July visitors

My college roommates came to visit 2 weekends ago and it was great to be together again. Along with Katie came her hubby Preston and son Liam. Liam is exactly 1 year + 3 days older than Barrett. It's really hard to believe that next year at this time Barrett will be running around, saying a few words and playing like Liam was!



Are you seriously telling me a year from now my little baby will be this big??


Daddies and their boys






I think we've all aged pretty darn well!


Taking a break from the picture-taking

Professional Photos 1

Summertime and the living's easy

Summertime, hot summer days in the pool. We love relaxing in our backyard pool. That's right, it's about 5 by 5 and the entire family sits in it. You gotta do what you gotta do, when it's 90 degrees!


And Payton wondered what all the fuss was, so after the water was drained, he decided to jump in and see for himself. He sat in it for a while, just checking it out.


Eh, doesn't seem that interesting to him, I guess.




Lots of fun times on the playmat


And loving sitting outside on the blanket



Even Payton got in on the summer day fun




He may look upset, but this is actually his screechy-laugh. My fave!


Yum yum, the camera strap tastes delicious. These days this kiddo puts everything into his mouth that he can get his hands on


Including Payton



If only he could reach him!

Rejuvenation

Mondays for a working mom are tough. At least they are for this working mom. Spending two full days straight of family time makes the week ahead look so long and depressing, five entire days until another weekend. Add to that a to-do list as long as my arm, piles of papers like a blizzard on my desk and a calendar chock-full of meetings and requests and it all makes me want to fast forward the week to Friday at 5pm.

Since that is impossible, I look forward to the next best thing:
My lunch time appointments with Barrett.
These are the best appointments on my calendar all week.

I love that ringing phone call from the daycare, telling me he's ready for his momma. When I walk into that classroom, his face lights up to see me and he knows what's coming. I pick him up, twirl him around, and he smiles that big toothy grin. And just like that, he's all mine again.

We rock gently in the chair, all alone in our quiet room, and I sing and talk to him for that half hour, rub his back, tickle his legs and hold his feet in my palm. We stare into each other's eyes and he plays with my hair as he eats, silent and peaceful. Some days he drifts off into sleep and I just hold him while he rests quietly, looking down at my baby.

This is one of my favorite times of the day. My office, about one mile away in distance, is a million miles away in my mind. I block out To Do lists and phone calls to make and emails to send and concentrate on just being his mom. The demands on me when I'm in that florescent-lit building mean nothing to me when sitting in that rocking chair, being demanded as his mom. It makes me feel rejuvenated and at peace again and there's no better way to spend a lunch break.

First taste of food

A bit reluctantly, we made our first stab at "real" food. Most moms can't wait to start solids with their babies, but not me. It's yet another step to my baby growing up! But since he was turning 6 months old, we figured it was time to get started, so try it we did. Um, yeah, B was not such a fan of the oatmeal. He ended up either squirming away from it or blowing raspberries and spraying mommy with it.

As a disclaimer, the pictures below show my baby with food all over his face. I personally always find these types of pictures somewhat repulsive. But for some reason, Barrett is the first baby who looks adorable with food on his face! Imagine that!

All smiles, pre-food


first spoonful


hmmm.... this seems strange...


can't decide if I should swallow or spit


looking a little confused about the whole thing


okay, I've had it, get this stuff away from me


I'm pretty sure not once bit ended up being swallowed and 100% ended up either on his face or the table. oh well!


Yes, my shirt says Best Mom Ever. I bought it myself. That's how I roll.

Since these first initial attempts at oatmeal, we have since tried peas and have had much more success. I will spare you the pictures, since the peas look about as gross as they smell. But we're making progress on the food front!