17 months

We had a great weekend!!!  Graham's parents came into town, since the weather was so beautiful on Friday we decided to go to the zoo.  Barrett was fascinated by some of the animals and then other times he loved the stones on the ground, buttons on the activity walls, and sticks on the ground.  One animal he loved is the penguin.  He kept calling them ducks, and would even try to kiss them when they would swim up to the glass.  That was the highlight of the trip!!  It was so cute. 

Barrett spends his time dancing, playing blocks, reading books, and just running around.  He is saying quit a few words.  He says duck, Mommy, Daddy, pup-pup (his puppy), nite nite, he's said please once.  We're working on more, but he's progressing nicely. 
He loves being outside!  Even if he's just running around, he's happy.  He already knows where his boundries are, and every once in a while he'll try to test us to see if he can get away with going over them.  He loves being with his Daddy too, everytime Graham goes into the garage to work on something, Barrett wants to be out there with him to help.  When it's time for Mommy to cook, he wants to be up there watching me.  So lately I've let him help mix things up, and that just makes his day.  Hopefully I have a little chef on my hands! He is just a happy and sweet little boy!!!

Babble, Babble, Babble

Barrett has been very vocal these days.  He has been babbling for a while now, but this week he's articulating his babbles a lot more.  I'm talking non-stop!  He talks to his stuffed animals, toys, food, and Abby.  Anything/anyone that will listen to him.  I've been giving him tasks to do, such as, "Go put this in the trash", "pick up your toys and put them in your room".  He loves doing everything.  He gets a sense of accomplishment and his demeanor changes to a very proud little boy!
His toddler room is starting to come together, we're doing a dinosaur theme.  I made a picture for his room this weekend.  It was a lot of fun to build and paint again.  It's been YEARS since I've done anything like this.  Plus it's kind of cool to have something I built hanging in his room.

Finally

I haven't written in a long time, I know.  I've made a commitment to start writing again. 
A synopsis of what's been going on to get you updated....
I was laid off from my job in October.  While looking for another job, I've really enjoyed the time I've gotten to spend with Barrett.  We sold our home in Mansfield, and bought Graham's parents house in Fort Worth.  This home is so amazing and wonderful.  Graham's Grandfather built the home, and Walter (Graham's Dad) grew up here.  It means the world to us that we are able to have it.  It sits on half acre, and has so much soul and history. Below are just a couple of pictures of the house, believe me, it doesn't do it justice.

Barett had his 1st Birthday day in October, which if you know me I had started planning it 6 months prior.  We had it at my Mom's house, and I was touched by the amount of people who came.  He spent the day socializing with everyone, talking, smiling, laughing.  At one point he felt a little bit overwhelmed, so then it was being with Mommy time.  Once we started opening up presents, that's when he decided he was kind of done socializing, and ready to go home.  Once we were home, he loved all of his wonderful gifts, and cake!

Barrett is now 15 months old and is full of personality.  His favorite thing to have is his "puppy", it's a stuffed animal that his Great Aunt Debbie gave him when he was first born.  The child cannot go to sleep without puppy.  Debbie can't remember where she bought it, so I can't buy a back up.  If something happend to puppy, that will be the end all! 

He can say "Mommy", "Daddy", "puppy", and "bye bye" (only when he's saying good bye to animals).  He is 24 pounds, and 32 inches long (50 percentile in weight, and 75% in height).  He's a growing boy with a very healthy appetite.  He's been on normal food for about 3 months and loves everything.  He eats fish, all veggies, fruit, everything.  I'm hoping this doesn't change!  He started eating with a fork and spoon a couple of weeks ago, and he loves it.  He feels like a big boy! 

 He absolutly loves Abby, and chases her around the house all day.  Every morning when he wakes up he looks around to make sure Abby went into his room to say good morning to him.  Once he see's her he gets a huge smile on his face. 

He's very outgoing with other children, doesn't matter the age.  He thinks he's as big as any kid out there.  He also loves the ladies all ready.  Once he see's a little girl that he likes, he walks up to her, and smiles, bats his eyes, and for some reason lifts his shirt.  He is such a huge flirt!!  No selfesteem issues in this house!  I have a picture below of him doing this to a 7 year old girl at the pumpkin patch we went to.

We have been extremly lucky with him so far.  He's an incrediable eater, a fabulous sleeper, he sleeps 12-13 hours at night and still takes 2-3 hour naps.  When he's ready for bed, he takes my finger and takes me to his room. What kid does that??? He is a kind hearted, smart, affectionate, handsome baby boy!  I couldn't have asked for a better child! 

Halloween was so hot, and poor Barrett had a very warm dino costume.  He was the cutest dino I've ever seen!  We went to a church that had several bounce houses and tons of activities for children. The child is fearless, he just got up in one of the bounce houses and didn't want to leave.  I thought he would be a little intimidated by everything, but nope! 

Thanksgiving was really nice as well.  We went out to Rowlett and had dinner out there with the Ragland crew. Graham went hunting that evening, and Barrett stayed at my Mom's house that night so I could get up and shop the next morning.  Graham's parents stayed in Arkansas, but came down for Christmas and stayed with us for 12 days. Which leads me to Christmas..... 

Christmas was absolutly amazing this year.  We were able to see almost the entire family (both sides) this year, which never has happend.  Between Barrett's Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, friends, and his parents....Barrett is a very loved, and spoiled child.  Below are some pictures to get you up to date with everything.  I promise not to be a stranger any longer.



Barrett's Great Grandparents with "puppy"



FLIRT!



Waking up to see what Santa brought him



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!!