Way too long!

I know it's been a very long time since I've posted anything.  Sorry about that!  Time has just been passing me by, and sometimes I feel like I need to grab something to try and make it slow down a bit.

My Grandfather has been recently been diagnosed with Cancer.  Luckily they caught pretty early on, so he should be okay.  He is a fighter; got pneumonia, and strep throat within the first week of his treatment.  He stayed in the hospital for several days with all that going on. He is doing better now, and is on his second round of chemo.

When something like this happens, it makes you take a step back and re-evaluate the things in your life.  I am fortunate to still have all of my Grandparents, and it petrifies me to think I could lose one.  My Grandma is being the rock that he needs, but I know she is terrified.  I couldn't imagine what that feels like!

Everything else is going well.  Graham's parents come down to visit as much as they can.  We miss them like crazy!  They recently came down for Graham's 30th birthday party.  We had a party for him at the Fox and the Hound, it was a great turn out.  It was wonderful to see everyone again!  So now my husband is 30, and I just turned 29.  It seems like just a couple of years ago Graham and I got married (he was 24 and I was 23),  BABIES.  I can't believe we've been together for almost 7 years.

Barrett (our pride and joy) will be 9 months old in a few days.  This is where I get really sad that the days pass by me.  I know its cleshay, but a few months ago he was in the NICU, and I was praying that nothing else went wrong so I could take him home, and now he's trying to walk. 
He is so amazing, and everyday is something new with him.  He started crawling at 7 months old, and as soon as he could figure out that he could crawl; he decided that wasn't good enough.  He wanted to start pulling up on EVERYTHING.  Now as he is standing, holding onto something, he wants to let go and see how long he can stand there.
He loves trying to get to Graham's stereo equipment!  That's his favorite, I think because he knows he's not suppose to touch it.  But yet, that doesn't stop him from trying!  He wants to explore anything and everything.

I've already started planning his first birthday.  Yes, I'm a little nuts, but anyone that knows me, knows I wouldn't be me if I didn't start now.  The guest list started out with 78 people; yes I know, no it isn't a small wedding!  I've managed to get it down to 40-50 people.  We'll see how many are able to come!  It's going to be bitter sweet; watching my baby boy turn a year old.

First time swimming! LOVES the water!

Say cheese!

Loves his walker!

A video of Barrett trying to crawl....too cute not to post!

6 months old and Easter!!!!

Yesterday was Barrett's first Easter, and he had a fabulous day!  We went to lunch with Graham's family and then had some of my family over for dinner.  It was wonderful seeing everyone.  Graham's parents stayed in Arkansas for Easter, first one without them....we miss them very much!  We will be there later this month to visit, can't wait!!!!

Barrett has changed so much over the past couple of months.  He is, by far, the most incredible thing in the whole world!! He weighs almost 19 pounds and is 27 inches long.  He is in the 75 percentile! That's my big boy!  He has 2 bottom teeth coming in at the same time....that is a lot of fun for us!  :)  We moved him into his big boy carseat, and have realized we miss the infant carseat.  You can just carry the whole thing with you, set it somewhere and he's good to go.  He can also sleep in it; which is the main thing we miss.  When you're dinning, he use to always fall asleep...nope not anymore! 

We have also changed his eating schedule and what he eats. He is now eating 4 jars of food, some cereal in the mornings, and about 16-20 oz of formula a day.  He went from taking 1 long nap and 3 cat naps a day, to 2 long naps. 
He has figured out when he wants a toy, he just rolls to it.  It is the cutest thing!!  He also thinks he's funny.  He will laugh at himself.....needless to say he keeps Graham and I very entertained!  I love that he's doing all these wonderful new things, but he's growing up too fast.  I'm not ready for my little baby boy to grow up!  Graham says the answer to that is to have another one.....I wanted to start laughing!!

Rough couple of weeks!

It was a difficult weekend for Barrett! He had to say Goodbye to his Oma (Graham's Mother). She moved to Arkansas to be with his Dad. They would see each other as much as they could; and after him being gone for a month, they made the decision to move. I guess being married for 32 years it's really hard to only see each other on the weekends. Luckily they will be coming back once a month, and in April we are all going up there to visit. That will be fun driving with a 6 month old for 8 hours! ;) We are all going to miss them very much!

Barrett went to the doctor a few weeks ago for his 4 month old check up. A few days before he went he started getting a cough and acted like he was getting a cold. The day I picked him up to go to the doctor I heard him cough and it sounded like he was a seal. I thought, "well at least he's going to the doctor today." Once we got to Diane's office, she listened to him and said it sounded like he was beginning to get stridor and gave us some steroids for it. Then he weighed in at 16 lbs and 26 inches long. He lost a pound due to not wanting to eat much. Graham and I stayed at home for the rest of the week rotating days off. Then he got an ear infection while recovering from the stridor. He was so pitiful and in so much pain. Along with the ear infection came diarrhea diapers and getting very dehydrated because he couldn't keep anything down. We were slowly giving him pedialyte to try and hydrate him. Finally he started getting back to normal after a few days!
Barrett has found his feet! For about a week now all he wants to do is put his feet in his mouth. It is the cutest thing in the world watching him get his feet! He is growing up too fast.....he is such a sweet and happy baby!!!

Cereal Today

Today Barrett tried cereal for the first time....he actually did very well for his first time.  It was so cute...You had to hold his hands down or they were in his mouth!  Just wanted to give a brief update!  He has a busy weekend...he has one of his bestfriends first birthday party to go to on Sat, he has lots of people to see Sat night, eating dinner at Oma and Opa's house on Sunday, and then he goes to the doctor for his 4 month check up on Monday.  Will post all of that next week!

Update.....

Barrett will be 4 months on Monday. Wow, the time has flown by!

He is progressing amazingly well. You would have never guessed he was a preemie. He is rolling over all the time in his crib from belly to back. He is able to hold his head up, but still wobbles! He is constantly watching everything around him, and Graham and I laugh all the time…Barrett loves watching football, and WW shows on the history channel. I don’t think he could get anymore like Graham! J He tries so hard to be such a big boy, he’s always trying to go somewhere. He is constantly kicking his legs, if you stand him up on your lap, of course he tries to walk. When he’s on his belly, he scoots to the top of his crib (of course he only does this when he’s mad). If he could get his arms and hands coordinating with everything else he would be crawling right now.

One thing Barrett absolutely loves is his bath time! He is growing out of his infant tub, he is now arching his back and kicking with his legs to try and roll over in it. He isn’t quit big enough for the seat in the tub yet. So I guess until he can start using the seat, we will just have to deal with him getting the floors and counters soaked!

I’m starting to notice that a couple of his 6 month clothes are starting to fit tight. L He was at 16 pounds a few weeks ago, and then he got sick and lost a pound. Now, with a full recovery I’m sure he has gained it back with a couple of extra pounds! He goes in for his check up on the 15th. We might try and start him feeding him cereal next weekend. I would like him to be able to hold his head up completely before I start it. However, there are days where it seems like he can’t get enough to eat, so we will just have to play it by ear.

Long time, I know!

Okay, so you know it's been a long time when you try and log in and you forgot your password!

Sorry! I have just been so busy with everything that I forget to write about what's going on. I am hardly on FB anymore!

Okay, I went back to work in December, that was so horrible! I surprised myself though, I cried the day before and that night...but was able to hold it together the first day. Then I came home and realized for the first time that Barrett actually knew who I was. When he saw me he started smiling and when I picked him up he wrapped his arms around my neck. It seemed like eternity before he would let me go. That is when I started crying; happy tears of course. It was a feeling only another Mother would know about. I took pictures of him that morning....

Then we had a wonderful Christmas with our families. Barrett got some really cute clothes, and wonderful toys that he is now playing with....pictures to come. Below are Xmas pictures....

Then we had New Years Eve, and Barrett stayed the night with his Aunt Emily and Uncle Skip while Mommy and Daddy went to a friends house.  It was hard leaving him, but I knew he would have lots of fun....besides he's been sleeping through the night since he was 9 weeks old!!!  Go Barrett!!!  :):):) 

The following pictures are of Barrett's "firsts".  The first time he noticed toys, first time he grabbed at a stuffed animal (Benny), the first time he played with a rattle, the first time Daddy took a picture of Barrett and I taking a nap, the first time he rolled over, and the first time he played in his saucer!  Lots of firsts in the last couple of weeks!!