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We started off the new year in lazy fashion. No big parties. No celebration dinners. Not even staying up until midnight. Sad, I know. Instead, we bought a bottle of bubbly, which neither of us liked, and thus had more fun shaking it up and enticing the contents to explode all over the yard.
Ryleigh enjoyed playing with the cheap poppers with Daddy. This face is not even close to her first expression when Jesse pulled the string and she heard the loud POP and saw streamers go flying. P.R.I.C.E.L.E.S.S. Wish I had caught it. She was delighted to have more to do afterwards and thoroughly enjoyed when Daddy let her pull the string "all by myself."
The lucky lady also got the privilege of running around the house, blowing into a large and annoying bazooka-type thing. Normally, this is the kind of behavior that would drive Mama and Daddy nuts and promptly lead to the toy being taken away and the girl given a much quieter toy...like a book that makes no noise. But, considering Ryleigh was the only one interested in celebrating the momentous occasion, we let her enthusiasm spill over to the rest of us.
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Did you hear about our "hard freeze?" I'm sure most of you did, because you probably experienced it yourself. I love cold weather. Love it. Not a fan of the cold, wet weather, but alas, we live in Texas. That is normally the only kind we get. And actually, it managed to stay cold for about a week, and it wasn't gross, rainy, or icy every day! Nothing like feeling cold with the sun still shining. I finally brought out all our sweaters and sweatshirts, washed them all, and we enjoyed wearing warm clothes, hats, and jackets.
On a similar note, (well not really, but just go with it), I got my first pair of furry boots for Christmas. Those of you who know me or have been around this blog long enough know by now that I'm not fashionable. At all. In fact, if there is a trend or something considered cool to the rest of the world, there is a good chance that:
A) I don't like it.
B) I couldn't pull it off even if I did like it.
C) I would never go spend the money necessary to attempt to pull it off right.
D) All of the above.
Normally for me, the answer is D. And if I should suddenly decide that I like a "trend," and decide to spend some money and attempt to pull it off, I'm generally about a year behind everyone else, thus no longer fitting in with the trend. Yep, folks, I'm that lame.
So, yes, I finally got on board with the whole boot thing. But I SWORE I would never own skinny jeans. Only skinny girls with tiny bird legs get away with skinny jeans. Alas, my dilemma. How are you supposed to wear boots? Over skinny jeans. So I got these cute boots, but no way to wear them. I tried putting them over my normal jeans and Jesse just kind of rolled his eyes.
During our batch of cold weather, I gave in. I went and bought a pair of skinny jeans, on sale for $19 at Old Navy. (Y'all know I don't buy jeans anywhere but Old Navy! I cant totally forego my roots.) This way, I figured if I absolutely hated them, they only cost $19, and I could give them to Salvation Army. I brought them home, put them on with a sweater and my new boots. And ya know what?
I liked it.
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We have been spending our weekends really making the most of them. Like, not getting out of our pajamas until mid-afternoon, just in time for an early dinner a little playtime, and another movie. The kids don't seem to mind. All they know is that pajama time means lots of cuddles on the couch and in Mommy and Daddy's bed.
Speaking of movies, we have rented several the past few weekends. Care to know my take?
- Angels and Demons- We liked it. I kept waiting for a twist to figure out who was really good and who was bad, and sure enough, I guessed wrong. Good movie and interesting storyline. Plus, I typically enjoy Tom Hanks' movies.
- My Sister's Keeper- Umm, total let down. If you actually read Jodi Piccoult's book, then you will hate this movie. How can you change the ending of a story?? It ruins the story! I was very frustrated with this one and sad that they chose to mess up a great storyline.
- Up- Loved it! It is made by the same group who did Finding Nemo, and I thought it was pretty obvious. Animated for kids, but humor snuck in for the adults watching along. We all loved it, and Ryleigh was sad to turn it back in. We're going to have to add this one to our collection I think.
- Paranormal Activity- Normally, I enjoy a good scary movie. Truthfully, from the trailers, I thought this would be dumb. And watching it, I did not feel scared. However, it kept me up four nights in a row, listening to every little sound, feeling my heart race, and over-analyzing every creak the house makes. Probably shouldn't have watched that one...
- Julie and Julia- I really liked the movie! I think because I saw something of myself in there...frustrated with work, a writer by nature, trying to learn cook...it was something I could totally see myself doing. If Julia's voice hadn't been so annoying throughout the movie, I would have loved it.
Gotta love lazy weekends on the couch, watching movies. :)
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Work has been bad...and good...and bad...and good. Isn't that how most people feel about their jobs?
It has become increasingly difficult managing to work full-time from home, with an active toddler and a baby. I knew it would be, but somewhere inside my super-woman pride told me I could handle it. And I have been "handling" it....
...with a small treat to myself at the end of the day. No, not every day...I do change it up from time to time. This week I made brownies instead. :)
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To that note, we went ahead and bumped Ryleigh up to 3 days a week at MDO. It was (another) hard decision for me, because I don't want her to feel like I don't have time for her, so I'm shipping her off. But, in all honesty, when she is home and I have to work, I cannot invest the time and energy into her that I want to either. At least this way she is getting stimulated and interacting with others and learning. And when she is home with me, I try to be more available to her.
When I cannot focus directly on her, I still want her to have fun. All the fun new toys for Christmas helped. She has been letting her imagination take flight, "cooking wunch" for me, building "Daddy's gof cos" with her legos, having tea parties in her princess tent with her baby dolls, and taking apart puzzles over and over. All good things! But in case you did not know this about my sweet, little girl, she is ACTIVE. And full of energy. And she goes stir crazy real quick, just like her Mama.
So, this week, we opened one of the Christmas presents we had hidden, hoping to spread out the excitement a little bit. Check out Ryleigh's new cycle. It attaches to the tv, and they have learning games as well as good old fun racing. Ryleigh's favorite vehicle so far is the big school bus. Only she likes it to be purple instead of yellow. No, she has not mastered the games by any stretch, and more often than not, I hear the "beep-beep-beep" of her pedaling in reverse, rather than pedaling forward, but anything to run off some energy inside, is A-OK with me.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -And lastly, I can't update without mentioning my little man. Oh, how I love this boy. He reminds me daily of why I chose to be a mom. It never ceases to amaze me how much you can love someone else, and like I have admitted before, I didn't think I could ever love anyone as much as I love Jesse. Then we had Ryleigh. And I thought my heart would surely burst. How could I ever love another baby so much? I was wrong. Wesley has me wrapped around his tiny fingers in ways I didn't know I could be wrapped.
He has the sweetest disposition and rarely cries. He has been great during the nights, continuing to go down around 10pm and sleeping until about 4:30 or 5am. Even then, he wakes up with a soft grunt, not an all out wail. He is a sweetheart. Plain and simple.
His hand eye coordination is getting better every day, and he has discovered that his favorite toys are his hands. This morning, I had not heard him wake up and it had been a long time, so I went to check on him in his room. He was wide awake, just hanging out, checking out his hands, and trying to fit his entire fist into his mouth.
Car rides have been better as well (knock on wood). Granted, I have not attempted a long drive by myself since, but going around town has been pretty good. Tomorrow I head back into Houston, so we will see if this new found car seat contentment is here to stay.
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Jesse is running in the Houston Half Marathon this weekend! He originally signed up for the full marathon, but with our hectic life lately, he just has not had the time or energy to train as he should for that event. So, he and his friends all dropped down to the half. We reserved a hotel downtown Saturday night, and plan to leave Ryleigh with my parents, so we can splurge a little and enjoy the night (almost) to ourselves. This way, I also don't have to drive him down there at 4:30 in the morning, like years past. I'm hoping he does well, and finishes strong.
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All new Grey's Anatomy tonight. All I can say is, plleeaasee have a good show! If the same storylines continue, I don't know how much longer I can commit my loyalty.
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Whew. I think that is all. There is plenty more to say, but no more time to say it. I'll be back soon!
1 comments:
Melody, your family is gorgeous! Ryleigh is getting so big! Is it weird that I feel like I know her, even though I haven't seen YOU in like, 6 years??
I second the remark on Grey's. Get it together, or I am out!
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