Whoo hooo!!!! Fun!

Jesse got to experience the Kiddie Park. I've heard about Bartlesville's Kiddie Park may times, but I'd never been. We went one night with Papa and Mamaw Blakemore. WHAT FUN!!!! :)

Jesse first loved the opportunity of getting to hold onto and turn a steering wheel. Then he wasn't so sure about his car moving around. After a couple turns of his first ride, he got into it and LOVED it. :) What a joy - watching him ride his first rides. :)

Checking out the first ride of the night.
Jesse saw some cars and was very interested.


Strap him in tight, Papa


Oh, what fun! I can spin this steering wheel!

I love it, I love it, I LOVE it!!

Oh man! You, back there!
Did YOU know this thing was gonna move?!

Oh no, oooooooh no!
I'm NOT liking this!

I just saw my family, and they were smiling.
They didn' send me off on this forever...

My Dad and Papa think I should be having fun...

It's not so bad - I like driving this car in a circle!

Not a care in the world...

Watch me dominate this Big Rig

" Toot! Toot!" We're on a train ride!
Jesse knows what trains say, but he thinks they're 'cars'...

What's up ahead, Jesse??

Oh man! We're in a dark tunnel, and he doesn't know what to think.

Dad posed with Jesse before the carousel started moving.
Scott didn't ride, but Jesse liked riding the horse. 'Neigh!!!'

Oh, Jesse! Don't jump out of the boat.
Don't stick your hand over the side -
we don't want it to get smashed!

Oh no! My baby is way over on that side in the water!
He was terrific boat captain.
Or co-captain to that girl who got to the front first. :)

Jesse wanted to ride these cars again.
This is a tractor, but Jesse calls everything that makes a motor sound a 'Car'.
We double checked his straps, since it looked like he could jump off the ride.

Jesse loved the tractor ride!

This was Jesse's last ride of the night.
Again, we were nervous about this ride.
Jesse was rushed to the orange plane, and fastened in by me,
Scott, and the ride supervisor.
It goes around and up and down. Jesse did great! :)

**Just a little plug for anyone in this area - you should come check out the Kiddie Park! Each ride is or two tickets - mostly one. Each ticket is a quarter. It's such a blast!! And you can stay with us!

Neglecting and New Things

If there's anything in my life that can be safely neglected, it's this blog. :) I've started a few posts, but they go unfinished. Better this blog going to the wayside than so many other things: my husband, my son, my dog, the cooking, cleaning.........

We're getting settled into Bville very nicely. Slowly but surely, we're making this house work for us.

Instead of writing for days, I'm going to list information on my Jesse. :)

New things Jesse is doing and things he loves:

Talking - Jesse is talking a lot more than he was the last time I posted. Some words Jesse has...or at least he has a VERSION of these words:
Papa, Mamaw, Dada, Mama, Car, Shoe, Barry, See ya, Bye bye, milk, juice, snack, Dosh (for my brother Josh), Raura (for Scott's sister Laura), dog, bird, mail, hi, please, Wuv yew (love you), No way, Uh oh, Oh no, Melmo (for Elmo), BUUU (for bug), Haley, Mike, cookie, tree, Wawa (anytime he sees water)...

He can name lots of things in books. He has mastered MANY animal sounds and body parts. Such a smart little booger. :) He tries to say almost anything we ask him to say - it just sometimes may sound like 'Awaaaa'

Parks and Playgrounds - Jesse really enjoys going to the playground in our neighborhood. He learned to love to slide - even daring the really, really tall spiral slide that makes me so nervous. I have to follow him up the steep stairs to make sure he doesn't fall. Uuf! He loves swinging, and he really likes for me to either swing beside him or pretend like it hurts SO badly when he 'runs' into me with his swing. We enjoy watching, pointing out, naming, and sometimes running after the birds and bunnies ("Hop! Hop!") that play around the playground.

Watering and Yardwork - Jesse loves to help me water. I'm super classy and use old milk containers to water my plants. (Scott's in the process of deciding on a long hose for the big backyard. 100 ft? 130 ft? Commercial grade? Heavy duty?) Jesse takes one old milk gallon filled only a little bit, and I take the other to water the plants. He often waters himself more then the plants.

When I pull weeds, I sometimes chunk them over our fence - it's the wild blue yonder out there - not maintained by an HOA or the city, just wildlife. (My Katy friends will not understand this.) I also pick up rocks (dug up from our extremely rocky ground by the spinkler people) and chunk them over the fence as well. Jesse likes to help pick weeds - or grass, whatever - and rocks. I pick him up to let him throw them over the fence. He could go and go and go on that! :)

Bathtime - Jesse's such a great helper at bathtime. At the mention of bathtime, Jesse will run into the bathroom. He can take his shorts off, and even start on his diaper. Shirts are still too tricky for him, but I still need a job in this process. He can turn the water on and sometimes prefers it to be on throughout the entirety of the bath. I turn it off, he turns it on... And so we go. :) He often insists on 'Bubbles'. Bathtime is a fun time around here.

Laundry - Jesse is a helper with laundry. He's super when it somes to switching clothes from the washer to the dryer. He opens the dryer door. I hand him wet clothes, and he puts them in the dryer. When they're all in, the closes the door. I set the time, and he starts her up. He helps me unload the dry clothes into the laundry basket and even helps carry his end of the basket into the bedroom or living room - wherever we're planning to fold.

Most recently, and unfortunately for me, Jesse has discovered and become very much aware of the lint catcher. He pulls it out and pulls it out and pulls it out. Sometimes he gets fired from his job with the laundry. He also likes to check to see if the clothes are dry yet. He'll open the door - stopping the drying process. I've put a lock on the top of the laundry room door to keep the dryer going.

Doors - If you haven't spoken with me since we've moved, you may not know how door handles (rather than door knobs) have been an enemy of mine in this new house. Jesse can open EVERY SINGLE door in this house, because they all have door HANDLES. Aaaaarrrrrggggg. Grrrrrrrrrrr. It's nice to be able to shut a kid in or out of rooms in the house. I've discovered Safety First locks that are super easy to install, no drilling, and you can put them up high and out of the reach of your Little Door Handle Expert. Scott thought I was a little hateful the first time Jesse tried to get into the pantry and got 'DENIED!!!' by the door lock. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!! (A little bit of an evil laugh.)

Oh mercy! It was very tough for me when Scott was in Canada off and on for 6 weeks when we first moved here. Jesse loved the pantry and pulling lots of things out of there. This was the first lock I put on, followed by my bathroom. Jesse has free access to the contents of my bathroom. One of his most favorites is finding my deodorant, taking the lid off, and taking a bite. He gags and gets very upset about the results, then tries again at the next possible chance. No longer! Thanks to my handle door lock up high! :)


Jesse is a very busy boy. He's sweet and gives the best kisses: on the lips, Eskimo, and butterfly kisses. He's learned to say 'Please', and we're working on using it on his own. He's a bit demanding, and we've probably condoned that along with some hefty contribution due to his age and developmental state. He can show you his smile - it's pretty fake at this point with a very wrinkled-up nose, squinty eyes, and a very 'bare your teeth' grin. When you ask him to laugh, he has the sweetest laugh along with a super sweet smile. He'll share a lot of times when you ask him to. He has the sweetest little kitty and owl noise you ever did hear. He waves at cars going by.

He loves both of his Papas and Mamaws. He LOVES dogs, and he makes himself at home anywhere he goes.


He loves to bring me his suggestion of shoes I should wear. He does not have good fashion sense just yet, trying to pair his navy and orange striped dress shirt with his brightly flowered swim shorts. He doesn't mind mis-matching socks or wearing dress socks with an atheletic outfit and crocks.

He shows me everyday that I need to grow in the Fruits of the Spirit. And everyday he steals my heart. His random kisses could bring me to tears. And when he lays his head on my shoulder, I want to not do anything else.

I'm so blessed with this tornado-of-a-kid, my precious Big Boy, Baby Jesse David Blakemore!!

Processing...

I started this blog to help document what's doing on with Jesse and to keep friends and family in the loop. I try to not make it too much about me - I sometimes wonder if I should just start an indulgent Bethany Blog. Maybe I will one day.

People express themselves in lots of ways, and it's actually nice to write out your thoughts. It feels like you can confirm them once they've been written out - your thoughts and feelings are validated, or sometime like that. So, this blog is me processing what's going on in my heart and my head. Feel free to quit reading. ;)

We're moving in about two weeks. Two weeks from now, our home will be packed up and empty. We're heading 'home' to Oklahoma. I've missed Oklahoma the nearly 4 years I've lived in the Houston area. I've always referred to Oklahoma as 'home', and Scott would sometimes teasingly question me about that. The truth is, I have a new home. This has become home.

What a mess of emotions it is to move. REALLY, it's more of a mess of hectic craziness. There's so much to do that I haven't felt like I've had a chance to do any emotional processing or letting it sink in that all these changes are coming.

Maybe it's that tonight was our last official Community Group. Maybe it's that 'my school' that I haven't even taught at for the 16 months that Jesse has been out and about is having a going away party for me tomorrow night. Maybe it's that it's 12:20 am, but I started feeling. I started getting sad, and it feels good to actually get to process how I feel. Our time here has been incredibly blessed!!! God had such amazing things in store for us, and I just love it when God has precious plans for us that far exceed any we could have planned on our own.

I taught two years of first grade in OK before moving to TX to teach 2nd grade at Griffin Elementary. That's where I learned that I LOVED teaching 2nd grade. Second grade was my niche. I had taught at three different schools in the first three years I taught, and it was such a joy to get to return to Griffin for a second and third year. The teachers and admin at Griffin supported me through my stupid broken arm... The girls I taught with were the first outside of family that knew I was pregnant. I will never forget feeling so sick one day, then being asked if I was pregnant. I started crying - I was so happy to be pregnant but probably more nervous and afraid. Their support and secret-keeping skills helped me out so much and endeared them to me even more.

The camaraderie that teachers have when they work together is sometime you can only understand if you've taught. You need those teachers to listen to you when you're frustrated or discouraged or bewildered. And they get it. They've been there. I love my Griffin Grizzlies. How amazing is it that any of them even care to help see me off with a going away party? I'm so blessed.

I can not say enough about the community, family, and support we've received from our church home, WordServe. We moved hours from family members, but God decided to go ahead and give us an amazing church family. It was through WordServe and our 'blessings in the disguise of Texas residents' that Scott and I were able to be a part of a church plant. No other church experience will be able to compare to this unique opportunity we've had in helping plant and grow God's church.

It's where we went on our first mission trip together, and what a doozy of a trip it was. It's where we worked hard together as the blind leading probably the 'not-so-blind' in building a children's ministry. It wasn't always pretty, but we had children's ministry every week. And the children of WordServe are learning to love to worship and pray and learn about God. It was our WordServe friends who came to our home at 5 am the Monday morning we were heading to the hospital for our C-section to cover us in prayer. They were among the first to welcome Jesse to the world. They celebrated along with us. My heart overflows with joy, love, and already the saddness in not getting to see them multiple times every week.

I'll miss this home. This is where we brought Jesse home. This is the house I'd navigate at all hours of the night, where's I'd walk, bouncing, bouncing, bouncing my boy to sleep. It's where he first learned to roll his way around then eventually army crawl. It's where my boy and dog loved playing in the backyard together and just wandering around the cul de sac. The park down the street is where Jesse first learned that the loved to swing.

This will always be a precious place to me. I mourn the loss of it but know that God is so GOOD. He has great things in store. I'm happy to get to be closer to family. I'm happy to be near my OK friends. Praise God for His faithfulness in blessing us again and again.

Got What I Need

Jesse came out of our bedroom the other day with the essentials:

This is what Scott takes with him when he leaves the house.

Keys - CHECK!
Wallet - CHECK!
Phone - CHECK!

What a smart boy who pays such great attention. :)

I'm A Wreck, Too

Jesse is 'all boy'. All boys are 'all boy'. But when I say this, I mean that my boy is loud, rowdy, he bangs things, he's demanding, impatient a lot of times...

One of Jesse's new things is that if he wants to do something and can't get it done on his own right away, he screams as if he's in GREAT pain. I've run to his painful screams to find that he can't open a door that he wants to open, or he can't get his shoe off. I've tried to teach him a shortened version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I tell Jesse that he should reserve his most intense screams for instances of true danger or harm. He doesn't seem to get it.

Check out this boy:

Wow, Jesse! Good work!

SOOOO dirty.

If Jesse were to have his blog, I imagine it might go a little something like this:

My mom is 'all mom'. When I say that I mean she thinks I'm wild, then she doesn't know what to do with me. She wishes I could talk calmly to her and tell her what I want. Then she goes off to the rodeo with Dad, sees a 4 year old boy, and starts to get teary eyed thinking of me at that age. How embarrassing!!!

Jesse's 'blog' is right. I'm a mess, too. I saw this precious 4 year old boy (maybe he was 5) enjoying the rodeo with his parents. I seriously got choked up thinking that Jesse will grow up to be that old. Someone told me that there may be days that go by slowly (or nights), but the years go quickly. My little boy is growing up! I hope I can handle this.

Construction Zone

My awesome husband is so handy! He can do almost anything to our house. He has done so much painting, fixing, pruning, planting... I just can't tell you all he's done. But he really does a great job on all his projects!

Scott and I are just learning that projects get quite a bit trickier with Jesse here to help.

"Hey, Dad! Ya want me to climp up the ladder to help you prune this tree??"


This is as far as Jesse got.


Look around all you want, kid.
We've got our eyes on you, and you're not gonna sneak anything past us.

"Ooooooh! A shop vac! This will be great for chewing on!"


Oil based paint comes out with paint thinner.
Ask me how excited I was to have to use it on my covered-in-paint kid.
We also have some clothes that will always have this trim color on them.


"If I bend down real low, maybe they won't see me behind these bushes.
Then I'm gonna knock 'em over and pull out as many leaves as I can!"
Isn't this the CUTEST face?!

There are plenty of other photo ops that were missed, because they were too dangerous to capture. I didn't have time to get to the camera and keep my kid safe. :)

Oh, goodness. If we only lived in a padded gymnastics-type house. :)

My Heart Grows

Early Friday morning on February 11th, at 6:37 a.m. my heart grew 8 lbs and 11 oz in the shape of a new sweet niece named Erin Grainne. My big brother Adam and sister-in-law Leigh are new parents, and what a blessing this little girl is to them and everyone who loves them.

I got to visit this weekend and meet my new sweet niece, and she's precious! She loves to snuggle. She loves her Mama and her Daddy. She likes her swing, but she didn't get much of a chance at it with Aunt Bethany around to snatch her up. She has such dainty little hands, the softest skin. She's just perfect! :)

It sure does my heart good to be around my family. I've had two great weekends in a row - getting to spend special time with family members who live away. I'm just so thankful that God blessed me with a family of such love. We just really enjoy being together.

My first live look at Erin! Leigh wins Best Wife and Mother award for taking Erin to support her daddy in his first SMFL (Saturday Morning Football League) game since his daughter's birth.


Jesse was also there to support his daddy. This is Scott reading the quarterback right before his pick-6. Good job Daddy!!! Whoo!!!!!

Adam's friend Grant brought his dogs to the game. Jesse wasn't disappointed. They have a little boy in their house that's 3 days older than Jesse, so they know how little boys love dogs. :)

Back from the game, I finally got my hands on this girl!!! PRECIOUS!

She'll need Ella to help her with that BINK

Uncle Scott's so good with Erin. :)
He knows how to handle babies.

Aunt Joni and Uncle Joshy love this baby.
Aunt Joni baby whispered Erin to sleep.
Adam and Leigh want to her stay a few nights. :)

Here's Erin, Jesse. What do you think?

Jesse thinks she's pretty, but she sure took a lot of my mom's attention.
I love seein these boys with their babies!!!

Gettin' some love from Uncle Joshy - good hands Joshua! :)

Thanks Grandpa Kent! :)

Beautiful Mama with Beautiful Erin!
Notice the A&M shirt Leigh is wearing after they beat OSU the night before in basketball? Hmmm...

I love these two!!

Happy Mamas with Beautiful Babies

Snugglin' with Aunt B. Did anyone else get to hold Erin?

A beautiful day to walk to the lake and feed the ducks and birds.
We were missing Toby, Yvette, and Elyse.


Heading down to the water to feed all the ducks.
I had Barry on his leash, he lunged toward the ducks,

and they all started to leave.
So I brought Barry away from the water.

Barry was just too excited. He worked hard and slipped out of his collar and

HEADED FOR THE DUCKS!

They all quickly scattered, while my dog went swimming out into Whiterock Lake.

A little ways out, there was a pile of muck that Barry got stuck in.
I got nervous and knew that if Barry got stuck, Scott would rescue him.

I was also worried that Scott would be upset that I let Barry get loose.

After freeing himself from the nasty muck, he headed back to us on the shore.

He was very dirty.

He had the time of his life.

Aunt 'Noni' is a bird whiperer...and still has great aim with that All State softball arm.
She'd throw the bread up into the air, and they'd catch it in their mouths! Stud.

Happy One Year Anniversary!
We love this awesome couple and had so much fun playing 'one year ago today...'