What Happened to My Baby???

He's getting so big!!!

Weekend at the Lake

Ben and I headed up to his Grandma's Saturday. Randy and Kristen met us there and the boys went golfing and such (annual DLRB). Kristen and I just laid out and swam all day. It was fun and relaxing. Late that night Randy and Kristen headed for home and then Sunday Ben, Barrett, and I hung out at the lake. Again, it was peaceful and relaxing. Barrett loves the water and digging in the sand. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! :)

11 Months Old

Barrett is 11 months old today! I know I say this every month, but time really does fly. His first birthday is right around the corner. Amazing! Ben and I were talking last night about those first few months. It's hard to put it into words, but it is crazy to think about how things have changed so much in the past year. Ben summed it up the best by saying "Barrett's just awesome". Of course, I agree. :)

Here are Barrett's stats at 11 months:
::Drinks formula from a sippy cup about 4-5 times a day
::Eats three solid meals a day
::Sucks his right thumb when sleepy
::Makes lots of noises, loves to squeel when tickled
::Took his first step two days ago and continues to take a few here and there
::Takes two naps a day (one around 10 am and another around 3 pm)
::Sleeps through the night (9 pm to 8 am)
::Gets into everything; crawls into stools and boxes; climbs the plant stand like it is stairs
::Loves taking toys and banging them together (he loves to change toys up to make different sounds)
::Dances to music all the time
::Loves to lay on his belly in the bathtub and kick and hit the water (splashes all over). He also goes over the the slanted part of the tub and uses it as a slide.
::Loves to listen to stories being read to him
::Loves pushing buttons on remotes, toys, cell phones, telephones, computers, etc.
::Loves animals (although I don't think they love him, yet)
::Hasn't said any distiguishing words yet, although he seems to say more of the "mamamama" around me and the "dadadadada" around Ben. One time he did clap his hands towards Ben and said "daeee". It was really close.
::Crawls everywhere and cruises all the time.
::He weighs somewhere around 25 lbs.


Well, my college grad classes wrapped up on Monday, so now I have a few weeks before schools starts back up. I'm loving all this time I have with my son and will really miss it when I have to go back to the grind. :(

First Step!!!

Barrett took his first step today! I went to pick him up from Papa and Grandma Rainey (they watched him while I had class) and while talking to them he walked from me to Katrina! It was a wobbly 2 steps, but he made it and we cheered and cheered! He loved it and then kept trying to walk more and more (I think he felt brave). Ben hasn't seen it yet, but hopefully Barrett will walk for daddy tonight sometime. :)

Swimming on a Hot Day!!

Barrett, Ben, and I enjoyed our swimming pool (yea, you're jealous of the size...I know) today since it was so HOT outside. It's wasn't much, but it was a nice relief.

****Barrett's got some nice hair going on and some adorable expressions!****

Can't Get Enough of Him!

Barrett wearing Justin's hat.


Enjoying some spagetti...and giggling as he fed most of it to Koda.


Barrett climbed into this box all by himself, pulled all the packaging out, and then climbed out of the box to throw all the packaging into the other room. :) He's a very busy boy!

We've Got A Climber!!!

Mommy had to move all the plants, because I love to get into them! This now looks like a great thing to climb.


One leg up...I'm ready to go!


No feet on the ground anymore! I think I can go all the way to the top!


Uh-oh!!! Well, maybe next time....

Barrett is 10 Months Old!!

He loves playing with the blinds!

What a happy guy

Look at those blue eyes!!

He's definitely all boy


Barrett is growing so fast and soon he'll be one year old!! I have realized that I need to start planning for a birthday party. :) Maybe that will be a good time for people to all get together and hang out too, since most of this summer we are all pretty busy. Every year I promise myself that I'll get to the cabin more, but as always I don't think I can get up there that much this summer. :( Anyway, I hope everyone understands about the whole privacy of the blog thing. As I blog I realize how many random people could be reading my blog and feel like they "know" us. I'm not sure I like that. It's also for safety reasons for Barrett. I know it all seems far-fetched, but you never know. Okay, here are Barrett's stats:

**Weighs 23 lbs. (didn't gain any weight in 3 months...I guess it's all his moving around)
**75th percentile for length
**Sucks his right thumb
**Cruises around objects
**Army crawls and crawls on hands and knees
**Has practiced standing without holding anything, but falls soon after
**Nursing was officially done two days ago
**Drinks formula just fine now
**Eats all solid foods (no more blending foods in the blender)
**Likes to eat any and all fruit, pasta, zucchini, lunch meat, hamburger, well why do I even bother listing things...he eats anything. (Ben even gave him a little sauerkraut and he didn't even make a face)
**Loves swimming and will even paddle and kick when you hold him in the water
**Says lots of sounds, but no first word yet.
**Gets compliments on his blue eyes all the time. I was told today that Barrett's got something special and she wasn't kidding! :)

A Weekend Getaway

We enjoyed a long weekend with family. We first headed up to Rose Lake to visit with Ben's aunt and uncle and family. We enjoyed the sun and the boat rides and the campfires. After that we headed over to East Twin Lake and spent the days and evening with my family. Rex and Monica were there and brought 80's Trivial Pursuit and Wii. We had fun playing, although I must say that the 80's game is very difficult. The sun was shining, but the temps stayed cool. There wasn't any laying out for me. All I did was go in the hot tub a lot and enjoy the company. We did take one boat ride which was very nice, too. won't be able to go back up until a stort trip for my cousin's bachelorette party and then not again until August. Wow, the summer does book up quite fast.

We got a busy one on our hands....

Barrett is becoming quite the busy boy these days. He crawls everywhere (alternates between army crawling and "regular" crawling) and then pulls himself to standing. Once he is standing he cruises around objects, such as the couch, and walks to closer other objects. Meaning he moves from the couch to the coffee table to me and back again. He just loves to move. This whole walking thing is getting so easy for him (he still cannot walk without holding something, though). He has learned that falling doesn't have to be so bad (he is often very careful about his placement just so he will fall nicely and softly on his tush). He will lay down and sit back up again and sometimes even sits on his knees (although my friend just told me that I should have him sit a different way because sitting on his knees can cause his feet to become pigeon toed). When Barrett gets crawling, he can really book it, too. He tries to get through doorways he knows he's not supposed to, for example. He smiles the whole time, too! :)

On another note, Barrett has developed the "stranger" complex. Even Ben got it this morning. Ben brought Barrett in to me this morning, but Ben wanted some time with him before work. Ben took Barrett from me and Barrett was not happy. Barrett kept trying to get back to me and cried and cried. I felt bad for Ben. So I hid beside the bed until Ben got Barrett calmed down and I climbed back into bed, but Ben had to prevent Barrett from seeing me. Ugh! I guess it's just momma age right now.

Below is a slideshow of recent pictures. We've been hanging outside a lot and enjoying these recent beautiful days! :)

Finally, I want to wish my cousin a Happy 30th Birthday today. Happy day, Kyle!

Fun Pics!

Barrett & Gwen hanging out before heading to Muskegon


Grabbing a bite to eat


Barrett loves to pull himself to standing!! :)


A boy and his ride

Rainey Wedding

So, it's official, my brother is now married!!! He married a wonderful woman on the beach in Muskegon over the weekend. It was a perfect Michigan day...not a cloud in the sky and not too cold or too hot...just right! The happy couple were simply glowing with happiness and it seemed to carry over onto everyone else. Check out the sneak peek photos at the following website: http://www.picturemichigan.com/rainey/

Every minute of the weekend was special. Congratulations Rex and Monica. I feel very honored to have shared in your special day. I love you guys!!!

9 Months Old!!!

Barrett is 9 months old today! It is also my last day of school. When people ask how old Barrett is I tend to say "a school year", because he was born the first week of school and he turns 9 months old the last week of school. Funny how that works out, huh?!? :) I'm so excited to have some more time with my son, although I am taking a few classes this summer, which start in two weeks. Here are Barrett's stats @ 9 months:

***Sleeps through the night (~9 pm until 7 am)
***Has 7 teeth
***Army crawls everywhere and climbs everything!
***Feeds himself finger foods
***Nurses three X's a day
***Eats three solid meals a day (loves fruit)
***Loves to walk with someone helping hold his hands
***Spits up and drools a lot less than before (a big plus)
***Pulls himself to standing
***Claps his hands
***Sucks his right thumb when sleepy
***Has a tendency to want to hold his own spoon during feedings
***Definitely knows mommy and daddy and has started reaching for us
***Has blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes!

Rex and Monica's wedding is tomorrow! Can't wait! See most of you then!!

What A Cutie!