Countdown to Christmas

We're on the homestretch to Christmas and Ryndon is ready. He may have no idea what is about to happen and won't remember, but I am SO excited. Ty gets to open Ryndon's presents and neither one knows what I have hidden under the tree.

This is the first Christmas I've ever not gone somewhere and, as much as I miss being around family, I am enjoying that we will be starting our own family Christmas traditions. No matter how tired I am, I just take one look at my little boy and I wouldn't trade him for years of sleep. Which is good because I have a feeling sleep deprivation is here for quite some time.

This is Ryndon's 4-month picture. He weighed 14 lbs., 2 oz. and was 24 1/4 inches at his doctor's appointment. Growing like a weed and went up a size in diapers while Ty was in Vegas. Don't know who was more sad. Ty because Ryndon grew while he was gone, or me because there are fewer diapers in the box for the same price.
First time in the bumbo. Did really good.
Going out to feed with dad during one of the cold days.
Sitting in the rocking chair his Aunt Amy got him. Ryndon thought it was pretty cool.

He sure smiles a lot...when his hand isn't in his mouth. Gotta love him!

When Ty is away...

The wild things come out to play.

So Saturday morning Queso and Hodge are making a huge ruckus in the backyard. I am sitting in the chair with Ryndon, so I try to look out the doors and see what the commotion is about. (You have to keep in mind, our dogs are like dumb and dumber--not the sharpest knives in the drawer.) I can't see anything but a blue heron in the pond.

But the dogs kept running back and forth along the fence line as if they were following something. So, I get to looking some more. I have to lean back and forth to look past one of the porch's posts.

Pretty soon I see what the problem is--there is a big dog about 3 feet on the other side of the back fence. I look at little harder. That's no dog. It's a dang coyote!!!

Well, Annie Oakley springs into action. I set Ryndon in the love sac and fly out on the porch in my pj's, hollering for all I'm worth. My dogs looked at me funny and went back to their ruckus. The coyote just looked at me. I didn't even phase him. He finally went away from the fence, but was still in the pasture and not scared.

Well--- ANNIE, GET YOUR GUN!!!

I run into the spare bedroom and grab Ty's 22 and the unopened box of bullets. It takes me a few minutes to get it loaded and ready to go. (After all, the last time I shot a gun was in college.)

I run to the porch (Ryndon's pretty entertained with all of this.) The coyote is still at the back end of the corral.

Now remember, it's been about 10 years since I've fired a gun. I don't want to hit horses, dogs or anything else important. So I aim near the coyote but not so that I'd hit anything special. I keep focused on that area, pull the trigger and BOOM!!! Dogs, horses, birds and probably coyote go running.

But next time Mr. Wiley E. Coyote, I will NOT be firing a warning shot.

Not up North any more

So I have come to three realizations. 1- I REALLY am blonde. 2. Your brain leaves during pregnancy and never returns. 3. I have forgotten most of what I knew about living in cold temperatures. I moved South for a REASON.

For the last two days, it's been pretty cold. Yesterday I fed and it was 20 degrees, wind chill of 11. (It was 59 the day before.) This morning, it was 16 when I left the house with the wind chill in the single digits.

With Ty out of town, it's up to me to do chores. Scary? Quite possibly. Because I have been feeding, I pull around to the front of the barn at night so Ryndon won't wake up. Well, I pull around to the barn and am met with the following....

I had forgotten to turn off the water. OOPS. So, the grass was frozen and water was spraying out in all directions. Before I got it turned off, I was so nicely greeted with a FREEZING shower.

So unlike my last major OOPS moment (dropped dental floss down a flushing toilet), I chose to immediately fess up to my husband on what I had done. Helps that he's a couple thousand miles away. :-) Unfortunately, he won't be home for four more days... I just hope I don't have to haul water for the horses and that the water line isn't broken. Maybe I just shouldn't play with water any more. I should just play with fire....

Let it be Christmas

With Christmas right around the corner, we're excited that the year is finally winding down. Ty has been in Vegas "working" at the National Finals Rodeo. He's claims it's not as fun as it sounds. (Yeah, right.)

The first weekend in December, Ryndon and I went to the Barthlome Family Christmas party. I think he had a great time. He sat on Santa's lap and didn't cry. Sat on my Uncle David A.'s lap and didn't cry. My Uncle Claude was sick, so who knows if Claude would have scared Ryndon. Probably not, he's a pretty happy kid.

I think I am forgetting a couple states, but so far Ryndon has been to: Texas (duh), Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Utah, Missouri, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming. Phew... That's a lot of traveling for a little guy. He'll be 4 months old on Dec. 12. Wow, how time sure flies.

Ready to go see Miss Jamie for the day. (He's happy now. Little does he know his airhead mom forgot to pack his bottle.)

Four generations.
Pretending to be a smurf. It was COLD in Idaho.
Snug as a bug in Great Grandma's guest bed.
I still think he's just the cutest.

Traditional and Sentimental

Wow. It doesn't take long for a week to fly by.

We went to Kentucky on Monday and flew back Tuesday. On our way to Louisville, Ty and I figured out that by the time Ryndon is 4 months old he will have been to 11 states. Crazy, huh? Even crazier, it's been almost 10 years since I graduated from A&M.

We went to Kentucky for the 10-year anniversary of my team winning the national livestock judging contest. It was good to see everyone and interesting to see how some things change while others stay very much the same. Of those on my team who came, I am the only one not actively involved in the livestock field. It's crazy that I am more able to associate with horse people than livestock judgers. Never thought that day would come.

Ryndon is doing great. He is starting to roll on his side, scary for me. He laughed for the first time last night. He is such a ham. He may look more like me, but he has his dad's personality. I think both Ty and I relieved on both parts of that.

It's amazing how fast they change. His grandparents won't recognize him when they see the little man again.

My mom, dad, and Uncle Dave and Aunt Gail are coming in this weekend for Ryndon's blessing. My uncle will be blessing him (he blessed Jarred) and Ryndon will wear Jarred's blessing outfit.

Alicia will get here Wednesday and I can't wait.

Ryndon and I in the Louisville hotel

He's just chillin'

He's starting to grab stuff more. He thinks he's pretty nifty for learning this.

Me as a mother...

Pretty much sums it up.

He's a character

Ryndon has found a few things lately that he likes to use regularly. One of which is his tongue. He's also getting closer to sucking his thumb. He just hasn't gotten to where he can stick his thumb up. So in the meantime, he gnaws on his whole fist. It's pretty funny to watch.

It's only a matter of time before he finds his thumb and then out with the binky (I'm sure). He doesn't have a lot of interest in the binky. He just knows that when he gets it, mom or dad are trying to get him to sleep.

The most exciting thing is that he is almost to where he can fully support his head. He still has a few floppy moments, but not very many.

He really is a good baby. The only time he is fussy is when there is a reason. He's happy all day until the evening when he is ready for bed.

Last night he helped me make pumpkin muffins. He was in his bouncy seat on the counter and watched his momma cook. He's quite the active fellow. As long as he is on the move or can see what's going on, he is a happy camper.

This week has been a crazy week and I haven't been able to download pictures yet. Hopefully, I will get some time and be able to do that.

Our tiny trick-or-treater

Ryndon and I spent Halloween visiting Ty at the barrel race at the Lonestar Arena. I went to watch Brittany Pozzi run, but didn't see much of the barrel race. Poor Ryndon didn't even get to go door-to-door. I figure we'll do that next year since his diet is pretty limited at this point.

I bought his little pumpkin outfit before he was even born. Poor Ty doesn't stand a chance when it comes to what Ryndon wears. I get stuff on the sly. My "cute" outfits don't go over so well with Ty. He probably thinks they're silly. Oh well. I still think he's the cutest kid in the world. But I could be accused of being partial.


Alicia bought Ryndon the Baby Gap jacket. It's finally cool enough for him to wear it. I figured he needed to wear it a few times before he grows out of it.
He's such a ham for the camera.
Ty is starting him already. He read Ryndon the SuperLooper as soon as it came in the mail. It even looked like Ryndon was reading along with him. He's definitely a future roper. Grandpa Jim is already looking for Ryndon's first pony. As he said when we visited in Wyoming, "We need to get that kid mounted."

Welcome to the wild kingdom

Living in the country always leads to interesting encounters. I've seen bobcats, coyotes, deer, turkeys, skunks, snakes, wild hogs, and many other creatures around our house. Once when Alicia came to visit, we had a run-in with a skunk. She almost got sprayed and never even saw the skunk.

This summer we have had LOTS of encounters with creatures. I've discovered that yelling at a skunk is more effective at getting it out of the backyard than throwing rocks at it. I've learned that raccoons will attack dogs--poor Queso. I've learned that if you don't properly seal holes for plumbing lines, snakes like to come inside.

This isn't the actual snake, but about a week after Ryndon was born my Mom and I found a 3 foot snake curled up on the base of our shower. It was just a common rat snake, but no snake should be in the house.

A couple weeks later, I woke Ty up about 5 a.m. trying to kill a spider on the ceiling. Needless to say, the spider lived (not sure where he got knocked to). I didn't get the diaper wipe fully on him before he dropped a little. I screamed and flailed my arms. Ty woke up. I had moved Ryndon to the end of the bed so he was safe. Unfortunately, I never found/killed the spider. Even worse, Ty wouldn't let us go sleep in the other bed. I HATE spiders.

Life since Ryndon

Before Ryndon came into our lives, we got lots of sleep, horses were exercised often, house was pretty clean, laundry and dishes were done and put away.... Now... Don't expect a clean house if you show up unannounced. I think I do pretty good just to get dinner done, laundry and dishes washed and the horses and dogs get fed.

However, I wouldn't trade it for anything. He is the most amazing thing in the whole world.

He is such a happy boy.
He loves his swing.
Sound asleep.
Cuddled up in the hospital.
He used to be so little in his car seat.

Don't let this sleeping boy fool you. He doesn't sleep too much.

What is 'Duckville'?

'Duckville' is in the middle of nowhere. It's a term that was created to describe our location. Rick Looney is even our mayor. He's self-appointed since he came up with the name.

Duckville is a pretty interesting spot we like to call home. We live about 20 miles north of Stephenville. We have a Mingus address, Gordon phone number, live in the Gordon School District (Palo Pinto County) and live in Erath County. (No, that's not Earth spelled wrong.) Mingus is made up of about 8 bars, a city hall, post office and bank. Gordon has a SMALL shopping strip--hardware store, post office and one or two others. The nearest 'grocery store' is in Strawn. But you have to know when it's open. It seems to be closed every time I have been there.

Add all of that together and you might gather that Ty, Ryndon and I live in the boondocks--hence the need for its own name.