Pictures

It has been awhile.....

Since my last post a lot of things have happened to our family! Barret now has TWO teeth that have shown through his gums, as well as constant crabbiness and diarrhea to go along with them. We have had many more sleepless nights due to these silly teeth and Barret has awoke many mornings snuggles in Mama and Daddy's bed.

Over labor day we took a very spontaneous trip to the St Louis Zoo and arch. Barret LOVED the elephants, which we thought was so suiting, considering elephants are the only animals that we really have in our home. He was very intrigued by the fish in the hippos tank and he thought it was the best time to start drinking from a straw. Barret just snatched the straw right from our pink lemonade and started chugging. It was the funniest thing, and he knew he was just so cute :)

Barret now says 'mamama' to go along with all the 'dadadada' he is constantly saying. Unfortunately those 'mama's' don't come out very often, but when they do, they are such sweet noises and I love them.

We are also finally getting back into the swing of being at the babysitters and although both Barret and Mama would rather be at home together, we know that right now this is just how it is supposed to be. When we are home and it is just the two of us we LOVE to nap together on the big bed, sing and dance to the radio, and have crawl races down the hallway. Our favorite part of the day is when daddy gets home from work and we rush to the top of the stairs with great big, giant smiles and love on him so much with kisses through the baby gate!

Tomorrow Daddy starts his new job at Darnell. We are so excited and can't wait. We celebrated his last day at the bank on Friday with dinner out to Cosi and a nice trip to Kroger for groceries :)
From now on Daddy will get home at 4:30 and possibly even 3:30 everyday and we will get to see him and spend so much more time with him! We can't wait!!!!!

The only thing Mama doesn't like is that now Barret has to go to the babysitters at 6:45am instead of 9:30. We are hoping that this early morning will get him back on his regular schedule with meals and naps again because we have been way off since mama went back to work.

I think that is all for now. Hopefully it's not thanksgiving before I post again.

Oh ya, I am currently concocting an idea to make Barret a Halloween costume....In my head it is super cute, but you will see pictures of the real live thing come Halloween time and I'm sure it will not be nearly as cute as I am hoping for.

A Tiskit, A Taskit, A Pearly White Tooth!!!!!

It's been a while since I last posted. Mama got rehired and has been absolutely exhausted, she is working in the high school in a CI classroom. These kiddos just plain drain her and by the time she gets to pick up Barret from Miss Michelle's house she is ready for a nap.

Daddy got a new job and he starts on September 23. We couldn't be more excited because now he gets to come home as early as 3:30 and never has to work on Saturdays! YAY!!

Barret is also finally cutting a tooth! He is the crabbiest ever and doesn't sleep and is just so unhappy. I feel for him and I can't wait to see that pearly white tooth all the way in!

Goodbye Sleep

Oh Sleep, how I miss you terribly.... Since Barret turned six months there have been few occurrences of him sleeping through the night. We cuddle him and love on him in all the ways we can, but when it comes to the middle of the night he just loves to scream. He will scream for hours on end if we let him, and there is no changing his mind. I love the silent moments, the moment when you think he finally did it, He finally conked out and is asleep, and just as you start to think this a sudden burst of tears and screaming abounds.

I often wonder what happened. What was so special about turning six months that he decided he was no longer going to sleep soundly through the night. What happened at six months that he suddenly felt like mama and daddy weren't going to keep hims safe. What happened at six months that we are no longer aloud to get a full nights rest?

To make matters worse, Barret loves to wake up with the sun. And when I say sun, I really do mean it. 5:00am comes all too soon, when you are up through the night with a crying baby and you just want to lay your head on the pillow and not hear screaming and not feel like you are doing the wrong thing and not feel like your son doesn't think you love him. 5:00 am comes bright and early, and with that so does a bouncy baby boy who doesn't seem to be affected by the little amount of sleep he acquired the night before and is excited and ready to start the day. That little bouncing baby boy will let you know what he thinks of you trying to catch a few extra winks with him laying in between mama and daddy in the 'big' bed, by simply trying to gouge your eye out, or scratch your arm to shreds, or pull on your hair, or climb up you face to try and reach what lies beyond....an alarm clock and/or a baby monitor that are bright and shiny and light up...or a combination of it all.

The day abounds with laughter and happiness on Barret's end, and once 7:00 am rolls around Mama and Daddy are ready for the day as well. As we finally, if we aren't already, mosey on out to the living room, shut the baby gate, turn on the radio, and lay on the floor with our oh so happy baby boy. We watch him crawl around and climb up and down our bodies as he tries to be super adventurous and is so excited to show us what he can do. By this time we are awake and there is nothing that can take away the happiness we have in watching our little boy seek adventure and try new things, there is no amount of lost sleep that could make us upset with him for making us be awake....

And as the clock just clicked over to 1:53am, the baby room falls silent....I sit and wait to hear one more cry for mama, or one more shriek of please come and pick me up daddy... I hear silence. Ahhhh silence.....for a mere one minute....and we are back listening to our midnight serenade and tears and shrieks and a waterfall of white noise in the background.

One of these days Barret James you will learn that night time is sleep time and that crying in the night is only going to give you a loss of sleep and that there is no use in crying, because in the morning we get to see each others smiling faces. You will learn that not only is your dark room and comfy crib a peaceful place to sleep, but it is also a place for you to rest your head from the long day you just had. You will learn and understand that Mama and daddy are right across the hallway and we are here to keep you safe. You will learn that your heavenly Father is watching over you to make sure you are safe and sound. You will learn that just because you can't see us at that very moment we still love you and are still here and you will see us in a few short hours... when the sun comes up and the clock strikes 5:00 am.

Summer is coming to a close

Here are some photos of what we have been up to lately.

As summer seems to be coming to a close we are trying to take every advantage we can to enjoy the sun!

We snuck down to a garage sale a couple weeks ago and found Barret the cutest little Adirondack chair. Mama also snagged a few things to keep on hand for Barret's first birthday.

We have also tried to enjoy as much of the pool as possible. We love when Daddy gets to go with us and last week we went four times!!!!! One night we went, we were one of four families at the whole pool! It was a lot of fun.

We have also had our fair share of picnics for the year, Three nights in a row! But hey, who doesn't love a grilled hot dog and all the chips and cookies you can eat?

I have also graduated from the whale tub to the big boy tub....Mama's only worry is that Barret loves to stand and tries repeatedly to stand up in the tub. Despite our lengthy talks on dangers in the tub, Barret continues to try and stand, usually with much success, and then goes on to just babble as he tries to climb out. Other than trying to get out of the tub, he seems to much enjoy the tub. I think he is trying to figure out the difference between the tub and the pool....

Uncle Mike and Tete Chelsey took a trip to Ohio and picked Barret up some really cute Ohio State clothes! He is going to be very stylish once football season rolls around.

Uncle Jason left for Tech School on August 9 and we went up to say goodbye to him the day before. We won't get to see him until January, maybe even later. BUT, we do get to talk to him while he is gone this time, which is super exciting. We have already gotten to talk with him twice and we are waiting anxiously for him to set up his skype account so we can see him!

We have been trying to introduce Barret to some real foods despite the lack of teeth, and so far Barret is very interested in watermelon, strawberries, and pears. As long as he can eventually pick the piece of food up he seems to enjoy it. We just have to keep close watch on him because he really just sucks the juices out and one of these days I am afraid he is going to suck so hard it's going to go right down his throat...no good! Other than fruit, Dad decided to give Barret a cheese ball the other day, needless to say there was cheese all over his face and hands, and the cheese ball disappeared in a matter of seconds. He is also very attracted to the sugar free wafer cookies that we all know and love... Barret loves them too! Graham crackers, rice cakes, and sun chips are a few other foods Barret has come to try. (You probably think we are terrible people giving our son cheese balls and cookies at such a young age. But I will have you know that this is not by choice, I have mentioned before that Barret is an aggressive eater, he lunges at things and now that he can move around at his own will, he will grab it right out of your hand or off your plate.... there is no stopping him!)

Nap times are another story.... you walk in the room because it is quiet and you want to check on him... this is what you will see !

And look how big I am compared to Norman now!

On the move!

Barret is officially on the move and going, going, going. I would like to say that I can't keep up with him, but so far that is not the case. Barret loves to wiggle his little body over to us if we move just out of the way, and he know exactly what he wants to get to. I love leaving the room and saying come and get me, he looks at me with a little confusion, and then laughs and takes off. He really is doing a great job and crawling from room to room in order to keep up with me. It is so fun to watch him crawl to his toy bin. Once he gets there he tries to climb up and pull everything out. He seems to have this fascination with making a mess (already) and then starts to wail when there isn't anything of interest to him in the bin until we swoop him up and place him back down on the ground for him to crawl to the next item of his hearts desire. He also loves his diaper bag, crawling under his jumparoo, the coffee table (which I have mentioned about before), and the baby gate that has a clear window so he can see right down the stairs at anything or anyone that might be looking up at him.

He is really getting pretty fast, but he still would rather sit and play and roll around. He doesn't seem to mind too much if he can't crawl around, and watch out...if you help him to his feet he will try to take off walking. Last night we did laps around the driveway while Daddy grilled our dinner. It was so fun, and Barret's new shoes from grandma already look like they have been through their fair share of hikes up the mountain. He LOVES walking, and there isn't anything you can do to stop him. If he wants to go, you better go otherwise it is an all out war to make him happy. If he wants to go and he is already standing at the table or the couch and you aren't in arms reach he will try his very best to cruise that piece of furniture and reach as far as he can to grab onto that next piece of furniture.

I love seeing my little guy on the move! It is so fun

"Monkey-ing Around"

Our little Barret has become so brave! If you take your eyes off of him for even a second, he could be off and crawling into the next room, or following you to your destination, or climbing on the furniture. He seems to love climbing on our coffee table. I pushed it up against the wall to give him optimum playing room and to minimize the sharp scary corners around. However, those corners aren't the only part of the table that makes it dangerous. That extra little shelf that holds all of our books, magazine, random articles of Barret's clothing, and everything we have ever checked out of the library. Barret LOVES that shelf more than any piece of furniture and seems to gravitate towards it no matter what toys or people are available for play. While this isn't a bad thing, it creates the dangers of head 'bonking' and face 'smacking'. He has the "I know how to move" part of crawling down. But the depth perception and the when to stop part hasn't quiet come yet. So while we are having fun climbing and crawling, the scary boo-boos and smacks and bonks from the table are neither few nor far between.

(I am in the process of trying to figure out how to make this safer without having to purchase those super expensive guards. Any thoughts please let me know.)