river bluff cabins

We just got back from a weekend at River Bluff Cabins near Garner State Park. (Way outside of San Antonio). We met Uncle Kirk & Aunt Shalonda there, and had the most amazing time! Barret is getting so very big, vocal, and hard headed! He had a great time bonding with them, and multiple times he would hold onto Kirk and not come to me! Made Mommy sad, but made Uncle Kirk super happy!

Barret's new words are:

Kirk - sounds like Kurk
Mama - he has said mama before, but now it says it clearly, with emphasis, when he wants my attention
yes - he says this at the most unexpected times. Like I said, "Barret, are we OUTSIDE?" Trying to get him to say "outside" and he replied, very solomly, with "yesh"

And a few photos to relive our mini-vacation!

 If he threw one rock, he threw 1,000 rocks into the river! This boy LOVES to throw rocks!

 dirty little face!

 first camp fire....first marshmallow. We had yelled and warned so much about staying away from the fire, that he was terrified to get close to it. And did not want to even try the marshmallow! Sad we scared him so much, but I'm way to afraid of him falling in!

 His hair has such a red tint...especially in the sun. But the new growth underneath is blond! Only time will tell the final color! I love the mystery. And we have not yet cut his hair...we are holding out. Those baby curls are just too cute to cut. 

 Our cabin. It was awesome! kitchen, living room with 2 futons, flat screen tv, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It was brand new, and so clean! I can't wait t go back!~

Aunt Shalonda helping him out. He was Mr. adventuresome...but had a hard time staying on his feet with all the rocks and roots everywhere! The water was amazingly beautiful, but we stayed on edge keeping a close eye on him. He wanted to run free, but it just wasn't safe. I asked Travis, how old will he have to be before we let him go down to the river without worrying..and travis replied "twenty!"

 

Holding Uncle Kirk's hand. He only wanted to be with the boys!

"you want me to SMILE at the camera? not gonna happen!" 

I said that he was hard headed. I wasn't joking. Just image a very loud conversation that he is having trying to explain the woe's of an almost 19 month old in a world where he can't do everything he wants! 

"look Mama, Dada & Unkle Kirk are going fishing over there, where it is very dangerous for me. I must follow!" he did his best to get to them! poor guy! If only he was a little bigger! 

He was having so much fun, he was determined not to miss a moment of it, even if he was desperately tired. So, we had to take him for a drive to get him to give and and fall asleep. 

He slept for 2 hours and then woke up raring to go! 

He really enjoyed the vast amounts of space to ride his 4-wheeler.  

 Mr. Daredevil even drives while standing up. 

 as you can see, he is very proud of himself!

 stink face. A great photo of his attitude coming out! 

 I just love this photo! 

 me and my boy. And no, nothing I did would convince him to look at the camera!

Our little family. I am so very blessed. Thank you God for my boys!

trying to play catch up

Ok...so I have officially established something. I'm not meant to be a blogger. I won't find fame and fortune in the blog world like my much admired pioneer woman. Luckily...I didn't start the blog with fame and fortune in mind. My goal was to record all the sweet, funny, little things that Barret did in daily life so that when he is 18 and runs away to college...I will have something to look back on.

So, even though I am sadly behind, I still want to look back and remember. So I am going to try to play catch up now while I still kinda remember yesterday!

TODAY - October 4, 2010

Today, Barret is 17 months and 5 days old. (Not quite 1 1/2 years, even though that is what I tell people when they ask how old his is...because I hate saying 17 months!) Today he woke up at around 7:15. This is a little early for him. Over the weekend, he slept from 7:30 pm to almost 8:00 am!!! He is a dream sleeper! Thank you God!!

I went into his room, and picked up the whiney man and snuggled for a few minutes. Daddy heard us and came to get his morning snuggle in as well...but for some reason Barret only wanted mommy this morning. This is very very rare...so I enjoy it while I can. Usually, he is a daddy's boy. He cheered up when I said lets go and get a drink. He replied with "yooce?" which is a very quiet whisper of the word "juice". He got a breakfast bar and milk, ate the whole thing and then emphatically told me "MORE!" This is a very new word. just started saying it yesterday! And after the 3rd time of saying it, he then signed it to make sure I knew what he was saying. Sadly, I didn't give him more...because Mrs. Donna ALSO feeds him breakfast...so this is just his snack breakfast!

He is a big time talker! Here are his words as of today!!

1. Dada - he says it all the time....but mostly as "DA!" He usually says it when Travis is not around and he is trying to find him. He also says it everytime he picks up my phone! He loves to talk to "Da" on the phone!
2. Ma.Ma.Ma. - He only says my name when he is mad at me or really wants something. So imagine Ma...said over and over in a very whiney voice! lucky me!
3. Ball! - this is one of his all time favorite words...he loves a ball. He can spot a ball on ANYTHING including the top of an ornate decoration. He also only yells this word, in a voice that closely resembles a siren. 
4. Dog - he says dog in the same siren voice. 
5. bye bye - he mostly says this for travis.
6. more - the new word which he really enjoys saying. It is so fun to see the words building in his mind!
7. uh-oh - another favorite word. especially when he is throwing something from his high-chair!
8. no - he can say it, but very rarely. He hasn't learned the power of NO yet!
9. huh? - one of his favorites! He has perfect comedic timing with it too! very loud, and just after the pause of you asking him a question. 
10. shoes - which sounds like "oosh" He has already worn through his first pair of stride rites! size 4 1/2 extra wide. I went over the weekend and bought him a 6 wide! and they really fit hi good. So I wonder now how in the world we were squeezing his foot into that 4 1/2! 
11. spoon - this is a new word. only heard it a few times. I didn't teach him this one...so he picked it up on his own!
12. hello - which sounds like hawoo! my favorite word he says!

That is it for now, but I am sure I will be adding to the list soon! Mrs. Donna says she is impressed with how much he talks! This makes travis super proud!!

He also has a mouth FULL of teeth! 16 in total. All he needs now are his back molars! 

first steps - 14 months 2 days old

Barret finally took his first steps on his own!!! And he had a whole audience to cheer him on! It was such a fun moment that I am so glad that I was able to share with my dear family!!!



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

our big boy

He is growing up SO fast, and feel that I am going to forget every single sweet moment. Writing it down gives me a small amount of peace of mind knowing that at least I can come back here and remember a smidgen of how wonderful this little boy is!!

He now has 14 teeth!!! A whole mouth full of chompers!!

He loves to bite things with his little front teeth. My favorite thing that he bites in half are cheerios!! He either takes the littlest nibble with his front teeth, or swallows them whole. There is no in between with this kid!!

His favorite breakfast is a whole banana and 2 handfuls of cheerios!! He wants this as soon as his little head wakes up at 6:20 am.

He is really starting to talk allot more. Sadly it all sounds the same, but we get what he is saying. He clearly says "DaDa" from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed. He just adores Travis. He says MaMa if he is VERY angry at me or whining. He likes to point to any light and say something...which we know means light. He says Doggy...kinda.

Though his verbal skills are still growing, he has really taken to signing. He signs "more" and "all done" with great gusto! Of course he signs them in his own way...not the way that we first showed him, but that is ok. We get it!!

He is still having a terrible time with his ears, so we have decided to have tubes put into his ears. Everyone has very strong opinions, either for or against tubes, but we decided to do it after speaking with the specialist. I know fully understand WHY he is getting infections, and just how much it hurts him and can delay his speech development, and I don't want that for him. So on June 19, we are going to have it done, so please keep him in your prayers on that day!

Barret is still not walking on his own, but he walks everywhere as long as there is something to hold on to!

He plays so hard all day that by 7:30 he is beyond tired. If we don't do bed time as planed, he starts falling asleep doing whatever it is he is doing. Or, he'll go lay on the carpet or the bath mat in the bathroom! He just gets too tired to take it!!

He is the easiest baby in the world to put to bed (has been his whole life! Thank God!) We just bath him, dress him, lay him in his crib with his puppy and piggy (a new addition to the sleeping routine) and walk out of the door. He is out within seconds!!!

Barret also LOVES to dance. He dances to any beat...his toys, a commercial, but most especially any music his daddy plays in the car. He is the funniest dancer!!! I'll try to post a new video of him dancing soon!!

my daddy & me!

Barret's favorite person in the whole wide world is his daddy. He lights up when Travis enters the room. They have such a special relationship, and I am honored to witness it. Travis is the most wonderful dad that I have ever known. Let me list the ways!!!

1. He gets up with him in the night. And not just gets up. When Barret makes a peep, Travis flies out of bed like the house is on fire. Scares me to death! But luckily, I get to go back to sleep because he is the one that runs across the house to comfort his baby boy. He sooths him, gives him his passy, lays him down, and gives him his puppy. Such a pro. (I know this because I love to watch it on the monitor!!)

2. He gets Barret ready most mornings. Breakfast and dressed.

3. Then he brings him to Mrs. Donna's. They sing and dance the whole way.

4. Then he picks him UP from Mrs. Donna's, and they sing and dance the whole way hom.

5. Then they play play play until Barret is ready to drop.

6. Then he gives him a bath, and we both put him to bed.

Where am I during all of this??? I'm intertwining...enjoying this father and son bond!!

Happy Father's day baby. I never thought I'd love you more than the first time I saw you with Barret. My heart filled up to the brim seeing you with him for the first time. But amazingly, each time I see you snuggle our baby boy, my heart grows just that much more.

And as a tribute to Travis, the worlds best dad on Father's day, I made a video of his first year as a father!!

1 year 2 months

Meet Puppy. 

This is Barret's FAVORITE toy in the world....and there is a story behind it. When Barret sleeps, he loves to comb his fingers through hair. His own hair will do, but he much prefer's Travis hair, my hair...or even worse, the hair under Travis' arms. YUCK! But I tell you what, that kid can be crying, and so tired, and all he has to do is get some hair in his hands and he's out. It is the strangest thing. Even if he is sitting up, his eyes start to close when he touches hair. So, Travis though we should get him an animal to sleep with that was hairy. 

And I found Puppy! 

Barret LOVES Puppy! All I have to do is lay him down, hand him Puppy and walk away. 

They cuddle all night long!!

He is SO close to walking!! He runs this toy around all over the house.

He walks like a penguin though. Legs straight, and feet out to the sides. It is so funny to watch.

That look melts my heart!

Somebody tricked me...and got to nap in our bed.

how could you tell this face no?

He doesn't put it on his lips, but he does carry it in his mouth.

He's got it!

And he's off with it!

our little man is 1

Ok. Let me start of with...I'm a terrible mother, um, I mean blogger. I had the best intentions when this blog started, way back in September of 2008 when we found out we were expecting our little bean. Since then, I have done a fairly good job of keeping updates on the blog about what the bean, and then the baby were doing.

Well, in December, I fell off the planet. Or, I just ran out of time. It was one of those things. And every time I thought about blogging something amazing he did, I remembered how behind I was, and then this happened. It got out of control.

So, I'm bitting the bullet now and I'm going to try to do an update post. Simply because I really really really don't want to forget even a millisecond of his precious life, and those milliseconds are slipping away as I type. This blog helps me to hold onto just a few of them.

So, get a drink, and have a seat. This may take a while!!!

I'm going to start at today and work my way back as best I can. Today is May 7, 2010, and our boy is 1 year and 8 days old today. Today, like every day of the past 373 days, he is the most precious thing in mine and Travis' life. This morning he woke up a little early, so daddy brought him to bed with us. I know, I know. It is a terrible habit. But we love it, and we are ignoring all of the advice. So he comes to bed...clutching his puppy. That is a whole other story. I'll tell it in a future post, which I promise to do more of! He cuddles up with us, and we have a wonderful morning!!! That was today.

A few days ago, I had a funny experience. He is learning to push his limits, and I am learning to be a disciplinarian. It isn't going good for either of us. I hate it and so does he. But I firmly believe that it is my job as his parent to beat him into shape! :) or at least speak firmly to him! So he was doing something naughty, touching something he shouldn't. I looked down at him and said very firmly, "Barret, if you do that again, I'm going to spank you." And he looked up at me with his beautiful eyes, and never took them off my face, as he proceeded to slap his own leg! In illustration of what he would get!!! I couldn't believe it. He is learning WAY to fast!!!

On May 1, 2010, we celebrated Barret's first birthday at Uncle Steve & Aunt Heather's house. It was the biggest 1st birthday party I have ever been to, and that is saying something. Lisa throws HUMONGOUS birthday parties!! :) I think we had between 45-50 people. I'll count one of these days! It was wonderful for so many of our family and dear friends to be able to share in that special time celebrating Barret's first year of life with us. Thank you Steve & Heather from the bottom of our hearts. You did so much work for that party, and we truly appreciate it!

Sadly, Barret wasn't feeling well on his birthday, and wasn't his usual chipper self. He had his 5th double ear infection since early February, and just wasn't up to par. And he broke out in a heat rash all over. But even with all that, he was such a good boy!

2 days before his party, on April 29, 2010, Barret turned 1!!!!!!! In celebration, I gave him his first donut, which he acted like he liked, but then spit out. We went out to lunch with Gama, Big Daddy, Uncle Steve, & Aunt Heather to celebrate. He started feeling bad this day, and that night ran 102 fever. No fun for your first birthday!!

birthday bathtime!

I'd like to recap what he does as he turns one: He has 10 teeth!! 4 in front top, 4 in front bottom, and 1 on each side on the top!

He says 3 words: Dada, Tickle, & Huh? He says DaDa all the live long day. He even pulls out his passy in his sleep and says, "Dada??" and then pops it in and goes back to sleep. It makes me a little sick. I BEG him to say "Mama!!" :) He says tickle, which sounds like "tktktktk". We thought he was just making that sound at first, but Daddy figured it out. Of course he did, Barret tells HIM everything! :) I'm not bitter, not at all! And he says "huh?" constantly. In response to everything. It was cute at first, but it is quickly getting old.

He crawls everywhere, stands up, and will walk...kinda like a stiff legged pinguin if you hold his hands.

April 20, 2010

We went to the island for a golf thing with Daddy. The best part was Barret dancing in his car seat with his daddy to Jay-z's Empire state of mind song. It was hilarious...but just what kind of music is Travis teaching him to like!! He NEVER dances to country like that!!!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Barret enjoyed his first Easter. Well...I enjoyed dressing him up and watching him play with plastic eggs. But mostly we enjoyed being with my family in New Orleans. My dad and Carol were there, and we had a great weekend.

Sunday, April 3, 2010

Barret started CRAWLING!!! He finally did it!! Auntie Sommer (or YumYum as I like to call her) was with him. She had been working with him and was rewarded with seeing it first. Daddy saw him second!

March 12-20, 2010

Barret and I spent this time in New Orleans at Uncle Kevin's house. These days are so precious to me, and I am beyond thankful that I was able to be there during this time. We had the greatest blessing in the world..spending these days with my family, my granny & my beloved PawPaw. He passed away 1 week later on March 27, 2010. Those days that we had with him will be forever cherished.

skip, skip, skip

February

We went to New Orleans to photograph Laci's wedding (it was wonderful!) and Barret came along. He had tons of fun staying at YaYa's new house, and spending quality time with YumYum. :) I just love typing those names! I'm determined that they will stick!!

YAYA!!!!

YUMYUM!!!

I'm so BIG compared to my Granny!!

I LOVE my Uncle Kevin!

January

We went to visit Lisa, Aubree, Gage & Brad in Roswell, NM. I had work, so we stayed a really long time! Daddy came to visit while we were there, and we had a great time with them!

He got to see his first snow!!

he did NOT like it!!

We all drove to Albuquerque for a convention that I had to attend, and the day we got there, Barret got VERY sick. Here was my post about it on facebook:

" Barret's first trip to the ER last night (Feb. 4, 2010). It was quite an experience. I am in Albuquerque NM on business, and Lisa and her kiddos came with us. Last night around 5:30 he started feeling very cold and not acting himself. He was shivering, but didn't have a fever. We were very worried, and after many phonecalls, we decided to go to the ER. He thenstarted with a fever. I just punched in Hospital on the GPS and away he and I went. They rushed him in, and got us a room right away when they found that he had 103.6 fever. They ran tons of tests, tried to start and IV, drew blood from his foot and finger, and made him wear a wee-bag. He was such a trooper, and charmed all the nurses. After almost 4 hours and a chest x-ray, we found he has a virus (coughing and wheezing, but is not in his chest) and a double ear infection which caused the high fever. So, antibiotics and Tylenol are the solution. what a day. Poor travis was having such a hard time being away from us during this. I think if he could have run there, he would have. Luckily, Barret is now on the mend. Praise God! I don't want to do that ever again!!" 

Since then, he has been having trouble with his ears. I'm about to take him to a specialist to get them looked at.

January 1, 2010

This is Barret on the first day of the new year!!!

December 31, 2009

We brought in Barret's first New Year's Eve...by giving him a warm bottle of Milk, and putting him to bed. Then we went to bed early. It was a lively night at the Ensign residence, but the significance of this day was so great to me. We ended the year that changed our lives in the best way imaginable!!!! The Year our precious baby boy was born. What a milestone!

December 24, 2009

We celebrated Barret's First Christmas!!! We enjoyed all of Travis family and my mom and brother getting to spend some special time with him. He got TONS of presents...he is one loved little boy! The things he loved the most were the paper, of course!!!

oh yeah, and he loves is daddy the most. YUCK! Can't he love me the most even once!! :) I'm the one that writes this blog!!!

He loves his Uncle Kirk too!!!

And his Uncle Steve!

and his MawMaw & PawPaw

and this toy that Gama & Big Daddy got him. He picked it off the shelf and just loved it!!

Ok...I think I did a pretty good job of catching us up. I promise I'll do better now. but don't hold me to i!! :)

Eleisha