1st Day of School

Last Monday was Layton's "First day of school."  He has been going to daycare three days a week since April but he started at the end of the school year.  This summer there wasn't much structure in his class or actual lessons but now he is starting his first actual school curriculum at his little daycare.  He has a certified school teacher and so far the first week has been great.  I've been impressed with how things are going so far so I'm so thankful for that.  He has actual books and we even had to buy him school supplies.  I'm excited to see how much he learns this year and I'm glad he really likes going to school.  Here is a picture of our little 2 year old on his first day of school.

It's a . . . . .

GIRL!!!!!

Sorry it has taken me a few days to come back and update the old blog.  Wednesday was a full day after we found out and then I had to pack for our weekend trip to Houston because I left straight from work on Thursday.  Back to our appointment, she (still sounds weird to say she) cooperated and was moving around the whole time.  We got some good images of her sucking her thumb.  I asked the technician three times are you sure this is a girl and by the end of the sonogram he seemed annoyed with me but I just wanted to be sure.  My biggest fear is to decorate and buy a bunch of girl clothes to find out we are really having a boy.  I feel confident that this baby is a girl which is still surprising to me I was sure we were having another boy.  Since we found out it is a girl I bet I have been asked over 20 times so are y'all finished now that you have one of each?  The answer to that is hopefully not I really want to have another one but it may take some convincing on Clifton's part.  I loved growing up in a family with four kids so I would love to have at least three but we will decide that later.  I've tried to scan the pictures of our sweet baby girl but my scanner isn't working tonight.  We are both very excited about having a girl and Layton having a little sister.  We told him that afternoon and he said "Oh a girl" and then patted my belly and then wanted to talk about his trucks.  I'm not sure if he totally understands what this really means but he is asking lots and lots of questions about the baby everyday.  He keeps telling us after Christmas the baby will be here.  Here are a few pictures we took of Layton when we told him about his baby sister.

Boy or Girl??????

Tomorrow is the day we will find out if Layton is getting a little brother or a little sister.  I'm so anxious to find out either way.  I'm really thinking it is another boy because everything has been very similar to my pregnancy with Layton and to me my belly looks exactly the same.  I thought Layton was going to be a girl though so who knows maybe I'm wrong again.  More than anything I want to get a good report from the doctor that everything looks healthy and the baby is growing right on track.  We will let you know.    

Cowboy Homecoming Parade

Saturday morning we met Grandpa Corky and Granny Leigh at the Cowboy Homecoming parade.  Layton spent the night with them Friday night so Clifton and I could go to the concert and dance.  Layton had been up since 5:30 that morning with Grandpa which is the earliest he has ever gotten up so he was a little sleepy but he really enjoyed the parade.  Clifton and I tried to sleep in and we were laughing at each other we were both awake by 7 and couldn't sleep late even though we had the opportunity.  Layton has us trained now to get up at 7.  Layton's favorite part of the parade was the fire trucks at the beginning they were really loud.  He also enjoyed the football teams float because they passed out popsicles to all the kids.  He was also impressed with the clowns that came by too.  I even managed to get his picture with one of the clowns.  It was a fun and hot Saturday morning.  I can't wait to take him back next year.

He wasn't really cooperating for pictures that morning.

 He was so tired he fell asleep as soon as we got in the truck.

 

Playgroup

I hosted playgroup yesterday morning at our house and it was a lot of fun.  One of my friends offered to let us borrow her big water slide and the kids really enjoyed playing on it outside.  Of course it was hot but the kids were happy and entertained while the moms sat in the shade and talked.  Here are a few pictures from our playgroup yesterday.

 This was from last night Layton was waiting for Grandpa to come pick him up so he could go spend the night with Grandpa and Granny Leigh while mommy and daddy had a date night.  Clifton and I enjoyed a night to ourselves and went to dinner and then to the Cowboy Homecoming concert and dance.  The Josh Abbott band played and it was a lot of fun.

Children's Museum and a trip to Medina Lake

Last Friday I met two of my coworkers and their kids at the San Antonio Children's Museum.  Layton had so much fun as he always does there.  This time I didn't even bother taking a stroller and I just let him roam around and play.  It was exhausting for me keeping up with him but well worth it.  Here are a few pictures from our fun play date at the museum. 

Saturday we took the boat out to Medina Lake with our friends Chad and Kellie and their little girl Emersen.  The water was so low it wasn't very crowded at all.  We drove around the lake and did a lot of swimming to keep cool.  Both Layton and Emersen had lots of fun that day.  Hopefully it will rain soon around here.

Regret

So tonight I read a friend of a friend of a friend’s blog basically someone I don’t know in real life but I love how she writes.  She is a mommy of two boys and I love her honesty.  What she posted tonight was exactly what I needed to hear.

I felt like God was telling me to sit down and slow down tonight and I actually listened.  The last few nights have been especially challenging with Layton.  After work I have very little patience with him because I’m exhausted.  Basically if I am telling him not to do something he does it and then laughs and constantly disciplining him is hard and tiring.  Here is what her post was about.

Today was the first day of school for one of her boys and she wrote about how she wished that she could take back every moment that she felt overwhelmed, exasperated, frustrated or spent wishing that she had time to just be by herself.  If we had all those moments back we would have more time with our kids.  Then she wrote,  “Because tonight I realized that I became me when I had you. I don't want to be anyone else or spend time doing anything else but being your Mommy.”

That brought tears to my eyes when I read that.  This is exactly how I feel.  Becoming a mommy totally changes everything and I became Layton’s mommy the day I had him.  I will never be the same person.  One of his favorite things to tell people lately is “This is my mommy.”  This hit me like a ton of bricks for sure.  I saw one of my friends pin this on pinterest and I think it goes hand in hand with this post.

You can ask Clifton I’m all about getting things done around the house and I love to check things off the to-do list.  I have been especially bad about this lately because I feel like we have so much to do before the baby comes.  At night my focus is dinner, bath, books and then bed time for Layton so mommy can sit down and relax.  Last night I was looking forward to his bed time because he was driving me crazy and I just wanted some peace and quiet.  All he wanted was for me to sit down and play trucks with him or sit on the couch and watch an episode of Mickey Mouse after work instead of me worrying about cooking dinner right when I walked in the door.  He acts so much better when I spend quality time with him and I think he could tell I was frustrated with him last night because when we sat down in the rocking chair to read he said “Mommy I love you, you are so pretty” and he patted me.  These are the moments I will never forget.

I don’t want this to be me one day looking back at photos wishing I could go back and do it differently.  We are only given one chance at being parents and once our kids are grown and gone I know I will wish these crazy days were still here.  It is just so hard I spend so much of my time trying to get things done laundry, dishes, cleaning the house, working out, keeping up with this blog and the list goes on and on.  I’m so thankful I read this strangers blog tonight because I really needed it.  It is interesting how God chooses to speak to us.  Now I just need to remind myself everyday that life isn’t all about getting things done.  I’m going to choose to live in the moment.

Randomness

A bunch of random things to post today:

I called yesterday and got my sonogram appointment moved to August 24^th so I will be 20 weeks and 2 days by then.  It seems so much closer than Sept. 1^st.  I can’t wait to find out what we are having so we can get started on the nursery.  I have the next two weeks to clean out and organize that room now.

Here is a funny conversation I had with Layton last night that I posted on facebook.

Layton: "Mommy is it time for the doctor to take the baby out, I want to hold it."
Me: "No not yet we have a long time to wait. Do you think it is a boy or a girl?"
Layton: "Mommy it's a baby."
Me: "Well do you think it is a baby boy or baby girl?"
Layton's response "It is a cry baby. Babies cry all the time." Haha He makes me laugh you never know what he is going to say these days.

Layton has developed a fear of smoke detectors thanks to Uncle Jerrod.  While we were in Rockport he was hanging out with Amanda and Jerrod in their room and of course started asking Jerrod questions.  He pointed to the smoke detector and asked “What’s that?”  Jerrod explained it to him what it was and said “Do you want to hear it?” and of course Layton said “Sure.”  As soon as he turned it on Layton immediately started crying and saying “No I don’t want it, I don’t like it turn it off” and then came running back to our room.  Ever since then he has been talking about smoke detectors non-stop.  We had one in our cottage where we were staying and I just told him it was part of the air conditioner because he would cry every time someone brought up turning one on.  He has now realized there is one in his room, the baby’s room and our bedroom.  He is okay with them now but I’ve explained to him over and over that they are there to help us.  As soon as he saw Jerrod Sunday night he said “Jerrod I don’t like the smoke detector it’s not going to turn on.”  Just wanted to document this funny little stage we are going through with him.  A day hasn’t gone by since we got back from Rockport that we don’t have to reassure him that the smoke detector is not going to go off.

We also went through a stage where Layton would not go potty in a public restrooms and it was driving me crazy.  One day when I was in San Antonio with a friend and her baby he held it for 7 hours because he refused to use a public restroom.  He kept telling us he was scared of the big potty.  He was also having a hard time going at school.  His teachers said he acted embarrassed and would hold it for hours and hours and even had some accidents at school the past few weeks.  I’m thankful he can hold it so long but I knew this wasn’t healthy.  His teachers suggested we get rid of his little potty at home and only use the big potty so that is what we have done and it worked.  He will now go when we are out and about and is going at school too.  He told his teachers one day at school they kept asking him if he needed to go and Layton said, “I will tell you when I need to go because if I don’t and I have an accident my daddy will be very mad at me.”  LOL not sure where he came up with this because we have never gotten mad about an accident but I’m sure the teachers were wondering.  Just want to write these funny things down so I can remember all this when it comes time to potty train the next one.

I got Layton’s 2^nd year blog book in last month and I love it just as much as the first one.  I’m so glad I kept it up a 2^nd year and have everything documented.  The real test will be keeping it up with 2 kids.   

Tonight was our last night with Jerrod and Amanda.  We went to my parents house so they could tell Clifton and Layton goodbye.  It was fun hanging out with them one last time.  I will be meeting them for lunch tomorrow before they head to the airport.  Please join me and lift them up on prayer tomorrow that they will have a safe trip and everything goes smoothly.  

Here is Layton walking to the car Sunday morning before church with his sunglasses in his back pocket.  We now can't leave the house until he has his cell phone and sunglasses.  He is just like daddy.

 We hung out Sunday night at my parent's house with Amanda and Jerrod.  Layton loved all the attention.

 Playing with daddy.

 This is my Grandma Hindes telling Amanda goodbye.

 Amanda running down the hall with Layton.

 Tonight at my parent's house telling Amanda and Jerrod goodbye.

 They had Layton so wound up and hyper.  He crashed so fast when we got home.

 Layton taking Dexter for a walk.  He wasn't enjoying it though.

 One last horsey ride with Aunt Amanda.