6-Months-Old!

On July 8th, Barrett turned 6-months-old. Is my baby seriously 1/2 a year old already?!? The days sure seem slow at times but man oh man do the months fly by! It was quite a busy month for our little bear...

Weight: 17 lb 14oz
Height: 27.25 in

(Eli was a little guy at this age: 14 lb 6 oz and 24 3/4 in)

* Clothing: wearing mostly 9-month clothes
* Diapers: finishing up the last of the size 2 Diapers and will move up to size 3
* Takes 2 solid naps a day and really needs a 3rd in the early evening/dinner hour but that rarely happens or when I've tried he's boycotted it completely
* Still nurses about 5 times a day (every 3-4 hours)
* Not a huge fan of bottles but haven't offered too many this month
* Ate rice cereal for the first time and wasn't too thrilled with it
* He started sleeping with his little butt up in the air and legs tucked up under him this month(one of my favorite things with babies)
* Barrett started to roll back and forth more regularly which has been nice, since he hated being "beached"
* He's starting to balance sitting-up but still needs support to avoid diving into the floor
* Loves to play with his feet and cracks-up when he is being undressed
* Started to scoot a bit this month by pulling his knees under himself and pushing forward or backwards
* Plays longer with his toys and the play-mat is still a favorite
* He is definitely ticklish under his armpits, on his chest, and on the inside of his chunky little thighs
* Played in the Jump-A-Roo for the first time. He wasn't too thrilled about it at first but it seems to be growing on him.
* Finally experienced his first Bull's game (out of the womb) and did great--he was pretty entertained with all there was to see and loved flirting with the ladies nearby

Barrett is quite the smiley little guy these days and we are loving the opportunity to interact with him more and more. He continues to be a pretty easy-going, happy baby and fits perfectly in with our little family. We are blessed!



And here's Eli at 6-months. Barrett seems huge in comparison and I guess his latest stats are proof that it's true!

Father's Day 2013

Last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day together and it was also Mark's very first one being a Dad to TWO boys. He is such a wonderful Daddy and Eli and Barrett love him to pieces! So thankful to have him by my side in this whole parenting journey!

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!