Dinosaur Mask

One of two masks we've gotten for Halloween.

I'll bet when I said dinosaur mask, you weren't thinking THIS! Unfortunately, (after a rough and unhealthy week), doctors diagnosed Barrett as having a severe upper respiratory infection.

This infection hit out of now where. You would think that he had been coughing a lot, right? Honestly, he hasn't. He seemed to have very peaceful nights and when he did cough, I thought it was from the drainage of sinuses and allergies.

I will admit that we've had an extremely rough week. Sunday, Barrett started out with tummy isses, but ran no fever and was his normal, energetic self. Monday, I sent him to school. When I went to pick him up that afternoon, teachers told me that he had been complaining of a tummy ache. Shortly after fastening the seatbelt and turning out of the school's driveway, Barrett got sick in my car. This continued throughout the night and into Tuesday morning.

Long story short...I thought the child was experiencing some type of stomach or intestinal problem (because this went on all week). He never ran fever or anything, so we kept him on the BRAT diet, gave him Imodium, and stayed away from too many milk products.

Things weren't getting better.

Finally, we loaded him up to take him to the doctor for a more thorough examination. After the Dr. heard his lungs he realized it was chest related (I was totally thrown for a loop). We even had to take chest x-rays to make sure it wasn't the beginning stages of pneumonia.
We're slowing getting better. Lots of breathing treatments and rest!!!!

I'm praying this week is better than last!

Carving Pumpkins

Hmmmmm, wonder what's inside????

Have you ever asked your 2 year old what is in a pumpkin? Try it (unless they already know). It's pretty funny. Dewawn and I laughed when we asked the kids what they thought might be inside. Braelyn, 4 years old, knew...but Barrett didn't have a clue.

Barrett's guess was CANDY. That's reasonable...candy, Halloween,...those all go together, right? Maybe he's thinking it was a pinata. Or, maybe he was associating it with the little Brach's candy pumpkins (that my parents let him eat)!!!

Carving pumpkins with our friends was lots of fun!

Bubble Gum Fun & Singing

How easy it is to entertain :) Yesterday he was laughing even harder, but I had to catch a video of Barrett up close with Mommy's bubble gum bubbles!
(I apologize for the smacking you hear. I was just trying to form a "good bubble")

Okay...my child can sing a lot of songs, and when he does, they really are precious. But tonight's performance he did the exact opposite of what I wanted him to do. Imagine that!!!!

Big Boy Trip

(Love these sunglasses. We got them in our Sonic Kid's Wacky Pack. The rims are bones. Haha)

Barrett took a trip to Throckmorton this weekend all by himself. I met my parents in Bridgeport on Friday and watched as my little boy drove away (happily) in Papa's big truck!

Meanwhile, Matt had planned an entire weekend for just the two of us!

Friday, we went out to dinner and watched the Rangers play. Honestly, I haven't been much of a baseball fan in the past (due to the fact that it wasn't a sport in our high school). However, after paying attention and watching every game of the Rangers throughout the weekend...I'm HOOKED!
Saturday, we drove over to Ft. Worth, checked into our hotel, finished watching the Ranger game, then went out for dinner, drinks, and to a comedy club. If you haven't been to Four Day Weekend, you've got to go. I laughed so hard, that my stomach hurt the next day!
We had an amazing date weekend...and we're looking forward to another soon!!!

Lots of "NEW" posts and videos

I'm a roll lately. Maybe I'm just feeling guilty for not posting more often, or I'm trying to catch up...but I've added 3 or 4 new posts. Enjoy them!!! I'm ready to get started on my 3rd blog book!!!

I like to READ

Barrett has most of his favorite books memorized because we read them so much...but last night, I coaxed him into reading the book to me. He usually reads each page word for word, but knowing I was videoing the whole thing, well.....he turned it into a performance and acted like his ornery self.

He counted first, then began to read. Be patient with him! Oh, and I apologize about the last few seconds when his finger moved up to his nose hole! Gotta love it when they do that in public!

Favorite books (as of lately)...

Power Dot Story

I know I can ramble...but I really do have a sweet story about my innocent little boy.
Sunday (during the Cowboy game), Barrett and I spent time drawing. We traced our hands, wrote our names, practiced our spelling, and (my favorite thing), drew some silly faces.
Barrett has managed to draw a circle (which I'm really proud of), and he is recognizing the sounds of all his letters!!!!
During all of this, I began drawing a simple circle and asking Barrett to tell me what to put in it. He would tell me eyes, mouth, ears, and then (so sweet), he would say, "it needs a power dot".
Doesn't that just make you melt?
At least he isn't thinking his hemangioma (birth mark) is a boo-boo anymore. I taught him many months ago (when he really started noticing it in the mirror) that his dot was special. I told him to call it his POWER DOT because it made him have special powers like all of his super heroes that he admires.
Good new, it is fading and the latest school picture, they completely photo-shopped it where you don't even see it (see below in my post - School Pictures Fall 2010).
On a funny note, even though I don't have a power dot, he certainly will be the first to point out a pimple on my face and refer to it as a power dot! hahaha
This video is of Barrett tracing and spelling his name. Normally...he tries to spell it without looking at the letters. Matt and I laughed so hard the other night because he would spell his name like this: "B - R - R - T - T -T"

Fishing!!!

We took Barrett fishing over the weekend. He did a great job, but I've already decided that we must invest in getting him is own fishing pole. He doesn't share very well, and has no fear of the metal hooks!
Here are some pictures of our fun time.
Checking out the perfect spot to fish. This looks like the perfect place.

We caught one! So exciting!!!

Should I touch it or not???

How about a kiss??? Sweet little fishy!

Rock on! Now that the fish has been caught, he's off to yet another interest...climbing and jumping off the big rocks!!!

Can't stay still! I'm surprised he didn't fall into the pond! Trust me, I was prepared!

School Pictures Fall 2010

Thought I would share with you the two most recent school pictures Barrett took at Cornerstone. I don't know how that got him into the outfits OR how they got him to sit still and pose...but I thought they did a great job. The pictures (for school shots) turned out cute.

(Excuse me for being "redneck"...but since we don't have a scanner at home, I took a picture of a picture! hahaha Pretty creative, don't you think?)

Hanging Out

I can't possibly tell you how much I enjoyed this past weekend with my two guys. It was wonderful. We just did a lot of simple, yet special things with one another that made the weekend so memorable.

Big Barner Breakfast! Barrett even participated in the cooking. I had him stirring the pancake mix...until I turned my back for a couple of seconds and then found a huge clump of pancake batter in Barrett's hair. Suddenly, B was off duty!

Ride around the block in daddy's truck after breakfast! Like I said, it's the "little things".

That big breakfast put a s-p-r-i-n-g in Barrett's step!

We went for a long walk in the neighborhood. Barrett even tried running with me! I would say he ran about a 1/2 mile with me! That's good for a two year old.

That afternoon, we headed out to Texas Road House to eat! Yummy

Barrett (pardon the face) had to take a souvenir with him from the place. He kept swinging it around, and I was a nervous wreck thinking about the possibility of the rock flying through the air into someone's car / windshield.

Sunday, we overhauled Barrett's toddler bed, and put him into a full size bed! Although I haven't gotten the bedding for his room...I did manage to get some cute sheets that he really likes (cars and trucks on them).

We found a great deal on his mattress. Luck was actually on our side that day!!!!

He's transitioned well! I worry about him falling off the bed (it is seriously high up...higher than ours). Barrett has to slide off the side of the bed to get down.

I do what my mama use to do with us. After he falls asleep...I take a couple of our kitchen chairs and prop them up against his bed so that he won't fall off the edge.


No more MONKEYS jumping on the bed.

Home-town Happenings

My hometown of Throckmorton had their biannual Homecoming. It's always fun to catch up with high school friends, watch a little 6-man football, and participate in the "Fall football" celebrations such as the Saturday morning parade. Most the town is involved in the parade...so I always find humorous to see who is actually there to watch it.

Cousin's Kelsey and Karlee (even Aunt Brandi) were ALL in the parade.

Kelsey is a Jr. High cheerleader! Aunt Brandi was on the 2nd grade float because she is the 2nd grade teacher, and Karlee just wanted to be involved, so she drove the golf cart down the street and threw candy to all the kids (I find that hilarious that an 8 yr. old is the driver).

The weather was great, we grilled out at my sister's house, caught up with some old friends that I hadn't seen in 10 to 15 years, and did so much laughing at my stomach hurt the next day.

I miss being out in the country so much...especially having Barrett at the age he is. I guess it's the thought of letting him "roam freely". Here, we have to worry about traffic, theft, and just the "high-pace" of things. Out in West Texas (where most of our relatives live), every thing works at a much, much, slower pace. It's actually kind of "nice".
I plan on exposing Barrett to that lifestyle as much as possible! Get ready grandparents...many weekends in the country will be spent with you!

"Hmmmm, where should I begin building my road?"

Helping Meme rake the leaves!

I don't know if you made it down this far in my post...but I leave you with this sad face. Yes...although we're doing fabulous with being trained how to go "tee-tee"...we're having a hard time with mastering "movement #2".

Barrett has NO DESIRE to sit on his potty. We've tried EVERYTHING (treasure box, candy, stickers, "good choice/bad choic", firm talking to, buying a little potty that plays music, reading B's favorite books). Nothing is working. Thoughts? Suggestions? Prayers????