owns the place, as well as owning Nana and Grandpa!!

- Much to his daddy's dismay, Wesleigh is in this crazy phase, where he LOVES to get my purse and put it over his arm, blow a kiss, and head toward the door and wave bye bye!! Jim says that Wesleigh spent too much time with me and my mom, and it drives him crazy!! He has this little bucket that he will do the same thing with!! He will put some blocks and other "boy" things in it, then carry it like a purse, blow a kiss, and wave bye bye!! I know it is just a phase he will soon outgrow, but it drives his daddy bonkers!! I don't worry about it, because he is SO boy, it isn't even funny!!

As for the rest of us, we are doing well. Guy and Jaedyn were here for the weekend. We had a good time, we went to church this morning, and I think it may be the first time they have been to church since before we left for New Mexico. Their mom hasn't stepped foot inside a church since we were in the middle of the custody battle.

I feel great, am very glad to not be pregnant anymore!! Jim has been working like a madman the past 2 days, because our new washer and dryer finally came in, so that was a major project that is still going on as we speak!!

We will be spending some extra time at church this week, as they are having revival services all week long. The evangelist that is speaking is a very good family friend of Jim's family, and I believe that he has known Jim most of his life. He really enjoyed seeing us this morning, and meeting all the kids!! There are still people at church who look at us in disbelief when they see us with another baby. I guess since we left town for almost 6 months, then came back with another baby, some of them didn't even know we were pregnant again!! My pregnancy was so quick and easy for them!! :-)

Enjoy the pictures!!

We actually bought some fresh corn on the cob at WalMart last week...this farm girl doesn't buy corn at the store very often, but it looked and felt good...so I bought it, and it was GREAT!!! This is Wesleigh finishing off one of our cobs!!These pictures were taken last Sunday. We were hanging out outside! He LOVES to be outside. This swing is on our back porch. After we finished swinging, we went on an adventure walk, he had a blast. Curious little boys, the simpliest things amaze them!!

This is when Ma met Ethan for the first time!! She really enjoyed meeting him and spending lots of time cuddling with him!

This is the "hat" that Grandaddy made for Wesleigh out of the paper bow thingy that came off of his Russel Stover Valentine's Candy!!

This is Wesleigh ENJOYING the piece of chocolate Grandaddy let him have!!

Grandaddy's first chance to love on Ethan!!

This was the first time MawMaw met Ethan! He stayed in that spot (her arms) for the rest of the afternoon! She gave him 2 bottles, and they enjoyed cuddling!!

Grandma meeting Ethan!! She too just sat and cuddled him through the whole visit!! Her and Ethan were both as happy as could be!! She likes to hold them as much as she can when they are this size and don't wiggle much!! Once they get bigger, she mostly just watches them play, because they are hard to hang on to!!

Isn't this face pathetic!! Sweet, rotten child!

I took this picture while I was typing this post!! He is so stinkin' strong!!

This is my new washer and dryer!! I LOVE IT!!! It is fixing a major space issue that we had in our laundry room. It has been a major undertaking. We had to remove 2 cabinets in order to stack them, and at some point, those two cabinets will be rehung, on the opposite wall. That is at some point after my husband finishes the water softener/filter issue that we have going on at the moment. He is about ready to pull all his hair out at the moment!!!

Today: Wesleigh is 14 Months old & Ethan is 1 Week Old!

2009-02-11T10:54:00.011-06:00

This is my pajama cowboy! My mom bought Wesleigh these boots a while ago. They fit, but he walks funny in them. I guess it takes some practice to get used to not being able to bend your ankles! We were playing around after bath the other day, thus creating the PJ Cowboy!!

Struttin' his stuff!

This is the Rock, Ride, and Roll toy that Nana and Grandpa bought Wesleigh for Christmas. Daddy put it together the other night, with LOTS of "help" from Wesleigh, also known as "Helpie Helperton". Wesleigh also enjoyed climbing on top of the box then, falling off on his head repeatedly!! It was a hoot, and he never even wimpered.

These two pictures were taken 2 days ago while Wesleigh was playing! He absolutely loves his chair that he got from Gran and G-Pa for Christmas. I love it too, although I am not crazy about Wesleigh's new found love of standing in his chair!He is too cute, but doesn't he look guilty about something??
Wesleigh had a WalMart gift card from a Christmas present that he recieved that I had to return because we already had it. So, we bought him this slide with that gift card. It is intended for the back porch, but it is in the living room right now, because he needs to learn how to use it before we turn him loose on the concrete of the back porch. Wee...here we go! Climbing up the slide is fun too!

Ethan was sleeping in his bed like a good boy yesterday and I happened to walk through the bedroom to catch him smiling and grabbed the camera. So stinkin' sweet.Another precious smile.Cuddled up on his boppy pillow on the floor...the big brother must have been sleeping!!

Sweetly sleeping in his bed.

These three do NOT make very productive subjects! When Wesleigh was looking at the camera, Grandpa was either looking at Ethan, Wesleigh or staring out the window! Anyhoo, this is my dad and my two boys!

This picture was taken on Saturday night. My dad, Jim, and Ethan were all being lazy on the floor. Ethan and Grandpa both have their hands over their faces!!

Well, Ethan is a week old today, and Wesleigh is 14 months old today!! Our first week with Ethan has been wonderful. He really is a good baby. He tends to be a little fussy during the day, sleeps all night like a champ, but then he decides that after his 5 am bottle that he wants to play for a while before he goes back to sleep. He eventually goes back to sleep, but usually just a short time before Wesleigh wakes up for the day.

Wesleigh seems to be doing very well with the addition of Ethan. He has his moments where he seems to be jealous, but we just make sure that we take some time to be with him. He absolutely LOVES to give Ethan kisses, and it is the sweetest thing to watch. Every now and then he will be a little mean, but we try to nip it quickly. He likes to grab the back of the bouncer and BOUNCE very hard!! Ethan usually just sleeps right through it...can we say Baby Shaking Syndrome??? We can't turn our backs for a second, we are learning to be very vigilant!

These pictures were taken at mom and dad's the last week we were there. I just never had a chance to post them, but they are too cute to let slide!

These pictures were also at my mom's before Ethan was born. Wesleigh was playing in this little cooler, having a blast, then, he squated down and was totally wedged/stuck in it. As a little boy he is always getting himself into interesting situations, and I usually make him work it out, and he is usually able to free himself. Well, I made him try to get out for a while, but when it became apparent that he was really stuck, I took some pictures, then I helped him out!! Silly little boys and the things they find to amuse themselves!

Ethan's Home...We're all Home. Totally Blessed!!!

2009-02-07T20:59:00.011-06:00

So, we are home, reunited as a family after meeting our newest member, Ethan Jack Pool. He was born on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 2:07 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 15 ounces and he was 19 and 7/8 inches long!! He shocked us all by coming out "sunny side up" with a whole head full of dark, curly hair!!!!! (FYI...most babies are born face down, but Ethan didn't make the "final" turn before entering the birth canal, and he came out face up!!) The doctor and nurse that delivered him told us that if he had been face down like he should have been, I would have only pushed once or twice and he would have been born. As it is, I pushed for about 20 minutes!!

So, here's the story...we were admitted to the hospital for induction on Tuesday night. My cervix was still about 1 cm and 30% effaced. So, Dr. Thompson inserted the cervadil to start trying to get my cervix more ready. They gave me some Ambien so that I could "get some rest" (what is that in the hospital)!! I woke up about 3 am having contractions...they got a little stronger as the morning wore on. At around 6 am, they took out the cervadil, I took a shower, then we started the pitocin. The contractions got stronger, but still not awful. At about 9:10 or so, Dr. Thompson broke my water and inserted an internal contraction monitor. Breaking my water totall upped the anty!! I started have INTENSE contractions one on top of the other. I had the WORLDS best nurse. She was young, and spunky, and funny. She kept me laughing and in a good mood. She was the best. She told me to get the epidural, so I did!! It was WONDERFUL. They actually gave me a "spinal" that would last 2-4 hours, then he also inserted the epidural, so that if I hadn't delivered within that time frame, they could administer meds through the epidural. So...unlike my epidural with Wesleigh, I was in HEAVEN!! Absolutely NO pain, and I could feel the baby moving down with every contraction. I was sitting up in the bed laughing and joking with everyone. Then around 12:30, our parents took Wesleigh down to get some lunch, so I decided to try and nap. I slept for about about 45 minutes and woke up feeling LOTS of pressure. So, we called the nurse and I was fully dialated and ready to push. I pushed a few times, then they called the doctor in, and I sat with Ethan practically crowning while the doctor took his sweet time getting dressed. Then, I pushed a few more times and out he came...looking face up at the doctor!

Lets just say he did a LOT less damage on the way out than his brother did. Ethan weighed 3 ounces less than Wesleigh, he was about an inch shorter than Wesleigh and his head was an inch smaller!! I for one was very thankful for that!! This birth experience was 100 times different than my first, and it seems to be a lot easier on my body. I feel a lot better now than I did 2 weeks post partum before! I will take it!!

Here are some pictures from our time in the hospital! Enjoy!!

This was Wesleigh's short nap while I was in labor. Poor kid was so tired, that he just passed out on Jim's shoulder when he was walking down the hall in the hospital. The nap was only about 20 minutes, but it did him a world of good!!

This is one of his first pictures! It is amazing how quickly they slap that ID bracelet and umbilical alarm on him!

He was doing some sputtering and rapid breathing in the beginning, they were afraid they may have to take him to the nursery, but he snapped out of it after some suctioning and time.

Look at all that hair!

They put him on my tummy when he was first born, then they took him to the warmer and messed with him, but this is when they gave him back to me all wrapped up!

After we let everyone else back in the room, this is Wesleigh getting his first peek at his little brother!

G-Pa meeting and getting his first look at Ethan!

Wesleigh giving Ethan his first hug! So sweet. The first time daddy walked up to Grandpa and showed Wesleigh he grabbed Ethan's face...then he gave him hugs and kisses!!

Gran and Daddy with Ethan

Nana holding Ethan for the first time.

Mommy getting some sweet Wesleigh kisses. The days that I was in the hospital were the first time I had been away from Wesleigh. Then, when he saw me, I was hooked up to EVERYTHING and he was kind of scared of me. It was very heartbreaking for me. I cried every night and every morning we were in the hospital. I missed him so much. I missed bed times and sweet cuddles throughout the day. I missed everything about him. He thrived with Nana and Grandpa and according to them, he hardly missed us! I am glad that it was easier on him to be away from me than it was for me to be away from him. It would have been super hard for me if he was crying about us being gone.

Great picture of Gran holding Ethan for the first time!

After hanging out in the room with us for about an hour or so, they took him to the nursery for a bath and about a billion assessments. Jim went with him and stayed with him most of the time. During this time, I was moved to my post partum and hanging out with the family.

He is getting his head full of hair washed for the first time!

He screams a lot more than this now!!!This was after his bath, during all his assessments. You see the thing on his umbilical cord? That is an alarm sensor that would shut the whole hospital down if he gets too close to the exit doors. Wesleigh and Gran looking through the nursery window at Daddy and Ethan. He actually didn't realize that there was glass and bonked his head on it trying to get to daddy!!During our second day in the hospital, Nana and Grandpa brought Wesleigh up about midmorning and stayed until about 4 that afternoon. He is sporting his Ethan's Big Brother shirt in these pictures. Aunt Glenda made that shirt for him, and it was adorable!! In this picture Daddy and Wesleigh were being silly, Daddy put him in the "baby box" and Wesleigh pouted like a baby! It was hilarous!! This picture kind of shows something that Jim and I have been in awe of since Ethan was born...it is AMAZING how much of a difference that 1 year makes. Just 13 months ago, he was the baby in the box, now look how big he is!! Now, changing Wesleigh and just looking at him, is so weird, because he seems HUGE!!

Wesleigh didn't have much patience for this photo shoot, but we got a few good ones!

This is too cute...it's like he is trying to figure out what to do and think!Great picture of Daddy and Ethan!

It looks like he is pointing to him, but he is really poking him!!

These pictures are from our last day in the hospital. He had a traumatic morning that started early with his circumcision! Ouch, but necessary!! He is all dressed to go in his going home outfit that Nana bought!

So, sweetly sleeping!

Hanging out with mommy! I was chomping at the bit for discharge paperwork, because I wanted to go home. We hadn't been home in 5 months and I was ready to reunite my family in my home!!

Mommy stealing kisses! I'm so entitled!! I grew him after all!

Finally ready to go home, safely straped into the carseat for the long ride home. We had to stop just past the Uvalde Border Patrol Check Point because Ethan let us know that he was hungry. We had a dirty diaper and a bottle, then we headed home. Nana and Wesleigh were waiting on us. They had traveled from Beeville and stopped at the grocery store on the way! Thanks Nana!

This picture was shortly after we got home from the hospital. Wesleigh voluntarily climbed up in my lap with the baby. Up until this point, he had totally ignored whoever had the baby, so we were making progress!!

The whole rowdy gang!! Together for the first time!

I have to take a minute to thank our parents. We couldn't have made it through the hospital days without them. Wesleigh spent his nights with Nana and Grandpa, and we are beyond grateful for all they did for him. It isn't easy being in the mom and dad rolls, when you are used to being grandparents, but we appreciate it more than they will know.

Gran and G-Pa spent much of the days at the hospital entertaining Wesleigh and helping keep him out of trouble! Thank you for all you did, it made it possible for him to be up there longer and spend more time with us. We also want to thank you for the many meals that you brought into the hospital for us! You are greatly appreciated!

Our first few days at home have been great! The first night was a bit rough, Ethan had a hard time sleeping in his bassinet in our room. It is so much bigger than the baby box they sleep in at the hospital. After being up with him half the night, b/c he couldn't sleep when we put him down, I finally figured out that if we pinned him very tightly in a sleep positioner wedge that he would sleep like a champ.

On Saturday we had to switch from hospital disposable bottles to our regular bottles and he had a very hard time transitioning on the nipples and spent the afternoon with a cranky tummy from bubbles. I think we have finally gotten the hang of the new bottles and are doing well with our feedings again.

Saturday night was great. He only woke up twice, ate, and went back to sleep. It was great! Wesleigh has been waking up at night, but I think he is just trying to get used to being back in this house. We just have to give him some milk and he is good to go!

We spent the weekend as a family, with Guy and Jaedyn and Nana and Grandpa. It was a great weekend! Nana and Grandpa worked hard to help us get moved back into our house, and Nana made lots of yummy food! Their help was again appreciated!! We will be on our own this week, then next Sunday, Gran, G-Pa, and Ma are coming to visit for a few days! We all look forward to that time with them!

We are Off to Meet Ethan!!!!!

2009-02-03T08:38:00.002-06:00

Well, we are spending the first part of the day with Mr. Wesleigh. He is enjoying hanging with his main man, his daddy! He has really missed him! We will lay him down for his afternoon nap at 2 pm and Jim and I will head to San Antonio! Silly Jim forgot his shoes...all he has with him are his work/combat boots!! LOVELY!! So, we will have to make a pitstop for some more appropriate shoes!
We check into the hospital around 4:30, then we will know what kind of induction we are set to do. Depending on my cervix this evening, I may get Cervidil tonight, and start pitocin around 6 am or, I may start pitocin at midnight!! Hopefully we will meet Mr. Ethan early on Wednesday!!
Please pray for me as I am leaving my sweet Wesleigh for the first time. I know he will be fine, Nana and Grandpa have become such a HUGE part of his life since we have been living here the past month. Hopefully it won't be too traumatic for him!!
We will be doing most of our updating via phone...mostly text messaging. So, if you would like a text message, then, I need your number!! I am hoping the hospital will have WiFi, but we will have to wait and see!!
Pray for us, and I can't wait to introduce you to Ethan!!!!!!!!

Prayers

2009-01-30T16:47:00.002-06:00

Most every post I put on here is about our sweet little family, but this one is different. When you look at the list of other "blogs" on the right side of your screen....on that list are blogs of friends, and some are blogs that I have come across randomly and that I have not and will never meet the faces of the people in them. I just enjoy keeping up with them.

Through one of my favorite blogs, I was made aware of a family that is hurting in the worst possible way right now. They are losing an awful battle with Cancer in their 2 year old little girl Tuesday. I read through her mom's blog over their battle with cancer. Tuesday seemed to be doing very well with all her treatments and moving right along toward beating cancer, then out of no where, her cancer doubled in size in less than 1 week and is now taking her life. They just found out on Wednesday that everything has gone downhill, and now she isn't expected to live through the week.

http://half12.blogspot.com/

My heart just breaks for her family. She has 2 older brothers and a twin sister. Her life is ending way too soon, it is one of those things in life that here on earth, we can NEVER understand. As a mommy, my heart is burdened for the pain her mommy must be feeling as she cuddles her child here on earth for the final times.

Please pray for this family as you feel led. I just felt the need to share.

Daddy's Visit to Beeville

2009-01-23T12:44:00.012-06:00

Since Wesleigh finally figured out that walking was WAY cooler than crawling, it has opened the world to playing outside. He loves it and so do I! It is a great way to add something new to break up the monotony of the day! It is a lot of fun for everyone!!
This little slide is just his size! It has been around Nana's for a while. Wesleigh had a gift card with credit from WalMart due to a gift he recieved that we already had, so I have used that gift card credit to get him his own little slide for our house. It will be a great addition to the back porch!!For a kid that has only been walking good for a couple of weeks now, he is incredibly sturdy on his feet. He can manuever over rocks and obstacles big and small with no problem!!

Well, Daddy flew into San Antonio last Saturday at noon. Wesleigh and I went to pick him up, then we had a quick lunch and headed back toward Beeville. We got home just shortly before Baileigh's birthday party, which I have already posted about. So, on Saturday we partied next door, until it was bath and bedtime! Oh, wasn't bathtime glorious??? I think so, b/c I didn't have to bend my big ol' Ethan belly over the side of the bathtub to bathe the stinker! His daddy did it!!! That night, and everynight until he left!!!

Oh man, Saturday night was a rough and long one. Mom and dad had company other than us, so we had Wesleigh in the room with us...He didn't sleep...I am not sure if it was being moved from "his" room into ours, or the addition of daddy to the mix, but it was a LONG night. After a really hot, relaxing bath at 3 am, mommy was finally able to convince him that it was ok to sleep.

On Sunday, we went to a country style resturant that has super yummy food. We all enjoyed it, but Jim ate until I thought we were all going to puke if we had to watch him eat another thing!! Since he has been on his own for a while now, he hasn't had much good home cooked food, so he took advantage of it!

Nana and Grandpa got in on the fun too!!

On Sunday evening, we went and hung out with Katie and Joey and the girls. We had a great time, as I already mentioned in a previous post as well!!

On Monday, we mostly just hung out. We went to Beeville, and took care of a few errands. We had been meaning to pick up 2 additional Wii remote controls with some Christmas money that Ma had given us, but we hadn't been able to find them...anyhoo, we found them in Beeville. Also, HEB was having this INCREDIBLY amazing sell on Pork Butt Roasts and Pork Ribs...$1/pound!! So, we bought some and put it in Mom and Dad's extra freezer, and dad will bring it to Del Rio when he comes after the baby comes home!!

Monday evening we visited with Grandma, Jim changed the oil filter in my car, and we just hung out!

Then, on Tuesday, we had to get up early and travel to San Antonio. I had a doctor's appointment at 11:15, and everything was good there, then we took Wesleigh to the doctor after we ate a yummy mexican food lunch. He hadn't been feeling well, and I figured I should have him checked out while we were there! Good thing I did...he had an ear infection in his right ear and fluid build up in the other one. So, we are on antibiotics for that!

After that, we took Daddy to the airport and we headed home to Nana's. I was BEYOND exhausted and ready for some rest.

We had a great visit with daddy, but it was way way way too short. It has been so hard for me to watch how insecure this stupid detail has made Wesleigh. He couldn't even let Jim out of his site for fear that he wouldn't be there when he came back! It is hard to watch, and I can't wait until this is all over and done with. We need to get our lives back in order and get our kids straightened out!!

These two pictures, I took yesterday while the monster was actually happy. We had a rough day yesterday, but these were happy moments!!

Baileigh's Birthday Party!

2009-01-19T11:38:00.003-06:00

It's SO hard to believe, but Baileigh celebrated her 7th birthday this weekend. Where has the time gone? She is very girly and likes all things girl!! She got lots of fun stuff and had a blast with family!!

Opening presents!

Little Diva!

Wesleigh and Daddy sliding down the slide. This is now a new obsesion! He LOVES to slide!!

On the shoulders is always a favorite!!

Cousin Laynie (she is 8 days older) and her mommy Ashleigh. Ashleigh recently discovered she is pregnant again. It is very very much of a shock to them, a little sooner than they would have planned, but God planned differently. So, Laynie will be a big sister sometime around September!!

Hanging Out with Friends

2009-01-19T10:49:00.007-06:00

Last Tuesday Wesleigh and I spent the evening hanging out with our good friends Katie and Joey and their 3 girls, Abbie, Emma, and Sara-Kate. These pictures were taken on Tuesday.

Wesleigh and Sara-Kate (She is 8 days older)

Wesleigh, Sara-Kate, and Emma (she is 3)

Abbie joined the crowd here! (She is almost 6)

Wesleigh is making his escape...he has had enough girls!!!

Jim, Wesleigh, and I went back to their house last night to hang out for a bit. They are the kind of friends that you can just lounge around and be casual with, no worries!! So we had a relaxing evening hanging out with them.

Katie and Joey are the kind of friends that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt would be there for you through thick and thin, you know, the kind of friends that you are lucky and blessed to have! We love you guys!!

I did not take this picture, I actually hijacked it without permission, but, it is a great picture of their whole family!!

Eviction Notice!!

2009-01-12T18:12:00.002-06:00

Well, I talked to Dr. Thompson this afternoon, and it is official....Ethan's eviction notice has been issued and he will be arriving on February 4th!! The details on which type of induction we will do, depends on my body at that time. But, I just wanted to get the word out, that this is the plan as of now. If he decides he needs to call the shots and arrive sooner, well, then obviously that is what will happen, but if he doesn't, then it's 2/4/09 for Ethan!!!

Wesleigh's Eyes...A Great Check-Up

2009-01-08T10:32:00.002-06:00

Ok, so most of you are probably aware that Wesleigh has a little problem with his eyes, but it dawned on me that some of you may be clueless as to why we see a pediatric opthomologist. So, I will try and start from the beginning to help those of you out. Wesleigh has what has been diagnosed as a Congenital Motor Nystagmus. What that means is he has rapid, involuntary eye movement that he has had from birth.

Around 2 months is when I started noticing that his eyes moved a LOT!! They would scan back and forth very very quickly. When changed pediatrician for our 4 month well child check up and that is when the doctor noticed it. Wesleigh wasn't tracking with his eyes at all. He was unable to focus on an object and watch it move without his eyes jumping all around. Both of his eyes ALWAYS did the same thing, and it was always side to side motion. Well, Dr. Bourland, our pediatrician was VERY worried, and she made us an appointment for the next day with a pediatric opthomologist. Let me just throw in there, that I had already spent many of hours on the internet researching rapid eye movement and had already diagnosed what was going on as nystagmus. I had read the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, when my pediatrician freaked out on me, it sent me into a tailspin. I was alone also...Jim and my parents were all gone somewhere, so I was in this alone during those 2 days. We saw the eye doctor, and recieved the official diagnosis of Congenital Motor Nystagmus, I had a lot of questions answered, but the biggest answer we got was...we will just have to wait and see what his eyes do with time. The nystagmus can be caused by a number of things...an optic nerve that is too short (this was ruled out during our first visit to the eye doctor)...nuerological conditions (the only way to tell if this is the case is to do an MRI...the doctor didn't want to do an MRI on a 4 month old, he really wanted to wait and watch Wesleigh and see if he showed any signs of developemental delays of any kind) So, as if all mommy's aren't paranoid about their babies meeting their developmental milestones on target, it made me even more paranoid...the other thing that can cause the nystagmus is just a plain ol' fluke! (meaning that they will NEVER know what caused it, it just happened...don't we all love those kinds of answers!!!!!)
Anyhoo, so we were on a wait and see kind of plan. Meanwhile, like I mentioned I had already devoured all the information I could find on the internet, and that can be a major double-edged sword!! I had to stop reading about it on the internet and trust that God had a plan for my little man's eyes and that no amount of worrying and crying about it would change a darn thing...and believe me, I had done my fair share of crying and worrying!!

Let me just add in here real quick that during our first appointment the doctor explained to me that even though Wesleigh's eyes moved very rapidly from side to side that his brain had learned to compensate for it and that he saw images "still" just as you and I do. The brain is so remarkable!!! You can develop a nystagmus after a traumatic injury to the brain, and it can be horribly debilitating, b/c everything in your world is constantly moving from side to side, but if it is all your brain has ever known, then the brain learns how to make it work!! The doctor used the analogy of the old camera that used to shake to take a picture, but they spit out a perfect still picture...that is what Wesleigh's eyes/brain work together to do.

So, over the next 6 weeks, his eyes improved dramatically!! They stopped "shaking" and moving as much and as rapidly. He was tracking very well, and was just making remarkable progress. I must mention that during this time he was also soaring above and beyond any and all developmental milestones. He was way way ahead of where he "should" have been. We went back to the eye doctor at the end of May for another check-up b/c due to some lovely insurance politics, we were going to have to switch eye doctors and I wanted to see the original doctor one last time to see if it was just my crazy opinion that we had improved leaps and bounds or if he agreed. Plus...with an eye doctor and a condition like this, he had already established a base line of what his eyes were doing 6 weeks ago, and to just start over with a new doctor was very very aggrivating!!! At that appointment in May, the doctor confirmed that it wasn't my crazy imagination and that his eyes had improved DRAMATICALLY!!! He was super pleased with the progress that his eyes were making and was also encouraged by Wesleigh's above target developmental skills...he felt like we were looking at a crazy fluke case of nystagmus, and that hopefully by the time he outgrew childhood, that he would outgrow most of the nystagmus as well. Well, as you can imagine I was estatic!!!!! Such a wonderful report!! So, we were released form that doctor's care and given our medical records and were scheduled to have a follow-up appointment with our new eye doctor in July!!!

Well....throughout the summer his eyes continued to improve, they still moved a lot more than "normal", but we were making progress!! He also continued to be a little over achiever when it came to developmental milestones, always going above and beyond!! I think it some ways this was God's way of helping me relax and know what my boy's brain and body are fine, he just has wobbly eyes!! :-)

So, in July we saw our new doctor for the first time. He confirmed the initial diagnosis and established his own baseline and also told us that he felt like Wesleigh could see just fine. I had already started feeling that way, b/c he had started eating finger foods and he could pick up a little cheerio with 2 fingers and put it in his mouth. If he wasn't seeing, then that wouldn't be possible!! So, we were to continue on with life and see the doctor again in 6 months.

During this time his eyes continued to make progress. New people we met actually didn't even notice that there was anything different about his eyes. There certainly is though...if you really look at them, they still move back and forth or scan a lot more than yours and mine do, but they are NOTHING like they were when he was 4 months old. His eyes still get really wobbly when he gets very tired, but for the most part he has been doing very well. Somewhere along the way, we started noticing that Wesleigh kind of looks at you out of the corner of his eyes...it is actually quite adorable, and very flirty! I had wondered if it wasn't something to do with his vision, but I didn't worry about it too much. At Wesleigh's 12 month well child check up with the pediatrician, she was a little concerned about his peripherial vision and the way he turned his head. I wasn't too concerned about the peripherial vision, b/c of his behavior. He doesn't run into things and is able to step over toys when walking or crawling, but once again we were on the wait and see track until we saw the eye doctor in January!!

Well, yesterday was our check-up at the eye doctor and we got a WONDERFUL report!! The doctor felt like his eyes have continued to improve, he noted that he thinks his vision is at least 20/60! However, we will not have anyway of confirming the true strength of his vision until he is older and can tell the doctor what he sees!! But for the meantime the doctor wasn't the least bit concerned about his ability to see and comprehend the world around him!!! He also noted the head turning/corner of the eye thing...and he confirmed my thoughts on it. It is what is called the "null point"...that is the point in which Wesleigh's eyes move the least! That is why he always looks that direction. His eyes harldy move at all in that spot. Now, you move to that same spot in the other direction and his eyes move the most...he demonstrated this by shining a light in his eyes and watching how they responded!! The doctor was not the least bit concerned by this, he was actually pleased to know that he had found the spot where he sees the abosolute best. He has no worries right now and thinks that Wesleigh is doing wonderfully!! He said we should keep on keeping on and come back to see him in another 6 months!!

So, he received a wonderful report, and I feel very very confident that he will continue to improve, and hopefully outgrow the wobbly eyes all together!!!!

On a side note, as the doctor was walking us out of the office, I asked him about Ethan, and the chances of Ethan having the same issues. He said that he does not feel that what Wesleigh has is genetic, so he doesn't think that Ethan has any more of a chance of having it as the next kid on the street!! So, we hope and pray that Ethan doesn't have to deal with the same wobbly eye issue, but if he does, we will take it one day at a time as we have with Wesleigh!!

So, now, everyone should be on the same page and up to speed on Wesleigh's eyes!!! Mostly, he just has beautiful, blue eyes that are gonna steal girls hearts someday!! They have certainly stole mine!!

___________________________________________________________________

Ok, so none of these pictures are new...I actually went back through the blog to snatch them...but they all show you exactly what I am talking about as to where he holds his eyes/head so that he can see the best!! Just looks like a cutie pie to me!! These pictures range over the past 6 months!

OB Appointment! Ethan's Still Cookin!!

2009-01-08T10:00:00.003-06:00

Well, yesterday my mom, Wesleigh, and I had an all day adventure in San Antonio. Wesleigh had an eye doctor appointment and I had an OB appointment. I will have a post about Wesleigh's eyes before the day is up...

Ethan is doing very well. He continues to grow right on target, has a heart rate of 140 bpm and is looking forward to his debut!!

Around week 35 in pregnancy they do a test/culture that is looking for a bacteria call Group B Strep. Basically it is a virus that lies dormant in a woman's body, causing her no problems or symptoms whatsoever, but, if a baby passes through the birth canal that is infected with Group B Strep without treatment it can cause many problems, including blindness, and death. In fact...you know how they fill a newborns eyes full of goup? That is the reason they do it. Anyway, when I was pregnant with Wesleigh, I tested positive for Group B Strep, and basically all that means is that you get 4 rounds of IV antibiotics while in labor before giving birth, then the pediatricians just watch the baby for any signs of problems...no big deal. So, anyway, they did my Group B Strep culture yesterday...we won't discuss the details of what that entails...but lets just say it is over. Regardless of the results, I will still be given antibiotics during labor, but the pediatrician monitors the baby differently if I test positive again.

The doctor decided that I didn't have to go in for an appointment next week, but then the next week he wants to see me, however he is on vacation so I have to see one of his colleagues. He told me not to go into labor while he was on vacation, and I told him just to get his vacation over with so that he is back before anything crazy does happen!! He checked my cervix and I am dilated to a fingertip...which translates to almost 1 cm. I am suppossed to call him on Monday so that we can set a definately induction date, which will most likely be on February 4th!!! Stay tuned for the definate info on that!! He absolutely does NOT want me going into labor by myself because he thinks that my labor will go fast, and he doesn't want me on the road in labor, even if I am only an hour and a half away now!! He feels very confident that when we induce it will go quickly and smoothly!! Yippee for that!!

So, I have approximately 26 more days of sharing my body with Ethan, then, it will be all mine again, FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!!

2008-12-31T10:36:00.002-06:00

Well, as most of you know, we have been waiting and waiting and waiting on the government!! I know....such a shocker!! In some ways, we spend our whole lives waiting on the government in one way or another.

But, we finally got our answer today!! Jim's last day of work at the Academy will be Friday, January, 30th, and he will travel home on January 31st!!! WE COULDN'T BE HAPPIER!!! We are glad to finally have a count down day to getting him out of here!! This means that we can be flexible with the induction date. I will proabably still stay at my mom's house b/c she is after all an hour and a half closer to the hospital than we are at home, and I wouldn't need to be traveling anyway, but at least we will be in the same state!!!

Our Quiet Little Christmas Day

2008-12-30T14:01:00.005-06:00

Well, this should finally be the end of the Christmas posts. It has taken me forever to get to it, but here it is...

Due to Jim's lovely schedule, we were here in New Mexico, just the three of us (sorry Ethan, 4 of us)!! We slept in, or at least I did!! Since Santa had brought Elmo Live earlier in the week when Guy and Jaedyn were visiting, we didn't have any Santa suprises that morning.

Jim and I had our gifts for each other, and we had saved back one of Wesleigh's presents from us so he would have something to open as well.
Wesleigh tore into his package, and was happy to find a little basketball goal. He loves it! He quickly got the hang of making baskets and when you make a "slam dunk" it cheers for you!! He has enjoyed it very much. He was also very stylish in his Christmas PJ's that Nana bought for him. They were silk and VERY slippery when the little guy got to wiggling!!!

I was next, I had been eyeing my gift for a long time. It looked exactly like a box of checks....Well, it wasn't a box of checks, it was a Jawbone. That is a bluetooth headset to use with my cell phone. We have had bluetooths since we were dating, but they have been far from perfect, and somewhere along the way, I actually stopped using mine!! So, this is the top of the line technology and it seems to work beautifully!! God knows I am going to need every hand I can find here in another month or so!!

Last but not least, Jim opened his and was beyond pleased to find a Garmin GPS!! He hasn't stopped playing with that silly thing!! It is pretty high tech and will be nice when traveling. I was able to find a really great deal on it, and because I waited about a week to buy it, I was able to get a much upgraded version for the same price that I was going to pay for a lesser version!! Funny thing...they were both at WalMart.com. It's fair to say that it was a huge hit!!

We spent most of the day in our pajamas, had a nice dinner, and just enjoyed a lazy, quiet Christmas day with our boy!!

Poor Elmo Has a Bully

Ok, so Elmo Live is a hoot. If you haven't played with one, you should! We laugh at Elmo everyday! He tells stories and jokes and is just overall very very silly. When Elmo falls over he says "Uh Oh, Elmo fell down, can you help Elmo up Please??" Then when you pick him up he says "Thank you, You're Elmos' Best Friend"! Well, Elmo can be right in the middle of a story or a joke or something and Wesleigh (a.k.a. Elmo's Bully) pushes him down. It is hilarous. I guess they have a love hate relationship!! Sweet ol' Elmo continues to tell him he is his best friend every single time...someone needs to tell Elmo that he doesn't need enemies if his best friend is such a bully!