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!

Road Trip!

Last weekend the 4 of us loaded up for a trip back home to southeast Virginia. We were supposed to go 2 weeks earlier but I unfortunately was recovering from a nasty fever-virus, so everything was postponed. Thankfully, 2 weeks later, we were all healthy and Barrett got to meet his Great-Grandmother (my Grandma) for the first time. We also spent a bit of time with both sets of parents as well. Eli loved all of the attention from our families and Barrett traveled like a champ as well, giving out plenty of smiles and coos. We were so happy to finally be able to make the trip!


Eli loves chatting with his Great-Grandma. His Dad affectionately refers to him as our little "Noise-box Know-it-All" these days.


This picture makes me so happy. So thankful to be able to finally share our precious Barrett with my sweet Grandmother after some rough weeks of hospital stays and illness. God is so good!


This little guy's facial expressions kill me these days!

We celebrated Mark's birthday early as well!

G.G. got her "baby-fix" too!

March Randomness

I wish I had time to write more thoughtful and creative posts these days but quick photo-dumps will have to suffice for now. We all know the pictures are what everyone comes to see on a blog anyway...right?

Barrett got his 1st round of shots at his 2-month well-visit. Poor guy slept a ton afterwards, just like Eli always did.

Smiley guy in his "nest"

Beautiful sunset

Eli working on his corn-hole skills

Sleeping thru the night = TOUCHDOWN!

Yummy sushi complete with awesome carrot mystery animal

Mailbag fun! (and yes it says mail, not "I Lam")

Sad day for the Mama Car. Ended up needing a new alternator. Hooray. (Eli did enjoy watching the tow-truck in action, though!)


Hope you enjoyed my randomness!

My Lucky Charms!

2-Months-Old

On Friday, March 8th, Barrett turned 2-months-old! It's been such fun watching him grow and change over this past month. Here is what he's been up to:

Weight: 13 lbs 12 oz
Height: 23.25 inches

We have a BIG boy! Eli was only 10 lb 15 oz and 22.75 inches at the same age!

* Clothing Size: Still wearing 0-3 month clothes but those are starting to get a bit short

* Diapers: Just switched over to size 2's (had a few too many leaks recently!)

* Nursing every 3-4 hours

* Barrett's sleeping habits have changed quite a bit over the past month. For most of his 2nd month, Barrett was sleeping for one 5-6 hour stretch and waking to eat only once in the night. As of this past week, he started to sleep for longer 7-10 hour stretches at night. I know things might still change at this stage but I will take it while I have it!

* He is getting into a better nap schedule as well

* He is still most alert in the latter 1/2 of the day (Party Boy Barrett still makes an appearance now and then!)

* A new "batch" of hair has started to come-in over the past week. Mark and I are thinking he's going to be more dirty-blonde than Eli's white-blonde hair color

* Around 6-weeks-old the baby acne started to clear-up and a bit of cradle-cap came

* He's tracking objects much better these days, including Candy, who he can't quite figure out what she is exactly

* The smiles and coos are coming a lot more regularly and he especially loves to flash a big gummy grin at his big brother, Eli (He likes to talk to him too!)

* He loves to "talk" and smile at his crib sheep mobile and EVERY ceiling fan he sees

* Like his big brother, he found his thumb right at 2-months-old (he prefers his right one though) He will still take the occasional Soothie Paci

* We've also nicknamed him "Grunts" because he does it constantly, especially when he's asleep

* The boy is still not a fan of tummy-time but his neck-strength is definitely improving

* He loves to be held and cuddled, which we gladly do whenever we can!


Mark and I were spot-on thinking Barrett was a lot bigger/solid than Eli was at this age and we are loving every inch of his rolly-polly self! (When his weight showed-up on the scale at his well-baby visit, I had to literally ask the nurse if it was correct, I was in such disbelief!) Barrett continues to bring all of us such joy each day! We love you dearly Baby Bear!



Here's our Eli at 2-months-old too!