Rayleigh's First Day of School... Again!

Whelp, Rayleigh started school and it was like the first day of the rest of her life. From now on, school is no longer optional. She is now a participant in the Rocket program through the school district which educates children with special needs including speech delay! We've always known she was a little delayed with her speech and she is fiercely independent and has the mind of an engineer. This program will help her accommodate to a classroom setting and prepare her for TK which starts this Summer. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Wise and she has LOVED school so far. She gets to bring her little backpack with a lunch and color and run on the playground. They even had a super cool assembly where some professional BMX riders put on a rad show! She meets with Ms. Kim, the speech pathologist, 6 times a month and we are hoping all of this time and attention to Rayleigh will really help her grow and thrive at school! I'm glad she's only gone for a few hours each day- Jack misses her sooooo much when she's gone!

The other morning, I came down to take Parker to school and he was frosting some red velvet cup cakes. Apparently he's been bitten by the baking bug! Every morning it's muffins or cup cakes or something! He's the best! But do you know what's NOT the best? Sugar high kids. And messy chocolate crumbs every where. And a sink full of dirty dishes. My poor kids don't do too well with sugar, especially chocolate, and eating it for breakfast was no bueno. We actually had some friends come over this particular morning and they were not very nice to my little baby Ray. She went off to school pretty emotionally charged. When I picked her up. she was in tears because she didn't get to finish coloring her giraffe. Her teacher said she had a little melt down but that Rayleigh will eventually figure it out. Note to self: no play-dates before school. It was in NO ways fun for any of us and I felt so badly for Rayleigh. Rayleigh and Jack are both super social and LOVE friends and get so excited when anyone comes to play so it was heart breaking when these kids were unkind. Lesson learned.

Parker earned Student of the Month at school! It was a shocker because he struggled so much at the beginning of the year and quite frankly, I don't think he's his teacher's favorite. But this was a pleasant surprise and it meant a lot to Parker. He's really stepped up his overall game and is the best helper at home, does his chores with no complaint, is always happy to help out, is my best little buddy, and is sweet as can be. I may be biased but I think he's pretty special. When I took him to school, a little girl was batting her eyes at him at drop off and he said "all" the girls in that class do that. I told him to give her a little head nod back. It's polite and you never want a girl to feel embarrassed just because she showed interest in you. BE A GENTLEMAN! He's sooo not ready for girls, yet. But he is a little smarty pants who loves to read and loves science!

We are both in need of haircuts- badly!

Jill was sweet enough to offer to have Rayleigh and Jack over while we went to Parker's awards assembly. Of course, they didn't want to leave when I got there to pick them up and Rayleigh locked the sliding glass door and we were stuck in the backyard for a while. It amazes me that my friends still let us come over. Jill is the best at having people over! On Sunday, she invited a few families over for dessert. There ended up being 27 kids in her house! That would give me major anxiety but she does it all with a smile on her face!

I had to document this memory that popped up. 6 years ago I was letting the world know about my pregnancy losses and one short year later I got pregnant with Rayleigh. The rest is history. The Lord has a plan. I didn't write much about our infertility struggles on the blog. I guess I wanted to remember all the good times. But there was always a dark cloud, always that painful aching, longing in my heart. Having a baby was the first thing I thought about when I woke up, and the last thing I thought about before I fell asleep. No one appreciates their babies more than I do.

I mean, just look at this angel baby! I had to wake her up a few times last week to get Rayleigh to and from school. She's not quite on a schedule yet but it still broke my heart to wake her. Rayleigh will take the bus in the near future but that kinda breaks my heart too! Being a mom is tough.

Some days my kids scream and whine all day and Tanner isn't ever home and I'm tired and cranky. And I'm thankful for bedtime so that I can relax and unwind. And then I want to scream because the smoke detector needs new batteries. I had to climb up onto my dresser to reach it because of course the home builder would install it at the highest point in the ceiling. I wrapped it in a towel and left it in the garage.... and maybe I told it where it could shove its incessant beeping.

I laid her down so I could put up a few Valentine's Day decorations and she fell asleep. And then I had to wake her to pick Rayleigh up from school. And the mom guilt was stronnnng.

If you put the end of your lettuce in a jar of water, it will grow!

Have I told you that Tanner is never home? Well, he's not. I mean, we're talking home at midnight on a Friday night because he was up with a struggling administrator, helping him run numbers and write reports. There is not date night.  But when he comes home with a chocolate pie and 2 forks and sits down right beside you in bed to watch Netflix, that's romance folks.

Saturdays are literally our only day to play together as a family. It's a struggle because there's always something to do around the house, or there's a family party, or Tanner get's a work call, and we all know we need to compromise to figure out an activity that all will enjoy. Well, this Saturday we played at home and did chores, washed cars and worked in the yard. Then we went to the park  by my mom's house for Wyatt's 5th birthday party! Josi and the boys came down from Vegas and she planned the cutest little party with pizza and a cute skittle cake and a pinata and even a fun scavenger hunt! It was such a great party and the kids all get along sooooo well! It's such a blessing having family so close and that everyone plays together so nicely! Cousins make the best friends!

The birthday boy

Tanner took some cool drone shots.

I've really been enjoying Sundays. Having church at 9am is such a better time slot for our little ones. Everyone enjoys their teachers and classes, and we are finally growing our roots a little deeper and forming stronger relationships with fellow ward members. They really are a second "family".

Josi and the boys came over after church on their way home to Vegas for some chicken and rice and swimming! The kids had a blast and it was so fun chatting and hanging out! I'm so glad she takes the opportunity to stop by and hang out on her way home! It means so much to me!

We had the missionaries over that night and it's always such a nice way to end the weekend. Here's to another busy week!