June Randoms

In an attempt to catch-up a bit, here are some pictures of a few of the things we've been up to so far this month!

Barrett enjoys making his Cabbage Patch Face


He's finally starting to notice Candy. She didn't seem to mind when he got her ear one morning.


Eli's enjoying lazy PJ mornings. Barrett is too!



We took a family trip to watch the planes at the airport


Finally getting to put my boys in some cute matching shirts for the summer makes me smile!


Barrett loves playing with his Dada!


Slow down June! I can't believe you are almost over!

May Re-cap

Life has been a bit full these last 5 months since Barrett's arrival, and May was definitely no exception.

Eli's pre-school class hosted the moms for a Mother's Day gathering


We had an impromptu Chick-fil-A ice cream date


Eli, Barrett, and I picked strawberries with his class for their final field trip of the year. He loved eating the "free samples"


Barrett spends his days smiling and giggling at us and we just can't get enough of his sweet little personality!


Eli is officially potty trained. Finally. It's been a LONG road. He finally earned his Holly Shiftwell from his grandparents and was so proud! We were too!


There has been plenty of swinging at the park


Barrett finally had his 4-month well-visit. No shots are going to get this little guy down!


Love these boys!

Finally, our May wrapped-up on a sadder note. On May 22, 2013, my family said "good-bye for now" to my precious Grandmother. We will miss her dearly but I am so very thankful for the 32 years I've been blessed to have shared with her. My boys will always know how much their Great-Grandma loved them. No doubt about it.

5-Months-Old!

On June 8th, Barrett turned 5-months-old. It's amazing how quickly the months fly by but we are having so much fun with our newest family member. He is such a sweet and cuddly little guy!

* Clothing: wearing a mix between 6 and 9-month clothes
* Diapers: size 2 Diapers but about to switch to size 3
* Naps 2-3 times a day.
* Still nurses about 5 times a day (every 3-4 hours)
* Starting to stare us down when we eat. Will be interesting to see how he responds to solids next month.
* He became a definite stomach sleeper this month. Love seeing his fluffy and smiley little head pop up to look out of the crib when he wakes up
* On 6/2/13, Barrett spent his first Sunday in the church nursery and did great. The nursery volunteers said he was smiling and giggling a bunch.
* Little guy got his 1st cold this month. Nothing too bad but it still makes you sad when he isn't his usual happy self
* Blows raspberries randomly
* Continues to gnaw on his hands and pretty much anything else but no teeth yet
* Still sucking his thumb when he is sleepy but not showing much of a preference lately
* Giggles/talks to himself in mirrors or any reflective surfaces
* Loves to grab and snuggle with blankets
* Rolls all over the place
* Started to scoot on his belly a bit, pushing off with his knees/legs towards things he wants
* Loves his big brother Eli more and more each day. Always looks for him and gives huge grins constantly when he's around. Especially loves it when Eli walks behind us on the stairs. Too funny!



And here's our Eli at 5-months!

4-Months-Old!

On May 8th, Barrett turned 4-months-old! He continues to grow and change almost on a weekly basis and we are enjoying every moment!

Height: 26 inches
Weight: 16 pounds 5 ounces
(as of his 4-month check-up on 5/30/13)

Clothes: 6-months and some 9-months
Diaper: Size 2

* Nursing every 3ish hours (sometimes 4)--still a bit of a spitter, so we always keep a burp-cloth handy

* Sleep: typically naps 3 times a day with the length of the naps varying on a daily basis, still sleeping through the night (8/9 p.m. until 7/8 a.m.), started sleeping on his right side as of a couple weeks ago, has started to scoot around the crib a bit as well

* He is always pretty alert when awake and prefers to be held upright so he can see everything going on around him

* On 5/4/13, Barrett rolled from his back to his belly for the first time on the play-mat while we were staying with Mark's parents

* He is still sucking his right thumb and the occasional Soothie paci

* He has started grabbing for everything and puts it all in his mouth

* We think he may be starting to teethe, as his hands are frequently in his mouth and the drooling has begun

* Loves smiling at himself in mirrors

* He cracks-up at things now: blankets pulled off his head, making him "dance," when you pull his arms out of his clothes to undress him (not really sure what he thinks is so funny about the last one--he absolutely HATES it when you pull shirts over his head to get him dressed)

* starting to really play with and reach for his toys

* Enjoys playing "pat-a-cake"

* Absolutely adores Eli and smiles/laughs at him constantly

Mark and I both agree that Barrett seems to have a quieter, more reserved personality so far. He really only fusses when he's overly tired and hungry but still loves to flash a smile out of nowhere, which totally melts us every time. We love our little B!

He was reaching for the camera this month!





The furrowed brow still makes an appearance from time to time...

Here's Eli at 4-months too!

3-Months-Old

On Monday, April 8th, Barrett turned 3-months-old! Over the past month he has really started to leave the newborn stage and become more of a "real" baby, which has been so much fun to see. Here are the highlights from month number 3:

*Height and Weight: no idea on these numbers since we didn't have a well-visit this month but he's definitely still pretty solid compared to Eli at this age!

* Clothes: 3-6 month/ 6-month sizes (all of Eli's Spring/Summer clothes are 9-month, so B will be wearing some of those too--they are a little big on him but it doesn't make sense to me to not use what we have already if we can)
Diapers: size 2

* Still nursing every 3 hours and the occasional 4-hour stretch

* He will take the occasional bottle but we are still working on this, as he has refused it off and on

* Barrett has been sleeping through the night (8/9ish-8:00 in the morning) since he turned 2-months-old. The same thing happened with Eli and I am so thankful that Barrett seems to enjoy his sleep too. I am also loving getting some sleep again. Sleep deprivation and I are NOT friends.

* Naps: his morning nap is typically the longest and he'll give me a few shorter ones the rest of the day. He is taking all of his naps in his crib now, unless we are out-and-about.

* We stopped using the hammock in his baby-tub this month and Barrett really seems to enjoy bath time much more

* He continues to be a thumb-sucker (still prefers the right one) and uses a Soothie paci here and there. His hands are frequently in his mouth a lot more these days as well.

* Barrett is becoming more and more social. He smiles, giggles, squeals, and babbles all the time and it is absolutely adorable!

* He loves to grab for things now (hair, clothes, blankets, toys) He especially enjoys pulling the musical toy on his rocker-seat and whacking at the dangling animals on his play-mat.

* Barrett also rolled from his belly to his back the week before he turned 3-months-old. He still detests tummy-time and I secretly think he's started rolling to boycott it.

* He also started scooting on his back this month. He will push-off with his legs and move off of his play-mat or blanket in no time flat!

We love our little guy and look forward to the fun month 4 will bring!





And here's our Eli at 3-months-old too!

Wrapping-Up March

The last weekend of March was very full for us this year. On Friday, Mark turned 31 and on Sunday we celebrated Easter. Sadly, Mark had to work nightshift the 3-day weekend, so we tried our best to work with things the best we could.

On Friday, the 4 of us went out to a birthday lunch followed by some cake and presents back at home. Eli loved helping to wrap his Dada's gifts and even hid them until it was time to give them to the birthday boy. He did tell Mark where his secret hiding spot was though...guess we have some work to do teaching him what "secret" means.

Mark finally got his new iMac. This will be his present for every holiday for the next couple years...just kidding...kind of...



All of my boys!



Loved Barrett's facial expressions in these pictures. He really wanted some of those pistachios!


Since Mark had worked all Saturday night, we missed attending the Easter service at our church but did so knowing this is only for a season. We were able to read about and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus here at home and it was really cool how much more Eli is starting to understand things this year. It is our constant prayer that our boys will grow up with hearts that love the Lord completely.

During the little bit of time the boys and Mark were both awake on Sunday, we did Easter baskets. Eli loved all of his treats and Barrett just sat on the couch next to him and smiled the entire time. I think little brother will appreciate his treats a little more next Easter.


Eli is obsessed with monster trucks lately, so he was thrilled with the one he found in his basket. He has not stopped playing with it since!


Happy 1st Easter to our Barrett! Love seeing his sweet smile more and more these days!



Things were definitely different this Easter for our family but the one thing that didn't change was how thankful we are to remember the true meaning behind it. Traditions may come and go with the years but Christ was risen from the grave and that is all that matters!