Uh oh.

We have an animal lover on our hands. And while this isn't really a bad thing, Zack and I are not really "animal people." I grew up with a sweet, clean, good smelling cat. He grew up with a dog, but has no desire to have another. Neither of us really want a pet. Maybe ever... Jonathan on the other hand, LOVES animals. His first word (other than "agua") was "dog." He had never even seen a dog, other than on TV or in a book, and yet he knew exactly what it was. Since then almost his entire vocabulary has been made up of animals and the noise they make (well, except "mine!")

This weekend we took Jonathan to Dewberry Farms to see the animals and play in the pumpkins. He had a blast!! As soon as we got there and he saw a huge clump of ducks and geese, he ran straight for them. He wasn't shy at all. Of course I was a little concerned about him running into a large herd of anything, but the animals behaved themselves and so did Jonathan. A match made in heaven. He then proceeded to stick his sweet little hands and fingers into the pens of every other animal they had....sheep, turkeys, goats, ponies....and thankfully, none of them fought back against the little invader. We made it home with all 10 of his pudgy little fingers :)

I am very glad that Jonathan is comfortable around animals and appreciates them for the blessing they are. However, I am not looking forward to the day (which I fear is coming sooner rather than later) when I start to hear "Mom, can we get a dog!?" over and over again.


Hanging out with the sheep. Luckily the sheep didn't care (or even move for that matter) that Jonathan was "talking" to him.

Checking out the goats! I tried to get a picture of him sticking his hand in the goats mouth, but I wasn't quite fast enough. That and I was trying to keep his fingers from being nibbled off....

I just love this picture :) He fell asleep on the way home and when we woke him up to bring him in the house, he was NOT happy. He stayed like this with Zack for a long time until I was able to pry him off and put him down for a nap. He then slept for 3 hours!! Zack still can't carry Jonathan or move around much with him, so these quiet, still moments are like gold for them :)

Things I'm loving this week!

It's already Thursday and I haven't gone all hormonal pregnant woman crazy on anybody, sent THAT many kids to detention or screamed at Zack for doing something "wrong." I consider this a win for me :).....and for Zack. And my students. And the strangers who could possibly be on the receiving end of my craziness.

Here are a few things that have contributed to my good mood this week:

1. I took my charm bracelet into James Avery the other day and they agreed to fix it, free of charge! Every time I have something of theirs break, it is hit or miss if they will cover it. This time they will! YAY!

2. Lately I have been really struggling with the whole "NOTHING sounds good for dinner" thing. Oh and the "Don't even THINK about asking me too cook something" thing. And Zack has been totally cool with it! We made homemade pizza two days in a row and I convinced him to let me have one of my favorites last night. I guess as long as he gets fed in the end, he doesn't care that much :)

3. Tonight is our small group meeting. That always makes me happy. And people usually have awesome dessert/snacks. Obviously that makes me happy too! Oh crap, speaking of, I need to read my chapters for tonight.....yikes!

4. Jonathan has been really good this week (if I ignore pooping in the bathtub, peeing on me for the first time in MONTHS, spilling my huge class of water all over the floor while trying desperately to steal my straw and pulling his plate of corn and meatloaf off the counter and all over the floor.....) But seriously, we have played outside a lot, read a lot of good books, learned some new words.....he is a pretty awesome kid!

5. My students have been much better this week! I had to write one up yesterday for being totally ridiculous, but other than that, all is calm in the classroom. It helps that they had a test for two days. Even the nutty ones know not to talk during a test because I WILL slap a big fat zero on their test for cheating before they even have time to stop their conversation! Next week is library week too....double win! Oh! And the librarian feels bad for me because all my school t-shirts are too small and I totally look like a stuffed sausage kolache in them, so she gave me 4 library shirts in a bigger size to wear on spirit days! Okay, granted the one I have on today is neon green and makes me look like a huge lima bean, but who cares? Beggars can't be choosers!

All in all, a good week. Friday better not disappoint!

Our Weekend!

I was recently inspired by a few of my more experienced blogger friends to create a post devoted to documenting our weekend/week in pictures. And while we didn't do anything very exciting, we had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful weather!

First we spent a long time Friday afternoon at the park for the first time in months...it was only 90 degrees! Jonathan discovered that throwing rocks on the slide (yes, he is THAT kid) is probably the most exciting thing to do there!



Saturday we spent a lot of time cleaning up the yard and playing with Nana and Grandfather. We are truly blessed that Grandfather (David...and yes, we all realize how ridiculous it is to expect a 2 year old to say Grandfather....) has been willing to come and mow our yard every weekend since Zack's surgery.





We recently had our trees trimmed in the backyard which left a lot of twigs and branches all over the place. As you can imagine, Jonathan had a ball with them! He actually spent a long time trying to get Zack's attention (who was working inside) by drumming on the back door with his new drum sticks!





Saturday night, Zack, Jonathan and I went out for dinner. While we were waiting on Zack to get in the car, (you know, it takes him a while with the crutches....) Jonathan discovered the joy of being in the car and NOT being in his car seat. He crawled all over the place and was not very happy when it was time to get buckled in. Guess I should have anticipated that...



Sunday morning we had some time to just relax, eat breakfast and read some books. It was also finally cool enough to justify wearing the sweet little Dutch slippers cousin Shakinah brought him from Holland. He brings them to me almost every day and wants me to put them on him. Luckily, the time seems to have come when he can wear them every morning :)





Finally, Sunday afternoon Honey and Papa drove in from Austin and brought a new toy to play with! We spent all day yesterday playing with his new car, working on his big boy room and coming up with ways to change around the nursery for Baby Boy #2!




All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! I am praying next weekend is just as nice and we can hit up the Katy Rice Harvest Festival!

Thank you Lord

Sometimes I forget to stop and say thank you for the amazing life I have and the beautiful blessings I have been given. I was reading the blog of a friend earlier this morning and as I read about the pain she has been drowning in after the loss of her toddler, I can't help but sit here and cry (at my desk. at school. while students walk past my door and mutter about the crazy teacher crying in her classroom) and desperately wish I could hold my own son right this second and tell him how much I love him. And so, today, I say thank you Lord.

Thank you for this man, who loves me and his sons with all of his heart.

And thank you Lord for this precious little boy, who fills my day with so much joy there are no words to express. And for his little brother who is already a loved member of this family.

I thank you Lord that you have entrusted me to be their Mommy and their wife. It is a gift that I have never and will never take for granted.

Being a grown up is hard.

Remember when you were younger and you thought "if only I was older, things would be so much better!" What was I thinking?!

Here are just a few of the things that I do NOT like about being a grown up....

1. Dealing with issues regarding my house. Unfortunately, my husband, although totally capable of taking care of things around the house, works too much. Since he works so much, he rarely has time to deal with things like blown electrical outlets, broken sprinklers, clogged drains etc...that leaves me to take care of things. Totally boring and not really my cup of tea!

2. Work. I have always said that I love my job. Teaching 8th graders has always been an entertaining challenge that I have been able to face head on. Not this year. I think I have finally met my match. This group of students is challenging in a way that I cannot handle. For example, in the last week, I broke up a fight between two football players, (yes, I realize this isn't smart being that I am all pregnant and what not....I don't need to hear it again) sent 8 kids to detention and signed up 23 students for after school tutoring to bring up their grade....all of which are under 50% with 4 days left before report cards. I want to help them, but they have to want to help themselves first.....sooooo frustrating.

3. Dealing with bills and money. I know we probably all hate this, but man...Nothing makes this more frustrating than insurance and bills. BLAH. Every freaking time I call them with a question I end up in tears or so frustrated that I can barely see straight. Do these companies screw us over on purpose?

4. Learning how to be a good Mom. Please notice that I didn't say "being a mom" but rather, learning how to be a good one. I want the very best for Jonathan and Baby Ley 2 and sometimes, my concern for them and their well being takes my breath away. I wouldn't trade my job as a Mom for anything, but I could deal without all of the worry. Oh and I am going to add the annoying problem of competitive Moms to this as well. Come on ladies, we all want what is best for our kids.....no need to judge.

So that is that. I think I am just tired right now. I would LOVE to snatch up Jonathan and Zack and go to some beach far, far away and just sit and play and relax. Jonathan loves the sand so he could sit next to us and build sand castles (okay, maybe not yet) and Zack and I could lay on chairs and stare at the peaceful ocean.....with a fruity drink in my hand.....doesn't that sound amazing?

A few things that make me happy!

After reading back over my last post, I feel like it was a lot of complaining. I don't want to come across as somebody that has only been dealing with crap lately and nothing fun, so I want to immediately follow up with the things going on right now that are making me happy today!

1. Jonathan has learned to sing Happy Birthday (or something like it) and after I put him in bed at night, he will lay there singing to himself for a pretty long time. I love to hear that sweet little voice (please do not confuse with the voice I described in the last post...) over his monitor!

2. Since I struggled with preterm contractions with Jonathan, it is no surprise I am already experiencing them with Baby Boy. The good news here is that the best way to control them is to drink lots of water (not the good part) and stay off my feet when possible. Here is the good part....this means I don't have to work out. I don't have to go to the gym or even feel guilty for not going. In fact, I would feel MORE guilty if I did go. I mean, I can't put the baby at risk....

3. Eating. A lot. Obviously being pregnant gives me the green light to eat as much as I want, whenever I want. Right? I sure do love food. (combine this with #2 and we have a winning combination!) My favorites right now are Cheez It's, the new baked "fried" chicken sandwich at Subway, and any candy that doesn't involve chocolate (I LOVE me some NERDS!)

4. The fact that Zack's surgery has kept him home for like 2 weeks. Obviously I am not happy he had surgery or that he is uncomfortable, but I have loved having him around more. Even if he can't pick up Jonathan or really do anything around the house, it is nice to just have him around. I mean, who else would I have watched the red carpet at the Emmy's with?? He is a pretty good guy :)

5. My friends. I have finally found a group of Christian women who are encouraging, loving, supportive, thoughtful, challenging and super fun! We all have babies around the same age and it has been such a blessing to be around them. In fact, we are meeting tonight for accountability group and I couldn't be more excited! (of course, part of that could be the promise of a strawberry smoothie from Starbucks while we sit and talk....)

So hopefully you can see that even in the midst of craziness, we are happy, healthy and blessed! I have a wonderful son and husband, amazing friends and I get to eat a lot. What could be better? :)

I guess an update is in order!

So apparently I am pretty much the worst blogger in history because I forgot I even had this blog. Man, one post and away it went, into the depths of my always busy mind, never to be seen again. Well, maybe this time I will keep it up!

So much has happened in the past few months! Obviously our biggest news is that our family is about to expand again! Baby Boy Ley will be here in January! My actual due date is January 22nd but since I will be having a repeat c-section, I will probably deliver sometime the week before. This makes the new baby and Jonathan almost exactly 23 months apart. Life is about to get pretty crazy! My pregnancy has been good so far. Other than the one trip to L&D, we have been blessed with no major problems!

As for other news, our summer was a wonderful, very much needed time of travel, relaxation and family time. The beginning of the new school year, not so much. The day before my first day with students, I ended up in L&D for dehydration. Unfortunately, I was so dehydrated that I had to stay for 24 hours and get LOTS of fluids. This meant missing the first day of school. Now, if you have ever taught 8th graders, missing the first day of school can set the precedent for the rest of the year. And I believe it has. My kids are still struggling to take me seriously or basically listen to anything I say. So that's been fun.....

The week after my crazy start to the school year, Zack had to go in for knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. When the doctor actually looked at his knee, the damage was much more extensive than he thought, so he ended up doing micro fracture surgery to repair it. Due to the lengthy recovery time with this type of surgery, Zack will be on crutches for 6 weeks, has not been able to drive the past few weeks and will not be able to run/play basketball for about 4 months. And as you can imagine, the crutches kind of hinder his ability to pick up, play with, give a bath or put to bed our little tornado. So that's been fun.....

And finally Little Man. He has discovered that he has a voice (a very loud voice) and he plans on using it ALL.THE.TIME. Yes folks, we have a screamer. A scream at the top of his lungs in the grocery store because it echos, scream at the top of his lungs in the restaurant because it makes people look at him, scream at the top of his lungs at home, in bed, in the kitchen, in the backyard, in the bathtub, in the bathroom SCREAMER. We are working on it, but let's just say....that's been fun....

All of those things being said....it has been a great few months. We are learning just how amazing our families are for dropping everything to come help us and how lucky we are to have friends who are literally calling every single day to see what they can do to help while Zack is out of commission. We are truly blessed and no matter the hardships we are facing, we know that this too shall pass. Soon Zack will be back to normal, Jonathan will learn to control himself and my students....well, let's just keep praying that one day I can be a stay at home mom :)