MIA this Fall

Yes, I know. This blog has been seriously neglected and lacking lately. Normally, I would try to go back and create a blog post for every memory and event, but frankly, that seems too overwhelming this time. So, I'm going to give an update on each of us and let you know what has been going on with each of us recently.

Jesse
Jesse has had a pretty busy Fall! Work has continued to be busy (really, I don't think the golf course industry ever has a down period), but he has enjoyed some exciting things in the work world. At the end of September, he was invited to travel with the A&M Mens Golf Team up to Oklahoma for a big tournament. Traditions will be hosting the National Championship tournament next Spring, so Jesse was asked to tag along and see what all was required to host a tournament of that nature. It is going to be a huge ordeal!! Something tells me I will not see much of my husband next April and May...but, I digress. Anyway, so Jesse traveled with the team and fortunately was able to strengthen some relationships and gather valuable knowledge and resources for next Spring.

Also, as of two days ago, the brand new clubhouse at Traditions opened! This is a really big deal for their membership base and overall growth of the club. They will now be able to host large events (anyone in College Station getting married- GO THERE!) and provide more of a club-like feel to their members and guests. I met Jesse for lunch on Friday so he could show me around, and wow. It is gorgeous, lacking in nothing! Jesse and his crew completed all the landscaping around the clubhouse, and it was beautiful. We sat out on the patio while we ate lunch, and I felt so relaxed! I'm excited to see how the club continues to change and grow with this new addition to their property.

This summer, Jesse started taking Crossfit classes. I figured it would last a month or two, until he was just too busy to attend, but he has really stuck with it! Truthfully, the classes are exactly what appeal to someone like him. Every single day is a new combination of crazy exercises, designed to push you to your max. Then, they add in competition with yourself and everyone else, and wala! Results! He is doing really well, and I'm super proud of him for sticking with it.

Lastly, I cannot mention Jesse + Fall without mentioning Aggie football. We all have our passions, and anyone who knows Jesse knows that this lands in his top 5 passions. Perhaps top 3...lol. He LOVES Aggie football. Sometimes, a little too much. In the past few years, while the Aggies have been so inconsistent and frequently ended up in the bottom of the conference, it has been hard to encourage this passion. What should be fun football games would turn into silent car rides home, praying that his blood pressure would subside and he would not have a coronary. But alas! We knew the tide would eventually have to turn back, and this year has been the year for the Aggies! As of last week, we were ranked #19...and then last night, we beat #8 Nebraska! WHOOP! And yes, my darling husband was in the stands with the rest of the 90,000+ Aggie fans, cheering on the wrecking crew. The ultimate fans, who stick through bad seasons and good, all got to celebrate last night.

Melody

Life has been pretty full for me lately, though I worry that if I consider this time "busy," I'm in for a real shocker down the road. I'm coming to terms with the fact that life is going to continue to get busier, and I'm having to re-shift priorities today. Tomorrow is not going to be any easier!

So, to that end, I have been really trying to work with Ryleigh. I'm sure every parent says this, but seriously, that girl is SMART. Really smart. She soaks up everything like a sponge and has a desire to learn. What kind of mom would I be to ignore those opportunities because I'm too busy?? It has been difficult, but extremely rewarding at the same time.

One of the activities we work on is a Letter of the Week. I have set up bulletin boards in her room to display the "big" and "small" letter for that week, several nouns that begin with the letter, and then highlight the letter in every place it appears. The first week, she caught on right away. She started pointing out "A" to me everywhere we went! If we were at the store, she's say, "Mom, there is an apple! Apple starts with A!" The second week, she maintained about the same enthusiasm. But around "C," she started to get frustrated. She was getting confused with the sounds of the letters, no doubt in part to the fact that "C" has several different sounds ("cah" sound, like cat; "sss" sound, like cycle). Anyway, so we began reviewing the other letters again, and trying new things to get her excited about adding a new letter every week. Now we are on "F" and she is doing great. Regina has been helping her practice writing her letters on those dotted lines, and Ryleigh has been going around writing her letters everywhere! The other day, the magna doodle magnet on the refrigerator had a little e on it, and my heart just swelled with pride for my daughter! She is working hard and blowing me away.

I have also been quite aware of Ryleigh's 3-year-old...ahem...personality? growing lately. That girl is stubborn and strong-willed, and we have reached a point where it doesn't seem to matter the type of discipline we use, it gets little to no reaction or remorse from our daughter. And while I know this is a phase that all children go through to some extent, I also see that her personality aligns with a determined temperament, and therefore, we need to figure out some way to learn that her way is not always the right way. I wish I could count how many times a day I say, "Ryleigh, look at Mom. I need you to listen to me." 90% of which is completely ignored. NOT acceptable.

So, we are trying the whole firstborn, need to achieve, perfectionist route. I created a list of small "chores" to begin working with her on. No, I'm not trying to be a drill sergeant here, but I want to teach her to listen and obey, and by doing so, you get rewarded! I figure teaching her simple chores in the process cannot hurt. Especially since, at this age, we are still doing the chores with her. She just has to listen when it is time to do them, and try her best.

Every night, Jesse walks through the list with her and she gets a star sticker if the chore got done without complaining or whining or begging from mom and dad. Once she gets 20 stickers, she gets a treat. I have to say, the times when she has not received stickers, have been upsetting for her! For example, one of the items is to Listen and Obey Adults. On days when I find myself constantly repeating instructions and asking her to listen to me, I warn her that she is not being a good listener, and if she continues, she will not receive her sticker. Well, there have been several days she has not received that sticker!! And after a few tears for "no sticker tonight," she always apologizes (on her own!) and I have noticed that the day afterwards, she reminds me throughout the day what a good listener she is being!

It is hard learning to be consistent with our kids, but I really want to continue to work with Ryleigh on this. If I'm putting effort into her knowledge and intellectual growth, I also want to make sure I'm working with her personal and character growth.

Lastly, I have been trying a couple of random suzy homemaker projects. I have been making my own play-do lately, and Ryleigh loves the "cold" doh! We have made blue, purple, red, and orange.

I finally got tired of my office heating up every afternoon when the sun sets and fills the room with hot sunshine. So, I created my own window covering thing. I'm sure a professional window decorator would shutter at my attempt, but nevertheless, I have not been sweating every afternoon anymore. And any guests who stay with us no longer have to worry about the street light shining in all night long anymore.

Ryleigh

I guess I went into a lot of detail of Miss Ryleigh in my update, but I thought you might like some cute pictures of my little diva.

This might be one of my favorite pictures of her right now. This sums up so much of where she is at this point in her little life! Always in the middle of adventure, happy and cheesy, growing, and still small...

Another sign of development is her ability to sit and concentrate for longer periods of time. Recently, she has been asking me for movie nights! We pop some popcorn, veg together, and watch a Disney movie. Of course, we have seen Beauty and the Beast probably a hundred times in the past month. She has also pulled out some other random movies and sat there watching, totally intrigued in the story.

She is still a book worm, asking us to read to her multiple times a day. We love going to the library and picking out new books every week, and then I read to her every day before nap and bedtime. Funny story. Last week, I was worn out from the day, and so Jesse was giving the kids their bath and getting them ready for bed while I cleaned up the house/kitchen. Ryleigh came running in crying, saying Daddy was making her go to bed, and I was not going to get to read her a story. I told her to ask her Daddy to read her a story, to which she cried harder, saying "but Daddy doesn't know the words!!" So, Jesse of course, laughed, scooped her up, and proceeded to prove to her that he knew the words. He let her pick a book, and naturally, she picked the hardest book to read (one of Dr Seuss's tongue-twister books), and he shot me a look that looked panicked. Ha! He went ahead and read it to her. The next day, all she could talk about was how, "Daddy knows ALL the words!!" Hahahaha. We both got a kick out of it.

More and more, I catch a glimpse of my girl, and in shock, realize how big she is getting. She is such a kid now. Watching her learn how to control her body during gymnastics, while growing and getting stronger all the time... I look at her, and no longer see my little baby girl.
She got sick last week. I had taken her to school (she still attends MDO once a week), and about an hour before I was supposed to pick her up, the director called me. She said Ryleigh had been complaining about her tummy hurting and was crying, "and she is so smart, we just know this is not right! Something is hurting her." I headed up there to go get her right away, and sure enough, by the time I got there, she was sitting up front with her teacher and the director, crying, throw up all down her clothes, leaning over a trashcan. She was so scared! She just cried when she saw me, and I just picked her up like a baby (getting throw up all over me), and told her it was okay. She had never thrown up before! Sure enough, she continued to throw up the next 24 hours, and naturally Wesley joined in before it was over. So, we all laid around in jammies, drinking fluids and eating Saltines for 48 hours, and at the end of the ordeal, I had a smiling girl again.

Wesley

Our little man is seriously turning into such a little boy!! His new nickname is "lover," because he seriously has the sweetest little heart and his smile melts everyone. He has very few inhibitions when it comes to warming up to others. He will offer a cuddle and hug to anyone. Definitely a little lover.

Last month, Daddy took him to get his first haircut. I have to admit, that I was hesitant to let him go by himself with Daddy...not because I thought his hair would look bad or anything...I just didn't want to miss it! But Jesse gently told me that there are a few things that are on the special list for him, one of them is taking his boy(s) to the barber shop. Apparently growing up, it was a fun outing for him with his Dad, and so he was looking forward to the chance to start the tradition with his son. So, I waved them off, and sent the camera with Jesse!

Wesley's haircut was precious, Jesse took a lot of really cute pictures during the cut itself, and even brought back some of the hair for Wesley's baby book (which I totally neglected to do during Ryleigh's first cut...oops!) I was most impressed, and glad that Jesse was able to take that special moment with his son.

Wesley has exploded developmentally in the past two months. It seems like for so long now, I have been worried about him. He wasn't talking. He wasn't walking. He wasn't eating much. He wasn't growing. He wasn't getting teeth. Worry, worry, worry!

He started walking around the middle of October, and within a week, he was a pro. Now, he walks all the time. And climbs on everything. He loves to clear off all the items on all our bottom shelves and climb on the shelf. A couple weeks ago, I was working in my office and the kids were watching cartoons and snacking on Cheerios in the living room. I heard Wesley start squealing, so I went in there, only to find he was not in there anymore! Ryleigh and I both went into her room, and realized that Wesley decided to crawl into her baby doll bed, and was stuck. He didn't like us standing there laughing at him, and he really wasn't happy when I ran back out to go get my camera and capture the moment on film.

He is interacting so much more now! He babbles much more, though his primary sound is still "da" over and over. He has begun to point to things and make a sound when he does it. Sometimes he will spit out a string of three or four sounds, and it seems like he is trying to say something. There is no real communication yet, though he does seem to shake his head "no" when he adamently does not want something.

Wesley likes Baby Einstein videos with music, toys, and colors. He doesnt really seem to like being read to yet, and I cannot get him to play independently for the life of me. We recently got a new bookshelf in his room to display all his toys, with the hope that if he sees them and they are easily accessible, he will want to play with them. So far, not much luck with that.

I am so excited to report that Wesley is eating better and has definitely grown! Yay!! FINALLY! He is a good eater right now, eating pretty much whatever we eat (or whatever I make for Ryleigh). He eats 3 solid meals a day, and about 3 snacks a day. He is filling out. And I'm pumped! He now wears 12-18 month shirts and 9-12 month pants. If I put him in 12 month pants, we end up rolling up the top to fit tight enough around his waist and rolling up each pant leg so he doesnt trip on it. We also finally got to move up a size in diapers. I know that seems silly to be excited about, but I was begining to doubt him ever fitting into a size 4 diaper. He's still a little guy, but all the eating and sleeping is paying off, and he IS growing! Wahoo!

Our little lover is such a sweet addition to our family. He loves his Mama, and grins at me like no one else. He lights up for his Dada, and talks and grunts to Daddy more than anyone else. He loves to snuggle his "sissy," until she hugs a little too tight. Ryleigh always tells me, "Mama- I love my brother so much. He is so cute!"

I tend to agree.

Okay, massive update complete. We are all well. We have been sick several times this Fall and have been busy living life, but we are all well. I'll try to be better about updating more regularly. Hugs to everyone out there!