Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone and Barret thoroughly enjoyed his share of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

He was stuffed to the core and just had such a great time with family.

We spent Thanksgiving day at Aunt B's with the rest of the Votaw clan. Uncle Paul and Aunt Marcia were there, even Trent and Baylee came for the festivities. Aunt B, Uncle David, David, and Sam of course were excellent hosts and did a phenomenal job making Barret's first Thanksgiving so much fun! Of course Grandma and Grandpa Boehm were there and Great Grandma Votaw too. Barret received so much love on Thanksgiving, I'm sure he was truly thankful to be a part of our family :)
Friday we spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa Gaffneys where we enjoyed leftovers and the boys watched endless hours of football. Mama and Tete Chelsey got up crazy early and went shopping! Of course, Mama couldn't hold out of all of the presents she got for Barret, so he now has a 140 piece mega blocks box set that he loves to play with! Grandma had to work on Friday too, so we didn't get to see her until later. Don't worry though, Barret received lots and lots of Grandma love.

Thanksgiving also brought on Barret's first real booboo. While taking a bath at Aunt B's he slipped and scraped his underarm on the shower door stopper, leaving him with quite the cut. There were many tears, and Mama didn't even notice the cut until after he was all dried and diapered. Not too much blood was shed, and he managed to survive Aunt Marcia's booboo treatment.

Saturday and Sunday we spent at home relaxing and just enjoying our time together. Barret has surprised us with another bottom tooth too, making him not so much the happy camper we would prefer, but we love him all the same.

Pictures will be up soon!

Tomorrow brings the first day of December. Do you know what that means? SNOW! CHRISTMAS! COOKIES! MAMA'S BIRTHDAY! SNOWMEN! SLEDDING! TREES! DECORATIONS!

Happy last day of November :)

Baby Gaffney

Well, if you guessed a girl for Baby Gaffney number two (like I did) you would be dead wrong.

Yes, it is another little Baby Boy!!! Making yet another tough decision for Mama and Daddy. Mama, was so sure it was a girl, we had our name all picked out and ready to go....back to the drawing board we go.

We are very excited, don't get me wrong, this baby will complete 2/5 of our basketball team...that's what Grandpa Boehm said :)

It is crazy to think we will be a family of four already, we had only just been a family of two for a short while before becoming three, and now in almost three short years we will be becoming a family of four! So crazy.

But this baby is going to bring us so much more joy, excitement, and laughter, and as scared and nervous as we are, we couldn't be more excited. Barret is going to be the best BIG brother and he is going to have so much love for his little brother! I can't wait to see them together. However, he seems to not really like him all that much right now. At the doctor, when the woman was doing the ultra sound, I think he thought she was hurting Mama because he just cried and cried and was so unhappy.

Here is a picture of Baby Boy #2

On the left you can see he has big feet just like Barret, and on the right he is staring at us.

Want to know something really super cool about Barret???? He can now walk and clap at the same time! And he LOVES the trash can and the toilet! He sure is keeping us on our toes, and last night we went out and bought two more baby gates to try and keep him out of the bathroom and the office (where all of his mischievous behaviors happen).

Here is a video of his super cool walking skills!

Monkey Do

Our little monkey is a walker, it is official! He just loves to zoom around the house going from one place to the next, grabbing anything he can find to steady himself, and then quickly walking off to the next place.

Since Wednesday this week, we haven't seen much crawling from our little man, and it makes mama a little sad. But, we are so excited for this new milestone of his and love to see him growing and changing.

Tonight he actually climbed up into the dishwasher!!! Such a strong and courageous little guy he is. So so funny Mr. Barret is, and he keeps us on our toes.

I will be posting a video soon of the little guy and his moves, so be on the look out.

We find out if Baby Gaffney is a little brother or sister on Friday!

Halloween has come and gone

Our little Elephant was the cutest there ever was. Despite being a little agitated by having to wear the costume, he did a great job helping deliver the candy to Trick-or-Treaters all around.

If you can't tell from the pictures I post, Barret LOVES pumpkins and will seek them out everywhere we go...he generally goes for the biggest, roundest looking one and tries to roll it away or pick it up or something of the like. He is so funny, and I love his little personality.

It is crazy to think that it is already November, not even just November 1, but November 7.... only 18 days until Thanksgiving, and you know what that means, Christmas is right around the corner and so is Barret's first Birthday!!!! I can't believe he is going to be 1 in only a few short months.

However, just looking at him and interacting with him you can tell he is no longer a baby, he is truly a Big Boy and wants to be treated as such. While Barret is learning to walk and talk he is having the time of his life, as well as keeping his Mama and Daddy entertained. He can now flush the toilet and turn on the water faucet in the tub (there were no teaching instruments involved here, just the shear genius of our baby boy). Which creates quite the havoc in the bathroom each and everyday (Barret's favorite room is the bathroom, we think it is because of his love of water and taking baths).

Aside from that things seem to be same old same old around here. Oh, we are no longer giving away or money to Comcast :) and we are very thrilled with that!

We find out in two weeks if Baby Gaffney is a boy or a girl.... any guesses?

Officially Fall

Barret has successfully painted his first ever pumpkin and his Halloween costume is finally completed, thanks to our good friend Yvonne and all of her sewing talents :)

As much as I have never really liked or enjoyed Halloween, I'm looking forward to Barret's first. I can't wait to put him in his costume and hand out candy! I can't wait to carve our pumpkin....We've had this on the schedule for like a week and things just keep getting in the way...I can't wait to see our TWO pumpkins out on the front porch!

Fall has brought on many new changes to our family and most of which are hilarious. Barret enjoys drinking the water in the tub, and tonight he learned just how to turn the faucet on, and let me tell you, he LOVES to turn it on and off! I'm pretty sure the water was at least up to his elbows by the time he was finished.

Barret is also learning to eat more table food since he is completely appalled by his jarred foods. Tonight we had lasagna, about 1/3 or a banana, and some chips Barret found on the coffee table, where he decided to help himself to a few leaving his mouth a beautiful orange color (there was no hiding what he had eaten).

Daddy is in the chili mood, and is making his first batch this evening. The smell in the house is absolutely delicious. Being a pretty avid "No thanks, I'll pass" to chili fan, I must say this could possibly be something I end up taste testing. I'll let you know when I see the finished product :)

Tomorrow night brings the annual Wednesday night small group chili cook-off. Last year Steve took 3rd and was pretty proud...this year he plans to win it all!! All being, a great pat on the back and a lot of people eating his chili :)

And look who is making his way into the walking world.... He is just loving this dinosaur friend and dances and giggles his way through the house. That is until he runs into something and we have to help him change directions.

Barret has also learned that he is "SO BIG" and will show us just how big he is :) Waving bye-bye is still coming along. He does it but it isn't really consistent yet.

Oh, I almost forgot.... Look who has graduated into his big boy car seat! He is loving it now that he is used to it. He looks so big!

Yuck!

Yuck to veggies everywhere.....

Barret seems to be having a complete aversion to all things green, orange, and just plain veggie like. It doesn't seem to matter whether we mask it in oatmeal, hide it in applesauce, or give him the real deal... He knows what it is and he is not going to give in. I'd like to take the credit for my little man's behavior and attitude towards the little green and orange monsters, however, not eating veggies is truly NOT a good thing and is not something I broadcast willy-nilly.

Yuck to boogies....

Barret has been battling a cold the past week or two with a majorly runny nose that Mama is constantly wiping, creating a bit of a rough patch under there that may or may not have bled a couple of times. He is constantly sneezing and has stayed home from the sitters all but 4 days in the past two weeks. His sneezes remind me of an explosion in the microwave when the lid pops off the top of a Tupperware container and the contents just go bursting out, creating an all too sticky and icky mess. I'd like to say it is funny when the sneezes come so big out of such a little body and I think that there couldn't possibly be anything left in that cute button nose of his...but I am always wrong, and the next sneeze is possibly worse than the one before.

Yuck to messy diapers....

Barret seems to think it is funny to fill his diapers to the brim and then more. The past three days we have had to strip him of his clothes and quickly rush him into the shower in order to clean his messy body up. His clothes are stained with poop and it is altogether disgusting and has graced the bathroom floor a few too many times this week. We have gone through hundreds of wipes trying to clean it up, followed by gallons of water in the shower and sink (to soak his clothes BEFORE washing them), as well as far to many towels that have landed on the poopy diaper or bathroom floor. Needless to say, in all of the commotion Barret finds it absolutely hilarious and then begins to scream when we get the process of cleaning going.

Yuck to the flu....

Mama is convinced she has the flu bug and stayed home from work today. We sent Barret to the sitters though in hopes that Mama would be able to rest a bit more. Being pregnant and getting sick is certainly not ideal and hasn't made the diagnosis easy. But, you can feel the difference between pregnancy sickness and actual sickness sickness. Talking with the doctor today we came up with the conclusion that it is simply the 24 hour bug, meaning it should have already left me at this point, and I can not take any meds except for a de-nausea pill.. Yippee! Another pill I have to try and choke down, hopefully not making me sick.

Yuck to the weird weather.....

We Gaffney's are all for the fall weather, but are not enjoying the freezing mornings followed by the hot afternoons. Fall needs to just come and be here....none of this going over 75 degrees.

On a lighter side, this past weekend Barret graduated from his carrier car seat to a big boy car seat (still rear facing). We are all getting used to it, but He looks so much more comfortable in it than the old one. His legs are so long it was beginning to get a little squished back there.

Grandma and Grandpa Gaffney are coming down for the weekend and we can't wait to see them!

We also got to talk to Uncle Jason on Sunday and he seems to be doing great! We miss him and can't wait for him to come home!

Fall is Here!

Well, it's been 3 weeks since Daddy started his new job and we are all just loving it! Daddy comes home covered in dirt, dust, and cement; but we love him just the same and can't wait for him to walk up the stairs.

We have thoroughly been enjoying our Saturdays, spending them together as a family, running errands, relaxing at the Farmer's Market, going to breakfast, and really just getting to relax at home together.

In the past few weeks Barret has decided he wants to walk more than anything. He hasn't quit got it figured out yet, but he is trying his hardest. He has taken multiple steps, each one followed by a quick tumble and a speedy fast crawl. He is so cute and we are so proud of him.

Last weekend we celebrated the arrival of Fall by visiting Ropp Cheese Farm and Radar Pumpkin Farm with Tom and Jeanine. It was so much fun. Barret LOVED the animals, especially the calves, and couldn't stop laughing at the poor llama that desperately needed to see a dentist. We picked out our pumpkin, and I must say, it weighs almost as much, if not more than Barret does. It is the perfect pumpkin and we can't wait to carve it! Barret will get to join in the festivities as well by painting his own little pumpkin. I am so excited for that! Other than that, Barret has a hard time really enjoying things when we go out because he is so interested in what all the other people are doing. It's very funny to watch him just observe and take in all of the people around him when we are in a big crowd. We also celebrated Daddy's birthday last week by going to dinner and then watching the Bear/Packer game. It was a great day and Barret even made Daddy a card!

Yesterday Mama and Barret went up to see G and G Boehm. Grandpa and Mama shot a wedding and Barret got to spend the day with Grandma. He had a lot of fun with Scooter. They are both so very interested in each other, but when push comes to shove, they are both extremely scared of one another. Barret giggles and screams at Scooter, Scooter sniffs him and runs away, then he barks, and Barret cries. It is so funny to watch. But, I think Scooter enjoys Barret being their because of Barret likes to drop his snacks right there for the taking.

Today we went to the park after lunch and just enjoyed the wonderful weather. We spread our blanket and camped out for a while. Barret enjoyed his first swing experience and even showed off his slide climbing skills! He doesn't seem to enjoy going down the slide, even when he is with Mama or Daddy.

Finally, we are preparing to help Barret become a BIG BROTHER! Mama is going to have another little Baby Gaffney in April and as scared and nervous as we all are, we are very excited too!

That's all for now, enjoy this wonderful weather and get out your fall decorations if you haven't already!