Pretty School

Rhett started preschool, or as he still calls it, "pretty school" in September. He was so excited to go, especially since Tagg would be in his class.

We got to meet the teachers and take a tour of his school before he actually started which was a good way to ease in.

On the morning of his first day of school, my stomach was in knots and I was just so sad. I was excited for him to start and knew he would love it, but I knew it was yet another end of a chapter of motherhood. Motherhood is the best and so rewarding, but honestly each change and end of chapter breaks a little piece of my heart. I will never have Rhett all to myself again with a open schedule all day every day. He will be influenced by teachers and his peers and hopefully still somehow have room for what I try and teach him at home.

Driving to that first day of preschool, I cried the whole way there. I tried not to let Rhett see, but he caught on. He kept telling me to put my sads away in the cutest little voice. I stopped crying long enough to drop  him off, but then had a good cry all the way back home.

My little man is growing up. He is such a joy! And he is absolutely loving preschool.

After the first day, we celebrated at Tony Burgers for lunch! He came home telling me he punched some kid and was fighting. I am sure hoping he wasn't serious.

Pajama Day at Discovery. They have the cutest party days. He could get used to this. Rhett kept requesting to wear his pj's to preschool. 

I have to admit I am loving having a schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays that gets us out of the house in the morning and I love having one on one time with Ruby. She doesn't mind it either!

Ruby at 10 months

Why does the first year of life have to go so fast? The transition from baby to toddler is so hard for me! I know I should look forward to their first birthday, and in some ways I do, but mostly, I dread it. Did I enjoy my newborn enough, my three month, six month old enough? Did I snuggle them enough? Did I read to them enough? Did I take it all in? All these questions make me want to just stop time. And Ruby's first year went twice as fast as Rhett's.

She has been such a fun baby. She has always been easy going, a good eater, good sleeper, easy to laugh and smile, and so easy to love. Her giant blue eyes, long dark lashes, cute button nose, and beautiful full lips get me every time. Her hair is getting really curly which is adorable.

At ten months, Ruby still loves dolls- especially her mini Corelle doll we got at the bookstore. She sleeps with her for every nap and at bedtime. She used to only use her binky at night, but now she wants it whenever she sees it. Her favorite snack is definitely popcorn. She kicks her legs and lunges for it as soon as she sees it. She loves feeding herself, loves edamame, corn on the cob, green beans, purple grapes,  yogurt, watermelon, bread/pasta, ice cream and treats, especially fruit snacks, and anything Rhett is eating.

 

 

 

Ruby's favorite time of day is bath time. She will crawl in there and pull up on the tub and try to climb in. Her crawl is very creative. It's a mix between a bum scoot and regular crawl. She can stand up from sitting and stands for a few seconds and then gracefully sits back down. She loves playing on my bed and goes crazy doing belly flops, back flops and pillow dives. She understands when I say "should we go swing on the swing?" and she kicks her legs and gets so excited and reaches for outside. She loves following Rhett around and loves when Rhett will crawl around with her. "Come on Ruby let's crawl!" She does the cutest game where she tilts her head back and forth from shoulder to shoulder and loves when we do it back to her. She can do the elephant noise and loves when Rhett and I do it with her. She says daddy for a lot of things and doesn't say mama as much as she used to. I'm pretty sure she says teddy and dolly.

 

 

Ruby does not like Rhett's teasing, stealing of toys, or too much rough housing- she's ok with a little. She can hold her own though. I love how strong she is. I've seen her tackle Rhett to the floor!

 

 

  

We love you so much Ruby! You make our lives so much happier, fuller, and fun. You are such a special little girl. And I guess you can turn one, if you have to.

Ranching in Wyoming

I grew up going to "The Ranch" every Memorial and Labor Day for as long as I can remember. Since we moved to Houston, I hadn't been since Rhett was 8 months old! I missed it so much!

Mitch had Friday and Saturday off- a "golden weekend" in residency terms- normal life for most other folks, so we left Friday morning right after Mitch had worked a long night shift. I drove, don't worry. The whole drive up, I had so many memories of the ranch flooding back to me and I realized how much I had missed it! It's so fun for kids to have a place that's familiar but so different from every day life. At the ranch, the closest neighbors are cows, the loudest noises are crickets and coyotes, the brightest lights are the stars, and the biggest worry is not having enough time at the ranch. Heaven!

We were the first ones up there and had the place to ourselves. It was unusually green up there because of all the rain and everything was beautiful!

 

We got there just in time to see a shipment of cattle unloading.

There were lots of manly father-son moments too- Rhett learned how to pee off a fence- thanks Mitch. Rhett now knows he does not need a potty to go. Rhett was loving all his daddy time, especially after three crazy months in a row not seeing him much.

 

 

Good old Fatcats. Been running forever. 

 
Mitch drove Rhett through the biggest mud puddle they could find and both were soaked head to toe. By the end of the first day, Rhett had already been through three changes of clothes.

 We even got to go see the barn owls, at least a dozen times. Rhett is obsessed with owls. He loved looking for their feathers too.

Ruby was loving the great outdoors too. She loved all the dogs running around that our cousins had brought, she loved the horses, being outside, and lots of time all together.

I have a picture of me just a little bit older in this exact same chair in the same spot. Not sure if that's a good thing. 

 

She wasn't loving this though...

Minds and I left the kids with the boys one morning and ran up to beautiful Fremont Lake. I love having a running buddy. And such a beautiful place to run. Mitch had to leave Saturday night so he could make it to work early Sunday morning, but we got to stay till Monday.

 

The Varners brought their horses up and were nice enough to let us ride them too. Rhett can't get enough of riding horses. I have to beg him to get down. 

Here he is on his third horse ride. Bomps is one good looking cowboy too.

 

Nana bought all the little boys pop guns and they were a hit. It is little boy heaven up there with all the cousins around, mud, guns, bow and arrows, 4-wheelers, and lots and lots of wide open space.

 Till next time Wyoming...