The Barnes Family

WOW! I can't believe that in one more month my little monkey will be 1 year old! Yes, 1!!! At 11 months he is up to ALOT!!!! -clapping -giving Five -blowing kisses-kinda -throwing arms up when you say "Touch Down!"- thanks to Mimi -waving -climbing the stairs -eating anything and everything like a big boy -sleeping from 9:30-10:30 on good days/ 2-3:30pm and then 8pm-7am -still loves playing in his crib -started Mother's Day Out two days a week -loves to play with cars- he pushes them all around and will even put his little people in and out and then take them for a ride around the house -trying to get into all the cabinets -will walk with someone holding his hands -LOVES the Wiggles He is the sweetest little gift from God. He is getting so big and I can't believe 11 months have gone by! Pictures will come soon.... promise!

Dear Mom, I don't want sweet taters, mixed veggies (YUCK), rice cereal mixed with any fruit is a NO, spinach, pears and peas are no longer an option for this little monkey! You don't eat it, I don't want! I will turn my head, shake my head, wave my hand at the spoon until you give me something else! PS. I like lima beans (I'll only eat these when I want to), corn, carrots, mandarin oranges, pizza, and TURKEY! I love me some turkey! So get to the store and buy me some yummy food! Love, your little monkey I feel like that is what he is saying to me every time I break out a jar of baby food! Its so funny out fast its changed! One taste of what we eat and he no longer wants baby food. Go figure! He now loves turkey, carrots, lima beans, pizza, mandarin oranges, corn, yogurt (HE LOVES THIS), blueberries, bread, cheerios in formula, sourdough english muffins with jelly, mac n' cheese, and the list is growing everyday! Its a whole new world of food and discovery.

I love being a stay at home mom! I love being with him, playing with him, taking him to lunch and running errands with him. I love our time together!! I also love the concept of mothers day out and tomorrow Wyatt is going to try it!!! I think that every mom needs a couple hours a week to be by herself and do all the run around errands without having to drag a child in and out of the car seat and into stores in 100 degree weather. I also work from home, so its nice to be able to catch up on work without having to wait until nap time or worry that my work will be interrupted by a screaming baby. Am I nervous? Am I sad? Not right now but maybe ask me tomorrow! He has gone to the church nursery, he has had different babysitters, he has stayed for a week at my parents, a week at Todd's mom's house, a night here and a night there. So I am okay with all that, this shouldn't be any different right? Wish me luck!!!

Since Wyatt was born we've had music in his room. For late night nursing sessions, i would turn it on, keep the lights down low and this would help keep him in a sleeping mood. The music, ocean-heartbeat combined in one! When he moved from our room to his nursery, I put the song on my ipod (now his) and it would play all night for him. It was VERY soothing! We also got into the habit of turning his sleep sheep on (sounded like an ocean) or the humidifier for extra noise. The kid likes to sleep in sound!!!! So last night, we tried this new sound machine (thanks to Faris for telling me about it) from bed bath and beyond. It is REALLY loud and doesn't turn off after 45 minutes (like the sheep) so it will play all night. I set it on the ocean sound, which is crashing waves and seagulls. I am not a fan of the seagulls but I love the crashing waves. I also need to add to this story that we are trying a new night time diaper. For the longest time we have been using Fisher Price nightt...

A pool, a water hose (put into place by my loving husband), 10 minutes to fill the pool, bathing suite change for mom, strip down for baby and what do you get......... SWEET LITTLE MOMENTS!!! A small pool on our back deck provided 30 minutes of fun for Wyatt. He didn't need any toys, he just needed water. I sat beside him snapping some cute pictures of him playing and then Kenzie trying to get in on the action. He loved it!!! I decided to join him and this is when our sweet little moments happened. He was trying to let go of the side of the pool and stand up and wave his hands and dance. He was good but a couple of times he almost went over, and one time he successfully did:(. I'm just not that fast (and I was sitting RIGHT in front of him). After the little spill I climbed into the pool (a little cold for me) and when he thought he was about to fall he would reach for me and let me hold him up. Then he put his little head against mine and looked into my eyes and gave me a BIG ...

Yesterday Todd and I packed up Wyatt and headed over to the Connor house to watch their two little girls, Eliza and Ryals. Eliza is two and Ryals is 9 months old. I arrived at 9:45 am to relieve the grandparents and I was alone until 12. What was I worried about, I used to be a nanny, oh and I'm a mom!! The girls were great! Ryals went down like a pro for her morning nap and Eliza and I went outside to play some bubbles and enjoy the outdoors before it got to hot. Thirty minutes later all three of us were playing in Eliza's room. It is so sweet how the two of them play together. At 11:45, I was buckling them both in their highchairs and getting them ready for lunch. Just then Todd arrived, with lunch and another hungry baby! He was in charge of feeding Wyatt, I was feeding Ryals and watching Eliza. Then I entertained them with the Wiggles so that we could eat. Once we were done, it was upstairs for some coloring, and lots of toys!! Before we knew it, 1:30 had rolled around and...

I should be using my last hour without a child doing productive things! Like.... cleaning the house, finishing my office organization project, folding some clothes, etc! Instead I would rather write about the week I had without my wonderful little boy! I had a wonderful week! I missed him like crazy but I enjoyed having some time to myself. Besides sleeping in, doing a little cleaning, a little organizing, running errands, going out to dinner with my husband, and just relaxing, I enjoyed spending time with some of my wonderful friends. I enjoyed lunch dates, an afternoon movie, and a girls night out. When I was in high school and even college I never had very many girlfriends. I had a few and to this day I am still friends with them but it wasn't until I became a mother that I really understood how important it is to have good friends. It is hard for me to meet and become close with people because I am not a very out going person. I think being a stay at home mom makes it harder to...

If anyone knows how to make pictures appear after what you post and not before please let me know!!! Also, I can't seem to write under my pictures. I could really use some help!

The second time is the charm! After spending LOTS of time thinking of Pirate Party ideas for my little man, I have changed it and I am now spending time thinking of Dr. Seuss party ideas!!! I won't lie, the web is very helpful. Google anything about Dr. Seuss and party and PAGEs and PAGES come up with fun party ideas. If anyone wants to share some though, please feel free.

Wyatt went flying for the first time Monday evening. Todd flew Nancy and Wyatt down to Kiawah Island so that Wyatt could spend a couple of days at Nancy's house. Todd said he did great!!! I was a little nervous of course, but I am loving having this time to my self. I feel very blessed to have family living close by!

I'm trying to make my own 'ocean in a bottle' invitations for Wyatt's first birthday party!!! So far, its not looking so great. I have googled.... "Pirate party", "Cute pirate stuff", "Baby pirate party", "pirate party ideas", "cute pirate party ideas", etc...! I have googled anything I could about pirate and a pirate party! I wanted something cute, not skull and bones type stuff but something for a one year old birthday party. I love the idea of theme parties and have been putting this one together for a while and I still have two months to go! That's right, the party is not until August 21st but I am bookmarking different ideas just about every other day. A cute cake idea here, some party plates there, you get the picture. If anyone has any ideas for a pirate party, send them my way PLEASE!! Right now I'm googling "pirate party invitations", it might be easier to click 'order' then to make the...