May 2019

Wilson was carrying Jack Jack on his shoulders all around the house. Just like Daddy carries him when we're out doing things. So cute.

Wilson has always been super sensitive and aware of my emotions. Specifically, when I'm having a hard time. So, I was having a breakdown... honestly who knows what it was about this time... and he came and just cuddled.

And just gave me lots of love.

Then Kayla joined and it was just what I needed <3

Pretty sure I kept telling him to close his eyes, because he's supposed to be sleeping... (if he takes a nap at all during the day, he won't sleep at night.) He was just hanging out and being so cute.

She wouldn't let him touch her gift from Aunt Kathy for a while, and he really, REALLY just wanted to play with it too. She started out letting him play with the water while she colored the animals, then eventually let him help color. Some times they're really sweet to each other <3 (And a lot of times they just fight over everything ;P)

One day Kayla told me I looked like a princess in this picture <3

Jacob pulled a number to wait in a line and then found out he didn't even need it. He held on to it and when we got back to the car he said, "you'll never guess what number I pulled." I didn't get it, but I did get a good laugh out of it when he showed me! (He works on the B52s)

Yummy chow mein

When Kayla can't sleep, she comes out of her room saying, "I want cuddles." How can you say no to that!? Just kidding... I normally say no and make her go back to bed. After bed time is me time. Lol. But every once in a while I let her lay on the couch next to me if she'll close her eyes. Sometimes she'll just get up and go to her bed after a few minutes. This time she fell asleep next to me.

Pillow forts on Mom and Dad's bed

Kayla tried to copy my chalk board sign. Still working on writing left to right and top to bottom. Lol. It was super cute though.

Had to save this one as a reminder for Jacob any time he calls me crazy ;P

I get no privacy in this house. I'm not even that upset though... sometimes  ;)

Trying to sweet talk me for some Dr. Pepper ... I'm a sucker and he knows I'll eventually give in to his cuteness

So, a really scary storm came through. We had just dropped some food off to Jacob at work and were on the way home when it started to hit. The wind was crazy and the rain was coming down so hard. The roads were starting to flood pretty fast. Constant tornado warnings on the radio. (There were a few confirmed close by after the storm blew through) I definitely cried on that drive home. Thankfully we made it home safely and aside from the scary drive the worst part was getting drenched on the way in the house. I instantly felt better being at home. A little too safe.... Here were are sitting under the huge window watching a movie with tornado warnings going off....

It rained a ton that night. This is hard to see, but my neighbor across the street shared it on our neighborhood FB page. Our house is behind that truck. The street is a huge river. This was around 5 am.

Because of Jacob's work schedule, we sleep in pretty late compared to normal people's schedules. Lol. By the time I got up the water had receded completely. You can see the line of debris from the water all the way up to the back of the tire though. Crazy!

This park always floods. So even though it was a few days after the crazy storm, it was still flooded. Didn't stop these kids from having fun. Actually, they had more fun with the flooded park than they normally do. Haha.

And then Wilson started to get sick that night and I was freaking out about having let my kids play in that water. Lol.

Poor kid. He just kept getting fevers on and off and was not his normal self. Even when I thought he was feeling better, I went to check on him and found him asleep in the toy room. After a few days he was back to good though, thankfully!

Wilson was starting to feel much better, but I didn't want to bring him to nursery just yet. I actually woke up on Mother's Day not feeling that great myself. But I really, REALLY wanted to see Kayla get up and sing to me. So Jacob stayed home with Wilson, and Kayla and I went to just sacrament meeting. I totally cried when she got up and sang a Mother's Day song with all the other kids. Even though I'm a primary leader and have heard them practicing for weeks... and we've been singing it at home for weeks... I still cried. Lol.

And Jacob and the kids humored me and let me take a bunch of pictures that afternoon.

So grateful to be their Mom <3 Even when I feel like a failure most of the time. They teach me so much and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to try to teach them. Even if all they learn is how to do the opposite of me... I hope they learn something. Preferably they'll remember the happy moments and lots of love... that would be great ;P I think my last blog post a shared a quote about "your kids don't need a perfect mom, they need a happy mom." Trying to keep that at the front of my mind each day.

Well, the kids were bribed with a bike ride if they'd take pictures for me. Jacob just humored me ;) ...It was Mother's Day after all and he knows what makes me happy. Haha.

Kayla drew a picture of Jacob. That squiggly line for a mustache is the best part!!

Sweet boy!

Jacob had a bunch of tools by the back door... and Wilson grabbed his toy drill and had to put it with Daddys. Jacob pointed it out to me and we melted <3

Love this one too!!

I was busy doing something and Kayla really wanted me to ready her this story. I told her it'd be a few minutes and by the time I was done I found her fast asleep in the middle of flipping through the pages. Poor, sweet Kayla!!

;)

Twinsies! Wilson gets SO upset when Daddy gets a haircut and he doesn't. (Jacob has to keep it fairly short for the Air Force and so he cuts it pretty often.) He's always so excited after he gets a hair cut too. 

Me: "Wilson, where's your hair?"

Wilson: "In the trash can!" *giggles*

Our family refers to this cut as "fuzz head". So between Jacob and Wilson we'll rub their heads and say "that's my fuzz head!" Wilson loves it! And when its his head he'll just giggle and say, "No! That's MY fuzz head!"

And he always talks about how, "I look like Daddy!" <3

Her favorite thing to do with stickers!

Nathan wins that game though Gina!! ;) Lol.

Barksdale AFB Air Show! The Esquivels came to visit and join us!

I was shocked that Wilson took a nap on me like this! Lol.

It was so hot and the sun was pounding down hard on us!! The rain was a nice relief!

Poor boy all wet. Haha.

I didn't realize just how badly I had gotten burned until afterwards....

It sure wore her out!! So glad we got to go and had our cousins there too!

Chick-Fil-A makes all bad days better! ;)

And then our friends called at the perfect time to invite us to meet them at the park!

After our friends left, we went for a bike ride.

Kayla met a sweet little girl there and they were so cute riding around together. Also, this was our first time at this park and it was perfect! A big sidewalk circled around a couple of playgrounds and the whole thing was fenced in, so I felt totally safe about Kayla doing her thing while I stayed back with Wilson.  (I'm normally super anal about them staying really close.) She almost lapped us twice! It was good for all of us!

Having too many things stresses me out. My poor kids... I'm always decluttering and throwing things out. I really love seeing all of Kayla's little drawings and words that she copies down though, so here's a bunch of pictures before I tossed the filled up journal.

She has this thesaurus book from Usborne that she loves! It's full of pictures and has all kinds of words in it. There's a few pages full of really specific colors. A bunch of these are from her copying the colors down that she could read. Lol.

And an update on the Doc McStuffins book before I got rid of it, since it was also full. Haha.

Lots of copying the pictures and rewriting the words. And I love how she draws her little people. (Bella came to visit us recently and they were drawing together. Now she makes all of her noses upside down hearts like Bella did. Lol.)

And more mustache people. Probably all Jacob. Haha.

Messes drive me crazy. And things being used for ways they are not intended, also drives me crazy. Obviously I've got the best job for all my quirks ;) I try to step out of my comfort zone for my kids though. Sometimes... ;P One morning we set up a table and made a little fort. Kayla asks for it ALL the time now though..... Haha.

They were thrilled! Worth it!! <3

Hey look! I wore real clothes and did my hair today ;P

She's a big fan of Captain Marvel!

Caught him playing in the bathroom sink. I love the way he got himself up there. Lol. Also, I have a video of me scaring him... it cracks me up every time!! (It's just a pain to upload videos when I post a million pictures and am already months behind on updating my blog ;P)

Going for a bike ride in Katy! We ended up forgetting our bikes when we left. They didn't notice until almost 2 months later when Grandma was about to come visit and bring them back to us. Basically, that little window of time between being too cold and too hot to be able to be enjoy being outside had passed. ;) Lol.

Finally got to meet baby Cameron <3 I wish we weren't so far away and could get more cuddles!!

Cute kids! They love being in Texas and being surrounded by lots of family! We were at Grandma and Papa Ruske's house and the Esquivels were staying there too. We got to see all of our Ruske cousins on this trip! (Well, all of them except Bailey)

So excited to see Bella! We miss living close and seeing her all the time!

Tired boy from having too much fun every day!

Making them take a picture before I'd let them get in the pool... Pure torture!!

Wait, one more because your so cute! "Ugh! Mom!" Lol.

Also, Wilson is way too brave in the water for my comfort. Good thing I had plenty of extra hands to help keep an eye on him and Kayla.

Poor Wilson, so sick of pictures. Haha.

Also, trying to be better about actually being in pictures with my kids.

Cuties!

Wilson was SO over taking pictures. Lol.

I came across this and really liked the reminder to take care of myself! I get what I refer to as "depressive spells". When those days hit, brushing my teeth becomes the most impossible task. And because I can't do that, and in my head it's like the 1st thing I need to check off before I do anything else, everything else becomes impossible. So I just really liked this reminder and list, per say, to focus different on ways to accomplish taking care of me when everything else seems impossible.

Papa got us donuts Memorial Day morning. Any time we get donuts, Kayla always asks for pink with sprinkles. We normally just get Wilson donut holes and he's pretty satisfied. This time, when Papa asked what we wanted, he said he wanted blue with sprinkles. I didn't even think it'd be an option, so I told my dad to just get donut holes like I normally would. But Papa delivered!! Wilson was thrilled!! Haha.

Memorial Day 2019

Being in the military has really changed my perspective on military related holidays. In fact, about a week before this, Jacob had told me that there was a big chance that he could get deployed and it could happen really soon. So anytime he came home from work or would call me, my heart would stop just waiting for him to tell me it was time. And of course with deployment on my mind, my mind runs through ALL of the worst case scenarios... I'm grateful I get to sleep next to my husband each night. I haven't been through a deployment yet. It's probably going to happen sooner than later though. Being a military wife has really changed my perspective. My heart goes out to all of the families with loved ones who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy in this country.

Visiting Uncle Billy and Aunt Kris' house for a pool party on Memorial Day. I'm not a huge fan of swimming... So, I'm glad my family really stepped up and kept my kids entertained for me. Hahah.

Aunt Missy getting all the sweet baby Cameron cuddles <3

Wilson had a little run in with the grill. I happened to be inside. I heard him crying and knew it wasn't good. At first I thought he got burned. When I stepped outside all I could see was blood gushing from his head though. So of course I'm freaking out on the inside but trying to put on a brace face for him and because my family is around. Thankfully it wasn't too bad once the blood stopped. Definitely scared me though!

We got to watch Aladdin with Grandma and cousins!

Lots of swimming with cousins. Well, lots for us because we hardly ever go and I'm not even upset about it. Lol. I was super impressed with how well the kids had improved in the water since last summer though.

Cheering Bella on at her first swim meet!

Sweet cousins!!

Throwing a fit because I didn't want to give him gatorade at 9pm... And I'm pretty sure Aunt Missy gave in to him right after this. The Esquivels love to spoil my kids.

Back home again. Is Wilson helping by staying busy or hurting by making a big mess. Spoiler alert... He was soaked. The counter was soaked. The floor and mat was soaked. ;P

Fun at the library!