Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You????

Have you ever read Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?? Have you ever read Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You??... 50 times in one day?????

I have!! I have!!! I have!!!!

Wesleigh recently discovered this book and we read it NON-STOP! On Friday, I had just finished reading it 4 times in a row, with no break when I hear Jim's keys jiggling in the door!! Wesleigh got excited because his daddy was home, and I was excited to see Jim, but really excited because he saved me from reading it for a 5th time in a row!!!!

I love that he likes reading, I just wish that we could shake up the book choices a bit! But, for now, it is all Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You??!! I am hoping that the love of reading starts with one book at a time, and if that means that I need to read the same book 399 million times to keep him loving books, then that is what I will happily do!! I love to read, and I hope to pass that along to both of my boys.

So, until further notice....Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You???

Crazy Ol' Wesleigh!!

I'm such a pro at crawling and getting into trouble at a crawling level....next is walking....

Guy handed down his old Tonka truck to Wesleigh...and he LOVES to go for rides in it!!
Push me Daddy...but not too fast, because it tips me out!!
So Fun!

Oh this kid is a nut!! He is so busy, staying busy, getting into things, and learning new and exciting things!! My parents were on a trip through West Texas this past week, so they made a quick trip over to New Mexico and spent Thanksgiving with us!! It was really nice to have them here, since we weren't able to go anywhere, because Jim only had Thanksgiving day off. So, they joined us on Wednesday evening and they left on Friday morning.

This is just a cute picture that mommy took, when she was silly enough to try and make me wear a cap!!

Before they got here, I had started working with Wesleigh on saying "Nana". He said it once before they got here, then he said it once for Nana on Wednesday night, and then, from that point on it has been his new favorite word!! Every time he picks up a new word it is CONSTANT. Everyone and everything is that new word. So, we are all answering to "Nana" these days! It is kind of sad, because today he has been crawling around the house looking for her and calling her, but she isn't here!! So, we tell him "Nana Bye Bye" and he waves!!! It sure made Nana proud for him to be saying her name. She does kind of have the easiest name out of all the grandparents, so I am not too sure when the rest of you can expect it, those "G" words aren't as easy, but we will work on it!! Gran, I've heard that you have proudly answered to "Dan" in the past...that may be the case again before too long!!

On Thanksgiving morning we took Nana and Grandpa on a drive around Carlsbad, one stop along the way was our favorite park. Wesleigh enjoyed swinging as usual, but he was a total grump out of the swing. In fact, he was kind of grumpy all day long! I actually think we are working on a fang tooth!

Push Me Nana!I love to swing!

Wesleigh is also starting to take a few more independent steps. He has gotten pretty good at one to two steps at a time. I have started making him stand up and take a few steps to me pretty much every time I pick him up. He can take 4 or 5 at one time. Nana and Grandpa seem to think that he will take off here before too long!! His new big thing is tackling!! He loves to tackle anything that sits still long enough. Maggie (the dog) is a unsuspecting target a LOT!! He tackles blankets and pillows too!! He has also discovered how much fun it is to get "trapped" by Grandpa. It's funny how kids learn this stuff so early! I don't think I have ever known a grandpa that doesn't trap them, and with my dad he usually traps them until they cry, then he lets them go, and they go right back for more!! Wesleigh is NO exception to the rule!! He gets frustrated, but he goes back for more!!

He is still loving his fruit!! That kid can eat fruit NON-STOP. I really haven't found any fruit he doesn't like. Nana introduced him to cranberries on Thanksgiving. He loves those. We've all seen his love for Mandarin Oranges. He also loves peaches, pears, pineapple, bananas, strawberreis, apple, grapes. G-Pa, he hasn't tried apricots, you will have to introduce those to him, as I know those are your very favorite!! He also really loves raisins, and yogurt covered raisins. Today I found him some dried cranberries, so we will see how he likes those!!

Yummy cranberries and green beans...I've already eaten a bunch of ham and a roll!!

I'm such a cheeser!Yummy, Yummy, Thanksgiving Dinner! My very first!!

Wesleigh and I are about to embark on a traveling season...we will leave on Monday, the 1st and head to San Angelo for the afternoon/night, then we will head toward Beeville on Tuesday. Then, Wednesday the 3rd Ethan and I have a doctors appointment in San Antonio. Friday, the 5th we are having a little family birthday party for Wesleigh in Beeville. Then on the 6th, we will travel to Port Lavaca for the day to celebrate cousin Laynie's birthday. On the 9th, Wesleigh and I will get up early and head back to San Angelo. We will have a family birthday party for him in San Angelo at Gran and G-Pa's house on the evening of the 9th. Then, on the 10th, we will head back to Carlsbad, so that we can spend the 11th with Daddy!!! I can't believe he is almost a year old!! Then on the 15th, we will turn around, head back to San Angelo for the night, then on the 16th, Wesleigh has his 1 year check up at the doctor in San Antonio. We have a couple of down days scheduled after that in Beeville, because we have heard that those 12 month shots can be a booger to get over. Then, I will have Christmas parties with my family on the 19, 20, and 21st. Then, Wesleigh and I will head back to Carlsbad to have Christmas with Gran, G-Pa, Guy, Jaedyn, and Daddy!! Then, the first weekend of January, we will pack all of mine and Wesleigh's things out of the rent house here in Carlsbad and take it home to Del Rio, as I won't be coming back out here after that point. It is just getting too close to delivery to be this far from San Antonio! The 3rd weekend of January, we are planning on meeting up in Del Rio so that Daddy can see me and Wesleigh, then we won't see him again until Ethan's arrival!!

Just thinking about all that traveling makes me tired!!! Thank goodness for family to hang out with along the way!!

These last two pictures, definately need an explanation!! You see...Nana and Grandpa are giving the family a Wii for Christmas...it was delivered a couple of days ago, and we, being responsible, loving parents, HAD to test it out!! Ok, these pictures had to be taken, because my dad is playing. In my 27 1/2 years of life, I have NEVER seen my dad play a video game. EVER!!! EVER!!! He really enjoyed it, and we played for a couple of hours. Best part is...he was pretty good!!! He hit a few homeruns in baseball. He totally kicked everyone's butts bowling. Every single frame he bowled at least a spare! He wasn't too shabby at golf either. Some of the other little games he was very, very, very funny to watch!! I still can't believe he was playing, but Wii isn't just a "typical" video game, it actually requires some physical movement to play!! Anyhoo, we know it works, so we can now give it to the kids and know with 100% certianty that it works!!! :-)

Dad was pitching and Jim was obviously batting!!

Thankful

We have so much to be thankful for! We have been a little frustrated with where life has us right now. If we had our choice, we certainly wouldn't be "temporarily" living in New Mexico, hundreds of miles away from Guy and Jaedyn, and the rest of our family and friends!! We had the "perfect" holiday season planned out, and for the first time in our marriage, all the parties fell on days where we could make EVERY member of the family happy!!! Then, the government stepped in and mandated us out here, making NONE of those plans possible!!!!

So, needless to say, we have both been a little bitter, and disappointed since we have been out here, and look toward these holidays with a little disappointment.

However, I have to sit here and take inventory of all the things we have to be Thankful for despite our physical location!!!

- 11 1/2 amazing months with our wonderfully healthy and perfect little boy!!

- This is Wesleigh's first Thanksgiving!!!

- Guy and Jaedyn's health and every moment we get to spend with them!!

- Ethan, sweet little Ethan!!! To be blessed with another wonderful, healthy baby boy! The days until we get to meet him are flying by! We will get to lay eyes on his beautiful face so soon!!

- Amazing extended families!!! Both sets of our parents are ALWAYS there for us, to support us regardless of the circumstances!! Although both of us have grandparents whose health is slipping away, we are thankful for every day they are with us, and we look forward to every minute we will get to spend with them in the future!!

- Although it is tough sometimes, the bills always seem to be paid!

- Our church family and friends in Del Rio. We miss y'all terribly and look forward to returning home so that we can rejoin the fellowship that means so much to us!

The list could thankfully go on for days and days and days! We are so blessed and we need to take the time more often sit and obserb the many many blessings and things we have to be thankful for!!

We love each of you and are thankful to have you in our lives!!

Elfed

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Carlsbad Caverns Adventures

Since arriving in Carlsbad, we having been wanting to go to the Caverns, but we found out that you can't take a baby stroller down there, so we needed a backpack carrier!! Those things are really expensive, and I questioned how much use past the caverns it may find...Jim insisted that it will get used, so we forked over the money to buy one online and have it shipped....

One of Wesleigh's favorite places to be in the whole world is to be on Jim's shoulders, so we figured he would LOVE the carrier....these first two pictures were taken at the house the day the carrier came in....it was as if Wesleigh knew what kind of adventures were to come...

So, there are a couple of different ways that you can see the Carlsbad Caverns...you can hike down the very steap 1.4 mile journey...it takes you 750 feet deep into the Cavern to the Big Room...or...you can take the elevator down 750 feet and explore the 1.5 mile trail around the Big Room. Well, we decided to walk down into the cave, then tour the big room. So, lets all remember that I am 7 months pregnant and Jim is packing and extra at least 30 pounds with Wesleigh in the backpack carrier...pockets full of water bottles, flash lights, and other necessary accessories to be hiking 750 feet below the earth's surface!!
This was at the very top of the Cavern before we really realized what we had taken on!! Wesleigh was super excited and was just talking to himself and having a blast. As we started to get further into the cave, where the echo started, he started singing...well, before you enter the cave, they ask you to use "library voices" to preserve the natural atmosphere. I told the Park Ranger that Jim and I would do our best, but I could make NO promises what so ever about Wesleigh having a "library voice". I actually told Jim that I figured he was going to discover the echo and get louder and louder...well, aren't mommies always right??? Well, I was...as we got further down, the singing got louder and louder and louder. It was actually really cute!!! Then we noticed that he had gotten really quiet...and this is what we discovered...he was OUT like a light!!! I NEVER expected this from Wesleigh!! He is such a know it all and has to be right in the big middle of EVERYTHING that is going!!

Well, I guess he fell asleep for the same reason that Ethan sleeps nonstop when I am active...the walking motion just lulled him to sleep...and he slept for at least a good hour!! I was amazed. You would think he would have had a major crick in his neck from sleeping like that...but their little muscles are so flexible!!

At one point in our long journey down, the ceiling closed in on us...I could just duck, but seeing as how Wesleigh and the backpack carrier extend about a foot taller than Jim, he had to crawl through the space...it was about 10 feet long and it wasn't an easy feat for Jim!! This was during Wesleigh's nap and while Jim was crawling Wesleigh's sleeping little head was flopping all around! It was kind of sad!! This was called the "Whales Mouth". It was very cool. In my opinion NONE of these pictures do they cave justice!

About three quarters of the way down, I began to wonder what my doctor would say about this little hike...the path was incredibly steep and wet in many places...the potential to fall was actually very great!! I think we will just keep this little adventure to ourselves!! I did use the handrails most of the way down. We rested a few times while we listened to our "handheld tour guide" talk to us at different points of interest along the way!! I was personally a little glad that the billions of bats that usually live in this cave...that we previously watched leave the cave have migrated to Mexico for the winter!! So, no bats didn't hurt my feelings at all!!

The above pictures were taken at the rest area once we reached our 750 foot goal!! Wesleigh was testing his legs after being carried for so long, and Jim was just glad to not be carrying his extra baggage! You don't see me, b/c I am parked on a bench, letting my weary legs rest!!! Oh, and that would be gatorade that Wesleigh spilt all down the front of him!!

So...after we rested a bit, we thought that we were ready to go again. But, you see, we didn't realize that the Big Room was another mile and a half walk...so we ambitiously headed off on the adventure around the Big Room...This area was full of what they call "popcorn".This was called the "Lions Tail". It was a Stalagtite that has popcorn growing on the end of it!!This was in an area called the "Hall of Giants". These were magnificently HUGE columns...which means they went from the floor to the ceiling. They were pretty cool!! There was 3 or 4 of them all together!! We thought this was cool...it is a Stalagtite (hanging from the ceiling) and a Stalagmite (growing up from the floor) that have almost grown together...to make a column! All in all, it was a day of great advenures!! Wesleigh was such a good boy all day long. By the end of the tour of the great room, we were both looking for a wheel chair, b/c we didn't think that our legs could move us another step!!! And let me just tell you... THANK GOD for the elevator!!! I could not imagine having to hike back out of there...I think I would have resigned to being a "cavewoman" for life, as I would not have been able to hike back up the 750 feet!!!

As it was, I think I probably overdid it a bit. We ate dinner on our way through town and once we got home we were totally WORTHLESS!! And today, lets just say that Jim and I are both aware of every muscle in our legs, plus some!! We are having a lazy day, and I'm not sure if we will make it out of the house today!!

It was a great day, but at the end of the day, we determined that if you want to visit the Caverns here, that if you opt to take just the Big Room tour...that you really aren't missing out on anything that you would have seen if you had chosen to hike down the 750 feet. So, opt for the 750 foot elevator ride and see all the beauty of the cave just the same!! Unless you are just looking for the hiking adventure...but if you are just wanting to see the beauty of the cave...go the elevator all the way!!! :-)

Can you say Piggy Piggy???

So, I previously mentioned that Wesleigh really likes Mandarin Oranges. Well, we thought we would just show y'all exactly how much he likes them....

At least it's fruit right??? Can we say piggy piggy???

We spent all afternoon at the Carlsbad Caverns...we WAY over did it, and I am so exhausted I can't even see straight!! So...I will post pictures and tales of the Caverns tomorrow!! In the meantime, enjoy the video!!

Our Throwing Abilities....

So...I obviously thought that Wesleigh's new found ability to throw a ball was wonderful and adorable...and it is. However, he has now learned that throwing extends past just balls. This morning we have had blocks, shapes, and basically any toy that he can lift up over his head flying throughout the house!!!

LITTLE BOYS!!! I SWEAR!!! AND, GOD IN IS INFINITE WISDOM HAS NOW MADE ME THE PROUD MOMMY OF 2 OF THEM!!!! :-)

Mandarin Oranges and Tomatoes

So, Wesleigh is generally a really good eater! He usually eats a wide variety of foods, but I swear that if he had his choice of meals, he would eat Mandarin oranges and tomatoes for every meal. He freakin' loves them!!!

Who Knew Throwing a Ball Could be this much Fun!!

My boy is such a silly little boy. Yesterday he learned all by himself how to throw his red Spiderman ball. He was just playing away, and I heard him just bust out laughing, so I started watching him. He was throwing it, then chasing it. The Spiderman ball is one that I picked up at the Dollar Tree one day and it is a little mis-shapen, so it rolls funny and kind of bobbles around instead of rolling around.

He started it again today, so I went and dug the video camera out and caught it on camera!!!

Then, while I had the camera out, I managed to get him to perform a little bit.... Not as much as I would have liked...we have been working on "where's your eyes" and he has showed me once, but he wouldn't do it on camera at all!!

Hope you all enjoyed the little video clips...I tend to forget about the video camera as my digital camera is never more than a few feet away!!

Just a Boy being a Boy!!

Here are two pictures of Wesleigh's favorite game these days!! He loves to dump the toy buckets out...then climb in and out, in and out!!

Yesterday he tried to climb into the bed of his Tonka truck (by himself...we put him in it and push him around) and the truck dumped him out and he has a nice purple bruise this morning...on his head of course!!

I am off to get the 1 hour glucose test done!! Yippee!!

Small Steps Toward Becoming a Human...I mean Little Boy!!!

Everyday it seems Wesleigh is doing something new. Many of those new achievements are the types of things that only a mommy would get excited about, but they are all things that are helping him to grow up and eventually be a functioning member of society someday!! And, others of which just make him a bonafied little boy!!! I've always laughed because at some point for me, babies seem to transform into humans. You know what I mean? When they start doing things that the rest of human beings do? For so long as needy babies, they seem very unhuman at times! All that to say, I can already see some signs of human life in my little fella!! :-)

- A few weeks back, while playing with John Deere tractors at my parent's house, Wesleigh started "driving" the tractors while crawling along and making "vroom, vroom" sounds! First time my mom and I saw it, we couldn't believe it!! It must just be built into little boys to know how to do!!

- Somewhere along the way, Wesleigh learned how to use a fork. Well, partially anyway! We stab something onto the fork, hand it to him, he puts it in his mouth, then he hands the fork back to us, so that we can reload and start over!! It is awesome!! In fact if we eat something that doesn't require a fork, he looks at us like we are crazy!! We had pizza the other night for dinner and he wasn't impressed!!

- When he finds a sock or a shoe laying around, he will stop and hold it up to his foot, like he wants to put it on. He knows that they go on his foot, he just can't quite finger out how to get the logistics of getting it on right!!

- When we are getting dressed, Wesleigh has learned to push his arm through his sleeve!!! It is awesome!! He actually helps to get his arm in the hole, then he pushes it through, and when his hand comes out the other end, he just sits there and stares at it like...wow...where did you come from!!! It is so cute, and wonderful!! He will also pull his shirt off of his head after you take his arms out of it!

- Along with getting dressed and undressed when you want him to, he has learned to undress himself whenever he feels like it. Particularly when he is in his room, suppossedly sleeping!!!! You see, it all started about a month ago, I went to get him out of his bed after nap and he didn't have a diaper on!!!!! That was quite a shock for me, so...from that point on, I instituited a very strict rule that he is NEVER allowed to go to bed without pants of some kind on. So...I thought I had out smarted him and that I would prevent any kind of lovely diaper mess spread throughout the crib. Well, when we were visiting friends in Dallas, I went to get him up from nap and he had taken his sweat pants off...thankfully he had left the diaper on! Since then, he has become OBSESSED with taking his socks off, so every morning you never know how many cold toes you will find when you get him up!! Then, today, Jim got him out of bed after nap so we could head to the zoo, he walks out here and says...Mama where are his pants?? I said he is wearing them...and he said...no he isn't. So, he had taken his khaki pants off in his sleep. We really really really got lucky this time, b/c he left his poopy diaper on!! That my friends was a near disaster!!!

- He has also started following simple commands! The one that he follows the best is when I tell him to go get his drink/cup. He immediately knows what I am talking about. He starts looking all around until he sees it, then he crawls over to it and goes to town drinking it!! If he is getting into something that he shouldn't, you can tell him no, but then, you kind of sternly have to say NOW and he will finally listen and stop doing it! Now...that's not to say he won't be right back into the middle of it in the next 20 seconds, but we are at least listening!!!

I'm sure that there are many other little things that he does that make me super proud and that makes him one step closer to being a sweet little boy, but these are the ones that jump out at me at the moment!!

Cold Fingers at the Zoo!!

Well, despite today's chilly weather, we needed to get out of the house for a bit today. So, we went to the zoo with our new friends from New York!! I had warned them before that it was a zoo in the loosest form of the word "zoo"!! We all enjoyed getting out and about, but it was a little chilly by the time we finished our tour.

Wesleigh loved this ugly over-grown bat!!!

Little Wesleigh had ice cubes for fingers before we left. They were so red, they were almost purple, but of course he wouldn't let us cover them up!!!

We took Flat Caleb along...our nephew, Caleb recently read the book Flat Stanley at school, and had to create a Flat version of himself and send him to someone in a different state for an adventure. Flat Caleb went to work with Jim on Friday, then he had some adventures at the zoo before he will be neatly tucked back into his envelope and sent back to San Angelo!!

The Evolution of Puppy Play

Well....Maggie has come a long way! When we first brought Wesleigh home from the hospital, she was not a happy dog. She started pooping in our bedroom, on the carpet, and in various places. She just came up with a bunch of not so lovely habits. At the time, I was busy trying to recover and take care of Wesleigh, so I was at the point where I would have gotten rid of her. I didn't have the time or the energy to deal with an obnoxious dog and a newborn baby. Well, luckily she started to realize her new role in life, and that Wesleigh wasn't going anywhere.

She still didn't like him, she would never have hurt him, but he was a total nusance in her world. She wouldn't go anywhere near him, she was just in a really bad mood for a long time. That is, until he started moving around a bit. Then he would move over to her and put his feet on her or play with her hair or something, and she loved the attention. She didn't care if it was coming from that "thing" that took over her house. But, then, the real love connection started when Wesleigh got to the age where he was eating food with his hands, which meant, he started throwing food over the side of the high chair tray!! It was LOVE at last!! She adores him now and especially his meal times! I like it, b/c I don't have to bend down and pick the food up off the floor, Maggie does it!!!

This was early in their relationship...he was about 6 months here...
Now this, solidified their relationship!!

Maggie totally invited herself into our 6 month photoshoot...and this quickly became one of our favorite pictures!! Too bad the dog needed a haircut in the worst kind of way!

Anyway, Jim showed Wesleigh how to play with Maggie with her rope toy and it is too cute!! They play together with it every night, and I am not sure which one enjoys it more...Maggie or Wesleigh!!

Moral of the story....We've come a long way in Puppy Play!! Little does poor Maggie know...her world is going to change again...soon!!!

A Trip to the Park with Friends!

I'm so adorable!

We have friends!! Yippee!! Finally one of Jim's co-workers lives in Carlsbad. All the rest of them live in Roswell, so we basically knew NO one in Carlsbad. Well, when we found out that one of the new guys lives in Carlsbad, and he has a wife and 2 kids, we were excited. I first spoke with the wife, Leah, at the beginning of last week. We had a great conversation and seemed to get along well...but last week I was so sick that I couldn't even think past taking care of Wesleigh, much less making new friends.

I love to swing! So fun!I love to swing high!
So, since the guys had yesterday off, we decided it would be a good opportunity to get the families together. So, we met up at the park for a playdate. We had a great time. Their children are 2 and 4 and they had a total blast at the park. They are fearless little ones, so they kept their parents busy making sure they didn't kill themselves!!! We had great visits and Wesleigh had fun swinging and sliding. He also spent a lot of time on Daddy's shoulders, one of his FAVORITE places in the whole wide world!! They actually climbed to the tippy top of the highest playground and slide down a slide that was at least 12 feet high!!

Here we go....That was fun, Daddy!
After the park we all went to Chili's and enjoyed a nice dinner together. It was really great to meet and hit it off with some new friends. They are here from New York, and will be here until right around Christmas, then they get to go home!! It will be great to have someone to hang out with during the day!! Yay for new friends!!!

This is so much fun...and I am so silly!

A Pathetic Fit Caught on Camera!!

Last week, while I was miserabably sick, Wesleigh had one day where he was a TOTAL bear. He was awful. I was ready to sale him to the lowest bidder, and if no bids came in, I was considering giving him away for free!!!!

Anyway, at one point, he turned his toy basket upside down and laid his head on it and threw a pathetic fit. It was too adorable not to grab the camera...this is how it went down...

I first found him face down like this...

Then, he suddenly relialized I was watching with the camera...
So, then of course he had to smile for the camera...

Then, just an instant later, he put his head back down and finished his fit!!!

Can we say BRAT????