Christmas '09

Our Christmas officially began on the morning of the 24th here in Wylie. Matt, Barrett, and I decided to start off the day by having our "own" little, family Christmas with just the three of us. Santa knew we were heading out of town, so he made a special trip to drop by our house! That's pretty cool of Santa...don't you think???

Santa left B a new table and chair, Batman sofa, Hot Wheels, Trucks, and little Elmo people

We made our usual journey to west Texas, and along the way, we literally got caught in a blizzard. It was snowing and sleeting like crazy, with wind speeds up to 50 mph. We laughed along the way because it was blowing snow (which we don't see that often).
Our first stop was in Graham. The snow started to accumulate...and began to pile up quickly. The next thing we knew, the roads began to get really icy. We ended up cutting our Graham Christmas short, so that we could head over to Throckmorton. We do plan on heading back out to Graham this weekend for our "2nd try" at Christmas.

Snow piled high in Graham at Matt's grandparent's house.

At 20 mph and 2 hours later (usually a 45 minute trip from Graham to T-town), we made it to my parent's house.

Christmas day was fabulous! Gifts, food, and family! What more could you ask for? Oh yeah...SNOW. Yep, we had that too!!!! We all went sledding (down the tank dams), had a few snowball fights, and dad even pulled our sleds on the back of his 4-wheeler!!!! Country Christmas...that's for sure!

Looking out from mom and dad's front porch.

Christmas Day morning at Meme and Papa Barrett's house. This tent is huge. There are two tents connected by a tunnel.

Santa Picture

There was a "young" Santa that visited Cornerstone (Barrett's preschool) during the holidays. Unfortunately, Barrett wasn't very excited about sitting up on Santa's lap. Due to the turn out of this particular snapshot, we decided not to take him to the mall and wait in the long lines this year.

Better luck next year, right?

Family Pictures of 2009

This year, we took family pictures in Throckmorton. Barrett did well for the most part... as long as he wasn't asked to pose. The photographer tried to pick up as many natural moments as she could. Here are a couple of the pictures taken.
I'll try not to spoil my Christmas cards I'm sending out this year.

Age Confusion

Barrett THINKS he is two! Seriously, I've been trying to teach him his numbers and letters...but this boy is stuck on the number TWO and the letter B. I guess you could say they were his favorites.
We're also working on saying Christmas. That's a long word for an 18 month old to say. So far, we can say "Chris". That's good enough for me.

Thanksgiving 2009

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year. I am so thankful for the many blessings I have in my life.

Our Thanksgiving celebrations started in Graham on Thursday with the Shepards, then onto Throckmorton that evening with Meme and Papa Barrett, along with my sister and her family, followed by a late Thanksgiving lunch on Sunday with Gramsey and Papa Barner out at Matt's brother's house with his family.

He loves riding Grandad's lawn mower! We probably burned up all the gas that was in it.

I had to get a full length picture of him in his Wranglers and boots. Soooo cute!

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We have a new tradition at Meme and Papa Barrett's house! It's called the Thanksgiving CAMPFIRE! Yep, you guessed it! Kick the old turkey to the curb on Thanksgiving evening, and bust out the hot dogs and smores!!!

We had the best time!!! The weather was chilly, but we warmed up fast by the campfire. Barrett had a blast eating a hot dog and he stuffed an entire, giant marshmellow in his mouth. His cheeks were so full, he couldn't even chew!

We even set up a tent for the kids to play in.
Next year, we might actually have to sleep out in the tent through the night and go fishing the next day.

18 Months

I can't believe Barrett is 18 months. Time is flying by so fast. We had a great visit at the doctor's office.
I love our pediatrician. He seems to be so calm, soft spoken, and genuine. We literally spent close to an hour with us just talking, and asking us questions about Barrett's development.
Overall, Barrett seems to be right on track.
Weight: 29lbs Height: 35 1/2 inches

Get this...while the doctor was looking inside Barrett's mouth, he said that B was already getting his second set of molars! He said that it's not common, but it's not a "bad thing" either. Maybe we'll be done with teething sooner than we think! ha ha
Hemangioma update...
It's not really shrinking, but it is fading from the middle, outward. It's almost white in the center. Honestly, I don't even notice it anymore. It's just part of him. The doctor said eventually he can have it removed, bu the wants it to fade a little more to decrease the chance of it possibly "bleeding out" or scarring too bad.
In the mean time, we plan on calling it Barrett POWER dot! He's not asking now, but when he does, we plan on telling him that's where he gets all of his energy, magic, and power.

18months:

• He's into everything!
• Starting to increase his vocabulary daily. I love it when he tries to say more than one word at a time. It's hilarious.
• He's expressing his feelings so well. He laughs at funny things (even when he is by himself playing, I'll catch him laughing at something he is doing). He also acknowledges when he needs to be quiet, someone is sad or hurt.
• He helps me pick up his toys when I ask.
• He pretends very well. I love watching his imagination at work. Sometimes he mimics what I am doing or saying, to one of his little animals (or trucks).
• Totally in LOVE with tractors, trucks, buses, cars, balls, Elmo, rocks, and books!
• When I'm doing my crunches or push-ups, Barrett gets on the floor and tries to do them with me! It is adorable.
• He wants us to read to him constantly and is getting better at his picture flashcards.
• He likes wrestling with Matt on the floor.
• Gives "knuckles and high fives" when he meets people.
• Active, active, active! I hope that never changes!!!

Lots of wonderful memories that I'll need to write in his baby book. I absolutely love being Barrett's momma. He means the world to me.

Happy Veteran's Day

We just want to wish Papa Barrett, Papa Barner, great Grandad Shepard, and great Grandpa Barner, a very happy Veteran's Day. We love you and want to say that you for serving our country!!!

This is one of my favorite books and is especially great to read around Veteran's Day. It took be three different times to read it out loud to my class at school. Every time we got to the part where it talks about the little boy noticing another boy with his grandfather, I would start crying. Great, great, story!

I am so thankful that Barrett has had the chance to meet all of his grandfathers!

Night Time

Most of the time, Matt is the one to put Barrett to bed. They have their own, little routine down. It is so sweet. Occasionally, I get to rock Barrett to sleep, and when I do, it makes me realize how fast time has flown by. Honestly, it makes me want all those moments back!!! It seems like just yesterday that I was giving him a bottle and rocking him for what seemed like a lengthy time,until I could ease him into his crib without waking him up.

Now, I feel like my baby is all grown up.

The night time routine (mainly for Barrett to read about when he gets older)

After dinner, Barrett usually gets his second burst of energy. He runs around the couches, and wrestles with Matt! If I ever try to get down into the floor with them, I usually get booted out. I just get to help out if someone gets hurt.

Speaking of dinner...this is what he does with his corn and peas. The more he can stuff into his cars, the better. Then he cries when I am washing them out!

Around 7:30 or 8:00 we tell B that it is time to go to bed. He grabs his little puppy dog, Deputy and sometimes takes a little car with him to his room. Matt reads a book, and rocks him to sleep. On the nights Barrett is really tired, he crawls down out of the rocker and into his own bed all by himself.

This is Barrett playing on with the ab roller. In action, it is hilarious. He drives it all around the house, running into to things. Then he giggles and keeps go going. Trust me, my walls need a new paint job!

I usually sneak in before I go to sleep to steal a few kisses. I can't help it.

Barrett's favorite books right now are:

Good Night Moon (which we have memorized)

Ace the Racing Car

The Truck Book (I think this book is for older kids, but Barrett listens to every word of it - - it's all about different kinds of trucks, bulldozers, and tractors)

Elmo Lost his Blankie

Colors

Elmo Learns to Potty (this one has sound effects and Barrett's favorite part is to make the toilet flush sound)

Halloween 'Round 2'

We had a wonderful weekend. The weather was great and we caught up on seeing a few of our favorite friends.

Saturday started with a morning breakfast at IHop! Yummy. Since my son doesn't sleep in at all, we were up and in IHop parking lot around 7:30. Talk about beating the crowd! That's a way to put a positive spin on getting up early.

After breakfast, we headed back to Wylie to get ready for our next adventure...a drive out to Point, Texas. Yipee!!! We took a road trip to see some of our favorite friends, Megan, Jeff, and Hayden Smith! We love and miss them so much.

Barrett and Hayden are already good buddies. Barrett let Hayden wear his camo hat and Hayden let Barrett play with all of his toys (including his nightlight in his room).

Saturday night we joined our friends at the Hazelwoods for some Halloween festivities. Being a bad mom, I totally forgot Barrett's costume at the house...but never fear...Caiden had his costume from last year to loan Barrett. We snuggled up in our monkey suit and hit the road with all our friends for some trick or treating.

Barrett eventually figured out the routine of getting out of the wagon, walking up to the door, trying to say trick or treat, and saying thank you. Overall, he did very well. I laughed however when I cleaned out the pumpkin because not only did it have a lot of candy, but it had a lot of ROCKS in it too. Matt said that every trip up the sidewalk, he was searching for a rock to pick up as well! Too funny.

Sunday...we were on the road again. I was beginning to feel like I was living inside Willie Nelson's song, "On the Road Again".

We headed off to Graham to visit Barrett's KK, great-Meme and Grandad. We watched the Dallas football game, played outside, and ate some good home cooked food!


We did hit the jackpot. KK told us about an awesome sell at this place called, BEALLS. You could buy any item in the store and get a second item similar to it for ONE dollar! YeeHaw!!! I stocked up on shoes for Barrett and for Matt's work! That's the best sale I've come across in a while!