Incredible

This adventure called motherhood really is incredible. I've never been so challenged, so vulnerable, so taken in all my life.
I officially became a mama 8 years ago today. I will never forget that day and all the craziness that led to that final moment when our baby girl burst on the scene.
A girl?!
We were surprised. Not that we had any real clue, but we just kinda thought we would have a boy. We loved the surprise. I've never regretted not knowing until that moment. That glorious and amazing moment.
Rylee Kay is very much like her mama in a number of ways. She's also very much her own unique person.
If you spend any amount of time with her, you will find out a few things fast.
Rylee loves to sing.
Rylee loves to talk.
Rylee loves to dance.
Rylee loves to read.
Rylee loves to laugh.
Rylee lives in her own world much of the time--getting engrossed in what she's doing.
She's smart and sweet.
She loves Jesus and wants to love Him with her life.
She loves her family and her friends.
She has hardly ever met a stranger (she gets that from her Nana).
I cannot begin to explain all the deep things I've learned from parenthood. But, one thing I can easily explain, I am more than honored to be the mama to my Rylee-bug!

Sweetest Notes

Rylee woke up around midnight two weeks ago complaining of ear pain. After putting some homeopathic drops in her ear and giving her some ibuprofen, she went back to sleep. The next morning she was okay but her ear still hurt some. I gave her more drops and we finished getting ready for church. I did notice the q-tip I used to clean just the edge of her ear was tinged pink, but I thought it was the drops.

She complained off and on as we went to breakfast, at times getting very upset. We gave her more ibuprofen and she seemed to feel better. Near the end of church I looked at her ear again and saw blood in the ear canal. I was very concerned and knew almost immediately that she must have ruptured her ear drum.

Once we were back home I took Rylee to an urgent care for kids. They confirmed that her ear drum had perforated. They gave her strong meds and told us to take her back to our pediatrician in 3 weeks to make sure it healed.
The next day, Asa drew this picture. He says it says "I will cheer Rylee up because [she has an] ear infection." (He just wrote it a little backwards and phonetically spelled it and forgot a few words.) BUT...it came from his heart without prompting from his parents. That's my favorite part!

Seven Years

Rylee Kay turns 7 years old today. It doesn't seem possible.
I'm a numbers person. I find patterns in things and like when numbers sort of make sense in patterns and such. Call me weird, whatever. So, when I was being induced on April 19th, 2004, I wasn't so crazy about that date 4/19/04. I liked the 4 of '04 part. Am I a bad mama to say I still wasn't thrilled that it wasn't a cooler day, like the 4th or 14th or 24th?
Fast forward a few years. I was cleaning out some papers and came across the certificate I signed in 1998 pledging to sexual purity (part of a program I directed called The Silver Ring Thing). My dear friend Heather had also signed it, as my accountability partner. Heather was with me in the delivery room when Rylee burst into the world. I looked at the date we signed the covenant...April 19th.
Imagine that! Rylee was born exactly six years after I signed that covenant. It was the start of a great 7th year in my book!Happy Birthday Rylee Kay Fletcher! April 19th is one of my most favorite days of the year!

Who Does Jett Look Like?

Aside from the infamous "how's he sleeping for you?" question, we are asked most often "who does he look like?"
Well...he looks like a Fletcher baby!
I think he looks like all three of my older kids, depending on what he's doing.
You tell me...who does he look like?

Excitement!

Seriously...I do not remember getting so excited over losing teeth!

But, this child does.
I left her home last night with Joel while the twins and I went to prayer. School starting back with its early mornings means Rylee needs her sleep and that's what she was doing when I got home. Joel, grinning very slyly, turned on his phone and pulled up this picture. It was wiggly, but I didn't think it was quite ready. It was!

This morning she said "It looks like a big window!" Then, she asked her sister, "Do you want to put your finger in the hole?" Ah...the joys of being 6.

Some Random Pictures

I pulled out my camera and snapped some photos on Sunday so we could start putting together our Christmas card.
Rylee was jumping in the leaves (actually, that was Saturday) while the twins took a nap. On Sunday, she continued her adventures and the twins joined in.
After hearing me say "look here. smile. don't squint. open your eyes. stop doing that. can you please cooperate and we'll be done quickly?" a million times, I declared us "done". Then, the girls wanted to take pictures of me.

Angle is everything.At first, Rylee was standing on the ground and pointing the camera up at me. Not so good.
Then, I put her on the fort and she was looking down at me....much better.
Jenna wanted a turn, as well, so she shot a few pictures. I have to say, they both did a great job. And, my nice camera is pretty big for 4 and 6-year-old hands!I'm 30 weeks along in this pregnancy. The baby boy is kicking strong. He moves a lot, especially after the kids go to bed and I'm just sitting still. I had a check-up yesterday. The doctor said she thinks he's heads down. My blood pressure is great, my glucose test revealed no diabetes, and the baby's heartbeat was right on target. I now go to the doctor every two weeks, for the month of December, and then come January I will go once a week since I'll be 36 weeks on January 2. I can't believe it! We will be having another little baby in just two more months!!!

P.S. My handsome hubby wasn't around for much of these photography sessions, but I'm eagerly waiting to get my hands on some photos of him from our friends wedding two weeks ago. He was the Best Man and wore a tux. Boy, was he handsome! We're hoping there is a decent picture of the two of us from that event, but we'll have to wait and see.

Totally Like Her Mama

She is SO my child!

In so many ways, it's kinda scary at times.
She was sweet and smiling when she left the house and then Daddy snapped this shot while they were eating breakfast at her pick, Jack in the Box!

First Day of the First Grade

Rylee just left for school. She starts 1st grade today!
I'm excited for her school year. She's been reading a lot this summer and is ready to dive into another year of learning and growing. She will have both 1st grade teachers this year since they team teach. I think it will be great for Rylee to have a teacher who focuses on math/science and then one who specializes in reading/social studies. I look forward to seeing her excel in both areas with the special attention.
Joel will be taking Rylee to school each day. This morning they left early so they could go have breakfast together. What an incredible treat! Joel is such an amazing dad and continually shows his kiddos his love in very tangible ways that I think they'll remember for years to come.

So, Jenna and I bid her a happy day as they departed. Asa's still sleeping!
Here's a prayer a friend sent that I thought would be neat to include for today:

A Mom's Prayer On the First Day of School

Here we are again, Lord. Their backpacks are loaded and their faces are scrubbed and their lunchboxes are full.

And I know you'll walk with them, Lord. You always do. But a mom still has to ask.

Will You walk with them? Will You whisper to them what they need to hear, when I'm not there to whisper it?

Will You please, oh please, cover their school with the protection only You can give?

Will You make their minds strong and ready to learn? Will You help them understand that hard work honors the One who created them?

Will You guide their teachers, giving them patience and wisdom and creativity and more patience? Will You bless them for their efforts?

Will You love all those children there, the ones whose lunchboxes aren't full, the ones who feel alone? Will You teach my children to be kind and unselfish and to love those who are different from them?

Will You point them back toward home just as soon as you can?

Lord, I give them to You today and everyday, trusting them to Your care.

Amen.

Rylee is a Kindergarten Graduate

I know, she finished school 3 weeks ago, but I've just now gone through the photos!
Rylee finished her first year of school on June 3rd, being promoted to 1st grade for the next school year. They had a graduation ceremony for the kids, which was cute. I, unfortunately, wasn't there because I was in Arizona. So, these pictures are all courtesy of Daddy.
Rylee really enjoyed her kindergarten teacher, Miss Nanny. In fact, she's called me Miss Nanny a few times.
Rylee has grown immensely over the last year. She can write very well and is reading above a 2nd grade level, whatever that mean. I just know that I can get library books and she can read them. Yeah!!! She loves reading. The girl has loved books since she was big enough to hold them. I wanted to teach her to read for a few years, but I was a little busy with two other munchkins. I'm glad she waited so she would be fully engaged in school as a kindergartener. She was so proud as she learned sounds and began recognizing words.
Rylee continues to be a social butterfly and is definitely one of the leaders in her peer group. I didn't get a lot of feedback from her teacher throughout the year, other than the occasional "she's doing great". But, once I probed a little more, I was told she was anxious to teach others, did her work quickly (she needs to take her time and be more careful), and is obedient.
She continues to amaze me as she grows. In many ways I feel like I've been missing her for the last 10 months with her being at school for so many hours each day. Just last night we went to a family night at church for a movie and pizza. I sat back and watched her and realized how much she's grown up. Sometimes I'm too hard on her and I don't let her be who God created her to be. I'm going to be working on that. I can be so critical rather than encouraging. She's a fantastic young lady.

Most Moms Bring Cake

But, I think I've established that I'm not always like most moms.For Rylee's birthday we took some pudding cups to school for the afternoon snack. The kids played hard at recess and were ready for the yummy treat.
Reasons I like pudding cups instead of cake: a little more natural than all that hideous bright blue, green and red icing; individual servings already done; eat it with a spoon; less mess (on the floor; the face is debatable); provides calcium; can offer more choices; requires no refrigeration; requires no plates; cheap!
We had cake on Sunday so I opted to not do one on Monday at school. Ice cream would require freezing. I decided to keep searching through the store and when we saw these pudding cups for $1 per 4-pack, we knew we had a winner.
I think the kids liked it.
Then, for the last 30 minutes of the school day, it was math center time. Jenna & Asa got to participate and loved it. Asa was at the table doing polydrons and Jenna was doing unifix cubes. Wow--pretty sophisticated for 4 year olds.
Rylee's teacher was impressed that Jenna was doing patterns already. I attribute it to her big sister being like her mom and insisting on teaching her what she's learning and her being a girl.